thursday night on the computer

Awhile ago I mentioned a professor who tries my patience. It's been a continued struggle, but I've been working to remeber that "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger," (Proverbs 15:1). I've been trying to hold my tounge and avoid her more than anything. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one in the class who feels this way. Most of the class ignores the prof. when she talks, and we all feel as though we haven't learned anything from the course. And the really bad news is we have to have her for another course next semester! Anyway, I thought I'd share a picture of the group project we completed for the prof. this week. It's a visual representation of the struggles of a first year teacher - personal convictions vs. the realities of teaching. The pictures are midly indicitaive of how we feel about the course...

And after class was done...

I sorta missed out on the "Cyber Monday" thing (this is the first year I've heard of that, by the way), but I've had fun surfing around the internet searching for gifts for my family and for things to add to my own wish list. This evening I found three funky sites on which to while away tons of time!

I love the artsy, creative, kooky things on this site, though I'll admit some of them are a bit too wacky for me to actually put in my home.

http://www.uncommongoods.com/

This site has some interesting girly finds and is updated daily.

http://www.outblush.com/

And here's the guy's version. "A web magazine for guys who love stuff." Lots of gadgets and gizmos.

http://www.uncrate.com/

wish list

I just found a cool site that takes you through a quiz about yourself and then creates a Christmas wishlist for you. Based on my answers to the quiz, this is what the site determined about me:

Your choice of colour signifies a sense of physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, and excitement. You are probably a person that can express many personality traits such as being passionate, full of energy and may even be someone that is good at making money. You are also likely to be quick witted, very focused and extremely determined when you want to be.

Spare time is spent doing the little things in life that keep you going. You like the predictability of routine - but also the random nature of escaping the day to day and dreaming of somewhere else.

You love to be able to relax and unwind - a real treat is being able to switch off from the pressures of modern life.

Your style is fuss free but modern - you appreciate good, timeless design.
When you have extra time you like to have it all to yourself. You know exactly how relax and rejuvenate. Some see your lux lifestyle as indulgent, but for you pampering is so essential!
You like your holidays to be relaxing, and exotic. Although you are not adverse to a little luxury, you want the basics - your own hut, a balcony and a view of the sea. You are probably a bit of a romantic when you travel.

What matters to you most is your family, you see them as the backbone of your life.
Giving means something more than gifts - time is the most valuable thing that people have. You love to give your time and advice to those that you love. You have a mature and caring approach to all your relationships in life.

I'd say that's pretty spot-on. And the list of gifts it generated for me looked pretty good, too! The only odd thing that I'd be perplexed to receive is a plaster Hermes Food Cast. But the recommended gift books, candles, bath sets, wine and cheese sets, cotton bathrobe, kitchen items, and good causes the site selected would all suite me well. Let me know if you want me to e-mail the list to you. Or try it yourself and send your list to me! (http://www.imagini.net/) Of course, if you want to know what's on the Christmas list I came up with myself, feel free to ask for that, too!

how good are you?

I always new I was gooder at grammer then other's! :-)

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

(Click on the box to test you're self!)

lincoln center lights

Last night Alison and I enjoyed the festivities of the Lincoln Center Christmas Tree Lighting! They said on the news today that we were among an estimated 10,000 attendees! Although we stopped at Barnes and Nobel for hot chocolate, most of the kids were eating ice cream. It was sixty-one degrees! The live news broadcast began at about 5:34, with two local TV news personalities. Then, before the actual lighting of the tree, there were several performances. One was an excerpt from the opera currently showing at Lincoln Center; I believe it's called "The Magical Flute." The Lincoln Center jazz band also played, there was an excerpt performance from The Nutcracker Ballet, two fire juggling clowns from The Big Apple Circus performed, and a gospel choir sang some Christmas tunes. Then Mickey and Minnie joined the news crew on stage, and at 5:58 we began counting down. The tree was beautiful when it finally lighted up! Wedgewood designed special ornaments for the tree this year, and I'm thinking about getting a replica from the gift shop. I'm already counting down to Christmas!

