wiggolation

Had a vegetarian dinner last night with Maria at Handlebar. Was great to catch up with her. After we met up with Brian and his buddy Adam at the Old Ale House or some such place. What fun! It's a total dive.

Happy new year to all! I hope 2004 will be better for me, professionally and otherwise. Don't we all?

I mentioned it before but I still can't believe it: My parents own a computer! I'm on it at the moment--it's a giant step for the Irish round here, let me tell you. Of course my dad was asking me to pull up some radio stations from the old country so that he could listen to them via the net. My mom, however, doesn't seem to be that interested. She's still figuring out the microwave.

The drive here was fine, except I was a little tired and stopped twice to nap. Usually I just do that once. But I still made it in about the same time, about 12 hours or less. I guess I wanted to beat that time. For the record, the new radar detector helped me out as it warned me of two smokies and their radar guns ahead of time. Go technology!

I actually got some planning done last night after dinner with my mom at an Irish pub/restaurant, go figure. I am a third of the way through that packet on Lord of the Flies.

I also visited Dave yesterday. He looks a lot better than I had envisioned. His left leg is pretty messed up with stitches and metal and braces; but he can move himself to the bathroom on crutches and that's more than I expected. As I see it he's lucky.

While I was there he pulled out some letters I had written to him in the Peace Corps in the Czech Republic, back in 1995--97. Talk about flashback! I had a good laugh over those. I was going to post some of the highlights here but I thought it was better to let them be. I wrote a lot of long letters though, that's for sure. A lot of ten and twenty page ones. My mom has one from me that was over 30 pages long. I guess I was pretty bored my first year of volunteering. Then again, the lifestyle then afforded me the time to do things like write letters. As opposed to now in the US where I barely email anyone anymore.

It's freezing in Illinois at the moment but sunny. I washed the road off the car and think I will go out and run some errands this morn. Still need a gift for mom. Shhh. It's a secret--I told her I had it in the car.

Danced last night at some club on the east side. At one point there were about fifteen women on the floor with one guy; it was like a scene from one of those bachelor shows on TV. Why don't men dance? Why's it only the women?

Still haven't done any school work this break. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight I leave for Chicago. (I am armed this time with a radar detector so I hope not to get pulled over again.) My parents have a computer in their home now so I can probably use it to get some planning for Lord of the Flies done. And check my email to see if the new school tries to contact me. Which reminds me--I'm trying to get in touch with Jim from Wisconsin to see if he wants to hook up. That would give me something to do while the good people are working away in Chicago.

Time now to road trip...

Mindcandy with links to authors via google...norvig

Ring out the old, ring in the new

New face for a new year. So bon fete to all.

Watched Lost Highway, Barry Lyndon, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Four Rooms. I liked them all too, though I was a little disappointed with Rooms. I know, three of these are really old by now. I just don't care to see movies until they've been out a while. I recommend Lyndon especially. Rings was cool but I don't get as excited about fantasy films or fiction as a lot of people seem to do. I just can't get over the fact that as a viewer you always know things will end up happy, no matter what. That's a little sad. But it was pretty cool to see it on the big screen; the sound was fantastic.

Been enjoying the break by relaxing, sleeping, eating, going for walks, and drinking Bailey's coffees in the afternoon. The weather has been fantastic too--clear, dry, cold, sunny even. Just the way I like it in winter. But all the time I've been thinking about the new school and how it's going to work out and if I'll actually get in there in February. Still waiting for the new principal to answer my email. Though I really should accept that she is probably enjoying herself too and not getting within ten feet of her computer this time of the year. Either way I am content with teaching a final semester at my current school, or transferring and starting in the new one.

I leave for Chicago tomorrow night. Driving again. I'll be visiting Dave, who is out of the hosptial and home on his bed for the next few months or so. He's got metal bars going into his body. Moral is--don't drive fucked up. Just don't. Then there is the family to visit and friends to catch up with. I think I'm going to hit the Museum of Modern Art as I've not been there in a while. Maybe walk along the lake front. Tom's having his annual New Year's Eve Bash so that'll be a lot of fun. I hope his band--West of Rome--plays at the party as they have done in the past. I should have my brain functioning properly again by the second day of the new year and head back to the Big Apple.

These breaks go so bloody fast.

Happy holidays!

Another Xmas season is upon us. Seems like yesterday I was watching Lord of the Rings II during the last break last December. Sure enough I'll be seeing the third movie in the trilogy this week.

Looks as if I may get the transfer I've been hoping for. I interviewed at the new school and they liked me, so it seemed anyway. I then talked to my principal and she OK'd my transfer on one condition--namely, that she can get a replacement for February when the new semester starts.

Needless to say I'm over the moon. The new school is very interesting, very dynamic. And when I say new I mean it's a year and a half old. I will post more on this later.

I have to run off to get some gifts. If there's any money left....

