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It’s been difficult, honestly, to try and look back and critically engage with what just happened over the course of the past year. My first year of teaching – hell, anyone’s first year of teaching – , is such a personal experience, made up of such complex, unforgettable though you wish so many parts could be forgotten and yet teeny things that need to be remembered. See? I’ve probably already lost you.

All I know is that next year, I’m going to know how to teach literacy. I’m actually excited about the prospect of this, and I’ve had to do some actual TFA reflection as to why I did such a crappy job of teaching it this year. I came to the following conclusion:

I am good at literacy. I am an English major. I was blessed with a relatively good understanding of the written and spoken word. That being said, when other people do not understand it, I fail to draw the necessary conclusions as to how to bridge that gap in comprehension. Math? I operate at around a 5th grade level in math, so when my kids struggled, it was a pretty good bet that I was struggling too. I think that’s one reason we made such positive gains in math was because we all were genuinely learning together, wherein in language I felt like I was just dragging them through the mud behind me as opposed to stopping to figure out how to set them back on their feet (all kidding aside, I did actually teach them simile and metaphor.) So this summer I’m setting several big goals for myself, one of which is definitely to teach myself how to teach literacy. I need to get started on that.

One thing that has hindered my educational education is induction, which by far was one of the more rewarding experiences of my recent memory. I have been waiting for these corps members for a while. It’s weird to think that just a year ago, I was in their shoes (sort of, some of them have much larger/smaller feet than I do), and yet here I was, not a year later, feeling grateful and humbled that they all chose to come to the Delta. Why? I’m not a Mississippian. I only recently started to call Arkansas home. So why do I feel so grateful to these people? I think it must be like when you feel like you’ve got to take on the world all on your own and suddenly people are standing by your side, ready to help you. Not to say that this year I didn’t have flanks of support, but seriously. ALMOST THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE. It’s amazing to feel part of something so much bigger than yourself. Absolutely amazing.

I’m rambling, I know, but the new corps members really knocked my socks off with their enthusiasm. I can’t wait to see them after institute and see their faces when they realize they’re actually teachers. I remember the actual moment it hit me that I was going to be teaching every day and it was awe-inspiring. It’ll be overwhelming to watch that same moment with all these new folks. Plus, it’s just fun to have the prospect of so many new friends. Dear new CMs- Delta love!!!!

Now I know this has been a touchy feely entry full of Delta love and school love and forward thinking, but that’s only because I’m writing it in the airport waiting to hop a flight to California.

I need a BREAK.

Back in a few days, when the Great Delta Housing Hunt truly begins…