Nothing New

Nothing new. Another weekend spent in my pajamas in front of my computer. With a lot of sitting time in front of my computer, I should have no problems on a long bus ride.

On Friday, I stayed late to finish what will be the last bulletin board display of the school year. My students made their individual poetry books. I haven't decided if I will post a photo of the display. Now that June has arrived (minus a few hours), my mind needs to shift to packing for the summer. For the last three years (or so), I've ended up needing to come the two extra days after the official end of school to finish packing up. This year I told myself that I will start June 1st. Here in NYC, schools end Friday, June 26th. My tentative schedule for packing is as follows:

Week #1 - Tackling the mounds of papers and my teacher's area
Week #2 - Tackling the closets and cabinets / record-keeping
Week #3 - Cleaning & wrapping the computers / boxing my supplies
Week #4 - Stripping the walls and miscelleanous

well, I think that is about it. Having spent the weekend here in front of my computer, I now have to get up and do some last minute errands.


Post Date - Sunday, May 31, 2009 4:26PM

Field trip

I'll have to try to keep this blog entry short. I just dosed off. I went to sleep at 3AM, so this morning I was tired. Today started out wet snd damp. A part of me was hoping the field trip (Field Day) would be cancelled. However, the trip turned out to be nice. And tomorrow, the lower grades will be going on another trip. Nice.

Today, I left the building about 7:15PM. I also did something I haven't done in a very long time. I left my granny cart in school. I only took my planbook, and a couple of other books. In theory, I was going to do some planning. However, after eating dinner (Healthy Choice microwavable meal). I washed out the tub. It has been a very long time since I've taken a bath(instead of shower). I would like to finish my bath and be in bed by 10:30PM.

Well, I better go. I've started dozing off here in front of my computer. As suspected, I haven't touched my backpack with my planbook.

Post Date - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 9:56PM

Next on my reading list

I finished reading Star Trek - Titan. I liked it. I enjoyed the feeling of continuity. It's was nice having the feeling of the characters growing and developing past the series. I started reading the next book in the series "Red King", but this morning I remembered the H.G. Wells book I brought from Barnes & Nobles a few weeks ago. Before jumping into the continuation of Riker's maiden voyage as captain, I should try again at reading a classic. Remember, I tried to read Kafka, but I just couldn't go beyond Metamorphosis. If I can't get through the H.G. Wells book (The Time Machine and The Invisible Man), then I will fall back to Star Trek - Titan "Red King".

At work, I had my formal observation. Here in NYC, teachers have to be formally observed for at least one lesson at least once a school year. The lesson seemed to go okay minus the couple of students who decided to be a bit difficult. Luckily their "performance" was only brief.

Anything else. Well, I did find something interesting. I have yet to join a gym, but I have cut back on eating school lunches. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I was losing weight without doing much of anything. Currently, I am about 216.2lbs. A few weeks ago, I was 228lbs. I'm going to see if I can lose another 5lbs by next Friday. I will try to join the boxing gym for the month of June.


Post Date - Saturday, May 23, 2009 2:55PM

The Bronx Zoo

This blog entry will be very short. This week instead of summarizing each day, I can basically sum it up with "Sleep, Stress, and Zoo.

This whole week for one reason or another, I slept very little causing me to need a taxi each day in order to arrive on time. Of the 5 days, Friday's taxi ride was the worst.

The driver seem to not know very much about arriving at my destination, he depended on me to give turn by turn directions. He seemed to catch every light, and ride behind nearly every slow car we could catch. On the block of my destination, a woman was trying to park, but she seemed unsure about what to do, and my taxi driver having rode right up to her car gave her no room to maneuver. Even though a van was able to ride past the "parker", my taxi driver seemed nervous about attempting. Finally, the woman pulled to the side and my taxi driver drove past. When he arrived to the school, instead of stopping in front, he kept driving to the corner to pull over to the curb. Oh, and he wanted to charge me $30 for the trip that usually cost between $12 and $15. Since I was in a rush(and not wanting to be late), I agreed to pay $20.

