1. How did today differ from how I expected it to be?
2. What are the high points of the day?
3. What are the low points of the day?
4. What is one experience that caused me to grow today?
5. What am I excited about for tomorrow?
1. Well, today was just a day of constantly adjusting expectations, so it pretty much kept me on my toes. Our emails weren't working properly, so most of my team didn't know that we were supposed to meet down town until we were supposed to be there. So that was fun. When we finally did all get together, we went on a tour of our school neighborhood, which was pretty similar to how I expected it to be, but I really loved it. It is in a part of town that is super-dense in Latino culture, which was awesome. We got to eat breakfast taco's at Linda's, a family owned restaurant on the West Side (first tacos for breakfast and I think someone needs to start this business in Indiana). Then we drove to our school, but not onto the campus because we're not approved to be on school grounds yet. This year, our middle school is getting 200 more students than past years, which means that the school is going to be very chaotic and crowded. Bring it on.
2. The morning was really cool, but when we got back to Region 20 (an education center we've been meeting at for training), we had some really cool sessions that I'm super glad we didn't miss. First, we organized CY Social Circles, which is exactly what it sounds like. We had corps members form groups based on shared interests so we can connect outside of work and do fun things in San Antonio! I spent most of my time talking about different sports and getting groups together to play (I am going through Ultimate Frisbee withdrawal), but I also spearheaded an Outdoor Adventure group, because I really want to go hiking. Like really. Plus book club. Awesome.
After that, we spent two hours in Self Care. That is precisely what it seems: we take care of ourselves. So this was called a Self Care Bazaar, and they had different activities for all different types of people. There were active games outside, a "reflection" room AKA nap room, yoga led by a certified instructor/CY leader, and a "belonging" room, which had crafts, games like Ellen's Heads Up and Bananagrams, and collage making. We did that for two hours and yes I feel much better taken care of now. It was really nice to decompress after such an up-in-the-air morning.
Also, after we got done with work, Shelby and I went to get my tire replaced and while we were waiting, we met a woman who is a 2nd year corps member with Teach for America in San Antonio. She actually teaches math at one of the local high schools, and she had a City Year corps member in her classes last year! She had nothing but good things to say about her corps member and City Year in general, which made me feel even better about what we're doing. It also made me wish that Pat could have a CY in his classroom. Mostly I just wish that every teacher could have a CY in their classroom. Think of how much easier and more effective their jobs would be if they just had a little help!
After getting April her new shoes (my car her new tires), Shelby and I finally tried Whataburger! It was fantastic in a fast-food kind of way. I can definitely see why it's a Texas tradition and I will probably be seen there a couple more times this year. :)
3. Low point of today was that this morning was the first time I actually felt disengaged from what we were doing. I felt like I was doing a really good job just going with the flow, especially since I had to take my roommate in to Region 20 before I could get to where my team was meeting. And I had to avoid any highways because of my donut tire (really hard to do in San Antonio), so I had a little extra to think about. But I didn't let any of that bother me; or so I thought. I was just kind of blah, and thinking about myself being blah made me more blah because I didn't think I had any good reason to be blah. Blah! So I was really glad to connect with some of my most positive friends when we got back to the big group and that helped me refocus and let go of the frustration that I didn't even know I had left over from the morning! I love my school team already, but I can tell I'm going to need to reach outside that group to decompress every once in a while.
4. This seems really superficial, but I realized how often I say "you guys" today. We were talking about it in one of our sessions, because we were asked to curb that habit, because apparently it's a Midwest thing and people who are learning English as a second language can get confused by the phrase and think we're referring only to males. I thought to myself, "That makes sense, I won't say that anymore. How hard can it be?" Apparently, REALLY HARD. I don't even notice when I'm saying it, so I'm going to have to replace that phrase with something more gender neutral. I apologize in advance if that phrase is "y'all". I'm pretty sure that's the only thing I can say that doesn't make me sound like a crazy woman or super serious. So I am assimilating to Texan culture. It's a real and present danger.
5. Tomorrow, we are back to a more "standard" day of training, which is exciting because it's one of our last full days of training. I'm excited to dig deeper into what my role will be with teachers and students this year! We're so close to actually beginning our service in the schools!!!!
