Hurricanes in Kansas & the Neighbor to Ohio

It's interesting the lack of geographic knowledge that New Yorkers have of any area outside of the Northeast. (Not that my knowledge of the Northeast is top, but I have a bit better sense than what you are about to hear!)

One person, whom I work with, had a whole conversation with me about the devastation of hurricanes in Kansas. I tried to explain that there is actually no devastation caused by hurricanes in Kansas. We do, indeed, have tornadoes, and they do, indeed, cause destruction... but hurricanes and tornadoes are quite different. I am still unsure if he was just completely confused about the difference between hurricanes and tornadoes, or if he is confused about the location of Kansas compared to the paths of hurricanes.

Another person at my school, a substitute teacher and someone who's been working in the NYC DOE for over 20 years, was surprised to hear I moved from Kansas... At first, though, she thought I said Kentucky, twice. The only reason I believe she thought this was because she didn't actually remember Kansas was a state (I spoke very loudly and clearly, trust me). I explained to her that Kansas was in the Midwest. As a light bulb appeared to go on, she asked, "Oh! That's right by Ohio, right?" .... Ummm... Right, only about 600 miles apart from the Eastern side of Kansas and the Western side of Ohio... but close. Or Not.

I would have expected our 5th graders to come into 5th grade with the prior knowledge of the locations of the 50 states. I am surprisingly Wrong. Very Wrong. They have no knowledge of states at all. Some don't even understand that New York is a state in the United States. One actually thought California was Alabama (pictures to come soon). Ahhh, the work I have ahead of me of not only educated my students, but also the people I work with.

Another Night In Williamsburg

Our friend, Russell, came into the city to visit this weekend. For Friday night, we had originally decided to hang out in Park Slope since we'd worked all day and were too exhausted to take the subway into the city. Then we began discussing Williamsburg as a possible place to visit... and it was decided that he Had to see it. I mean, where else do you see a village of hipsters?

It's a bird... It's a plane... NO! It's SUPER OBAMA!

Another Dain. I love the pictures that plaster the walls along the streets in Williamsburg.

After getting dinner at the Thai restaurant, Sea, we headed to Bar, a very chill bar in Williamsburg. After Bar, we stopped by another place we've previously visited. We didn't realize, but we were walked right into John's 30th Birthday party. (We don't know John.) According to his friend, the pictures that plastered the walls were created by a friend of theirs. She had taken his face in placed it on the heads of various people in various situations - some too inappropriate for this blog. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of John as Officer Donaghey above.

You can also find John here with a group of guys who "totally party". He's the second from the left.

Our last stop was another bar we've visited with Seth's brother. We were trying to figure out where it was and had given up the chance of finding it when we stumbled upon it at the end of the night. So in we went for a bottle of wine. Despite the sprinkles, we were able to enjoy their garden out back. Before we left, we took some time sitting in the windowsill seats.

Reading My Mind

This evening as I walked past the corner organic market on the way home, I noticed the small green buttons in the flower display. They were flowers that were included in my wedding bouquet, and they are my favorite color green! As I walked past, I wondered when I'd get flowers from Seth again and if he'd ever pick those green buttons to be the ones he'd bring home. My thoughts must have somehow stayed in front of that corner store waiting for him to come walking by, because when I greeted him at the door, he greeted me with the pretty green buttons!

I Hate the Subways Today

I've had some interesting subway experiences since I moved here. It's to be expected... cramming that many people, who only have public transit to rely on as a form of transportation (me included), onto a small subway car...

I can't forget about crazy Mary Smith, who gets right into your face and says, "Beautiful, could you give me some money? I'm real hunger" or "Handsome, could you spare some change?" This woman has no regard to personal space and her voice is the right on the verge of annoying. It's sad, but if I gave every person who asked for money some of mine, I'd have none left. (Unfortunately, I could only help about 37 of them anyways... I'm a person in need of it myself.)

Oh, and I'll never forget Mr. McCreepster who fell asleep on me for about 30 minutes of my subway ride home one night. This over sized man, who was overly tired, sure found me as a comfy pillow. I pushed him so many times, but his head (and whole body) still ended up leaning right on me. Unfortunately I was in one of the seats by a window on the old train, so I was trapped... and a point of laughter for some "sympathetic" commuters. I'm watching for those tired ones from now on, I'll give up my window seat so they have a place to lean, because I'm not really into being a pillow! 

