Packed Up...Almost

I'm almost finished with packing up my class for the summer. Unfortunately, my mind is entering the summer mode, so it is getting difficult to move. Each day after the last day, I've arrived at school later and later not really in a mood to pack. Here in NYC, teachers are suppose to pack up for the summer. Most of the materials have to be packed (and stacked) up along the cabinets in the back, this allows the custodians to wash and wax the floor. Bulletin boards have to be cleared (or covered with newspaper). The newspaper cover is a throwback to when teachers only had color construction paper that faded in the sunlight.

I arrived to school about 12:30PM. I focused on my teacher's corner. Going through mounds of papers and books. There was a dead mouse behind the bookcase that must have been there a while due to the mouse being dusty and shriveled. Due to the thunderstorm, I changed the appointment for the mover to help me move my things on Thursday. Tomorrow, I will have to finish pushing the furniture into the middle of the room. I also need to tackle the supply closet.

For the last couple of years that closet has gotten way out of hand. Normally, I like my spaces organized. I'm one of those people who likes everything to have a place, and everything in its place. When things don't have their own space, my room quickly becomes a mess. But when everything has it's place, then my classroom is orderly. My big mistake was allowing stress and paperwork intrude into the following school year. I didn't start with a clean slate, and I paid for it this year. My class was actually not nearly as bad as previous classes, but starting off on the wrong foot added mounds of stress that should not have been there. This year I made no silly promises to myself (or any students [or parents]) about finishing grading ungraded papers. This year, I graded what I could, and on the last few days, made no comments about back assignments. Next year, I will be starting fresh...I hope. One, I've told myself that I will put my classroom exactly the way it was the previous year. Usually, I try to have a different look to my classroom each year. I end up wasting too much time, trying to redecorate my room. This time, I was thorough in a different kind of way. I didn't waste time, trying to pack exactly organizing materials and labeling boxes, and not getting it right with materials left out and found at the last minute. This time, I keep the boxes opened to almost the very end as I went to almost every nook and cranny. The end result is that my materials (although not labeled) are packed together. The way the materials are stacked, I should be able to take everything do and know exactly where the boxes go.

I was going to start listing goals, but it is late and most of you regular readers know how good I am at making goals...but very poor about following through. Only time will tell if next school year will be better. Right now I should be thinking about my travel plans and vacation.


Post Date - Tuesday, June 30, 2009 11:15PM

Brooklyn Promenade - Photos

A slideshow of a few photos I took on the Brooklyn Promenade.

Transformers 2

Today an epal and I went to see Transformers 2 in Brooklyn. I did not realize it, but she pointed out that we've known each other for about 3 years. Wow, time flies.

Today started out with me in a bit of a panic, I missed my comfort train which would have allowed me to arrive early. I was debating whether or not to call to saying I would be about 10 minutes late, but with an internet search of the travel route, I had time to arrive on time...but cutting it close. I arrived with about 5 minutes to spare. Once I got out of the train station, I see that a message was left on my cell phone saying my epal would be about 10 minutes late. One of the down sides to doing the walking activity with a woman is that my mind is always locked in chivalry mode. I wasn't sure if I should buy her ticket or not, with a guy that thought would never have entered my mind. Not being sure if she also brought her ticket (she was the one to suggest the theater and meeting time), I decided to pass on buying the extra ticket and maybe being stuck with the ticket.

So, how was the movie?

Strange thing, being a big fan of science-fiction movies and block-buster movies, I should have loved it, but to be honest, I really didn't think the movie was that great. It was nice, and it was entertaining, but it wasn't that great. The movie was long , loud, and a bit excessive at times. Also, the audience was a bit too loud, and too interactive. Usually, I wait a couple of weeks to see a movie. I tend to avoid crowds and avoid going when a movie just comes out. I also tend to get distracted by things going on around me (ie a cellphone being checked, a conversation going on, people getting up, etc...). I was also a bit unsure of what to expect from the theater. I waited until the last minute before I bought my online ticket, at that time I also checked the theater reviews. To put it mildly, the theater didn't get many positive reviews. However, I didn't have an alternative, and I hadn't made the movie selection, so I didn't say anything about the online movie reviews. The theater was a bit cold, but I came prepared for that. The movie at 2 and a half hours was too long. I also thought there was too much cursing by the supposedly robots from outer space. It was a bit unsettling to hear robots going on and on about "punk ass this and bitch ass that". It was also a bit difficult to follow the action scenes with the robots looking fairly similar. It was helpful to have the good robots each have a different color, but the bad robots started to blend together after awhile with almost each one being silver. The last thing that probably shaded my review was the active audience participation, they clapped, cheered and rooted for the heros in the movie. It has been a long time since I've been to a movie with active audience participation(not including movies attended with my students). Oh, I thought Tony Todd did a very good job as the voice of the villain robot. He has a very distinctive voice like James Earl Jones. Lastly, I was going to end with a comment about seeing woman changing her baby's diaper while I was walking out, but I think I'll attach a link to the theater's reviews instead.