Before the tree was lighted:

After the tree was lighted:A close-up of the Wedgewood ornaments:

And Alison & Me!

happy thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving morning, Alison and I got up early and went to 72nd Street and Central Park West to watch the 80th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We ended up getting a fantastic viewing spot, right next to the street. Other than being a bit cold and wet, we were thrilled to be there. The parade started just north of us, so we didn't have to wait long for the excitement to begin. The balloons had to fly just barely above our heads because of the wet, windy weather, so we had a close-up view of them. We stayed through the end in order to see Santa pass by.

In the afternoon, Kevin and I watched football and stayed inside so I could warm up and dry out. Then we went to Queens to Sarah's house for Thanksgiving dinner (an hour and a half ride on the subway!). That girl went all out! We had baked brie and veggies to start, and then we had turkey, cranberries with oranges, stuffing with dried cranberries, baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar and walnuts, green beans with almonds, and blueberry pie and ice cream. Wow! I so enjoyed a relaxing evening with church friends - Sarah, Libby, Tanya, and Tanya's friend Clive who was visiting from Ireland. With two Irish people at the table, we had a little lesson on the history of Thanksgiving, and then we learned some Irish history. Kevin and I had to leave before everyone else was ready to go, because the nuts and cats were starting to make me itch. But it was a great Thanksgiving anyway!

On Friday after Thanksgiving, Kevin and I didn't want to bother with the crowds for shopping, so we lazed around before going to Times Square for student rush tickets to another Broadway show. He sure experienced a conversion during his week here! On Sunday, he wanted to see a show but was adamant about not wanting to go to a musical. That's pretty tough when you're talking about Broadway shows! I was frustrated, and Jerad and I finally convinced him to try one. He loved Monty Python's Spamalot so much he wanted to see another show. And, if we would have had more time, he would have liked to go to two more! What a dramatic change! We got the tickets for $26.25 - front row seats! Then we went to Rockefeller Center to check out the skating rink. It was really crowded, so we left and had a cheap lunch at Seattle Cafe back in Times Square. We hung out at school and worked on homework for the rest of the afternoon before heading to 9th Avenue to search out dinner. Then, it was on to the show! Alison met us, and we all three thoroughly enjoyed The Wedding Singer. It was so incredible to be right next to the actors and to really see their facial expressions and the details on the sets and costumes. And we got a big kick out of the 80's references; Alison and I particularly liked the purple stirrup pants with high heels.

After the show, Kevin and I discovered that the bus to the airport doesn't run between 1:30 and 4:20 in the morning, and he needed to be at the airport at 4:00. We went to Dunkin' Donuts - coffee for him and hot chocolate for me, and stayed up until it was time for him to catch the 1:30 bus. Which, by the way, nearly blew past us without stopping! We chased it down the street and said a quick goodbye. Kevin headed to the airport and I headed to bed... to try to catch up on sleep from all those late, late nights and early, early mornings. Now I have two days before it's back to the daily school grind, but the week has been a great vacation.

visitor

Kevin's here visiting for Thanksgiving, and we've been keeping busy with lots of touristy activities!

Friday - Kevin arrived at about 7:00 pm. We had some pizza for dinner and then went to Times Square for a walk.
Saturday - We went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, and a Chinese Restaurant for dinner (for which some of my school friends joined us).
Sunday - Kevin went to the Mets Stadium while I worked on a paper. Then we went to the Yankee's stadium, St. John the Divine's Cathedral, RPC Church, and dinner at Cosi.

Kevin's NOT a New York Yankees fan!

Monday - I substitue taught and had class, and Kevin kept himself busy during the day. Jerad came in from Connecticut and met me after school. We went to Kitchenette for an after-school snack before I finished my paper for my night class. After class, Kevin and I met Jerad for drinks at a sports bar in Times Square.
Tuesday - We went to South Street Seaport to see about getting tickets to a Broadway show, but didn't find one Kevin wanted to see. We also wandered around China Town and then had lunch in Little Italy. We went to Times Square Visitor's Center to find out about student rush tickets, and we managed to get standing-room-only tickets for Monty Python's Spamalot for $21.25. We stopped by Starbucks before heading to Central Park for a walk, then we had a rest and dinner back at the dorm. Around 7:00 we headed to our Broadway show. Spamalot was hilarious!

