Workshop Thoughts

Our presenters used many of the strategies that teachers use, and some of them work with adults and some do not. Because really, if you have ever spent time with a large group of teachers you will know that they can be much more obnoxious than the students!

Our first activity was a 'getting to know you' group activity. We had a piece of chart paper and split it into fourths. In each square the group members put information about ourselves--names, things we had in common, unique things about each of us, and the expectations from the workshop. Then, each table shared their chart, and the rest of the class tried to guess which person went with which unique thing. This would definitely be a great activity with students, easily adaptable to any classroom and any situation. That basic format would work very well in September, but someone pointed out that it would also work really well at the beginning of a new unit, to assess their knowledge, share their favorites, etc.

One thing that did not work this time was a jigsaw. For those of you unaware of eduspeak, that means taking a text or task and breaking it up into smaller pieces. Each group is responsible for one piece and then they usually report out to the entire class.

The facilitators had us to a jigsaw with an academic article about some study that was done about adolescent readers, engagement, achievement, etc. It was a pretty interesting article, but we were all a little frustrated with reading it with no framework. My group had the last two pages, so it referenced all these things that we didn't know, and we didn't really even understand the purpose of the article.

So my self-declaration from this experience was that if you want to do a jigsaw with real students, it needs to make sense for every group. So I think that taking one big text and splitting it is not the best idea; rather, take several short, discrete related texts and have the students read and analyze those. That way you can avoid frustration on all sides.

The paper itself, like all education research, had a couple interesting nuggets as well as plenty of 'duh's. For example: Time for reading is not sufficient; it's vital to actually comprehend what is read. Boys 'underperform' and engage less in reading than girls. Boys are better with 'noncontinuous text'-yet another silly eduspeak term for things like comics, magazines, online stuff. Teachers should give boys the opportunity to read and interact with computers. (Because, naturally, the nicey nice girls don't need exposure to technology, since they're so weak and too unintelligent to need to use computers. Durr.)

At the end of the article, they suggested three strategies to...redo? improve? reading achievement and engagement: a full and varied range of texts, both print and electronic; plenty of library programs to support reading; and instruction in strategies for reading and self-monitoring for comprehension.

Once again, duh. I mean, come on. Is it any surprise that kids, or anyone really, need a lot of different books to choose from? Our question was from whence these texts would magically appear. My school certainly doesn't buy classroom library books. When a teacher starts at my school, there's a small, low-quality group of books. Not too many teachers seem keen on developing them--mostly because new books have to come from somewhere, either our own shelves or our own pockets. I've bought some books at sales, on ebay, and I've gotten a TON of free books from Scholastic. (If you're not using them, you are missing out. FREE BOOKS.) But in an effective schoo, those should be emergency backup rather than primary building of a library.

And just for the record, I did get some good clarification about reading strategies instruction this week, but! Not once did anyone mention actual reading instruction. If a child reads on a third-grade level in sixth grade, sure, they can try to read books on their level and attempt to use the comprehension strategies. But from what I've seen, kids still don't understand what they're reading, even if it is low level. You know why? Because they don't know HOW TO READ well enough! They need phonics, and they desperately need vocabulary work. Reading third-grade books will certainly not improve a child's vocabulary if they're twelve years old. With shared on-level reading, they're still confused. There HAS to be something for these kids--no wonder they have such abysmal scores in this city. All the students who can barely read scrape by with 2s on tests (AHEMINFLATEDSCORINGAHEM) and get passed right along to the next grade. The extra services in my school, when they're there, have had no effect on actual reading level in my experience. Of course, we don't actually have a reading program in my school, because god forbid anyone be responsible for, you know, TEACHING them something they need.

Ahem.

I have more thoughts and resources to share in the coming days, so look for that.

Summer Week

So this week I kept very busy, got some great news, and some bad news.

The busy part was doing a four-day workshop. (See what a dedicated educator I am? Using my "free time" to professionally develop myself? Getting up early when I don't have to??) Parts were interesting, the resources we got were awesome, and parts were just plain silly. Par for the course for these things.

Oh, and there was ranting, too. One woman marched up to our facilitator--who was only in charge of our classroom, nothing else--and screeched, "I will not stand for this! I must have breakfast! There is no coffee, no tea, nothing! I must eat in the morning!" and so on and so on. The ten of us who, DUH, thought ahead and brought our own stuff, just sat there, quietly eating our snacks and sipping our beverages. What a spoiled brat.

I have lots of things I want to write about--in fact, on the first day of the workshop, I actually made a list of topics to post about from the last couple weeks, but right now I'm tired.

So, the bad news, the very depressing news, is, of course, on the job front. A few weeks ago, I got a very random job lead. It was for a charter school that I love, for a different grade and, more scarily, a different subject. But I didn't care. It was a little intimidating to think about going so far out of my comfort zone, but I was excited to tackle something new. I cared more about the atmosphere of the school itself--being in a professional, high-standard place, where everyone is on the same page, motivated, with plenty of school-wide procedures and routines. I really wanted to work there. I knew that I wanted to work at this school back in November, when I visited it on an open house. So I was thrilled about the opportunity.

I interviewed, I thought it went well, and then I got rejected.

I was really upset about it. Sad, dejected, depressed, blue, and more than that. This rejection feels magnified a hundred fold coming on top of nearly six months of active job searching and that many rejections, magnified because this felt like a last chance, a last grab for positive change in my life, something to actually look forward to in the fall.

I'm currently looking at two options, neither of which make me happy or excited.

There will be plenty more on that later.

But. For now, let's end with some good news, eh?

Y'all should know by now that I'm just a leetle in love with photography. I take pictures every single day (mostly of myself for my 365 project, but I take zillions whenever I go somewhere. As you know, because I've got as many pictures on this silly blog as written posts. And there are more of them to come. [pictures, I mean.][although I really do want to do more writing and reflecting here too. but that takes both time and effort.]), and I have this gorgeous new camera that I love (even though oh my GOD do I want/need a faster lens...I hope I can make it to November to make it a birthday gift...). Lately I've been practicing portrait and candid photos, which are a lot of fun, and I've gotten some good shots, I think.

So anyway, I am going to now be part of a nonprofit organization, taking pictures for them as an unpaid intern! Well, I hope I will be, of course, the first gigs are next week, so think happy snappy thoughts for me. :D

That is very good news indeed, as it moves me that much closer to my very faraway dream of being able to take photos as a job.

Pictures from Last Week

I feel old.

The other day we happened upon a rerun of the gymnastics Olympics trials. I recognized not a single competitor, but I did recognize one girl's coach/dad as a famous Soviet (male) gymnast from the 80s and 90s. Then someone's score came up and it was 15 something! Fifteen! What the hell? Why do they have to change everything? What was wrong with the scoring system that's been in place for the last fifty years?! You don't suddenly see baseball making home runs worth two points or something crazy! Argh.

I watched a shitload of stand up on Comedy Central from the weekend. I recognized one guy's name, and though he didn't really look familiar I looked him up. Sure enough, he went to the same high school I did, and I'm pretty sure he was the long-haired silent kid who was after me on the school bus route. Crazy.

This afternoon I just noticed another white hair---IN MY EYEBROWS.

Oy.

Another field trip!

Yesterday I went down to lower Manhattan. I stopped by the Fulton Street Strand and bought six books for eighteen bucks. Then I continued on to the South Street Seaport to hang out and look at the Waterfalls. I took lots of pictures of the bridge, and the boats, and the people around me. I noticed a sign on one of the yellow boats--free water taxi ride to the new Brooklyn IKEA. I figured, hey, why not?

It was a gorgeous day--the weather was divine! The ride from Pier 11 to Red Hook (?) didn't take too long, and you can go up on top to enjoy the views. I even bought a couple little things at IKEA, like some cheap slippers and a magazine rack. I took tons of pictures from the boat (more later!) and was thoroughly pleased with my little trip.

Uh oh

I woke up with a start around 8am today, and bolted to my piles of classroom stuff.

Oh no!

I left my bin of school supplies in my classroom!

Then I tried frantically to remember what was in there. I hoard things so I haven't had to refill it much over the last three years. Post its, overhead pens, scotch tape, who knows what else.

This is really going to bother me. Should I just forget it and leave the bin as a surprise gift for the next teacher? Should I try to go in and retrieve it? Hopefully when submitting a letter of resignation? Have a friendly colleague take some choice items for me and leave the rest?