On Thursday, my class along with a few others went to the Bronx Zoo. For some reason my worst behaved students who knew they weren't going stayed home. One student I should have left was the only one who really messed up. I should have known from her "flip flop" about not wanting to go then changing her mind, she should have been left behind. Normally, she hasn't been a problem on trips, but it seemed as if with so many trouble-makers absent, she decided to take up the "trouble-maker" mantle. She argued, she complained. On the bus back, she got into a mustard throwing incident. Five minutes later, she managed to spill milk from a juice box on her clothes and get some in her hair.

Well, I think that is about it. At almost 3PM, I need to get offline. Oh, I took a few pictures at the Bronx Zoo. I will upload those (as well and some of the ones I took at the Intrepid Museum).


Post Date - Saturday, May 16, 2009 2:53PM

Intrepid

Weekend is just about over. I will try to keep this entry brief, since there are several things I should be doing instead.



Monday, May 4th
Exhausted the night before.
Up at 3AM for email complaint, and never went back to sleep.
Went to boxing gym to sign up. I was told that $160 would get me two days per week boxing lessons. I told the owner that I would take the Tuesdays and Thursday classes. I will have to fill in Mon, Wed., and Fri. with some other workout routine.

Tuesday, May 5th
Another late night/early day with 3 or 4 hours of sleep.
Disruptive kid continued his rein. Told by guidance counselor that one of my students "talker" ran about 3 blocks home out of fear of a group of girls in my class that were bothering her. They were made to apologize, with the parents brought in to "talk'. Later, I found out "talker" walked home by herself. There are details I'm leaving out. I left the building at 8:30PM tired. I did not go to the gym even though I dragged my full granny cart and my gym bag to school.

Wednesday, May 6th
Minutes before our class was due to leave the building for a trip to the Aquarium, AP1 had me meet with the parent of "talker" and one of the girls "taunting her. Since that "running" incident, talker seems to be the cat with the canary. On the trip, she had about two arguments and wandered off twice. Since I'm normally in hawk mode, I saw the wandering before it became anything major. The trip day turned okay. I could have been out of the building early for me (4PM), but after talking with colleagues about an hour standing, I ended up leaving about 5PM. I had Chinese takeout and fell asleep minutes after eating and woke up about 11PM. I didn't go to bed until 4:30AM.

Thursday, May 7th
I don't remember.

Friday, May 8th
My principal had some extra tickets to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum and asked if I wanted to go. The trip involved using the subways along with a 20 minute walk. However, walking doesn't bother me, so I was eager to say yes. I was lucky to have a couple of parents come along. One parent was "Talker's" mom. Lately, Talker has been acting like a wandering cat with a canary, so I needed her mother to deal with her. Up until the "running" incident, she had been an extremely talkative (but very nice) girl. Now, she still nice, but now I'm seeing a bit of a malevolent edge that I had not seen before. I was out of the building about 8:30PM.

Oh, I took some photos of the trip. I will upload them at a later date. The attached photo is one taken from the internet. I did not take the attached photo. So, how was the Intrepid Museum? I liked it, but since I was in teacher mode, I couldn't enjoy it. I'll have to return on my own (without the kids).

Saturday, May 9th
Sleep, shower, sleep. Later I finally got out of bed to do my laundry (four loads). I also began to do some lesson planning.

Sunday, May 10th Mother's Day
Again, sleep, shower, and more sleep. Since it was Mother's Day, I had to get up and out. My plan was to make a quick run to pick up a last minute gift for my foster father's lady friend. I decided to get her a prepaid cell phone like the one I have. I tried to get a Mother's Day card, but the shelves were picked clean. I mean there was nothing. Nothing!!! I grabbed a gift bag, and matching tissue paper and a matching ribbon. The color coordinating made the gift look a bit less last minute. No problem other than minor annoyances. In one store, the clerk, opened the plastic case, telling me that he had to do it because it was company policy. I told him that nobody wanted a gift that was already opened. The next stores was invisible me. After a clerk came to me and asked what I interested in, he then proceeded to forget about me in favor of a woman in clothes much too tight wearing too much makeup. Then, he moved on to a guy in the aisle. Only after a guy who might have been the manager came out of the back and got me the phone did the clerk say, oh, I forgot about you. Even though I was standing in the middle of the small shop. I think I might have gotten better surface if I were a woman or spoke Spanish. Then again, it could have just been my imagination.

