The Plan for Third Quarter

I spent this morning in first grade. Though kindergarten and first grade aren't my favorite grade levels to teach, I signed up for this assignment because it was for only the morning. Three hours. I can handle it for three hours. I more than handled it, though; I enjoyed it. They were a sweet class, and with the exception of one (there's always one!) they were hard workers. We got a lot accomplished and we managed to have some fun. They do math in the afternoon, so we went over spelling and vocabulary words, reading, and grammar--all my favorites. I was happy to be there, and the students seemed happy I was there. If fact, before we left for the cafeteria at lunchtime I got hugs from seven of them. Awww.

This school is on my list of the top three schools to visit. The kids are mostly good, but what takes the cake is the staff. If the staff is kind to subs, then that's a place I want to go back to. I was walking in and a kindergarten teacher greeted me. Then she thanked me for coming to their school. Then she said, "It's so great that you're here," and thanked me again. I told her I liked it there, and she said, "Well that is just so good to hear. Thank you." Later, the teacher next door popped her head in and let me know she was there if I needed anything. Another teacher told me to send so-and-so to her room if he didn't behave, and everyone I passed in the hallways gave me a huge smile, hello, and "Hope you're having a great day!" Well, I was and I did. Because of them. Kindness always counts.

In contrast to the school I went to three times and struck out three times with bad experiences, my third time at this school nails it as one of my favorites. I've found that there's plenty of work for me even if I don't take all the assignments I'm offered. It's better to keep my sanity and inner peace by going to only a handful of schools that I enjoy. I've visited many, which has helped me figure out my favorites, but it's definitely not necessary to go back to the ones that were unpleasant. So this quarter, I'm holding out for appealing assignments rather than filling my calendar early. The risk is that I might not work as often, but there's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather not work at all than go into an assignment knowing that it will be dreadful and expecting to have nothing but a really tough and awful day.

I went where the wind took me for awhile. Now it's not so breezy. Here's hoping it stays calm.

Switching It Up

For a moment, at least.

It's the end of an era. Elizabeth's piano teacher retired. Though I wasn't expecting that call earlier this week, I can't say I'm surprised. She's a very sweet lady but also very old. Truth be told, she's probably not as old as she seems. She's had some health problems the last two years, and she falls quite a bit. One time we saw her fall. She was walking across the room and stumbled (perhaps over her oxygen hose) and fell to the floor as Elizabeth and I watched helplessly in horror. She suffers from respiratory issues, and she says her medicine makes her shaky. She took a two-month break until after the holidays, but Monday she called and told me how sorry she is to have to stop giving lessons. She cried, and I cried back and wished her well. I don't know how many years she's been teaching piano, but I'm willing to bet it's been thirty to forty years. It's understandable that she's sad, and we are going to miss her. Elizabeth starts with her new teacher tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes.

During her break from piano lessons, though, Elizabeth has been picking up her ukulele quite a bit. My online guitar teacher has some new uke lessons, and it's unbelievable how quickly she manages to learn chords, progressions, and songs. In about twenty minutes this evening, she learned half of "Rainbow Connection." You know it; Kermit sings it. And now Elizabeth almost does and it's adorable. It's new, and she's excited about it. I hope it sticks!

Undecided

Elizabeth is in sixth grade, and next year she moves up to junior high. Other than the little preschool she went to, all her school years have been at our neighborhood elementary school. That's seven years. That's a long time to spend in one place, and that makes the transition to a new place that much harder. She's comfortable at her current school and is, understandably, worried about what lies ahead. Adding to the uncertainty is that we don't yet know where she will go to school next year.

Junior high is only two years here, and then students move on to four years of high school. These next two years are very important years, and we're all feeling the pressure to make a good decision. I've always been a strong supporter of the "go-where-you're-supposed-to-go" philosophy. If everyone goes where they're supposed to go, people will take ownership of their neighborhood schools, invest in them, and work hard to make them the kind of schools they want them to be. In this age of having a school on practically every corner, be it public, charter, or private, it's not the most popular of philosophies, probably because people no longer have the time to work hard or fight for their schools. Or maybe it's that they don't want to make the time. Or take the time. Maybe they feel like it's not worth it, and it's easier to send their kids a little farther away to a school that seems like it would be a better fit. I'm beginning to come around to that opinion.