Or what about the guy who FREAKED out and threatened death to two people (one being a subway operator)... all because they closed the windows in the subway car that needed to be closed anyway! It's miserable to get on a hot subway car because some jerk decided to open the windows and waste the cool air!... Yet, I wasn't going to speak up against Window Guy and tell him my opinions. He was missing a few too many bolts. The train conductor was calmly speaking codes into his walkie, and I was making a plan for escape. Luckily, before any murdering was committed, we stopped and I bailed to the next car up. 

There's always that guy who's snoring that you just want to punch... or the one who is listening to horrible music on the iPod, but you get stuck dealing with their terrible choice of music because they don't know how to monitor the volume (thank you Purple Shirt... right NEXT to me this morning). Yet, I can deal with these things. I just remind myself that these people have to be getting off eventually. 

This morning, though, I really hated the subway. I got about 3 stops from the one I needed, and the train just decided it wasn't going any further. Last stop!? What? I don't know how else to get there! I don't even know if I've ever been above ground in this neighborhood (or if I have any desire to be above ground in this neighborhood!) What in the WORLD am I supposed to do? Get a cab... good luck with that - hundreds of other stranded people have already got them! Take a bus? What bus? I don't have a bus map??? Of course, after many moments of panic, I realized I could try to get to the line my friend takes and take the bus that I think she takes which eventually goes right by my school. I had to just go on my best memory, because, as I was underground, it was impossible to call and ask to make sure I was doing the right thing. 

After 3 extra transfers, almost getting on a subway running the wrong way, and running after the bus to get them to stop for me, I made it to school 15 minutes before the day started. Ms. B said it was because the President was in town today. Traffic was horrid for drivers too... she was later than me! I think the President should go ahead and stay out of NY. I'd prefer to have an uneventful commute to school.

Messages of Peace

Celebration on the Roof

I was walking home from the grocery store tonight when I saw this celebration taking place on the roof of a building close to ours. I wish I were a part of the rooftop fun! We did get to hang out on the roof of our friend's apartment last night as we celebrated V and P's birthdays and the equinox. Unfortunately, the roof we hung out on wasn't as nice as this one... If I ever had the chance/money when we leave NYC, I'd want to build a home that had a rooftop deck.

Blogger Get-Together

Saturday night, I took the subway to the East Village to a restaurant called Zaitzeff to meet a group of teacher bloggers. It was a great chance to meet some of the teachers of whose blogs I've been reading for the past few months. It's also exciting to make some new friends and make more connections in the city. They'll be a great help in teaching me more about the city and teaching here. Plus I got to enjoy an excellent Veggie Burger. Sometime I want to go back and try their sweet potato fries!

Car Show

The cooler weather has allowed us to keep our windows open instead of running the A.C. which means the street noise is a little louder now. This morning we were woken up by car noises. Below us, the street was filled with fancy cars. We thought maybe it was a street parade, so we threw on our clothes and headed down to "Oooo" and "Ahhhh" at all the expensive, shiny cars. Turns out, it was a car show. The whole block was filled with parked cars (4 across).

Seth and I grabbed chilled coffee drinks from the coffee shop on the corner and walked through the car show admiring all the cars we could only dream of owning.

A Place for Teachers

After a New teacher event, I was stopped by a guy asking me to consider being a part of a documentary he was creating about "The Rubber Room". I had not the slightest idea was The Rubber Room was... Were they called the classroom? If so, what was I getting myself into... After watching the trailer for the documentary, I realized the Rubber Room is not the classroom, instead, it's a place to put teachers who are suspended from the classroom.

We have a teacher who was recently suspended and sent to the Rubber Room... A student claimed she did something (we don't know what exactly), and the teacher is now reporting daily to the Rubber Room for work instead of coming to school to teach. The teachers are there until they finish the investigation of the claim. Some can be there for a year, sitting in a room with nothing to do. They get paid to just sit there (and go crazy?). I'll have to check it out a bit more... but here's the documentary link and here's a link to another blog about the Rubber Room (I haven't read the blog completely, just glanced at it.) This so called "Rubber Room" scares me a little bit...

