Leap to Literature

I am sort of fascinated by Leap Years. It's just one of those things that's kind of interesting to me, and since I've morphed into such a fact-bug I just had to look it up, so, here you go.

Books make me excited. I start to get the kid-in-a-candy-store reaction as soon as they're even mentioned so today I was ecstatic! It was not only the end of the Book Fair in my school, but the literacy coach of my East Harlem school was SO kind as to buy a TON of low-level, high interest books specifically for my students. I don't know if it's been mentioned that I teach 6th/7th/8th graders, and I would say on average they collectively read on a 2nd-3rd grade level. It is devastating almost every time I test them, so I am trying my best to put an EXTRA effort into organizing my library in my balcony classroom. Today was a smorgasbord of fun organizing my books. I had my absolute favorite class of 7th graders in my room for last period on Friday, which you might think would suck (it would with any other group), but with them it's a total blast. We spent half the period getting these books out of boxes, unwrapping packs of them, stamping them, labeling them. It was actually really fun and they ALL got into it. If kids can get excited about books in ANY way in my presence, I think I've had a good day. Several of them were begging to take a couple home. Triumph.

So here's a look at my shelves, loaded with books, waiting for eager students to take over reading one at a time.

Purrrrrfect

So, here's what happens when it's Parent/Teacher conferences at my school in the Bronx. We get a little kooky in the teacher's lounge waiting around for parents to show up (which they don't). It leads to telling jokes, stories, making fun of other co-workers. I really do enjoy the camaraderie that goes along with this particular job.

My friend Corie drew this picture for me. It was supposed to be a "self portrait" of me, drawn by Corie. Here's what she came up with.

Also, we had a school spelling bee today, in Spanish, and2 our of the 3 kids who won are my ESL kids! They were SO proud!

Changin' things up a bit

Today wasn't a normal day. And abnormal days always seem to be noteworthy. So I'll start at the beginning.
It was cold when I woke up, and I spent too much time under my covers listening to the chatter on my clock radio from the morning DJ's. I like it when they say something funny, and even though I'm half awake, my first sound of the day is a laugh, or guffaw, or a chuckle, depending on how funny they are. I woke up to a HA today. I like days that start with a HA!
I was up a little later than usual, having to attend a vocabulary workshop at Columbia University today. It was with a reading/vocabulary god of our time, so it was quite the big deal. You know what else was a big deal? The enormous man that plopped down beside me, or rather overlapping me on the bus. Not comfortable. You try sitting at an angle for that long. I wasn't budging though- I was there first. Despite that large man, and the woman across the aisle spouting on and on about how another parent at her child's school made her VERY angry the other day because "you don't have no right to approach another person's child, and I was tellin' her that. I was ready to jump 'cross that table and whip her ass, no one have the right to approach another person's child and I look at her like this ohhhh I was sooooo mad." Did you get the feeling she was mad? Anyway, despite them, the rest of the morning was fine. The conference was great actually, and I got a lot of ideas for teaching that I think I'll use nearly immediately.
Another one of my colleagues was there, Ashley and so we got lunch together and had the chance to talk about school. I knew her last year, but this year I don't teach her students, so we hardly ever see each other. We get along splendidly though. After the conference we caught the train down to NYU for yet another meeting. This one being for beginning teachers to get together to talk about what's hard and what's easy. What's hard? Everything. What's easy? Get back to me on that will ya? We arrived a bit early, so we actually just passed the time by going to get a pitcher of beer at 3:30 in the afternoon. Holla' for happy hour at Down the Hatch! I should have gotten a picture there, but I'm sorta glad I didn't. You'll see why.
That meeting was actually really great as well, but more because of the people. and well, I have to say that I sort of miss being a student. I definitely don't miss the stress, but it was good to be back in a classroom as a learner and participant. Friends from NYU Fast Track program were there, as well as many co-workers that I appreciate from my middle school. Then walked in a few girls from my Brazil trip!! I was surrounded by friends!
My NYU group wandered back to the subway in Union Square together, and this is what I noticed on the way back:

Here we have a lonely snowman in Washington Square Park

And here's my new favorite thing on the planet: The Dessert Truck! There is just something so rewarding about dining from and blogging about food that comes from a truck on the New York City streets!

Will, Grace and Idina

I will start by painting the picture of the day with words:

Imagine a theatre, a row of mostly empty seats in back of the orchestra section on the floor, tucked back under the balcony. The stage is set with two chairs and a piano, dimly lit, with the theater logo front lit on the back curtain. I sit, nearly center of the row next to my roomate Dan, umbrellas under seats, smiling faces turned on waiting for the show. Pan over to Dan's right to-- his blind date. Three's company right?

