Another nothing to blog about entry. I fell back to my regular (irregular) routine. I went to bed at 1:30am, and up at 6am. My day was nothing special or different. I got out of the building about 4:30pm. I left the same time Ms. Across the Hall did, so we walked to her train station. The travel time for me is basically the same. It just means changing trains midway. Anyway, there was a bit of a delay with one of the trains and as a result, I missed my MN train by about 5 minutes. I ended up getting home about 6pm.
Well, tomorrow is the first of the month. Hopefully, I will be going to the gym to sign up for a one-year membership. I really should have my workout clothes with me. However, I did tell myself that at the very least, I would sign up for membership and go tomorrow, but a part of me believes that if I don't workout tomorrow, then most likely I won't do it this week. My plan (if I do workout) is just to do about 20 minutes on a treadmill. With my bad knees, I will only be able to walk.
Post Date - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7:22PM
Showing posts with label Tuesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuesday. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
First and Last
Today was the first day of school. I haven't posted in a few days due to getting my classroom ready. After wasting the 3 day headstart, I was still in the pack of other teachers trying to get their classes ready. Since I did not finish on Friday, I signed up to come on Saturday, something I said that I would not do this year.
Saturday
Well, after arrived in the building, I was informed that we only had a half day to finish. I had arrived about 9:45am. After putting up wall and window coverings, knowing that I had to be out of the building at 12noon, I made sure to be ready. Well, when noon arrived, I was ready to leave. After chatting with Ms. Across the Hall, and the new second grade teacher (a former 5th grade male teacher, who was tired of the nonsense of the upper grade students and wanted a lower grade, but had to settle for second grade. An annoucement was made that all staff had until 1pm to be out of the building. Great, I had already shoved what could be shoved and put things away, so it wasn't worth touching anything at that point only to have to start putting things away again.I spent the remaining time chatting and helping Ms. ATH with her things.
Sunday
I was invited to my foster father's daughter's BBQ. This is a very nice family that often consider me a part of the family even calling me brother as if I've always been a part of the family.
Anyway, I decided to take public transportation. However, what is about a 16 minutes car drive from my apartment to my foster sister's place, would take me about 90 minutes by public transportation. The area I live in is mountainous with lots of rolling hills. Since most of the transportation traveled in north to south directions, I had to travel south then cross east before traveling North again. When I arrived at the closest bus stop, I then had to walk up a steep mountain road without any sidewalks (about 12 minutes). I arrived at FS's place, but the hostess or host were not home, but there were a lot of people. On my hike up the mountain side, I stopped off at Pathmark. I bought a large soda, large grade juice, granola bars, and a box of donuts. I was a bit annoyed that I just put the bags on the table with the "other things" without the hostess seeing that I did not come empty handed. Anyway, I spent most of the time on the upper deck, while most of the action was down on the ground level. Since I'm not really a party person, I did what I usually do, I just sat and watched the action pass me by. I left about 6:15pm to catch the bus. But the 6:33 bus just passed me by. I was so busy playing Tetris on my cell phone, that I did not see the bus until it zipped by. It didn't even slow down with me being the only one at the bus stop. I starting walking and waited for the next bus a couple of stops down the road, and again, it almost did the same thing. Apparently, you have to wave your arms like a madman to get the bus to slow down and stop.
I stopped off at the local area mall to do some clothes shopping for "Back to School" for myself. I bought a couple of white dress shirts, a couple of black slacks and a pair of black shoes.
Monday Labor Day
Monday should have been my errand day, but it was my procrastination day. I didn't do much but watch the clock knowing that school started the next day. Until the evening, I really couldn't get my mind to think about school related tasks. Finally, in the evening, I was able to type up my letter of introduction and my supply list. I emailed the letter of introduction hoping that I would beat the last minute rush so that I could send it out on the first day. Here, letters of introductions (as well as most communications have to have admin approval). I shaved (my head), showered, and ironed my clothes for tomorrow. I was in bed by 1:30am.
Tuesday, September 2nd
I was hoping to take a early train to arrived in school to do some last minute set up, but I missed the early train by about 30 seconds so I had to take my regular train that would put at school with about 15 minutes before school starts. Unfortunately, dragging the granny cart full with books I didn't use for lesson planning, and my gym clothes, I was dripping with sweat this morning. I was too hot to put on my jacket. So how was the first day?
Actually, it was okay. Despite poor planning, and an incomplete classroom set up, with boxes still unpacked, the day was nice. Even "Wild One" (the second grader who spent much of his time last year out of the classroom was [relatively] nicely behaved. Would you believe that he arrived to school on the first day chewing gum with nothing but a handful of wrinkled loose-leaf paper. Oh, I also had to revise my letter of introduction, because AP1 told me that it was too formal and needed "more fluff" (more please and thank yous). That surprised me. I'm a bit too soft and usually say please and thank you too much. I don't think I've ever been told that I have a rough edge (usually it is the opposite). I also couldn't send out my supply list because Admin had one for the whole school. On the last day of school back in June, an announcement was made to send down a supply list that we would be using for the coming school year. Since that was the first (and only) annoucement, I put it off, until it was too late. As a result, I now have to send out this crappy list with half the things I don't want my students to have, and missing items that I wanted to ask for. "Two packs of loose-leaf paper (wide-ruled)" is just asking for an endless supply of drawing paper and paper airplanes.
At about 6pm, I was expecting the firedrill bell to go off, but it didn't. Anyway, I left the school and went to the boxing gym with the plan of signing up for a 1 month package of group boxing lessons. When I arrived at the gym, The owner (or the wife of the owner) commented about how I had gained weight, and she wanted to know what had happened that I missed two weeks and I had been doing fine and making progress. Did I tell her the lessons were crappy, and I wasn't motivated to come? No, I just said that I was a procrastinating. As I took out my money to pay for the listed price of a one-month fee for group lesson, the lady told me, "oh no, the cost for changing from private to group lessons was about $180. With the "about $180" cost mentioned, and feeling I did not get what I paid for with private lessons, I told the lady I would think about it, but in the meantime I would clear out my locker. I should have taking my gym bag into the locker room, because coming out of the locker with my shower things and gloves, I felt like a quitter without several people stopping to see what I was carrying out. So, what did I do after? I went to Subway's restaurant; I ordered a foot-long sandwich and three macadamian cookies, with a couple of refills of soda. I came home hot sweating a tired. I fell asleep. Now, at 1am. I have to plan my lessons for tomorrow, and shower of course. Hopefully, I'll be in bed by 2am.
Post Date - Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:52PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, September 3, 2008 1:02AM
Saturday
Well, after arrived in the building, I was informed that we only had a half day to finish. I had arrived about 9:45am. After putting up wall and window coverings, knowing that I had to be out of the building at 12noon, I made sure to be ready. Well, when noon arrived, I was ready to leave. After chatting with Ms. Across the Hall, and the new second grade teacher (a former 5th grade male teacher, who was tired of the nonsense of the upper grade students and wanted a lower grade, but had to settle for second grade. An annoucement was made that all staff had until 1pm to be out of the building. Great, I had already shoved what could be shoved and put things away, so it wasn't worth touching anything at that point only to have to start putting things away again.I spent the remaining time chatting and helping Ms. ATH with her things.
Sunday
I was invited to my foster father's daughter's BBQ. This is a very nice family that often consider me a part of the family even calling me brother as if I've always been a part of the family.
Anyway, I decided to take public transportation. However, what is about a 16 minutes car drive from my apartment to my foster sister's place, would take me about 90 minutes by public transportation. The area I live in is mountainous with lots of rolling hills. Since most of the transportation traveled in north to south directions, I had to travel south then cross east before traveling North again. When I arrived at the closest bus stop, I then had to walk up a steep mountain road without any sidewalks (about 12 minutes). I arrived at FS's place, but the hostess or host were not home, but there were a lot of people. On my hike up the mountain side, I stopped off at Pathmark. I bought a large soda, large grade juice, granola bars, and a box of donuts. I was a bit annoyed that I just put the bags on the table with the "other things" without the hostess seeing that I did not come empty handed. Anyway, I spent most of the time on the upper deck, while most of the action was down on the ground level. Since I'm not really a party person, I did what I usually do, I just sat and watched the action pass me by. I left about 6:15pm to catch the bus. But the 6:33 bus just passed me by. I was so busy playing Tetris on my cell phone, that I did not see the bus until it zipped by. It didn't even slow down with me being the only one at the bus stop. I starting walking and waited for the next bus a couple of stops down the road, and again, it almost did the same thing. Apparently, you have to wave your arms like a madman to get the bus to slow down and stop.
I stopped off at the local area mall to do some clothes shopping for "Back to School" for myself. I bought a couple of white dress shirts, a couple of black slacks and a pair of black shoes.
Monday Labor Day
Monday should have been my errand day, but it was my procrastination day. I didn't do much but watch the clock knowing that school started the next day. Until the evening, I really couldn't get my mind to think about school related tasks. Finally, in the evening, I was able to type up my letter of introduction and my supply list. I emailed the letter of introduction hoping that I would beat the last minute rush so that I could send it out on the first day. Here, letters of introductions (as well as most communications have to have admin approval). I shaved (my head), showered, and ironed my clothes for tomorrow. I was in bed by 1:30am.
Tuesday, September 2nd
I was hoping to take a early train to arrived in school to do some last minute set up, but I missed the early train by about 30 seconds so I had to take my regular train that would put at school with about 15 minutes before school starts. Unfortunately, dragging the granny cart full with books I didn't use for lesson planning, and my gym clothes, I was dripping with sweat this morning. I was too hot to put on my jacket. So how was the first day?
