BT Week 5
This was week 5 of my Breakthrough experience and while the chemistry lessons are getting harder to teach, and my hours got more absurd, I am completely falling in love with this job because of my kids. Some of my kids have begun to confide in me about their personal lives and even text me after school for advice. This had made me so happy since part of the goal of this program is for us as teachers to become mentors and supporters to these kids. I am loving getting close to these students and it makes me want to go out and be an advocate for all of them. I do not know how I will be able to leave them in a short month. They work so hard and though we have had some major behavior issues regarding political correctness, we are also growing as a “family” unit. At the end of the week we had a community service day in which we show the importance of giving back to our community, no matter our race, backgrounds, or socio-economic status, there is always something you can do to help your community. My fellow co-teachers and I went with our 21 students to a day center for disabled adults. It was the first time many of our kids had been exposed to adults with severe disabilities, but they handled it very well surprisingly. We were a bit worried they would not take it seriously, but they engaged with them in games such as bingo, and exercise class as well. On Thursday we were supposed to have the middle school dance, however there was construction going on near the school and they accidentally hit the water line and had to shut off the water at the school. While it was a bit chaotic i was shocked at how well all of the Teaching Fellows took control of the situation and their children. The director communicated with us a lot over group me, and we were able to get all of the kids picked up early. While we didnt have working restrooms, a nearby church let us come over with our students and use theirs. It was a very well-handled scenario, for a pretty crazy day. I am excited for another week of my busy yet highly rewarding internship.
As you continue (and after) I encourage you to develop a list of concrete tasks, projects, initiatives, etc. that you complete this summer. Having that information will be extremely beneficial as you go forward looking at graduate school, full-time employment, etc. ; to be able to talk about a real-life project/program you worked on and discuss how that relates to the nature of the graduate program or job you are pursuing will make you a strong candidate. I encourage you to reflect more on the degree to which your work is directed (or not) and the extent to which individuals without formal leadership (perhaps even the students) are able to exert/exhibit leadership (if anyone is).