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!