MTR Christmas Party

I have a couple of more posts that I'm going to get up today so I can start the new year with fresh stuff on the ole blog. 

Before school was out for the holidays we celebrated with the 2nd annual First Ever MTR Christmas Party. We shared a holiday meal, white elephant gift exchange, and sang carols. Then we received official MTR sweatshirts. Across the back they say "It's what we do." 

Baby Naomi received the first and only MTR onesie!:

Halloween 2010

October was probably my craziest month this fall. November was tough, but without Saturday classes and wedding festivities times two. One thing that is good for my soul during crazy times is to hang out with kids, not teenagers, but kids. So I happily agreed to watch Adam and Micah the day before Halloween. We created weapons (for the boys and my Halloween costume - see below), watched How to Tame a Dragon (great movie about Vikings - again see below), and carved a pumpkin! 

My costume has a little bit of a story behind it. Under peer pressure, I bought a fur vest to wear to Ashley's bachelorette party. To justify spending the money, I decided it would need to be part of my Halloween costume, so I was a viking. All I needed was my hardhat and a bunch of aluminum foil to create my outfit. Due to the lack of durability of aluminum foil, I engineered a different skirt for each day of Halloween weekend.
Friday night Sam and Danielle hosted a party, Saturday night was the MTR Fall Ball, and Sunday night my community group passed out candy at Nate and Kristi's (not pictured). 

The MTR Fall Ball was a bowling tournament. Each team had a picture taken with fierce faces. I don't want to misrepresent any of the costumes, so I'll just mention the ones I remember. The educationally themed costumes include a TCAP test, Phil the teacher administering the TCAP, and the MTR word wall (Right is Right, 100%, Data Driven, No Excuses).

The costume contest winners were Chris and Stacey who came as a camper and a smore. I think they won all the votes because Chris made everyone a smore with miniature marshmallows and a lighter in the bowling alley.  

2010 Wedding Festivities

Since starting MTR in June I have been to three weddings. One more before the end of the year!

JUSTIN & JORDAN - JUNE 26, 2010

My cousin Justin married Jordan at a beautiful outdoor ceremony in June in Alabama. Fans and shade made the heat bearable during the ceremony. Jordan brings the girl to boy cousin ratio to 7-1. It has been a long time since we were all together!

My dad is the oldest of four. His parents died when I was in high school, but it was fun and special to have his  aunt Carolyn there.

ASHLEY & BRETT - OCTOBER 9, 2010

Ashley is one of my friends from high school. She and Brett exchanged vows at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in midtown. The ceremony included a cantor and the cake included the Beatles:)

I got to attend a shower and the bachelorette party in Tunica. It was a fun trip full of sequins, fur vests, a mechanical bull, and Paula Deen. What else do you need for a good time?

KRISTIN & PAUL - OCTOBER 16, 2010

Kristin and I met volunteering at More than A Meal last year. I have had a blast getting to know her and Paul. They got married in front of her house in Mississippi. None other than a horse-drawn carriage delivered her to the aisle.

Their family dog helped to give her away. At the reception, I caught the bouquet. It helped that the competition was limited and the photographer said "Nobody move but Virginia" just before Kristin tossed it. He is lucky he got some priceless pictures of the moment. Kristin and Paul now have partial responsibility in finding Mr. Right!

LAUREN & CASEY - DECEMBER 31, 2010

Lauren and Casey will wed this weekend. Our entire community group will be there to celebrate with them. The girls represented at her shower where Kristi practiced being a bride during one of the games. (Her wedding is coming up in March!)

Community Group Holiday Meal(s)

I like to call our community group the "no kids" group since none of us have any children (yet!). We do get to keep the kids on rotation, which is  I love meeting weekly to share a meal and life with all of these wonderful folks! Kristi and Nate hosted both our Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. 

Between our Thanksgiving and Christmas meals together we collected money and bought gifts for a family that Amanda works with who are in need. The pile of gifts that was delivered was huge. We had a Dirty Santa gift exchange at our Christmas gathering. I'm going to do a post on my holiday crafts where I'll share more about the gift I brought. This series of photos shows the journey of the blender that I began with and did eventually take home with me. 

