Last week was a four-day work week, but it felt like a seven day work week. Quick summary of the work week.

Tuesday, January 22nd.
I called this the last minute day. From a 2AM bedtime, it was last minute this and last minute that. I received a call in my classroom letting me know that a art program rep. would be coming to do a project with my students for the whole day. Moments later, an announcement was made over the PA system that all prep periods would be used for Data Analysis meetings. So, what was the meeting about. After being told that it would only take a few minutes, we were told about the program we had already been told about. "suggestions" for using the Internet for helping our kids with listening practice exercises -- again, we were already showed the "suggestions". In the end, a few minute meeting (that was a total waste of time) took, about 40 minutes. After school (with the Quality Review around the corner), I decided to finally tackle my teacher's corner. I left the building about 8:05PM. I decided to stop off at Target for some black slacks. My "work clothes" had holes in them. I could not put off the shopping procrastination any longer. While I was in Target, I also bought some organic skim milk and had my blood pressure medicine prescription refilled. I was home about 10PM.

Wednesday, January 23th.
My kids were okay. A bit hyper, but relatively okay. There was a school wide Math test, so the literacy program was cancelled. Yippee!!!
During the test, I received a phone call from AP1, she wanted me to know that the Art Lady (from yesterday) was returning to finish the project. Even though the project was basically finished. The "Art Lady" did most of the work herself, so I did not even bother to take a photo of the work. For some strange reason, the lady's classroom management was almost identical to the "Art Lady" from last school year. Different lady, but the same "limited" understanding of classroom management. You really can't have a project that requires most of the students to sit and do nothing but wait, and watch. I just started teaching around the Art Lady. During the reading period, I had the students do independent reading. During Social Studies, I had them do social studies activities from the textbook. Etc...
During lunch, Drama Queen put on a show. And I had had enough!!! Sticky Fingers -- since she has not stolen anything recently, I may rename her "Giggles". Came crying that Drama Queen was telling everybody to not be her friend. DQ said that she was not talking about Giggles, but another "Giggles" near her home. I called the friends over and asked each of them how many "Giggles" did they know, each said only one, so DQ changed her tactic. Now, DQ said that Giggles started it. When that did not wash, then DQ turned on the waterworks. I had had enough. I (verbally) tore into her like a bear on piece of fish. "Turn it off, and shut it up" (not exactly my words, but very, very close). I try to never allow the Cafeteria Drama to come into the classroom. Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Also, whatever happens in the cafeteria, stays in the cafeteria...if possible. Kids often have a bad habit of carry unnecessary (emotional)baggage around for days. If you are not careful, you could spend your afternoon dealing with something stupid that happened in the lunchroom...last week, and now they are fighting about it. So, if possible keep it where it started.

Thursday, January 24th.
The kids started out extremely hyper. I felt another one of those extreme days. Instead of using the "reward with praise tactic", I did the "excessive praise with promise of reward" tactic. Quick note-- excessive should not be confused with extreme. The tactic worked. My day turned out (relatively) nice. One incident. During the literacy program (where the kids are grouped in different classrooms), a couple of my students (Cackler and Sneak) were accused of stealing a dollar from a student's desk. Long story short, with my process of elimination/detective skills -- add detective to the teacher's growing list of responsibilities (parent, referee, bodyguard, police, babysitter, guidance conselor, negotiator, maid, servant, etc...). Cackler first said she had no money, but when I said that I would be in the lunchroom to see if she spends any money, she changed her story to her mother gave it to her. I said that I would call her mother to ask. Cackler changed her story to she was saving the money from a long time ago. Anyway, mom made a surprise visit -- AP2 had called on an unrelated incident. Mom, and Cackler put on a very good show. I had to contain myself from smiling. Not that I get off on seeing a child crying, but all of my phone calls, and my letters, and my student written (confessional)letters yielded nothing. But now, here was the Cackler crying her eyes out. And mom, going on and on about a change in the behavior. Mom even gave me her new cell phone number. Mom finished with a "wait til you get home" ending. Cackler had to stand in front of the class and apologize to everyone. My school day ended very nicely. :)

Friday, January 25th.
Cackler arrived late with a smile on her face, and the same attitude she has always had. A few minutes later, she is waving $2 to her friends with a "look what I got" speech. It wasn't even 8:30AM and already she was aggravating me and disrupting my class. I was pissed!!! I couldn't even get a day of good behavior. I called Cackler and asked for the money. I asked where she got the money from. "My mother gave..." quickly became "I mean my brother gave it to me".

