Reflections On Being A Summer Teaching Fellow

My summer as a Summer Teaching Fellow has truly been a blessed experience. I have felt blessed to be a part of this cohort and to be surrounded by peers of color who also have a burning passion for education. We have been able to challenge each other and better develop more nuanced understandings of our own visions regarding the future of educational reform. I feel privileged to be able to go through this experience of tremendous growth and learning with other future leaders.

Becoming a part of the Excellence Boys Charter School community has also been a blessing. This is a community that is holistically dedicated to the mission of education for the purpose of transformation and legitimately invested in teacher growth and development. Everyday at Excellence Boys is fun, lively and filled with reminders as to why I am here, in that school, in this program and in this movement.

I’ve also come to realize that I am not an island, but that we are a part of a movement. It’s been a blessing to have many of the leaders doing the good work we envision ourselves becoming a part of take the time to meet with us, share what they know and ultimately become an active part of our own development.

Lastly, this blessing realizes one of the main reasons I chose to take part of this program. Education in academia has left me with lots of theories about education and teaching but without the techniques and tools actually needed to teach and provide education. Being a Summer Teaching Fellow has exposed me to multiple environments where instructional techniques, backwards planning and assessments are valued, taught and implemented. It’s a blessing because I know that I became a better teacher, not by a fluke of magic or because I was born that way, but because of the guidance, effort and feedback that I received throughout the summer.

Throughout the summer, there has been this growing and deepening swaying within me that tells me, this is where it’s at, that I’m in it for the long haul. Just as the scholars at Excellence Boys complete their Life’s Work everyday, I’ve realized that what I chose to do with each day is my Life’s Work as well. Though it can be overwhelming at times, I mostly have this great sense of focus and clarity. In knowing my Life’s Work, I feel secure and more able to make decisions that will guide me towards the aspects of educational reform where I need and want to be.

* Cross-posted at : http://summerteachingfellows.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/reflections-on-the-final-days/#comments

So So Blessed

This past week has been one of the worst weeks that I've had here at Swarthmore. But if I'm completely honest with myself, it has also been one of the best. Here's why:

* ~ 10 hours of sleep in 3 days
* slept through 2 final presentations. a note about this. not just any presentation. i slept through a presentation for the class that has been my sustaining (academic) blood here. the class that has been teaching me so much. challenging me so much. and expecting what i expect of myself so much.
* did not sleep through the 3rd "presentation". this just made me extremely bitter. angry. upset. highly annoyed.

The combination of these 3 things, and others that I failed to mention here, proved to be a quite harrowing experience. But light of all that, I also realized how extremely Blessed that I am. Here's some of why:

* My girls published "The Sisters"
* Speak In, Speak OUT! premiered
* Felt like I was falling into abyss, and found that my friends where there to catch me everytime.
Every time. Thank you. Every time. Wow.

There are a bunch of other things and specifics that I could go into. But for some reason, when it comes to blessings, it sort of feels like a violation to place and fix them into this space. So I won't