Hey Y'all,
It's been an incredibly long time since I've provided you with any substance. I thought I'd be able to better keep up with this blogging business, but it's been really hard to muster up the time or coherency to do so. I've been busy planning and training at my high school. Busy getting my house set up. Busy planning for the first day of school. And now all of my exhausted efforts culminate tomorrow with the first impression. Most of us in Teach For America will begin instruction in our schools. It's a jarring feeling, but it's been done before and will be replicated by us.
Tomorrow, I'll be stepping into the educational arena to try and combat the injustices of systematic inequity. It's remarkably simple to assign blame to whoever we perceive is responsible. But the real intellectual integrity comes with taking the oath to mitigate these problems. We've heard horror stories of the degree of opportunity imbalance in this country. Now, those stories are going to materialize in front of our faces. I don't know what to expect--to be truthful. All I do know is that I'm teaching four Government classes this semester and two World History courses. I've got plenty of material for both, and the enthusiasm to teach it, but I don't think I possess the skill yet. Like a fine wine, I expect all of us to get better with time--but rest assured that it will have a turbulent incipiency.
I want to keep this post brief because I know blogs aren't the most entertaining things to read. I will post again next week with a detailed description of my classroom and the characters in it. I've heard that I'll be dealing with an eclectic bunch. For novelty purposes, I've uploaded a video tour of my classroom. I finished setting up on Friday. I hope you enjoy it. It's only a minute long, but it should endow you with a macro-level picture of the design.
With Unwavering Love,
Derik Ohanian