Did I call the mom?



No.


Why not?


I knew the behavior would not change from the show that was given yesterday. I was hoping for a couple of days at least, but I knew the behavior wasn't going to change. So, what is the purpose of exposing my hand too quickly. I explained to Cackler that her "early morning show off" the very next morning after her mom made a big show in front of the classroom in front of the teacher and AP2, would embarrass her mother if I was to call. I further explained that mom may not do much about the constant complains from the teacher, but if she is called out for the show in front of the classroom. She (mom) would be upset with her daughter. I could see on Cackler's face the rusty mental gears turning in her head. She understood. So why not call mom immediately. For me, it is a matter of survival. I play the hand that I've been dealt. If I reveal my hand too quickly, then I have little (if any) cards left in play. I was honest with Cackler when she asked what I was going to do with the money. I gave the options of a teacher's response or an honest response.

She chose the honest response. I told her that I would use that money as much as I could. Meaning, the threat of a phone would be in play until she forced me to call. She smiled, went back to her desk and was (relatively) good for the rest of the day.

Other quick Friday notes.
The Daily School Bulletin had a list of the results of the "Dry Run Quality Review". Things that teachers had to have before the Quality Review.

This post is long enough so I am going to skip what would be another 30 minutes. Besides, this blog really is suppose to be about my boring life, my job really is not meant to be a main focus. Suffice it to say (I hope I used that phrase correctly), teachers could do one of 2 things, laugh our head off, or beat our heads against the wall (or a combination of the two).

Oh, and four of my boys were suspended for writing curse words on the walls in the bathroom. Since I was focused on helping my students update their portfolios, I relaxed my guard. Normally, I only allow one boy and one girl out of the room at a given time (but not if they are from the same table). Students also have to sign out in the sign out book. I took it personally that it was all my boys, not even other teachers with wilder classes. However, no one (not even the principal) attached any blame to me, I was happy about that. The end result was that 4 of my boys would have a "Principal's Suspension" for (I was told from the security guard) 5 days. Wow! A part of me was annoyed that 3 of the 4 are not problem kids (just talkers). If I could have chosen a 5-day suspension for any of my students, 3 of those boys would not have come close to being on my list.

I was out of the school building about 8:30PM. I was fixing my classroom library. I finally got around to putting labels on all of my library baskets. As I was leaving a couple of teachers were still in their rooms -- beating their heads against the wall :), since their classroom are on the list for a closer review and the school's grade would be based on what was seen in their rooms, they wanted to make sure they tackled everything on that last minute list. Although the school would be opened on Saturday, none of the teachers, I spoke to said that they would be there.

Time for me the go.


Post Date - Sunday, January 27, 2008 1:48PM

Quick blog entry. My first heavy yawn just came, so I will have to finished this quick or I'll be sleeping in this car in a matter of minutes.

Quick summary of my three-day weekend. I slept most of the weekend away. On Monday, I did a bit of cooking (something I hadn't done in several months). I made bake chicken with Stove Top Stuffing,and green vegetables.

Another heavy yawn just came, so I will need to to end this now. I'll do another entry when I am not so tired.


