End of Induction

Today is the last day of Induction!  Tomorrow, we are leaving for Institute in Atlanta.  Over the course of the last week we've done a lot of "reflecting" throughout learning.  The format goes like this:

1. Introduce topic
2. Individual reflection/journaling on pre-topic knowledge/opinions
3. Mini-group discussion with people sitting next to you about pre-topic opinions
4. Whole group share on pre-topic opinions
5. Get the TFA schpeel on said topic
6. Individual reflection/journaling on TFA schpeel
7. Mini-group discussion on TFA schpeel
8. Whole group share on TFA schpeel
9. Conclusion/debrief (which may or may not include individual reflection/journaling, mini-group discussion, and whole group share depending upon time available)

Today, we took an hour to reflect on the week as a whole.  It was actually quite beneficial, to summarize for myself what happened over the past week - since so much happened so quickly.

Essentially, everything we've done over the past week has focused on developing the "character" (leadership, perseverance, relentless work, etc)  of a TFA teacher, next week we will get the detail of how to actually do the teaching, and the week following we begin teaching summer school students!

It seems like I've been part of this education "movement" forever - not just seven days.  I wrote that I'm starting to feel a little disconnected from the rest of the world since all I've done is eat, sleep, breathe TFA for a week.  It's hard for me to remember what it was like to be worried about other things besides children getting a quality education.

My sanity grounding goals for institute are to exercise 3-4 times a week for at least 30 minutes, do something fun every weekend, and perhaps I should add to the list - have conversations with x-number of non-TFA people once a week.