After the movie, my epal and I went to a Chinese restaurant --not to the cheap takeout places that I usually go to but a nice sit down place. The prices were higher, but the food was better. I had sweet and sour pork. The food was good, however, they were a bit skimpy on the rice. The bill came to about $21 for the two of us. It was a nice place. The service was quick and the staff seemed nice. I took a business card to remember the place.

After the Chinese meal, my epal suggested ice cream for dessert. Not sure what to order, I finally settled on a banana-split only to be told once the scoops were decided that the guy was out of bananas. I settled for a sundae. My epal had a couple of scoops of ice cream. I don't remember what our order came to, but the ice cream was good.

From the ice cream place, my epal suggested a walk to the Brooklyn promenade. I don't think I've ever been to the Brooklyn Promenade, so that was nice. It would have been nice to walk along the promenade, but since my epal seemed tired, I didn't suggest it. However, we did have a very nice conversation. My epal also suggested another walking activity in the Brooklyn area, since it is something I wouldn't do on my own, I am interested in doing it.

It was a nice day. I didn't get to take many pictures, but I still enjoyed myself. Oh, and I found out my epal likes texting, which is nice. Most of the people I know don't like texting.

Well, I better go. I have to return to school tomorrow(actually it is now today) to finish packing up my materials for the summer. It was a nice start to my summer vacation.


Post Date - Monday, June 29, 2009 1:38AM

Pictures

A couple of pictures I took on my walk through midtown. Enjoy!

Greyhound and Lost Land

A nice day. I was a bit tired but it was still nice. I enjoyed not having the thought of school, students, or planning over my head.

I resisted the urge to sleep or turn on my computer this morning. You regular readers know that's how my weekends quickly turn into marathon sessions of sleep or surfing.

I think I've mentioned this before, however, I'm not sure. For the last few days, I've been a bit out of it with end of the school year last minutes activities....mostly paperwork.

Anyway, this summer I will be traveling. Sometime last year a couple of fellow bloggers offered to show me around their neck of the woods -- both made the offer around the same time. I decided to take them up on their offer. In between stressing out about school related activities, I've been making my travel plans. At first my destination was Utah. Then, being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to also make a stopover in Indianapolis. While doing a price comparison, I through in Los Angeles and discovered the price was the same.

I will be traveling to LA by airplane, and then, I'll work my way back to NYC by bus. I was a little nervous about traveling. Regular readers of this blog know that I am basically a homebody. But as my plans started to take shape, I've been very excited about my travels this summer. Hopefully, I will be able to take some nice pictures of my travels and post them here. I will be staying at hostels at the various destinations. Hostels are very affordable accommodations when you are traveling. For those not under 25 yrs. old, the cost can range from $20 per night to about $30. You are basically paying for a place to sleep for the night. Most of the places require you to leave the premises during a 10AM ~ 4PM block for cleaning purposes. So far, I've had very positive experiences with hostels, both here in the USA and in Japan.

Well, today was the last piece of the reservation puzzle. I did most of my arrangements online(airline ticket and hostel reservations in the various cities), but Greyhound was a bit of a tough nut to crack. Greyhound didn't seem as user friendly as Amtrak or the Expedia. Although, Greyhound was (by far) cheaper, there was a slight price to pay for the lack of expense. One was the slight difficulty I had getting information. I tried to buy three tickets at once, but I had some difficulty online and then on the phone. On the phone, they wanted to charge a telephone user fee of $6 and then a $3 mail fee...for each ticket. So, I had to go in person to buy my ticket.

