Teenagers Schmeenagers - Brady

Rough day at school. I'm so over being a high school teacher. The students are not engaged in anything because they think it's almost summer vacation. Then, I had a couple of jerky encounters with my homeroom students. For example, some of them didn't take the time to write even their names on their "senior brag sheets," these papers the counselors ask them to fill out with all of their honors and activities so they know what kinds of things they can write on letters of recommendation. I mean, the school is going out of its way to help these kids out, and they just refuse to participate on any level.

Also, I'm a student council sponsor and elections are happening right now. After a ton of organizing and stress, I'm running the ballots through the scantron machine and another teacher points out that some kids haven't even filled them out right. For example, some filled in every single bubble except any of the ones that count for the people they were supposed to be voting for. Another kid wrote "What is the point of this?" down the paper. The worse was the kid who just wrote, "No gays."

I know that teenagers are supposed to be rebellious or whatever, but there's really no excuse for behavior like that. I mean - how arrogant and thoughtless.

Too bad they can't all be the perfect, sweet, never moody or spacey teenager I was. Ha ha.

Meet the Fourth Roommate - Kelly

This is Lucy- the fourth roommate!  Lucy is almost five months old and cannot WAIT to move to Chicago.  I've warned her about the winters, but she thinks the snow will be fun. :)  She's also excited because a bigger city means more people to dote on her!  She is a little sad about losing our big, fenced in backyard in Charlotte, but I've promised her lots of visits to the country (aka LaPorte) for some fresh air and quality time with her Uncle Buckner.

Lucy will definitely be making an appearance on the blog from time to time so she wanted to say hello!

Work Outs - Kelly

I've gotten into a workout routine that I LOVE here in Charlotte and am really excited about gym-shopping in Chicago.  I run outside a lot, but I know that is not going to be very much fun in the winter.  Any gym I join must have an insane amount of treadmills (nothing makes me more angry than waiting for a treadmill!) and an awesome class list.  Right now I'm into cycling, Zumba, and yoga- but I always like to try new things.  I'd be willing to find yoga somewhere else, but if I can find a gym that has it all I'll be one happy girl!

**Bonus points for a gym with a good smoothie or juice bar!!**

Winding down- Amy

It's my last week in my classroom in La Porte, and the next two days will be my last as an undergrad, which is totally weird. This semester has definitely been completely different than any other semester, but I've learned a TON about myself as a person and as a teacher.
I actually feel ready to take on my own classroom, and more than that, I feel excited about it. My supervising teacher and school have been UNBELIEVABLE, but I am excited to be able to make decisions without knowing that it's actually someone else's class in the back of my head.
My 4th graders have been pretty squirrely for the last couple of weeks, but none the less, I know I am going to miss them like crazy. Kids have a way of wiggling their way into your life, and it's hard when you have to say goodbye to them!
The kids in my class are some of the smartest (sometimes too smart for their own good) funniest kids around. I plan on volunteering in my room even when I'm done student teaching, and I already have 3 days set up that I am actually going to sub for my class in May, but still... it's weird that it's time for this part to be over!

Cinema Center - Brady

And another reason!

Cinema Center. A single-screen, independent theater in Fort Wayne where you can get popcorn with all those fancy salt choices OR gourmet chocolate. Yum.

I just got back from dinner at Pint & Slice, a fun pizza place downtown, and a free screening of the movie Wall Street at CC followed by a discussion lead by who I think was an IPFW professor. (We didn't stay for the discussion, unfortunately. Teaching starts too early!)

My only complaint is there were only about 15 people in the whole theater! I guess I am looking forward to living somewhere where there's slightly more interest in events like this.

Roanoke - Brady

Next in line on the list of reasons why I will be a little sad to move away from Fort Wayne (maybe I'll make this a series) is yoga and food in Roanoke.

Regularly, my husband, in-laws, and I go to a great Tuesday night yoga class in Roanoke, Indiana at the Powers of One. Val is a perfect instructor for me. She's challenging, but the class isn't overwhelming. And Roanoke is the cutest town in the world. It's tiny, but Joseph Decuis is there. Some people say that's the best restaurant in the state. Anyway, after yoga, we head over to a bar called The Village Inn and get some combination of salad, fried food, beer, and their awesome dinner rolls. The atmosphere is great, too, minus the smoke that's still allowed in there.

If, perchance, the yoga class we attend is on Saturday, not Tuesday, we go to a diner (I don't even know it's name!) that has perfect, greasy cheese omelets and good coffee.

I wonder if I'll be able to find an equally great combo of working out and pigging out in Chicago. :)

I Hear Ya Amy - Brady

So, I'm just getting ready for yoga, and I'm feeling guilty that I insulted Amy's blog layout choice and also thinking about the negativity she's encountered when she says she's going to interview at an inner-city charter school. And then I remember something about my own experience moving to Chicago for the first time.