I am holding a copy of The L Magazine , reading intently about things like a planned eco-friendly lights out day for the city in March, how to give up New Year's resolutions (I'm not doing SO bad!) and circling broadway shows in the back that I just NEED to see. Dan is chatting away with the new found friend that he just met by way of clothing identification on in the lobby. They talk of things like jobs, fear of facial hair, Mormonism, coming out, you know-the usual. I sit reading slightly awkwardly next to the chatty Cathy's, trying not to look like I'm listening, but actually listening. I hear a few references to myself here and there in the conversation, but actually perk up when the date offers "hey, I think it's cool that you came. It's like meeting Will AND Grace!" Deep breathing is the only thing that can control the laughter.

Pan back out to full stage view. I move one seat down to seperate from the daters, and to avoid the bald head of Mr. Clean in front of me. The lights dim. There are a few introductions and the hippie-looking' guy that produced records for No Doubt and Dave Mathews Band comes out on stage. Soon after, the super tall, and super amazing Idina Menzel takes a chair next to him. This might be the most exciting thing I've seen in person in a long time. I've seen some great things in New York, but this might top the top 10 list. Seriously, it was magical. I suppose I have this unwavering connection to her because I sang "Take Me or Leave Me" from Rent for my Ladies First audition at Michigan State to get into the accapella group. It linked me to her in some way, so seeing her in person made me want to pee my pants a little. I sat up, like a little kid, my fist in my mouth just hanging on pretty much her every word. She went over all the important stuff, everthing from her super hot husband, to Rent, to Wicked and everything in between. She's amazing.

She did a few songs, starting with Defying Gravity from Wicked. It was wicked. She then got into a few songs of her new album, which is simply amazing. One of her songs entitled "Brave" gave me chills. I would recommend looking it up. I clapped and sat in awe and felt complete for the moment. I had a strange fascination/obsession with Wicked when living in Korea, belting out all the songs in my apartment to what I'm sure was unhappiness for my quiet Korean neighbors. This all sprung up due to reading the novel by Gregory Maguire and pretty much was hooked from then on. I had to wait more than a year to see the Broadway production, and suddenly the whole story is complete! Let the jealousy responses start: now.

Oh, P.S. this is the famous 92nd St. Y. where this all took place.

History in the Bronx

I admire the History Channel sign as I travel in and out of the Bronx on a semi-daily basis. This is a fun spot, especially at this time of day. The river, coming home the water-way is always a stress reliever and today I sure needed it. Why not start off the week back to school with a bang? I wrote 4 referals to the dean today. Hurrah for children. I swear the things that come out of these kids mouths when they are speaking to teachers would make any older generations blood boil. It's crazy. I've never seen anyplace with a complete and total lack of respect for authority. I should not generalize, it is a few bad apples that spoil the bushel, but it doesn't matter who tells you point blank that they hate you (in so many words), it always has a glimmer of the same reaction. It's SO hard to deal with that while putting so much effort into carring.

Well, like I said, this scene, the setting sun, a reminder that there's a kind of beauty in the Bronx anyway, well that helps.

The Jane Spot

That's right, all I did today was sit in this exact same spot. See all my things, cluttered right around the Jane Spot on the couch? Dan was out of town skiing this weekend, so I got the place to myself, which didn't mean I sat around naked or left my wet towel on his bed or anything. It just meant that I could actually have a day where I sit in my jammies ALL day and get much of the work done that I've been putting off all week. It's a shame, but not really, cause I really enjoyed my week off. I'm gonna go watch the Oscar's now, even though my butt hurts a little from sitting all day. Perhaps I'll clear out the Jane Spot and expand it to laying down.

K-Town BBQ

Yay for Korean Barbeque! I met up with my buddy Brad (we'll call him Weasley, due to his resemblence to Ron Weasley from Harry Potter) and his friend Jeremy, along with Kate in Korea town tonight for some awesome grilled-in-front-of-you meat! It takes me back, and since Brad and I were travel buddies, teaching English in Korea, it was fun to revisit this pasttime!

Here we have the strips of beef frying in front of us, the traditional way. Soon we'd wrap it up in leaves with bean paste, garlic, kimchi and a whole lotta love! My most fond memories of Korea involve food (actually, I blog a lot about food here too...go figure). We also got some Kimchi-cheegay (soup) and soju.

Later we headed out to the Upright Citizens Brigade for a comedy improv show that was laugh out loud funny at moments. I'd go back. It only cost 8 bucks, and it was a complete night out. Good combo I'd have to say!