Since we didn't get a group shot, this is how I make up for it:

I adore each of these people. We can have real discussions and talk through our differences. We laugh at each other and with each other. The last six months have been crazy for me and it is important to have friends that will let me talk about education when I need to (most often) and who I can get a break from talking about education when I need to.

December Birthday Party

As I catch up on posting on my blog, I felt this is an appropriate Christmas Eve post. Happy Birthday Jesus! [and other late November and December MTR birthdays]

 We had a little party to celebrate where the whistle orchestra was formed.

So to bring in the holiday properly, here is the whistle orchestra version of Joy to the World (that was performed for all of the selection weekend attendees a couple of days later)

Happy Birthday Jesus! You are our joy!

MTR Fall Selection Weekend

Last weekend we hosted 50-60 applicants to show off Memphis and interview them to be residents next year. It was a busy weekend, but much more relaxing to already be a resident going into the weekend. A big part of selecting from the pool of applicants is determining if they are a good fit for our community.

They need to be okay with being greeted at the airport like this:

And taken to a school that is packed up to be moved for renovations:

And participating in singing Joy to the World (and being part of next year's resident whistle orchestra):

We love our community, which helps us to be able to work so hard to love our students. Here is a glimpse into each classroom MTR has a resident placed this year:

I adore each one of my fellow residents and hope they are all enjoying this break as much as I am. I am excited to add to our team, whoever our leaders selected!

St. Jude Marathon Weekend

Now that I have a new look for my blog, I am actually going to post. My title is a little sneaky. I did not run a marathon or even a half marathon (this year...)

Earlier this month all of the MTR residents and staff raised money to support St. Jude and participated in one of the races. Green shirts - 5k, Grey shirts - half marathon, Red shirts - full marathon. 

Here is the 5K crowd:

I ran the 5K and improved my mile time by over a minute since running the Youth Villages 5K in April.

After running, I hopped around the city to cheer on the half and full marathoners.

There are many parallels between training to run a marathon (or 5K) and training to be a teacher. Long, hard hours of diligent training and lots of hope and stamina. Along with some cheerleaders as support.

I'm really proud of our team! It was a beautiful day for MTR, the kids of St. Jude, and Memphis!

Arkansas Football

**UPDATE: By far the best part of my day Monday was when one of my students came into 3rd period and said, "Ms. Boyd, did you see the Arkansas game this weekend?" And we discussed the awesomeness of Ryan Mallet and my student's hopes that he'll be drafted to  his favorite NFL team next year. I'm just proud that he knew I was a Razorback fan!

Just one of many things I'm thankful for this year:


Although I'm more than a little jealous that both of my sisters will be in New Orleans the day of the Sugar Bowl.

Fall Concerts

This fall I have made it to a couple of concerts with my roommate:

First up: Kris Allen, gotta represent Arkansas. One of my favorite parts was that he covered so many songs. Yes, Kris you can play Michael Jackson for me anytime. Recently Frase blogged about 6 degrees of Arkansas. Not only does she connect me to Kris Allen, but also her husband grew up with Cade Mills, a good lookin' member of Kris' band.

Next Up: Darius Rucker and Brad Paisley (thanks Sean for choosing Harry Potter so I could go:)
Much to our pleasure Darius performed 3 Hootie songs. The teenagers next to us had no idea who Hootie is. Please tell me that is as shocking to you as it is to me.

Brad recently won Entertainer of the Year and certainly didn't leave us expecting more. Sarah and I are both big fans of covers, and I was SUPER excited to experience another cover of Single Ladies this fall. Here is Brad's version:

Waiting for Superman

The last few weeks have been really tough for me. I knew it was coming as graduate school assignments increased and I am teaching more and more. This break for Thanksgiving has been great so far, even with the homework and planning mixed in. My mom had recorded Oprah the week that two shows were focused on Urban Education and the documentary, Waiting for Superman that came out this fall. Watching the clips from the movie again and the interviews helped me to regain focus in depths of fighting for justice in urban education.


