mi chiamo kimberly, vivo a queens ...

yesteray was such a weird day. not good, not bad, but then ending on a good note.

first of all, we went on a field trip to the american museum of natural history with 81 ninth graders.

let me say that i've done this field trip a lot of times and it's always been pretty good but these ninth graders. mmmmm. no comment.

also adding to the problem was that it was rainy all day. i obviously stole an umbrella from a student who left it at school and by the end of the day it was in a sad sad state.

luckily on the way there it didn't rain much but when we left at 2 it was POURING. we had to walk about six blocks to get the the subway so it was ca-ra-zay! also by this point i was exhausted.

the museum is cool. i'd check out the biodiversity hall, ocean room and human origins if i was recommending places to go. I remember the first time I went how OUTRAGED I was when I learned that the "fossils" in the fossil hall are not real fossils. What a sham!

Next up I did INSANITY after school ... i was not in the mood, but I'm glad I did. Another 500 calories GONE! (so i probably broke even from that "oreo cake" i ate at the museum! nom nom nom)

Then I went home and got ready for my first Italian Class! I have been wanting to take a class for the longest, because even though I have rosetta stone and I've joined livemocha.com, I need help with speaking, because so much of it is similar to spanish the speaking is where I'm struggling. There was a living social deal for $150 for 10 weeks (20 hours) of beginning classes (normally $350) so obvi i snapped that one up! The class was bigger than I thought it was going to be, with 15 of us total, but the teacher was Italian so I was excited because originally I thought all their teachers were second-language learners (i realize how ridiculous it is that I, as a nonnative Spanish teacher prefer a native speaker as my teacher!).

It was down by the empire state building so I'm sure I will be snapping tons of pics over the next 2 1/2 months to share with y'all! The only problem is that the class is from 730-930, and no joke, I normally try to get to bed by 10:00. But I figured since the end of the school year is approaching (only 3? more weeks of regular classes) I could rough it for the next few weeks!

OH! And the most important part I forgot to share about yesterday....I got an email from the AP where I was interviewing, telling me I should expect to hear from the assistant superintendent (!!!!) for my final interview (!!!!!) :::nervous:: !! what do you say in an interview with the assistant superintendent????

how's your week going?



from paris, without love

happy mother's day! 

hope all your moms out there are livin' it up! 

i realized while i was going through some old posts yesterday that i never actually finished my account of my summer travels in europe. i forgot paris! lol! 

i think this basically sums up my feelings on paris. the fact that i forgot to write a post about it says it all!

i'm not sure why i thought i'd love paris, maybe because everyone loves paris. but much in the same way that everyone loves nyc and yours truly just kind of gets along with it, i was not into paris. 

hey. maybe i was doing it wrong. that's totally possible. we were only there for four days so we hit up all the "must-sees". eiffel, louvre, notre dame (just the outside), moulin rouge, arc de triomphe, champs-elysees, and lots of parks. 

i REALLY wish we'd gone to the palace of versailles ... it's a couple hour train ride from paris and now i'm really disappointed we didn't go there. 

the GOOD thing about paris? it made me appreciate NYC! hahah. i never thought i'd say that. but i just felt like everything about paris i could get in NYC. also, the subway > the metro x amillion. 

i really don't know why i felt this way. i couldn't even put a finger on it. in short, i thought everything was too expensive, there were too many tourists (whose fault is that? mine, obvi!), it was hot (not paris' fault, but it didn't help my feelings towards her) and it was nothing special. 

i also had a moment after walking down the champs-elysees with steph when, after two + hours of walking and an hour waiting for the "most spectacular macaroons", we were walking to sit down at a café in a park and my heart like skipped a beat. there's no other way to describe it. it felt like it skipped a beat, then started beating really fast, then i felt dizzy. so, it's obviously paris' fault that my hypochondria started going crazy! immediately thereafter i went to the bathroom - urine was DARK yellow (tmi?) - and then spent 10 EURO on a bottle of water. (FML!) in retrospect, and even at the time, i realize that i was dehydrated ... it was really effin' hot in europe this past august ...but at the time all i could think was i was going to have a heart attack at 26 and die in paris where i didn't even speak french. 

also, i was reading game of thrones at the time and i'm pretty sure it's impossible to be happy while reading that book. AND it was the last stop on my three weeks in europe and i think i was ready to get back. 

allllll that being said, i really loved sitting in the jardines and reading my book, buying wine and cheese and eating it under the eiffel tower, and seeing the "love padlocks" on the Pont de l'Archevêché. 