I have to say that the terminal in the NYC was not the most efficient place. Of the 6 clerical terminals, only two had clerks. Both in their mid 60's complaining about who was going to relive them (one was due a break and the other was off the clock). They also complained about the lateness of the rent a cop who was suppose to replace the guy who left.

With my bus tickets in hand, I decided to walk around the terminal, and then around 42nd Street. At the last minute, I decided to see the movie "Land of the Lost". I really liked the commercials for the movie, even though I'm not really a Will Farrell fan. The movie was amusing. The goal was to entertain without being too over the top. I was a bit annoyed at the concession stand pricing. On the overhead display it clearly showed 4 different combinations, and directly under was the sign choose and three for $7.50. Imagine my surprise when I ordered the #3(two hot dogs and a soda) and was told the price was $12 and change. Normally, I'm a jellyfish and would have said okay, but I was in no mood to spend about $25 dollars to have a movie experience. I settled for one hot dog and a small (probably 20oz.)soda for $7 and change.

After the movie, I went to visit my foster father. And then return home. I tried to watch TV, but with for some reason, I've not having much luck. I still can't get channels 11, 13, and 21. But I can get 3 or 4 copies of other channels.


Tomorrow, I will be seeing Transformers 2 with an epal in Brooklyn.


Post Date - Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:07PM

It's a wrap...almost

Well, today was technically the last day of school for the students and the teachers. And of course those of you regular readers know that I am not prepared. So, while others were enjoying their summer vacation as early as 3PM, I won't be enjoying it yet. I will have to return to school on Monday and Tuesday to finish packing up my things. I rented a mover with a van to help me move my things home for the summer. Again, it's my goal to "Pack as if I'm not coming back". Not only does it make it easy for me if I was actually not coming back, but it also forces me to go through closets and cabinets and assessing what I have. It also discourages me from shoving things in closets and cabinets. A lot of the nicest classrooms I've seen can have more clutter than any other classroom.

Oh, there has been a correction to the teacher start date for the next school year. Now, teachers will be returning on the day after Labor Day. Students will return on September 9th. Although I like the extra vacation time, there is no way I would be comfortable arriving to school the day before students arrive. Although it can be done, it is cutting things too close for comfort for me. I will be returning the same day admin has to return (August 31st.). Both Ms. Across the Hall and Mr. Second Grade Teacher (SGT) both will be returning on the September 9th.

The other change is that the last day for students (2009~2010)will be June 25th a Monday (a half day). No comment.

I think I'm going to end this entry now. There was more I wanted to write, but I'm tired.

Oh, a couple of you (readers of my blog) have recently posted comments. Sorry, I've been so stressed out about last minute preparations for the end of the school year, that I was too tired to reply. I will go back and reply to each person who took the time to send me a response.


Post Date - Friday, June 26, 2009 9:51PM

One more day to go. Today was the last full day here in NYC public schools. My day was tiring. I was tired. I was annoyed. Today was a very long day. Once again I didn't do what I'd planned to do in terms of packing. I did manage to catch an earlier train to work, but once in the building, I got caught by one of the second grade teachers. Although she isn't as bad as the K teacher I've mentioned a few times, however, she can also talk enough to make your ears bleed. The kids were of very little help. Although, I do have to be honest, the girls did a good job of unpacking and setting up the boxes. I think I've mentioned that I save my boxes each year so that I don't have to worry about boxes during crunch time.

Oh, I found out that our new (teacher's)contract calls for teachers to return to school on September 8th...the same day the students are due to report. Strange isn't it. Although I like the idea of have a longer vacation(by a few days), it really doesn't do me any good. I really couldn't see myself coming to school on the same day students arrived after a two month vacation. The other side of the contract is that teachers will now have to say the two extra days after students leave. Until this change, the two days after students' last day were admin days.

I left school about 7:30PM. I stopped off at a local drugstore chain to buy something for the school aids. One school aid who is a bit aggressive about asking for something, asked for me to "remember her on the day". Also reminded me of how she "watches my kids". A part of me wanted to say that that was her job, but I said nothing.