Weird Fridays

Ever have one of those Fridays when things just don't come to completion as they should? I mean, Friday is supposed to be that great day on which you finish up the work week and welcome in the weekend, that great pair of days when one chills to the max and does as little work as possible. OK, so you gotta do the grading and some prep and what not; but since you can do it on your own time you think, hell, why don't I go for a drive or a walk or a break....

Well, school finished fine, even though attendance was unusually low for the afternoon classes. I introduced Lord of the Flies to both ESL classes and finished watching 8 Mile in music appreciation. The students generally took to the novel quickly and got into a relatively intense reading aloud of the first five pages. Surprisingly half the music class had not seen 8 Mile before this week. And they liked it a lot, not surprisingly. I feel the movie is more or less crap, though I do think it is interesting to watch through a social-documentary-type lens. While I am not really moved by the content of the rap in the movie, I do think it's cool that all of it comes out in a free-style, impromptu channel. On that note, there are some things you should not be if you wanna be in the Eminem crowd: gay, poor, and a cuckold. In the end I appreciate the importance of wordsmithing.

There was actually a point to this post: My buddy Dave got in a serious car accident, with a train no doubt; right now he is lain up in a hospital bed in Chicago. I wish I could be there, of course, but I got word he'll be all right. Still, the news was terrible. If you're like me you take for granted all those you know.

I am going to push on with the weekend though as I think I need to get out into it. I am going to my one and only Xmas party of the season, over in Harlem. Go figure.

Got to celebrate that school's all done!

It's about the look on the kids' faces...

With the autumn semester behind me, I can now fetch a copy of my transcript from TC and go to the Department of Ed as I now have earned 30 credit hours of my second master's. That means a 5,000 raise for ol' boy. The only way I can make more now in the DOE is stay in the system year after year. The raise takes effect immediately and should be reflected in my pay early in the new year. So I think I'm going to jump online and book that trip to Ecuador for February break.

Yes, there are some good things about being in grad school and the NYC Dept. of Ed. There just had to be.

The kids? O, yeah, they're OK.

Blah humbug

Had my last class at Teachers College last night. Well, for the term, that is. Thank god too--what a horrible semester. I mean, I did better grade-wise than in other semesters; I just felt the whole semester lasted forever, going on and on. I thought this year would be easier but that was a stupid thought indeed. One reason was that one of the classes, Second Language Assessment, is supposed to be the toughest of all the MA TESOL classes, and I suppose it was. Compounding it all at TC was a rather stressful semester of teaching. I talked here about before about the crap from the AP and such. I don't want to get into it all over either. I'm just glad to be done and one more semester away from the stupid end of it all and that exorbitantly priced piece of paper.

In other news I found out today that the present ESL Coordinator at my school has applied for a sabbatical in the spring. If she gets it I'll be the new Coordinator, which just means I'll be teaching four instead of five classes and in charge of some testing duties for the NYSESLAT and calling parents and such. I declined this position last year but this time around the four classes sounds like a good idea, seeing as I'm very tired these days.

As for the other job offer I got word I'm supposed to meet with the principal on Monday. If that goes well I may or may not talk to my principal about getting transferred. I don't know how it all works but if I can get released, I may go for it. It all depends on whether I can get a job at this new school in the fall of next year, as I am certain I don't want to be at my current school after this spring. If the new school says they'll take me next year for sure, then I'll probably stay at my current school and finish out the year. Otherwise I may be forced to leave mid-year lest I sacrifice the chance of getting in that new school next year.

I would hate to leave mid-year but if it means getting into a good school where people are interested in teaching and teachers, I'm taking a flyer. For sure. I feel I've spent too much time and money on my teaching and education to be subjected to some idiot AP who has as much interests in education as my ass.

In other news, I got rid of my cable. Well, I still have basic cable for the news. But the idea is that I've been spending time watching the boob tube when I could have been reading, sleeping, watching films, etc.

Anyway, tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday are blow off teaching days as my students are so wound up I can only do fun activities with them. They just won't sit still at this point. Break is all too close. I came up with a cheesy 'Grammar Olympics' using a4esl.org; they divided up by country or first language and tried to get the highest scores on various quizzes. They had a blast with it. Surprisingly, Argentina and Columbia won.

We're supposed to have a party in our class on Monday to which everyone is to bring food eaten their native countries. We'll see who actually delivers.

That time o' year

It's a good time of year--the semester is almost over, there's a cold outside that is refreshing, and the winter break is approaching fast. I get four weeks off from Teachers College and two off from teaching. I don't know what I'll do with it all but I'll probably do what I usually do--that is, sleep a lot, play on the Net, go to pubs, read some, watch movies, hang out with friends. To change things up a little I'll be heading to Chicago for about a week, during which time I'm hoping to get away for some skiing. That's still a big maybe though.

I finally got a wireless card for my laptop and it's pretty cool being able to get online and take care of email and "research" in wireless environments such as the ones at College. One day I'll be able to get rid of all the cords. Maybe.

