Me and My Hats (or Me and My Caps)

I love hats.

Growing up I had about 30-40 hats all of which I loved for different reasons and would wear all the time. I remember my parents and my grandfather telling me that if I didn't stop wearing a hat it would make my hair fall out. I never believed them although looking back on it my grandfather always wore a fedora and was, in fact, bald so maybe he was on to something.

I imagine my love for hats was probably a result of loving baseball so much since it's the only sport in which the players wear hats (or caps in baseball terms) on the field. As a kid, I always wanted to look just like the players I idolized which lead to me constantly wearing wristbands for no apparent reason and dressing up as Keith Hernandez for Halloween. The only thing missing was the cap.

While I had the plastic "snap" Mets cap, I always wanted an official on-field, fitted one. Besides the fact that my head would not have fit in an official baseball cap growing up, I don't have any memory of them even being sold. In order to make up for this deficiency of head wear (tragic childhood, no?) as an adult I have owned close to 10 Mets fitted caps. Although they represent the same team, each one is a little different ranging from the different colors (blue, black, black/blue and the rare white), the 2000 World Series version, to the one with the American flag that came out after September 11th and most recently the Citi Field Inaugural Season version.

I'm not going to lie, the hat/cap thing might be the craziest part of my personality as is evident in the fact that I'm writing a blog about them. After owning a traditional blue Mets cap through the tragic 2007 and 2008 New York Mets, I decided that the cap was cursed and had a formal destruction ceremony with my friend Mike in which we tore it to pieces (the team suffered one of it's worst on the field years record wise since 2003 which just shows how much of a superstitious idiot I truly am.) I'll spend 10-15 minutes trying them on in order to find just the "right" one which is always a treat for my wife and at this point, I buy a new one every two years, hoping and (genuinely) thinking that this might be the one that brings my forlorn team a winning season but alas they never do. The past two years with the aforementioned all black Citi Field version brought more pain so at last night's game I bought another, this one the black and blue version (which I'm sure you already figured out was next in the cycle unless of course you didn't which would speak volumes about the proper attention you give the hats...none.)



There is an art to breaking in an official cap since they are usually very stiff and don't initially look that good on one's head as you can see in the photo above. I'll be wearing this one for the next two years and possibly longer in case this team begins to turn it around which already doesn't look promising 12 games into the season.

I'm glad that something as simple as a hat can still make me happy but more importantly I'm still happy that I have all of my hair.

The Campaign Commercial for the Non-Existent Candidate

Once a year, we here in America (and other democratic nations) become overloaded on political campaign ads extolling the virtues of candidates of (mostly) questionable character. One will lower taxes, one is blue collar just like me and you and another wants to end a war.

Regardless of the candidate or the message, these commercials exist for one reason: get the candidate elected. Why is it then, that a three term mayor (2 that are legitimate, 1 that is both selfish and immoral) needs to run what amounts to a campaign commercial just over a year into a four year term? I suppose poor approval ratings and $20 billion are the answer I'm looking for as to why Mayor Bloomberg is running these commercials when he can never run for mayor again.

Instead of spending money on commercials to change public opinion, how about you become more aware of why it is that public opinion of you and your policies is so low?

Why don't you spend the "high six figures" that has has been reported as the cost of your commercial and put it back into the city. Even though I'm a math-deficient History teacher, I can still figure out that $900,000 could keep nearly 20 first-and second-year teachers in the classrooms of New York City.

Maybe I'm just foolish to think the "education mayor" would do something like that.

a day in the life of a teacher (well a young one anyway)

My friend the mayor released a list of potential teacher layoffs in New York City this morning. As I was woke up, trying to will myself out of bed after a week off, I heard the news report and was suddenly even less excited to start my day.

Then I went to work....

.....and taught 60 9th graders in my Civics class how to contact their representative concerning proposed gun control legislation in the House.

Then, I took a look at the aforementioned list provided by the D.O.E. and saw that my school has 5 teachers that could be laid off if the mayor doesn't get his way. Best part? It was just a number so maybe it's me but then again maybe it's not. I spent a small part of the remainder of the day wondering if I was one of the unlucky ones. I didn't necessarily appreciate the suspense of it all.

Then I taught 30 9th graders English. Well kind of anyway. Midway through the day all of the outlets in my room blew rendering useless the PowerPoint that I was going to project onto my board to teach my mini lesson. Can't win 'em all.....or apparently ANY of 'em.

Then I came home had dinner with my wife and watched our friend the mayor on the news. I'm not too sure if the mayor thought about me and my fellow teachers today- well maybe he did, after all he made up a nice list!- but I know he didn't think about my wife, and the grief that his list caused her today.

This is my 3rd year teaching in New York City and my 3rd year of hearing that I might lose my job...it's kind of like an anniversary. Should I get a gift? What is the 3rd year? Leather? Anyway
throughout these sagas, I always took the position that what will be will be. Whatever happens, I'll be prepared and besides it can't be as bad as the end of last year can it? Politics aside (and I do have opinions that I may share in the future), I just want to keep my job. I love teaching, even on the first day back from vacation, when I'm told my job is in jeopardy and the power doesn't work so I can't teach my lessons.

Actually, today kind of just sucked but I am ready for tomorrow and the challenges that await with my classes.

Let's hope I get the same chance next year.

Cairo/The Bronx

For the past five months, I've been teaching 9th grade Civics/U.S. Government in the Bronx. If you had walked into my classroom at any time over the last five months, you would have heard terms like limited government, democracy, dictator and popular consent. Many of my students see these as just words in a book or on a worksheet they were given in class. Like many of us, they hear terms like "democracy" but not really being sure what that means. Something that comes as a result of hearing but not necessarily thinking about it.