Sleepy now, so I will have to end this now.

quick entry

I was soo tired I fell asleep trying to write this entry. Luckily Blogger now has automatic saves. For those who sent me an email or commented on my blog. I'm near the end of the school year. Yesterday (Tuesday)was report cards. Today (Wednesday) was about completing the cummulative records. Again, I did a "I won't leave this building until I finished.

Two and a half days to go

The day started about 3AM. After waking from my exhaustion sleep on the couch, I got up and did some emails and blog update. Before I knew it it was about 5AM. I decided to just stay away. A part of me was worried that if my head hit the pillow, it would be very difficult for me to restart.

Today turned out okay. Once the school day ended, it took me a while to buckle and get to work. I told myself that I would stay in the school building until I finished my students' report cards. For one reason or another, I've kept putting those off, but now it's crunch time. I finished about 9:30PM. I was out of the building about 10PM. Having that weight off, put me in a good mood. I stopped off in Target to buy some large contractor bags(45 gal. size). I also bought a pack of 100 small wastebasket sized bags. Tomorrow(hopefully) will be cleaning/packing day.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 12:34 AM

TV converter

I have a couple of entries in my draft folder, but I don't feel like going back at the moment. I just finished writing about my TV converter experience, so I thought that would make a short blog entry.

I'm having no luck with the government couponed TV converter. This second converter is worse than the first. I guess it is true, I got what I paid for. I bought the converter from Target. I thought the first one was broken and exchanged it. Well, the second is worse than the first. I went from 23 channels with the other converter to 16 with my current converter. I still can't get channel 7 or 21, but I can get useless copies of other channels. Channels 5 and 9 are owned by the same company. Why don't they just create one channel and be done with it. Also, instead of dealing with snow on the screen, now I have frozen images, skipped images, and digital blocking showing on the screen when the signal fluctuates(which is frequent).

Although it is the last week of school, I've put in a last minute academic push for my students. As a general rule, I always try to maintain "academic rigor" until the last minute. I want to avoid the students bouncing of the walls until the very last minute. Having told myself that I wouldn't be investing any more time in preparation fell on deaf ears. I'm currently reading two books at the same time -- it's my lame attempt at differentiated instruction for different student levels in my classroom. I felt bad that I had a few students who probably would have done a lot better academically if I hadn't shoved them into a "one model fits all" academic plan. The positive of reading the two books is that I'm enjoying the kid books more than my current commuter reading (The Invisible Man). Also, I now have a couple of books to reuse again next year to assign for reading.

I better go. Another wasted evening. From the posting time, you can see the same old routines written about in past entries.


Post Date - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 5:09 AM

Boy's Day

Boy's Day Same lesson with some modifications. I did a PowerPoint presentation. Then, I model making a samurai paper hat. I had the students practice with regular 8X11in copy paper. After the practice, the students make large hats with extra large construction paper. Finally, will the students worked on a wordsearch puzzle I'd created the night before, I used a hot glue gun to make sure the hats didn't come apart. It was a lot harder workday than last year. Girls for the most part were out of the building. Day ended tired and exhausted. Out of the building about 6:30PM. Since I knew I would miss my train, I went to buy a converter for my TV.

I only paid $14.18 with my government coupon. So far, I believe I got what I made for. Junk! Now, I think I will have to buy a better antenna. The converter box I have seems only able to pick up about 23 channels, and not all of them are the regular ones I'm used to. For example, there are 3 channels each for CBS, FOX/WWOR, NBC, plus the Spanish channels. My new converter box also has a signal feature that lets me check the signal strength as I move the antenna around the room, but so far the signal flucuates between 0 and about 40%.


Post Date - Sunday, June 21, 2009 2:53AM

Central Park Zoo

Class trip to Central Park Zoo. I was a bit nervous that today was going to be another rainy day, but the weather report was accurate. There was a lot of clouds, but the sun did come out. The Central Park Zoo is very small. It took about an hour to see all of the exhibits. To save time, I'm going to quickly throw together the few photos I took and make a slideshow.




Post Date - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 8:40PM

New TV signals have arrived

Well, another wasted weekend. This weekend was the first with the new digital signal conversion change for TVs here in the US. Therefore, those like me(who still depend of rabbit-eared antennas), there was no TV signals. Actually, it was okay. I knew months ago about the change. One, I'm a procrastinator. Two, a part of me, wants to give up TV and replace it with being more active in my daily life. However, that noble thought won't last long. A part of me one does not want to waste my government $40 coupon. Each household is entitled to two coupons. The first one, I received expired due to my procrastinating. I don't want to have to buy a converter box for a TV that will probably be replaced in a year or so. Another part of me is curious about what the new digital signal will bring by way of programs within my reach. A part of me is also sick of dancing around the room with my rabbit ears trying to get a clear picture.

