Arizona

Well, I know my loyal blog viewers have been patiently waiting for an update on the Arizona interview, so here you have it!

Matt and I got to the airport at 5:30 and our plane left at 6:20. By 7:40 we were getting off the plane into Phoenix. This might sound a little silly, because I am such a girly daydreamer, but I always wondered when Matt and I would fly on a plane together, and now that we have, it can be crossed off our bucket list. =)

Anyway, after we got the rental car and took off, we drove through Mesa and found my school in Gilbert. I HATE driving cars that aren't my little Acura Integra, so luckily Matt took over on the driving. After we found my school we went on a search for his in a cute little city called Queen Creek. We got a little bit lost but finally found it. It took about 30 minutes from my school to his, which isn't too bad.

We looked at apartments that we absolutely LOVED and were in our price range, so if we are offered the job and accept it, hopefully we will be able to move there. Then we ate at a local restaurant and sat in the car patiently waiting for our interviews.

Matt dropped me off at my school at 12:15 so that he had enough time to go to his site. I waited until 1:00 when two principals and an administrator called me into the interview room. They asked me some general questions and then they asked me to step out of the room for a minute (awkward!). After they called me back into the room they handed me a paper and said that I would be teaching a lesson to 2nd graders. They sent me into the principal's office and gave me a couple minutes to prepare. I had no idea what standards I was focusing on, where to start, or how to present in a way that was effective for the evaluators, but I went with it.

The lesson I was teaching was a reading lesson about a rich man and a poor man. At La Verne we were always taught to introduce the lesson in an interesting way, so when I got to the classroom, I began by having a discussion with students about whether or not they'd rather be rich or poor. Obviously, all of the students said they would be rich. Then we discussed some vocabulary words and finally, students read the story aloud. After reading, we discussed whether or not students would still rather be rich. Then I said thank you and left. It was very strange, I have never heard of teachers that are interviewing actually going into the classroom to teach a lesson to 30 kids.

After my interview I observed a third grade classroom while I waited for Matt. It was so interesting to see 3rd graders other than my own. I felt like I was watching robots. All of the children at the school sat perfectly still and were silent until they were asked to speak. At one point, I remember sitting in the room just thinking about how much I yearned to be back at Solorio listening to my 3rd graders and kinders talking about something silly while still proving to me that they are learning the information.

After the interview Matt and I parked under a tree and attempted to take a nap. We failed. Finally, at around 6:00 we gave up on sleeping in the car and drove back to the airport. It was 106 degrees at 6:20. SO HOT! We waited in the airport until 9:30 when our flight took us home.

WHAT A DAY!

Thanks for all of your love and support.