Post Date - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 9:44PM

Quick blog entry before bedtime. After blogging a couple of hours ago, I did my grocery shopping online ($130). I then went shopping at Staples.com for more supplies for my classroom (about $200). I bought 2 cases of paper for my personal copier, an ink cartridge, a case of 24 bottles of water, a box of granola bars, and a couple of boxes of golf pencils. After dinner (frozen chicken and vegetables in the microwave, and microwavable rice). I ended up watching a movie on PBS entitled "The Robe". The movie was about the Roman soldier who executed Jesus. Richard Burton was the star. The movie was okay. I also grade some of my students' papers while I watched the PBS movie. I then watched "Family Guy" and "South Park".

Now, I am about to call it a night.


Post Date - Sunday, January 20, 12:38AM

I was not planning to post a blog entry now. For the last few days I have not been in a blogging mood. It has been almost a week since my last entry. Quick summary since then, my Monday last week turned out okay. Strange, but for about 3 hours of sleep, I did okay. I did go to the gym on Monday and Tuesday. My personal trainer told me on Tuesday that she would not be available on Wednesday, so I used Wednesday to fall back into my old "late leaving school" routine. I think I left school almost 7:30PM everyday from Wednesday to Friday. My trainer told me that she would not be able to come on Thursday, and that Friday would probably be her last day. She left a message on my cellphone Friday at 3PM offering to give me the 5th session of the 5 session package I paid for, but since my cellphone was home, I did not get the message until I returned home about 9PM. However, since I canceled last week, I don't feel she owed me that last session, but it was very nice of her to offer. Now, I am on my own to get up and out to the gym.

On the school front. Wednesday, my students were at their wildest. Wildest!! I had flashbacks to last school year when attitudes, anger and disrespect was boiling over. Nothing was working in terms of classroom management. I ended up doing an after school detention for the serious offenders. They had to write a letter to their parents about the things they did in class. That letter had to be signed and returned to me. If it wasn't, I would mail a copy to their homes. I followed up the letters with phone calls, so I assumed that the next day would be better.

Thursday? They picked up right where they left off. My hypers were just as hyper and disruptive and disrespectful. Every statement from me was followed by a "I don't care" from the hypers. Most of the morning was off the wall. Finally, I decided to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. I focused (I said) on the good kids. I had an unopened bottle of soda left over from the Year-End party, so I told my class that I would be giving a special reward for the good kids(the soda). That put me back on the offensive. I lowered my voice (something I have to work on doing consistently), I gave lots of praise for the good behavior. When the hypers tried to seize control of the classroom, I started shipping them to other teacher's room. I had to remove three (Sticky-fingers, Cackler, and Sneak) -- Princess quieted down so she stayed. By the afternoon, I was in control again. Also, due to an incident in the lunchroom, AP2 called Sticky-finger's mother. That gave me the opportunity to speak to the mother a bit. Basically, the mother was there because AP2 called, for me, I just get, "Umm, Hmmms". Since Sticky Fingers was in trouble (more or less), she did not do anything disruptive. And as a result, her "sisterhood of disruption" turned on her. They called her names, tauted her, etc...

Sticky Fingers left early with her mother, so that left me with Princess and Cackler who were defiant to the end, so I did the afternoon detention again. Cackler who now seemed immune to the letter -- she said that her mother wasn't angry, and just signed the other letter. I made her put that in the letter also. Sneak who was writing on the chair, I made him (after I got the okay from calling his mother earlier in the day) scrub all of the desks (all 22 desks). But first, Sneak owed me a letter. When Cackler's time was up, I dismissed her....big mistake.

On Wednesday, after doing the afternoon detention, I fell back to the softy and walked her out of the school building and across the street (me without my coat in the middle of winter), to make sure she got home. I then called the mother to let her know where her daughter was.

Thursday, having gone through this afternoon detention/ waste of time again, I was in no mood to trekking up and down the stairs, so I just dismissed Cackler. Later, I found out she got caught leaving the building from a side exit. The office worker told me that Cackler was caught by AP2, but he would still have to tell AP1. Moments later, AP1 called me on the class phone. She was very upset because according to her the only person who would get into trouble (if Cackler "flipped her story") would be the principal. What I did was wrong for not getting permission from Admin and the parent(in writing). Not once did she ask why I kept the student in detention, nothing about other options I could have tried, or should have tried. Her only concern seemed to be that "if anything happened, the principal would be the one in court, the principal would be the one in trouble". It is nice to know that if I was a sick individual, that I would get away from any punishment for a crime, and that the principal would be the only one who would take the fall.