On paper, our "home" junior high is a good school, and I think Elizabeth would do fine there academically. What I struggle with is the impression I get from the place that it's a bit of a tough school. What I mean is that a lot of the kids seem hard and tough. I've subbed at some of the other elementary schools that feed into that junior high and, at one in particular, many of the fifth and sixth graders I had for PE acted like disrespectful little thugs. During bus duty, one even held up something to me and proclaimed, "I brought a lighter to school." I couldn't tell what it was but he quickly followed-up with "Naw, I'm just playin'" as he and his buddies had a laugh. If I'm uncomfortable around those kids, how will Elizabeth feel? We already received a letter from the district stating that she qualifies for the honors programs so she, hopefully, wouldn't be around much of the riff-raff there (Yes, I know exactly what I sound like, and yes I do realize I graduated from McKeesport High School.), but I just don't know if that's the place for her.

There's another junior high in the district that we're considering. It's a smaller school with a more rigorous curriculum designed to better prepare the students for high school and college. It either does that or stresses out the kids so much that they end up hating school forever and resenting their parents for sending them there. (I'm kind of going through a worst-case scenario phase right now.) My friend's daughter goes there, and even though she has four hours of homework a night they are pleased with the school. My friend is also Elizabeth's math and reading teacher, and I wouldn't even be considering this school if she hadn't encouraged me to have Elizabeth apply. As a parent and as Elizabeth's teacher, her opinion carries a lot of weight with me, so I figured we owed it to Elizabeth to check out this other school for her.

This school has two campuses, and Brian and I toured one during the school day. You know what it reminded me of? Carnegie Mellon University. I felt like the dumbest person there and, like I mentioned, it was during the school day so there were seventh graders around. I got the impression that place was more for the prodigies of the area than for the hard workers. It was strange. The people were strange. The parents on the tour with us were strange, and the students seemed strange. However, when Elizabeth and I toured the other campus we felt comfortable and were impressed. It seems like it could be a good fit for her because the students appear to want to be there and want to learn, so we decided to begin the application process for that campus.

We submitted her application yesterday after spending practically all day Sunday completing it. There was the basic information to fill out, but both she and a parent had to each complete a set of questions in our own handwriting. It wasn't torturous, but we were forced to get some thoughts together. It was almost like writing a college essay. She had to write about why she wants to go there, what she looks forward to, what her strengths and weaknesses are, her hobbies and interests outside of school, etc. On my page, I had to do much of the same and also discuss her relationships with peers, her behavior, and her attendance. It took us both a long time, but it was good to really think about these things. Next up is a four-hour assessment test and then an interview with the principal and other staff members. And we thought the essay was bad!

So that's where we are on this milestone. A tough decision is in our near future.

Even Nerdier

The great Thanksgiving pink eye debacle of 2014 spurred me to get myself some updated eyewear. I couldn't wear my contacts for a week so I was forced to sport those old specs and stay home out of embarrassment. To prevent that from happening again, about a month ago I scheduled my eye exam and ordered some new glasses.

It was about time! I've worn glasses since the seventh grade and have had only three pairs since then. I started out in a very trendy dark pink Sally Jesse Raphael number, moved on to a preppy but rather large-lensed tortoise shell pair in high school, and my last were wire frames that were nothing special and only for emergencies because contacts have been for me since the eighth grade.

Now I've noticed eyewear is fashionable among women my age so I may try these out in public for fun. Or not. It feels strange looking through frames and they may or may not be giving me a headache. I probably just have to get used to them. Either way, these are my newest pair which, as my track record indicates, should last me eight to nine years.

A Climb to the Top

My friend Aimee is really into hiking right now. I loaned her a copy of Wild, and all of a sudden she's ready to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail. I wasn't even sure she'd care for the book, but it turns out the PCT goes almost right through the area in which she grew up so she recognized quite a few places that are mentioned. It made her nostalgic, and now that she's an athlete she has the urge to explore that area like she's never done before.

