Summer in Tulsa, what a whirlwind. Teach for America's summer institute is in full swing and over 600 corps members are now distributed throughout many of Tulsa's toughest neighborhood schools. Most of these schools have a student population characterized by 50% grade level proficiency rates. The neighborhoods are painted with different shades of poverty. Our first week of institute consisted of long days and an increasing sense of urgency. Summer school doesn't start until Monday, so much of this past week was spent understanding the landscape into which we were entering. Seminars focused on developing the tools and characteristics we would need to be successful in the tough classrooms we will lead starting Monday.
The school I am teaching at is called Webster High. It lies on the western banks of the Arkansas river, and is actually beautiful, old campus. While I am teaching high school in the Fall, this summer I will be teaching 7th grade math. Looking through the campus directory, I was able to see the ID photos of the kids I will be teaching- they are young! I teach the class alongside one other "collab", who is also a first year Teach for America Teacher.
I was able to snap a "back to skool selfie" while on the bus the first day at Webster High.
A typical neighborhood home near Webster High School.
Today was the first day I was able to escape the "lovely" (note the text sarcasm) University of Tulsa. I went with a couple of friends into the backwoods alongside the Arkansas and did a little bit of climbing. It felt damn good to be a lost boy in the woods, and as it so often happens, I made some awesome friends out at the crag while doing so. Check the dirty south (is Tulsa the south or mid-west, I still can't figure it out) climbing in the backwoods.
John rock.
It has been an amazing experience being with so many passionate people on a daily basis. We all have the same feeling of destiny. This is a journey that is sometime scary- many core members don't have placement schools yet for the Fall, many have not passed their credentialing exams, some are just downright terrified of setting foot in a classroom that has been cast aside as hopeless. But alas, this life is a pilgrimage that requires faith in the midst of uncertainty. All we can do is buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Until next time,
Ben
Remember to fear the banjo in those backwoods! So am I correctly inferring that part of TFA teaching you all how to teach, is by having you all teach summer school?
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