a whirlwind of a summer

Whew. Just had myself an intense month-and-a-half - the majority of which was spent in Atlanta, where I was charged with teaching 3rd grade reading in a summer school classroom. Essentially, we were thrown into the deep-end, and asked to teach various remedial lessons each day which ranged from teaching the basics of a venn diagram to finding the area of a circle - concepts that were covered on the Georgia high-stakes standardized tests (barring grade advancement), which many students had failed and had to retake after their time with us teach for america cadets. In preparation for my fall classroom, this experience was certainly invaluable. Yet, I often felt like our students were mere guinea pigs, with whom we could experiment in methods of classroom management, how to best get the kids to transition to reading-aloud on the carpet, and how to best deal with the chronic bathroom-whiner. Naturally, I've come to employ a system for misbehaviors that is both swift and painful, as shown below.

Funny tidbit about this student above: during a venn diagram lesson where kids were comparing and contrasting Duke Ellington and myself from some biographies they read, one kid had the nerve to write: "Duke got all the ladies. Mr. Stewart just got his drums." I couldn't be too angry, since he did actually put the information in the right region of the diagram...

The training was kinda tough, and in fact I know of at least a half dozen people who quit TFA altogether as a result. I guess TFA thinks it's better to weed out the quitters before the school-year begins, which makes sense. The funny thing is that in almost every case, the person would mysteriously disappear in the dead of night without a word to anyone! At first I suspected some type of big brother conspiracy, but supposedly they left of their own accord. Seems bizarre, but I can understand the embarrassment of folks who have been successful over-achievers their whole life and suddenly decide that they aren't cut out for teaching.

All in all, I've been quite impressed with the 40-some odd other corps members who will be joining me in Memphis city schools. They're a very intelligent, welcoming, and committed group of young men and women. I've found 3 other solid TFA dudes that I'm gonna live with for at least the next year. 2 have southern drawls (I still think it's a riot); 3 are frat boys. Apparently I haven't moved out of the frat house at all. The other guys wanna put letters on the front of the house-Tau Phi (there's no Greek F) Alpha. I may have to veto.

As of this afternoon, I have been officially hired. Had my phone interview with the principal, and it went well enough that I was able to secure the position. I will be teaching 5th grade at a neat elementary school (luckily, about 6 minutes from my house) that features a magnet program for the arts, technology, math, and science. Apparently they put on alot of fun programs like musicals. I think it'll be perfect.

I'm excited for Memphis, for teaching, and for finding some musicians to jam with. I've visited Beale St. a few times, and I'm really anxious to get plugged-in to the buzzin' music scene. I drive to Memphis tomorrow...for good (well, at least for 2 years). Here's my new address if you prefer snail mail:

(insert witty nickname)
281 N. Willett
Memphis, TN 38112