A Very Quick Post

I intended to come home and blog tonight... didn't happen. After getting my NYC DOE official I.D. (wahoo - going to get a deal on Broadway tickets now!), I came home to a kitchen full of dishes and a recipe for White Chili. I probably could have squeezed in some blogging time to write my own blog entries and catch you all up and to read the blogs I follow... but I talked to my brother, then my sister, and finally my mom. Just a bit ago, I was video chatting with my sister again and texting another one of my brothers. It's nice to get an evening full of them, despite some being in Texas and others in Kansas. I think I've been missing them and also realizing how much they mean to me.

So here's a Shout Out to my rocking Siblings!

Flowers in Trade for Dinner

BLTs for dinner tonight. Seth took this on for the dinner he'd make for the week... and then he just happened to "work late" tonight. I gave him a hard time for making me make dinner again... He brought me home flowers to make up for it. So sweet.

Attempting to Relax and Recover

My brain has not had time to calm down and relax over the second part of this last week. Now, sitting here in front of my computer with time to blog and reflect, I feel like I cannot remember what even happened over the past few days. Maybe my mind is already repressing those memories. Or maybe it's that I have sooo many little things in my mind, and I just don't have any energy left in me to organize it!

Thursday and Friday at school were rather exhausting (understatement). I feel like I'm not actually teaching anything, but instead, just being mean and making them behave all day. This has definitely got to change, and I've got to get control of what is going on in the classroom. There were moments, although brief, that I saw students engaged and learning... and those were the moments that pumped me back up with sanity and purpose to keep me moving through moments when I was ... well I don't know what I was doing, I just know I wasn't teaching... and students weren't learning. It's taking me a bit longer to get a focus on the direction of students' learning this year.

Seth headed to Atlantic City today with his brothers. I stayed home. They were trying to convince me to go, but I was rather looking forward to an afternoon to myself (minus all the city people around me... but my ability to ignore is improving from all the practice I get). Casinos depress me anyway, and I don't need anything bringing me down this weekend, the end of the week at school was enough. Anyway, they have a plan for this table/game that took all their money when we went last winter. I don't much like to gamble, but I'll bet they don't come back winners this time either!! :)

Before they left for A.C., Seth and I joined his brother, Ethan, and our friend, Pete, for brunch. Brunch has become a weekend tradition for us, and we've had the opportunity to eat at many different restaurants around the Slope. Last weekend, our Brunch destination was A.O.C. Bistro, where Seth discovered the BEST French Toast EVER (or so far that I've tasted!) The discovery pulled us back for a repeat visit today, but this time, there were 3 orders of French Toast for our table instead of only 1. Note for future NYC travelers: When you come to visit us, make sure you schedule in at least one weekend morning for brunch in Park Slope.

This afternoon, I headed into Herald Square at 34th street in search for clear contact paper. The three-floor 99 cent store didn't have any (that I could find), which is completely disappointing because we need it to cover our students' writer's notebooks so their pictures and stickers don't fall off or get picked off. The trip wasn't a complete waste though... Seth and I have wedding thank yous to write and send out (I know we are WAY late!), and we've decided it would fun to use New York City postcards! There's a little shop on 34th that has a great deal on postcards... I bought 140 of them. The guy in front of my on the check out line mentioned how I must have so many friends for all the cards I was buying!! :) (I know, I'm lucky) Postcards are a non-traditional thank you, but they are personal to us and unique - an element we tried to spread throughout our wedding day. Seth and I have a lot of work to do to get them all written, but I'd like to get those out as soon as possible... maybe the goal can be the end of this next week. I hope our dear family and friends don't mind that we are running a little late!

