Placement

Placement for TFA is...less than self-explanatory. Upon acceptance in the Corps, each of the 4,000 or so members each year is assigned to a region. My region is Connecticut, and my tentative assignment is Secondary General Science. This means I will, most likely, be teaching 7-9 grade general science in Connecticut. I do not know the specific details of what/where I will be teaching.

From April until September, corps members are interviewed by individual schools for specific positions in five main cities in Connecticut: Hartford, Torrington, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford, with 80% of corps members likely placed in New Haven and Hartford.

I have had two school contacts so far, both unsuccessful. One was for a lovely charter school in New Haven. After a phone interview and an in-person interview, involving a 30-minute sample lesson arranged on less than a week's notice, they decided that it "would not be the best place for me next year." The second school, an equally nice charter in Hartford, let me know in a form email after a phone interview that "We regret to advise you that we have decided to discontinue evaluation of your candidacy at this time."

What am I doing wrong? I guess it's back to pre-Institute work for now. I'd really like to know what city I'll be living in; the mystery is getting old. Time to start making a packing list for Institute and Induction. (Induction, fyi, is a week-long "introduction" to Connecticut, which I've heard resembles freshman orientation at college. Sweet.)

In other news, the triathlon training has been coming along okay. Last week, I ran, biked, and swam. The swim was slow, but felt wonderful. I did 1/2 mile, which is the race distance. My 11.8 bike ride was fun, but slower than I had hoped. My running has been less that satisfactory. I think I'm still burned out, a full month after the half marathon. I slogged through 2 miles last Thursday and another 1.5 today. I'll make it, though. I'm definitely not as anxious about the race as I am about Institute.