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I'm not a programmer, but I did TFA for three years in Compton after graduating with a BS in Physics. I would say that if you are serious about your start-up,

I'm not a programmer, but I did TFA for three years in Compton after graduating with a BS in Physics. I would say that if you are serious about your start-up, it's probably not the best fit for you: you simply won't have the time or energy at the end of the day, especially in your first year. This of course assumes that one would do TFA because one wants to actually tackle the problem of educational inequality, and not just because one thinks it will look good on a resume someday or one has a martyr complex. A typical day is: get to school at 7, plan, hold before-school tutoring, teach all day (with a lunch break of 30 minutes), kids go home at 3, hold after-school tutoring until 4, plan, go home at 5 or 6, eat, grade papers until you fall asleep. This was my experience at least. I loved it because for me it was about connecting with people who had a completely different upbringing than I do. The skills I learned in the classroom have colored most of my professional life. I found that students, in aggregate, are excellent judges of character, and I really had to step up my game to gain their trust. Common Criticisms and responses: "It's crowd control..." -only if you're a lousy teacher (and there are plenty) "TFA is a cult..." -it is, but after your initial training, which is actually very useful, you can choose to be as involved as you want (I wasn't very) "Teaching is for those who can't do anything else." -Maybe there's some truth to this. I think it depends on what a person believes is important. Effective teaching in an inner-city school is definitely not easy, and to be honest, I think it's a problem in need of a new solution. I think the world could use a better model of education more than it needs a better way to use RSS to find out what one's friend had for breakfast. So if you have the raw innovative skill, it's a huge opportunity.

geebee 19y ago
I feel a little bad saying it was "crowd control" because those are my words, not my brother's (who was the one doing the program). I think he was a good teacher, and he would probably object to that characterization. He told me that once he left the room for a few minutes because a kid was sick, and heard a huge crash. When he rushed back in, it turned out that a girl had tried to smash the overhead projector on top of the head of another student. Glass was everywhere This was the result of leaving the classroom for 2 minutes. But when he was in there, I don't actually think it was all crowd control. He had the respect of the students, and he was able to teach. You made an interesting observation about the "cultish" quality of TFA. He said that he had no illusions about how much of himself he was giving. He said his attitude from the start was "This school has 30 teachers. Two of us are TFA. The other 28 are just doing their job." That attitude helped him out a lot, I think.
- mainsequence 19y ago
  There's definitely an element of crowd control in the sense that the students are kids; they naturally like to get into trouble, and don't come pre-installed with self-management skills. I think that it's important to be cognizant of how to manage crowds, but it's easy to get bogged down in just maintaining the peace. There's gotta be a reason to pay attention, a reason to behave, other than "do what I tell you or else"...this is what I meant by lousy teaching. Sounds like your brother knows what he's doing and I'd bet his students are lucky to have him. With regards to his story about the overhead projector, it brings back fond memories of pretending to leave the room but really just standing right outside the door to see which students were the first to a) realize I'm gone and b) start trouble. The classroom can be a hilarious laboratory for the study of human nature. (I do certainly hope that the victim was alright and that the perpetrator was held responsible.)

geebee 19y ago

I feel a little bad saying it was "crowd control" because those are my words, not my brother's (who was the one doing the program). I think he was a good teacher, and he would probably object to that characterization. He told me that once he left the room for a few minutes because a kid was sick, and heard a huge crash. When he rushed back in, it turned out that a girl had tried to smash the overhead projector on top of the head of another student. Glass was everywhere This was the result of leaving the classroom for 2 minutes. But when he was in there, I don't actually think it was all crowd control. He had the respect of the students, and he was able to teach. You made an interesting observation about the "cultish" quality of TFA. He said that he had no illusions about how much of himself he was giving. He said his attitude from the start was "This school has 30 teachers. Two of us are TFA. The other 28 are just doing their job." That attitude helped him out a lot, I think.

mainsequence 19y ago
There's definitely an element of crowd control in the sense that the students are kids; they naturally like to get into trouble, and don't come pre-installed with self-management skills. I think that it's important to be cognizant of how to manage crowds, but it's easy to get bogged down in just maintaining the peace. There's gotta be a reason to pay attention, a reason to behave, other than "do what I tell you or else"...this is what I meant by lousy teaching. Sounds like your brother knows what he's doing and I'd bet his students are lucky to have him. With regards to his story about the overhead projector, it brings back fond memories of pretending to leave the room but really just standing right outside the door to see which students were the first to a) realize I'm gone and b) start trouble. The classroom can be a hilarious laboratory for the study of human nature. (I do certainly hope that the victim was alright and that the perpetrator was held responsible.)