Biking the 'Triple Crown'

About two weeks ago I returned my bike to Costco (thanks Costco for having the greatest return policy EVER!!!) and then went and bought a little bit nicer bike, one that is more suited to long distanc biking. It is almost a rode-bike, you might call it a hybrid or an entry level rode bike. Whatever it is, I like it! It is much lighter than my old one, it has much thinner tires, and a lot of aspects of it are much better.

In part due to having a better bike and in part due to just building up my strenght and endurance, I have been able to ride in to work and back home three times a week for the past two weeks. I do it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to give some time for my legs to recover. It is a 28 mile round with some moderate changes in elevation so I would say that it is a somewhat challenging bike ride. I was so happy when I rode in three times in one week for the first time, I was on top of the world that day. I dubbed this achievement the 'Triple Crown.' And if I ever ride in 4 times in a week I will call it the 'Grand Slam.' My legs are getting much stronger and my endurance is improving as well. It is seriosly a great work out and I love the days that I get to ride in, I just feel really good about it for a few reasons: the exercise, not wasting so much time stuck in traffic or sitting in a ssubway car, and all the MONEY I am saving. With the latest incresases of fare charges with DC's Metro system my round trip to and from work would be $8.70. This has helped motivate me to ride the Metro as little as possible, and inversely to ride my bike to work as much as humanly possible. Stretching out a lot after each bike ride really helps a lot. My legs don't hurt if I stretch out a lot, they just get sore. Ever since I got IT Band Syndrome when I ran 11 miles last year I have had to make sure I don't push myself too hard too quickly in running and biking.

All of the pictures are pictures that I took with my new 4th Generation Ipod Touch during a ride home from work. As you can see, I get to ride in some cool areas. It is nice to be in the naturey areas for most of the ride. Passing the famous monuments is fun too!

Hey! Give us back our pinata!

Michelle and I celebrated our birthdays this month. My birthday was the 5th and we had a really fun get-together with friends here at our place. Since I told Michelle that the only thing I wanted was to have a pinata at the party, she got my a treasure chest pinata and filled it with really good candy. We took it outside and one of our friends actually climbed up in the tree to let it hang and to pull it up while I was blindfolded and swinging at it. While we were all gathered outside doing the whole pinata thing, a bunch of little Latino kids saw us and all came over. I told them they could go after the candy when I busted it open, and man oh man they sure did go after that candy! Those kids made out like bandits! One kid did that thing where you use your shirt to carry a bunch of stuff (think elementary school) and filled his shirt with candy. Other kids stuffed their pockets and still walked away with handfuls of candy. The funniest thing though was one kid actually tried to take the pinata. We told her that we actually wanted to keep it in case we wanted to use it again. It was a great way to spend my 27th birthday.

Michelle's birthday was on the 18th and to celebrate, I decided to surprise her by taking her to Six Flags. I was talking about it though with other people and trying not to give it away but when we pulled into the parking lot she said 'I knew it!' I was going to take her to Hershey, Pennsylvania, where there is a theme park and a lot of fun Hershey chocolate stuff, but our friends the Jansons have season passes to the DC Six Flags and they were able to get us both in for free with some season pass holder coupons. This worked out much better because Hershey, PA is a couple hours away and the DC Six Flags is only 30 minutes (tops!) from here; I had no idea it was so close! I was just settling in for the ride when we got off the freeway. We had a really fun time at Six Flags: we went on a lot of fun roller coasters; we got soaking wet on some water rides, but we dried off pretty quick because the sun was out; and we ate an obligatory funnel cake with ice cream! Even though we were there on a Saturday, it was not crowded at all. We pretty much walked onto every ride, no joke. I think we may have waited about ten minutes for one ride near the late afternoon when there were more people there. Either it is the slow season if the place just doesn't get the crowds I associate with theme parks. Either way, it was fine by all of us.

School Evacuation and a Glimpse into the Chaos

Yep, we had to evacuate our school today at 11:00, and nope, not a fire. When we got to school at 7 am this morning we realized the water did not work. That meant toilets couldn't flush and no one could wash their hands - a pretty big problem for a school full of kids ages 3 - 12. They can't go without a bathroom for too long. Our principal spent the morning on the phone trying to get it fixed, but I guess a big water line busted and it was not going to be fixed soon enough. Our whole school ended up having to walk about 5 blocks to another elementary school. They doubled up 2 of their classes to a classroom and then gave us the other classrooms to use for the afternoon. We had three classes in the one we used. With all the chaos and the crowded room, there was no way any teaching could take place, so my class spent the afternoon coloring, drawing in their journals, and reading (mostly coloring) - not the most productive day and definitely a crazy one (which is not that abnormal for my school).

Other crazy happenings at my school over the past week (a glimpse into the chaos):
*One of my students hit the art teacher after hitting several of my students and throwing things across the room.
*A first grader in the other class tried to choke a girl in her class, tackled (literally) 2 of my kids in the hallway and tried to choke one, stripped naked in her classroom, and slapped her teacher in the face - all in the same day.
*chairs thrown across the room on 3 different days
*one of my students cussed out the computer teacher and my entire class during specials - repeatedly and loudly

I often go home thinking "Wow, did all of that really happen today? Do I really work at this place?"

There are good things that happen too and good students, but everything above is actually pretty normal. Hopefully I can help to change some of this and introduce my students to a more positive and cooperative culture. I definitely have my work cut out for me this year!

The First Two Weeks of First Grade

I've just finished the first two weeks of teaching first grade as a second year teacher. Teaching a second year really is a lot easier than the first. I actually know what I'm doing this year as far as the material that needs to be covered, how to teach it, how to handle behavior, etc. I'm definitely not an expert and still have a lot to learn, but it feels good not to be totally clueless! Planning has been a ton easier this year too. I remember at the beginning of last year I was up at 6, taught and planned until at least 9 p.m., and then went to bed and started over again the next day. It was pretty draining and stressful. This year I have been able to do most of my planning at school. It is my goal this year to stay until no later than 5:30 at school everyday or work at home until 6:00 and then be completely done with schoolwork. So far I have been able to do it. It is so nice to be able to reuse the lesson plans I have from last year. I'll make some minor adjustments on some of them and plan some completely new lessons, but it is going to be so much easier! The other first grade teacher at my school is new to first grade this year, but is also a second year teacher. She is so great to work with. We plan everything together and do a lot of combined class activities. It makes planning and teaching easier and more fun. It is so nice to have someone to collaborate so closely with.

While this year is a lot better than last, there are still some big challenges. There have already been a couple days (or times of the day) when I don't want this job. This is all due to the huge challenge of student behavior. I only have 16 kids in my class this year, which is amazing (and probably won't last long), but there are a couple that are a real handful. I just get tired of fighting behavior to be able to teach. The behavior is nowhere near as bad as last year, but it is still hard. I just get sick of the fighting, disrespect, and lack of effort. I need to keep practicing my patience. Most of the students in my class are great, and I think as the year goes on and we get routines and procedures down more thoroughly, things will be better.

On a separate note, I completely forgot how little first graders are at the beginning of the year. They can't read, can't count, struggle to write letters and numbers, don't really know how to listen, always just want to play, and are pretty socially immature. They grow SO much by the end of the year - behaviorally, socially, and academically. I think of my first graders at the end of last year and it is amazing all of the progress they have made. I look forward to my students this year making all of that progress - especially with their behavior and ability to focus.