Underground

Went to the Underground tonight for $1 beer. It's amazing to find such a deal in New York City, as well as pretty much anywhere in North America. $1 beer? That's insane. Kate and her crowd love this place for Happy Hour. It gave Chelsee the hicups on the train back uptown. Here she is holding her breath, while Kate blows a bubble. I WILL get in trouble for posting this picture, which is why I posted it. :)

Slow down in Soho

Got out and did a little shopping today with my friend Kate. We headed down to Soho to Pearl River Market, which is one of my all time favorite stores in New York City. It's a really fun shop full of all things Asian. You name it-they got it. Clothes, shoes, rugs, plants, food, paper lanterns, kitchen stuff...the list goes on. I made the trip for a few coasters and a rice cooker. Yay for rice cookers!

I snapped this photo looking downtown from the Spring Street area. A nice clear day to get out and walk around. Cold-yes, but not a stay at home day. Later I met another friend for Thai food in Union Square, then headed out to Queens later tonight to meet up with Rachel and work friends with Kate and Dan. We actually were supposed to get our tarot cards read at this local bar, but the woman wasn't there tonight, so...it just wasn't in the cards I guess. Heh.

We waited FOR-EVER to get the train out of Queens in the cold. Here's the evidence.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

My picture is lame, but my story is not. So, to start with the picture- there was a total lunar eclipse tonight, which I think is nothing but cool. We tried to go out and capture it on film, but my camera sucks the big one in low light. Must work on that.

So, today I lazed around all day. I reveled in the fact that I could get up late and then watch The View on TV. I called Kate a little later so that we could take a walk in Central Park and swap weekend stories, which we did.

Dan's friend Michael actually invited us both out tonight to see a pre-screening of Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, it's by Morgoan Sperlock, the guy that did Supersize Me. I had heard of the movie, had seen Supersize Me, and I think I saw some of the trailer (which is the first link) before going to see it, but I really didn't know that we were the 2nd audience to see it...ever. That was pretty cool. Before we went in they asked if we minded staying after to fill out a survey about the movie. We agreed, and then after we got settled another lady came around to ask if we wanted to be part of a focus group discussion after the survey part of the night.

The movie was actually pretty good. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and really really enjoyed seeing all the people of the Middle East that Morgan met. It was enlightening to see a different view of that area that wasn't from the media. There were a few pieces I didn't totally love, so I marked that down on the survey, so hopefully they can fix it before it hits the screens. I shared all this during the focus group as well, which I thought was cool, cause it was only about 3 rows of people talking about what they liked and didn't like about the film. Most people liked most things about it, and my points were definitly agreed upon.

It only lasted about 15 minutes, when we all got up and filed out. As Dan, Michael and I straggled out last we actually passed Morgan Spurlock sitting in one of the back rows! We walked by and I shook his hand saying "heyyyy, nice movie", which is a weird thing to say! What an awesome way to finish up the day! Oh, not forgetting the total eclipese though. :)

On the Road again...

Yep, today was another driving day. We actually got up, I tried a piece of Josh's home made bread (raisins and walnuts-yum!) and then we were out the door after expressing many thanks and how cool he was to host us on such short notice.

One of the major things I realized on the trip was how powerful couchsurfing can be. I mean, Dan and I have hosted many people on our couch from around the world (a guy from Germany, girl from Singapore, another girl from Canada, and yet another girl from Sweden). It's awesome, and I will totally do it more, but something about surfing brought the whole thing full circle. As dangerous and odd as it may seem to people that I do this, I feel fulfilled by it even so. In this world, where we are told, shown, and/or forced to live in fear, I was able to break through that barrier in a small way. Simply by asking for someone's kindness. A stranger was able to trust me, and I them, and we were able to engage in a sharing of lives, even if for a breif moment. It's amazing, and I didn't even realize it until today. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to rely on the goodness of others, simply because we ask. I enjoyed this trip so much more because of the people we met (and the money we saved!!)

Moving on from Providence, we drove back down to New York, taking most of the morning, only for a quick stop off at Tim Hortons. Mmmm...coffee/cocoa mix.

We dropped our bags off at our place and then drove the car back to Jersey, where we got a discount because of the vanillabean air freshener. Not really, but the guy did think we deserved it, even though we were two hours late taking it back! Bargain!

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and cleaning up. Boooooring.

Why does he have an ice pick, it's 60 degrees outside?

Another 1/2 day of Boston fun was had today. Dan and I got up early AGAIN and said goodbye to our awesome new friend at BC. We had a little snag getting the car out of the parking garage (free parking all weekend though!), but we called to get the gate open and we were on our way.

Today was the driving tour portion of Boston. We drove here and there and everywhere including:

-By Dan's old apartment in Boston

-Past a bunch of colleges(i.e M.I.T., Boston University, and another one besides Harvard)

-up and down the streets of Beacon Hill

-back and forth across bridges over the Charles River (we got a little lost and found ourselves at the same intersection 3 times!

