Regents Blues

I spent my time in and out of classrooms on the 5th floor this past week, either proctoring various Regents or laboring over the ELA essays. And by "laboring," I mean "trying to make sense out of" [read: trying to make sense out of a) the gist of the thoughts that students were trying their damnedest to organize in a language and social register they've only been communicating in for a few years, and b) the gist of the thoughts of the people who require students to actually DO this in order to graduate from high school in New York state]. It's a monumental task. Monumental.
And that I've requested to take on the task of preparing them next year -- actually REQUESTED to teach ESL 5 and 6? After this depressing bout, where the majority of students' papers that I read didn't even score a 3 (50%), it seems like preparing them well would require some superhuman wisdom that I clearly have not yet accumulated. Superhuman teacher-ness. I will get there someday. What I DON'T want is to get to next May, look back on the year, and realize, sorrowfully, that I had done more harm than good. Even with the best of intentions, and the first inklings of good teaching starting to come together in me now -- finally -- I fear failing my students.

Maybe I'll feel better, more refreshed and head swimming with ideas, in a month or so.

We'll see what turns up when September rolls around.

Better daze

Ah yes? Now see this: Gram & Dad in times past.



A reminder of better days ahead. Summer and renewal! Weep not...

Green leaves above me, brown earth below

We were finishing up a slightly-faster-than-normal run through Riverside Park just a while ago when Alex said to me, "You're so gonna be a runner."
I looked at him. "Why?"
"...I can just tell."

I guess I might be. I might be a lot of things this summer. A runner, a writer, a painter, a singer, dancer, swimmer, skateboard woman.
Summer is in my veins, I can feel it.

Testing, testing.

NYSESLAT testing is happening this week. We've been doing the Speaking portion since Tuesday (afternoon). It gives me a chance to have conversations withall sorts of kids I don't know or don't normally run into here at school, which is cool. It's also really intriguing to notice patterns in linguistic errors, or the kinds of speaking prompts that kids find funny, or the improvements/backsliding that certain students have made/done... Just like with the Regents in January, this testing sometimes [strongly] reminds of my experiences in Mozambique proctoring the national English exam. I really do enjoy sitting down and speaking with kids one on one, even if the prompts consist of, "What is the woman [in the picture] doing, and what might she be saying?" or the classic, "Why is it important to study another language?" Doing something a little different than the normal day-in, day-out classprepclassprepclass is a welcome break.

Well,
It's Thursday, it's the end of the TC semester, and springtime is in full, rainy swing!
I'm feeling positive about today.

Beware

...the ides of March? No ma'am!

I decided straightaway this morning that today wasn't going to be about anything strange, dark, or treacherous. Couldn't be. Instead, it would be about checking LOTS of work off my t0-do list and tuning in to some stimulating Animal Collective NPR chat.

Listen to Merriweather Post Pavilion if you haven't already.
And wish me luck on my observation and presentation on the morrow. Gack.

spring awakening

Spent four days in Boston; now, back in NYC, it's time to buckle down.
Strange how unlike the weekend this day feels. More like a Monday lost in a time warp, with taxes and homework and planning and such.
But I did have that lovely, wintry Massachusetts vacation avec Alex: jellyfish, indoor gardens, discount pajamas, witch towns, 3D movies! A great escape.