Closing time

I have never been more excited to go home.

I think I’ve traveled on my own a fair amount in my 21 years. I’ve spent a month in Chicago, a month in Minnesota, and almost 4 months in France, and I really enjoy living on my own. But I learned this month how much I really love home. I almost always look forward to coming home after a trip, unless it was a relaxing vacation and coming home means back to reality (yet even then I get excited to sleep in my own bed and have my own bathroom back). My parents have done an amazing job of making our house a home, and I hope they never, ever leave Forest Lodge Court. And as I sit in my empty Delta State dorm room, with nothing left but suitcases and a giant box of Goldfish, I can’t help but get excited for Glen Allen, my friends, my house, my family, my room (not in any particular order). Institute has been an incredible experience, and I cannot wait to get to my own classroom in Eastern North Carolina. But first, I need a little taste of home (both figuratively and literally—Delta State has the worst dining hall food).

Our last week was probably one of the best weeks in several ways. There was finally a sense of consistency in the classroom. The kids knew when to expect consequences, had our routine and procedures down pat, and felt comfortable with each other. This familiarity was productive in some ways, but it also led to some behavioral issues to deal with. As for me, I felt more comfortable in my new teacher-skin, and feel like I really started to get to know my kids and understand their individual needs.

Because it was the last week, we spent some time administering the reading post-test and math post-test to see how much progress our kids had made. Only about two or three students made their growth goals in math, and only a handful more met their reading goals. One of my collab partners was pretty upset to see some of the results, but we reminded her that regardless, every single one of them grew in their scores. It was so exciting to grade Johnkeria’s math test and see her nail the tree diagram, after countless practice problems and a 100% on her reassessment. And to see Johnny, our kindergarten-level reader, grow over 10 points in his reading category. But perhaps the most rewarding part was having kids ask us to do math problems on the last day, and go nuts over their very own brand new book that we presented each of them as a reward for working hard. These kids were excited about school. I do not mean to say that we sparked this excitement. Some of them already loved school and have been eager since day 1. But we did make them like summer school, so I’m pretty proud of us for that.

Our last day was pretty chaotic. We didn’t have much structure for the kids, thinking that the few things we had planned would take much longer than they actually did. After performing a few skits, playing math and word bingo, and an unsuccessful attempt to get them excited about worksheet booklets (this was NOT my idea), the kids were bouncing up and down in anticipation for the cupcakes and dance party they knew were coming. It was a fun day for the kids, for sure, and even for the teachers at some points, but mostly it was just what our Curriculm Specialist had warned us about: “If you don’t have a plan for the kids, they will have a plan for you.” True story. They had us running all over the classroom, giving warnings, trying to keep them on track, and threatening to cancel our dance party. I did get some good pictures and video footage out of it, but I also learned a lesson about the importance of structure.

Yesterday after school, I received some exciting news: I’ve finally been placed! I got a call from the human resources office and an email from my TFA placement person, and I have a (tentative) job at a middle school! I say (tentative) because nothing is for sure until you are in your classroom the first day of school. It sounds scary, but the only reason it would change is if another position opened up that they thought would be a better fit, or if they have to do some shuffling around of other corps members. The town is just over 2 hours away from Richmond on MapQuest, which means probably a little under two hours in real time. I am so excited to finally have some direction as to where to look for housing. However, the school is a bit far from most of the other placement sites, and so far I haven’t heard of anyone else at there. Essentially that just means I’ll have a further commute than most people if I want to live with some of my friends, maybe up to 45 minutes. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, though. I’m so grateful to have a job and hope to have more information about my grade level on Monday when I call the HR office back.

Thank you for following my journey to the Delta, for your comments, and for your support. It’s meant a lot to me that anyone, even if it’s just a handful of you, are interested in this next step in my life and the beginning of a potential career. But if you’ve noticed, you haven’t even begun to follow the real adventures. After all, the blog address is “Courtney in Carolina”….Keep checking back! And see the pictures below.