-Around Harvard, passing a group of kids on a college visit...

-back downtown to Faneuil Hall

We hit up the hall for the food court I mentioned yesterday simply because they had New England Clam chowder in a bread bowl. It was amazing. I love bread bowls. They just suck up all the left over soup so you can eat it. Dan ate the whole bowl, which was also amazing. Then I bought Crocks. Then we walked out on the wharf where we decided it would be a good idea to make a short horror film about a man with an ice pick coming up and chasing us. There was a whole scene where Dan stumbled and I made the camera look like I fell too. It didn't make much sense, and we got weird looks, but it pretty much set the tone for the whole day. We're weird.

So we walked back to our car, stopping at a few shops along the way, bidding goodbye to Boston, which had served us well. We loved her, and she embraced us with her inspiration for weird videos and delicious, delicious food. Oh and the desire to not go live in a dorm ever again (though it was nice to visit.

Up next: Providence, Rhode Island. Not actually and island. I like it. It was a short drive, but on our way to our home, so it was good. Sort of rainy/misty today, so it didn't make good scenic driving, but we made our own fun.

We rolled into town around 2:30/3:00 I'd say, and just sort of absent-mindedly drove around for awhile, eventually stumbling upont the Pawtucket Visitors Center. Loved the named, loved the people. We met the COOLEST woman inside, who despite dubbing oficially insane for driving around New England on a day like today, loaded us up with tons of maps and the brilliant idea of driving down along the water to Newport, where the goal was to see Mansions! Ohhh.

We hoped back in the car with newfound hope. I can see why the pilgrims liked this area fo' sho'. It was a fun drive down, however fog impeeded most of the views, but we didn't care. I have plenty of video from the car, and we even found an old abandonded (and we think haunted) house along the way. We turned back around to investigate! This is why I love my roomate.

Newport was cute, and covered in fog. It will most definitley be a stop on our summer road trip up to Maine (yes, it's now in the works). We got a call from the guy who was hosting us tonight (Josh) and he was hoping we'd all go out to dinner, so we headed back up the freeway to Providence. Adventure RULES!

That night we got pub food with our host, listened to some live music, got a short but sweet tour of the city (RISD, Brown) and hung out with Josh's cool roomates in his even cooler apartment/house. It's a BIG old house in Providence, cut up into smaller apartments. His furniture was eclectic, taken from the street or grandparent's houses. I feel in love with the place. Plants everywhere, nothing matched, creaky old floors, a swinging kitchen door. It was rad.

We watched The Science of Sleep (you can really judge people by the movies they watch huh? A documentary one night (very cool) and then The Science of Sleep (also very cool)) and fell asleep. Dan fell asleep wearing his spiderman crock slippers.

Down on the corner, out in the street

Dan and I made a DAY of it in Boston today! I will hopefully be able to post some videos eventually, because I tried to document the real life goings-on as much as possible, but for now, you get the photos. Today went like this:










9:00 Wake up WAY earlier than any of the boys in the dorm (there were 6 guys sharing 3 bedrooms). We took showers and got out the door before anyone else stirred.

10:30 Went down to Coolidge Corner to get brunch at a delicious place called Zaftigs. I would go back simply to get their chocolate french toast. OMG, my BFF chocolate french toast.

11:30 After food coma subsided we took the train downtown to Faneuil Hall, which was so rediculously awesome. We stayed around there for quite some time, taking in the sites (oh the people watching), smells(the greatest food court I've ever seen!), sounds (kids beat boxing and doing hip hop out in front of the market place where politicians used to stand up on their soap boxes in the days of the Boston Tea Party), and tastes (what rockin' chocolate chip cookies they have there!) of the area. Dan bought Spiderman Crock slippers.











1:00 We set out on our Freedom Trail Journey. Oh what fun you have when walking along a red brink path set in the street. We went to Paul Revere's house, Old North church, and then walked around the North End/Little Italy.










4:00 Tea time!

5:00 It was the jackpot of food today! Hit up a popular pre-fixe Italian place and enjoyed the ambiance over gnochi and ravioli.

6:30 Went out to Harvard Square. We'd been there the night before with our host guys for Japanese noodles, but tonight we just wanted to sort of wander around. It started to rain/mist though, so we found an internet place and started asking people to host us the next night in Providence, RI. (not because we didn't like Boston, or our current hosts, but we suddenly wanted to extend the road trip to other fun places!)

9:00 Headed back to Boston College

10:00 watched a really cool documentary with some of the guys called Corporate, or something like that. I fell asleep with everyone talking and discussing the movie half way through...of course.

End Day 2 Boston Adventure.