After coming back from the city, I took the subway to Grand Army Plaza to get some books at the library. I knew that if I put it off to walk there, it probably wouldn't happen... It's almost a mile up the hill to the library, and then another mile back down carrying the loads of books I always end up checking out. Visiting the library is probably the ONE time I Really wish I had a car. Anyone who knows about my library habits is probably wondering how I could make it home without a car... I've been known to check a few books out at a time. (How many, you ask... Last December, I had almost 70 out for classroom use. I had to leave town last minute, and they were all left sitting in my classroom past return time... my bill was over $85 in late fees. Luckily, the librarian was very considerate and waived it for me because of the circumstances.) I've had to cut back on my book stack, only getting enough to fill a reusable grocery bag (14 books)... and even that was torture to carry back. I'm not done moving them though, as I'll be carrying them to school with me on Monday (except for the book Blogging for Dummies, and yes, I just admitted to checking out that book!)

Past Few Days

Just thought I'd share a short note about my past few days... I was so lucky last night to see my dad, as he was in Jersey again for work and was able to come up for dinner in Brooklyn. I feel a bit spoiled, because I've seen him 3 times over the past 3 and a half months. Being so far away from my family, seeing any family at all is a huge thing!

School has been a huge roller coaster, up and down, stressful and fun... and some of our students have been outstanding... and some not so much... We've spent the past two days after school talking to parents and making phone calls. I've never been much for phone calls, but I'm realizing they will be a part of my teaching more this year, as I'm sure I'll be making at least weekly calls to some parents. The week has gone so fast, yet SOOO slow! Can't wait to be done with another Friday, but I'm also sad that I won't see my students for 2 days over the weekend. (I almost feel like I have 2 personalities!)

Today, a huge day of remembrance in New York, as 7 years ago, the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings shook the city. We spotted the 2 beams last night in the sky, but by the time we made it home after dessert at Sweet Melissa's, they were off. Tonight, they were shining bright as the reminder of what the city has experienced.


On a lighter note, 9/11 isn't only a day to remember a tragedy, it is also a day to celebrate a young life of a very special little girl - my youngest sister, Emma, turned 8 today. As I talked to her this evening, I couldn't help but smile and think about how lucky I am to have her as my youngest sister. I'm also very lucky that she called me to give me the chance to wish her happy birthday! (Which is EXTREMELY helpful, because anyone close to me can probably claim that I've missed wishing them happy birthday on time or at all! I have a really bad habit of remembering birthdays at a time in the day when I cannot call, like this morning at 5 a.m. my-time and 4 a.m. Emma-time, or not even remembering at all.)

I'm Always Thinking

Teachers have homework too, you know? (Maybe I need to tell my students this when they start complaining about how unfair it is that they have homework.) Tonight's was very enjoyable, though. My assignment was to decorate my Writer's Notebook. I have to say, that even though I spent about an hour and a half on it, I loved every second of it and cannot wait to show it off to my students. Ms. B and I wanted to have examples to inspire and model for the students the fun project of decorating our Writer's Notebook, which is tomorrow's writing lesson.

The cover of my Writer's Notebook.

The front and back of my notebook. I love the phrases I found in magazines.

The back cover of my Writer's Notebook. You should not be surprised to see a picture of Brooklyn Bridge on there. I also found a map of my neighborhood! Also, I love the flower and quote in the blue box in the right hand corner... You are the seed - Release the flower.

I even decorated the inside cover.

A Few Interesting Moments of the Last Week

Movie Filming. One the mornings, as I walked out the door of our apartment building, I was greeted with movie set trailers. They took up the whole block and probably the next in either direction. There were also many RV trailer buses pulling up and parking along the streets as I headed towards the subway. I was bummed that I couldn't go crawl the neighborhood looking for the set and trying to figure out what was even being filmed... I guess I'll just have to keep my eye out for Park Slope in any movies or TV shows.

Posters galore. The crafty person in me loves making posters and was more than thrilled to buy a new pack of smelly markers... I'm just wondering how we could be more environmental and not waste so much paper on these posters we are required to do for school. Large pads of paper are coming out our ears, and each part of our wall will soon be plastered with various posters baring all sorts of information.