Beyond the new TV signals, I don't have anything worth blogging about. I slept most of the weekend away as usual. So, I'll end this now. It is past my bedtime.


Post Date - Sunday, June 14, 2009 10:54PM

Quiz

You Are Possibly Ready to Buy a Home

You may be ready to buy a home, but you probably need to do more research. Are you really ready to settle down in one place and make a huge financial commitment? You probably need more time to decide if buying a home is for you. Crunch the numbers and look at a few open houses. You'll figure out whether buying a home is something you want right now.

Are You Ready to Buy a Home?

Quiz

You Have Good Manners 81% of the Time

You manners are perfect. You always carry yourself with class. You know how to be considerate toward everyone - even if they aren't considerate to you.

How Are Your Manners?

Quiz

You Scored an A

You got 9/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Quiz

Your Spelling is Good

You got 9/10 correct. Your spelling is generally pretty decent. You are prone to a few mistakes, but the mistakes you make are pretty forgivable.

How's Your Spelling?

Quiz

You Would Be a Good Spouse 80% of the Time

You have what it takes to be an amazing wife or husband. You are caring, patient, giving, and romantic. You are willing to work for a marriage. More than anything, you're not about to let your ego ruin a relationship. You are humble and unselfish. And that's the key to being a good spouse.

Would You Be a Good Wife or Husband?

Quiz

You Are a Total Procrastinator

If you can a task off, you will. You hate doing chores and work. Almost all of your tasks get done late, if they even get done at all. You often find life overwhelming and stressful. You feel like you'll never get everything done. You spend more time worrying about your responsibilities than taking care of them. It's likely that you procrastinate because you have too much to do... or aren't doing the right things. Learn how to let go of what's trivial and focus on what matters. Do the important stuff right now!

Are You a Procrastinator?

Quiz

You Are a Banana Smoothie

You are friendly and popular without even trying to be. People just like you. You are easy to be around and never offend everyone. You're quite mild. You have a warm demeanor, and many people find you to be inviting. You are sympathetic and kind. You have a soft spot in your heart for everyone.

What Flavor Smoothie Are You?

Field trip

Today several grades in my school went to see the movie "Up". It was a nice movie. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't in teacher mode. The only seats were in the very, very first row. I really don't like sitting in the front. Minor drama. After providing several warnings about the payment due date, I had one parent who was determined to have her daughter go (the daughter being stubborn, rude and disrespectful didn't seem to mean much). I tried explain to the mother how I provided enough time for the deadline, but all I got was excuses:
She didn't know about the deadline...

She tried to send an email, but my email must have been broken...
Her daughter should not be penalized...
I was making a big deal out of one ticket...

In the end, the mother agreed to pick up her daugher and go to the theater buy the ticket, and wait for the class there. Then she went onto her hair appointment. There was also another parent who also missed the deadline -- this parent I even wrote a letter for her son to give her. She also showed up (late) wondering if her child could go on the trip. She went along to the theater.

Ms. Down the Hall who briefly asked if I was going to pick my my classes' tickets the day before, at first I said probably not. To be honest, I just didn't want to pick up the tickets. No one wanted to really help with the planning of the trips (but was happy when I did). The others seemed a bit too comfortable with me carrying the ball. What put me in a bit of a mood was during lunch while I was running here and there trying to clear up some trip confusion. The others suggested a letter (and how it should be writen), but didn't offer to write it. So, when Ms. Down the Hall left at 3PM not telling me she had left. I resisted the urge to call to find out if she wanted me to buy her tickets. I don't have much of a backbone, but every so often, it appears. Well, today Ms. DTH came to my classroom with her envelope of money expecting me to buy the tickets "since I said that I was probably going to buy my tickets the morning of the show. The end result was that Ms. DTH had to wait on a line (that luckily for her was nothing like last year's) to buy tickets. Unfortunately, the movie "Up" was sold out. I can't be too angry with my colleagues because if you allow people to take advantage of you, then you are partially to blame. Besides, my colleagues are really nice people and wouldn't hesitate to offer help and assistance when I've asked.