Wednesday - We stood in line starting at 6:20 this morning to get tickets to the Conan O'Brien Show. Then, after we finally got stand-by tickets (with admission not guaranteed), we toured the NBC studios and Rockefeller Center. We tried to get rush tickets to another Broadway show, but had no luck. Instead we rested back at school and then went to Central Park to see the inflation of the balloons for the Macy's Parade. Then we went to the taping of this coming Friday's Conan show at 7:00. Long story short, we almost didn't get in...but we made it by the skin of our teeth! Only one more person in line behind us got in! We had to pretend that we'd already eaten Thanksgiving dinner, since the show will air after Thanksgiving. After the show, we grabbed dinner and then went to see the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center and the window displays at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Rockefeller Center Artwork and Architecture Tour

Inflation of the Balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
and the Window Displays at Saks Fifth Avenue

Lots of fun so far!

one word

Wondering what I've been up to lately? One word: papers. On Thursday I turned in a 16-pager, and yesterday I turned in 113 pages of baloney. That's what I've been up to. What's keeping you busy?

sinful

Last weekend was positively sinful! After the chocolate show on Friday night, I also agreed to go out to dinner with some girls from school - Carol, Victoria, Jenn, Jenny, and Alison. Carol chose the restaurant, and, lo and behold, it was a chocolate restaurant! Sure they serve a few sandwiches and salads, but the main part of their menu is chocolate! The restaurant is called Max Brenner, which is the name of a chocolatier from Australia. We all ate dessert for dinner! I ordered a waffle that came with whipped cream, a scoop of divine white chocolate ice cream, a scoop of rich dark chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce in a little beaker, and crunchy little chocolate covered waffle balls. It was delicious, but I certainly couldn't finish it all. A couple of the girls had crepes, and three of them had different chocolate cakes with ice cream. Alison also ordered hot chocolate that came in a mug designed specifically for drinking hot chocolate and holding the mug with both hands. Everything was amazing! I think I probably shouldn't be eating for the rest of the week! So worth it though. Anybody feel like coming to visit New York yet?

algebra

Do you remember how to do algebra? I subbed for seventh grade pre-algebra and eighth grade algebra last week. On Friday the eighth graders had a test. Can you solve the extra credit problem? It's good for your brain! ;-)

In six years Bill will be five times as old as he was 26 years ago. How old is Bill now?

While the kids were taking the test I had nothing to do, so I spent the hour looking at their math book. I discovered they're using the same algebra book I used! And get this: It was published in 1979. That's a bit scary.

Also, in an article I read for my Theories and Techniques of Reading Assessment and Intervention course:

* Frequently, secondary school content-area textbooks readability levels are even higher than the assigned grade levels. For example, Kinder, Buruck and Epstein (1992) reported readability levels ranging from ninth grade to third year of college, with a mean of a tenth grade level, for social studies textbooks adopted at the eighth grade level.
* Armbruster and Anderson (1988) reported that textbooks frequently lack "considerateness," in that they are inconsistently organized from chapter to chapter, lack good structure, provide insufficient definitions of essential vocabulary, and require inappropriate skill demands of learners.
* Yager (1983) analyzed the amount of vocabulary introduced in science textbooks and concluded that more vocabulary words were introduced in a single year of science than in the first year of a foreign language class.
* Compounding the issue of text density and complexity is the fact that a single paragraph occupies about 15% of the space of one page in an 848 page textbook.

No wonder kids struggle and are overwhelmed!

happy veterans day

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.

GOD BLESS THE VETERANS!

