Today marks 2 weeks since we arrived in Memphis, Tennessee to begin our new life here - or, begin living in a dorm temporarily for a month and a half while we get trained with Teach for America, before we begin our new life for real.
So many big life changes all at once! I've included a few photos below of our wedding, for anyone who is reading this but not on Facebook (credit to the lovely Rachael Alexandra).
Some exciting points of the week...
- We started teaching summer school! I (Anneke) am teaching 8th grade ELA, and David is teaching 9th grade physical science.
- We found an apartment! We aren't moving in until July 11, but it's nice to have that settled. It's located 4 miles from Memphis School of Excellence, where we'll be teaching, so that's convenient! Also just about a mile and a half north of the church we've been attending.
- We got to ride on the back of a golf cart! When we were looking at apartments, the agent drove us to the specific unit under consideration, and David said the golf cart ride was the highlight of the visit.
- David has not melted in the heat yet.
My 8th graders will be reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers this summer. This is an awesome novel, and I applaud the choice as a relevant, interesting, and challenging (format- and theme-wise) text, but I felt a little awkward Friday afternoon as I introduced the novel. For anyone who hasn't read it, Monster is about how society and the justice system treats Steve Harmon, a black sixteen-year-old on trial for felony murder. The book is called "Monster" because that is how the prosecutor refers to Steve in her opening statement. So, the idea of the book is how society stereotypes black males. (So, pretty relevant, always, and especially recently.)
Thus, as a white teacher in front of a class of racial minority students, I felt weird posing the question "Does the American justice system treat everyone fairly, regardless of things like race and gender?" And yet, the kids were awesome. One girl said the justice system is not fair, because police officers shoot people and go on trial, but they get off.
Thus, as a white teacher in front of a class of racial minority students, I felt weird posing the question "Does the American justice system treat everyone fairly, regardless of things like race and gender?" And yet, the kids were awesome. One girl said the justice system is not fair, because police officers shoot people and go on trial, but they get off.
Another of our opening questions was "Is it okay to treat prisoners unfairly because they committed crimes?" A boy started our discussion off by saying that he disagreed because some prisoners are innocent. When I pushed him, he said that he thinks it is okay to treat guilty prisoners unfairly. I turned this question to the class and received a barrage of beautiful answers back--"They deserve to be treated fairly because they're human, too," "We should treat others as we want to be treated," and "Everyone deserves respect" (pointing to our class expectation of respect posted on the wall). I'm excited to delve more deeply into these issues this summer. We're focusing on MLK's quote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Our final TFA session Friday evening was a reflection on a session we had had earlier that week about diversity, equity, and inclusion. My small group looked at Stephen Covey's quote "We see the world not as it is, but as we are--or, as we are conditioned to see it." I was reminded again (by that, and other conversations of the week) how we all experience life differently, and all sort of live in different worlds. I can't pretend to completely understand anyone's life. I was reminded to stay humble, as I seek to serve a people and a place new to me.
So we're all different, but as my 8th graders said, we're all human, too. As one of my group mates said in the reflection session I mentioned above, in teaching we are called to "love beyond borders."
Peace to all,
Anneke
Our final TFA session Friday evening was a reflection on a session we had had earlier that week about diversity, equity, and inclusion. My small group looked at Stephen Covey's quote "We see the world not as it is, but as we are--or, as we are conditioned to see it." I was reminded again (by that, and other conversations of the week) how we all experience life differently, and all sort of live in different worlds. I can't pretend to completely understand anyone's life. I was reminded to stay humble, as I seek to serve a people and a place new to me.
So we're all different, but as my 8th graders said, we're all human, too. As one of my group mates said in the reflection session I mentioned above, in teaching we are called to "love beyond borders."
Peace to all,
Anneke
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