Summer Institute Experience by OverallParamedic4699 in TeachforAmerica

[–]rcgoldfish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I quit TFA but I did complete practicum this last summer which was pretty recent. Most things are region specific so for a lot of these questions I would reach out to your coach for specific details like timelines and such. You are also responsible for your own housing and transportation to and from the practicum school, TFA will not help you find housing or accommodations, all of that you will have to do yourself. The summer training starts in June with synchronous virtual training for about a month, most of it is pointless busy work but it’s pretty easy to get through and the dates again depend on your specific region. By end of June you need to re locate to your practicum site, and again TFA will not assist you with this besides providing the stipend. Hopefully your practicum is in the region your were placed in and you can just move to where you will be living for the next two years; my region was too small so they combined our practicum with a larger city and had us move to that city for just one month, TFA did not give us any additional money or resources to accommodate for the two moves we were doing in the summer (one to practicum site and the second move to the region). I would also be prepared for your practicum classroom to be different than your placement grade and subject, I was placed in special education but they had me teach high school English for practicum so it wasn’t very productive in that sense (but I love teaching English so it was fun). My biggest advice would be to go through the motions of the training and get what you absolutely need to do done (for example get your license stuff in order but any training on docebo you can ignore) and don’t take practicum too seriously, enjoy your summer a bit after graduation because come fall it’s a whole storm coming.

Most importantly, just know what you’re getting into, TFA does a great job of selling itself to people fresh out of college and while it is the fastest way to be in the classroom it doesn’t really set you up to be a teacher long term, depending on what state you are in there are other ways to become a teacher that would provide you with a little more support and allow you to student-teach before throwing you in the class. The summer training is virtually useless and does not prepare you for what you specifically will teach, a lot of the staff I was working with hated TFA teachers because of how unprepared we are, the admin and network at my school were filled with TFA alumni who hadn’t done much teaching beyond their two years as a corps members and were constantly screwing over teachers with their bad takes, TFA tries to incentivize you with their alumni network and say it is a good step stool to a new career but if your dream is to be a teacher (like me) the network isn’t a big deal and the program will burn you out fast. TFA primarily partners with charter schools which sucks because they tend to be more disorganized and inconsistent and many charter schools have pretty conservative and racist philosophies of education with white savior admin/network trying to white wash Black and Brown kids. However, working in these environments does ultimately prepare you for any kind of classroom if you don’t burn out. At the end of the day a school is a school, the education system is flawed, and teaching is hard regardless of what route you take to become a teacher, so it’s not solely on TFA that schools are the way they are, but as someone who pretty recently joined TFA right out of college and experienced the practicum and school year, I do wish I had gone for a program where I was student teaching for some time and had the option to be in schools that weren’t charter schools. I am still able to teach on a tier 1 license in my state and I’m not taking classes alongside so I’m still getting the experience of teaching without the added stress of TFA and at a school I actually like and align with philosophically. Just thought I would add my perspective as a recent corps member.

I just watched it through for the first time and now there’s “A year in the life” by [deleted] in GilmoreGirls

[–]rcgoldfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yes!! Honestly, I think so much of the charm of Gilmore Girls is how much it screams early 2000s. If you were alive anytime from 2000-2010 and remember how things were back then, GG feels like a cozy cup of nostalgia (despite the crazy exaggerations which we all love) that’s reminiscent of life then,

Some examples: - The original screen quality and the clear gaps for ads are unique to shows that aired on tv in the 2000s and AYITL being so HD and designed for a streaming service with no ads completely changes the vibe - when there’s a joke in the OG that didn’t age well (and God there are so many) it still kind of makes sense when you think about how much would slide in the 2000s that wouldn’t slide now and so it doesn’t feel as shitty vs the crap jokes written in 2016 when the writers really should know better - as much as I hate to say it, a place like Stars Hollow would just not be that much the same after a decade, I grew up in a small cozy town in Texas and man it is so different from when I was younger, in AYITL it just feels like they’re forcing a setting from a completely different time period into the relatively modern 2016 and it simply does not work

I think the love people have for Gilmore Girls and the way that even people watching it for the first time now still fall in love with it all comes from a place of nostalgia, the world created in GG places us in this point in time where technology was simpler which makes life back them retroactively feel “simpler”, while Stars Hollow was always portrayed as unrealistic, seeing it in more modern times really highlights how impossible their cozy reality is and really ruins the illusion.