After that phone call, I then spent another hour cleaning up after the mess Sneak made scrubbing desks. I left school almost 8PM totally disgusted.

Friday, Cackler was absent...I wonder why?(not really -- Sorry) Sticky Fingers was absent (I knew she would not be in school today because she took great pride with the "I don't care, I won't be in school"[doctor's appt.] attitude). That just left Sneak, who was a bit better behaved. And Princess, who (I wasn't planning on allowing to participate in gym) got pulled off my line by AP2 from the lunchroom incident harassing another girl with her sisterhood of the street in training). AP2 can be a bit of the Admin enforcer, but I think she is treated as a bit player on the Admin ladder by Queen Bee and Second-in-Command. Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Princess was put in another class until her mother came. Another incentive for becoming an administrator. My phone calls do nothing, but a call from Admin has pull. Now, it was Princess' turn to face the angry mother (inconvenienced for having to take a day off from work). Mom's suggestion was that she would (maybe) send Princess back to Africa for a month because there she will get an education, and there they can deal with kids in a way that would cause problems here. So, how long did Princess stay good before slowly reverting back into Princess...about 90 minutes. I think she might need more than a month. :o

Friday was a very nice day. We had a visitor from the literacy program who came to see how the program was implemented. However, I've been on this computer long enough, so I am going to pass of summarizing and commenting on that event.

The kids were (relatively) nicely behaved. The afternoon (and evening) was spent tackling my teacher's corner. Our school will soon be having a Quality Review visit. Since we're now an "A" school -- don't ask me, I don't know what passes for an "A" school. Admin will soon be making their rounds doing their inspections. This whole school year, I've allowed myself become overwhelmed with everything, it is time for me to start digging out of the hole I've created. On Friday (evening), I finally tackled the mound of papers that was about 2 and a half feet high. I also finally got around to putting on the desk lock. I did not have a key for the old lock, and the builder of the desk put the insertion hole about a half inch off, so the lock (old or new) could not be used. I solved that problem by drilling a new insertion point in the correct spot. Now, I can lock my laptop in my desk instead of the closet. I also replaced the locks in the teacher's closet and classroom supply closet (about $15 per lock). The desk lock was about $7.

Today was my recovery day as usual. I spent most of the day in bed. I got up about 10am, and was back in bed about 12PM. I finally got up about 5PM. I had a bowl of organic oatmeal and a bowl of Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats, and a cup of hot green tea. Unfortunately, I've been eating a couple of honey on wheat bread sandwiches with my Weight Watchers over these last few days, so I am back up to 200lbs having dropped to 196lbs. My goal now is to spend next week getting my classroom (and my students' portfolios) in order. Hopefully, I will be able to resume attending the gym on January 28th. Now, I am going to do a little bit of online grocery shopping. Now that I've figured out how, I will just use my previous order to make my order. That will save quite a bit of time.


Post Date - Saturday, January 19, 2008 6:46PM

Almost 3am and I have very little to show for it. An incomplete homework sheet and a very incomplete lesson plan. Wet clothes drying by the heater, and not packed for tomorrow (now today).

Now (having not showered in a couple of days, a shower is a must. If I don't get distracted, I should be in bed by 3am. Hopefully, the morning commute won't be a mess. I also postponed my 3 remaining training sessions with my trainer for today(tomorrow and Wednesday). Today will be a very long day. This has to be the last time I go to bed for 3 hours of sleep.


Post Date - Monday, January 14, 2008 2:24am

The previous blog entries have been sitting in my draft folder for the past few days. I don't know what, how or why, but I was too tired to do anything within minutes of returning home. Both previous blog entries were ended with me falling asleep in mid sentence. I deleted the gibberish that came from me sleeping with my hands on the keys. Hopefully, next week will be a better week.