Oh, one of the parents told me that he would be coming on the trip, so I paid for his and his daughter's ticket, only to get stiffed (he was a no-show).

Near the ending of the movie, one of my students had a urgent "call of nature"; I ended up missing about 5 minutes of the movie near the end when the lead characters were captured.


Well, that is about it. Oh wait!!!
Today is the day that analog signals are suppose to end. I'm one of the few still using rabbit ears for watching TV. I do have my government coupon for $40 payment for a converter box. I got my first coupon months ago, but it expired. The one I have now is good until the end of July. Each person is only allowed two coupons. A part of me wants to give up TV, but I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge.


Post Date - Friday, Saturday 12, 2009 11:21PM

Field trip

Today some of the classes were suppose to go on field trips, but due to the weather reports (predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the day), and due to the wet morning commute, I didn't want to go. The other teachers agreed. However, the weather was okay for most of the day. It didn't start raining until about 3PM. Although it was a bit damp, it would have been okay if we did go on our field trip. We are going to postpone the trip until next week. Tomorrow, we are going to see a movie in the neighborhood. The weather report says that tomorrow will also be rainy day. However, the other teachers did not want to cancel tomorrow's trip because it is a mostly indoor trip (not including walking to the theater). Since I planned the trip, I "volunteered" to get the tickets for my grade. Well, that is except for Ms. Down the Hall, she was gone for the day before I knew it. When I arrived at the theater, I was the only person on line. It won't be that way tomorrow. Most likely the movie theater will be packed. A year ago I wrote a blog entry about that event (to see Kung Fu Panda). Sorry, I don't know how to link up previous blog entries to a current entry.

So how was my day? With 4 students absent, I had a (relatively) nice day.


Post Date - Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:20PM

quick entry

Today was a half day for clerical work. Teachers had to do class reorganization for the coming new year. My plan was to do some packing after finishing, but for some reason I was very tired. After finally leaving the building, I was ready for home. I had to stop off at the bank to make sure I had enough money in my checking account so that the couple of checks I wrote recently did not bounce. Next stop was food shopping. I bought a few Healthy Choice meals.

Star Trek

I went to see Star Trek today. I enjoyed the movie despite the giggling girls who spent most of the movie laughing and clapping(loudly) at any violence that appeared.

Another wasted weekend of unproductivity. Having slept Saturday away, I decided to go see the Star Trek movie before it was no longer playing in theaters. I went to the early matinee showing which was only $6 as opposed to the regular $12.50 ticket. I thought the movie was nicely done, I found it very entertaining. I thought the actors were all well-casted. It was also nice seeing Leonard Nimoy is Spock again. Normally, I don't like "time travel" plots, this one wasn't bad. Yes, it did raise some questions, but I was able to sit back and enjoy the movie for its entertainment value. If the movie was poorly done, then I would not have excused the questions raised.

After the movie, I ate lunch at Yoshinoya (a Japanese fast food restaurant). I had a large beef bowl with a side of vegetables.

After lunch, I went to visit my foster father and then returned home. I did my laundry. I also ironed my shirt for tomorrow. It has been a very long time since I've ironed my clothes the night before. Now, I need to finish up this blog entry and turn my attention to prepping for tomorrow. I also need to cut my hair, it's been long, very long overdue. The gray hairs seems to be blooming in full patches...lucky me.


Post Date - Sunday, June 7, 2009 8:58PM

Field trip

Although the weather was not great, I managed to have a fairly nice day. We had a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History. For NYC schools, there is no entrance fee. The classes returned to school with about 30 minutes before dismissal.

After school, I managed to get out of the building at 4PM, I was able to be home by 5PM.

The attached photo was taken by me during the trip.

Staff Development

Here in NYC, we had faculty staff development day. There were no students in attendance. Other than being a bit on the boring side, it was a nice day. The workshops could have been.... a bit more useful. Here in NYC, we have a new data collection system that will allow students academic performance to be tracked. I actually kind of like the idea.

