Charlie's Angels

I received the following text message from my principal last night:

"I'm confident that I have selected the best 2012 TFA Corps Members for T.A. Sims Elementary.  I have been bragging on you all to everyone.  Since you all are such an endearing and diverse group of 3, I have given you all the nickname of 'Charlie's Angels'

Again, welcome to the Brilliant Bulldog Team.  -Harper"

That's Bianca on my left and Cara on my right.  Bianca will take 5th grade, and Cara and I will be doing 4th grade.  On the far right is Catherine who is a Manager, Teacher Leadership Development (MTLD).

So, like I said, I think I've hit the jackpot.

Day 3

Today was a long and filled day.  We all went to a local high school and learned more about setting our visions and big goals for our classrooms.  One of the highlights was hearing from parents of some of the students taught by corps members, but the best part by far was getting to talk to some of the students!

The first pair that I got to talk to were 5th graders from T.A. Sims!  I teared up a little bit hearing them talk about how much they loved their teacher and how, when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, responded, "When I grow up I want to be a doctor.  The steps I have to take are take pre-AP classes in middle school, go to the charter high school, take the SAT and ACT, go to either UT or Yale, and then go to medical school."  9 year olds.  Whose dominant language is Spanish.  I was blown away by how articulate they were and how invested they were in the goals that their teacher had set at the beginning of the year.  After those two lovely students, I was able to talk to students from 8th grade, a recent high school graduate, and two adorable 3rd graders.  The common thread throughout all of the conversations was students who knew exactly what was expected of them being inspired by a teacher who showed how much they cared by investing in their students personally and creating an engaging classroom environment where learning was fun.

Then we got to go out to dinner with our "transition teams" which are basically orientation groups.  Tomorrow I am so lucky to have most of the day off since I have taken care of testing and finger printing already.  I am planning to head out to Fort Worth to check out some housing and possibly drop by T.A. Sims.  In the evening, we have the pleasure of heading out to dinner hosted by TFA alumni.

Ta ta for now!