Well, I better go. Hopefully, I will have a better week.


Post Date - Sunday, May 10, 2009 10:11PM

Movie Day

My weekend was okay. Not great. Not productive. But it was okay. On Saturday I had planned to join a social network group to see the movie "Wolverine". However, I was too tired, and moved too slow. I ended up missing a couple of trains(before I even got out of my pajamas), so I decided to cancel going. Then, I realized reservations for dinner were probably made for the group already , so then I decided to join for the dinner part of the group.

Well, I arrived at the movie theater about 6:50PM. I called the group organizer, but he didn't answer his phone. I waited until 8:00PM, then I sent a text message of where I was standing...again, no reply. I finally left at 8:15PM. I was angry (with myself) for wasting my time. I was also angry that I had paid for my ticket in advance (no refund). That was my Saturday.

Today, I was just going to go to my foster father's place and then return home before the rain started. However, once I got on the train, I decided at the last minute to see the movie Wolverine. When the movie was finished, I left the theater, but when I returned to the lobby, I saw that "Monsters vs. Aliens" was showing in ten minutes, so I got on line to get a ticket and saw that movie. The movie "Wolverine" was okay, not great, or good, but it was entertaining. Once again, it seemed to be made by someone who had no idea what the comic was like and kind of made things up as he (or she) went along). They threw everything in but the kitchen sink to provide a back story. I liked "Monsters vs. Aliens" much, much more. The "Monsters" movie was very entertaining, I laughed several times throughout the movie. I also enjoyed the 3D aspect of the "Monsters" movie. In total, I spent about $40 on my movie day:

Movie ticket (Wolverine) $12.50
Movie ticket (Monster vs. Aliens - 3D) $16.50
Hot Dog (plain) & small popcorn - about $8.00

After the movies, I went to Barnes & Nobles. I liked the start of Star Trek:Titan. So, on another impulse buy, I bought a few books in the series. I wanted some filler for breaks between the Sword of Truth series.

Star Trek Titan - The Red King
Star Trek Titan - Orion's Hounds
Star Trek Titan - Sword of Damocles
Star Trek Titan - Over a Torrent Sea
H.G. Wells Anthology - The Time Machine and The Invisible Man*


Another attempt to raise my literary scope

I left B&N $38.92 poorer. After B & N, I went to visit my foster father. Now, I have to get ready for tomorrow.


Post Date - Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:43PM

No Show

After finishing my previous blog entry, I had about 15 minutes to get ready to leave for the movie. However, since I was still in my pajamas, I really wasn't in the mood to rush. I decided to cancel, but then thought about the other groups I attended and the "no shows" who make planning difficult. I then changed my mind a settled for joining the group for the dinner portion of the event. I changed my RSVP with the details of where I would be waiting. I showered, dressed and was out the door about 5:30PM. I arrived at the theater about 6:30PM. Believing I had about an hour to kill, I went to Barnes & Nobles a block away. I finished book 3 of "The Sword of Truth". I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, but I wanted to take a break from Terry Goodkind's world. I settled for Star Trek: Titan.

I went back to the movie theater. I called the organizer's cell phone, but I could only leave a message. I waited about an hour and then sent a texted message about my location. Still nothing. At 8:15PM I left, annoyed with myself. I stopped off at MacDonald's.


Post Date - Saturday, May 2, 2009 11:35PM

Work Week (Brief) Review

Made it to another weekend. Today I'm joining a social networking group to see the movie "Wolverine". Normally, I hate going to a crowded movie, but I have a procrastination problem. I've missed a lot of movies by waiting until the last minute to do something or go somewhere. Mainly, going (despite the crowd) is to get out of the apartment this weekend.

I'll try to do a quick end of the work week summary.