Then I started thinking about my classroom and a stranger opening up that bin to find so many teacher treasures. What will become of my legacy? I imagine kids coming to visit me next year, asking and looking for me, and some cranky stranger will be all, "I don't know who that is. Now leave us alone!" Will the kids remember me? Will my colleagues care? What will that stranger think of my room? Will they appreciate the library that's still decent even without all the books I built it up with (you can bet your butt I have all those here with me)? Will they know how to spell?

Or will all this be moot because I'll be right back there again?

Or will it be moot because the kids won't care? (haha, no, I think this crop of kids would definitely care. And I definitely care about them, I still want to find a way to check in on them somehow, even if I'm gone.)

I really hope I won't be back there to find out. In a way it makes me really sad and scared to close that chapter of my life. It's the only thing I've known for the last four years. It's what's kept me in New York for two years (soon to be three?) beyond my original commitment. It's made me a few friends and it's also made me even more intolerable of lazy, nonteaching, so-called professionals who can't use proper grammar and spelling. It's made me realize that I don't want to be in charge of other grown-ups, because grown-ups are often more immature than kids are, and you can't yell at or admonish adults (without serious attitude and consequences, at least). It's made me really appreciate the schedule and freedom to travel.

You can bet this will haunt my dreams for the summer. I only wish I was being overdramatic.

Grown Up Field Trip to the Bronx Zoo!

The Year in Post Mortem

Wow, I'm still having trouble believing that the school year is over. I'm also having trouble realizing that it actually happened.

The last day was short and sweet, and sweaty too. I had some time to play with the kids (old board games) and take pictures. Most of them gave me hugs when they left. I was surprised that I didn't cry. I think it all happened so fast that I was too overwhelmed to fully process it. I was in shock that it was the end; despite the countdowns and the fervent wishes, it all came so fast. It didn't seem real.

This was a really interesting year. Let us review.

The year started with record low student numbers. I absolutely loved having eighteen to twenty students in the room--it was a quieter, more intimate educational experience.

I came to love (what?) each of my classes for different reasons. The Grey Bunnies were so quiet and easygoing. The Tame Roos were a little wild, but sweet and never dull. The Herd was huge but full of interesting personalities.

For the first year ever, I didn't have a serious discipline/crazy parent problem. There were a couple kids who tried my patience, but they weren't intentionally malicious or cruel. Just run of the mill pain in the ass. :) I really worked the Staredown this year! But on their own, sweet enough kids.

For the first time ever, I realized that I had a good time in the classroom. I enjoyed myself teaching the kiddies. There were plenty of days that I was tired and cranky and irritable, but overall, it was fun. Fun!

Perhaps I can say that because the kids were the only good thing about this year. With the changes in administration, and the lack of organization, communication, and respect for the teachers and our time, no wonder I wanted to sequester myself behind a closed classroom door.

That said, I made a couple new friends this year. September was not a happy time for me, starting a new year with my three closest school friends gone (two out of state, one out of county). I hope that wherever I end up in the fall, I can keep up some communication with these folks that can always make me laugh.

I realized anew how much I love field trips. Even when they don't go well. And to be honest, if they don't go well, it's because someone else organized it. ;) I so enjoy exploring new places alongside my students, watching them have a good time learning. It's also the best time for me to be more Normal Person than Strict Teacher, to build a rapport with the kids.

Apparently, not only have I been a lawyer, I've also been in the military, according to my students. I find both of these to be high compliments.

This year was my best in terms of t#st pr#paration. During our practice in class, the after scores improved for every single student. However, although I haven't analyzed my resulting scores yet, of course there were plenty of 2s. Disappointing.

I have collected a lot of teacher shit in the last four years. And it's all sitting in my hallway right now.

I'm really scared about next year, making a change, deciding on my own future. It makes me nervous to jump out into the unknown. I've done that a couple times in the last decade, but those times I actually wanted to, was ready to. At this point, I'm *mostly* sure that I want to. But the logistics and money have made things too complicated. Stupid adulthood.

This weekend I got a lead that I am really excited about, very hopeful for. I shan't jinx it at this time, but I'm trying to think positive, employable thoughts. :)

Happy First Vacation Monday, all!

I laughed so much I cried.

An excellent Friday!

I must have said, "What day is this again?" twenty times this past week. It was long and confusing and irritating.

BUT! Friday was short and fun, a perfect way to end the week, a perfect way to spend the last Friday of the school year.

First, in the morning, I was in the hallway and thought I recognized someone's back. Sure enough, she turned and it was my friend N! She moved to Texas last summer, which was sad because she was the best friend that I had in school. We had a couple minutes to chat and catch up. She's doing really well and loving Texas life. It was so good seeing her again!

And did I mention that my other friend N was in town earlier this week? She moved to NOLA last summer, to work at a charter school that was even more corrupt and messed up than our school. Now she's happily engaged and moving to Florida!

The bulk of the day on Friday was a field trip that Ms Math and I frantically tried to coordinate on Wednesday. We took one class, the 'best' class (the Herd) to a local zoo. Only two thirds of the class actually showed up, so it was a nice small group of the nicest kids. There were a bunch of other kids from our school too, but everyone did quite well in terms of behavior.

The kids had a great time looking at the animals, taking pictures, running around, just being kids. The animals (though they seemed quite lonely to me) were interesting to see (alligator! coyote! sea lions! etc). I took over six hundred pictures, so you know I was happy. :) The weather was perfect--it was nearly hot but there was plenty of shade to keep us cool. The bus ride was easy, quick, and no one got lost.

It was really the ideal trip!

sweet!

I bought some brand new books at the local 99cent store! Not crappy generic books either--the two sequels of The City of Ember!

I worked out again today--I'm on a hot streak of working out every other day and I feel great. If I were not so lazy I'd do even more.

I have two interviews this week--think happy employable thoughts for me. :)

SEVEN DAYS OF SCHOOL.

The weather was perfect today.

That was mostly the only positive thing with today's field trip. Most of the kids had a good time once the activities began, too.

That's all I'm going to say, because the rest is not so nice. If you've ever spent time in a New York City public school, you can fill in the details. In fact, let's play Name That Mess-Up! Leave a comment with one of the things that always goes wrong on your trips.

But now I have to change direction in this post. So beware.

Like last May and June, I've been having trouble sleeping this spring. Either can't make my brain shut up to fall asleep, or can't make my brain stay shut up to stay asleep. So I've been using some Ambien to help me stay more rested and sane. Because sanity is a big help when faced with preteens all day.

Two nights ago, I felt tired and figured I wouldn't need to take anything. And of course, my brain rattled on about school and all kinds of other stressful things until at least 3.30am. So last night I didn't want to take any chances and swallowed a friendly pill around 10pm.

Well, I stayed up, flickring, and I happened upon a mosaic of pictures. And I swear to god, the pictures were moving. Both when I was looking at them and while I was looking not quite at them. There was a flower picture (I had to check just now to see if this really happened, but look, here it is! I swear to god, the petals were nodding and waving in the wind. I SWEAR IT. I kept staring at it, watching it ripple over and over again. It was the coolest, trippiest thing.

Except now it seems like some kind of dream, like I must have imagined it. But there's the link; I faved it to tell my future self that it was real. Add I swear to you, it was!

This isn't the first time this happened; remember when I took one and watched American Idol, and I could have sworn it was twins auditions, and there were six judges instead of three?

Man, I bet the 60s were fun.

A two-hour mile

After a stupid, stupid afternoon at school (GOD.), I was glad to get home and de-stress.

I grabbed my camera and library books and headed outside. I took a slow, wide loop around my neighborhood to run errands. The sun was out, it was very warm, but not humid; perfect in the shade. Brandi Carlile played on my iPod, and I took pictures of plants, fences, walls and birds. After the post office and drugstore, I dawdled in the library and got stuck behind the slowest four people of all time. My last stop was getting my eyebrows done (that damn rogue white hair reared its ugly head this week). After my two-hour stroll, I felt relaxed and happy to be productive.

It was a truly lovely afternoon.

I had convinced myself a few months ago that I really did not need or deserve a DSLR. My Sony took really nice photos and had an excellent zoom. And I only bought it last May, for a lot of money. It had manual settings and I was practicing using them, finally.

So I felt extra 'bad' that my boyfriend bought me the Nikon. Would it really make a difference? Would I use the things that make a DSLR different than my big point and shoot?

