Let's recap what a normal week is supposed to look like for a TEP - Elementary student in January:
- Monday: Student teaching
- Tuesday: Student teaching, evening Seminar
- Wednesday: Student teaching
- Thursday: Student teaching
- Friday: Morning Seminar, afternoon Teaching Diverse Learners (every other week)
Now let's look at what this week has looked like:
- Monday: MLK Day
- Tuesday: Early dismissal (due to snow), Seminar cancelled
- Wednesday: Snow day
- Thursday: Student teaching
- Friday: Student teaching (field trip!)
Sliiiiiiiiiiiightly different. But not really complaining!
First, about MLK Day. In Philadelphia, it's a pretty big deal -- it's the MLK Day of Service, something that's catching on nationally but which I had never heard of before I moved to Philadelphia. Then again, I grew up in Virginia, a state whose relationship with the holiday has been, shall we say, troubled. I live with an organizer who was recruiting volunteers to help out at Jackson Elementary in South Philly, so I joined in to help with a massive library inventory project. It was great to work with so many people in helping with such an important project -- but I can't help but feel morally conflicted about volunteering to do work that I unequivocally believe should be funded by the state. Schools need libraries; how is that even a question? And yet, in Philadelphia, many schools lack functioning libraries, and many of those that operate libraries part-time (like Lea, where I taught in the fall) do so with volunteers (something plenty of schools don't have access to). Also -- there were SO many volunteers at Jackson (from some VERY highly connected organizations, in areas of the city nowhere near Jackson) that I could only wonder how many schools could have better used some of them. Not to knock volunteerism, but in the spirit of a day celebrating Dr. King, let's remember that we should be conscious of, and fighting against, structural injustice.
Anyway.
The snow days were great - managed to knock a lot of items off my to-do list that I should have tackled over the long weekend. Including (drum roll, please): some of the first steps of the job hunt process. I've said elsewhere that my top priority is to try to find a job in a Philadelphia public school, but that's a very difficult road (due to massive recent layoffs, seniority rules, declining and uncertain enrollment due to charter school expansion, teacher turnover, etc.). So I'm looking at alternatives, and that includes signing up with some headhunter agencies (Carney Sandoe and Southern Teachers Agency) which will hopefully start connecting me with a potpourri of far-flung job possibilities. I'll keep you posted on that process as the spring progresses.
Also, I didn't really mention: it snowed! A lot, actually - the 10th largest single-day snowfall in Philadelphia history (13.5 inches, so that those of you from Minnesota can smirk and those of you from Houston can shudder). I felt terrible for all the teachers who came in on Tuesday thinking the snow would start in the afternoon, only to have to drive home in the 3-4 inches that had already fallen by the time students dismissed. Still, walking around in the snow was pretty great.
[A note on Philadelphia winters, for people who aren't native to the Mid-Atlantic: there's not really such a thing as a "standard" winter here, so good luck preparing for it. Winter 2009-10 was the snowiest on record, winter 2011-12 was one of the warmest on record, and winter 2013-14 is shaping up as one of the coldest (or at least well below average).]
I got back to student teaching on Thursday (more on student teaching in my next blog post, promise), and Friday I got permission to skip seminar to go to my first field trip as a student teacher. We went to PAFA, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and it was lovely.
Also in the week: saw a movie, played some games, cooked some amazing green beans (out of the Vedge cookbook), took my second martial arts class of the new year at Zhang Sah (after months of being too busy/lazy to make it), ate a tofu hoagie, and failed to do laundry. And now I'm blogging.
Grateful for a weird week; now I'm ready to get some consistency back.
Anyway.
The snow days were great - managed to knock a lot of items off my to-do list that I should have tackled over the long weekend. Including (drum roll, please): some of the first steps of the job hunt process. I've said elsewhere that my top priority is to try to find a job in a Philadelphia public school, but that's a very difficult road (due to massive recent layoffs, seniority rules, declining and uncertain enrollment due to charter school expansion, teacher turnover, etc.). So I'm looking at alternatives, and that includes signing up with some headhunter agencies (Carney Sandoe and Southern Teachers Agency) which will hopefully start connecting me with a potpourri of far-flung job possibilities. I'll keep you posted on that process as the spring progresses.
Also, I didn't really mention: it snowed! A lot, actually - the 10th largest single-day snowfall in Philadelphia history (13.5 inches, so that those of you from Minnesota can smirk and those of you from Houston can shudder). I felt terrible for all the teachers who came in on Tuesday thinking the snow would start in the afternoon, only to have to drive home in the 3-4 inches that had already fallen by the time students dismissed. Still, walking around in the snow was pretty great.
[A note on Philadelphia winters, for people who aren't native to the Mid-Atlantic: there's not really such a thing as a "standard" winter here, so good luck preparing for it. Winter 2009-10 was the snowiest on record, winter 2011-12 was one of the warmest on record, and winter 2013-14 is shaping up as one of the coldest (or at least well below average).]
I got back to student teaching on Thursday (more on student teaching in my next blog post, promise), and Friday I got permission to skip seminar to go to my first field trip as a student teacher. We went to PAFA, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and it was lovely.
Also in the week: saw a movie, played some games, cooked some amazing green beans (out of the Vedge cookbook), took my second martial arts class of the new year at Zhang Sah (after months of being too busy/lazy to make it), ate a tofu hoagie, and failed to do laundry. And now I'm blogging.
Grateful for a weird week; now I'm ready to get some consistency back.
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