Road Trip

A WEEK off school! Hooray! It was like unwarented free time-which I love. So, with the time, Dan and I planned a road trip to Boston this Saturday-Tuesday. We got a slow start today, which was fine by me, I had time to clean my room before we left, pack some snacks, print out maps; all while Dan went to Jersey to pick up a rental car.

You might notice the Vanillabean air freshener dangling in the window. That's because the person before us returned the car so late that they didn't have time to clean the car. The solution- vanillabean air freshener. Ha. Luckily it wasn't THAT dirty to begin with, but it did make the trip that much more exciting to smell like a mix between cookies and my gradma's closets.

I think the highlight of today was actually simply the ride north. Living in the city, you might not realize what a joy it is to actually get in a real-live car. It's true. Even though we paid for it, it's still exciting to get in a car and not have to pay when you open the door. There was talking and singing. I think road trips are actually a really intimate way to get to know people better. After jaunting off the the Jersey shore with my work friends last weekend, and spending quality time with my roomate in a car for 4 hours on a Saturday night, it's interesting how the small space really doesn't warrant small talk at all.

Since we were traveling as couchsurfers (more on this later), we arrived on the campus of Boston College and stayed with a group of extremely friendly and intelligent college kids in, no I'm not kidding, their dorm. Yep, it was just like going back to college. In fact, as Dan and I wheeled our little suitcases along the tiled floor of the hallway, after watching 3 students carrying so much beer that they actually had to KICK it into the elevator, we started singing the I Wish I Could Go Back to College song from Avenue Q (watch till the end).

So began our Boston road trip adventure!

Or lack there of...

So, I didn't have a picture today, until I exclaimed that on the subway ride home from the Bronx planning meeting with BECA tonight. Rachel helped me out. You may recall a posting that involved me jumping on a bed in a shower cap. Oh shower cap, how handy you are.

Here we are posing for our shower cap subway photos!! YAY!!

Getting up today was a little easier than normal. There's a zip in my hip again. That's a good thing. Also, there was a new kind of light coming through my curtains in my room this morning. It said "GET UP!!" and then it 1/2 whispered, 1/2 laughed "pssst, you have a full week vacation starting tomorrow" and my eyes popped open. I JUMPED out of bed revived (although I wasn't really) and ready to go (although I wasn't really). It was a good start to the day. Also made better by my home-made egg sandwich. :)

So the light through the curtains was a sight to see.

I tasted some lobster bisque for dinner tonight, and I gasped in delight, but also because I burned my tongue. Yum-o.

On the way home on the subway, just before the shower cap incident I heard a siren, only because I was so far north on the train that it runs above ground. I was moved to remark about how strange an occurance that is though.

I smelled a few things today. One: The homeless lady on the train with me UP to the Bronx smelled disturbingly like pee. Oh boy. I was holding my breath by the end of that ride. Then when I was walking home I smelled something much more exciting! Cupcakes! I walked past the bakery across from my old apartment and smelled that old familiar smell of banking goodies. I LOVE that smell that just wafts around my area of town sometimes.

Touch was a touchy subject today. I suppose it's nice that I got a lot of hugs at school today. I really like hugs.

The sixth sense was feeling/intuition and there was plenty of that going on today, but I'm just too darn tired to explain right now. Next time!

Across the Universe to see the Gay Messiah

Oh Rufus, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Rufus. (clap clap, clap) Hey Rufus.

Seriously, Rufus Wainwright is one of my all-time favorite singers. I spent this hearty day teaching crazy chillin's, but tonight all became right with the world when I traveled to Radio City Music Hall to see my boy Rufus. He made my Valentine's Day special. I think I have a new tradition. Origionally, back in the day in East Lansing I would gather a group of girls (whether we had boys or not) to go celebrate with each other at one restaurant or another in the area around MSU. The past several years have been hit or miss, since that tradition sort of fizzled, at least in the origional tradition, so this year I tried something new and it worked. What a wonderful evening.

There were moments when I simply had to close my eyes and listen to his voice streaming through the place. It's a perfect venue. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, since I am tired, and full of the love of my friends and experiences of the day. Could I ask for more?

A view of the lobby from the top tier. Yay blue swizzle sticks! It's fun to type "swizzle".

Mirror image

My roomate Dan is one goofy guy! Hi Dan!

Our seats were high, and so were our spirits! So were the girls in front of us!

A highlight of the show, when Rufus played Across the Universe with Sean Lennon (he was the opener). Amazing! Rufus is the one on the left wearing a fluffy white robe. Other wardrobe changes included a glow-in-the-dark lime green three piece suit, then leiderhosen, then the robe, then drag. All in a days work Rufus, all in a days work!