Actually, it was okay. Despite poor planning, and an incomplete classroom set up, with boxes still unpacked, the day was nice. Even "Wild One" (the second grader who spent much of his time last year out of the classroom was [relatively] nicely behaved. Would you believe that he arrived to school on the first day chewing gum with nothing but a handful of wrinkled loose-leaf paper. Oh, I also had to revise my letter of introduction, because AP1 told me that it was too formal and needed "more fluff" (more please and thank yous). That surprised me. I'm a bit too soft and usually say please and thank you too much. I don't think I've ever been told that I have a rough edge (usually it is the opposite). I also couldn't send out my supply list because Admin had one for the whole school. On the last day of school back in June, an announcement was made to send down a supply list that we would be using for the coming school year. Since that was the first (and only) annoucement, I put it off, until it was too late. As a result, I now have to send out this crappy list with half the things I don't want my students to have, and missing items that I wanted to ask for. "Two packs of loose-leaf paper (wide-ruled)" is just asking for an endless supply of drawing paper and paper airplanes.
At about 6pm, I was expecting the firedrill bell to go off, but it didn't. Anyway, I left the school and went to the boxing gym with the plan of signing up for a 1 month package of group boxing lessons. When I arrived at the gym, The owner (or the wife of the owner) commented about how I had gained weight, and she wanted to know what had happened that I missed two weeks and I had been doing fine and making progress. Did I tell her the lessons were crappy, and I wasn't motivated to come? No, I just said that I was a procrastinating. As I took out my money to pay for the listed price of a one-month fee for group lesson, the lady told me, "oh no, the cost for changing from private to group lessons was about $180. With the "about $180" cost mentioned, and feeling I did not get what I paid for with private lessons, I told the lady I would think about it, but in the meantime I would clear out my locker. I should have taking my gym bag into the locker room, because coming out of the locker with my shower things and gloves, I felt like a quitter without several people stopping to see what I was carrying out. So, what did I do after? I went to Subway's restaurant; I ordered a foot-long sandwich and three macadamian cookies, with a couple of refills of soda. I came home hot sweating a tired. I fell asleep. Now, at 1am. I have to plan my lessons for tomorrow, and shower of course. Hopefully, I'll be in bed by 2am.
Post Date - Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:52PM
Completion Date - Wednesday, September 3, 2008 1:02AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Boxing Lesson - Day 6
Another shortened day. I was up and out of bed about 1pm. The internet was down for some reason, so I played a bit of solitaire. I did a few exercises that my trainer said that I should be doing everyday at home. Then it was time to go to the gym. What a waste of a vacation!!!
Arrived at the gym about 6pm. My trainer fell back to some of his old habits. He didn't teach anything new, just more of the same:
30 minutes of:
Stomach Crunches
Toe Touches
Push Ups
30 minutes of:
Bag work - 3 or 4 sets of either "do your own thing", or a 4 combination punch (while circling the bag)-
6 punches in rapped succesion, move, then 2 jabs and a right punch, move, then 1 jab and 1 right punch, move, then 2 right punches, then repeat.
And again, he does his disappearing act or his back to the client (paying for private lessons) while helping someone else(who probably didn't pay for private lessons). I finally had to say that the punch combination was too confusing for a beginner.
Tomorrow I will have to bring in my Weight Training book I bought from Barnes and Nobles months ago. Once I have the weight training routine established, then I will bring in my Boxing book I bought a couple of months ago.
I returned home, and reheated leftover spaghetti and I steam some green beans. Today was the second day I managed to have steamed vegetables for dinner. I hope I can keep it up. I also managed to wash the dishes and take out the garbage.
Post Date - Friday, September 12, 2008 5:21AM
Completion Date - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:00PM
Arrived at the gym about 6pm. My trainer fell back to some of his old habits. He didn't teach anything new, just more of the same:
30 minutes of:
Stomach Crunches
Toe Touches
Push Ups
30 minutes of:
Bag work - 3 or 4 sets of either "do your own thing", or a 4 combination punch (while circling the bag)-
6 punches in rapped succesion, move, then 2 jabs and a right punch, move, then 1 jab and 1 right punch, move, then 2 right punches, then repeat.
And again, he does his disappearing act or his back to the client (paying for private lessons) while helping someone else(who probably didn't pay for private lessons). I finally had to say that the punch combination was too confusing for a beginner.
Tomorrow I will have to bring in my Weight Training book I bought from Barnes and Nobles months ago. Once I have the weight training routine established, then I will bring in my Boxing book I bought a couple of months ago.
I returned home, and reheated leftover spaghetti and I steam some green beans. Today was the second day I managed to have steamed vegetables for dinner. I hope I can keep it up. I also managed to wash the dishes and take out the garbage.
Post Date - Friday, September 12, 2008 5:21AM
Completion Date - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:00PM
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Cleaning Day 2
Tuesday, July 29th
Today started of as a lazy day, but I was able to eventually get some cleaning done. I spent most of the day on the computer. I watched the final episode of Star Trek Voyager "Endgame". I also watched parts of Star Wars fight scenes.
Finally, later in the evening, I started cleaning. I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen. Three rooms down, one to go. The last room to clean will be the living room.
While I was in my lazy mode, I wanted spaghetti. But since I had not bathe or showered since Sunday morning(before the several hour walk), I was in no shape to be outside. Since I managed to clean my bathroom and my kitchen, I was in a good mood. I made spaghetti with ground turkey meat for the meat sauce. After I ate dinner, I washed the dishes, and cleaned the stove. I took a bath in my clean bathroom.
Today turned out to be a productive day.
Post Date - Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:05AM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:18AM
Today started of as a lazy day, but I was able to eventually get some cleaning done. I spent most of the day on the computer. I watched the final episode of Star Trek Voyager "Endgame". I also watched parts of Star Wars fight scenes.
Finally, later in the evening, I started cleaning. I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen. Three rooms down, one to go. The last room to clean will be the living room.
While I was in my lazy mode, I wanted spaghetti. But since I had not bathe or showered since Sunday morning(before the several hour walk), I was in no shape to be outside. Since I managed to clean my bathroom and my kitchen, I was in a good mood. I made spaghetti with ground turkey meat for the meat sauce. After I ate dinner, I washed the dishes, and cleaned the stove. I took a bath in my clean bathroom.
Today turned out to be a productive day.
Post Date - Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:05AM
Completion Date - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 2:18AM
Friday, June 27, 2008
Another interesting link. Since I had an accident in a parking lot with a parked car, I can't really laugh...too louldy.
And I'm sure, there are men who drive just as bad. See the statement above.
Top 10 Funny Drivers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Max!
Post Date - Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:13PM
And I'm sure, there are men who drive just as bad. See the statement above.
Top 10 Funny Drivers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Max!
Post Date - Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:13PM
A very interesting (and unfortunate) sign of the times we live in.
There are more recent editions, but 2006 seemed more interesting.
The Stella Awards are named after the woman who sued MacDonalds when she spilt her hot coffee and won.
The 2006 True Stella Awards
Issued 31 January 2007
(Click here to
confirm these are legitimate.)
There are more recent editions, but 2006 seemed more interesting.
The Stella Awards are named after the woman who sued MacDonalds when she spilt her hot coffee and won.
The 2006 True Stella Awards
Issued 31 January 2007
(Click here to
confirm these are legitimate.)
#5: Marcy Meckler. While shopping at
a mall, Meckler stepped outside and was "attacked" by a squirrel that
lived among the trees and bushes. And "while frantically attempting
to escape from the squirrel and detach it from her leg, [Meckler]
fell and suffered severe injuries," her resulting lawsuit says.
That's the mall's fault, the lawsuit claims, demanding in excess of
$50,000, based on the mall's "failure to warn" her that squirrels
live outside.
#4: Ron and Kristie Simmons. The
couple's 4-year-old son, Justin, was killed in a tragic lawnmower
accident in a licensed daycare facility, and the death was clearly
the result of negligence by the daycare providers. The providers were
clearly deserving of being sued, yet when the Simmons's discovered
the daycare only had $100,000 in insurance, they dropped the case
against them and instead sued the manufacturer of the 16-year-old
lawn mower because the mower didn't have a safety device that 1) had
not been invented at the time of the mower's manufacture, and 2) no
safety agency had even suggested needed to be invented. A sympathetic
jury still awarded the family $2 million.
#3: Robert Clymer. An FBI agent
working a high-profile case in Las Vegas, Clymer allegedly created a
disturbance, lost the magazine from his pistol, then crashed his
pickup truck in a drunken stupor -- his blood-alcohol level was 0.306
percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Nevada.
He pled guilty to drunk driving because, his lawyer explained, "With
public officials, we expect them to own up to their mistakes and
correct them." Yet Clymer had the gall to sue the manufacturer of his
pickup truck, and the dealer he bought it from, because he "somehow
lost consciousness" and the truck "somehow produced a heavy smoke
that filled the passenger cab." Yep: the drunk-driving accident
wasn't his fault, but the truck's fault. Just the kind of guy you
want carrying a gun in the name of the law.
#2: KinderStart.com. The specialty
search engine says Google should be forced to include the KinderStart
site in its listings, reveal how its "Page Rank" system works, and
pay them lots of money because they're a competitor. They claim by
not being ranked higher in Google, Google is somehow infringing
KinderStart's Constitutional right to free speech. Even if by some
stretch they were a competitor of Google, why in the world would they
think it's Google's responsibility to help them succeed? And if
Google's "review" of their site is negative, wouldn't a government
court order forcing them to change it infringe on Google's
Constitutional right to free speech?
And the winner of the 2006 True Stella
Award: Allen Ray Heckard. Even though Heckard is 3 inches
shorter, 25 pounds lighter, and 8 years older than former basketball
star Michael Jordan, the Portland, Oregon, man says he looks a lot
like Jordan, and is often confused for him -- and thus he deserves
$52 million "for defamation and permanent injury" -- plus $364
million in "punitive damage for emotional pain and suffering", plus
the SAME amount from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, for a grand total
of $832 million. He dropped the suit after Nike's lawyers chatted
with him, where they presumably explained how they'd counter-sue if
he pressed on.