Dismissal time was 3PM. I had wanted to be out of the building at exactly 3PM like most of the other teachers, but since staff development finished about 2:55PM, I knew I wasn't going to be able to catch my train, so I made some photo copies and left the building about 4:00PM.

Lately, I've been feeling a bit too tired. Yes, a part of the reason is the 3 or 4 hour sleep habits. But even with getting to bed about 10:30PM and 11:00PM a couple of times, had me feeling tired the following morning. Yes, I know I need to get a good night's sleep for more than just a couple of times. I also need to start exercising. With that thought in mind, I got off the train a stop earlier, so that that I could make a quick stop at the store, but more importantly to walk the rest of the way home. I told myself that starting today, I would do at least 30 minutes of exercising even if it was walking home from an earlier extra stop on the train. Hopefully, I will be able to stick with this "exercising" thought for more than a couple of days. What about boxing? A week has already past in the month, and I have a plan to travel next month (more details to follow soon), next month will also be a no-go. Lately, I have been trying to "modify" my eating habits and choices. I've lost about ten pounds just from changing my eating habits. Now, if I can just be consistant with exercising, I should be able to lose a few more pounds. It would be nice if I could lose some of my jelly belly before I start my traveling in July.

Oh, a quick reading update. I've been reading the Barnes & Noble edition of the H.G. Wells two-story collection. I finished "The Time Machine", and now I'm reading "The Invisible Man".

Time Machine? It was okay. Every other page seem to have a footnote. It was like reading for a college class. Too much effort was put into explaining the author's intent. The story itself was a bit... eh(with a shoulder shrug). I like the premise, but the plot tended to drag on. There was no real character development other than the main character. Everyone and everything in the story was designed to just be there for the main character to respond to (or about). I like the 60's movie better. Attached is an image I got from Wikipedia.

Tomorrow, 3rd grade classes have a trip to the museum, but the weather report says lots of rain. Hopefully, the rain will hold off until later in the afternoon.


Post Date - Thursday, June 4, 2009 11:25PM

Fire Museum

Today was an okay day. Today was the field trip I planned to the Fire Museum here in NYC. I planned this trip based on the glowing recommendation of Ms. Down the Hall (a third grade teacher who went last year). She told me how much she enjoyed it. Well, I must not have been playing much attention because what I saw today was not very impressive. Although having had a chance to get out of the building, I shouldn't complain too much.

My class was the last one to leave. So far (for one reason or another), my class has been the last one to leave for a field trip. Today, I decided to get a head start. Those students not joining us on the trip, I sent to other teachers as soon as the teachers agreed. In the past, I didn't send the students until the class was about to leave. Well, early setup didn't help. About 20 minutes before we were due to leave one student showed up with the money and a filled-out permission slip without a signature. I had to wait for that to be faxed signed and returned. Another girl who didn't know if her father was coming or not was sent to anther teacher, but the father was waiting downstairs, so I had to wait for her.

To get the reservation confirmation for all 4 3rd grade classes), I paid for the deposit ($250). We arrived only to discovered the Fire Museum had over booked. Instead of the 3 (rotated) presentations that were promised, they put all 60 students and 10 adults in the room what might have been about 10X15 in size(less of you factor in the displays). Basically, it was a 45 minute presentation about fire safety. Then, in the front there was a firetruck display where the visitors could either sit in the truck and/or push buttons on the sides of the truck...the end. About 11:30AM, they started rushing us out. Ms. Nextdoor started complaining to me (out loud) about feeling rushed and how the trip wasn't worth it. One of the workers there took offense and then they started arguing. One of the workers took escorted the classes to the Rockefeller underground mall where we ate lunch. Since we had about a half an hour to kill before the bus would return, we walked around a bit.

Tomorrow is a city-wide faculty development day, so no students will be in attendance. I was out the door about 3:30PM. I was home by 5PM. On Friday, 3rd grade classes will be going to the Museum of Natural History to see the planetarium show "Cosmic Collision". When admin said that teachers would have to plan our own trips (as oppose to admin doing it), I tried to plan as many trips as I could. What surprised me was that most of the other teachers didn't plan any extra trips. Even the other third grade teachers didn't seem interested in planning trips, but luckily, they seemed excited once the trips were planned. The other teachers probably didn't want to deal with the paperwork and phone tag.



Post Date - Wednesday, June 3, 2009 10:53PM