It's Summer

The $10 view at Tulsa's new OneOK field. Drillers v. Frisco Riders

I'll miss you, too!

Happy Summer! I am onto my fourth day of "vacation" and I have to say...this really doesn't get old. I have enjoyed: sitting by the pool, trying to read good books, a Drillers baseball game (the first of many, I'm sure), and...The Sims (LOL). I am also tackling my first class toward my Masters. Oh, did I mention that?

I guess it's been awhile since I've blogged. Since my last blog, I've done a lot! I finished my first year of teaching, started my masters in Education with a focus on secondary, and have solidified (mostly) my summer plans. Here's a review of the highlights:

I took the 7th graders on an end-of-the-year reward trip at the beginning of May. It was fun, but exhausting! We (myself and 2 other teachers) went with 37 7th graders and came back with all of them, in one piece, along with 5 chicks. How does this happen, you ask? Well, it's a good question. Here's what I know:

We went to Woolaroc, a giant wildlife preserve and museum about an hour north of Tulsa. Tulsa isn't a bustling urban center, but we really went "country" on this trip, bringing a lot of city kids into nature. They were excited. We (teachers) were a little overwhelmed by Woolaroc's enormous grounds and not really sure we could keep track of nearly four dozen middle school students running around on them. We strategized a small-groups plan with check-in times, which definitely kept the kids close. But...

W.R. is one of our wildest 7th graders. He is sweet and incredibly energetic. He's probably 4'11 and had a natural brown hairstyle but bleached it platinum blonde in April. He didn't forget the eyebrows in this process. After about 20 minutes of being on his own, he ran up to me at our check-in spot and very excitedly said, "Ms. O'Malley! Ms. O'Malley! Guess what I bought?"

I saw a shoe-box. I asked him what was inside.

"A chick!"

"Like, a chicken?"

"Yeah! A baby!"

He opened the box and revealed a live baby chick, a mix of yellow and brown feathers. Adorable. But, in my shock, I couldn't even say, "Aww." Intsead I started to say..."W--"

"It's ok! I called my mom! She said it was ok!"

"Are you sure?"

Just as I was about to call his mom on my cell phone, another teacher verified the story. I guess she was with W.R. when he bought the animal. I didn't even know what to think! He ran off to show off his chick some more and before I had time to process anything, a girl came up to me with none other than a turtle.

"Look what I found, Ms. O'Malley!"

"Did you buy that?!"

"No! I found it!"

Thus began another chapter in my teaching career.

By the end of the day, four other children bought chicks. W.R. "upgraded" his chick at the last minute to a more mature chick (bigger than a shoe box).

After that, teaching was a whirlwind. The last month of school, my students finished excellent books: "The Westing Game" (6th grade), "To Kill a Mockingbird" (7th grade book club 1), "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (7th grade book club 2), and "The Wave" and "The Alchemist" (8th grade).

My students gained a lot in this month: two of my lowest 6th graders loved the book and scored Bs and As on their final tests; one of my 7th graders, who had picked "Mockingbird" even though it was above his reading level, struggled his way through (sometimes, with the help of my iPad), but ended up loving it; my toughest 8th grader (really, my toughest student), ended up writing a brilliant essay relating his education to "The Alchemist" and articulately described why education is so important (he was always the one who asked, "Why are we doing this?" and said, "This is boring.")

It was a great month! All of my classes also helped me pack up my room in the last two days of school, so that made the two work days after they left a little easier. After Memorial Day (really, my first weekend of summer), it was hard to do work! So, we made it easy on ourselves and just packed, listened to music, played games, and talked.

We didn't get letters back from Bill Clinton, but it is still possible!

Now, summer. I miss the kids already, but I am glad for the break. Although I am working on my grad classes, I still have taken time to relax.

Right now, I have one class online. This program was designed for TFA St. Louis, and our Executive Director worked it out so that Tulsa CMs could do the 2-year program in 1 year from Tulsa. We have 3 classes, 1 at a time, this summer, and will have classes during the year and next summer to finish my degree. The classes this summer are through Buena Vista University (Iowa) and the rest of the classes will be from the University of Missouri - St. Louis (who will also confer the degree). It sucks having homework again, but I am very happy with what I have learned so far. And, it's not too bad being able to do the homework reading by the pool!

My travel plans this summer have slightly altered, but are looking good:

Next Monday, I leave for Detroit, where I will help my the new TFA region induct its charter corps. I found out today that I will be the "logistics lead," so I will make sure everything is set up and working. I will be there through the 19th. The Dallas trip was moved and now conflicts with other of my travel plans, so it's out.

Instead, I'll come back to Tulsa for a few days after Michigan and go to Miami on June 26 in preparation for the cruise. Our cruise leaves June 27, and we will be back in Miami 8 days later. Erin and I will then spend a few extra days in Miami, enjoying the sun, and will be back in Tulsa July 7.

What does July hold? Not sure yet, but my friends and I are envisioning a trip to Austin, maybe a weekend at the hot springs in Arkansas, and I want to go to Colorado for a few days. We'll see.

Oh, summer. You are bliss.

~MJ