Slam Chops

After being out of school for the past two days, it was sort of wake up this morning and have to slosh off to school through 3 inches of snow and rain. I was soaked by the time I made it to school. I walked around talking to teachers and catching up on news. Feels like I haven't been there in ages! I haven't!

I ended up going on a field trip with some of my 8th grade students to see a poetry slam at the Bowery Poetry Club called Slam Chops, which was quite exciting, hilarious, moving and inspirational to the students. ALL of the kids really enjoyed it, and the 3 poets kept saying how they were the coolest audience ever. I know a lot of performers say that, but this time it sounded like they really meant it. Our kids were involved, would shout out in agreement (which they were instructed to do before the performance if they felt strongly about the words), the even volunteered to go up on stage to perform impromptu poetry. I really enjoyed the link between poetry and music. God, the kids really really loved it. It's one of the best field trips I think I've been on, and I feel lucky to teach in New York City on days like this. So cool.

Snow and the City

So, another day at the scaffolding conference in midtown. Waaa who. If you squint at this picture you might feel like you are flying over the rooftops like Mary Poppins.

It snowed today, so after the conference I decided to take a little walking excursion around town. I headed over to Madison Square Park

Photographed the Flatiron Building.

Then wandered down to Union Square.

All parts of the city that I love, and even more magical when covered in snow!

I went to DSW to look for new shoes to wear to school, but after what seemed like countless hours of walking up and down the aisles I decided not to buy any. I was feeling non-commital today. Sometimes that happens. Cue every guy saying "oh, what a girl, she can't pick out shoes". And to them I say--well, I didn't invite you to go along did I?!

I commited to new underware at Filene's Basement. Who needed to know that? The world, that's who.

Scaffolding in Midtown

So hey. So hey, how's it going?

There was learning today. Less teaching, more learning. I am in the middle of a two day conference on teaching and scaffolding (or building up of background knowledge for you non-teacher folk) novels for English Language Learners in middle and high school. Yay! It's good to better one's self through education.I'm an educator who likes to be educated, what can I say.



Today we took a look at teaching two novels. Nothing but the Truth by AVI and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Both wonderful books that I've been meaning to read for a long time. The conference was an excellent way to get me all fired up about teaching novels to my kids, which I've needed a fire to do recently. I get easily wrapped up in what the kids are doing in class, and don't do enough teaching of my own in order to fit their individual language needs. More of that needs to happen. I am inspired by these books. Plus, I got free copies of both.



When I wasn't riveted in my seat and learning about how to help kids discuss themes from the book in small groups, I either silently cursed the woman on the other side of the room who thought it was acceptable to both A. answer her cell phone and have a conversation with her head under the table during a presentation, or B. talk to her group mates as if the place was her living room during the debriefing part. Ridiculous! Can't wait to see her again tomorrow. Anyway, when I wasn't doing those things I was looking out the window and this is what I saw.




After the conference I walked downtown to meet Dan in Union Square, bypassing Gramercy Park, which I hope to document later because it is one of my all-time favorite spots in NYC, the whole excursion turned into one great people-watching extravaganza. Seriously. The crazies were out today. I saw a truck all decorated in honor of Valentine’s Day promoting save lovin' and a guy singing "Wonderful Tonight" or something just as equally cracked out.

Then I noticed the insane lady yelling at people, droppin' F bombs as if her life depended on it as she entered, get this, Starbucks. Is this the place for that kind of thing? Well, it was the place for all kinds of things I guess, cause I got a tea and sat down to read until Dan was finished at school and found the only open table next to the door. It wasn't open long because a homeless/drunk young man came in and set his tin of board games on the table and when I looked up he said "may I?" At least he had manners. He promptly sat down across from me, slouched over and fell asleep.


I thought about just leaving him my Wild Orange tea, but it was just too good, so I just left and waited for Dan at Trader Joe's where we bought our weekly groceries. I toted them home, worked out, felt exhausted, and then began trying to plan what to actually do with myself next week during my mid-winter break from school. Oh sweet relief is coming!!!

All Aboard!

Brunch happened this morning. I met up with Jeremy again and we trekked around in Times Square until we found Carmine's, which was enormous family style protions, but delicious to boot. Chicken Parm...mmmmmmmmmm.

