The End

This blog entry will be short.  The title says it all.  I knew it.  Once I had the taste of food, the liquid diet was history.  Today, I decided to end the liquid diet.  I was dying for something hot, greasy, and fattening.  KFC was calling. Once the idea popped into my head, I couldn't get it out.  For dinner, I had a KFC dinner, and needless to say, I went over my daily calorie limit.  Below are the damages:

1, 440cal. - 2pc. chicken dinner (leg and thigh with a biscut)
570cal. - mashed potatoes with gravy (less than1cup)
640cal. - Cole Slaw (also about less than a cup)
80cal. - Green Beans
250cal. - Soda (about 16oz.)
300cal. - Welch's Grape Juice (about 16oz. [I was still thirsty])
-----------
Dinner came to about 3,280cal. alone

Today I also had an imitation (store brand) Ensure and a V8
250cal. ShopRite Energy Drink (8oz.)
70cal. - V8 (11.5oz.)
-----------

Total Calories consumed today (assuming I don't eat or drink anymore tonight) is
3,600cal.

So, what is the next step now?

The liquid diet is dead for now.  I will still stick with "being on a diet".  My goal now is to count calories and grams of sugar.  I will try to stick with the calorie numbers I've been working with while one the liquid diet.  And barring any injuries, I will of course continue with the morning running.

Today was actually a relatively nice day (minimally) stress free day. Strange. I was in bed about 3:30AM, but I was up at 5:30AM. However, I did move a bit slow. I I even almost managed to catch my early train. I was ready to leave and out the front door at about 6:25AM with one minute to catch the MN train, but with the ice on the ground, I didn't want to risk running for the train, so I caught my regular MN train.

School? Everyone (students)seemed to have been mostly on their best behavior(relatively speaking). I was assigned a temporary visitor for a few days. A kid suspended from another school was (temporary) reassigned to my school. I got lucky this time around, Ms. Across the Hall had one a couple of weeks ago. Just my luck, the boy turns out to be best friends with one of my new(permanent) arrivals (also from the same school). Probably not a school I would want to work in, around, or near.

My plan was to be out of school by 4:30PM to do the shopping that I did not do on Sunday, but you know me. I get distracted and before you know it, time has flown by. I gave an in-class reading assessment, I wanted to grade the papers quickly because I knew that if I didn't do it soon, then I wouldn't do it at all. I was a bit shocked to see that my students actually did worse than on previous reading tests. I bought a skills workbook from the teacher's store in Brooklyn that contained about 15 (short)practice reading tests. I've been giving one each month to use as an over-time assessment. With the old reading program (which I hated), there was a period of time where the students were given time to read independently (that was a good part of the program). Now, with the new program and the slow learning curve (for the teachers) with all the "points, parts, and procedures", the students are not reading like they should. Actually, that really isn't the program's fault.

I probably should delete that last part.

Never mind. Losing a 90 block of accountability in terms of reading and writing, teachers have to find time to assess our students reading and writing. Long story short --Yes I know, too late. I am sitting here at my computer getting ready to make up a reading log for in-class reading. I had to make a reading log for homework assignments because assigning "child must read for 15 minutes" each night was a waste of time. I now have parents sign off each night as proof of reading at home(about 2/3 do). I now have to do the same for in class. I have students that have books, and they do carry the books around, but from the computerized testing program we use, I can check and see that many are not actually reading. I also need to assign reading response exercises. I've been too dependant on the computerized program, but from the practice test I just gave, I can see that my students are not really reading for content, they are just reading for completion. One of the down sides to the computerized program --and one thing that is unintentionally being encouraged. The goal is to read as many books as possible. Financial rewards are offered for classes with the most books read(as long as the studdents pass the multiple choice computer test with 90% accuracy). There is even a kind of "racers" chart in the lobby where each class is represented as a runner with their position noting percentage of class reading goal completed. Goals were made by Admin, but we have not been told our goals yet. My class is currently at about 50%. Although the program "recommends" (and I do follow the recommendation) that students should only chose books within their individual reading range. I don't allow my students to take books that are below their individual reading range. Other teachers allow their students to choose any book, and the students chose easy books. A couple of teachers have told me that they allow their students to choose books below their individual reading range, or I've been told by (another teacher) that it is okay for students to choose books below their individual reading range. My students have even complained kids from other classes are choosing easy books. And of course a couple of my students blame me for our position on the racer's chart.

Sorry, I am way, way off track. I was planning to just type a few sentences about my evening shopping, but I got sidetrack. And I have not even started my reading log.

Quick wrap-up. I was out of the building at about 5:40PM. I went to the bank ATM. I was planning to go to Target in the Bronx, but with about 10 minutes before the MN arrived, I settled on going to the new Rite Aid about a block away. I like Target, but it is often too crowded. All I really needed was dental floss. However, too many times, I've been caught in Target waiting on line for a few items, and I end up missing my MN train.

