Sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico

We finally did it...my roommates and I camped at the beach! We figured with only two weekends left in the valley we better do it now! We went to Boca Chica beach near Brownsville and Mexico...it was beautiful, very under-developed and peaceful. It's so far south, you even have to pass through border patrol on the way back from the beach. Helen drove her little bug on the sand, right between the gulf and the dunes. We camped in the dunes (in a tent because it was super windy) and even enjoyed a little fire (after 50+ matches). Of course, I was thrilled to enjoy hot roasted marshmallows and smores! The highlight of our adventure was waking up to see the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico. Another gorgeous memory from South Texas! :) 

International Museum of Arts and Science Field Trip

Thursday we went on our field trip. The kids were very well behaved! I really enjoyed the museum and they did too. They liked touching a snake and gerbil, exploring a modern arts exhibit about the multiple meanings of the color red, and playing with the water cycle simulator game. Here are my adorable girls posing on a huge armchair in the Discovery lab. I will be so sad when I tell my students I'm not returning to Taylor Elementary next year! 

After-School Reading Tutoring

My school, due to low achievement levels on statewide testing, has a huge tutoring program. Grants and federal monies pay for after-school and Saturday tutoring for hundreds of our first through fourth grade students. I've been tutoring between ten and fourteen students three days a week since January. These students come from two other first grade teachers, as well. I try to help them out with lots of phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and guided reading. At the end of tutoring every day we circle up, place one hand in the middle, and cheer "Go TEAM!"--they love it! Kiddie quotes from my students: Cynthia, in the pink and white shirt, "I love you, Ms. Northcrap" (darn "ft" is hard to say). Brianna, in red, "Ms. Northcraft, I act like I'm you when I play teacher with my dolls." Castulo, far left, "I'm going to miss you this summer." I will certainly miss them! 

Teach for America Alumni Induction

Last weekend we had a big all-corps celebratory dinner. We have (nearly) completed our two-year committments with Teach for America; now we join over 12,000 TFA alumni. Although, since my diploma mysteriously disappeared, I've been joking that I'll have to stay for a third year. It was great to see my teaching buddies again, many for the last time before I move. We have been each others' support network since bravely moving here two years ago. Here I am posing with my second set of roommates: Greg, Corbin, Ali, and Jana. Greg's heading to chemistry graduate school in Illinois, Corbin is going to be a TFA program director in the Valley, Ali will be a national TFA recruiter in Colorado, and Jana is staying in her high school teaching placement for another year before heading to grad school. So many different paths in the weeks ahead! 

Cinco de mayo

My school went all out for Cinco de mayo this year. Students and staff were encouraged to wear traditional Mexican attire (of course, I was excited to join in!). First, all classes participated in a door-decorating contest. My students wrote about the battle at Puebla versus the French (I learned something too!). Then, we learned traditional Mexican dances, ate nachos and bunuelos, played chalupa (similar to bingo), and hit a pinata. After school, I went to a Mercedes High School mariachi concert. Finally, my evening was topped off when I convinced Helen to come with me to Tejano Saloon, a Mexican bar/club. We were definitely the only two "guerras" (white girls) in the whole place. We people-watched for awhile then joined in the huapango, a traditional Mexican dance where you stand two plus people abreast and make a big circle around the dance floor. I enjoyed my Cinco de mayo to the fullest here on the Mexico border.