Well, on my walk today, I turned my camera to manual mode AND manual focus. And the things this camera can do are indeed much better and more sophisticated than my Sony. I mean, duh, but my point is that I'm actually *using* those features. I still have to learn and practice with the settings, but they all go much higher/lower than the other one. So I'm trying to feel better about having such an extravagant toy! :)

Hey, Guess What?

1. My admin were great today! The dean was more than glad to take out the girl who threw a pencil that hit another girl in the face, and he'd rounded up two students known for cutting. The AP came in to tell me that a parent had come in to see me, and she briefed me on the parent's concern and then asked when I could meet with her (as opposed to trying to pull me out of class right then and/or while teaching). I really appreciated those things--if those kind of helpful and supportive actions happened every day, our building would be a much better, more secure, more productive and enjoyable place to be. (See? I'm more that willing to praise and celebrate administration. I'm not only full of hate and venom. :D)

2. I forgot a bunch more stuff this morning. First, I discovered the potato that I'd begun heating up two nights before. Then I forgot to brush my teeth (gross, I know). And I forgot my breakfast bar.

3. The weather this morning (around 7.30) was absolutely perfect. And last night the humidity became much less oppressive, so it was much more comfortable to be able to sleep. The fans cooled the air a little, although they didn't actually make the air cool.

4. I worked out! For the first time in either two or three weeks!

5. Last night, after that post, I whipped up a random nonteaching cover letter and applied to a completely random job. I felt so rash and daring; it was exhilarating. (Seriously, how lame am I?)

6. Some of my favorite kids from two years ago came around to get yearbooks signed. Love!

7. All afternoon I kept my air-conditioner running and my lights off. The kids didn't seem to mind at all. One kid, who's very sweet, but lacking in self-control, remarked, "Miss, we're much calmer with the lights off!" I agreed. He said, "We should keep them off all the time!" I said, "Good idea."

8. TWO WEEKS TIL FREEDOM!!

Alarm Bells

Ringing everywhere--in the building, in my head, all over the place.

I
*ding*
don't
*ding*
like
*ding*
this
*ding*
school
*DONG!!*

I.
Want.
A.
New.
Job.
*DING!!*

Seriously, y'all. For the last week I have been looking at ads for completely non-teaching jobs. And it is scary and sad. Would I really leave education altogether? Would I get hired in this shit economy? I have one year-ish of office experience, I've volunteered a lot, I'm an expert filer (those two degrees really come in handy, I tell you). I love taking pictures but I don't know PhotoShop or any other alteration program. I make a mean caramel macchiato. Oh, and I can boss around preteens. Does that qualify me for anything?

Holy Heat Wave, Batman

Shit, it's hot.

Since I don't have air-conditioning (well, the unit that came with the apartment only cools about three feet directly in front of it), it was difficult to sleep very well.

Then I forgot both my hot chocolate and my keys. I haven't forgotten my keys since my second year of teaching. And I've forgotten the cocoa (my daily morning drink) only three or four times, but this was the second time this month. Maybe I can blame the humidity for my forgetfulness? After all, I come from stock that is not well adapted to this weather--not only did I grow up in the temperate Northwest, but my ancesters are all Northern Europeans. This weather is just inhumane!

I do have one good thing to share--my classroom has air-conditioning! No, it's not new or anything, but this is the first time we've needed it. And boy, am I grateful. Actually, even the parts of the school (on the lower floors, anyhow) that aren't air-conditioned weren't too bad. Warm and sticky, sure, but not unbearable. (Of course, I haven't ventured to the upper floors; I'm sure it's a windowed Hades up there.) Walking out of the building this afternoon, after being fairly comfortable inside all day, was like walking into a preheated oven. Ack.

Also, my students are behaving pretty well for me, if fairly lazy recently with homework. I'm very happy and relieved about that. Now, I'm the one to thank for this, of course, since I worked so hard to set up the routines and expectations for my class. And just today I got to practice one of my favorite teacher looks. At the beginning of class, when I see a student not on task, I stare at them. Not glare, no raised eyebrows, just stare right at them, unwavering. Very quickly they shriek, "Miss! Don't look at me like that!!" and bury their heads in shame. Meanwhile, I continue to stare and they jump to getting to work. Hee. Sometimes I can't keep a straight face as long as I need to and the corners of my mouth twitch. Usually other kids see this and start to giggle.

Anyway, I don't really have a point here. It's really hot. We still have about three weeks left of school.

Phew.

1. It's Friday! Always a good thing.

2. It's June! Holy shit!

3. God. THREE MORE WEEKS.

4. My admin just keeps.getting.worse.

5. The Roos (who I wasn't even scheduled to see today [see above re: STUPID]) and the Herd were great today.

6. I 'quizzed' them about quotation stuff on sentence strips and they had a grand old time (more importantly, they're doing a million times better! now that it's been like two or three weeks of warm-up practice. time to move back to S/V and commas and stuff...). I haven't done anything with them for a long time, but sure enough, the kids love using them. If you don't have them, get them for next year.

7. Ooh! I found the Jeopardy review game I created last year, questions, categories, and all! SWEET!!! Seriously, I'm really excited about that. There was no way I was up to redoing it.

8. Now I just have to figure out how to work in all the play stuff plus review and test time. But truthfully, for me the entire month of June is fidgeting and hoping they don't realize I'm just killing time.

9. Although, the Herd totally went with me on the trait analysis of the play today, and they had some deep commentary--I was very impressed! I guess I should make more of an effort with the teaching. Meh.

10. Sorry this post is lame. I've been doing so well with blogging this week. (OMG! That Chick, one of the funniest bloggers ever, commented!! Squee!) I could write about plenty more things about this week, but it would be too specific I think. Suffice to say, school=stupid.

good times

I let two classes read Who's On First this afternoon. The students that I chose from the Roos just nailed it. The tone, inflection, understanding, everything. The whole class giggled and guffawed throughout. It was fantastic and I loved it and them. I was very proud and happy. Also, it had been a year since I'd heard or read it, and I laughed the whole time too. Man, that is some of the most brilliant comedy ever.

(In contrast, the Herd readers were decent but didn't seem to get it enough to read it correctly, and nearly half the class didn't get it; I heard several kids say, "Where was Naturally?" Sigh. But some of them did get it and seemed to like it.)

Yesterday I scheduled myself for two interviews, but I wasn't really paying attention, so I ended up driving to one in a neighboring borough so that I could do the other one by phone while in the car. Both seemed to go fairly well; I think I articulated myself well (which hasn't always been the case; after all, don't they just somehow know how awesome I am?!). So please continue thinking happy thoughts for me. :)

le sigh.

This sentence is a treasure trove of BAD.

CANIDATE(S) MUST BE FAMILER WITH MICROSOFT OFFICE AND ADOBE, WELL ORGANIZED AND PUNTUAL.

--more craigslist wonder

And The Stupid Just Keeps on Coming

This morning, I was going through the warm up with my students. Learn, teach, blah blah schoolcakes.

*knock knock*

I opened the door to students in another class. "Can I help you?"

They hold some papers and scantrons out. "Here's the test."

I blinked at them, totally perplexed. "Huh? What?"

"It's from Miss So and So."

"Uh....I don't get it."

They just kind of stood there, not sure what to do. So I said, "Have her call me or something."

A minute goes by, and another teacher comes to the door. "The class is taking this final today."

Once again, my witty response: "Huh?"

"The whole grade is taking this final right now."

"What? Since when? Why didn't they tell us?"

blah blah blah no answer, no memo, nothing at all.

And oh wait, it gets better.

Next period I'm off, and I mention it to the coach. hey, what's going on with this, our grade heard nothing about it, etc etc. She didn't really know about it either but recalls something. She finds an old memo on the table. It's dated the 22nd and addressed to only the teachers in that content area.

Wait, there's more!

Later on I find the AP and basically confront her that we were all blindsided. She tried to come back with the fact that the kids knew. I said, "But *we* didn't. I had a lesson plan, I was doing something!"

She had the sense to look a little chagrined and halfheartedly apologized, but THEN says, "Oh, it was up to those content teachers to tell the others."

Next time she or anyone else pulls this shit, I'm just gonna tell them, "Hey, DO YOUR JOB." I'm so done with it all.

I swear to god, I'm gonna lose it one of these days. Start cussing, walk out of the building, I don't know what. I cannot take it!

Some of you deal with bullshit way worse than this. And this is what I say to you, to me, to all of us--It is WRONG. It is not okay for us to be treated like this. Something needs to be done. I don't know what, I don't know how, but we shouldn't take it anymore!