I think if I was going to go back to France I'd like to visit vineyards, the French Riviera, and give Paris another go. I would NOT like to go in August again. lol. I really don't like being hot and sweaty and i really absolutely HATE tourists (even when I am one!) so if I went back I'd like to do a little bit more research on places to visit, and also more French history so that I could really appreciate (Spanish teacher over here!) all the history in the city. 

really annoyed that i blocked the eiffel tower with this shot!

we found the thinking man waiting for the metro! 

unless you speak french/really enjoy staring at topless women for an hour and a half ... save your $$

i really wanted to add one ... but was too lazy to find a lock. lol

from the top of eiffel

for only 10 Euro you can drink three sips of champagne on the top!

nothing snarky to say about this one! 

jardin des tuileries

arc de troimphe

café where hypochondria attacked!!

la duree - best macaroons?? this line took literally over an hour and it was not that long! 

cool to look at, but not much of a sweets person!

seine river

so there is it. am i crazy? have you been to paris? what did you love about it? 

sneaking suspicions

driving to demo lesson, tiny kitten walking on this median. lady in front
rescued him! 

i always had a suspicion that i was a good teacher. 

i think teaching has got to be one of (if not the) toughest jobs you could ever do. i've worked a lot of jobs before becoming a teacher and the thing that i always appreciated is that if i wasn't good at my job, there were clearcut instructions on how to become better. 

that's not always the case with teaching. you can try tons of different techniques, teacher 'personas', etc. and at the end of the day, there's no guarantee you'll become a more effective teacher. 

well, my first year of teaching was MISERABLE. it was, by far, the hardest thing i've ever done and if i had to go back in time, i'm confident there is no way i would repeat it. that being said, i'm not a quitter, and that's the only reason why i didn't quit my first year. 

the problem with being off to such a rough start is that the i have never been able to shake my feelings of inadequacy when it comes to teaching. i still think i'm the same teacher i was my first year, even though i know i've gotten better, created better lessons, gotten kids engaged. but it's really hard to believe in yourself when the place you work does not value your subject AT ALL (as evidenced by the fact that i see my kids 2-3 times a week...in high school...and they still get credit. smh). 

so, i've never really believed in myself, but i always sort of, secretly, believed that i'm a good teacher (dammit!) and that if only i had a better teaching situation i could be really great! (ie - more time to spend with my students to establish routines /// having everyone emphasize that spanish is a 'core class'). 

last year i came thisclose to getting a job in a very competitive school district in westchester (north of nyc). it was between me and one other person and they gave it to the other person. then i even got a second chance at a HS position there and i blew the demo (d'oh!) and got a condolence letter about how proud i should feel with myself that i even made it that far in the interview process. 

i decided to stay at my current school, because, honestly, at the end of the year, as summer approaches, nothing seems that bad. 

needless to say, i regretted the decision before the kids had even come in september. 

but i stuck it out, and now i'm on the jobhunt fo real. 

once again i find myself interviewing and demo lesson-ing for a school district in westchester (different district, equally as competitive). i thought i blew the interview, but they invited me for a demo. they were "impressed" with my "creativity". but i had to do ANOTHER demo at the middle school, because it's a split position between middle & high school. 

so, once again, i agonized about the demo lesson, spent HOURS on it, called in sick to work (boss was PISSED!!!) and made the trek to try to prove in forty minutes to people who didn't know me that i was some great teacher that i don't even believe i am. 

status: they loved the lesson as well. the whole time i'm doing something that i do all the time with my current students, thinking it's nothing special and why couldn't i come up with anything better, and they loved it. they did not even give me ONE criticism of my lesson (remember the last lesson's only criticism? that i didn't provide a worksheet!!) ... do you know how often that's happened at my current school? never. 

at this point, they've left me to believe that the job is mine, that the assistant superintendent just has to go over all the details and "officially" offer me the job. im not getting too hype (stay tuned for another lesson in lingo) because, of course, it's not official yet. 

