Holy crap it's been a long time since I got on here. In fact, its been 729 days since my last post. Cripes. I just reread my last post on here and...holy crap a lot has changed since then; so much as changed that, frankly, I'm not sure where to begin.
Let's keep it simple, shall we?
I moved from Queens to Harlem to cut down on my commute, taught 5th grade ELA last year as a lead teacher and looped up with my kiddos and taught them again in 6th grade this year. I proctored a shit load of practice tests and ran preparation for the New York State Math State Test by myself; no small feat for someone the kids know sucks at math. But, I can kinda math now, which is pretty exciting. Part of that was having to actually take the practice tests the kids were doing and be able to debrief it as if I knew what I was talking about, and part of it was preparing for my certification tests. One of those tests was 5 hours long with 60 full minutes dedicated to math. In a windowless, hot basement testing room at Hunter College. Fun. At least I passed all of them on my first go around. All I have left until I'm certified is to do the EdTPA, which I'm pretty sure was used as a torture method during the Spanish Inquisition.
I also quit my job at Success Academy.
That, to be honest, has been a major contributing factor to why I haven't been on here is because I simple have not had the capacity for any wordsmithing, at all. My life has been work, work, and work, with a side of work. For a while there I was pulling 18 hour days with teaching and graduate school both trying to annihilate me. Sometimes I even slept and occasionally I ate.
The culmination of endless hours of work on top of teaching. Killin' it.
In September I'll be working at another charter school, albeit a smaller one (without a Network mothership, yay!), and my commute will be a 5-minute walk. Hard to beat that, especially in this city. Oh yea, as far as I know I also don't have to wear a shirt and tie. Bonus. Also, I'll get some real creative control with my curriculum and can teach what I want, when I want, and how I want.
Yesterday I also started running again: something I haven't really been actively doing probably since high school. So far, I feel old and slow, but it feels good to be moving again on a daily basis. I am also looking into eating more plant-based foods, so my veggie and vegan chums, send along your favorite recipes for me to try. A few months ago I got to see Jim Jeffries at the Beacon Theater, and that was a fucking riot (be forewarned, he can be crass but that's why I love him). I also had what is basically my only celebrity sighting when I saw Jim Gaffigan on the street in the Lower East Side. He was with his boys and looked just as stressed as the jokes about on stage, haha.
And, finally, I got to go somewhere during Spring Break: something I have never done. I flew to Portugal in April with a bunch of people from my school and boy-howdy that trip was wonderful. If you have not been there I highly, highly recommend that you do. Hit up Lisbon, but spend more time in Porto, you'll be glad you did.
I will make an entire blog post about that trip coming up soon, so keep those peepers peeled for that. For now, I'll leave you with a few photos of my recent(ish) life, and if you haven't seen my write anything in awhile, start yelling at me to start mashing words together.
Until next time, chumps.