Link love

Tell everyone (again) not to buy bottles of water, for pete's sake! (Passing on the link, thanks Nancy!)

-----

Not that I'm not guilty of tossing food gone bad--especially produce--but this line just grossed me out. That bold statement (emphasis mine) perfectly captures the selfish, small view of this country and the media.

“The fundamental thing that I’m fighting against is, ‘why should I care? I paid for it,’ ” Mr. Bloom said. “The rising prices are really an answer to that.”

And then you see dozens of ads per day about new snack foods, new prepared foods (cut up celery and carrots in a plastic dish! talk about unnecessary waste!), AND miracle diets. When are we finally going to get it already?

----

What does it mean to be an American?

from a very talented and articulate flickr contact.

I'm sorry to have to say this outright, but

...my principal is officially an idiot.

Last week she ignored or forgot a schedule change that was made months ago, affecting one of our days this month. I thought that was neglectful enough.

But get a load of this!

She wants to put bookshelves on every floor, stocked with books, so the students will have a 'home environment.'

Take a second, think about it.

That is one of the all-time stupidest ideas I have EVER heard.

First of all, has she ever SEEN the freaking hallways in our building? Oh right, she hides herself away in the office (this year's students didn't know who she was for months!). Well, I'll be happy to tell her about the noise, chaos and general unsafe conditions that goes on every.single.passing time. Previously I've actually addressed it in writing to her--and what did she do? Try to pass it off to the AP, who did nothing either. She takes zero responsibility for enforcing any kind of discipline or security.

Secondly, the halls are already littered with trash on a daily basis as well.

Third, that's what the damn classroom libraries are FOR. Duh! No way am I helping supply books for this monumentally absurd, utterly obtuse plan.

Can you imagine if we gave the students fuel for this metaphorical fire? I would wager on a week tops that shelves would be emptied and the hallways covered in torn pages, students covered in bruises from books hurled as bullets.

Jesus criminy, get a clue, lady!

would you...

...want to apply to work with this group?

If you are seeking a rewarding opprotunity that allows professional growth; dont missing this change and apply now.

Spelling counts, people!



--[seen in a craigslist education ad]

someday, a light

I think...

that I'm having a breakdown.

I've been sobbing for the last fifteen minutes.

Earlier today I felt good about things because I submitted nine more resumes this weekend.

But thinking and talking about the future = sobbing in my bed in the middle of the night. That is neither normal nor healthy.

I've looked up my mental health insurance--it's covered (good job, Timothy's Law) and there's someone right in my neighborhood.

Happy Memorial Day

Success?

The Roos have been crazy lately--with the teachers who lack classroom management. I'm not finding myself very sympathetic, as it's MAY and by now they should have been working on it all year to prepare for the spring insanity. As of now, apparently the good/in-control teachers are being asked to reprimand the class FOR that lacking teacher. Dude. Get your shit together, it's not even your first year teaching.

Anyway, the Roos are decent for me--squirrelly, sure, a little; chatty, sometimes, of course. But that's one of my great success stories--after my first year (and during too) I've worked really hard at management--I set the very strict tone in September and I fuss at them over small, little things. That prevents the big crazy stuff and lets them know the classroom is a peaceful place to be and to work. And I think they do actually appreciate it, because recently I only raise my eyebrows and they shush each other.

So this week we've been evaluating writing in portfolios and working on revising. Which means I'm actually giving them individual work time during class to write. This can be a sticky situation, as they're often only quiet and on task if I'm standing up front glaring at everybody. Once I circulate, the chatter creeps up and I have regulate. Loudly and sternly.

Also, since our recent field trip went so well and we all had such a good time, Ms Math and I decided to have the classes compete for another field trip in a few weeks. We will be calculating homework percentages and class points, and the class with the highest number will go to the zoo. (Ha! For a trip, not for imprisonment. Although some we might be tempted to leave there...) The students know about so this week I've been extra tough on them, issuing that challenge. "You CAN all be "A" students. I WANT you to keep all your class points. Focus and do your work!"

And yesterday, they really did! Yes, I had to move them into rows instead of tables, but they all sat quietly, and nearly all of them were busy writing. It was very gratifying.

At the back of the class sits ESL Girl. She's pretty low functioning altogether, not just because of language, so she struggles a lot with writing. Her grades struggle even more because most of the time she doesn't do anything at all. This girl wouldn't know a paragraph if it hit her in the face.

A few months ago, during the after school program that was cancelled months ago, I sat with her and walked her through the four square process and then the essay process. She did fine, for her level, but I figured it would kind of go in one ear and out the other. We haven't done essays since then, either.

So yesterday, as I was walking around, I passed by her and glanced at her notebook. There was a complete four square and gosh darn it--she was in the fourth paragraph of her essay!

That pretty much made my day as a teacher.

decisions?

After, or despite, all this thinking and angsting (is that a verb? it is now), I'm pretty sure I have to stay in New York for another year. If I had gotten an offer out of state I might have taken it, but after all the go-nowhere interviews...it's getting too late to think about moving, because of my lease being up for renewal so soon.

So now, to think about the job situation...

argh.

I've 'applied' on open market for several dozen positions, both English and elementary. I don't even know how it works, or if it will work. I hadn't wanted to risk another crappy school in the city. But, better the devil you know? Or take the plunge into something new and different?

again, argh.

Though it's probably pointless, I'm even letting myself think about non-teaching jobs. I looked around a teeny bit, but sadly found mostly either admin-assistant positions (which sound fabulously easy [but boring?] compared to being in the classroom, and which now I feel way overqualified for) or education-related jobs that require management/data experience (which I would say I'm HIGHLY qualified for, but obviously their definitions would not agree) or things that I don't find interesting at all. Hmph.

For now, I'm keeping my eyes open for the next month or so. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. :)

Brooklyn Bridge 125th Birthday Celebration

VIEWING AREAS
The colorful light installation will illuminate the New York City skyline every evening from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
Recommended viewing areas from Thursday, May 22 through Monday, May 26 include:

Brooklyn
Empire Fulton Ferry State Park – Enter at Main and Water Streets (Thursday through Saturday only)
Brooklyn Bridge Park – Enter at Main and Water Streets
Brooklyn Heights Promenade (Remsen Street to Orange Street along the East River) Fulton Ferry Landing – Water and Old Fulton Streets

Manhattan
Esplanade along South Street from Wall Street to the Manhattan Bridge including Pier 17

random listy

1. Who would have ever thought that in one night, in the same hour even!, on different networks, there would be TWO mentions of Schrodinger's cat on television? Crazy!

2. The season finale of Bones totally blew my mind. I love that show.

3. It would not be possible for me to care less about American Idol and either David. Nevertheless, I'll probably watch the finales, my finger poised on the fast-forward button.

4. We were very sad when our favorite diner closed. The Cheyenne Diner was an old-fashioned place, right across the street from B&H. It was kicked out by their owners, who also run the Skylight Diner. A couple weeks ago, though we felt like traitors, we tried them out. It was actually very good. The Belgian waffle was just as delicious as the Cheyenne's (the main reason I loved it--hands down the best waffles I've had in New York), and the service was very fast. The waitress didn't even mind when we lingered on Sunday morning to work on the Onion crossword puzzle.

5. Last Friday night we had an AWESOME dinner at Florencia 13 in the Village. Oh man, it was perfect! Many of you know my eating quirks, so you probably understand that I rarely get to have a full meal at a restaurant. But not here! It began with a deliciously sweet and tart black cherry mojito, then progressed to roasted corn on the cob (skewered on sticks! corncob kabobs!). The caesar salad was perfect too--creamy, no-anchovy dressing, heavily parmesaned, garnished with tortilla strips. MMM. For dessert, there was a brownie that seemed blah, but somehow turned excellent when combined with the ice cream.

6. After that perfect, delicious dinner, we participated in an Improv Everywhere mission! The email instructed us to show up at 9pm with cameras and flashes. Turns out the mission was to line us all up across the entire bridge and do a wave of flashes from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back. What a neat idea! So the big crowd trudged to and over the bridge, in the cold, windy rain. Unfortunately, once we were all in our line, nothing happened for like thirty or forty minutes. Just standing around, trying to huddle under feeble umbrellas and stay warm. My camera (I had both but kept the new DSLR in my backpack) was covered in rain--but still performed valiantly!