©2007 by Randy Cassingham,
target="new">StellaAwards.com. Reprinted with permission.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Max!
Post Date - Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:40PM
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27th
Rainy morning.
Weather reports all said that it would be a wet rainy day. Our field trip to Central Park Zoo was cancelled. I was happy. I was worried that we would be forced to go like the fourth and fifth graders last week who went to NY Aquarium. It rained off and on all day. I thought the same thing would happen today, but as soon as the trip was cancelled the sun came out, and it stayed out for the whole day...that is, until it was time for me to return home. It started raining while I was on the train going home. The sun came out once I got home. The day was okay...relatively speaking. Sneak was not feeling well, I could tell because he stayed in his seat for most of the day (and wasn't very talkative). Oh, while collecting trip money and permission slips, would you believe that Princess Beady had the nerve to hand in a permission slip and money. Normally, I try to be positive in my no, but this time I almost went ballistic. I had called her mother almost every single day (4 days out of 5) about her disruptive behavior. And to think her mother really thought that she should be allowed to attend really annoyed me.
My plan was to be out of the building at 4PM, then 4:30PM, then 5PM. I ended up leaving at 5:30PM. I wanted to resume exercising, but once I returned home, I was asleep right after I ate dinner. My new epal called about 9PM, I learned a little bit more about him. We will be going to the movies on Sunday. Once again, he came up with a movie suggestion I was thinking about, but wasn't sure he would be interested. I thought he would only be interested in science fiction, but I was wrong. We talked for about an hour. Once again it was nice hearing my thoughts coming out of someone else's mouth. It is an interesting feeling.
Well, I better go. After the conversation, I fell asleep. I woke up about 3AM. I told myself that I would get online only to Google the movie theater, but here I am, it is now 5:26AM. Now, I'll just have to stay up. Hopefully, today will be an easy day.
Completion Date - Wednesday, May 28, 2008 5:28AM
Post Date - Saturday, June 28, 2008 12:48AM
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 19th
Another stressful day. I did manage a smile for a good couple of hours before my students with their usual determination, wiped it right off. So, a quick (I hope) summary of my weekend.
On Friday(evening), May 16th, one of my epals sent me an email cancelling our planned walking trip through the Bronx Zoo. All week, the news reports mentioned Saturday being a cold and wet day. I was planning to send an email to suggest a change from zoo to movie, but I got beat to the punch by minutes. I already had my email written with the movie schedule saved for Saturday on my desktop. I started watching movie trailers, and lost track of time. I got the cancellation email minutes before I was about to send mine. Problem? Not really. It seemed a bit strange that he had to go out of town at the last minute, but that could have happened. I was watching the trailer for Kung Fu Panda -- it looks very funny!
Anyway, since I no longer had plans to do anything, I fell into my old weekend hermit habit, I slept Saturday away. I was a bit annoyed that the weather turned out to be very nice. I was also a bit annoyed with myself because I had wasted my chance to get organized, and with nothing exciting, or at the very least interesting to do, I answered an online ad from someone seeking "anyone interested in going to the movie tomorrow to see Prince Caspian. Normally, I don't read ads below the age of 35. I also don't like last minute plans. However, on an impulse, I answered the ad agreeing to go. The ad maker was 32yrs old. Moments after getting a "hello" email, I quickly fell into my old hermit habit. I changed my mind. I even started a "Cold Feet"(I won't be able to attend) email. Since the guy left his phone number, I thought the least I could do was to cancel in person.
Well, within minutes of answering the phone, the guy was already offering to buy the tickets and making arrangements to meet. I froze and agreed to go. The meet up time was 3:15PM. The guy also mentioned that if I got there early, we could "get something to eat". Normally, I would have gotten there early, but I was not comfortable with the idea of being stuck with a face to face meeting with someone I had not met before and may have nothing in common with. My plan was to arrive on time which would have kept the possibility of a long conversation to a minimum.
Sunday morning. Still having done nothing in the way of lesson planning, laundry, or shopping. I was both excited and nervous. The weather returned to cold and damp. I cut and shaved my head, took a bath and was out the door about 1:50pm. My plan was to take the bus because the MN train would have gotten me in NYC too early. The bus only operates 2 per hour on Sunday, so I was not expecting it to be more than 5 or 10 minutes late. The bus was over 15 minutes late! When it arrived at my stop, there was no one the bus, but it was still late. Ten minutes into the ride, the driver informs us (the passengers --all 6 of us) that due to a parade, he would have to make a detour. After about a 10 to 15 minute detour and the driver needing confirmation from the officers blocking the street and his dispatcher, he decides to pull over and wait for the parade to pass. Most of the 6 of us got off the bus. I decided to walk to the Yonkers MN station and take the express train into NYC. I walk about a block and the parade of high schoolers stop at the intersection I want to cross to do a number. I walk a couple of blocks then a guy with a horse of a dog who had his dog aside maybe due to the loud music disturbing the dog starts walking in front of me at a snail of a pace. He also had his young daughter with him. A few more blocks, the parade's path was a right angle into the Yonkers MN station area. I felt like I was in one of those movies or comedies when the main character has one obstacle thrown in front of him.
Anyway, I arrived at 34th street about 3:40PM (movie start time). Since it was raining, and I was only about a block and a half from the theater, I just walked as quickly as possible. The guy was not there. I was annoyed and embarrassed at being late. I bought a ticket knowing that the guy had already paid for my ticket online. Since the guy did not have the cell phone area code of 646, I just assumed that I had his home phone number. I didn't think to call him. I'm not too bright.
Anyway, I got my ticket with the idea that maybe after the movie ended, I might see the ad poster (he attached his photo to his post). I walked into the theater with the idea of sitting as far back as possible (still annoyed, angry, and wet).
Well, it turned out I sat down right next to the ad poster. Amazing!!!
The movie was nice. The special effects were great. After the movie, my epal asked if I was interested in getting a drink. Coffee at Starbucks.
Short story made long...sorry. I need to wrap this up. Long story short, I was amazed at how much we had in common. It was strange meeting someone who shared the same interests that I do. Also amazing was that his conversation almost seemed to be a step or two from what I was thinking. Even about an hour ago from typing this blog. I was thinking about what kinds of city type activities I could suggest. I thought about museums, but I thought that was something he might not be interested in. I was wrong. I wanted to meet my new epal again, but next week (even though it is a three-day weekend), I thought it might be difficult because I was planning to make arrangements with "Macy's Walker" epal. I also signed up for a group meet up next week. Well, my new epal told me that he couldn't do anything next week. Amazing!!!
Completion Date - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:08AM
Post Date - Monday, June 16, 2008 7:10PM
Another stressful day. I did manage a smile for a good couple of hours before my students with their usual determination, wiped it right off. So, a quick (I hope) summary of my weekend.
On Friday(evening), May 16th, one of my epals sent me an email cancelling our planned walking trip through the Bronx Zoo. All week, the news reports mentioned Saturday being a cold and wet day. I was planning to send an email to suggest a change from zoo to movie, but I got beat to the punch by minutes. I already had my email written with the movie schedule saved for Saturday on my desktop. I started watching movie trailers, and lost track of time. I got the cancellation email minutes before I was about to send mine. Problem? Not really. It seemed a bit strange that he had to go out of town at the last minute, but that could have happened. I was watching the trailer for Kung Fu Panda -- it looks very funny!
Anyway, since I no longer had plans to do anything, I fell into my old weekend hermit habit, I slept Saturday away. I was a bit annoyed that the weather turned out to be very nice. I was also a bit annoyed with myself because I had wasted my chance to get organized, and with nothing exciting, or at the very least interesting to do, I answered an online ad from someone seeking "anyone interested in going to the movie tomorrow to see Prince Caspian. Normally, I don't read ads below the age of 35. I also don't like last minute plans. However, on an impulse, I answered the ad agreeing to go. The ad maker was 32yrs old. Moments after getting a "hello" email, I quickly fell into my old hermit habit. I changed my mind. I even started a "Cold Feet"(I won't be able to attend) email. Since the guy left his phone number, I thought the least I could do was to cancel in person.
Well, within minutes of answering the phone, the guy was already offering to buy the tickets and making arrangements to meet. I froze and agreed to go. The meet up time was 3:15PM. The guy also mentioned that if I got there early, we could "get something to eat". Normally, I would have gotten there early, but I was not comfortable with the idea of being stuck with a face to face meeting with someone I had not met before and may have nothing in common with. My plan was to arrive on time which would have kept the possibility of a long conversation to a minimum.
Sunday morning. Still having done nothing in the way of lesson planning, laundry, or shopping. I was both excited and nervous. The weather returned to cold and damp. I cut and shaved my head, took a bath and was out the door about 1:50pm. My plan was to take the bus because the MN train would have gotten me in NYC too early. The bus only operates 2 per hour on Sunday, so I was not expecting it to be more than 5 or 10 minutes late. The bus was over 15 minutes late! When it arrived at my stop, there was no one the bus, but it was still late. Ten minutes into the ride, the driver informs us (the passengers --all 6 of us) that due to a parade, he would have to make a detour. After about a 10 to 15 minute detour and the driver needing confirmation from the officers blocking the street and his dispatcher, he decides to pull over and wait for the parade to pass. Most of the 6 of us got off the bus. I decided to walk to the Yonkers MN station and take the express train into NYC. I walk about a block and the parade of high schoolers stop at the intersection I want to cross to do a number. I walk a couple of blocks then a guy with a horse of a dog who had his dog aside maybe due to the loud music disturbing the dog starts walking in front of me at a snail of a pace. He also had his young daughter with him. A few more blocks, the parade's path was a right angle into the Yonkers MN station area. I felt like I was in one of those movies or comedies when the main character has one obstacle thrown in front of him.
Anyway, I arrived at 34th street about 3:40PM (movie start time). Since it was raining, and I was only about a block and a half from the theater, I just walked as quickly as possible. The guy was not there. I was annoyed and embarrassed at being late. I bought a ticket knowing that the guy had already paid for my ticket online. Since the guy did not have the cell phone area code of 646, I just assumed that I had his home phone number. I didn't think to call him. I'm not too bright.
