Our very nice hotel room overlooks a narrow alley and with the curtains closed it is as dark as night, no matter what time it is. Which is funny and ironic, considering Times Square is only steps away, and there it is always as light as day.
For our taste, the two balance each other nicely, and our stay here has been both comfortable and fun. In fact, coming up to the city and seeing a couple of shows might just become a January tradition.
Thirty-six hours, two shows, a dinner reservation at Burger and Lobster, and an overnight at the Chatwal. NYC here we come!
Traffic was heavy and it ended up taking me over 45 minutes to drive the 8 miles to the car dealer where I had made an after-school appointment for routine maintenance yesterday. I had just settled down into the waiting room when the service coordinator came to find me. "We're backed up in the shop," he reported, "so why don't we get you into a loaner and keep your car overnight? We can get to your vehicle first thing tomorrow."
"Sure," I agreed. Although I dreaded having to make the drive again the next day, the prospect of doing so in a new car took a lot of the sting away. A few minutes later I was in a 2024 Subaru Outback with 118 miles on the odometer and all the bells and whistles you can imagine.
Before I left the parking lot I had paired my phone and set up a driver profile that used facial recognition to adjust the seat and the radio presets to my personal specifications. And we were living large this morning as we rolled into the school parking garage in that new car. "We should buy it," Heidi sighed. But we agreed that our own car is very nice, as well as perfectly maintained by the dealer. It has low mileage and almost every feature that newer model offers. Plus? It's paid off.
So it was without remorse this afternoon that I piloted the loaner back to its home to pick up our good ol' car. Just as before the traffic was terrible, but I still used cruise control to maintain 25 mph on a heavily policed lane. As I approached a stoplight, I was momentarily distracted by a flock of geese on the lawn of the private school campus on my right. Just then, the car beeped a warning I had never heard before. "Keep your eyes on the road" the dash display admonished.
"How the hell?" I wondered until I realized that the profile recognition feature must have been watching my face all along. I wasn't sure if that was creepy or cool, but I was glad that I didn't have to decide, because a little while later I was driving my own car home.
It is a trick I learned from a colleague a few years ago.
Whenever we give standardized exams, students may not use any electronic devices until the test session is over. That policy leaves lots kids with not much to do. Of course, we wish they would read, but even with hundreds of volumes at their fingertips, the number of students who actually pick up a book these days is in the low single digits. (But that is a lament for another day.)
To occupy their extra time, I usually print out a variety of high-interest coloring pages and puzzles. It's mystifying to me, but word searches are always wildly popular, and here is where that colleague's tip pays off. Make-your-own puzzle sites are easy to find, and so, once students settle into their task, I create a word search with the names of everyone in the room.
It only takes a few minutes, and it's so worth the quiet smile of delight they give me every time they look at the list of words and realize the significance.
Do something you don't really feel like doing, just because you can! encouraged the calendar square.
I was sitting next to the sixth-grade girl I am mentoring this year down in the cafeteria after school. The monthly theme for our group of female teachers and students was self-care, and our activities included DIY spa treatments and a New Year's resolution bingo card. For inspiration, the organizers had provided a January Happiness calendar, and it was that day's advice I was reading.
"That sounds like a good idea," I said to her.
She snorted.
"I don't feel like going to the gym," I confessed, "but now maybe I will. How about you?"
"No-uh!" she answered definitively. "Why would I do something I don't want to?"
"It's a good habit to make yourself do stuff you know you should," I explained. "Are you going to do it?"
"Nope," she said.
I sighed and looked at my watch. Me neither, I thought.
We had a fun little drawing activity for our brain break yesterday. Students viewed a short how-to-draw-a-cute-ice-cream-cone video, followed the simple directions, and were invited to share their work by posting to our LMS course. Most kids enjoyed creating the playful image as directed, but there were a few who chafed at the prescription, too.
"That's really good!" I told him as I circulated throughout the room.
"What kind ice cream is it, though?" asked the student next to him with a sniff. "It's gray."
"It's dust-flavored," he laughed without missing a beat.
One of my students had a schedule change from one section of my English to another. Based on the personalities and work habits of the kids in his new class, I am confident it will be a good move for him. Even so, I could see he was a bit nervous when he came in this morning.
I had changed all the seats, so everybody was distracted finding their new table when suddenly I heard someone say, "Wait! Are you in this class now?"
There was a silence and I saw the usually gregarious student blush a little as many turned their attention toward him.
"Or were you always in here?" the other kid asked in confusion.
The new guy and I made eye contact and exchanged an eye roll.
"Yes," I said to the class. "He's always been in here. I don't know what you're talking about!" I finished with exaggerated confusion.
"Really?" responded some.
"No!" others cried.
"Oh yes!" I insisted, as I stood by the student whose schedule had changed, the two of us laughing.
Soon everyone was in on the joke, and the group settled down, ready to get to work with their new classmate.