I arrived home about 6:50PM. I ate a Healthy Choice Meal for dinner. My plan of a quick assignment check, and a quick reading log is now shot to h*ll. I wanted to print out some differentiated worksheets about adjectives for my students, but I am out of black ink. I also got sidetracked before this blog entry clearing up my flash drive. I got so used to dumping files on it, that nothing was organized. I was also a bit surprised that some of my files were not school related. I have several flash drives, the one I carry around school should only have school files on it. I really like things neat and orderly, even though it doesn't seem like it. If I'm lucky, I will be able to use this coming vacation to get organized. I know a lot of my stress comes from not being as organized as I want to be.

Hopefully, I'll be in bed by 3:30AM. And hopefully, I'll have another relatively stress free day. One can only hope.


Post Date - Tuesday, December 18, 2007 2:32AM

Relapse. Both morning and evening.

Wow, today was a hot day, it was the first day this summer that I really felt hot. Yesterday was nice and warm, but today was hot.

I started off today with the plan of doing at least one online lesson, but once again, I had a bit of a morning relapse. I got online and didn't do much, but procrastinate until it was time for me to get ready for my afternoon class.

From the 10:30 Metro-North train, I arrived at 96th street at about 11:12am. I was reading Sword of Shannara. I was so into the story, I missed my stop. At 726 pages, that story has taken a long time to finally get interesting. Anyway, since I was about 45 minutes early for class, I decided to walk back a few blocks to the high school where the class is held. It was a nice a walk. Although I wasn't feeling hungry something told me the get something to eat, so I stopped at a nearby Subway's for lunch. I had the 6inch Meatball Marinara Sub.

I arrived to class a couple of minutes early, and the teacher was already there. He decided to dress for the weather. He wore baggy shorts and a white sleeveless T-Shirt. He had a fairly large tattoo covering a large part of his forearm. From the tattoo and the earring in his ear, I got the impression the teacher was having a bit of a midlife crisis. The guy appeared to be in his mid to late fifties, he even moved like a man older than his attire would suggests. The tattoo looked about a year old. The edges of the tattoo were too shape, for a graying guy with wrinkles in the grip of gravity.

The classroom was not as cold as it was yesterday, but it was still too cold for me. The woman next to me also put on her sweater because of the temperature. In class, we finished our stained glass projects, then the teacher introduced the next assignment, making a "surreal collage". About 2pm the teacher told us that since it was Thursday, we could leave "a little early between 2:15pm and 2:20pm". By 2:15, the teacher was standing in the front of the room with his backpack on ready to leave. I was again one of the last students to leave. I made a quick trip to the bathroom. By the time I returned, the teacher was locking the door and on his way down the stairs. I was behind him as he walked down the stairs that was when I noticed the difference between his attire and his body language. The way he walked down the stairs made me think he was much older than his attire. He could have had a lingering medical condition, or he could be older than the age I stated above. His movement on the stairs and outside seemed very caution and measured. However, in front of the classroom (when he wasn't sitting), he was in and out of the room several times (mostly on his cell phone).

Since it was early, I decided to walk to 125th street, and then take the train there up to the Bronx. While walking, the heat started to get to me. I knew that I should drink something. I stopped into a local pizzeria. On an impulse, I ordered a slice($1.40) and a Snapple($1.25). It had been a while (I think) since I last ate pizza (months if not a couple[2] years). After I finished the pizza, I ordered another one (along with another Snapple). My other relapse of the day. My old appetite returned. Oh, I almost forgot, while I was eating, one of the workers started to clean the windows. In seconds, the smell of Windex was everywhere. Since Spanish was the primary language spoken and I was just about finished, I didn't say anything. I just left quickly.

I continued my walk to 125th street, and from there, I arrived at the Bronx about 3:45. I had time to stop off at the Target store to go to the bathroom. The next Metro-North train was an express at 4:08pm. I got off at the Yonkers station and walked the rest of the way home. I briefly stopped off at the Yonkers DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles). I never changed my address on my driver's license, so I went in to see what I would need to do. One look inside, I decided to do the address change by mail.

I arrived home about 5:05pm. I did not even bother with trying to do some rowing. My third relapse of the day(no exercising). I was soaked with sweat from the heat and the walk, so I just jumped into the shower. After the shower, I layed under the fan for a few minutes, then went to watch TV. I watched TV for the rest of the evening. For dinner, I had the low sodium beef & vegetables with a couple of slices of wheat bread. I chose the beef soup because lately, I haven't been eating the potatoes and carrots (mostly drinking the broth and picking out the beef pieces). However, I ended up eating everything. For dessert, I ate about a pint of lemon sherbet.


Post Date - Friday, August 3, 2007 12:06am