September Already?!?

My life is packed these days, and I haven't even had Saturday classes in the last 6 weeks! That ends next Saturday, so I am going to try to recap some recent events in honor of my last free Saturday.

Back in August, I had the amazing opportunity to go to a Sugarland concert with Cofer, Sam, and Krista. I have never sweat so much, but it was completely worth it to see them live! We ran into Martha and I got two awesome videos:

MTR represent at MCHS!

Our dear friends, the Curriers, followed God's calling to California a few weeks ago. So we had a  party for them before they left:

(Photo by Amanda Hill)

Labor Day weekend I got to make a trip to Fayetteville.It was so fun to see Martha having a blast and loving a place I love so much! We tried out a new pizza place with Brian:

And we got to pet a dog just like Hershey! We miss our Hershey pup!

I had the privilege of going to the Arkansas v Tennessee Tech football game while I was in town.

There were two very special things about this game. 1. My MTR friend Brittany's boyfriend is #52 for TTU, so we got to sit on the second row of the TTU section to enjoy the game! 2. The Covingtons moved back from Bulgaria just four days before the game, so not only did I get to see them, but they came to the game with me and represented the Hogs in the TTU section!

Arkansas won 44-3 and even the Blue Man Group was calling the hogs!

And last weekend I made a quick day trip to see this dear friend:

We had a fun weekend of shopping and grading papers:) Yes, I recruit friends to grade papers. Let me know if you are interested in being on the paper grading team!

MTR Life

This week MTR launched a new website called MTRlife.org for principals to look at all of our profiles for filling open teaching positions at their schools and to recruit next year's class of residents. Here is my video interview:


Virginia Boyd from Memphis Teacher Residency on Vimeo.


I'm so glad God has brought me to this program and kept me in Memphis!

MTR Loves the Hogs

Memphis Dates

Last week Rebekah joined the MTR family as our Residency Director. We had dinner together to welcome her on Wednesday night and played a name game that included where we would take Rebekah on a date in Memphis. Here are the results: 

1. Sunrise Thrift Store
2. Binghampton Sports Complex
3. Memphis Pizza Cafe
4. Burke's Books
5. Memphis Zoo (ice skating rink opens November 19)
6. Republic Coffee
7. Middle College High School
8. Soulfish Cafe
9. Caritas Village
10. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (when in town)
11. La Baguette
12. Cheesecake Corner
13. Running at Shelby Farms
14. Memphis Redbirds Baseball Game
15. Biking on the new Greenline
16. Shangri-La and Goner Records
17. Yo Lo
18. Memphis Tigers Basketball Game
19. Sunset at Mud Island and Little Cafe Eclectic
20. Running with Whitehaven Cross Country Team and Chocolate Malts at Dixie Queen
21. DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse)
22. Eat at Bombay and see the Whiz at Hattiloo Theater
23. The Little Tea Shop Downtown
24. Horseback Riding at Shelby Farms
25. Otherlands Coffee Bar
26. Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken
27. Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
28. Gibson's Donuts
29. The Levitt Shell in Overton Park
30. Jerry's Sno Cones

I have made the places I have been bold, and I hope to check the rest off the list very soon!

Architecture Talk

An edited excerpt from my teaching journal today. This is one reason I work so hard:
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There are now four students at MCHS that I have talked with about architecture. One  I met after he was working with a fellow MTR resident after school a couple of days ago. She had shared with me that he was interested in architecture, so I introduced myself and told him to come by our classroom so we could talk about architecture sometime. I am very tickled that he came by this morning. We talked about Palladio, and Italian architect, and I'm going to take a couple of books to share with him next week. 
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Then during House I asked one of our seniors about the art supplies that she had with her and found out that she is taking a design class at CBU this semester. She told me about a marshmallow project she was going to do in her class this afternoon and she told me that she is interested in fashion design and architecture. We talked about colleges that offered both of those programs and she asked me some great questions about the difference in an architect and an urban planner. I asked her to tell me about the marshmallow project after she got back from class today, and I was so excited to hear about how she built a structure with spaghetti and large marshmallows. 
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I am so excited that both of these students have a common interest with me, and that they care about learning more and recognize that I care enough that they report back to me both time I suggested it.

Passport out of Poverty

In class tonight, we watched 2 Million Minutes about how top high school students in the US compare to top students in China and India. The movie definitely sparked a serious discussion. I was most moved by this line:

Education is the passport out of poverty.

More thoughts on that soon...

Annie

I am so thankful for today. I'm thankful to be in Memphis and working in Memphis City Schools. I'm thankful for supportive friends and family. I'm thankful for all the things I have learned this summer that made today a successful first day. I'm thankful for students who volunteer to work problems on the board the first day of school. I'm thankful for a mentor who let me take over (as much as I know how to) on the first day.


And I'm thankful for stories that will always make me laugh:


My 5th period class is full of students who had my mentor teacher last year, so they were very comfortable talking and participating today. One student told me that I looked like Shirley Temple and little orphan Annie. I said it must be the curly red hair, admitting she was right. Little did I know that she would decide that she was going to call me Annie... in front of the principal. I was walking past the student in the hallway so when I got to the principal I jokingly said, "That's Ms. Annie to you."