2. What are the high points of the day?
3. What are the low points of the day?
4. What is one experience that caused me to grow today?
5. What am I excited about for tomorrow?
1. Well, today was just a day of constantly adjusting expectations, so it pretty much kept me on my toes. Our emails weren't working properly, so most of my team didn't know that we were supposed to meet down town until we were supposed to be there. So that was fun. When we finally did all get together, we went on a tour of our school neighborhood, which was pretty similar to how I expected it to be, but I really loved it. It is in a part of town that is super-dense in Latino culture, which was awesome. We got to eat breakfast taco's at Linda's, a family owned restaurant on the West Side (first tacos for breakfast and I think someone needs to start this business in Indiana). Then we drove to our school, but not onto the campus because we're not approved to be on school grounds yet. This year, our middle school is getting 200 more students than past years, which means that the school is going to be very chaotic and crowded. Bring it on.
2. The morning was really cool, but when we got back to Region 20 (an education center we've been meeting at for training), we had some really cool sessions that I'm super glad we didn't miss. First, we organized CY Social Circles, which is exactly what it sounds like. We had corps members form groups based on shared interests so we can connect outside of work and do fun things in San Antonio! I spent most of my time talking about different sports and getting groups together to play (I am going through Ultimate Frisbee withdrawal), but I also spearheaded an Outdoor Adventure group, because I really want to go hiking. Like really. Plus book club. Awesome.
After that, we spent two hours in Self Care. That is precisely what it seems: we take care of ourselves. So this was called a Self Care Bazaar, and they had different activities for all different types of people. There were active games outside, a "reflection" room AKA nap room, yoga led by a certified instructor/CY leader, and a "belonging" room, which had crafts, games like Ellen's Heads Up and Bananagrams, and collage making. We did that for two hours and yes I feel much better taken care of now. It was really nice to decompress after such an up-in-the-air morning.
Also, after we got done with work, Shelby and I went to get my tire replaced and while we were waiting, we met a woman who is a 2nd year corps member with Teach for America in San Antonio. She actually teaches math at one of the local high schools, and she had a City Year corps member in her classes last year! She had nothing but good things to say about her corps member and City Year in general, which made me feel even better about what we're doing. It also made me wish that Pat could have a CY in his classroom. Mostly I just wish that every teacher could have a CY in their classroom. Think of how much easier and more effective their jobs would be if they just had a little help!
After getting April her new shoes (my car her new tires), Shelby and I finally tried Whataburger! It was fantastic in a fast-food kind of way. I can definitely see why it's a Texas tradition and I will probably be seen there a couple more times this year. :)
3. Low point of today was that this morning was the first time I actually felt disengaged from what we were doing. I felt like I was doing a really good job just going with the flow, especially since I had to take my roommate in to Region 20 before I could get to where my team was meeting. And I had to avoid any highways because of my donut tire (really hard to do in San Antonio), so I had a little extra to think about. But I didn't let any of that bother me; or so I thought. I was just kind of blah, and thinking about myself being blah made me more blah because I didn't think I had any good reason to be blah. Blah! So I was really glad to connect with some of my most positive friends when we got back to the big group and that helped me refocus and let go of the frustration that I didn't even know I had left over from the morning! I love my school team already, but I can tell I'm going to need to reach outside that group to decompress every once in a while.
4. This seems really superficial, but I realized how often I say "you guys" today. We were talking about it in one of our sessions, because we were asked to curb that habit, because apparently it's a Midwest thing and people who are learning English as a second language can get confused by the phrase and think we're referring only to males. I thought to myself, "That makes sense, I won't say that anymore. How hard can it be?" Apparently, REALLY HARD. I don't even notice when I'm saying it, so I'm going to have to replace that phrase with something more gender neutral. I apologize in advance if that phrase is "y'all". I'm pretty sure that's the only thing I can say that doesn't make me sound like a crazy woman or super serious. So I am assimilating to Texan culture. It's a real and present danger.
5. Tomorrow, we are back to a more "standard" day of training, which is exciting because it's one of our last full days of training. I'm excited to dig deeper into what my role will be with teachers and students this year! We're so close to actually beginning our service in the schools!!!!
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