People who only have passing experiences with big cities (weekend sporting events, shopping trips, plays, etc.) have a lot of misconceptions about them. When I told people I was moving to Chicago, I heard over and over things like:

1) "I could never afford to live there."

2) "That's great when you're young, but you can't raise kids there."

3) "The schools are terrible."

4) "It's dangerous."

After living there for two years, I feel I can confidently answer:

1) Boloney. You can afford to live just about anywhere if you budget right. Salaries are higher there, too.

2) Also boloney. I saw tons of kids living happy, healthy, urban lives.

3) Some are not great, but some rural schools in Indiana aren't either! Most big cities have plenty of good options plus cultural attractions that are an education in themselves.

4) The whole time I lived there, I had one friend get pickpocketed. That's it. And she was walking home, alone, at 4 a.m. That's not a good idea anywhere!

And, Amy, I found that, truly, people who have never lived or worked somewhere really have no idea what they're talking about. They're just repeating stereotypes. Just smile and nod and be happy that you'll get an experience they'll never allow themselves to have.

Prohibited from Creativity -Amy

Apparently my choice for blog layouts suck. My bad. I shall tamper with it no more, although I have one thing to say to Kelly... Verdana??? Really???

Moving on with life.

So I'm beginning to get all sorts of questions about what I'm doing when I'm done student teaching (ehmmm Friday), and people are not shy about giving their opinions. Everyone I tell about my interview with a charter school gives me some sort of response along the lines of:
"well, that would be ok for awhile"
"you can do anything for a year"
"if you decide not to go to the interview it's no big deal"
"at least it will be good interview experience"
or, my favorite,
"why?"

Here is the answer. Because I want to, and I'm excited about it. Try and muster up a little excitment for me, here, people. It's my first teaching interview. It's a school that seems really great, and I'm tired of having my bubble burst.

Now that my rant is over....

Have a great day.

Okay, Ready to Move Now - Brady

Not a great day as a high school teacher today. Not terrible, but not great.

First, I saw my students' grades on this common test all the Spanish 2 teachers give. After a lot of work and worry, their scores STILL aren't where I want them to be. As far as I can tell, they're lower than some, maybe all, of the other Spanish 2 teachers' kids' scores. It makes me feel like I'm just not very good at this job.

Then, a bunch of district administrators came in (just for a routine visit, not to evaluate me) during what was not my finest teaching moment. It was a class that's not very academic, I was speaking what I felt was too much English, and everything was a little disorganized.

This isn't the reason I'm leaving the classroom, but it's a nice reminder that my job right now isn't perfect. And it's definitely a change from all the idealizing of teaching I was doing last week.

The First Disagreement - Brady

Okay, here it is.

What were you ladies thinking with this new blog layout?!?!?!

Just kidding.


Kind of.


I think the new layout is kind of confusing to follow. And it seems pretty...white. But maybe it's MY browser that is not jiving with it now. I'll try my hand with it later.

Template? - Kelly

I changed the layout again- the other one was loading funny on my computer.  I like everything but the font... but I'm not sure how to change it?  Oh, you can change it on here.  Maybe we should each pick our own font?  I like Verdana!

Evidence of our first excursion...- Amy

I was uploading pictures from my camera and came across our first official pictures as "the sisters in the city"! These silly pics were taken while the three of us were in Chicago looking for neighborhoods that we might like to live in!

1. The three of us leaving to catch the train.


2. Brady enjoying her McDonald's coffee on train.


3. Kelly and Amy enjoying hashbrowns... Amy with a GIANT diet coke!

4. Brady's class in Fort Wayne calls her P.J (Professora Jones), and we found this randomly written on the wall! Totally crazy and awesome photo op!

(In case you can't tell, the wall says "P.J. went crazy right here."

And the first casualty of the move for me is.... - Kelly

I like the name thing- good call, Amy!

So, as I wrote before, I've started to get sad about leaving Charlotte.  Not going to lie, part of that was because I had met someone amazing here.  The only problem is neither of us are really in a place to try to build a relationship from a distance.  I suppose I would have been willing to try, but after talking it through we decided it's not a good idea and we should move what we have now back toward friends.

I know it's the first, and not the only, casualty of leaving somewhere I tried so hard to make home for two years.  I definitely put A LOT of effort into building a life here and I'm really starting to see how hard it will be to walk away.

The GOOD news is, I already have a pretty solid foundation in Chicago.  So while I have to leave all of this behind, I don't have to start from nothing once I move. :)

Final Interview- Amy

So unlike my sisters, I am having ZERO anxiety about moving to Chicago. The only anxiety I am having is about finding a job there! I have a final interview at a time to be determined (I should know during the week of the 27th so I'll keep you posted) at a charter school. I just found out that I will be teaching a sample reading lesson to 4th graders which is AWESOME since that's the grade level I've been student teaching with.
The people there seem really nice, and I'm excited for this opportunity. Hopefully all goes well!