Anyway, I got my ticket with the idea that maybe after the movie ended, I might see the ad poster (he attached his photo to his post). I walked into the theater with the idea of sitting as far back as possible (still annoyed, angry, and wet).
Well, it turned out I sat down right next to the ad poster. Amazing!!!
The movie was nice. The special effects were great. After the movie, my epal asked if I was interested in getting a drink. Coffee at Starbucks.
Short story made long...sorry. I need to wrap this up. Long story short, I was amazed at how much we had in common. It was strange meeting someone who shared the same interests that I do. Also amazing was that his conversation almost seemed to be a step or two from what I was thinking. Even about an hour ago from typing this blog. I was thinking about what kinds of city type activities I could suggest. I thought about museums, but I thought that was something he might not be interested in. I was wrong. I wanted to meet my new epal again, but next week (even though it is a three-day weekend), I thought it might be difficult because I was planning to make arrangements with "Macy's Walker" epal. I also signed up for a group meet up next week. Well, my new epal told me that he couldn't do anything next week. Amazing!!!
Completion Date - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:08AM
Post Date - Monday, June 16, 2008 7:10PM
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Quick entry.
Yesterday I was out of the building by 4PM. I had a late night finishing up report cards. An announcement was made yesterday morning that report cards would be due today. Today Ms. Across the Hall was absent. Last minute no-show meant no sub for her class. I received 3 of her kids.
My kids were super hyper. Super hyper!
I wanted to be out of the building by 4PM again, but you know me. I ended up leaving about 6PM. I went to the post office to mail off some paperwork. Again, slower than molasses. After a quick trip the bank, I headed home. I arrived home about 8:40PM. I reheated the takeout I ordered earlier.
Post Date - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 9:05PM
Quick entry.
Yesterday I was out of the building by 4PM. I had a late night finishing up report cards. An announcement was made yesterday morning that report cards would be due today. Today Ms. Across the Hall was absent. Last minute no-show meant no sub for her class. I received 3 of her kids.
My kids were super hyper. Super hyper!
I wanted to be out of the building by 4PM again, but you know me. I ended up leaving about 6PM. I went to the post office to mail off some paperwork. Again, slower than molasses. After a quick trip the bank, I headed home. I arrived home about 8:40PM. I reheated the takeout I ordered earlier.
Post Date - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 9:05PM
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Tuesday, March 4th.
Day 1 New York State (elementary school) exams.
I had 3 students arrive ontime, with the remaining strolling in with the latest arriving about 20 minutes late. Cackler was absent. Princess was her usual disruptive self. I also had a few excessive talkers and players. I was ready to hit the ceiling, but I knew that if I got angrier, then more than a few would have taken a "so I don't care" attitude, so I had to put a positive spin on my disciplining. For the most part, I think I was successful.
The day was fairly stress-free. My plan was to get out of the building about 4:30PM, but somehow, time just flew by. I spent about an hour making copies for the remaining of the week. I was happy that after making "originals" on my personal copier, I used the faculty copier to do my bulk coping. Unfortunately, the faculty copier does not allow duplexing (front and back copying onto a single page), so I had to manually do the duplexing. I also collated and stapled the homework for Wednesday through Friday's homework. In the end, I was out of the building about 7:45PM. With the MN train being about 5 minutes late, I arrived home about 8:50PM. As soon as I got home, I put a Weight Watcher's meal in the microwave. While my dinner was "cooking"(5 minutes), I undressed and told myself that I would lay down for a minute. I blinked and it was about 1AM. It is now 3:08AM. However, since I still have a few posting in my draft box, I will have to add this one to it as well.
Completion - Wednesday, March 05, 2008 3:12AM
Post Date - Sunday, March 16, 2008 10:03PM
Day 1 New York State (elementary school) exams.
I had 3 students arrive ontime, with the remaining strolling in with the latest arriving about 20 minutes late. Cackler was absent. Princess was her usual disruptive self. I also had a few excessive talkers and players. I was ready to hit the ceiling, but I knew that if I got angrier, then more than a few would have taken a "so I don't care" attitude, so I had to put a positive spin on my disciplining. For the most part, I think I was successful.
The day was fairly stress-free. My plan was to get out of the building about 4:30PM, but somehow, time just flew by. I spent about an hour making copies for the remaining of the week. I was happy that after making "originals" on my personal copier, I used the faculty copier to do my bulk coping. Unfortunately, the faculty copier does not allow duplexing (front and back copying onto a single page), so I had to manually do the duplexing. I also collated and stapled the homework for Wednesday through Friday's homework. In the end, I was out of the building about 7:45PM. With the MN train being about 5 minutes late, I arrived home about 8:50PM. As soon as I got home, I put a Weight Watcher's meal in the microwave. While my dinner was "cooking"(5 minutes), I undressed and told myself that I would lay down for a minute. I blinked and it was about 1AM. It is now 3:08AM. However, since I still have a few posting in my draft box, I will have to add this one to it as well.
Completion - Wednesday, March 05, 2008 3:12AM
Post Date - Sunday, March 16, 2008 10:03PM
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Annoying high schoolers on the morning train (loud talkers). Once the young lady gets on the train, the loud conversation starts (usually about how they hate such and such class). Once I got off the train, I saw a Metro card drop. Since the guy had headphones on, he could not hear me calling him, so I ended up walking back up to the platform where I finally caught up to the guy. After I returned the dropped Metro Card, then while walking down the stairs, I saw an elderly lady struggling with her own granny cart. I left my granny cart to help the elderly woman carry her granny cart up the stairs to the platform. I wish my cart was that light. The way the lady was struggling, I thought hers weighted as much as mine.
Back in school. Princess Beady returned...eager to play. Even Cackler commented how quiet it was with Princess out.
The day was fairly nice. The kids seemed to have been fairly mellow for most of the day. After the literacy block, classes returned to the auditorium for the Day 2 of the Black History assemby. There was finally an outdoor recess for the kids. All in all, it was a pleasant day. Although, by the last thirty minutes, the kids did turn hyper, but for the most part it was a pleasant day.
Faculty meeting after school. Although I wanted to be out of the building early, I spent about 45 minutes covering up the walls. Tomorrow is the the New York State Exams(Day 1 - multiple choice math questions). On Wednesday, we have the Day 2 part of the test(open-ended questions, and extended responses).
I was out of the building about 6:30PM. The subway train was behind schedule, I waited on the platform for 15 or 20 minutes. Oh, while on the train, my doctor got on a few stops later. For me it was strange seeing my doctor on the train. I always thought doctors could afford to drive around. He stood right next to me, but other than saying hello, he did not say anything, or even look my way. It was also strange seeing the doctor running(jaywalking)across the busy street just to catch the MN train. He also took the Metro North going North.
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I just did a google search. I was planning to get a street view of the Bronx Station area, but instead I was taken to the Google "Bird's eye view". Cool!!! I was able to see a bird's eye view of the area. From what I could see, I think Google has thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of satellite photos. Or, Google hires people to drive around and take digital photos of various areas, and then upload the photos. Depending on the angle you want, you will receive photos that are different ages. For example, just looking at the Marble Hill area of the Bronx, different angles of bird's eye view, I could see some photos that were older than others. Looking south would only show photos of the area from a year (or two) ago, where the area was just a very large construction site. Cool. I attached a photo of the Bronx station area. On the right side is the train station steps and the Target Store complex.
Much more than I was planning to write. Quick summary. It is now 3:54AM.
I was just going to write that I took the MN train to Yonkers and got off the train to go to the bank. Since I had about 2O minutes, I decided to go to the grocery store for milk and orange juice. My cart was full yesterday, so I could not go. Anyway, I finish shopping and was hurrying to catch the next train. However, I was about 2 minutes too slow. I missed the train, which meant another 30 minute wait. Luckily for me, the Yonker's station has a waiting area inside the station. In the end, I arrived home about 8:40PM. I had leftovers for dinner (sweet and sour chicken). Then, I prompt fell asleep on the couch. I woke up about 2AM.
Post Date - Sunday, March 16, 2008 2:31PM
Annoying high schoolers on the morning train (loud talkers). Once the young lady gets on the train, the loud conversation starts (usually about how they hate such and such class). Once I got off the train, I saw a Metro card drop. Since the guy had headphones on, he could not hear me calling him, so I ended up walking back up to the platform where I finally caught up to the guy. After I returned the dropped Metro Card, then while walking down the stairs, I saw an elderly lady struggling with her own granny cart. I left my granny cart to help the elderly woman carry her granny cart up the stairs to the platform. I wish my cart was that light. The way the lady was struggling, I thought hers weighted as much as mine.
Back in school. Princess Beady returned...eager to play. Even Cackler commented how quiet it was with Princess out.
The day was fairly nice. The kids seemed to have been fairly mellow for most of the day. After the literacy block, classes returned to the auditorium for the Day 2 of the Black History assemby. There was finally an outdoor recess for the kids. All in all, it was a pleasant day. Although, by the last thirty minutes, the kids did turn hyper, but for the most part it was a pleasant day.
Faculty meeting after school. Although I wanted to be out of the building early, I spent about 45 minutes covering up the walls. Tomorrow is the the New York State Exams(Day 1 - multiple choice math questions). On Wednesday, we have the Day 2 part of the test(open-ended questions, and extended responses).
I was out of the building about 6:30PM. The subway train was behind schedule, I waited on the platform for 15 or 20 minutes. Oh, while on the train, my doctor got on a few stops later. For me it was strange seeing my doctor on the train. I always thought doctors could afford to drive around. He stood right next to me, but other than saying hello, he did not say anything, or even look my way. It was also strange seeing the doctor running(jaywalking)across the busy street just to catch the MN train. He also took the Metro North going North.