Otherwise teaching is OK. I had some issues with one of my classes today. They were complaining about how I try to organize them too much. Well, I should say there were the same two kids who always complain complaining. The majority of the class seems fine with the way are classes are run. I think it's usually the least organized kids who complain about having to be organized. I also think there is a need for more research on how just one or two or three kids can set the tone for the whole class. It's scary how that works. I think I have been able to cope with this phenomenon well, however. I invariably bring what they want to blurt out and have me forget about to the whole class's attention and "make a big deal about it," as they would say. In this way I make them analyze what their complaints are and decide whether they are valid or nay. Often the conversation ends with someone saying, "OK, we get it; let's start the class." Well, I'm the last one to drag out things like this; but it's a worse thing for me to let some stupid comments fly. I suppose I'm also reacting to their comments as pot shots. But if I treat them with respect, shouldn't they do the same? And, if so, shouldn't I demand that those who need to learn to respect others learn just that?

As one prof I had used to say, if you demand good writing from students, you will get it. I think the same applies to the rest of it too.

Working on the last project of the fall term. Thank god. I'll then be able to relax and just teach and watch some DVDs.

Nearing the end

Decided to take today off from teaching and the world in general. No, I'm not dead--just chilling out. Finishing the SLA project, now at 40 pages and counting. Thank god my partner was into the stats part, which I only half got into my head. Me, I'm doing the writing bit, tuning the prose and lit reviews and such. It'll be so nice to turn this project in tomorrow. Then all that will be left to do for Colllege will be a methods' unit plan, which I'm doing with three others on Sunday. Then next week it's all presentations, that is, blow off and to the pubs when possible.

Teaching will finish up on the 23rd. I'm actually feeling better about teaching the rest of the year now that TC is just about over.

To think I'll be getting about five weeks break from grad school and two weeks from teaching. Almost too good to be true.

As for break plans I am trying to get Chicago people in on a ski trip to Wisconsin. So far I got one yes. I'll be in Chicago for a week, from about the 27 to the 2nd or so. I'm looking forward to the next road trip already, seeing as I've done it before.

Moving along

It goes without saying that I'm fucking dying to finish this semester at school. It invariably happens, though, that the most important part of the semester is the last. I just hate that. I have no energy after being at school teaching all day. As said, it's almost over. For this term anyway.

In other news I'm going to be campaigning for Howard Dean. I have never done this but I am so fucking sick of listening to that idiot in office at present that I am going to be doing something, anything, to get Dean into office. I think he's pretty smart on his feet anyway. Compare a sound bite, any sound bite, by Bush and compare it one by Dean. There's no comparison. And, yes, I'll be sporting a VOTE DEAN sign in my car and classroom, if possible.

If you want Bush OUT of office, DO SOMETHING to get him out.

Even if it means holding forth on your crappy little blog................

Dean sites:
Official site
The Dean blog

R.I.P. Jose 'el Chaba' Jimenez

Old man winter

That's what I feel like anyway. A little sickness coming on so it seems. Last night I crashed on the couch at 7 P.M. and it's now 4:29 A.M. and I'm up for the day. Bizzare.

Yesterday the AP came in to surprise me with an observation. While it was certainly unexpected I was not surprised as I figured she'd do something like that, seeing as we have had our little tensions lately. Well, I thought the lesson went well, and I heard later that she was very happy with it. That said, I still think she is evil for using the old surprise observation tatic. It's just silly. I don't think it's professional behvior. And I had to hear the good report from another person, our UFT rep. So stupid.

At the same time I'm all for regular, even unannounced visits from the admin and APs. I just don't like it when it's done to 'get back' at people or to send the wrong message, that is, you try to mess with me and I'll watch you like a hawk for you to slip up.

Added to that, what are these people at my school thinking anyway? I mean, I always have a lesson plan and know what I'm doing in my classes. Doesn't every teacher? After listening to some teachers and other school people it seems that this is not always the case. Thus you find that there are those who plan only when they are going to be observed or are 'in trouble' or something. That's fucked up.

Don't get me wrong: we all do a little extra when we know we're going to be observed. That's natural. But doesn't everyone have a basic plan sketched out and some objectives for any given day, which by extension fit into the bigger picture for the semester goals?

Hemingway, I got an email from a friend whose high school is looking for a 9th grade ESL and Humanities teacher for this spring. I know from talking to her that this school is better than mine, in so many ways. The principal is sound, too. The only bummer is that I would personally feel bad leaving my school half way through the year. So assuming I can get the job, which is not something I'm actually assuming, I would have to decide whether I'd want to leave my school before the year is done.

If you need a break from it all, and a laugh... (Up the volume!)

Road Tripped

Ah, I did it. Some 1800 miles and 25 hours of driving later I am back safe and sound in Brooklyn. I left Wednesday night at 9:15 P.M. and rolled into mom and dad's driveway at 11:00 A.M. on Thanksgiving. That included a two hour nap on the way. The way back I did better time, leaving the parents' at 7:15 A.M. (eastern time) and arriving in NYC around 6:15 P.M. Either way it's about twelve hours' drive between the Chi and NYC.