chocolate

Tonight I went to the 9th Annual New York Chocolate Show. The show is also held in Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, and Beijing, and it is billed as, "...the ultimate festival of world class exhibitors, chef demonstrations, chocolate fashion and showpieces, tantalizing gifts, and more!"
At first it's only open to those in the industry, but then they open it to the public. Last night tickets cost $200 and included a viewing of a couture fashion show - with chocolate accessories! Tickets were much cheaper, though still pricey, today, but well worth it! I could smell the chocolate as soon as I walked into the convention center. Yummy doesn't even begin to describe the experience! There were over 60 vendors there -from small chocolatiers to major manufacturers. And all most all of them were giving out free samples! I nearly ate myself sick on the most divine imported dark chocolates I've ever had. Each vendor was giving out teeny tiny pieces, but they were so rich and sweet that a sliver was enough. I tried a couple of kinds of truffles, chocolate with orange, chocolate with dried berries, chocolate with lavender and nougat, a chocolate filled with banana flavoured marshmallow creme and crunchy peanut butter, mint hot chocolate, strawberries and white chocolate hot chocolate, a peanut butter chocolate brownie bite, cinnamon swirl peanut butter, holiday hot tea, four dessert wines, white chocolate, chocolate with peppermint, a chocolate brownie with chili pepper, and so much more I can't even remember it all! There were a couple of chocolate fountains, chocolate sculptures, and the chocolate fashions on display. Barnes and Noble was there, too, with autographed dessert cookbooks. I sat in on a couple of demonstrations by chocolatiers showing how they create their masterpieces. And the peanut butter booth gave me peanut squeeze toys for my next class when I told them I'm a teacher! What a night! What a "dinner"!

random

On a billboard:

"Tobacco kills enough people in two weeks to fill all the hotel rooms in Times Square."

What kind of weird, contrived fact is that?

keep teaching

Last week one of my professors gave us a list of teaching activities. We were supposed to check the ones we thought represented a certain type of teaching, and I didn't check any of them. While I was doing my reading for the class this week, I discovered she took the list from one of the articles she assigned. There were 12 activities on the list, and the author says if you marked between:

9 and 12 -- Don't waste another minute; read and study the rest of the book as quickly as possible.
4 and 8 -- Look closely at the issues, and read the chapters that address the issues you agreed with.
3 or less (that's me!) -- Please don't leave education. Students need you.

It's nice to get unexpected affirmation!

fall

I was still feeling frustrated with my professor when I woke up this morning. Then I went to the first grade class I've been observing, only to discover - after waking up at 6:00 and traveling for 45 minutes - that they didn't have school today. I stopped for coffee on the way home, and then I slept for about three hours. Now I'm feeling a bit better. And I thought sharing pictures of New York's fall foliage might help perk me up. I went to Central Park on Saturday and Sunday to take pictures. I asked some friends along on Saturday, and, unfortunately, they weren't ready to leave until 3:00 in the afternoon, so it was already getting dark when we arrived. I saw some beautiful trees on Saturday, but the pictures are a little dark and blury. Sunday's pictures are better. Happy fall!

not the best

Today was not the best day I've had in New York so far. It might have been the worst. Although, not all parts of it were bad.

I substitute taught today on 57th Street, and last week I got there before any of the other teachers. So today I left 15 minutes later. And ended up waiting ten minutes for the subway at 116th. When I finally got on the subway (I barely managed to squeeze in with the crowd), it stopped in the middle of the tunnel before the next stop, and we sat there for about 10 minutes. Then we stopped at 110th, the next stop after I got on, and sat there for FOREVER. The conductor kept making an announcement for people to step in so she could close the door. Not that there was anywhere to step in to... Finally, she came out of her little booth, made half of my car get off so she could get out, and went to investigate the situation. When she came back, she said our train was now going to be out of service. Well, no one believed her (honestly, I thought it was just a threat in punishment of people who wouldn't get out of the way of the closing doors), so we all stood there for about five more minutes before she came over the loudspeaker and told everyone to get off the train. I dug out my map right away to try to find a bus route from 110th to 59th. The M4 runs along the route I needed, so I raced upstairs and looked for the nearest stop. There must have been 20 people waiting, and I joined them for a couple of minutes and then started walking toward the next subway stop at 103rd. When I got there, I discovered the train was no longer running at all. Ahh!! So I kept walking. I arrived at the next bus stop at the same time the M4 bus did, and I tried to get on, but the driver told me to get off because there wasn't enough room. I decided to try the taxi route, but then I realized that the hundreds of other people who had been on the subway were all trying to catch cabs, too. So I just kept walking. I was supposed to be at school at 7:50, and it was already 7:45, so I started calling to let them know I'd be late. (Real professional, eh?) Of course no one answered. Walking, walking, calling, calling, and stopping every time a bus approached in an effort to get on. I finally got hold of the secretary and told her what was going on. Then I half ran all the way down to 72nd Street before I finally managed to squeeze on a subway shuttle bus, which was only stopping at streets where the subway would have stopped. The traffic was horrible, and when I got off the bus at 59th Street, I still had to walk four more blocks to school. I'd say I got my workout for the day! And, after all that, I managed to arrive in the classroom at 8:35, only five minutes after the kids got there!