.jpg)
I just did a google search. I was planning to get a street view of the Bronx Station area, but instead I was taken to the Google "Bird's eye view". Cool!!! I was able to see a bird's eye view of the area. From what I could see, I think Google has thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of satellite photos. Or, Google hires people to drive around and take digital photos of various areas, and then upload the photos. Depending on the angle you want, you will receive photos that are different ages. For example, just looking at the Marble Hill area of the Bronx, different angles of bird's eye view, I could see some photos that were older than others. Looking south would only show photos of the area from a year (or two) ago, where the area was just a very large construction site. Cool. I attached a photo of the Bronx station area. On the right side is the train station steps and the Target Store complex.
Much more than I was planning to write. Quick summary. It is now 3:54AM.
I was just going to write that I took the MN train to Yonkers and got off the train to go to the bank. Since I had about 2O minutes, I decided to go to the grocery store for milk and orange juice. My cart was full yesterday, so I could not go. Anyway, I finish shopping and was hurrying to catch the next train. However, I was about 2 minutes too slow. I missed the train, which meant another 30 minute wait. Luckily for me, the Yonker's station has a waiting area inside the station. In the end, I arrived home about 8:40PM. I had leftovers for dinner (sweet and sour chicken). Then, I prompt fell asleep on the couch. I woke up about 2AM.
Post Date - Sunday, March 16, 2008 2:31PM
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Quick entry (while my dinner settles). Last night (actually this morning), I went to bed at 2AM and was up again at 6:20AM. Surprisingly, I was not as tired as I was expecting to be.
Today turned out to be another okay day. The literacy block program was cancelled today due to the school-wide practice test. And, the literacy program will be cancelled tomorrow for a "Day 2" practice math test. Also adding to my pleasant day, was the absence of three of my students (including Drama Queen, and Princess). My day ended with not a lot of stress. I had wanted to be out of the building by 4 or 4:30, but I ended up falling into an old pattern. After chatting with other teachers, and making copies, it was past 4:30PM. I did manage to make all the copies for my homework for the remainder of the week using the faculty copy machine. My personal copier is running low on ink((about $88 to replace) and the drum will soon need to be replaced (about $188 to replace).
I arrived home about 6:30PM. I had a Weight Watcher's meal for dinner. After I finish this blog entry, then I will get on my rowing machine (I hope). This time, I will need to jump in the shower as soon as I finish, or I'll fall asleep before I get in the shower.
Oh, I almost forgot. On my way out of the building today, the principal stopped me to ask if I was interested in going out of state for a 2-day professional development training workshop. The training is for the new literacy program that we started using this year. What days? The 3 days right before the Spring Break vacation. A part of me was excited about getting out of the building for a couple of days. However, a part of me is a bit worried about the idea of leaving my class for a couple of days, right before the vacation, and not returning until after the vacation. Knowing me, I will spend too much time (during the vacation) worrying about the condition of my classroom.
And lastly, I finished reading E.E. Knight's book, "Dragon Outcast". Other than the reason I mentioned in the previous blog entry, I liked the book. I am looking forward to the next book.
Well, I better go. It is almost 8PM. I am tired, but I know I should at least get on the rowing machine. I also want to correct some papers. Hopefully, I will be able to grade at least a few papers before I fall asleep.
Post Date - Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:00PM
Today turned out to be another okay day. The literacy block program was cancelled today due to the school-wide practice test. And, the literacy program will be cancelled tomorrow for a "Day 2" practice math test. Also adding to my pleasant day, was the absence of three of my students (including Drama Queen, and Princess). My day ended with not a lot of stress. I had wanted to be out of the building by 4 or 4:30, but I ended up falling into an old pattern. After chatting with other teachers, and making copies, it was past 4:30PM. I did manage to make all the copies for my homework for the remainder of the week using the faculty copy machine. My personal copier is running low on ink((about $88 to replace) and the drum will soon need to be replaced (about $188 to replace).
I arrived home about 6:30PM. I had a Weight Watcher's meal for dinner. After I finish this blog entry, then I will get on my rowing machine (I hope). This time, I will need to jump in the shower as soon as I finish, or I'll fall asleep before I get in the shower.
Oh, I almost forgot. On my way out of the building today, the principal stopped me to ask if I was interested in going out of state for a 2-day professional development training workshop. The training is for the new literacy program that we started using this year. What days? The 3 days right before the Spring Break vacation. A part of me was excited about getting out of the building for a couple of days. However, a part of me is a bit worried about the idea of leaving my class for a couple of days, right before the vacation, and not returning until after the vacation. Knowing me, I will spend too much time (during the vacation) worrying about the condition of my classroom.
And lastly, I finished reading E.E. Knight's book, "Dragon Outcast". Other than the reason I mentioned in the previous blog entry, I liked the book. I am looking forward to the next book.
Well, I better go. It is almost 8PM. I am tired, but I know I should at least get on the rowing machine. I also want to correct some papers. Hopefully, I will be able to grade at least a few papers before I fall asleep.
Post Date - Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:00PM
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A nice trip over the Brooklyn Bridge. I've been over the bridge a few times, but it was still a very nice walking event. As I mentioned in the previous entry, I met an epal and we decided to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and see a movie.
Today started about 9:30AM. I had apple & cinnamon Cream of Wheat and a cup of hot green tea(no sugar). I then had a bath. Unfortunately, the hot water was off or very, very low. I was planning to take the 11:30 Metro-North train, but I missed it. One minute it was 11:26AM, and I felt relaxed that I had time to walk to the train. However, usually when my watch says 4 minutes to go, I break into a run to make sure I don't miss the train. I often run when my watch says 4 minutes. This time, I forgot to run, and the train was at the station when I arrived. Backup plan was to take the Westchester bus to the 242nd street subway station in the Bronx. Luckily for me, my backup plan worked. I arrived at the meeting spot with 4 minutes to spare. Strange. I hate being late, but I seem to do things that put me too close to the assigned time. My epal arrived about 5 minutes late, but at least he called to let me know. We met at the tourist booth right outside of City Hall Park. From there we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. Since I was suppose to be the native New Yorker, I tried to play the tour guide role, but I don't think I was very successful. It may have been the cold or his leg, either way, the guy didn't seem impressed or interested in my lame tour guiding attempt. I think the guy was more interested in just reaching our final destination(the movie theater). The guy injored his leg, so he had a bit of a limp when he walked. Once on the Brooklyn side of the bridge, we walked to the teacher's store I've mentioned on this blog a few times.
What happened to the paperwork that I was planning to drop of at Board of Ed HQ?
Last night, after getting off the computer and eating dinner...I fell asleep. So, I told the guy that we would skip the HQ detour. Once in the teacher's store, I told the guy to keep track of the time, because as the regular readers of this blog knows, I tend to get lost (and deeper in debt) when I go there. We didn't stay long. I thought it was nice of the guy to come with me to the store, but I don't think he was too excited about the store. I think you'd have to be a teacher (or a parent with kids), to find any interest in a teacher supply store. Although, now that I thnk about it, the guy could have been thinking about his injury.
After the teacher's store, we walked to the movie theater. I found the theater with a Google Search yesterday evening. The movie theater looked like a "Mom & Pop" kind of operation. The elderly lady took our money, but the theater policy was that she would not let us in until about 10 minutes before the start of the movie. Since the guy is just getting settled in here in NYC, I paid for both tickets(special showing Tues. & Thurs. $6). Since we couldn't go in, we just stood in front waiting, but I was uncomfortable standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and asked the guy if he wanted to walk some more. The guy was a very nice guy. He was also very agreeable. That was nice, but a bit unusual. I don't think I've ever met someone who agreed with every suggestion I made no questions asked. Anyway, I thought we would walk 10 minutes down the street and 10 minutes back. During the walk, the guy told me about his former roommate (now neighbor), and the other neighbors in his building. Needless to say, if his TV ever stops working, I mentioned that he could have all the drama he needs by putting his ear to a different wall, ceiling, or floor depending on what drama he was in the mood for. Since this blog isn't about neighbors or my epal, I am not going to repeat the stories here. After the walk, we went inside the Mom/Pop theater. I treated the guy to whatever he wanted. He got a small popcorn with extra butter and a small soda. I just had a small popcorn($12.50 total). Back to the theater description. It was very small. I think the theater originally had only one main screen, but the owner (probably the elderly lady that took our ticket) divided the theater into four small showing rooms. There were two (showing rooms) on the ground floor and two above. Our showing room had(if I am not mistaken), a width of ten seats. The aisle divided between the six seats and four.
The movie. We saw the Spiderwick Chronicles. I liked the movie. It was based on a children's book, but I think the director got a bit carried away. The creatures (I think) would scare young children, however, I think that just made it a better movie for adults. Oh, my epal and I were the only two adults in the viewing room. There were about 5 families with young children in the room. After the movie, it was still light outside, I asked my epal if he was up to walking back over the Brooklyn Bridge. However, with the pause and the hesitation (and the more pronounced limp), I knew we were done with walking. We both took the #3 train. My epal took the train to Chambers street, he said that he was going to HomeDepot. I rode the train all the way uptown. My foster father called me yesterday to let me know that I had a summons for jury duty. Apparently, my previous letter didn't get through. I stayed at my foster father's place for about an hour. Then, I returned home. On my way to the Metro-North station, I stopped off at the Korean Soul Food restaurant. I thnk I've mentioned this place here on my blog a few times. It is a popular restaurant chain owned by Koreans, there are three of them in the Harlem area (2 on 125th street, and one on 135th street). I was home about 8PM.
Well, I think that is about it. The walking was nice, and I really like the movie. I wouldn't mind doing it again, but I think next time, I will check to make sure the guy's leg is okay for walking.
Tomorrow, I will have to clean my apartment. That was the second priority on my list of things to do. Part of my workday stress comes from my messy apartment. I would like to go to the mall either Thursday, or Friday, but if I don't clean my room, then I will have to put off my mall trip again.