She took the plan surprisingly far in her head, but practicality won out so we're sticking close to our new homes and hiking and climbing around here. For now. But who knows? Someday maybe we'll really go out into the wild. Yesterday, though, we hiked to the summit of Piestewa Peak. I'd done it when I'd first moved to Phoenix fifteen years ago, again with my parents later that year, and then with the kids three years ago. It's a good introduction to climbing as the trail is maintained, heavily traveled, and it's impossible to get lost. It's a good workout and the views are spectacular on a clear day, too.

So we embarked on our adventure early, leaving Chandler at 7:00 am for the Phoenix Mountain Preserve which is literally right across the street from my old Charles Schwab office. We arrived so early we scored a prime parking spot close to the trailhead and began our ascent. Aimee took this photo just as we started, and we laughed that it looks like one of those photos they'll show of Phoenix when the NFL breaks to commercials during the Super Bowl. There will be a cactus. There is always a cactus!

We took our time, stopping every so often to catch our breath (it's a 1200 elevation change over the course of a mile) and made it to the top in about an hour. The trail is fairly easy with carved out steps so it's known as Phoenix's stairmaster, but at the very top there's some hand-over-foot climbing. We were glad to make it to the summit, but it was so windy and freezing up there. Literally. Her phone proves it.

We had a quick snack, took some pictures, and headed back down.

It took us just as long on the descent because we were being careful not to fall. It's steep in some parts, there are loose rocks in others, and neither of us was up for an impromptu and expensive helicopter ride.There was no rush and we knew it, so we enjoyed each other's company, the scenery, and then breakfast.

Oh, breakfast! This was quite possibly the best part of the morning. I searched Yelp for an eatery in that area and Bertha's Cafe looked promising. It was a great choice, and we thoroughly enjoyed every single part of the experience from the breakfast sandwiches (which were the best breakfast sandwiches we'd ever had) to the little cup of bananas with honey and granola that came on the side. Aimee had the Breakfast Wrap and I had the Brioche Egg Sandwich, if you're curious. The coffee was delightful; we were both ready to order larges but the lady at the counter told us if we're eating there we could help ourselves to free refills and charged us for smalls. That was nice of her, huh? Everyone there was friendly and kind, and their music selection was just my style with familiar tunes by Coldplay, Mayer, Mraz, Adele, Colbie, and other faves. It was cozy and warm in there, too, which was a welcome change from our early morning on the mountain. I wish this place was right around the corner from my house. It's probably good that it's not, but don't you doubt for a moment that I'm already trying to talk Aimee and other friends into hiking Camelback very soon if for no other reason than to eat at Bertha's again.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Our snow day was a fun day. Well, it was fun for the most part. There were the occasional "I'm cold" or "I'm hungry" or "My toes are frozen" whines but, you know, nothing ever works out just perfect. No kid is appreciative or grateful the whole time. You roll with it and savor the good moments and try your best to forget about how the kids argued with each other or you. It's life and I'm learning to not go into things with high expectations only to be let down. So the experience was mostly good. It was a beautiful and sunny day and not too cold. Though there was only about a foot of snow as a base and the play area was open the day before, there was still enough snow to sled. Some places were more comfortable than others, and we older folks took the bumps a little harder than the kids. We all crashed at least once, but Brian may have won for worst wipeout.

So without further adieu, here are the photos from our day at Wing Mountain snow play area outside of Flagstaff.

The path from the main road was gorgeous.

We slipped into our borrowed snow clothes and were ready for adventure.

We started out on the bunny slope and worked our way up.

After some sledding, we found an open meadow with lots of fresh snow to play in.

There were quite a few people there, but it never felt like it was too crowded.

We were there from about 10:00 to 2:00, and when we left there were a lot of cars waiting in line.
We were glad we got there early.

Before we left Flagstaff, we drove up to the Snowbowl Ski Resort. It was a pretty drive.

We plan to go again. Elizabeth and Matthew said once a year would be good. We are true Valley of the Sun dwellers after all.

A Nice Surprise

After a day in the snow (more about that another day), we came home to a package in the mail from my parents. They didn't remember to send all their gifts at once, either. I told you we aren't that kind of family!

Among the gifts was this sign:

I think it's funny but what's more remarkable is that I am kinda, sorta a teacher. Huh. Who would have ever thought?

And here's a brief preview of our wintery weather experience from the car window on our way up there. There was plenty of snow and sunshine, and the scenery was very pretty. We had a fun, if exhausting, day.