So I’ve definitely been playing “Live Your Life” on repeat during my prep period. “No tellin’ where it’ll take ya — just live your life.”
Message to Rihanna and T.I.: You shoooow right.
This song has become my anthem. Who would have guessed I’d be working in rural Arkansas right after life as a college kid? Who could have predicted the bizarre and sometimes gut-wrenching experiences I’ve had since my starry-eyed entrance to Institute in June? And honestly, how is this first semester almost over? I have so much farther still to go with these kids.
On days like today, I can’t even imagine myself doing anything else.
We’re knee deep in our first class-wide novel — the first novel some of these kids will have ever truly read from cover to cover — and I am so proud of how hard my students have been working. Students who refused to read at the beginning of the year are shooting their hands up to be the first to read aloud each day. Students who once told me they were “stupid” have been furiously scribbling their questions and inferences on Post-It notes. Students who gave me a rough time in August and September are pressuring each other to be better prepared and behaved (“we can’t afford to lose any class points!”). These same students have been spontaneously competing with each other to demonstrate the best vocabulary in classroom discussions. Where did these people come from?
That said, I still have some students I haven’t quite figured out yet. I’m starting to get really worried about those kids; a couple of them seem to have really given up. I hope our efforts actually translate to significant gains by the end of the year. I’m nervous.
Part of me wants to skip ahead to three years from now, when most of my kids will be graduating. I want to see where they end up.
