Memorable Memorial Day

So this weekend I went back to Maine. Back to the place where I spent nearly every childhood growing up. I miss it.

Sometimes I wish I could bring my kids to Maine to show them what another life is like. I know I've said it before, but kids in the Bronx just as sheltered as any suburban kid.

This shot is down the road from my family's house. It's a road that leads into the water if you want to launch a boat. I spent many a day swimming there (when the tide was in, obviously.) The water was freezing.



This shot is the spring that is right up that same road. It spews delicious fresh water all day every day. Poland Spring ain't got nothing on us. At one point when I was younger, our shower was non-existant... so we used to have to shower here after swimming. Once again, the water was freezing.

The Budget won't Budge

All the faculty of my school got this email yesterday:

"Due to budgetary limitations, all per session activities with the exception of PSAL (meaning sports) and tutoring must cease immediately. Thank you for your cooperation."

Ouch. That means no more after-school activities for the rest of the school year. Actually, that means we won't get paid, but will these activities cease? Some will... but most will probably not. That's what teachers are all about, usually.
There are just insanely dedicated people and they wouldn't let something as petty as money stop activities right as the year is about to end.

The thing that sucks is I know some people whose activities that are dormant during the year but begin to heat up right about now... they are screwed.

As dad says..."That's New York City for ya..."

The Struggle

This year has been a bear.

You know, I planned on writing more often than I have. Yeah, I know the last time I wrote was in October.

But... if you thought your first year teaching was hard, your second is even harder. Well, it's not so much that it's hard, but this time there isn't that exhilaration fueling you. Instead of just coffee.

After the first year, it's just the grind.

Add to that, I just finished taking 3 classes on top of working full time. Man, that sucked.

But this year is almost over. The kids were pretty good, overall.

At the end of last year, I wrote this "manifesto" of things that I wanted to work on in the classroom. I think I'm about to write another one. I feel that I kept most of my promises. There were some rough spots in terms of behavior, but I don't feel it was as bad as last year.

I've come to a conclusion. I think its a conclusion.

As an English teacher, our lessons are supposed to be "deep." That means were supposed to prepare lessons that provide the most "bang for the buck." We have these kids for 45 minutes a day. (Although with my 10th graders, i have them for 90 minutes a day... ugh.) How deep am I supposed to get?

The conclusion I have come to is that I have done my job if:

1) None of my kids killed anyone in class and
2) We finish something like, say, Othello and to my kids it didn't SUCK.

That is probably a crappy attitude, but I don't know what else to do. When the year is over, my kids can say, they know Shakespeare. (We did Julius Caesar and Othello this year.) If someone asks them, "Did you read Othello?" They can say with pride, "Yes I did. I loved the part when such and such happened..."

To further my shitty attitude, I think this is even worse... isn't that what MY high school teachers did? I don't remember crap about my HS English classes except the general stories that we read... so is that all I could hope for?