7. For some reason, on Monday morning I was motivated to make up a long list of things to do. I am proud to say that I have gotten many of them crossed off the list (which, as I hope you know, is very gratifying): take out trash, clean bathroom, vacuuming, dishes, countertops, post office, eyebrows, groceries, phone calls, amazon order. There are plenty of items left on the list: take out recycling, do laundry, work out, read my photography books, write some notecards. But I am proud of myself for getting a lot done in the last two days. Now I shall attack more of the data inputting I'm a little behind on, whose deadline is fast approaching.

8. When working on outlining with my classes today, I listed my hobbies as skydiving, globetrotting, paper airplanes, playing cello, and making nachos. Then, making a list of goals, I asked them to add one for me.
"Having kids?"
"Nah, everyone does that! I'm not just anyone. something unique!"
"Be in the military!"
"Wasn't I already in the military?" with a raised eyebrow and grin.
"Win the lottery!" "Be a bookwriter!"
"Oh man, I could write a whole book just about this class...."

9. It's only Tuesday and I'm tired.

temporary one

New York was always meant to be a transitory experience. I moved here with the intention of only staying a couple years.

The city, while interesting, never captured my heart and/or soul the way it has others. I've been to many places more beautiful, cultural, fascinating; I know from experience this is not the end-all be-all that some people insist it is.

This place is loud. It is EXPENSIVE. It is materialistic and extremely ethnocentric.

Sure, there are well-known buildings, sights, museums, parks. And the hours are late. Yeah, there are lots of plays and shows. Yep, the public transportation is decent.

Meh, I say. This was never meant to be a place of permanence, it was never meant to be a place for me to set down roots.

Yet I've been here for four years (minus one month; my NYCversary is June 15). I've had the same job for four years! I never even attended a school for that long, ever. I've lived in this same apartment for two full years! This is a minor miracle, maybe a major miracle, if it heralds my ever-burgeoning adulthood. I love this apartment.

I have a wonderful relationship of over two years already, with someone who loves New York in all the ways I don't. Even more miraculously, I have developed friendships here in New York (all through and because of the internet; I hope the nerdiness of that reality is waning as it becomes more prevalent). I don't see any of them very often, but they're all wonderful and interesting people.

My apartment lease is up this month. It's one of many decisions I have to make this spring, but I've been pretending not to notice it. Every single aspect of my life, my future, is up for grabs in the next month or so. These decisions, the possibilities, the consequences are gnawing away at me, even as I try to ignore them all.

Here I must make a choice about homeostasis. Everything could stay the same--same cute apartment, same silly frustrating job, same long commute to see my lovely boyfriend. What does it mean to choose to continue to stay doing the exact same thing? Does it mean I'm scared to do something different? Does that show weakness?

Or do I take that leap into the unknown yet again? I've already quit a job with no safety net once before, I don't need to do that again. I've gotten far too comfortable with a regular paycheck. Do I abandon this job track and do something to pay the bills while waiting for career inspiration to strike? Do I keep looking for teaching jobs in other cities? Am I ready to abandon all the relationships I've built here? Am I ready to start over with apartment hunting, learning streets, finding interesting bars and parks, making friends, creating a completely new life for me, planting roots? Because I do want that, whether it's this year or the next one. I'm done with this temporary life.

more of the same

I was greeted this afternoon with insults and curse words inscribed upon my windshield. Nice, right?

Later I went to an interview. I almost didn't go, because I didn't know what positions they were looking for, and it was in the dreaded F.R. (I'm abbreviating, but it's waaay out there in its own world, and you've most likely never ever been there, nor will you). But I'm glad I did. It was a good experience to see another public school. Many things were different from my own school, which I enjoyed seeing. You see, being in the same place, doing the same thing, for four years in a row, it has me thinking and expecting that school is just that way. And that's not true; it's been very pleasant to find how things could be different.

Also, their principal informed that scores came out last week! Did you guys know that? I'm really excited to see how my students did--this year I felt really good about the improvement of my kids, at least in writing.

Oh yeah--I had two of my classes listen to "I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel today. We actually discussed the metaphors and the speaker's motivations, and they totally got into and completely dug the song. You should have seen them moving and bopping around!

Anyway, blah, I'm not very descriptive or specific. Meh. I'm hungry and watching tv.

good vs bad

I remember reading Banner in the Sky in fifth grade. I don't remember many details, but the thrill of the mountain stayed with me. That came back to me when I saw the book, The Kid Who Climbed Everest. I began reading it this weekend, read voraciously on my prep yesterday and then stupidly forgot to bring it home. Today, I had three periods off in a row. Usually I work on grading and planning and stuff during that time. But today I just had to read. I read the entire time, roughly 2 1/2 hours, and finished the whole thing. It was fascinating, the details of an extreme climb. I had no idea, for example, that climbers have to go up, then back down, then up a little further, then back down, etc, several times, to get acclimatized. Anyway, great book, go check it out sometime.


Recently I've been getting some emails about interviews. Which is great, of course. However, they're wanting me to come to their school, during the day. Which doesn't make sense to me. For a second interview/demo lesson or whatever, sure, because then both parties are interested and knowledgeable and there's a potential good fit. But without even a telephone interview, why do these schools expect me to drop my real job to stop by? I know nothing about them, they know nothing about me.
I feel really bad, but I have to say no/ask if there's another/later time. And apparently there aren't for these schools. It makes me really frustrated and sad! Am I doing the right thing?

Ms Principal is looking to make some changes and adjustments for next year. I think that's great, and I really respect that. Legally our school needs to do some things differently. I am all for that--why not try out some new things? However, of course, many staff members are all, waah! waah! about it. I'm up for something new. God. Maybe I can survive another year at this silly school. Sigh.

More to come about that, there are many anxious thoughts percolating.

ARGH

A new student transferred to the school and into the Roos last Monday. In the WEEK she's been here, she's managed to:

A)be absent once
B)be involved in a gigantic fight
C)do zero homework
D)do very little in my class (though apparently does well in math)
and now
E)have a sidekick open and on inside her desk during class today,
then!
F)has the GALL to come up at the end of class and claim she didn't know she couldn't have a cell phone! She gestured to my wall of charts about expectations/rules/etc as she said it.
My temper flared as I snapped, "That is NONSENSE," while pointing to the bright orange sentence strips with general school rules, including NO PHONES, IPODS, ETC.

This kind of thing makes me worry about breaking into curse words and getting into trouble.

Seriously, kid, get your act together, cause I sure ain't buying any of your bullshit. In freaking MAY. God.

OMG!

On Thursday, Somebody surprised me with this:


WOW! This weekend I took a whole lot of photos. Not like that's different than any other weekend, but the DSLR world makes it much more fun and easy. The edges of this pigeon's open wings seem to actually be in focus--this was shot on the fly.

Look at the bokeh goodness that happens so effortlessly!

Today I got one of the most important accessories ever:

Kind of puts things into perspective in a twisted way--I'd much rather learn about and play with this new camera than think about the jobs I have not gotten and the looming of decision deadlines...

Ma'am, Yes Ma'am! (hee hee)

The Herd, this afternoon, during silent warm up:

Girl student, out of the blue: Miss, were you in the military?

Me [raising an eyebrow]: Um, that's strange. Where did that come from?

Girl: [Neighbor boy] told me.

Me [turning to NB]: So, what now?

NB: Well, I heard from some people...

Me: Really?

NB: Yeah, there are...rumors...

Me [trying not to guffaw]: How strange! So, what do you think? Do you think I was in the military?

NB [shrugging]: I'm not sure...but there is some proof.

I did my best not to laugh out loud and got back to class.

Oh man, these kids.

What's more, this is not the first time my students have asked me this. Like, this isn't even the first *year* students have asked me this. Sweet!

Meme goodness!

I've been tagged by both Mister Teacher and 15! Thank you!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Let's see, in the spring of 1998, it was my sophomore year of college. I moved out of my awesome dorm room and into a nearby apartment. (Since it was next to campus, they rented by room instead of by apartment--my room in a 4-bedroom, 2-bath apartment cost $250 a month! I'm actually laughing thinking about that number. Wow.) Since even that tiny rent was a stretch, I was driving home (1.5 hours each way) every other weekend to work at Starbucks. I was thinking about my major, that French wouldn't be that great on its own, so I applied to transfer to UW to major in French and Women Studies.

I'll tell you this much, I would have NEVER in a million years thought I'd be living in New York being a teacher! I would have laughed uproariously at the very idea.