I don't always agree with Oprah, but fully support this quote: "To everyone who thinks, 'Well my kids are doing okay...' Well this is your country. So when other kids in your country aren't doing okay, you have to have the vision to understand when other kids in your country don't do okay, eventually your country won't do okay."


In his “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech the night before his assassination, Martin Luther King reminds us of the point of the familiar story of the Good Samaritan.  The question we often ask (often in response to fear) is “what will happen to me if I stop and help him?”  The point of the parable, says MLK, is that Jesus wants us to ask “what will happen to him if I don’t stop and help?” (Thanks to David Montague for the reminder of the relevance of this quote)


Jason Kamras said in Teaching as Leadership, “We cannot rest until each of us would be satisfied with randomly assigning our own children to any public school in the nation."


On Oprah, Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker says that when American school kids recite "liberty and justice for all" every morning, it is not true. "Democracy is not a spectator sport - everybody has to be in the game and making sacrifices."

Disgusting Creatures

I have had quite a few encounters with the world's grossest insect lately.

1. One downside to MTR housing is the cockroaches. I am known as Virginia 'Slayer' Boyd and typically come to the rescue when my roommate discovers one in our apartment. I have even been called to come over and kill cockroaches at other residents' apartments. 

2. I came across the perfect gift for my roommate:

If only it didn't cost $40!

3. One of my students asked to go to the restroom, and I don't trust him to go straight there and back so I stood in the doorway so I could watch him go down the hall and come back. When he came back in he leaned over to one of his friends to tell him something and then walk back to where he was supposed to be sitting.His friend looked on the floor and said, "Eww" then someone else said, "There's a cockroach!" That student had picked up a dead cockroach and brought it back into the classroom, so I had him clean it up and go back to the restroom to wash his hands again. It is just part of everyday life when you are with 15 year old boys all day!

Split

Who: Ms. Boyd

What: Rips the seam in the back of her pants

Where: 4th period  Geometry class

When: 12:40 pm Tuesday, October 5

Why: She does not adjust her pant legs before squatting to help a student.

The ripping was immediate and audible. Thankfully I live close and there was enough noise in the classroom that hopefully nobody noticed.. Ten minute round trip and I had a different pair of pants on.

Fridays

Fridays are now the middle of my graduate school week. I have a paper due tonight and need to read and write a lesson plan due tomorrow morning at 8am.Will someone remind me what a weekend is after May?

My paper is on this great short movie called the Butterfly Circus. Check it out!

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:
_
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. 
_
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. 
_
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." 

1st Day

Tomorrow is the day. My official first day of teaching.

I'm scared and excited all at the same time. I'm comforted by the fact that I'm not alone, not for one moment. Not only do I have a mentor teacher who I will be with all day, but I have two MTR peers I'm riding to school with, and a coach who is taking us out for ice cream after school. And I have a super awesome God who has not only led me here, but will guide me the entire way, tomorrow and everyday.

As I was getting organized tonight, I came across this poem that KIPP students memorized this summer and found it to be extremely relevant for tomorrow.[KIPP left out the middle part about God, but it is pretty important:] I'm printing a copy to put up by my desk.

Our Deepest Fear 

Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

KIPP Clinicals

Two weeks ago we finished our summer clinicals at KIPP, and we were oh-so-excited to be given KIPP shirts on our last day. Across the back of each shirt it says, "There are no excuses." 

This week we are at our schools for in-service and setting up our classrooms. I am definitely nervous about school starting on Monday, but confident because of the opportunity I had at KIPP to practice leading a classroom and interact with students. I'm becoming more comfortable with being called Ms. Boyd everyday. 

24

Earlier this month I celebrated my 24th birthday. Although it was the first birthday in my life that I had to go to school, it was one of the best birthdays because I was surrounded by so many dear friends. 

In class we celebrated with a cake and I was serenaded with Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday. Then most of the class went to Memphis Pizza Cafe for lunch and a smaller group went bowling. To top off an awesome day Sarah, Kristin, and I went to the Redbirds game!