Also, I decided to put my name at the end of the titles of my blog posts. This should help keep track of who is writing!

I'm going to play around with the blog layout and see what my sisters think....

One Thing I'll Miss About Fort Wayne - Brady

Here are photos from the very first Fort Wayne TinCaps game ever! Kevin and I had tickets to the inaugural event. It is a beautiful park, right downtown. It makes me excited for what's in store for the city and just a little sad I won't be here as often to witness it.

- Brady

And Backs and Forths

I know exactly how Kelly feels. She and I have been having really similar experiences over the last two years: first and second years of teaching, adjusting to cities that are really more like suburbs, and making the hard decision to leave the classroom after only a short time in it. Our current dilemma is just another of those similarities.

Here's my situation. I agreed, pretty enthusiastically, to move back to Indiana when my husband found a job here after being in Chicago for two years. Once I got here, though, I had a huge problem adjusting. I missed living in a big city A LOT. I would even say last year, the first year we lived in Fort Wayne, was the worst year of my life (part of that had to do with being a first-year teacher, which is pretty stressful).

Then, the best imaginable thing happened. I applied to several PhD programs and, after a lot of work and waiting, started to hear back. I was accepted to the University of Michigan, a program I felt unbelievably lucky to have an offer with, and got excited about the possibility of moving to Ann Arbor for a few years. Then, I heard from Northwestern, a school I thought was more than a long shot for me. It turns out the stars had aligned so they were looking for someone with my set of interests and qualifications, and I was accepted. This meant moving back to Chicago, the place I had convinced myself was my real "home," moving in with one or both of my sisters (I was still sad about living apart from Kevin, but the fact that they would be there made me feel a lot better), and going to a great grad program studying exactly what I wanted with a professor who couldn't be a more perfect mentor for me.

Imagine my surprise, then, when a couple of weeks ago I started to second-guess my decision. Spring was starting, so all of a sudden our house, yard, and the city itself looked really pretty. My classes started going really well; I felt like I was hitting my stride as a teacher. I had a couple of great weekends with friends in the Fort Wayne area. I really started to imagine that I could stay here long-term and be happy as a high school teacher.

However, I still truly believe I made the right choice - that staying here is the easy and safe route while moving back to Chicago is a challenge that I'm ready for and that I'm supposed to take. I also believe, as my mom told me when I called her upset about this the other night, that "the day after I schedule a haircut appointment, my hair always looks great." I think there are good things about any place, and it's natural to feel sad about leaving. I'm sure that once I find an apartment, move, get into a routine with Kevin's visits, and settle into school these worries will disappear.

- Brady

Ups and Downs

So I'm moving to Chicago from Charlotte, NC where I've been a teacher through Teach For America for the past two years.  While moving back to the midwest to work for TFA in Chicago is exactly what I wanted, I'm starting to get really bummed about leaving Charlotte and all the friends I've made here.  This is silly, though, because there are SO many reasons to be pumped about Chicago.  The lakeshore, my friends, being close to family, midwesterners (who are the best people in the entire world), being in a real CITY... so many things.  So I'm going to stop whining. :)

- Kelly

Biggie Figures Out the Internet

Ha, okay I really don't want to go by "Biggie" forever on this blog.

Yay, I figured out how to post! Thanks to Kelly for getting the blog set up.

I am super excited to live with Kelly and Amy. However, in the last week or so my naturally nervous personality has made me have...hmmm "second thoughts" is too strong of a word...but quite a bit of anxiety about this big life change.

It's not so much a problem with living away from my husband Kevin or about the work grad school entails. I'm not sure what's getting me - I think it's a realization that I'm making a pretty big, somewhat final life choice (pursuing a career as a professor). I think it's also just nerves about the unknown. I never deal well with that.

So, hello blog-world. My name is Brady and right now I'm feeling very nervous but also optimistic. I think if you keep reading you will discover that's my mood most of the time.

-Brady

The little one chimes in...

Just thought I would make my first official post to the site. Moving with my sisters to Chicago should be a BLAST! I know we will have lots of interesting stories to write about, and definitely lots of different perspectives to share on common situations...
Not much to share now, just still job searching but hoping to find something soon. Almost done with student teaching and can't wait to find an apartment!!!!!!!

Stay tuned...

-Amy

My most recent pictures of the three of us- Amy, me, and Brady!

- Kelly

Welcome!

As many people know, Brady, Amy and I are all moving to Chicago together this summer. The plan is to share an apartment in Lincoln Park/Lakeview for a year while we're all in transition. This blog is to document our somewhat unique living situation. We hope you enjoy it!

- Kelly