I don't really have anything to post, so I am going to end this now and get off this computer.

Quick weekend summary. I slept most of Saturday away. I finally got up at about 5pm. Saturday evening, I spent about 3 hours sticking the adhesive tabs onto the plastic sheet protectors for my students portfolios, I also wrote the labels and inserted the labels. I then finished the evening grading a few (a very few) papers.

This morning, I was working on the Classroom Action Plan Goal Setting sheet, it is due tomorrow. Instead of handwriting the sheet, I searched the Internet for a copy of the NYC seal that our school uses for a header. I then typed up my Goal Setting sheet to look identical to the form that was given out. I also revised the sheet. My sheet has a place for the teacher's name and classroom, along with the school year.

Well, I postponed my gym workouts for a week, with the (false)assumption that I would use last week to get my classroom organized. Well, having broken all of my New Year's Resolutions within 3 days, I will have to try again starting tomorrow.

Now (when I get off this computer), I will shower. Write up my lesson plans for next week, go to the laundry, and make a quick run to the brick and mortar store for groceries. There is suppose to be a heavy snow fall due this evening and tomorrow morning. I hope it is not too great. With all of the hills and mountains, they are a bit slow about shoveling snow around here. Now, if it snows so much that schools are closed, then, well, let it snow. :)


Post Date - Sunday, January 13, 2008 12:18PM

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Train trouble, so I took a cab.
4th graders had a day three test. I gave my students a math practice test assuming that Admin would want the rest of the "testing body" to be in a testing mode. after I'd already started, a memo was sent via student delivery mentioning giving the practice test I was already administering for Friday. the memo suggested that classes work on workfolders and portfolios. I called and was able to reach AP1 who did not seem to mind me doing the math practice test so I continued. In a moment of rare peace and quiet, my class managed to stay in test mode for the Literacy Block time that was dedicated to the "testing mode". I was able to administer the practice test and grade it.

My hypers were hyper, and I did not get a prep today, so I was not in the best of moods. AP2 made an announcement on the loudspeaker that all testing grades would be meeting during their preps for planning for the State Math Test, but my prep teacher never showed to take over. He is always, always 10 to 15 minutes late, so I just assumed that he would be late as usual. He is one of the nice people, but he will often let the kids get too hyper. Not as extreme as the "Spanish" teacher, but having him for a prep is a "finger crosser". Anyway, it turns out he was doing some kind of assisting with the 4th grade test. I called the Math coach to appologize for not being there, but the coach did not seem to know about the meeting. I'm thinking I missed about 20 minutes of the meeting, but no one showed up, and the coach did not bother to call, he just said that no one showed up. I guess he didn't want the meeting either.

Lunch detention. One of the powers that be decided that this afternoon would be a good time to administer the 8th week assessment for the reading program that we are using this year. Even though only about half of the school would need to be testing, the whole school went to the Literacy Block groupings for the last hour of the school day. Wouldn't it have been better to do the testing on Friday when the literacy block schedule resumes, but what do I know.

Another day wasted on "planning" to get organized. I left the school about 7pm only just starting to tackle the mounds of papers in my classroom. I told myself that I would not go to gym this week to get organized in my classroom, but I have yet to do anything of substance.


Post Date - Sunday, January 13, 2008 12:03pm

Sorry about the last post. I fell asleep while I was trying to type. I should have clicked on "save to draft", but instead, I clicked "publish". To wrap up yesterday's entry, I had to take a later train, which meant that I would have to take a taxi from the Bronx.

My goal for yesterday was to finish my hall bulletin board. There was a faculty meeting at 3PM. I finished my bulletin board and was out of the building at about 7:30PM. When I got home, I called the Y to postpone my one-on-one training for a few days. This week, I want to get my classroom cleaned and organized. After dinner, I was out like a light (clothes and all). I woke up about 5:30AM, it took me a while but eventually, I was able to get out of bed. I then typed up my bulletin board "Task Card".

