Springtime in Phoenix!

Yes, be jealous...it was 80 degrees over the weekend. In March. Our first 80 degree day was in January I think too this year? Oh well, anywho...let me fill all of you in so that you can be sure that I'm still alive. I'll make this brief, but full of detail, over the past few months. Well the second half of the year is already half way over...I will be released from the clenches of Teach for America in just 2 months. In a lot of ways, TFA has helped me grow as a teacher when others did not. Quite honestly, as crazy as he was sometimes, Brian (my mentor) did a lot for me. But now I'm at that stage where I have kind of turned into a little sponge...soaking up everything I can, although I still find myself trying dozens of things at one time. I get too excited to try something new so it makes it a tad hard to focus on pure mastery. But at least my kids are still performing at an 80% mastery level. I'm going to kick it up a notch and remove half the multiple choice from my tests so students will be required to write a response in of their own. That will be the true test. Aghh. So, on the standpoint of teaching and work, things are going really well. I plan on staying in Phoenix and continuing teaching at this time. This year was the first year I ever had to spend my birthday alone, away from friends and family. I'm thankful to have my boyfriend around, who put up with me moping for the first few hours of the day and then took me around to fill my belly like I like it. haha. He's been great. As stubborn as he is :) I am scheduled to graduated with my masters in secondary education on May 8th, and 7:30 pm. If any of you would like to travel to the land of the sun and come see me walk, let me know! On a painful note, I got braces put on last Friday so I could be a wonderful braceface for the next two years. My mouth hurts, and I'm the quietest I've been in years. School testing is going on next week, and I can't wait for students to show growth!!! Test scores, come in NOW! I'm at the point where I'm rambling because I'm trying to think of everything I need for the school day, so this isn't the most effective post anymore. So, just let me know if you want to know anything haha.