Crazy on the D Train. My scariest (yet) experience on the subway happened the other morning on the D. I was completely zoned into the newspaper reading that I didn't even see it coming, but I soon realized what was going down as an MTA conductor guy moved through the car closing the windows. No big deal, he's closing the windows to keep the car cool (it is truly miserable getting on a car that has had the windows left open - grr to whoever opened them and left). Just past where I was sitting, he's about to close the window when a guy jumps up in his face and starts yelling obscenities and threats! As the guy is yelling at the MTA worker, another passenger decides to step in and help the closed-window cause. Just as soon as Crazy hears the window click closed, he's in the passenger's face yelling more obscenities and threats. I'm a bit scared and praying that we can at least make it to the next stop, while MTA worker is calling out codes on his walkie and letting Crazy go on about how the windows will stay open. The subway pulls up to the 59th street station, and I'm out of that car in about 2 seconds and jumping in another down the line... praying that Crazy doesn't somehow make his way into my new car of closed windows.

Banjos and Washboards. On our way home from a well-deserved Happy Hour on Friday evening, our wait for the subway was made more enjoyable by a pair of musicians - a banjo player and a washboard-playing singer. The girl let her free spirit flow through her as she sang and tapped on her washboard. (We even donated towards their collection.) It was great to get a smile from their music and to see them spreading smiles to the faces of others. I'd love to see them again!

Blogged About. I was linked to and quoted on another blog! This was a pretty exciting step in my short blogging life. Check it out at Gothamschools.org.

Celebrating Purple Victory in the City

Even though I'm states away from my college, I still have the opportunity to get together with fellow K-State lovers and watch football. Tonight was our first watch party, which took place on the Upper East Side. As Seth and I headed there via subway, we randomly enough were spotted by a K-State Alum who was also on his way to the watch party. I always wanted to be the one to spot another K-Stater in our Big City, but I figure it's just as cool being spotted! The evening was a great time, met new people, even a new teacher to NYC (who's going through a very similar experience) and hung out with a former classmate from KSU. The night was topped off with a K-State victory over Montana, and even better because our commute wasn't dampened by too much other than a few sprinkles - "Hurricane" Hanna was not so nasty to us after all!

I have to say again, I love New York City. I love the fact that I am teaching here, living here, meeting new friends here, having conversations about Kansas here, and just living outside of any life imaginable in Kansas. This life is going to change me forever. I've never been one to be overly outgoing when I first meet people, and I've always been one to really reach for a comfort zone. But here, I see myself stepping out of that shell, challenging my fears, and just being. Despite my lack of know what's "right" or what's even going on... I'm able to just bring myself to the table and present me as me. I think I can say that I'm starting to love meeting new people and I look forward to all the new people I'll know in my future!

As you may have noticed, my entries have already decreased... I used to have all this time to get them in, but now that school has started I am running a little short on time to do anything, including thinking. But I'm happy to say I survived my first week of teaching in NYC. Although, Thursday I was so exhausted I fell asleep watching the news and Friday I was so exhausted from "crowd control" my heart beat and blood pressure were probably reaching unhealthy highs!

We truly have some great students in our class - and I have already received my first note from a student, you know the ones that really work to boost a teacher's confidence! Did you know I'm the BEST teacher EVER!? In a lunch meeting with our A.P. (Assistant Principal for those without the New York City jargon) about some issues with a few of our students, she encouraged us to use positive attention to try to get the attention of our "trouble" students. Often it's easier to get stuck in the trap of focusing the negative - Brian, stop talking please; Brian, is this how you line up; Brian, you need to be in your seat. After lunch, when we headed out to pick them up for recess (YES! on Friday they did get recess!), instead of asking the students who were out of line to get in a proper line, we started complimenting and focusing our attention on our star students who were doing what they were supposed to be doing. Immediately (!) the others were lining up and getting quiet. They were craving that attention... In a half an hour, I learned a lesson and saw positive results. I will use this for the rest of my teaching career. I've never seen it work so well... and, as a teacher, I'm changed for life!

Hula Hoopin'

A little behind, I know... but Labor Day, we had a wonderful, relaxing cookout in the park with a few of our friends. It was a perfect dinner to calm my nerves and get my mind off the worrying of the first day of school. We ate hamburgers and cantaloupe, enjoyed a few throws of a Frisbee, and even hula hooping.

H and V were the most skilled with hula hooping in our group...
Seth had a try at it and had a moment of being ok, but he had more moments of being funny looking!