Saturday, September 17, 2011

Insane Life Update!

Well hello little bloggy world! I've been totally MIA for the past month, and I apologize. I knew that moving and starting a brand new job would be a lot of work, but I was not prepared for the intense amount of exhaustion that has occurred. A lot of people have sent me little facebook messages/emails/texts asking how things are going, and I feel so bad that I have not been able to respond to everyone. So here is a quick little update about life so far in AZ, and then I promise that I very shortly will return to my regular blog schedule that I used to do! ;)

My mom and I drove down to AZ with my car packed full on July 25, and arrived July 27. I immediately started work on July 28, and have been going ever since! I moved in with my wonderful cousin, Jim, and his amazing wifey, Erin...and, my new bestie, their dog Charlotte. Living with them for a month to get adjusted before I found the PERFECT place to live was such a blessing. Jim (as expected) was the protective, caring, and totally weird big cousin that I've always loved and looked up to - and its definitely awesome that I have a fellow Bears and Sox fan out here to watch games with! Erin has really been one of the biggest helps with my move out here. Welcoming me into her life - friends, shopping, food/drinking binges, girly talks, work rants, etc - with open arms. Erin worked in the same district as I now do, for 5 years. So it is beyond easy to chat with her about the frustrations and joys of my job and the students. Oh, and Charlotte? She's a licker. And a pervert. She kept my feet clean, and sniffed through my underwear drawer all the time. And yet she completely stole my heart. Her little ewok face and all!!


Work...ah, where to begin. How about the culture shock of it all? Spending the first 24 years of my life in totally white suburbia, with a few interactions here and there with minorities, I thought I was pretty open-minded, stayed clear of stereotyping people, and would enjoy the differences of working in central Phoenix. I do enjoy it, but I was NOT prepared for the insanity that my job brings on a daily basis. Do I love it? Heck yes. Am I happier than I've ever been in my life? By far. But that love and happiness are also welcomed into my life with the stress and frustration of working with 170+ thirteen and fourteen year old students that prefer to speak in Spanish to you because they know it confuses you and annoys you to not be able to understand anything. I need to buy myself a Rosetta Stone. ASAP.

Some of this may be true for all schools, some of it may not. So bare with me:

1. It frustrates me when you put so much work and effort into a lesson plan that you are sure the students will have fun with and learn a lot from...just to have several students tell you they are bored, or tell you they hate your class, or fail the activity.

2. I get stressed with the fact that I have roughly 170 students, which means I have 170 things to grade anytime I assign something. Sometimes, I feel like "ehhh, maybe I won't assign this so then I won't have to read all of them.." But then I realize that is ineffective teaching - why assign something if you're not going to use it as a tool for assessment of some sort?? Stressful.

3. Tiring that I wake up at 5:30 to get ready and head to work (30 min commute) by 7:45. School starts at 8:45 and goes until 3:55. I avoid rush hour by staying until after 5, so I don't get home until close to 6. By then, I am totally wiped, don't want to do one thing except get in pajamas, eat something that does not require any work to make, and pass out - although that doesn't happen until close to midnight.

4. Sad that there are just some students that will never ever care about what you say or do. They don't mind getting suspended, they talk about drugs freely, and don't understand the meaning of respect. (Note: this is definitely not ALL students, just SOME - but sometimes that minority affects your WHOLE day).


I realize these are all 1st year teacher concerns and that one day in the next few years, I'll have a better grasp of it all. But right now, it all just feels overwhelming. So what is my cure to it all? Well...there's a few things. Here is my current "happy list":

1. My new super cute apartment, that I am slowly working to make my own. Thank you, Home Goods and IKEA!!
2. Jersey Shore. Real Housewives of New Jersey. Basically, 75% of my free time is watching crazy people from Jersey and I'll buy into it all for as long as its on the air.
3. Skinnygirl Margarita and Skinnygirl Sangria
4. Discovering all the local restaurants in Scottsdale
5. Speaking of Scottsdale...FASHION SQUARE MALL. Enough said.
6. Skype with my family
7. All the awesome people I've met through Jim/Erin, work, randoms, etc...
8. St. Patricks Church - its my official new church, and it makes me feel at home.
9. Francesca's Boutique - in Fashion Square. A working girl's dream store.
10. Fry's grocery store. Seriously, I had no clue grocery shopping could be that fancy and fun. Wine bar in the middle of the store? Swanky book section with tables to sit at? Coldstone? You can bet your ass I bought myself a membership discount card the first week I arrived in Arizona.


Okay, that is a bit of an update on life so far. The frustrations, and the happies. Amidst it all, I've never felt more content and at peace with where I am/where I'm going in life. It's an amazing feeling to know that I have my own classroom and my own home. Thank you all again for the well-wishes, prayers and congrats. It means the world to me! I'll be back in Chi very soon to visit all you lovelies :)

Back to the regular posts soon...

xoxo