[A Recap]

Clearly I have failed in my attempt to fully document my experience at Institute and most everything thereafter. Granted, working 20 hour days and sleeping during any free time I came 

across didn't really foster a need or even a desire to document my time in Philadelphia thus far. However, as the beginning of the school year--a real school year with real students--quickly approaches (actually, I start tomorrow), I have made time to conjure up a quick recap of my experience in the City of Brotherly Love to date.

[Induction]

 Induction, a week of preparation prior to Teach for America's rigorous Institute, began at the University of Pennsylvania on June 23rd--which now puts me over 2 months deep...whoa. The entire TFA Mid-Atlantic Corps, including members from Wilmington, Delaware and Camden, NJ gathered in what felt like freshman year of college relived. I was a pretty nervous and somewhat intimidated guy wading through a sea of highly qualified young graduates from universities ranging from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and NYU to Berkeley, the University of Washington, UCLA, and Stanford. With little idea of the grueling 5 weeks to follow, Induction was an opportunity to get to know the city a little bit better as well as the 250 fellow corps members who would be making this journey with me. I made a few new friends (mostly from the West Coast, ironically) and began to prepare myself psychologically for the intense 35 days to come as a real teacher. 

[Institute]

After spending my first week at Penn, the move to Temple University in North Philly came as a bit of a shocker. Apparently, Girard Ave. is the dividing line between the safer parts of the city and the neighborhoods up north that most people tend to avoid. That being said, Temple is about 6 blocks north of Girard and in a neighborhood similar to those that most of my students come from. Most people on campus don't care to walk alone at night, while clusters of flood lights on the rooftops help to make those who choose to do so feel a little bit safer. 

Anyway, for 5 weeks I slept an average of 4 hours a night as I made lesson plans, posters, activities,  and copies for the kids in Room 408 at Fairhill Elementary. Luckily, our school was located about 15 minutes north of campus, which meant our bus left 15 minutes later than the other busses. Oddly, this 15 minutes proved to be invaluable, especially considering the lack of sleep we were all experiencing!

During four of these five weeks, 3 TFA corps members and myself taught sixth grade reading, math, and writing. Although our kids had a reputation as the "troublemakers," let me tell you, they were smart! We met our reading goals and made 138% growth in math! However, this is not to say that these results came easily. There were days when I couldn't even get through part of my lessons because of classroom management and behavior issues. Still, we all persevered, made constant self-evaluations, and absorbed anything we could from mentor teachers and TFA instructors to make a positive impact in the lives of these 12 kids. The last days of Institute were strangely bitter-sweet, and it felt good knowing that I'd made it through the first of many challenges to come.

[Chestnut Hill College]

Welp, I'm a grad student. During the next two years, I'll be taking classes once a week and one weekend a month in the pursuit of a Masters Degree of Special Education from Chestnut Hill College. The school itself is located on a small plot of land in North-West Philadelphia, and despite the nasty commute, the refreshing atmosphere provides a really nice change of scenery. The classes aren't particularly difficult, and the group of SPED teachers is QUALITY!

[Thomas A. Edison High School]

As of now, I've been placed at Edison High School as a Special Education Emotional Support teacher. Although this placement is "extremely rare" according to TFA, come tomorrow, I'll be the leader of my own classroom whether I like it or not. I will be with the same group of kids for the 9 periods in the day teaching Algebra I, Geometry, English 1, and Reading. These kids have been placed in a self-contained setting as they've been diagnosed as having emotional disturbances.  While I'm not entirely sure what that means, I hope my psychology degree comes in handy!

Overall, the faculty and staff have been nothing but supportive. I'm still having a hard time asking for help, though. I think it's because I've been pretty successful thus far by doing my own thing, and I think reaching out when I'm in need is something I really need to work on. Regardless, I'll clearly be doing a quick recap tomorrow on my first day. I'm sure I'll have some pretty entertaining stories.

[Northern Liberties and Capital Flats]

It was my goal to find a neighborhood and apartment that felt comfortable to come home to. Mission accomplished. I'm living in Northern Liberties, an up-and-coming neighborhood filled with young hipsters riding their fixies and sporting multiple tattoos. Bars and cafes litter the streets directly around our apartment and the new Piazza at Schmidts is just one block north. Our apartment was an old meat-packing plant that was renovated LEED certified with exposed brick and cool little touches throughout. I'm living with a good-friend from Pepperdine (Mr. Sean Landis), and a fellow TFA Corps Member who hails from the great city of San Francisco (Mr. Paul Nedeau). It's been great having my own space and I'll be sure to post some more photos as soon as a paycheck comes in and I have a real bed to sleep on. Until then, feel free to peruse www.onionflats.com, click WORK, click BUILT, click CAPITAL FLATS, and use the arrows in the bottom right corner to scroll through some additional pictures. Our pad starts on picture 57! That's our kitchen and living room!

[Now What?]

I know this is a quick and dirty update. Things are about to get crazy and I'll be eager to share my experience. With that, I hope to be more active in my blogging if I have the time to do so. But, until then, thanks for reading. 

In the pursuit,

SM