PS - I attached a photo of the only picture I took today. The photo os of athe top portion of the Brooklyn Bridge, with the blue sky in the background.
Post Date - Tuesday, February 19, 2008 10:17PM
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
A bit of a long day. With a 2:30am bedtime the night before, this morning I was really moving slow. I ended up missing my train this morning. I took a taxi to school. For most of the morning, my kids were okay. Oh, AP2 passed out the new daily schedule:
Periods
1. (Math)Test Prep Skills
2. Literacy Block with students from various classes and grade-levels.
3. Math - Day One Test Prep type of material
4. Lunch
5. Math - Day Two Test Prep type of material
6. Math Projects/portfolio activities
7. Extended Groups
During lunch, there was another drama episode with Drama Queen. As soon as I walked into the lunchroom to pick up my class, DQ (according to the school aids and Giggles) managed to get a group of girls from my class and a group of girls from a fourth grade class to taut and tease Giggles. According to DQ, she was just talking about "Blah, blah, blah"(her exact words). When I asked for clarification, she said that she was talking about how I gave too much homework. Her partner in crime (Cackler)said that they were just talking about how "they were bad when they were younger" (her exact words), then partner in crime said that they were talking about another Giggles. I let DQ tell me her side of the story. I made sure to let her finish her side. After she finished, I checked to make sure she had not left anything out, or forgotten anything. When she finished, to be honest, I went ballistic! Same drama, same nonsense! Then DQ's story changed to it was Giggles who "started it". Then, DQ's story changed to Giggles threatened to jump her after school. Never mind, DQ is always picked up by her mother (in a car) or her uncle (again in a car), and never mind that Giggles stays in school for the after school program(doesn't leave the building until 5pm), and never mind that I personally stand outside at dismissal time until every pick up is picked up. When DQ was not getting any sympathy from me, then she turned on the waterworks. I went almost nuclear (if that was possible). DQ cried a river over how I don't listen to her, or how I didn't say anything when she told me that Giggles was threatening her and her family. This is a girl who will change her story in a matter of seconds. She will even add parts as she is speaking all the while looking to to see if she is getting a reaction.
Anyway, I was just not in the mood for the drama. DQ went to cry at another table, and yes, she was surrounded by caring friends who wanted to know who made her cry and why DQ was crying. Since there was a delay(again), my class was just getting their lunch when I arrived 3 or 4 minutes late. Yes, late. I usually don't bother coming down to pick up my class on time anymore because they will usually be just getting served their food. The kitchen staff is great, friendly, and generous with the teacher's portions when they can, however, they are a bit slow. Nice, very nice, but slow.
Anyway, after a few minutes of boo hoo hooing, DQ changed location in the lunchroom, to another area when she is again surrounded by well-wishers, and concerned friends wanting to hear her sides. Finally, when it is time to go, DQ comes to me to tell me she didn't eat. I went ballistic again! There is more to this, but I think you get the idea. DQ now wants to tell her side to the guidance conselor type (I really don't know what he is). This is the guy who is suppose to be doing a conflict resolution program, where he is suppose to come to my class one period per week, but thus far (over the past few months), he has only come about 3 times. One time, one of my students saw him "downstairs eating". Another time, he "forgot the time". The last drama episode, (about an hour before he was due to come) after saying that he was coming to straighten out the mess once and for all, he showed up about 10 minutes near the end of his assigned period to lecture the whole class about "ugly behavior". Since DQ was putting on such a show, the Guidance Guy said that he was coming up to settled this nonsense. To be honest, I was a bit surprised when he actually showed (and it wasn't even his day to come). Unfortunately, he started to lecture the whole class again. This time, I politely interupted and explained that it is the same 4 girls, not the whole class, so the Guidance Guy took the 4 girls out. That drama episode put me in a really bad mood.
Later, running into the Ms. K6 --the teacher who was bumped from her kindergarten class to be co-teacher to a special ed 6th grade class of 30 students...ouch!! Anyway, she had mentioned that she would probably be staying in school until 7 or 7:30pm. Even though I wanted to be out of the building by 6:30pm, I found myself leaving about 7:30pm. There was about an inch of snow that fell. I offered to walk her to the bus stop. I then offered to what until the bus came. She tried to call for a taxi, but none were available at that time(snow). Then she told me where she lived....about 10 blocks from the school. When I lived in Manhattan, I used to walk about 10 blocks just to get the train. So walking was not a problem. I offered to carry her bag, her other bag I put in my granny cart. I gave her my umbrella since she did not have hers. Both bags were about 10 or 15lbs. After walking Ms. K6 home, I headed home myself. I arrived home about 9:30PM. Tired!!
Post Date - Friday, February, 15, 2008 11:20PM
A bit of a long day. With a 2:30am bedtime the night before, this morning I was really moving slow. I ended up missing my train this morning. I took a taxi to school. For most of the morning, my kids were okay. Oh, AP2 passed out the new daily schedule:
Periods
1. (Math)Test Prep Skills
2. Literacy Block with students from various classes and grade-levels.
3. Math - Day One Test Prep type of material
4. Lunch
5. Math - Day Two Test Prep type of material
6. Math Projects/portfolio activities
7. Extended Groups
During lunch, there was another drama episode with Drama Queen. As soon as I walked into the lunchroom to pick up my class, DQ (according to the school aids and Giggles) managed to get a group of girls from my class and a group of girls from a fourth grade class to taut and tease Giggles. According to DQ, she was just talking about "Blah, blah, blah"(her exact words). When I asked for clarification, she said that she was talking about how I gave too much homework. Her partner in crime (Cackler)said that they were just talking about how "they were bad when they were younger" (her exact words), then partner in crime said that they were talking about another Giggles. I let DQ tell me her side of the story. I made sure to let her finish her side. After she finished, I checked to make sure she had not left anything out, or forgotten anything. When she finished, to be honest, I went ballistic! Same drama, same nonsense! Then DQ's story changed to it was Giggles who "started it". Then, DQ's story changed to Giggles threatened to jump her after school. Never mind, DQ is always picked up by her mother (in a car) or her uncle (again in a car), and never mind that Giggles stays in school for the after school program(doesn't leave the building until 5pm), and never mind that I personally stand outside at dismissal time until every pick up is picked up. When DQ was not getting any sympathy from me, then she turned on the waterworks. I went almost nuclear (if that was possible). DQ cried a river over how I don't listen to her, or how I didn't say anything when she told me that Giggles was threatening her and her family. This is a girl who will change her story in a matter of seconds. She will even add parts as she is speaking all the while looking to to see if she is getting a reaction.
Anyway, I was just not in the mood for the drama. DQ went to cry at another table, and yes, she was surrounded by caring friends who wanted to know who made her cry and why DQ was crying. Since there was a delay(again), my class was just getting their lunch when I arrived 3 or 4 minutes late. Yes, late. I usually don't bother coming down to pick up my class on time anymore because they will usually be just getting served their food. The kitchen staff is great, friendly, and generous with the teacher's portions when they can, however, they are a bit slow. Nice, very nice, but slow.
Anyway, after a few minutes of boo hoo hooing, DQ changed location in the lunchroom, to another area when she is again surrounded by well-wishers, and concerned friends wanting to hear her sides. Finally, when it is time to go, DQ comes to me to tell me she didn't eat. I went ballistic again! There is more to this, but I think you get the idea. DQ now wants to tell her side to the guidance conselor type (I really don't know what he is). This is the guy who is suppose to be doing a conflict resolution program, where he is suppose to come to my class one period per week, but thus far (over the past few months), he has only come about 3 times. One time, one of my students saw him "downstairs eating". Another time, he "forgot the time". The last drama episode, (about an hour before he was due to come) after saying that he was coming to straighten out the mess once and for all, he showed up about 10 minutes near the end of his assigned period to lecture the whole class about "ugly behavior". Since DQ was putting on such a show, the Guidance Guy said that he was coming up to settled this nonsense. To be honest, I was a bit surprised when he actually showed (and it wasn't even his day to come). Unfortunately, he started to lecture the whole class again. This time, I politely interupted and explained that it is the same 4 girls, not the whole class, so the Guidance Guy took the 4 girls out. That drama episode put me in a really bad mood.
Later, running into the Ms. K6 --the teacher who was bumped from her kindergarten class to be co-teacher to a special ed 6th grade class of 30 students...ouch!! Anyway, she had mentioned that she would probably be staying in school until 7 or 7:30pm. Even though I wanted to be out of the building by 6:30pm, I found myself leaving about 7:30pm. There was about an inch of snow that fell. I offered to walk her to the bus stop. I then offered to what until the bus came. She tried to call for a taxi, but none were available at that time(snow). Then she told me where she lived....about 10 blocks from the school. When I lived in Manhattan, I used to walk about 10 blocks just to get the train. So walking was not a problem. I offered to carry her bag, her other bag I put in my granny cart. I gave her my umbrella since she did not have hers. Both bags were about 10 or 15lbs. After walking Ms. K6 home, I headed home myself. I arrived home about 9:30PM. Tired!!
Post Date - Friday, February, 15, 2008 11:20PM
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Today (Tuesday) was a trip day. It was my class' turn to go to the Community Program teaching safety for kids in and around cars. I had 5 kids stay in school and two kids absent. Since the weather was not great, the kids were not allowed to ride bikes which was a part of the program. Although the program was only a few blocks away, AP1 ordered a bus. The program is located in a public school. A part of the street is gated off and modeled to be like any other city street. After a lesson on safety in and around cars, we were taken outside to practice what was taught. While the presenter did his lecture in the classroom, I just graded papers. Outside, I took pictures. I was happy that my kids were on their best behavior. I've attached a couple of photos. The first is one of the signs in the gated off area. The other photo is of a couple of my kids practicing crossing the street safely (when there are parked cars).