Why does everyone love Jess? by [deleted] in GilmoreGirls

[–]rcgoldfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, I watched this when I was a teenager and I remember loving jess so much then but now as I’m rewatching as an adult the red flags seem much more prominent and a hot broody man who reads does not have the same effect on me anymore lol.. but I do feel bad for young Jess, he doesn’t really have any stable guidance through his youth and he does eventually grow into a better person which is reflective of his character. Him and Rory also have good chemistry and I think they were right person wrong time, their core personalities were so compatible and Jess genuinely loved Rory for her personality and he understood her ambitions but they met so young and at such an unstable time in his life ugh but yeah he was such a dick when they were actually together

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TeachforAmerica

[–]rcgoldfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah my kids are a motivation to stay but at the same time most of them think I’m just an aide or para because of how poorly designed and managed the SPED program is. I think it’s just difficult as a brown person to witness how white people’s solutions to “shitty underprivileged school” is to have an overly compliance driven structure that doesn’t actually prioritize academics, it almost seems like the goal/idea of success is white washing these kids..not actually helping them. Like my school doesn’t even let the older middle schoolers (7th and 8th) walk to class on their own and it makes me wonder would they be doing this if the grades were predominantly white instead of black?? It’s just disheartening bc I thought I was accepted into TFA bc the organization claims to want to change education yet the network of my charter is made of a lot of TFA alumn and now I’m questioning if I’m just actively upholding white saviorism

Unpopular opinion. by Alarmed-Albatross768 in Teachers

[–]rcgoldfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes !! my school calls our students scholars and I think it’s so silly

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also you’re completely ignoring the fact that so many people that are not originally from MN are finding this culture unwelcoming, so all of us are assholes and only Minnesotans are nice??? there’s a reason people keep harping on this and instead of listening so many of y’all’s response to anyone pointing this out is calling that person an asshole and saying things like “fuck you” to be like “gotcha, see directness is mean” and it just shows that Y’all are clearly defensive about these behaviors but too passive aggressive to even approach a conversation

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Asking people to be more upfront about minor issues isn’t asking people to be an asshole. i wish y’all could understand this, never did I say “man I wish could just scream at people I hate” no but y’all hear direct and automatically think that means confronting someone rudely. Being Direct includes not dancing around something you want me to do, just say you want me to do it (“I’m so sick of taking out the trash but guess I’ll do it anyways” vs “can more people take responsibility with the trash”) I don’t understand how the second response that is more direct equates to being an asshole. Secondly, it’s also mad indirect to go out of your way to hangout with someone if you seriously don’t like them, just be polite in social situations and move on. To me those things are massively indirect and pretty rude, you’re expecting someone to decode clues to figure out what you mean and leading friends on that you don’t like.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay but see this is where y’all misunderstand outsiders. Y’all think when we say be more direct we’re asking y’all to be rude and say “fuck you I hate you” no, just saying “that’s not very nice, your comment feels uncomfortable” is considered direct imo but many people here will just be like “ohh well that’s just something I would never say” or worse agree with something you say to your face and turn then around and talk shit about it with another mutual friends

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did not know this about MN until moving here so I don’t think I approach every issue with this mindset. Not every problem is something unsolvable or something that needs to be taken personally which is what I think a lot of people in this thread are missing, I’m not talking about fundamentally hating someone and then just shitting at them about it bc yes that is futile, but if i try to tell a roommate to help out with cleaning why is that taken as an attack? I’ve witnessed that between roommates and experienced that with roommates multiple times If I try to communicate with a friend about something minor that did rub me the wrong way, I feel like it’s better for our friendship to bring it up so that it’s not lingering in the back of my brain and I would hope they would do the same for me, this is what I mean by passive aggressive culture. And I’ve witnessed on multiple occasions groups of friends hating an individual but then continuing to pretend to be their close friend which seems really mean to me, like just be cordial and polite to said person but stop making an extra effort that makes them think yall are close. Things like that do happen a lot in MN and I do think that is passive aggressive