The next day, my dear friend Callie came into town [I'm a bad friend and didn't get a picture of the two of us!] and we went out to my parents house for a birthday cookout with friends from all different parts of my life - Middle School, High School, College, Neighborhood Church, and my mom and sister Martha.

It was a great night of fellowship. I found that many of my friends did not know what it means to Call the Hogs, so after Happy Birthday was sung, we showed everyone that glorious tradition! Woo Pig Sooie!

Who is going to go to college?

This week we are observing and helping with Summer School at KIPP DIAMOND Academy, which is a charter school here in Memphis. They have many routines and procedures that are very effective in discipline and learning. We are very fortunate to see how they set up the school year and culture with three weeks of summer school before the traditional school year. 


On Monday morning the administration was talking about goals and expectations while all the new students were sitting in rows on the floor of the cafeteria [they have to earn desks] and the principal asked, "Who is going to college?" and a boy who I had talked with earlier that morning raised both his hands as high up in the air as he could. I fought back tears as I saw how much he wants a better life. 


This verse has been on my heart this week as well:
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. Proverbs 11:10
Memphis is already changing because of the educational reforms and the entire city will benefit and rejoice when EVERY student has access to a GREAT education.

Life is Full

The last 5+ weeks have flown by since I moved and started MTR. Life is oh-so-busy, but definitely a ton of fun and very fulfilling. I love living in Midtown and love our apartment [with the exception of the occasional cockroach - I have killed 5 so far].

Lots of the furniture I had in Fayetteville, and of course the cross collection is always a topic of conversation. My bedroom was not picture-ready this day, so I owe you a picture of it. Sarah loves to have people over as much as I do, so we have friends over often. 

This post is going WAY back to the first week of MTR. We had a Midtown Scavenger Hunt. We didn't win, but we sure did have a blast. We decoded clues that led us to Piggly Wiggly [the first self-service grocery store], the ABC/24 station, the school board, Young Avenue Deli, and the Main Library. We also got 5 additional points for each person in the picture not in MTR.

MTR Residents are on the same page so much that we dress alike without any planning:

We were very excited to have finished two of our courses and successfully made it through our first Saturday class. There are many more of those to come!

Ashley became a Master back in May. She got hooded with her Masters of Occupational Therapy. We are so proud!

Meredith and I experienced our first Flash Mob in person a few weeks ago. She called me about 33 minutes before it started and I rushed from Cordova to pick her up and make it downtown in time to catch most of the performance. 

Since we had class, we were not able to make it to Bonnaroo the second weekend in June, so a few of my classmates implemented Lonnaroo out on the lawn here at our apartment complex. The dress code was "sexy casual" and there was a tattoo design specifically for the event. Nadia walked the dog on her ankle and Martha and Danielle were my guests.

Aunt Kay, Uncle Bob, Sarah, and Andrew came though town a few weeks ago as they moved back to Colorado and we hit up Central BBQ per Uncle Bob's request. Sarah and Andrew drew some awesome pictures that we have displayed on our refrigerator when they stopped by to see our apartment.

Last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a, so 22 of us dressed up as cows to get a free lunch. We even coined a cheer, "We love cows yes we do! We love cows Moo, Moo, Moo!"

Nadia even showed us what Mad Cow Disease is like. [center picture]

Saturday night all of MTR went to the Redbirds game. I had such great conversation and company that I barely watched the game! 

It was fun to be all together on such a beautiful night! We brought 7 or 8 blankets, but by the end of the night, we were all sitting close to each other on 3 of them.

Roommate Date

This seems like it was so long ago! Part of orientation for MTR is a required Roommate date so we decided to go here:

And it was such a great idea that Mike and Stu joined us. We waded down the Mississippi and went walking in [on] Memphis:

And I made sure Mike didn't cross over into Arkansas.

And then we had some roommate time on the pedal boat. Sarah rocks. Enough said.

I'm loving MTR more and more everyday!