As for the rest of the day, we ate lunch when we returned to class. The rest of the day was uneventful. Oh, the data coordinator at the end of the school day stopped me to tell me that my class did well on the predicative test for the coming NYS Math Test. My students scored 74% on the muliple-choice, and 64% on the extended response portion. Extended response requires the students to be able to write out an answer and explain (in writing) how they arrived at their answer. The coordinator also showed me the other third grade teacher's scores. She also mentioned that overall, the school did not do well on the extended response. The principal's goals for the school is to score 50% (or higher) on the NYS Test. I felt good about the test scores.
My plan was to leave school about 4:30pm. I even took out the ground turkey meat to make spaghetti when I came home, but my day ended similar to many of the previous days. I was planning to leave at 4:30pm, but I got stopped by Ms. Across the Hall. I then settled for 5pm, but I finally got out of my class at about 5:10 only to be stopped by the Social Studies teacher with a brief conversation about how I was leaving early. Then I got stopped by the 4th grade teacher who told me about Cackler's behavior. I had left Cackler with the 4th grade teacher, she did not deserve to go on the trip. Then the security guard gave me details about Cackler's home life. Cackler is living with the new baby's daddy who isn't her(Cackler's) father. I was finally out of the building about 5:40pm. The subway train choose today to act up. After about 5 minutes, the first train skipped my stop. The next train arrived soon after, but it moved slower than usual. As a result, I arrived in the Bronx with about 1 minute before the MN train was due to leave. I was not about to even try running for the train, so I had to wait for the next train.
At home, I had a Weight Watcher's meal, then I fell asleep. I woke up a few hours ago and watched a bit of the election coverage. Since I am an independant, I can't vote in the Primaries.
Well, that's it for now.
Post Date - Tuesday, February 5, 2008 1:43AM
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
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
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Another relapse. The night before was a regular (irregular) sleep night. I left school about 6:45PM. The schedule for Wednesday is an in-house half-day training for the new literacy program. Yes, the same program that required teachers to report two days earlier at the beginning of the school year (instead of getting classrooms ready). The program that started about a month and a half after school started. And yes, the same program that we are currently using older versions of the materials because the new materials have not arrived yet. Training will be on the new materials.
At first, I wasn't sure how the training day was scheduled (plus the irregular sleep routine turned my mind to mush. By three, I was both mentally and physically drained, so I kind of drifted and wandered, until I could finally focus, by then it was about 6:00PM. There were a few things going through my mind at the same time (the training [did I need to plan activities for the teacher(s) covering my class], student behavior, portfolio development, portfolio components, social studies, writing rubrics, etc...). In the end, I just threw a few books and materials into the granny cart with the (false) plan of getting it organized when I got home.
When I got home, I had planned to call a couple of parents about behavior, but after dinner, I fell asleep. For dinner I ate a Weight Watchers "Smart Ones" meal. I added a cup of microwavable rice to the meal to help fill me up. For dessert, I ate a couple of cups of Blueberry Morning cereal. I use the same disposable drinking cup, so that I don't have to wash dishes.
Oh, a quick comment about the microwavable rice. By now, you know that I like the microwavable mini cups. They are quick, convenient, and until recently, a healthier choice than some of the other possible food choices. Success Rice (an instant rice making company) was bought by Minute Rice.
What was the first thing Minute Rice did?
They added salt to the white and brown rice. There were favored rices that I usually avoided because of the sodium content. For example, Success Rice Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix has 390mg of sodium. I was satisfied with the white and brown rice. White rice had 0mg of sodium, and brown rice had about 5mg of sodium. Now, both have 175mg of sodium (about 7% of the recommended daily allowance of sodium intake).
Well, I better go. Above, I have attached photos of my recent bulletin board.
Post Date - Wednesday, December 5, 2007 2:46AM
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Formal Observation. Today was okay I guess. The kids were a bit hyper, but I was not in the best of moods (maybe the observation, but I don't think so. Or at least that was only part of it). The minute the regulars started their nonsense, I just started biting off heads. When Sticky fingers started her "look at me" routine, I just told her to get out. No escorting, no counting, no threatening, I just said "Get Out!". It must have been the way I said it, because I got no argument or discussion. It was nice. I told her to go sit in Ms. Across the Hall's room. Normally, I would escort the child (with something to do), but I just wasn't in the mood. I was doing listening practice for the ELA test. I've also learned a bit more about the power of body language. Not only mine, but the students' as well. Since Friday, I have not accepted students just looking at me as proof that they are listening. They have to have their hands not moving, writing, or any place I can't see them. Just an example.
During the literacy time, AP1 called to invite my group up to the library to listen to an author talk about her books. She was also selling autographed books for $10.
Observation was schedule for the period right after lunch. Yesterday, at a last minute called grade-level meeting, AP1 discussed what she was looking for in the observations (proof that data was driving instruction, and differentiated instruction).
So, how did it go? I guess it went okay. My aim was something like, "Students will learn about finding the area of a shape with 80% accuracy given 6 rectangles. Here, aims are supposed to be quantifiable. My Do Now was some Test Prep examples for the NYS Math Test. We defined area. I looked up the information in the student reference book. I differentiated instruction by giving out two practice work sheets (one high level, one not). I had students sitting in groups according to their abilities. As I explained the directions, I focused on the main ideas of completion that both practice sheets expected (finding the area inside shapes and provide a unit with the answer). The strange thing was that no one seemed to realize that I'd handed out different sheets. I moved from table to table. At the easy tables, the students just had to count the boxes in the shapes. At the other tables, the students had to read the questions about various shapes in order to find the area. When it was time to review, I just focused on getting an answer and did the students' add a unit with their answers. AP1 looked over students' shoulders, and took (what seemed like a lot of notes). At the end, I went back to the aim to see if we accomplished our aim. We didn't, but my students were a bit too eager to say yes we did. I had to explain to them that we didn't. I learned a long time ago that kids will usually say whatever they think the teacher wants them to say. Unfortunately, there are teachers that really don't think about that. They will seek positive answers unconsciously (and consciously), even when they are asking for honest answers.
I better stop now. I want to do a bit of school work, shower, then call it a night. I also want to try out my laminator. I want to make that student check off list.
Post Date - Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:28PM
During the literacy time, AP1 called to invite my group up to the library to listen to an author talk about her books. She was also selling autographed books for $10.
Observation was schedule for the period right after lunch. Yesterday, at a last minute called grade-level meeting, AP1 discussed what she was looking for in the observations (proof that data was driving instruction, and differentiated instruction).
So, how did it go? I guess it went okay. My aim was something like, "Students will learn about finding the area of a shape with 80% accuracy given 6 rectangles. Here, aims are supposed to be quantifiable. My Do Now was some Test Prep examples for the NYS Math Test. We defined area. I looked up the information in the student reference book. I differentiated instruction by giving out two practice work sheets (one high level, one not). I had students sitting in groups according to their abilities. As I explained the directions, I focused on the main ideas of completion that both practice sheets expected (finding the area inside shapes and provide a unit with the answer). The strange thing was that no one seemed to realize that I'd handed out different sheets. I moved from table to table. At the easy tables, the students just had to count the boxes in the shapes. At the other tables, the students had to read the questions about various shapes in order to find the area. When it was time to review, I just focused on getting an answer and did the students' add a unit with their answers. AP1 looked over students' shoulders, and took (what seemed like a lot of notes). At the end, I went back to the aim to see if we accomplished our aim. We didn't, but my students were a bit too eager to say yes we did. I had to explain to them that we didn't. I learned a long time ago that kids will usually say whatever they think the teacher wants them to say. Unfortunately, there are teachers that really don't think about that. They will seek positive answers unconsciously (and consciously), even when they are asking for honest answers.
I better stop now. I want to do a bit of school work, shower, then call it a night. I also want to try out my laminator. I want to make that student check off list.
Post Date - Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:28PM
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Okay, quick chat. Yes, yes I know, but I will try. I just woke up from a crash and burn sleep in my chair. Quick summary...I hope. Today, my after-school goal is to get a gripe on the mounds of paper cluttering my classroom, mounds of books cluttering corners, and repositioning my furniture. I can no longer take having my "teacher's space" split in half. Remember, I have my teacher's desk by the windows, but my "baby" is in the corner in the back of the room(copy machine). For the past couple of months, I have been alternating between the two areas, however, I spend most of my "off time" in the back. Too many times this year, I've not been able to find something that should have been readily available. No sooner have I gotten a grip on my space, something has been thrown at me, so that I end up making another mound of this or that. If given an opportunity, I think things to have a place, and everything in its place. Uh...so much for quick.\
This morning (really yesterday since it is now after midnight), with about an hour of sleep, I pulled myself out of bed. With about 30 minutes to go, I had to pull myself to together. With a quick "morning rest", I did not have much time to do anything else. I did manage to shave with my new Gillette "fusion" razor. A quick sponge off, I was out of the door to catch my train. I had wanted to try the new organic oatmeal, but I didn't have enough time, not even the 3 minutes it would have taken to boil water.
Once I arrived to the Bronx, I bought a Nutriment drink and iced honey bun.
The kids were a bit hyper today. During my "literacy grouping", a couple of kids had a fight. AP1 called for something, while I was on the phone, the boy threatened to slap the girl. The girl dared him, so he did. Both were 5th graders. Wait. You are saying, "don't you teach 3rd graders?" The "new program" requires me to spend 2 periods teaching a "literacy blocked program" to another completely different group of kids. So, I was assigned to be one of the teachers to teacher students reading at the approx. 2.2 reading level. So, my group of 16 students all 4th and 5th graders are reading at a second grade level (I have one 3rd grader). The kicker, is that I still have to provide the same level of accountability for my regular kids in terms of reading, writing and test prep, without any real knowledge of what they are doing for the "literacy block". The same applies for the kids that I have. Sorry, sidetrack.
I thought I would like this program better than the other, but I guess I was wrong to wish that "anything would be better than the what we have now" wish from last year.
