Craziness. Week 6 began with all of the middle school teachers moving their rooms from the first floor to the previously vacant third floor. My boyfriend AMAZING BOYFRIEND helped me move and decorate my room Saturday and Sunday of last week to ensure it was ready for my students, and it was. It helped a lot…

Week three is done and week four begins in less than 24 hours. We are a Turnaround school, we are improving, we are going to beat this negativity. The schedule keeps changing, in week 2, students received new schedules a few times and teachers received a new schedule on Thursday. In week 3, all of…

Just finished the monumental first week in region. It was a challenging, exciting, yet exhilarating first week. Being a turnaround school, there was a lot of unexpected happening, not to mention schedules changing daily, if not within each period! Hopefully in the next week or two our schedules (and those of the students!) begin to get finalized.…

I don’t feel stressed.  Actually, I feel exhausted, caffeinated, overworked, jealous, dirty, and underfed.  But I don’t feel stressed.  Why am I breaking out like a pubescent teenager then? I am sure you heard things like this when you were growing up: “In Middle School, they make you write in pen and cursive.  No pencils…

Wednesday marked the half way point for Phoenix Institute and we’re still chugging. It may be surprising that I have time to write a blog but institute just keeps getting… more manageable. Going in to institute I heard horror stories of what life at institute was like, but I also received the best advice possible,…

I live in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Among the beautiful sunsets, exotic desert landscapes, and sun-filled environments, live a whole lot of Jackrabbits. Jackrabbits are peculiar animals.  Most nights, it isn’t uncommon to see at least three or four of them scurry into your headlights before realizing they’ve made a grave mistake.  They…

Well this is a weird feeling. It started with my own TFA email. Then my own apartment. And now my own blog? Real life is getting closer and closer each day. I’m finishing up my final thoughts and reflections on the pre-institute work before packing for induction and institute that seemed so far away. Where…

When I was 12 (almost 13!) a Disney movie came out in theaters that my family would embrace as our own- Lilo and Stitch. I’m not sure if it is as big of a movie as we make it out to be, but it’s huge for us. The underlying theme that is repeated throughout the…

To some of you, I may seem overly excited about beginning my first blog. Truth be told, this is one of the highlights of my day. The past couple of days have been pretty rough, but today when I saw the kiddos at my placement, those problems seemed non-existent. I can always count on them…