2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

--Finish vacuuming (I tidied up my main room this morning! But my swiffer is still charging.).

--Eat a real meal (do nachos count?).

--Walk up the block to the store for some fake butter.

--Email a couple schools for post-interview updates.

--(Pretend to) Write lesson plans for the week (but I'm not holding my breath).

Plus I should really work out again. And watch the Netflix movie that's been sitting on my dvd player for a month. And bring down the recycling.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

--Pepper-jack nachos

--Dry Cereal (right now I'm on a Frosted Joe's O's or Cookie Crisp kick)

--Pickles

--Frozen french fries or tater tots

--Edamame

--Pistachios

--Wafer cookies


4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

--Travel the world.

--When I was ready to hang out in the same place for awhile, I would open a restaurant serving only food I like. (for example: big leafy salads, nachos, mojitos, curly fries, pineapple, spiced apple cider, cheese pizza, garlic naan, chocolate mousse, fresh squeezed orange juice, corn on the cob, edamame, juicy pears, hot cocoa, cinnamon toast, veggie tacos, fruit tacos, authentic French crepes, baked potatoes, granola, smoothies, Belgian waffles, nacho tots, LOTS of fresh bread and butter, etc) Oh, and people could sit and read, or knit, or write on laptops. And music would play all day. Don't you want to come to my cafe now? :)

--Travel some more.

--I would give lots of money to support organizations like AmeriCorps, HeadStart, mosquito nets in Africa, and something to increase teachers' salaries.

(Can I admit that I'm not a bit depressed that I can't actually do any of these things? I keep coming back to add more to my cafe menu list. And my passport has sat unused for months now....)

5) Three of my bad habits:

--Being lazy

--Having lots of ideas and thoughts but not being good at follow-through

--Hoarding things. (I have a jar of this yummy spread, it's like nutella but with a creamy vanilla striped in--bought in Barcelona in December of 2005 and still unopened!)

6) 5 places I have lived:

--Issaquah, WA (With divorced parents, I lived in a lot of houses around the Seattle area. But Issaquah was the first.)

--Bellingham, WA

--Perry Point, MD

--Queens, NY

--Can I count Paris, France for that month of study abroad? Please?


7) 5 jobs I have had:

--Chandler

--Catering worker for company picnics

--Barista

--Macy's watch salesperson

--Mortgage assistant


8) 6 peeps I wanna know more about:

Is this where I link and tag others?

--Jen at Quarter Life Crisis

--California Teacher Guy

--Miss Brave

--Maggie

--Nicole at Brushes with Adulthood

--Ms M at NY Teacher

but anyone else please feel free to tag yourself. :)

spring has sprung, and it's so pretty

On a happier note

I was going to combine the previous post with this one, but that's not fair to you, me, or my students. :)

Because for the last couple weeks, with our poetry unit, we've been having a good time. And I want to share it, because god knows there aren't always positive words to be shared.

The first day of the unit, we read Sick by Shel Silverstein. I read it to them first, so they could enjoy listening to the words, rhyme and rhythm. Then I passed out copies and they read along while I read it a second time. Next, they all read the poem aloud together. I pointed out some places where the author wanted us to stop or say something in a particular way, and reminded them that we shouldn't sound like dead robots when reading poetry. When I asked if they had ever done something like this, they all raised their hands, and I said, You have to sound like you mean it, or no one will believe you! So to help, I had the class stand up and act out all the 'symptoms' while reading the poem in unison. Then to finish, they took turns reading the poem to a neighbor.

The first poem they wrote was a 'copy-change' poem for This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams. I had a worksheet that cut out certain words for students to fill in with their own. The results were absolutely brilliant! I wish I had some examples to show, but they didn't bring them in after break like I asked them to. But I was extremely impressed and entertained with their work.

Earlier this week we worked with haiku. That's one of two poetic forms they've already heard of if not written, so I like to do those at the beginning. Plus they're so short. To scaffold the writing practice, I gave them partially written haiku (which I got from a website somewhere) and they had to write the missing lines. Then I handed out some pretty nature calendar photos and in groups they used the pictures for inspiration to write more haiku.

I challenged them to eliminate words like "beautiful" and "big" because they don't give us a vivid mental picture. I reminded them that using meaningless words like "the" and "and" wastes syllables. And their poems just got better! Again, I was really proud. Honestly, some of them I would have suspected of plagiarism if they weren't sitting in my classroom talking to one another. And I have to say, the level of accountable talk and classwork was at its highest in a long time.

Today I taught another form of poetry related to haiku. Once again I gave them a partial poem (Wind blows, thunder claps/Black clouds are evil leaders/An omen of death) and had them write a completion as groups. They were totally not fazed with the 'darkness' of the sample--in fact, I think their work was the best yet. There was plenty of time to have each group share. In the Roos, one table inserted some claps in the lines and line breaks of their poem and it startled all of us. It truly gave me chills and several students were like, You scared me! It was astounding; I was floored. I told them that I want to have them go perform their poem for some other classes. They were excited to hear that.

Oh! And I read them another great classic poem today. It still gives me a thrill each time I read it--the rhythm is so hypnotic and the tension builds so wonderfully--you could have heard a pin drop in my classroom. I actually read it twice, first stopping to have them infer and predict, but I didn't read to the end. I read it all the way through a second time and there was a moment until the impact of the ending hit them, and you could hear and see the surprise and confusion on their faces. I loved it.

I'm doing something new this year--using poetry for reading workshops as well as writing. We've read and discussed a few poems and it's actually lasted an entire period. I'm pushing them to think about what they read and notice techniques and imagery employed by authors. Not interpreting the work for the students, but just making them think. So far it's actually worked very well. There are several poems I'm looking forward to sharing with the students. Do you have any favorites or suggestions to share with us?

Oh, and one more thing! On Monday, a number of students didn't do their break homework, so I made them all stay for a lunch detention/homework makeup. There were like thirty kids in there, but most of them got the work done. And THEN! On Tuesday, the Herd had 100% homework! And the other two classes today had 100% (the Herd had just one, who clearly felt embarrassed)!

The last few days I've had them actually check each other's homework, counting syllables and such. That way they practice evaluating poetry and written work and see that they are accountable for the directions and assignments. Makes it a lot easier for me, too.

And I keep forgetting that apparently May is tomorrow. The year is quickly approaching the end. Phew.

Aw, shit.

I've had so much I wanted to write, but I guess I got lazy or busy. Sorry.

Anyway, here's a fun way to start off a post:

The week before break, my department visited our bookroom (which has been my domain for the last two years). There was a strange....parcel, shall we say, near the door. I knelt down, poked at the safe area of the paper surrounding it, and sure enough...


FECES.


On the floor. In front of the door. In the OFF-LIMITS stairwell.

Holy shit. (HA!)

I calmly told the other teachers we would not be going into the room and pointed out the little gift. They were appropriately disgusted and shocked.

The custodians were told and removed the pile in the next couple days.

I thought it was over, being a new part of the bodily-fluids stories I've got for that nasty room (urine, mouse droppings, and condom wrappers). I returned to the book room today to get some things out and return others.

Things previously piled neatly were now knocked over and strewn about. The floor was now almost completely not clear, where previously it had been cluttered with piles and stacks but otherwise open. When I went to step down into the second room, I was stopped by a very strong stench of, you know it, more feces. Very strong.

A few minutes later I went to open the cabinet where I have some gloves and masks, but was stopped by the smell. Then I noticed the brown smears all over the doors and reeled back.

Good god, people. How is this possible? My brain just doesn't grasp the reality of this situation because it is so utterly unreal and ridiculous. I alerted the principal, giving a list of cleaning supplies needed. I didn't specify that I'd be willing to do anything about it, but jesus, something needs to be done. Maybe now people will listen to me about keeping the damn door securely locked. (The latch has been torn from the doorjamb, rendering the still-clasped padlock a joke)

Sigh. You probably thought the title was metaphorical, didn't you? Joke's on you. And the rest of us.

back

Yesterday morning I was really nervous. I had nearly 45 minutes to get ready in the classroom, and kids were in there doing their morning stuff, which made it even more stressful. And once again I had to remind myself that there shouldn't be a reason to be nervous teaching a lesson; I've done that for almost four years now.

Once the lesson began, and the kids immediately got to work, it felt better. We got some good energy going, there was a good amount of participation and attention, and they did well with the work. I was happy and relieved. Oh, and I actually ran out of time, which was a huge relief, as I'd been so afraid of not being able to fill up the entire (long) period.

