personal life

I finally have my life here. Today I signed a lease, my first lease, and the biggest check I've ever written, on an amazing three bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, just one stop outside of Manhattan. My street is crowded with coffee shops, outdoor cafes, and hipster boutiques. I move in Saturday to a fourth floor walk-up with a fellow TFA corps member and an investment banker, who ironically, will be the one to keep us sane. He will have subjects besides Morning Math Meetings and disciplinary practices to speak of as the outlet much needed from the children who talked back to you that morning.

Yesterday I did my first disciplining. I sent two students to Reflection Corner to write me a paragraph about why they behaved inappropriately and how they will change their behavior in the future. The paragraphs were unflattering, to say the least. One student, as I was explaining to the class my expectations for group work and said, "If our behavior isn't up to our classroom expectations I have boring worksheets that we will do instead," responded, "This is already boring." I was flabbergasted and all I could muster to say was, "That was extremely rude. Reflection Corner." I need a little practice.

At first, I was outraged and left the classroom filled with negativity. But soon I realized that if I let myself feel that negative after one bad lesson, how would I survive two + years during which time I will encounter bad days so frequently? I heard a saying once that I now see the truth of...Teachers will have bad days, and students will have bad days, and unfortunately sometimes they are the same day. Yesterday celebrated my students 200th day in school this year. I have never gone to school for 200 days in a year, and suddenly I realized that the only person to be negative towards was myself. I was the teacher, it is up to me to keep them engaged and at their behavioral best. If I were 12, I would rather be at camp too! So today, I revamped my style. As my grandmother always says, kill em with kindness. And do you know, certificates of achievement, a scavenger hunt, minimized teacher talk time, baseball shaped erasers, and a ridiculous outfit including a headband that said "Coach" on it that I wore all class worked like a teacher's charm. The Coach headband will make a return appearance tomorrow, and how I do wish that by Coach I meant the designer...but let's not forget the largest check I ever wrote today.