On my way home, I dropped Jeremy off to catch his train back to Albany at Grand Central Station, and then decided it would make a cool picture for today. I do enjoy that place imensley, and I wish that I knew more about it. I shall commence the studying at my leisure, but not tonight I'd guess.
I think this week will be do-able simply because I have next week as a mid-winter break, and therefore there is a light at the end of the weekly tunnel. I'll sleep next weekend I guess. Le sigh.

a real treat

So, the retreat was going well on Friday and Saturday started off slow, but well . I hate getting up early on Saturdays, but I made it to breakfast on time. I was hoping to get out onto the beach for a walk before the sessions started, but I didn't make it. We met as a group in one of the ballrooms, which had a nice view of the ocean. We filled out posters that covered the walls and windows (blocking the view of course) in order to discuss what our plan is to help our students get ready for 9th grade when they will start taking college courses and Regents Prep (the state mandated test for graduation) courses as well. It'll be tough. We walked around (well I limped...still a bum hip) chatting with each other about our schools. It seems that our school is a little worse for wear.

THEN there was a break, and Rachel and I stepped outside into the lovely windy/rainy goodness of weather hitting the Jersey shore. Yay. Here are our escapades!

Later we reconvened just in the Bronz Early College Academy room (although the correct word is Bronx, don't worry, at the end we stole the sign) to talk about...well to talk about all the ways in which we can better our school. It basically means starting over with the student handbook. It's time to take back some control over there, so we needed to start from the ground up. We didn't nearly get everything done, which was sad, but it was productive for the most part. Thank goodness it went well.

I ducked out of the wrap up meeting in order to get the "stress buster massage", which was basically exactly what I needed after those meetings and the hip ordeal. It was expensive, but totally awesome. My hip felt a lot better when I got up. By the time I walked out of the spa, my friend Claudia was there looking for me. We car-tripped it back to NYC singing along with Michael Jackson, and eyeing the ever so popular "New Jersey Turnpike" sweatshirts at the rest stop. Mission complete.

Vegging out was on my mind, but I ended up going out to dinner with my friend Jeremy and gang. We had Blockheads again, and I don't regret it one bit!

Hey New Jersey, How YOU Doin'?

Friday started with a bang, or a pop rather.

Here's the thing about Friday. I was late getting up, I hadn't packed my overnight bag for the school retreat we had to go to in New Jersey, and I was rushing. Just as I closed my apartment door and waddled out with several bags, my umbrella and my hands full of other important items I got a text message from Rachel who rides the express bus with me to the Bronx in the mornings. It said "run". That's our code word for run, the bus is super early, and you will probably miss it because we are almost about to pass your stop. DAMNIT! I started to run, I dropped my umbrella, I picked up my umbrella. I had to slow down because I was hot in my coat and heavy with bags, then I ran some more so that I could at least see the bus pass me on the street in the distance. I only had a little bit of time as I huffed and puffed up the never ending hill to the avenue, and I knew that the street had a green light, but as soon as it turned red that my bus would pass. It did, so I booked it, all things in tow. I saw it stop, and let passengers on, praying that he would wait. As I rushed across the crosswalk I saw him holding the doors open for minute and praised Jesus because I knew I'd make it, but as soon as I hit the sidewalk the doors closed and he slowly started to move away. I kicked it into high gear and was able to bang on the door before he got away! Phew!! It was a miricle. The un-miracle part was that as soon as I sat down I had a shooting pain in my hip. Not cool. It didn't get any better as we got closer to school and my breathing returned to normal.

When I got to school I could barely walk. I pulled something and it was bad. :( Not a good day for this. I did some stretching, just sort of sprawling out on the teachers lounge floor before class started, and then made it a point to ingest nearly all of the ibuprofen that I had on me. I sat with my students in the classes until lunch when they were had 1/2 day dismissal because the teachers were leaving for the shore.

Then the fun started, but the pain persisted. Road trip with Corie, Rachel and Claudia turned into nothin' but awesomeness as we sang along with 80's tunes on the way down to our resort and spa. I had bought me a new bottle of Advil, and some of those instant heat packs, and I was ready for a retreat!

It took us about an hour and a half to get there, and we were late getting in, but I think my favorite part of the evening was drinking ginger ale out of mini-glass soda bottles. I did sit next to a good lookin teacher from another school while we talked about what makes a good Early College Academy teacher, and that was nice. I of course was nominated to speak and report on our group activity. Who knew- I'm a natural leader somethings. Oh and I've become extremely outspoken. Perhaps that's not new.

Dinner followed the group activity time, which was nice. It just proved to me that I have a love/hate relationship with cake. And buffets. I sucked at eating well this weekend.

In order to liven things up I made a napkin hat, and then Rachel and I proceeded to make a montage of "teachers in napkin hat". Some thought it was funny. Some hated it immensley. I thought it was hilarious.

Rachel and I had made a previous plan to make the best of the retreat by jumping on beds. I will sum up my day with a picture or two from the "teachers in napkin hat" series, as well as me jumping on my bed with a shower cap. Yay retreat!

Under and Out

I started off the day by not being fully prepared for the weather. I ran out to catch my bus this morning in my tennis shoes, my winter coat and scarf, and absolutley no umbrella (ella ella eh, eh, eh). It was soggy, and then so was I. Oh well.