After the first lesson there was a debrief, and I was given some feedback about improvement to the lesson. Then, after an interminable hour, it was time to do the lesson again with a different class.

Oh, boy.

It felt like an utter disaster. First, I forgot part of my opener, the part that really energized the first group. Dammit. The students' skill level was not at all the same as the first group; they struggled with the reasoning and I struggled with time again. I had changed some things and interactions, and most of it seemed to make things worse, not better. God. I felt pretty bad about it, and I hated the thought of ending on a bad note.

There was another debrief, with a different person, who hadn't seen the first lesson. So at least he wasn't as harsh as I was on myself because he didn't see the comparison. I probably should have been more positive, but I didn't care; I would much rather be honest. I wasn't afraid to say what went wrong and what I'd love to do with that group again. I think that at least was a good thing, that I was showing plenty of self-analysis and reflection.

Unfortunately, other than the time issue, the differences between the classes was more a result of the difference is prior skill level. If I'd known that, I would have switched the strategies I used, since the first group needed little modeling and just some guidance, whereas the second group needed a lot more structured modeling, guidance and review. Oh well.

Overall, it was a good experience. I loved being at the school; I felt like an anthropologist, observing and figuring out their structures and rules and things. Obviously it works; it's exciting to see the potential a school can have if they emphasize certain things and work hard and work together to accomplish school-wide goals, not just academically but also culturally.

When my day was finally over, I had to go pack. But I didn't want to go straight to the airport, so I hurried to Mount Bonnell, to view the Austin area from above. The sun was out, it was warm, it was green, it was lovely!

Then, of course, I scrambled down and back to my car and to the airport. Everything went smoothly on the flight and journey home, and then I stayed up until 1.30, just because I could, since it's spring break!

This morning I tried to sleep in, I really did. But I couldn't. I've worked out and tidied a bit, and have been catching up on tv. Just the slow kind of day I've been looking forward to. And I'm sure I'll get outside into the sunshine soon. :)

Howdy

Here I am in Austin!

Thank you so much for your well wishes and encouragement. :) I spent most of the day at the school today, and I'm feeling a lot better about the whole thing. I spoke with several teachers and the administrators, who said that my plans look good. So big 'phew' on that. :) The atmosphere of the school is amazing--everything is calm and quiet, there is no chaos to be found. No big disruptions or attitude, either. Lots of reinforcement of rules and expectations (of which there are MANY), but in a quiet manner. No yelling or snapping required. The staff are all young, very energetic, very intelligent, and really friendly. Six of them took me out to dinner on Sunday night and it was a ball.

I wandered around town on Sunday, visiting downtown (very sleepy on Sunday mornings!), a couple bookstores, and a botanical garden. I took lots of pictures, of course. :) This afternoon, I want to drive around some more (woo! rental car!) and see some of the outlying areas that are supposed to be nice. And hopefully I won't get too lost. :) Frighteningly, I haven't taken a single picture yet today; I better get working on that! After I polish up my lesson for tomorrow, of course.

I just realized that I'm leaving tomorrow too--in twenty-four hours I'll be at the airport. Funny, I feel like I'm just getting used to being here. It's very easy to navigate, the school is about ten minutes away from the house I'm staying at (yay couchsurfing!), the weather is warm but not too icky (and there's AC inside everywhere anyway), the people are nice, there are lots of flowers and plants and other nice things, and the town is 'green' too; did you know Whole Foods originated here?

live from JFK!

Happy Spring Break, everyone! I am thrilled to have a full week off, to sleep in, to relax, and to travel a bit.

Right now I'm at the airport, headed to Austin, Texas to do a second interview/teaching at a charter school. I am very nervous and anxious about it. The expectations are high for all, and I'm not sure that I can live up to them at the moment.

I've been interviewing with charter schools since the February break. This week I received my second rejection, which makes this trip all the more stressful. What if I don't get an offer? I have told myself that no matter what, I will not stay at my current school. It's a big leap to go to other schools, but I've had my fill of this situation. I have no idea if I'll need to move, or even if I'll need to find a nonschool job, I just need something new.

So wish me luck. :)

I began poetry with my classes this week, and I think we're off to a good start. One of the first things I did was read Sick by Shel Silverstein (I cannot go to school today/said little Peggy Ann McKay/I have the measles and the mumps/a gash, a rash and purple bumps, etc). Then the whole class read it together a few times. I reminded them about pausing at commas and line breaks, as well as reading loudly, clearly, and expressively. Then, of course, they stood up and acted out all the aches and pains while reading the poem. Most of them definitely enjoyed that and hey, that's involving the kinesthetic learners! Go me.

So I'm on a borrowed laptop, and it feels very strange. I'm not cool enough to have a laptop, so I feel like a big old faker. I just exchanged sympathetic glances with a laptop neighbor, rolling our eyes at an overloud cell phone talker, intent on sharing with everyone that she's going to Phoenix with only $100 in her pocket, and she's all upset because her cash money in the bank is inexplicably unavailable.

I'm going to go grab a little more dinner before boarding begins. Have a wonderful weekend everyone, may it break much rest and relaxation!

Women's history--better late than never!

I thought for weeks about how to get my students to learn about women's history, especially the suffrage movement. All research projects we've done have been severely hampered by student laziness or plagiarism, and I was tired of that crap. I gathered some information, articles, timelines from various sources online, but still wasn't sure how exactly to bring it to my classroom. I was frustrated and running out of time.

One afternoon I was reading a Scholastic article about Susan B Anthony's 1872 criminal trial for voting in a national election. It included a lot of actual quotes and suddenly it hit me. I took that article and some other information and created a play!

Here is a slightly longer version of what my students read; I added a couple paragraphs at the end. But the students were definitely into it and I was really excited!

As a preface, the day before this, I had read several excerpts to the students, about life and expectations in the 1700s and 1800s. So before we read this play, I asked them if they thought women liked being told that they were weak and stupid. Of course not! There were plenty of women who fought back against those ideas.

Here you go, I hope you enjoy and can maybe even use it with your own students sometime!

Susan and Elizabeth: Tireless Activists. (A Play, adapted from Scholastic.)
Narrator 1: In the 1840s, five women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, decided they’d had enough discrimination because of their gender. They were tired of not having the same rights, respect and privileges as men.

Narrator 2: They held a Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, to protest women’s inequality and to propose suffrage for women, which means the right and privilege to vote. The convention participants—300 men and women, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass—discussed and signed the Declaration of Sentiments.

Narrator 3: Elizabeth had written this document, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal… The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."

Narrator 4: “He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men - both natives and foreigners.”

Narrator 5: “He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns. He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges being closed against her.”
Narrator 6: Born a Quaker in 1820, Susan B Anthony was raised to believe that girls and women were equally important to boys and men. She was an active abolitionist, which means that she wanted slavery to be abolished or ended.

Narrator 7: Susan met Elizabeth in the 1850s, and they began working together to gather support in the fight for equality. They formed a friendship and partnership, writing and giving speeches, forming groups and overseeing campaigns, and writing books.

Narrator 8: In 1869, the Wyoming Territory gave women full suffrage. Soon, other states around the country were discussing and voting about woman suffrage on the state level. Most failed.

Narrator 8: In 1872, Susan led a group of women in registering and voting in the national presidential election.

Susan: Ladies of National Woman Suffrage Association, we have been fighting for many years to win the right to vote. Black men won suffrage after the civil war, but women were left out. We must fight back and continue the struggle for equality! We need to prove that women deserve to vote. Aren’t we citizens just as men? The states can’t deny citizens their rights or privileges, so let’s go test the waters and make them see that women deserve equality and suffrage!

Cheers.

Police officer: Ladies, you are violating the law by voting. I must arrest all of you.

Narrator 1: Susan was put on trial a few months later.

District Attorney: Miss Anthony has violated the 14th Amendment. At the time of voting, she was a woman.

Laughter.

Selden (Susan’s lawyer): Your honor, gentlemen in the jury, the defense wishes to admit that Miss Susan B Anthony is indeed a woman.

More laughter.

DA: Your honor, Miss Anthony has violated the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. It states that states may not deny any male 21 and over the right to vote. Since she’s a woman, she broke the law.

