Terrible Tuesday Strikes Back

It’s one of those days as “Terrible Tuesdays” so often seem to be. I had a bad day with my class and then everything else in life seems to be reflected in this dark shadow. Dramatic I know, but that’s just the way it is sometimes. I feel bad about my class, not teaching them enough, not being able to control them. I feel like I am not living up to TFA standards, I wonder how and if I will ever be good at this. I feel like if I leave after two years I won’t be satisfied with the job I did and feel guilty for coming in and out of this broken system so quickly as if I am giving up on it. Am I wasting my talents here? Could I be better used in a different way? This is a crazy journey and I just have to keep holding on.

We got our standardized test results back last week. I don’t have anything to compare it to, so really I don’t know what to think. I was disappointed that some of my students didn’t do better, when I know that they are smarter than they showed. But I was also happy with the scores many of my kids came out with.

And after all….It is nice to hear quality leaders complimenting TFA:

"People were saying, 'Don't expect growth the first year,' " Mr. Vallas(RSD Superintendent) said. "We saw growth the first year." Mr. Vallas attributed many of the improvements in testing to the new teachers. "The biggest contributing factor was the quality of the instructors," he said. Classes are smaller, many of the teachers are youthful imports brought in by groups like Teach for America, principals have been reshuffled or removed, school-hours remedial programs have been intensified, and after-school programs to help students increased."

ADAM NOSSITER (NY Times) Changes at New Orleans Schools Bring Gains in Test Scores