Thursday - After another irregular bed time, I was up and moving slow, so again it was a taxi ride part of the way to work. Problem? I seem to have a "crazy cloud" above my head that seems to (on occasion) to attract craziness to me. The taxi ride was uneventful until the driver missed to "regular" turnoff of the expressway. When I tried to tell the guy the way, he starts yelling at me about knowing how to get there and about the traffic. Well, his way put us right into morning traffic down a very busy street. After a few blocks the street was blocked with school buses and firetrucks, so the taxi driver had to turn off the street. But, instead of going just two blocks and then resume heading south, he passes the street to keep going. Again, he starts yelling at me. Me telling him, I've taken a certain route every day this week (including yesterday), had no affect. Also, telling him I've taken this route many times in the two years I taken the taxi route to work had no affect. The problem is that I tend to get time down to a science -- its that crazy cloud above my head. As long as there is no change in the "regular routine" I tend to arrive on time. I have a bad habit of figuring out the exact (or nearly the exact) arrival time, it then gets locked in my head. I get too comfortable with routines once established. I'm getting sidetracked.


Anyway, The guy refused to change his course. Finally, I had to offer a $20 challenge. I told the guy that if he went my route, and I was wrong, then I would give him a $20 tip. The driver was reluctant at first, but eventually accepted complaining and mumbling the rest of the way...until he realized that he was wrong. Then he was very quiet and fairly polite. Needless to say, my day did not start off nicely.

Thursday was also the day of our school's show. The show was from 5pm to 8pm including a dinner at the end. Since I'm not a party person, I volunteered for the clean up committee. Since I had about 5 hours to kill, I told myself that I would use that time to get organized. However, I quickly realized that since I usually finish shuffling papers about the same time, I really didn't have a lot of extra time. And sure enough, after shopping, classroom set up, and grading papers, there wasn't anything extra done.

Oh, why did I go shopping? My plan is to stop eating those school lunches that do not have some healthy component to it. That means avoiding Pizza Day, Taco Day, Hamburger and potato wedges, etc... I spent $40.11 to have some healthy alternatives for those days, I skip paying for the school lunch. With my mini fridge, I now have more options. Next school year, I plan to buy a small microwave for my classroom. The microwave for the teachers is way at the opposite side of the floor. Even though it is about a minute from my door to the teacher's room, it is often running a gauntlet of distractions. A minute walk often turns into a 5, 10, 15 minutes walk (or longer) after stopping to talk to this person, being stopped by that person, stopping in that room, assist with this or that, or deal with roamers in the hallway.

After killing about 5 hours, the clean up of the party began. This time, there were more teachers still around. I think since this "show" was the principal's thing, a lot more teachers wanted their brownie points. After cleaning up, I was out of the building about 9PM. I should have gotten home and showered and called it a night. However, I wasn't sleepy when I walked in my apartment. I told myself that I would just check my email. Well, I was out like a light in a matter of minutes (clothes and all).

This entry is much longer than I was planning. While I'm typing I'm listening (more watching actually) YouTube videos. At the moment, I'm in the 80's music videos. Martika's Toy Soldier is playing.
Now, I'm watching Alice Cooper - Poison

Friday - The day was stressful, but not extremely. One of the disruptive students seem to have gotten a pass. Thursday, I spoke to his sister (who picked him up at dismissal) about his extremely disruptive behavior. I had also sent an email the day before to the father about the disruptive behavior the since the beginning of the week. Well, at the same time, another parent came up and mentioned how her son was stabbed with by the disruptive student. Since I'm hearing about the "stabbing" for the first time, and I see the reaction of the disruptive student, I don't believe it. However, timing is everything. Since stabbing is more serious than being loud and disrespectful, I suspect the father focused on the stabbing later that day. Since the father probably didn't believe the stabbing story(and neither did I -- even though I didn't challenge the story), the other "stuff" got forgotten...I'm just guessing. Oh, the "stabbing" was a scratch on the leg I couldn't even see, but then my eyesight is going.

Anyway, Disruptive student arrived in school just as talkative and playful as he could be. That behavior told me (what I wrote above), dad probably didn't believe the stabbing story(negating everything else), so he probably told his son to just behave and not cause problems. The end.

I was out of the building about 4PM because I had a delivery from UPS. My boxset of Sword of Truth and my camp stool arrived on Thursday. I'm glad for the delivery, because it forced me out of the building. Without the delivery, I'm sure I would have stayed in the building until about 8PM shuffling papers.


Post Date - Saturday, May 2, 2009 2:50PM