My bus ride was lonely, because my bus buddy Rachel (she works at my school) was out at a conference today. That left me to my thoughts and some photo taking. Here's one I liked from underneath the subway. Sounds weird, but the subway becomes elevated this far up and out of Manhattan. I thought it was a good depiction of the morning world waking up in the Bronx.

I spent the day helping kids write descriptive settings about their made up heroes, helping other students understand the word "perfunctory", and then having a 6th grader explain to me why he didn't want to use the term "bull shit", by saying bull shit to me...twice. I laughed. Hard.

Crankiness ensued when I realized that I had an after school staff meeting, which I think is funny considering we have a two day conference in Jeresey starting tomorrow. Don't you think we'll get ENOUGH time together? I DO! There is a plan to jump on all the hotel room beds though with Rachel, and my friend Corie wants to bond like teachers do- at a bar. It won't be all bad. I hope to have nice pictures. It's at a spa on the Jersey shore.

The day rounded out with some Thursday night dinner activities with Erica, Kate and Dan all meeting up at Blockheads. I sing praises about Blockheads. I heart burritos. As we were walking home (after a quick stop off at Pinkberry) I noticed Big Daddy's Diner, which I mostly took a picture of because I liked the fact that they sold "Burgers Shakes and Tots". Man, I like tots. I like burritos and Pinkberry and tots.

Say Something Funny!

I couldn't help myself. I actually didn't take this picture today. I actually didn't take any picture today, but I think it's more fitting that I just post one of the videos that I uploaded. I found myself looking through and uploading many of my old pictures from the computer I had when I was working and traveling abroad. They were FULL of great memories. So I feel it's fitting that my daily blog references memory lane as well.

It's about time I share a video from Korea. This one was taken about a week before the end of my contract in Pusan, so I had been teaching these kids for almost a year. It made me miss them SO much waching this. They are 4/5 years old, and they were my favorite group of students! Without further ado- the Wonderland School's Blue Class!

Rock the vote and burping lessons

I voted today!!

Did you? (where applicable)

After doing my civic duty I went to work out at the gym, so I rocked the vote, and rocked the scales. I rock.

Dan and I made delicious, delicious salmon tonight for dinner. Sometimes we rock at making dinner. Dan likes to say words like "brick" when he burps, and I decided that if I can't beat em', join em', so I was trying to burp and say a word. Dan tried to teach me through linguistics saying things like "you need to start a little lower with a good bi-labial, and end with a stop." I thought this was absurd, but correct.

Know what else rocks? My students. They all were very interested in talking about politics today, so when I was watching CNN tonight, it didn't suprise me that most Latinos support Hilary Clinton. I could have projected that myself based on my conversations. I think one reason might be that immigration is a serious issue with my students. Seriously. Their families, mother's, father's, even possibly themeselves are wrapped up in this touchy subject. It's real, and they are kids, people all here to make a better life for themeselves. There is no denying that. I wish that I had prepared more information for them, instead of teaching the timeline of the Spanish American war, doesn't it make more sense to prepare them to explain the timeline of today? They show interest, therefore I feel as if I need to play into them. It affects them as citizens of their school, their community, their state, and their country. Since I support my students as citizens, I feel as if I should support them in their desire to learn about their world.

I had an interesteing conversation with both my 7th and 8th graders this afternoon. My 7th graders wanted to know more about how the Townshend Act influenced the taxes of today. It was really interesting, and it was hard to put them back on track to their school work, but I liked the questions they were asking, and I'm glad that I felt knowledgable enough about politics, and unbiased enough to discuss it. They asked about term limits, brought up immigration issues, as well as they were all very interested in the way I'd vote.

My 8th graders later were reading a play about Women's Sufferage, and we had a pretty great conversation about women now having a choice. There were two girls in the class, which I was really interested in getting their viewpoint. One girl said that she didn't care to have the vote if it meant being forced to work, or go to war (issues brought up during that time (in the play)). The other girl, and actually the boys stepped in the most to defend equal rights. It's a releif to see that these kids heads are in the right place when it comes to understanding justice and fairness in today's society. We talked a lot about how women now have a CHOICE about working, or going to war, and I think it made all the students think. I DO feel proud that I have the right to go vote, for a woman, or a black man if I choose. I don't have to, but I did have the choice, and thank God for that. We've come a long way.

The picture of the day is not political, but actually a follow up to a January post entitled Christmas Tree Graveyard. Today I noticed with my eyes and nose that the parks, and medians have been mulched with christmas trees! Yay for Mulch Fest 08!! It seems it was a success!

I'm choosing sleep now.