the last step? 

calling references. 

i listed people who like me as my references but i also provided the number to my school. i am really nervous that my principal will not give me a good recommendation. does she have reason to? no. but i'm still worried. i haven't told her yet that i'm looking -- that conversation is going to happen on monday -- so it will be interested to see her reaction. 

even if i don't get the job it's definitely given me the spark to keep looking. i AM good enough! a nationally ranked district is telling me that i'm a good teacher* & it feels damn good!

view from the bar where i celebrated with the girls 

* this is not to say that no one has ever told me i'm a good teacher; i have the most supportive colleagues a girl could hope for and it's only through their encouragement and belief in me that i have even stayed in teaching for five years!

speaking of mindless television...

im not sure who invented the show 'total blackout' on syfy, but i'd like to meet them and shake their hand.

the past two weeks the soup has featured clips that have made me cry!! sooo effin' funny!

that was last week's. 

last night's was just...oh, it was too much. 

i was walking down the street today in the bronx and literally just started laughing thinking about it. 

enjoy! 

xoxo

cure for stress = hours of mindless tV

guys. 

i have been so.stressed.out. 

i will spare you all the gory details and leave you with my thoughts on television for the past week. 

ive moved past season one and we're now in the middle of season two. as someone who has a real impatience problem, it's really comforting knowing that it's already had its series finale so i can watch it straight through. 

I <3 jimmy mcnulty! 

i also just found out that the guy who plays him is an english actor! whaat! so is the guy who plays daniel on revenge! hey babies! why do they give them a gross american accent? long live accents!!

& omar is probably my second favorite character of all time! (second only to sawyer from lost!)

next up: once upon a time 

warning -- spoiler alerts ----

what. 

the. 

eff. 

i thought the last two episodes were a total waste. i HATE IT when tv shows advertise like they're gonna have some big happen and then it turns out it was a dream. i did like the end of the this last episode, obvi, but if emma doesn't start to believe im breaking up with this show!

game of thrones. 

ughh. 

done. 

with.

this.

show. 

i mean, i read the books so i already know what happens but what i forgot is how miserable everyone and everything is. spoiler alert: everyone dies. 

deee-presssinggg!! 

survivor (last week's ep)

ahhahahah muahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahha. ^2

the smile before he reads the votes, ahhh, she is a dumb dumb. 

but seriously, i HATED kat so im happy she's gone!

----- end tv discussions ----

honestly have not watched that many shows lately because all i've been doing is watching the wire! i cannot believe i waited this long to jump on the bandwagon! even the president said its his favorite show and omar was his favorite character. look at me and the prez...twinsieeess! 

& because it's easier to laugh than cry:

if i've said it once, i've said a thousand times: 

if you don't believe in gay marriage, DONT MARRY A GAY PERSON! 

boom! problem solved!! 

have a lovely day!

cinco recap (¡con fotos!)

it's monday!


the good news is this monday was no where near as bad as the last two i've had!


how was your weekend? did you see this picture floating around the interwebs?

happy sinko day mayo!

i had a really great weekend! 


first of all, i did not go out on friday night (!!!) what !!


it's because i needed to rest up for saturrrdayyy!! 


we went to the astoria beer garden* for sarah's bday + cinco de mayo. obvi the beer garden is czechoslovakian ... right, so mexican "holiday" the most appropriate place to go is a czech beer garden right?

i especially like the sign for the #1 prague beer underneath the corona flags! 

but, they had buckets of corona for $20, so that's all that really mattered. right? 

also important to note, i ALWAYS get a sombrero. i was literally standing at the bar and this guy had a sombrero on i said, "i like your sombrero" and then he took it off and gave it to me! winnn!

how disturbing is it that this is the most normal picture of me from this night?

b & steph

the bday gal!

lovahhss, amanda & robbie

<3

obviously we're the cheetah girls. 

so, that pretty much sums it up. i remember trying for 5+ minutes to take my contact off my right eye when i got home, only to discover that there was no contact in my eye. classy, right?

i woke up the next day to find my contact case upset down on the sink, with one contact stuck inside it and the other one flung onto the sink counter. suuuperclassy. (for the record, i've never NOT taken my contacts out correctly). 