As if there hadn't been enough chaos already, there was more going on in the classroom. The first grade room is used as the church nursery on Sunday, and the teacher usually gets there early on Mondays to put it back together. So the kids were running around playing with the baby toys and looking for their school chairs and supplies (supervised all the while by the kindergarten aide). I finally managed to calm them down, and the rest of the school day went smoothly. I even managed to forget the trials of the morning!

Then, on the way home, I had another public transportation adventure! It was the first time I really felt scared on the subway. Sure, I'm scared of the big, noisy high schoolers who usually go home at the same time I do, but this was different. I ended up sitting next to an empty spot, and on the other side was a guy who was either crazy, drunk, or both. At first I didn't realize it, because the car was so full. But he kept talking unintelligibly and staring at me. Then he started punching the pole next to him, as if he thought someone was hitting him. In between spurts, he seemed to doze off. And his pants were undone, too. I kept my head turned the opposite direction so he wouldn't decided to interact with me. I really felt quite uncomfortable. We stopped at one stop, several people got off, and a lady across the way motioned for me to move over by her. She said she noticed he kept looking at me, and that you never know what these crazy people will do. There was a lot of tension in the whole car, but it was nice to see people looking out for each other. One lady got on and sat next to the crazy guy, and the woman across from her motioned for her to move over. Eventually crazy guy stumbled off the car, and there was an audible sigh of relief. Although I have to admit I was a bit worried that he'd fall into the track or something...

And then tonight was the class with the professor who's lost her mind. What more can I say about that? Argh! I'm over the other incidents, but I'm feeling very, very frustrated with this woman! And I'm more than a little stressed about her ridiculous assignments, on top of all my real work that needs to get done. Like I said, not the BEST day I've ever had in New York, but good for some stories. Now I'm going to go to bed so I can wake up to a better day tomorrow! :-)

the guggenheim

The Guggenheim Dome

Tanya and I met at the Guggenheim tonight. They have "pay as you wish" admission on Fridays, so we made a small donation and toured the collection. We were glad we didn't pay the full amount, as much of the museum was closed for renovation. After taking our time viewing the exhibits, we went out for coffee and a nice chat. During the day today, I observed a third grade class, had a doctor's appointment, and got a flu shot - so now my arm hurts. The weather turned out to be fabulous again this afternoon. Thanks, God, for that!

Barque's Landscape

Kandinsky's Composition #8

substitute

I substitute taught today for a first grade class at a Christian school in Manhattan. It was a great day! We went on a field trip to the National Museum of the American Indian, where we saw lots of ceramics and different types of clothing, as well as some modern art by Native Americans. When we got back to school, we had lunch, the kids went to art, we did a little math, I read two books, and the kids went home. I sure don't mind getting paid for days like this! The kids were really well-behaved, too. On our way back to the bus, we stopped for a picture next to this globe, which used to be in the World Trade Center. It's now on display in Battery Park.The weather started out cold and rainy this morning, but it turned into a beautiful, sunny day. On my way home, I stopped for this picture of a cathedral on the block next to Teachers College. I'm inspired to visit Central Park this weekend to see the fall foliage!

halloween

I didn't make big plans for Halloween, but I ended up meeting Tanya for the 33rd annual Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village. We've heard big things about it, and we wanted to see it for ourselves. That turned out to be quite a challenge! It was really crowded and hard to see. The organization in charge of the parade estimated that 2 million people went to see the parade last night, and about 50,000 people marched in the parade, wearing costumes or carrying giant stilted puppets of skeletons, trees, and pumpkins and vines. There were also 53 bands marching in the parade this year. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS were the Grand Marshals. Before we went to the parade site, we stopped at a little place called Crema for passion fruit margaritas. Then on to the parade for some pictures!