After the literacy block, was to be my prep, but AP1 called at last minute to let me (and the other 3rd grade teachers) know that she wanted us to plan together the homework packet for the Thanksgiving recess. I was annoyed. I did not mind collaborating, but not at the last minute. The nicely put together packet that I had used last year was no longer good enough. We were called together to look through free samples of test prep materials that she picked up at a last admin conference. None of the materials were photocopiable. Unfortunately, I do sometimes photocopy unphotocopiable materials, but I try not to. I rationalize that most materials allow a classroom teacher to copy for the good of his or her students when the motive is not profit related. However, I felt a little bit uncomfortable with admin having us sit down a "white out" some company that took the time to stamp do not photocopy across each page of the test prep book. "Down the hall" 3rd grade teacher noticed that since the copy came out gray and barely noticeable, then we would not need to "white out" much. I really did not want to sit and white out materials, so I went to my class to get some materials that could be photocopied. Strange, I do it alone, but in a group, I have a problem with it. Strange.
When I got back from my "prep", I had about 40 minutes before lunch, I used that time for my students to finish up their "bulletin board" writing. My original bulletin board topic was character sketches. Since I had a couple of students who did not have the teacher's once over, and several students who did not type their report, I did this last minute changed. The plan was that since the "original" idea (writing) was almost finished, then I could use that for next bulletin board which would be the first time, my bulletin board would be completed on time. However, things are not going as planned. The last few days has been trying to get my students to do a decent piece of writing. What I've gotten has been anything but great, but with all of the other things that have to be done, I don't have time to really do a job that I would like to do.
Today after 3PM, after my brief crash and burn recuperation, I put up my "November" bulletin board. It is now Nov. 21st. I read two books:
All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky
Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey by by Joy Cowley and Joe Cepeda
My students then had to complete a couple of worksheets (one facts about turkeys and the other a story map). Having my students do rough drafts before doing the worksheets really didn't help very much. The worksheets still came out crappy. Half ignored my corrections. I am going to have to learn to stop accepting crappy work!!!
Afterwards, my students had to make paper turkeys. The worksheets look sloppy, but since I waited until the last minute, I really can't have the kids do it over. After this recess, I really am going to have to work on my organization and classroom management. I have to learn to not accept crap from my students. I did have my camera with me, but I will take a photo today. So my opinion is that I basically put crap up on the wall. However, since a lot of teachers don't really do hands on art activities, I think I might get a few "ooo" and ahhhs".
Post Date - Wednesday, November 21, 2007 1:32AM
This morning (really yesterday since it is now after midnight), with about an hour of sleep, I pulled myself out of bed. With about 30 minutes to go, I had to pull myself to together. With a quick "morning rest", I did not have much time to do anything else. I did manage to shave with my new Gillette "fusion" razor. A quick sponge off, I was out of the door to catch my train. I had wanted to try the new organic oatmeal, but I didn't have enough time, not even the 3 minutes it would have taken to boil water.
Once I arrived to the Bronx, I bought a Nutriment drink and iced honey bun.
The kids were a bit hyper today. During my "literacy grouping", a couple of kids had a fight. AP1 called for something, while I was on the phone, the boy threatened to slap the girl. The girl dared him, so he did. Both were 5th graders. Wait. You are saying, "don't you teach 3rd graders?" The "new program" requires me to spend 2 periods teaching a "literacy blocked program" to another completely different group of kids. So, I was assigned to be one of the teachers to teacher students reading at the approx. 2.2 reading level. So, my group of 16 students all 4th and 5th graders are reading at a second grade level (I have one 3rd grader). The kicker, is that I still have to provide the same level of accountability for my regular kids in terms of reading, writing and test prep, without any real knowledge of what they are doing for the "literacy block". The same applies for the kids that I have. Sorry, sidetrack.
I thought I would like this program better than the other, but I guess I was wrong to wish that "anything would be better than the what we have now" wish from last year.
After the literacy block, was to be my prep, but AP1 called at last minute to let me (and the other 3rd grade teachers) know that she wanted us to plan together the homework packet for the Thanksgiving recess. I was annoyed. I did not mind collaborating, but not at the last minute. The nicely put together packet that I had used last year was no longer good enough. We were called together to look through free samples of test prep materials that she picked up at a last admin conference. None of the materials were photocopiable. Unfortunately, I do sometimes photocopy unphotocopiable materials, but I try not to. I rationalize that most materials allow a classroom teacher to copy for the good of his or her students when the motive is not profit related. However, I felt a little bit uncomfortable with admin having us sit down a "white out" some company that took the time to stamp do not photocopy across each page of the test prep book. "Down the hall" 3rd grade teacher noticed that since the copy came out gray and barely noticeable, then we would not need to "white out" much. I really did not want to sit and white out materials, so I went to my class to get some materials that could be photocopied. Strange, I do it alone, but in a group, I have a problem with it. Strange.
When I got back from my "prep", I had about 40 minutes before lunch, I used that time for my students to finish up their "bulletin board" writing. My original bulletin board topic was character sketches. Since I had a couple of students who did not have the teacher's once over, and several students who did not type their report, I did this last minute changed. The plan was that since the "original" idea (writing) was almost finished, then I could use that for next bulletin board which would be the first time, my bulletin board would be completed on time. However, things are not going as planned. The last few days has been trying to get my students to do a decent piece of writing. What I've gotten has been anything but great, but with all of the other things that have to be done, I don't have time to really do a job that I would like to do.
Today after 3PM, after my brief crash and burn recuperation, I put up my "November" bulletin board. It is now Nov. 21st. I read two books:
All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky
Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey by by Joy Cowley and Joe Cepeda
My students then had to complete a couple of worksheets (one facts about turkeys and the other a story map). Having my students do rough drafts before doing the worksheets really didn't help very much. The worksheets still came out crappy. Half ignored my corrections. I am going to have to learn to stop accepting crappy work!!!
Afterwards, my students had to make paper turkeys. The worksheets look sloppy, but since I waited until the last minute, I really can't have the kids do it over. After this recess, I really am going to have to work on my organization and classroom management. I have to learn to not accept crap from my students. I did have my camera with me, but I will take a photo today. So my opinion is that I basically put crap up on the wall. However, since a lot of teachers don't really do hands on art activities, I think I might get a few "ooo" and ahhhs".
Post Date - Wednesday, November 21, 2007 1:32AM
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Today was basically an okay day, a day after the three-day Columbus holiday. Nothing major, just the usually headache. Example? Sticky-finger Fredda was in one of her playful moods. She blows a whistle in class in the middle of a lesson, then laughs. I take the whistle. About 2 minutes later, she is playing with a toy, so I take the toy. She laughs. About another 2 minutes later, she takes out a toy puzzle and proceeds to play with it on her desk...yes, in the middle of the lesson. I take the puzzle. Threatened to call her mother. And reminding her how her mother doesn't like hearing from me. With the reminder, she decides to start imitating a baseball player in front of the room with a balled up wad of paper as her ball(one of the "since I'm in trouble, I don't care" disruptive and/or distructive behaviors. I had had enough. I wanted to throw her out(dragging her into the hallway if necessary). Teachers are discouraged from putting kids in the hallway. I settled for sending her to a former teacher with some work to complete independently. Later of course, I spoke to the mother...yet again. I was surprised how attentive the mother seemed. Not the usually "I gotta go body language". After about 5 minutes, the mother asks when her daughter is coming out. It turned out the mother was only humoring me waiting for her daughter to come out. Mom didn't know that today was the first day of our schools after-school program. The empty sidewalk in front of the school should have been a clue.
I was planning to go to the gym, but feeling disorganized in the classroom and with the students' work, I changed my mind.
I ended up leaving the building about 6pm. At home, I spent about 1.5 hours preparing for an art project. With the students' researched report on different types of spiders, they are going to make spiders with arts & craft materials. A part of the bulletin board display would feature the students' spiders on a spun web background. To make the spun web background, the frames are paper plates with the center cut out, and 40 holes cut around the perimeter. I did the cutting and hole punching.
After the art prep, I relaxed in the bath and then fell asleep.
Post Date - Saturday, October 13, 2007 10:34pm
Today was basically an okay day, a day after the three-day Columbus holiday. Nothing major, just the usually headache. Example? Sticky-finger Fredda was in one of her playful moods. She blows a whistle in class in the middle of a lesson, then laughs. I take the whistle. About 2 minutes later, she is playing with a toy, so I take the toy. She laughs. About another 2 minutes later, she takes out a toy puzzle and proceeds to play with it on her desk...yes, in the middle of the lesson. I take the puzzle. Threatened to call her mother. And reminding her how her mother doesn't like hearing from me. With the reminder, she decides to start imitating a baseball player in front of the room with a balled up wad of paper as her ball(one of the "since I'm in trouble, I don't care" disruptive and/or distructive behaviors. I had had enough. I wanted to throw her out(dragging her into the hallway if necessary). Teachers are discouraged from putting kids in the hallway. I settled for sending her to a former teacher with some work to complete independently. Later of course, I spoke to the mother...yet again. I was surprised how attentive the mother seemed. Not the usually "I gotta go body language". After about 5 minutes, the mother asks when her daughter is coming out. It turned out the mother was only humoring me waiting for her daughter to come out. Mom didn't know that today was the first day of our schools after-school program. The empty sidewalk in front of the school should have been a clue.
I was planning to go to the gym, but feeling disorganized in the classroom and with the students' work, I changed my mind.
I ended up leaving the building about 6pm. At home, I spent about 1.5 hours preparing for an art project. With the students' researched report on different types of spiders, they are going to make spiders with arts & craft materials. A part of the bulletin board display would feature the students' spiders on a spun web background. To make the spun web background, the frames are paper plates with the center cut out, and 40 holes cut around the perimeter. I did the cutting and hole punching.
After the art prep, I relaxed in the bath and then fell asleep.
Post Date - Saturday, October 13, 2007 10:34pm
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