There is really too much to write about. Everything is different here. We are learning how to do a whole new way of life! It has been hard for me to get used to being gone ALL day...like I leave before the sun rises and get back after it sets. And then I only have like 3 hours before I have to go to bed. It is weird having to be so strict with how I use my time, and it might only get worse as I start teaching more and have to prepare more lessons and grade papers! Ok let me back up...
Caitlin's first two weeks:
Last week was a lot of seminars and meeting the other girls in my program, touring the schools we will be at, sightseeing, etc. I got assigned to teach 7th grade Biology at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, DC.
We went and saw the Library of Congress one day as a group after eating lunch at Union Station:
Friday last week was the longest day of my life! Being at school ALL day is hard! And repeating the same lesson 5 different times kind of drives me insane. But I am getting used to it. The weekend I honestly can't even remember. I think we went to Costco. Which is in Crystal City like an hour away so we have to carry our big groceries on the metro haha. Oh and we saw Les Miserables again!
This week I have been in the school all week getting to know the students and learning how to teach. It is really difficult. I don't really like 12 year olds anymore...they are crazy :) But I am learning about classroom management and how to motivate students. It has been really interesting. I have so many stories already...I'll have to share a few.
The majority of the school is black kids, which has been interesting for me to get used to. First period everyday is pretty good. There is one girl named Milan (I can probably use names...I don't think they'll find our blog) who is so crazy. She is weird and it is so funny. One day she ran in and was like "My hair is like Beauty and the Beast but only the Beast!" It was so funny......I guess you had to be there.
Second period is my mentor teacher's prep period. My mentor teacher is awesome. She is so good at making me feel comfortable and giving me really good feedback on my teaching and how to be better. She includes me in everything and never fails to introduce me to people which is soooo nice. Third period is like the period from heaven. All the kids are so focused and well behaved...its awesome. Fourth period is lunch and fifth period is the period from hell. Well, not quite. Sixth period is the period from hell, 5th is just almost as bad. There is a boy Jevon in 5th period who is so apathetic it makes me so frustrated. And 6th period there are tons of kids who are just insane...like ADHD off the wall. 7th period is better but there is one kid, George, who bullies people every single day and he talks back and never obeys and OMG it is frustrating. So now if I tell stories about those kids in the future, you will know who I am talking about :)
Wednesday this last week the metro was crazy. Something broke on one of the tracks on the red line and so no trains were coming at all and the ones that did come through were SO packed that no one could fit on. Once I finally got on a train it had already been like 40 mins. Then it only went a few stops so I had to get off and transfer and to make a long story short...I got to school wayyyyy late! It was probably my most stressful event so far. You should have seen me trying to catch a taxi in the rain by myself at the Chinatown station...haha so sad and pathetic. I decided to just get back on the metro because I was already super late.
In other news, I got a gym pass! To LA fitness which is only like 2 blocks away. I had felt like I was getting fat/ over stressed so I thought it would be good to get one. I have enjoyed it so far and I am excited to keep using it!
I'm just going to post this and let Billy do his own blog post of his first two weeks :)
I love this post, and I can't believe it took me a week to see it! Even though we text all the time, I still learned more from this post about your teaching. It sounds like you're learning a lot and you have great people to teach you. And you're learning about city life, which is an education in itself. I love following your blog!
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