Although, I was up early, I was still tired, so I was moving slow. I caught my "on time" train...with about 30 seconds to spare. Today was day 1 of the NYS ELA exams. My kids were actually (relatively) well-behavore......



Post Date - Sunday, January 13, 2008 11:59am

Today was a tiring day, but it was actually okay. The Cackler was absent, and Princess was very quiet today.

This morning after going to bed at about 2:45am, I was very tired this morning. I called the Y the tell them I was cancelling my appointment with my trainer. On top of the little bit of sleep, I wanted to finish my bulletin board. Being tired, I was moving very slowly. I knew that I wouldn't be able to catch my regular train, so I took the next train. That means

I just finished correcting and printing my students' character sketches. Another bad start to what I know will be a stressful week. Tuesday and Wednesday are the oh-so-important City-Wide Exams for ELA.

Nine Resolutions, and I broke eight of them within four days. Strange, I am not as upset as I would have been in the past. The purpose of the resolutions was to give me a focus in the new year, not really a sudden transformation. I was a bit disappointed, but nothing major, no binging on a pint of Haagen Daz. I just told myself that I will just start again on Monday. I hated the idea of spending the $100 on a personal trainer, but I am glad I did. Without the trainer "expecting me there", I probably would have an excuse for not going to the gym. I have 3 more sessions with the trainer, then I am on my own. The real test will come when I am on my own.

This weekend. I slept Saturday away. Thursday evening, I went to bed at about 2:30AM, so I was very tired when I did my workout on Friday with the trainer after a full day in school. On Saturday, I did some corrections of the students' writing. Yes, I am still doing that character sketch project. Mainly, due to my disorganization. Somehow, I went from an almost complete set of 15 (two students were absent) to about 6 or 7 completed and typed writing assignments.

Today, I was a bit productive, but not by much. I did about 4 loads of laundry. Now, that I am attending the gym, my dirty clothes pile has increased. I have a trainer that does not seem to mind getting close to her clients, even when I am sweating up a storm. Being a bit self-conscious, I get a bit nervous when I am working out and my trainer doesn't seem to mind getting close. She evens likes helping me with my stretches (before, after, and even during the workout). After the laundry, I ate dinner (Weight Watchers - Beef Steamer) with a cup of microwavable rice, and a couple of honey on wheat bread sandwiches. I then finally got around to cleaning my bedroom. There was enough dust to choke a horse. I was tempted to take a photo, but I decided against embarrassing myself. Since I was in a cleaning mood, I also tackled half of the bathroom.

I just took a break from completing this blog entry to buy some online flowers. One of my colleague's husband died last week sometime. Although I put in $10 into the collection, I wanted to do a little more. A spouse is different from a grandmother or distant relative you hardly see.

Well, it is past Midnight...again. Not a good start to the work week. I should have gotten in bed much earlier. On Friday, I left school at about 5pm to be able to make my gym appointment, but I left my classroom a bit of a mess. I did not even put up the schedule for Monday. I hope this is not going to be an indication of the type of week I am going to have. I do know that I will have to finish my bulletin board tomorrow. I also know that the first Monday will mean a faculty meeting. I hope tomorrow won't be a crazy, stressed-full day.


Post Date - Sunday, January 7, 2008 11:59PM

Sorry. Too tired. And, too sore to post a blog.

Quick entry. I have to finish editing/correcting my students' character sketch writings, something I should'a/could'a done during my winter vacation.

Day 2 of the "Me Year". I had another restless night. After my first workout in almost 20 -- yes, I did write 20 years. When I returned home last night, since I did not have time to eat dinner before the workout, I ate dinner afterwards, I also pigged out a bit on rice cakes (half a pack), I also added a cup of microwavable rice to my Weight Watcher's meal, along with a couple of slices of bread. I also drank about a quart of orange juice. My stomach was in knots from the workout, but the late night meal didn't help either. I went to bed about 12:01, so technically I broken one goal. But personally, a minute (in my opinion) is not a major break. And even if I did break a major goal, I would still have very little choice but to get back on the horse.

