Into the woods

For the long Labor Day weekend, we decided to get out of Phoenix and see what else Arizona had to offer. A camping trip in the mountains was just the escape we needed from our adult lives! Liz's good friend, Lindsey, joined us for the trip. We drove about 4-5ish hours northeast to Big Lake, in the Apache National Forest. At 9,000 ft elevation, it was a gorgeous, green, and cool change from what we're used to seeing everyday - buildings and desert! The lake was huge and surrounded by open meadows. Edging this was the evergreen forest, where our campground was located.

Upon arrival, we followed the

basic rules of camping:

Step 1: Set up your tent (bonus points if its guarded by a dog to protect from bears)

Step 2: Make smores, no matter the time.

Brad also proved he was a man by building excellent fires for every meal.

We had plenty of time to relax over the weekend and enjoyed being outdoors for long periods of time without feeling the intense burn of the sun. We took a drive to explore the area and found:

plenty of cows... open scenery...

another huge lake....and even a waterfall!

And no long weekend would be complete without a large purchase, right? When we returned home, we went car shopping for Brad. Not exactly what we had planned so soon after buying Liz's new car but unfortunately, the Impala has been having a lot of difficulties. It's one thing to have no AC in Arizona but when the window is stuck in the door, that is a sign! So we found a new vehicle for Brad - a 2010 Jeep Patriot. We are excited to both have cars we no longer need to worry about breaking down on us and also to have more space to haul stuff around. We are already looking forward to our next camping trip!

Enter Ms. White, 2nd grade teacher

Every morning, I wake up and drive. And drive. I drive through a desert for about 40 minutes. It looks like this: open road, small mountains edging the horizon, and A LOT of cacti (the big kind). While I did not expect such a commute when I learned TFA was sending me to Phoenix, I do think it is better than driving in traffic in the city. See, I teach in a rural farming community. In the recent housing market crash, this small town was especially hard hit. There are empty lots and half built walls of communities-to-be where investors simply pulled out and left. The public school wasn't doing the best, so the charter school saw an opportunity.

Insert Vocabulary Lesson Here ----> A charter school is not a private school, it is a publicly funded school - free for all students to attend. Charter schools often open in areas where there is no choice for parents - the public school is the only school choice and it may possibly be under-performing. It's all about parent choice.

My school is in its 3rd year of operation. It has K-9th currently and is breaking ground on the high school soon. There are just under 800 students attending with a large waiting list. Second grade has four classrooms this year - this is where I come in. This is the first time TFA has teamed with this particular school and when I interviewed for the position, I did not realize where the town was - I just figured it was another southern suburb. Not quite, but I am happy with my placement. The smaller town feel is more my style than inner-city anyway.

I have 28 students in my classroom. Here is the front of the room and my desk - someone doesn't believe in teacher desks, so we use tables and get a filing cabinet and bookshelf for storage.

My behavior management system is clips the students have to move down colors when they are misbehaving. I've made quite a few kids cry over this...my bad.

My class theme is "Oh, the places you'll go" - a mix of traveling and Dr. Suess. The back wall has all of our goals where the students can track their progress over the year. Our big goal is 80% or better on math tests and 1.5 years growth in reading. Pretty big stuff! But I tell them they are scholars and no one else in the school may be doing this but they can - just a little ego inflating! Also on the wall are words per minute, sight words, math fast facts, and 1000s counting club. Whoooo data! I hung some string across the classroom to hang up their artwork too. Not trying to boast or anything, but I am proud of how the room looks! Well, except at 3:15 when the kids walk out of it, leaving it a disaster. But that's a story for another day!