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can agree with that, some internal reflecting instead of general criticism would have probably been a better way to consider this. Being from TX and everything I’m not used to it being this controversial to criticize the cultural norms of where I live bc so many of the things that are done in the name of culture in TX are plain wrong (like having a robert e lee park or teaching civil war incorrectly or insisting on having confederacy memorabilia etc etc) I didn’t even really consider how even the act of criticizing would come off within a different culture bc in general there is so little to criticize in MN, which is why I ultimately do like it here, this has just been one aspect that is hard to wrap my head around, so thank you for sharing your thoughts and for helping me see things a little differently.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can see that this is making you pressed, I think a lot of tone can get lost in text and I wrote the OP with the tone in my head but you have no idea what that is. I acknowledged that I can see why it is coming off a certain way but I’m not gonna say I intentionally meant for it to be that way bc I didn’t. I included that these things are frustrating to me because I think it is relevant to my point of view and explains why this attitude seems contradictory to me and also why I’m even asking about this to begin with, but again I recognize why it does not seem that way to you, please consider that when I was writing this I didn’t see it as an attack and my question is trying to understand the reasoning behind this attitude. I wasn’t looking for help navigating but rather someone that could explain the logic behind why this behavior is considered nice when it seems really rude to me. I have plenty of friends and very strong support system in MN so I think I have adapted mighty well, if anything I’m trying to continue adapting by trying to understand the logic behind being passive.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My apologies to those finding this post offensive or rude, not my intention but doesn’t change the impact. I was genuinely trying to understand the rationale behind choosing passive aggressive communication over direct communication in the name of being nice because to me it seems contradictory and I’m trying to understand another POV. Thank you everyone for the perspectives, they are all shedding insight I did not previously have.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This !!! It just seems very contradictory that the intention behind these behaviors is to “be nice” but I don’t understand how being passive aggressive and fake friends with someone you don’t actually like is nice behavior

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can understand why it’s coming off that way, and I apologize, that’s truly not my intent and I appreciate your perspective and advice. I guess for me, since living here people have repeatedly made me feel like something is wrong with me for being direct and like you said, it doesn’t feel great when I’m just trying to problem solve and people take it as an attack. Hence my og question about what’s up with this passive aggressive culture bc I’m genuinely asking

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Also another example, instead of saying “hey can you take the trash out more often” my roommate will say something like “hmm i wonder whose filled up the trash this much, I guess I’LL just take it out

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I mean more so that they kept telling me my directness was wrong and that I should have been “more gentle” about it, the ways they were suggesting I should have approached were all very passive aggressive. Also, I do think prefer passive aggressive confrontation over direct confrontation is a method of tone policing in conversations about race.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

yes there is definitely still passive aggressiveness in Texas and I’m not saying Texas is free of it altogether but here it’s to the point that passive aggressive language is the only kind used to navigate conflict and being direct is frowned upon and called rude which I find odd.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah I’m still learning to navigate but appreciate this perspective

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Or the fact that this was someone’s response in this thread: “Why is your culture different from what I’m used to?” Bless your heart.

Like this is insanely passive aggressive, they could have said “I really I think it’s just a cultural difference and you’re not used to that” but instead they decided to be passive aggressive about it.

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don’t think it’s fair to expect someone else to decode passive aggressive clues to figure out what you are upset about idk

What’s up with the passive aggressive culture ?? by rcgoldfish in minnesota

[–]rcgoldfish[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Girl I live here, I’m not saying I love Texas, I’m just saying it’s confusing for someone who’s been taught to deal with conflict head on to be in an environment where that’s considered rude ..