Victory!

I have won the Teach for America Game!

Finally, I have a placement. It's where I expected, at the school in Bridgeport where I interviewed a few weeks ago. 7th and 8th grade science. Salary starts in the $42,000 range. I will teach two classes for each grade, for a total of four classes a day. I will have about 20 kids in each class.

Now I can stop worrying about placement and start worrying about EVERYTHING ELSE.

First order of business: find an apartment. I'm looking in the Bridgeport area, including Black Rock, Fairfield, and Milford. I'm hoping for a commute under 20 minutes to work. I also hope I can get moved into an apartment before school starts. There will be a lot of unpacking to do in a hurry. And that's only if I can find a place that is available before September 1. The hunt begins this weekend.

We also have our first day of classes at Southern Connecticut State University (it is a real place, I went there last week) on Saturday. We will be beginning work to get our CT teacher's certification. My assignment for the first day of class is to write a page about myself and why I want to be a teacher. Cut-and-paste, cut-and-paste, cut-and-paste.

Other things on the to-do list:
1. Complete my Vision and Big Goals for 7th Grade Science.
2. Complete my Vision and Big Goals for 8th Grade Science.
3. Create/borrow Unit Plan for 7th Grade Science.
4. Create/borrow Unit Plan for 8th Grade Science.
5. Write first week lesson plans (LPs) for 7th Grade Science.
6. Write first week LPs for 8th Grade Science.
7. Make/find posters for classroom.
8. Develop diagnostic assessments for 7th and 8th.

Sigh. Overwhelming, but I'll take it one step at a time. At least now I have a concrete to-do list. And there's nothing I love more than to-do lists.