This morning I was very tired, and almost missed my train, luckily the train was a bit late. My day was basically the same as previous blog entries have stated. I also managed to leave the school at the same time


I just fell asleep here at the computer. Old habits die hard.

Post Date - Thursday, January 3, 2008 11:37pm

Day 1 of the "Me Year". Quick summary. I hope so. Or at least a 30 minute summary.

Last night after spending about an hour cutting up the large cardboard box into 17 frames, I cut my hair, then shaved my head. Due to the time, I had to settle for a shower instead of a bath. I was in bed by 11:17pm. Unfortunately, I think my subconscious was at work over the return to work because I didn't sleep well. I was wide awake by 3:33am. I only dozed on and off throughout the night.

Today, I was out of bed at about 6:10am. I caught my "on time" train, then transferred to the #1 train in the Bronx. Unfortunately, an extremely loud lady was having a very adult conversation with her grandson. She just went on, and on about (probably) to boy's father and how he (the father) was low down and dirty. Then, she went into this long drawn out explanation about how the "dirty dog" had to have been the one to do something or other with the phone. Then went into details about how incriminating evidence is difficult to remove from a phone if you are not careful. A 20 minute ride and she wouldn't shut up.

My kids for the first couple of periods were sleepy angels too tired to do much of anything disruptive. Unfortunately the sleepiness wore off. Then the old behavior came back with a vengeance. Princess Peanut (formally beady betty, formally temper tantrum tina) is just spoiled rotten that is all that I can say.

Today, AP1 called my class phone to inform me that a special ed student would be mainstreamed in my classroom during Math because (according the AP1) the student can be quite a talker but she (AP1) knows that I am a "no nonsense" teacher that won't tolerate the girl's talkative behavior. Really?!?! If she wanted a "no nonsense" teacher than she should have put the girl in the 3rd grade class down the hall. However, I think "Down the Hall" would have raised a stink. And Across the Hall was absent today, she had to handle some personal business. Luckily for me, a substitute teacher was assigned, so I did not have any extra kids.

Uh Oh. 9 more minutes left.

Well, I was out of school at about 4:56pm. :) I arrived at the Bronx with about 10 minutes before the MN would arrived, but I spent too much time in Rite Aid and missed the train. Since I had about 20 minutes to kill, I went to Target to buy a timer for home and another for my classroom. I managed to catch the 6:03pm MN train. I returned with about 4 minutes to spare before the Southbound train to Yonkers would arrived. So, I had no time to change clothes. I grabbed my gym bag which has been sitting on my dresser for the last 4 months packed ready to go. So....

After about 15 or 20 years, I have finally returned to the gym. I arrived a bit lost, so I asked for another tour of the place, and I in the end, I ended up buying 5 sessions with a personal trainer. Considering how lost I felt, I am not going to count the $100 expensive as a waste of money. If the personal trainer helps me get off to a good start with the gym, then I think it is money well spent. I have only one minute to go, so I will write about my 20 minute trial session another time.

Finally, I returned home about 9:12pm. Weight Watchers for dinner.


Post Date - Wednesday, January 2, 2008 10:47pm

I just finished updating my other website. Recently while cleaning up I came across some old paperwork that gave me the idea that I should update the old website with current photos. Just in case. :)

I added two pages to the old website, each page is for the previous year and this current school year. The 2006~2007 year page has 20 photos of my bulletin boards over the school year, but also the photos that I took of my classroom in June. The current school year page only has about 4 photos (those have already been posted on this blog site). Yes, I know the site is a bit of a mess from the "add ons" over the years, However, for those that have suggested in the past that I should just overhaul the whole site, I have not forgotten. I will do it...eventually.

I posted here one of the photos of a bulletin board that I did last year. I don't think I've posted it here before.

