Teach for America?
 

Has anyone applied, gone through, or know anyone who has done Teach for America? I'm thinking of applying, though i've had my strong opinions on such programs. But, i perused the website and it didnt seem so bad.

I wanted to get some advice. yes, i used the search function, and yes, perhaps this should be in the careers or education section, but i need some more immediate advice if im gonna get the application before the deadline.

What exactly do you want to know?

One of my friends (who has since died, not because of TFA though, lol) was one of TFA's success stories and recruited others for it. One of her recruits is now a Principal of a KIPP Academy in Brooklyn.

Another one of my friends applied and was rejected.

I also have a former coworker who was a DC Teaching Fellow, which is similar.

good question. i was concerned about a couple of things, in particular, what the support is like from the partnering schools, if people really like the program. does 5 weeks of training suffice for 2 years of teaching...that sort of thing. i know this is my decision and all but i really want some opinion.

Well, as far as I can tell, I have never met anyone who went through TFA and hated it.

One of the characteristics of Maya and Ky (my friends who are TFA alums) is that they had supportive Principals. Nobody assumed that they had a savior complex or anything of the sort. There is usually a lot of staff development throughout the year anyway, in addition to mentor teachers. (I am speaking from a DC Public Schools standpoint, not a TFA standpoint.)

Is it hard? Yes. Teaching is hard in general, and I don't believe that any amount of training, outside of gettin hazed and combat experience, can really prepare you for teaching in the inner-city. But I do believe (as an outsider) that TFA has a good support system and alumni network, as well as principals who are supportive of the program and its participants.

My daughter tried and came back one day early from her HONEYMOON for them......!! and was rejected.....so who knows?

A college friend of mine was accepted and is now MISERABLE there. She didn't get placed in the program which she had requested and neither had her roommate. The friend isn't completing the second year of her contract and is counting down the days until the end of the school year. The one benefit she learned from the experience is that she loves teaching and is going to be pursuing a teaching certificate to teach elsewhere.

I have over 10 friends who are either currently in TFA or have gone through the program (they recruit heavily at my undergrad and take lots of people every year). In general, I would say about half of them have enjoyed their experience. One quit before X-mas of her 1st year because of the lack of support she was receiving and because her kids were so out of control (to no fault of her own) she feared going in there everyday knowing the Principal wasn't helping. Two friends quit after a year. One friend in it now really wants to do the 2 years because she thinks if she signed a contract she should stick with it but is very unhappy. And another friend did her 2 years, realized that TFA made her hate the public school system in America, and now she's in law school.

Most of the people who didn't like it got very little support from their schools. The ones with support tend to do better--but there's no way to know how your school will be. Since TFA works with school districts, but it's the districts that actually hire the teachers (TFA tells the districts how many people they've hired--who are guaranteed placement *somewhere*--and the district tells TFA where they're putting them) sometimes the districts are slow and complicate things. In St. Louis, many of the TFA people this year didn't know where exactly they were working until the day before classes started andthen some of them found out that they weren't teaching what they were originally told they would be teaching! One friend of mine did TFA in Baltimore and TFA told her she'd be teaching 2nd grade, but when she got placed in her school they told her she'd be teaching 6th grade. BIG DIFFERENCE!

TFA seems to be a crapshoot--some love their time; some despise it. And there's never a way to know. All of my friends have gone into it with good intentions and real desire, and some of them have turned into cynics.

So far I agree with what deadbear has said. I work with a lot of elementary ed teachers and some of them have been in TFA. It really does go you either love it or hate it. I won't repeat what everyone said already but there is something I want to add.

This past week I over heard one of the TFA teachers talking about the amount of outside time the TFA program also takes up. Including teaching and TFA meetings she said she puts in anywhere from 80-100 hours a week in. She loves it though and is getting great support from her school.

It is a lot of work but if you love teaching and helping children succeed then do it. If you are hesitant about it though I would reconsider.

They recently opened up one of those KIPP Academies here in OKC. My wife teaches at an AVID charter school. She raves about KIPP kids. Sounds like a great program.

in most cases the lack of support thing comes with being a new teacher, regardless of where you are/who you are placed with. i teach in a city school district, and while i recieved some support it really is more of a sink or swim thing. what i personally believe it comes down to is some people can be teachers and some people can't. if you can, you'll succeed regardless of where you are. if you can't, then unless you have very strong support system you will fail.

if you want to teach as a career, and you are interested in an underrepented field (generally science, math, or special ed...sometimes forgien languages) many states, particualry in the northeast and the mid-atlantic, have an alternate route certification program where you are hired, placed in a classroom with a mentor for usually 60 days and attend classes to obtain certification as you teach. i would reccommend looking into that option

if you aren't interested in teaching for the rest of your life, and just want to "give back" or something like that, then try teach for america.

You just made my day and will tell my daughter but then again, luckily she got her courage up wrote more resumes on her own..and has a great new job...but it did hurt...and hey, it was her Honeymoon in Rome of all places!!!

How has there NOT been an IHE reference in this thread?

LOL.

Teach for America is never not funny.

yeah, we have teaching fellows here in the city. i really didnt consider that TFA doesnt give certification. i wouldnt wanna teach for 2 years just for experience, especially if im gonna come out bitter. let me be bitter with a masters.

p.s. i want in on the IHE joke...

I did a similar program, Teaching Fellows, for NYC. Lots of TFA members were at my school when I started & have gone on to new city charter schools or teaching in the suburbs. I finished up my committment in 2005 & have been even happier at my school since then (probably bc there's no graduate work to think of). It really all does depend on your principal and your co-workers as to whether you'll like it or not. Our principal retired after the end of my 2nd year & our new one is FABULOUS. My co-workers are really supportive & while we each have our own classroom, there's a lot of sharing going on in planning & instruction. I've applied & received my perm. teaching certification for New York & hope to have teaching as a long career. Not everyone who applies for these programs does but I think it would be nice if people stayed at their schools for longer than 2 or 3 years!