today ive been a wreck because tomorrow is the AP spanish language exam! ahhh!! i only have 9 kids in my AP class and only four are taking it ...and they're all native Spanish speakers, but i started to realize a couple weeks ago that they can't synthesize information in English, nevermind in Spanish. But, whatevs. they will try their hardest! 

we had last minute cram sessions today and during the afternoon class (i have them in the AM and PM on mondays and fridays) i kicked the seniors out because they are not taking the test and they left then came back like 5 minutes later and were like, "miss! what happened to your car?" and because my car was parked in front of the school i looked out the window and this is what i saw:

nice, right?

COVERED in post-its! they wrote stuff on some of them like, "your dead to me" (their spelling mistake, not mine) because that's a little AP inside joke we have. obvi its totally normal for your teacher to say, "you're dead to me" to her students, right? ...or is that just me?

haha

so, that made me smile in the midst of all my stress. and don't worry, they helped me take them off! 

how was your weekend & monday? 

*if you are ever in NYC, definitely go here! it's so fun! & i went to the haufbraus house in münchen and guess what - astoria's beer garden is better! and i'm sure i've made it clear how i feel about NYC so if i'm giving it an endorsement, you know it's fun!! (for more about beer gardens in NYC, this article from the NYtimes)

stand up for the silent

yay! weekend!

explain to me why i woke up at 550am this morning and was unable to go back to sleep, but during the week, when i need to be up by 630 at the latest i literally have to drag myself out of bed. no fair!

so, yesterday we took the whole 10th grade on a field trip to see the movie bully. i posted the trailer awhile back and was so moved by that (obvi crying the whole two minutes) i kept bringing it up at work that i wanted to take my advisory/a field trip to see it because i think it's so important. well, sarah ended up getting the whole trip funded through a donorschoose* project so we were able to take all the kids!

within the first 3 minutes i was crying. 

absolutely heart-wrenching. 

ugh, to see what these kids go through, and then the total ineptitude of the teachers and administrators who are supposed to be helping them? insaaane!

& look, ill be the first one to admit that i don't know how to "stop" bullying ...can it even be stopped? but the way that the adults in education handled it was absolutely horrifying. and even more so because they are allowing themselves to be filmed so they really have no idea how awful they are! there was never even a point where anyone said, "this is wrong. this is not okay." i may not know much, but i know that even saying something like that can make a difference. because what are you saying by NOT condemning it? that it's okay! arghh!

the good news was, the kids really enjoyed it. and by enjoyed it i mean they got it. they were leaving the theater at points to get tissues, yelling at the administrator in the movie (luckily it was just us and another school group in there that was equally as involved!) and applauding at the end. they didn't really understand that bullying (the way it's portrayed in the movie) still exists. case-in-point: a lesbian teen in oklahoma is actually shunned by her peers AND teachers (teacher calling roll says, "girls. boys. & kelby")...well, there are at least three lesbian couples at our very small school, but we also live in NYC so the kids just don't get that this kind of intolerance still exists. i was happy that they showed one girl who was black because leading up to seeing the movie a lot of my kids were like, 'only white kids do that'. 

i mean, the movie is absolutely heartbreaking. heartbreaking!! it's easy for a lot of blame to fall on adults in education, but we need to also ask ourselves what the hell are parents teaching their kids?? because they learn it somewhere and even if parents are not the ones who are bullies necessarily, they need to have the same conversations with their children about treating others kindly as they would have about drugs and sex....i don't want my kid to be a terrorist bully anymore than i want him/her to be using drugs!!

saddest moment of the movie, the mom of one of the main kids (he gets bullied on the bus every day) says, "these people are not your friends. friends are supposed to make you feel good" and he says, "well if you're telling me they're not my friends, what friends do i have?" 

the movie ends by showing rallies that are going on around the country to try to stop bullying. one campaign is called 'stand for the silent'  formed by parents whose child committed suicide after being bullied for years. you can also pledge to stop bullying & speak up (because really sometimes that's all it takes!)

ill leave you with the trailer to a movie we saw during the previews that gave me full-body chills (in a happy, not sad, way!) it's called the intouchables, it's in french and i love everything about it already!!!