Well, I better go. I've pretty much run out the clock on this vacation. Now, I think I will cut my hair and relax in the bath. Then, I'll need to iron my clothes for tomorrow, pack my granny cart for tomorrow, then try to relax. A part of me is dreading the return, but another part is looking forward to the return. I am a worker at heart. I'm not a good teacher (satisfactory yes, but not good [at least not yet]), however, I am a very hard worker.

So what about tomorrow, well that is my official start of the "Me Year". With a two-week lesson plan:

Goal #1 - No more filling up the granny cart for hefty trips of unproductive through the mass-transit system only to leave the materials untouched at the door, only to drag the back breaking cart back through the mass-transit system.

Goal #2 - Lesson planning in the classroom not at home. Or at least main planning done in the classroom leaving the detailed planning for home. Remember new goals shouldn't start cold turkey. As long as I am not carrying 20 or 30lbs up and down several subway stairways and in (and over) turnstiles, I'll be happy.

Goal #3 - Making 5PM my quitting time (Monday through Thursday). 6PM on Fridays.

Goal #4 - Learning to relax more. Trying to not have the urge to finish everything even though knowing it will not be finished(and then stressing about it).

Goal #5 - Not letting things pile up (physically as well as mentally) to the point my mind just goes blank.

Goal #6 - To the gym at least 4 times per week. With rowing taking care of the other days. I am going to trying allowing myself a day off from going to the gym, so if I miss a day, I'll just call it my day off. If I miss another day, then I will use the weekend for a make-up day...I hope.

I better stop here. I was not planning to ....

Oh, and Goal #7 - limiting my blog entries to 30 minutes or less. I think I'll need to buy a timer to help me with this goal.

Oh, and I should also add Goal #8 - getting a grip on my spending habits.

Anyway, I need to stop here. I wasn't planning on writing goals. I think I will cut and paste these goals and print them. I think I will need to be looking at these as a reminder. I will try adding a time limit to my goals.

For now, the above goals are only good for the period of January 2nd until January 31st. Starting tomorrow I will tape up a single page of the extra large calendar that I was wondering what to do with. Now, it will be my goal calendar. I will only tape up one month at a time, knowing me, seeing the extra months will only stress me out. I will post my goals next to it.

Hopefully, this will be the "NEW [ME] YEAR".


Post Date - Tuesday, January 1, 2008 5:25PM

I thought this was interesting. However, to be fair to the young lady, I chose to post the Today Show clip with her attempt to clarify rather than the response by itself.

Happy New Year!!!

One more day to go. Then, it is back to the salt mines. Today started off fairly cold in my apartment. There was no heat or hot water. I woke up stuffed up, and the beginings of a runny nose. Any other time, I probably would have stayed under my covers, but with a day to go until the vacation ends, I did not want to stay in bed. I got out of bed about 10am. Since there was no hot water, I had to boil a pot of water so that I could sponge off, brush my teeth, and shave. After getting dressed, and having to deal with cold hands and a bit of a runny nose, I turned on the oven for heat. Since my apartment was cold, I brought in my lesson plan book into the kitchen. I did lesson planning in the kitchen. After a couple of hours, I decided that I wanted to go to the Y to sign up adult boxing class ($35 per month). I took the MN to Yonkers, first I stopped off at the bank to deposit a couple of checks into my checking account: Teacher's Choice($260), daily rated pay check for the summer training teachers were "strongly encouraged" to attend($128), an old money order I found while cleaning that I'd never send off for something (#19.95), and finally, a UFT refund check I also found while cleaning($1.44). That was suppose to have been my spending money for me, but I now have to use that money to pay my bills. After the bank, I went to the Y. I was told that the boxing class was canceled. I went food shopping next. Back home, I had a Weight Watchers dinner. Then, I finished up my lesson plans. I also managed to type up my homework sheet. Lastly, I worked on updating a small part of my other web site. My other web site is kind of my professional portfolio.