Seldon: Your honor, this trial is ridiculous. If the voting had been done by her brother, it would have been honorable. But having been done by a woman, it is said to be a crime. I believe this is the first instance in which a woman has been accused in a criminal court merely because of her gender. Now I would like to call Miss Anthony to the stand to testify in her own defense.
Judge: No, I will not allow it!

Shock and upset from Susan, Seldon, and crowd.

Judge: The 14th Amendment gives no right to a woman to vote, and the voting of Miss Anthony was in violation of the law. Jury, you must find a verdict of guilty.

Seldon: Your honor, I must object. In a criminal court, the jury must independently decide the innocence or guilt of the defendant.

Judge: Mr Clerk, record a verdict of guilty!

Jeers and cries out from crowd. “What?!” “No fair!” “Unfair trial!”

Judge: I will now read Miss Anthony’s sentence for committing this crime. Has the prisoner anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced?

Susan, standing; loudly: Yes, your honor. I have many things to say. In your ordered verdict of guilty, you have trampled underfoot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights are all alike ignored!

Judge: The court orders the prisoner to sit down! It will not allow another word! The sentence of the court is that you pay a fine of $100 and the costs of prosecution.

Susan: May it please your honor, I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty! And I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women that resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

Narrator 9: After this unfair trial, more Americans began to respect Susan and the other suffragettes. Susan and Elizabeth continued writing, touring, and speaking about equality and women’s suffrage. They presented Congress with a Woman Suffrage Amendment, but the legislators rudely interrupted and laughed.

Narrator 10: Elizabeth helped women win rights to own property and divorce abusive husbands. She drafted and submitted a constitutional amendment for woman suffrage in 1878. She died in 1902 after a long and successful career.

Narrator 11: In 1906, after more than six decades of tireless work, Susan gave her last speech.
Susan: I am here for a little time only, and then my place will be filled. The fight must not cease! You must see that it does not stop! Failure is impossible.

Narrator 12: Susan B Anthony died two days later. The fight did not stop with her death, however. Alice Paul helped form the National Woman’s Party in 1913. She organized parades and picketing of the White House. Her militant tactics got the suffragettes arrested and thrown in jail, where the women went on hunger strikes.

Narrator 13: Fourteen states gave women the right to vote between 1896 and 1918. New Zealand was the first nation to grant suffrage, in 1893. By 1918, women in Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Russia, Austria and Poland could vote.

Narrator 14: In 1919, the US Congress finally passed the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. In 1920, the bill was ratified. Susan and Elizabeth’s dream had finally came true, seventy-two years after the first public proposal of woman suffrage.

Carrie Chapman Catt: To get the word ‘male’ out of the Constitution cost the women of the country fifty-two years of pauseless campaign,... During that time they were forced to conduct fifty-six campaigns of referenda to male voters; 480 campaigns to get Legislatures to submit suffrage amendments to voters; 47 campaigns to get State constitutional conventions to write woman suffrage into state constitutions; 277 campaigns to get State party conventions to include woman suffrage planks in party platforms, and 19 campaigns with 19 successive Congresses.

Eff You?

Yesterday, first period, upon completing a great reading lesson using a story in the--gasp!--anthology, I said, Okay, we'll finish this up tomorrow!

"We won't be here!" they all piped up.

"And why not?" I demanded.

"We're going on a field trip!" they cried.

I just shook my head. "When I was I going to be told about this?" I muttered to myself.

Fast forward to 10.00am. I had just given the students a fun crossword to practice different word forms.

Announcement: "Pardon this announcement. Grade teachers, please be advised that there will be an assembly starting at 10.10. Please bring your classes down at that time."

"Okay, guys, so I guess you've only got ten minutes to work on it, do what you can..."
--

Seriously, what the f%$#? If anyone has a question about the level of respect given to teachers today, or lack thereof, direct them here.

This kind of thing is just plain old rude. The administration clearly has zero respect for anyone else in the building--not teachers, not students, either. I feel like they're saying to me, "Eff you. We don't care about you or the fact that you're actually doing your job. Do whatever random shit we throw at you, because actually teaching and setting good examples for the children is at the end of the priority list."

It is absolutely ridiculous and it is EXACTLY why I'm leaving my school and the NYC public school system. Eff you right back, I say. I don't have to take this nonsense!

old lady, part 2

At precisely 6.32 this morning (two minutes after my alarm went off), I suddenly realized that I forgot the school meeting yesterday afternoon. Whoops.

This afternoon, while parking, I noticed some recycling bags that held a couple stacks of 1990s National Geographics. I was, still am actually, disturbed and sad and tried to decide if I should rescue them. I was already carrying two heavy tote bags so I couldn't have lifted them right then, but part of me still wants to go back down there and 'steal' them away. By which I mean put them in my car to bring to school.

old lady

I fell asleep at 9.45 on Friday night.

And at 10.30 on Saturday night.

Then around 10pm on Sunday night.

Sigh.

Fun?!

Two weeks ago, we focused on sequence in reading. One day I had the students unscramble a story and put it in order. They did quite well with that, which was a relief. Another day I read to them from a picture book, Remember the Ladies. They had to take notes on some names and dates, and then I asked them to answer some sequence questions. (Multi-tasking galore in this one! I was really proud!)

On yet another day, I read them another chapter of an interesting book we'd started the week before. I put some events from the book on sentence strips and put them on the board. I gave them a few minutes to organize them in their notebooks. Then I called up six students to take one sentence each, and they put themselves in order. I let the class rearrange the people and their events until all were correct.
Several students left before we finished this activity, for services. A couple minutes later, I got a phone call from one of those teachers. "I have [so] and [so]. They said they wanted to come back to class because you were doing something fun?" I said, surprised, "Oh, well, we finished that one but right now we're doing some magazine work. But sure, they can come back to class if you're okay with it."

We finished up our media unit last week. To combine a group project with a jigsaw review, I had the students create a commercial: I collected a couple random household items (a film canister, a chipclip, a keychain), and let them draw one as well as one of the ad techniques we'd learned. They had to use these things to create a commercial. I gave them a half class period to prepare, and first period, when I let them go, I heard one girl exclaim, "This is gonna be fun!"

The next day they performed the ads, which I recorded with my camera on a tripod. The review part--they were supposed to definite several of the terms, and many of the ads didn't actually use the correct technique--didn't go so well. But they seemed to have a good time, especially when I plugged in the camera to the computer (more than thirty students cannot crowd around a single computer, but at least I'm "using technology"!) and let them watch the movies of themselves. I told them to look at how they did, because we'll be doing more performances later in the year. They laughed and cringed at themselves on camera.

While I will never, ever claim to be a perfect teacher, or even necessarily an exemplary teacher, days and comments like these sure make me feel good about my class. Now if only I could figure out how to work the next two weeks--incorporating some kind of research, reading, writing and of course learning about women's history, plus maybe beginning poetry?--I'd be golden.

joke's on you

The Grey Bunnies came into my classroom yesterday after lunch, and they kept glancing at me and giggling. I gave the Look, and they'd look away, still giggling. The whole class kept looking at me! It rather unnerved me, and not just because I'd had to sleep. I thought that maybe something was on my face, or my outfit was ripped, or they noticed I was particularly ugly that day (no sleep! didn't care!). I stayed steely and went to collect the homework.



The first table just looked at me with empty desks. They just shrugged when I said, "No homework?"



I was unnerved by the still-looking-and-giggling, so I stood to the side, glaring and harrumphing at them.



A girl raised her hand. "I don't think anyone did their homework today." Barely repressed giggles.

"Oh really? Maybe we need a test then! Snarl!" glare glare.



"Miss! It's just a joke! April Fool's!"

"Haha," I said, unamused, stalking to my desk. I glared at them some more. But then I couldn't help a small smile unfolding on my face, and the class erupted in whoops and cries. "Ooh, we got you, Miss!" They were quite proud of themselves. I said dryly, "The real joke would have been *everyone* doing their homework!"



After a minute or so of their hysterics, I told them to quiet down and get to work. And they did.



Last period, the Herd walked in and sat down. They kept their desks were completely empty and they were looking at me expectantly.



I walked across the room and tried not to laugh. "Won't work on me, guys! Get to work!"

They groaned and I did laugh. "[Grey Bunnies] already did it, they ruined it for you!" They went, "Aw, man!" and laughed ruefully, and got to work.



As shitty as the day was for me yesterday, it really wasn't too bad. These kids are goofballs but for the most part are sweet and innocent enough. And somehow, I've earned their respect and they work for me (well, with prodding, often, but still). Thank god.