Room 25

So last week I got into my classroom for the first time. Room 25 at Gragson Elementary! I was so excited. Then I started getting into the nitty-gritty, and I got scared. There was so much to do! Clean desks and walls, arrange tables, put up posters, get supplies, organize folders, lesson plan! I was very overwhelmed. I am fortunate to have a great school team, and the other teachers have been so giving of not only their time and ideas, but even their extra stuff.

Then the greatest blessing. My family, sensing my stress and overwhelmedness, decided to help, and drove all the way from South Jordan to come help in my classroom. We spent all day Saturday getting stuff ready so that I can feel ready to go on Monday. I am so incredibly grateful to them, I cannot describe it. Thank you family!

A Day In Provo, A Day in SoJo, a Day in Zion

Right after the last day of TFA training, I decided to spontaneous road trip up to Utah to see friends and family. It was exactly what I needed, and so refreshing. It felt so good to be back among the people I love and adore so completely. Ah, I get sad and happy chills even now just thinking about it.

4th Grade!

Three weeks into institute, the Las Vegas Valley TFA staff came out to LA to meet with the Las Vegas corps. At induction, we had been told not to expect our placement until the second week of August. Well, on this night they handed out these packets and had us all open them at the same time, because it held sensitive information regarding our placements. It felt almost like opening a mission call. I pulled out the first sheet and read, "Congratulations Drake! You are assigned to teach 4th grade. You will be teaching at Gragson Elementary School."

4th grade! I'm so happy. I couldn't have picked it better myself. That's exactly what I wanted. I don't even know my kids yet, but I already love them, and I can't wait to meet them on the first day of school.

TFA Institute 2010

Wow. Talk about a whirlwind two months! I don't know that I've ever been so busy, so overwhelmed, and so excited in my life. Let me try and get you all up-to-date.

So at the end of June I packed up my life in Provo and drove down to Vegas. I was there for a week of training called induction. 50 other recent college grads from around the country joined me in Vegas, and together we made up the 2010 Las Vegas Valley Teach For America Corps. I was amazed at how quickly and completely we formed a community. In just 5 days, we all bonded together and became really good friends. We learned about the achievement gap in Nevada, and what our role would be as leaders in the movement to end educational inequality.

In what seemed like a blink, we were off to institute--the TFA teacher training boot camp in Los Angeles. Over 200 corps members from Las Vegas, LA, the Bay area, and Kansas City all came together for the most intense 5 weeks of our lives. I pulled into Loyola Marymount University on a Saturday afternoon, and got my assignment letter: Stevenson Middle School, 8th Grade English Language Arts. I was ecstatic. I get to be a teacher!

At Institute, every corps member gets a chance to teach in a real summer school classroom. We share the classroom with our collaborative, 4 teachers total that split up the two periods.

Here's a typical day at institute.

5:30am Wake up, stuff backpack with student work, and run off to breakfast

6:35am Bus for Stevenson Middle School leaves

7:30am Campus morning meeting

8:00am Summer School starts, all four teachers work together in the classroom

8:40am one of a variety of teacher training sessions

10:30am my 8th graders arrive in their second period

11:45am My Lead Teach Time! I'm in front of the classroom teaching my kids how to find theme

12:30pm School's Out!

1:00pm More, more, more sessions

4:30pm Bus leaves Stevenson

5:15pm Grab some dinner at the dining hall

6:00pm Start lesson planning for the next day, and for the next week, making handouts, posters, scripting out what you will say, making management plans, etc

11:00pm - 1:00am Get to bed at some insane hour just to do it all again tomorrow :)

It was intense, difficult, and trying work. There were days when I didn't know if I could do it. Planning how to teach writing to my kids is trickier than it sounds. Yet seeing their results on the final writing assessment made it all worth it. When a student who wrote two sentences on their diagnostic essay goes on four weeks later to write a well-composed four paragraph essay, that is a great feeling.

Mr. Allsop and Ms. Talbot waiting for the bus on a Friday afternoon

My co-teacher Ms. Alberti in our classroom, Room 21

So before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to my kids at Stevenson, and back in Las Vegas. I got back on August 1, and starting looking for a place to live. We got back on Sunday, then on Tuesday we started full-day sessions again to get us ready for the first day of school. We worked on our big goals, long-term plans, unit assessments, unit plans, and more. I have a whole new respect for teachers--there is so much to do, know, and plan! State standards, writing tests, setting goals, picking a theme, preparing a classroom, meeting parents and students, managing behavior, etc, etc, etc! Again, it's been hard work, and I don't have it all figured out, but I'm confident that I will. My roommate Jordan and I found a place to live, I've been hired by Clark County School District, and, ready or not, I'm a teacher!