Today my 9th graders (all 90 of 'em!) and I were able to see these terms in action and it was one of best days in my three years of teaching.

The events unfolding in Egypt over the past two and a half weeks have been a microcosm of what I've been teaching this school year. My students have learned about different systems of government, created a government for a fictional nation and discussed the role that government should play in the lives of people (or more importantly, the role that people play in a government).

Today, in a whirlwind of timing and technology, I was able to take my students to Cairo, where what they have been learning this year was coming to life. As my students entered the room, the Al Jazeera coverage from Tahrir Square was playing on the board. We watched for a little bit and then moved into our lesson which reviewed the events of the last two weeks, as well as an analysis of photographs of the protesters in Cairo. We had a chance to use events that were happening in real time to assess their knowledge of democracy and government. During my 3rd period class,as students were completing their exit slips, we watched as President Mubarak officially resigned. With my last period class, we were able to watch President Obama's statement. In the latter case, I was able to sit down and watch it with them.

Today was a great day to be a social studies teacher. Too often, we are teachers of the past; today we were able to be teachers of the present. Now I can't guarantee that my students are sitting at home on a Friday night talking about what's next for Egypt but I do know that during the three hours that I spent with them today, they got to watch what they have learned in my class happen right in front of them. That is a wonderful thing.

Teach

Another week past, another week of teaching in the Bronx now behind me. (It's also another year of the mayor telling me that I'm going to lose my job but those are thoughts for another post.)

Had an up and down week with my students who were a mix of brilliant and maddeningly apathetic over the last four days. I'm now just past the halfway point of the year and each week/day/class has presented both challenges and rewards, although complete honesty would say there have been many more of the former. Each challenge that I face has built a resolve that makes me ask "How can I make this work?", a question whose answer I have yet to find. However, this question has led to a deeper reflection on both my practice and educational philosophy.

Today a co-worker and I had an extended discussion about the role that home plays in education of a child. As someone who was academically lazy throughout my childhood, I feel that I know better than most just how uninteresting school can be for adolescence (perhaps one of the reasons that I wanted to become a teacher in the first place.) While I thought school was boring at times, I always knew that in some way, it was important. Why? Because my parents told me that it was. Kids are stupid- and I mean that in the nicest way possible,- which is to say that a child between the ages of 5-11 can be convinced about anything (see the Tooth Fairy) so if a parent tells them that school is important when they're young, they just might listen. By no means does this predict academic success, but it doesn't hurt for a student to hear that school and their education have value because if they doesn't happen then, they probably won't care too much when they get to high school. Unfortunately, I work with a handful of students who might not have gotten that message growing up, which leaves an uphill challenge for myself and my colleagues.

So, once again, how can I make this work? I don't know. However, I'm beginning to realize that if I can get them to think,than I would be doing my part in moving them along in life. More on that in the future.

Two more weeks till Winter Break with many more challenges (both known and unknown) on the horizon. As time passes, I continue to learn these lessons which will prepare me for what awaits in the future.

8 Seconds

**Note, if you were expecting a review of the 1994 Luke Perry movie 8 Seconds, I apologize as I did not mean to deceive you with the title of this post.

One of the best places I've ever been to in New York City was an Eastern European discotheque on Canal Street that my friends and I went to back in college. It was just an odd place that served beer in giant green bottles and played really loud music. We referred to it as "Bulgaria Bar" and although it was a pretty random place, we always managed to have a great time there. It's one of my favorite parts of New York City. There's so much to do that on any night there's a different event happening somewhere in the city.

Tonight, I went to one of those events: Professional Bull Riding (PBR) at Madison Square Garden. My dad and I went last year and had a great time, so it was an easy decision to return again this year. Overall, Professional Bull Riding has a lot to offer. As a sports fan, it's a chance to see elite athletes competing at the highest level of their sport. For the part of me that still laughs at "Jackass", there's people getting knocked around by bulls which is always entertaining. Also last year, I got to see 6 year old kids grab onto a sheep that was then let loose around the floor at MSG, easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen. With this in mind, we returned for this year's Madison Square Garden Invitational.

Having been to a number of sporting events, I can honestly say that attending a PBR event is an excellent time. The PBR puts on a good show, the bullfighter MC is entertaining (yes I said bullfighter, they apparently take offense to the term "Rodeo Clown") and of course there's people being knocked around by bulls. Also, the PBR riders have the best names, including Skeeter Kingsolver, Pistol Robinson and Stormy Wing. Do you know how much better baseball would be if Skeeter Kingsolver or Stormy Wing was the starting second baseman for the Mets? Finally, there's the fun of going to a bull riding event in New York City where you get to see New Yorkers dress up as "cowboys." While there are definitely professionals in the crowd with legit cowboy gear, there's also a lot of locals who borrowed the cowboy hat from their kid/siblings cowboy costume or spent $35.00 on the official PBR one that were sold on the concourse. There's also a ton of flannel shirts in the crowds, as if Brooklyn hipsters really needed ANOTHER reason to wear them.

Well done PBR!

Now back to knowing nothing about bull riding until this time next year.

Change

I'm now two months into my first year at my new school.

In some good ways and in some bad ways, I am having a much different teaching experience this year then compared to my first two. One of my biggest challenges has been in the handling of my classroom or "classroom management" in teacher talk. At times it's been good, but most times it's been very tough. You see, my students like to talk and while I lay the large, large majority of the blame at their feet, I have to think that maybe, just maybe it's me. Maybe I need to do something different. Maybe I need to be better (I did go to school for this right?)

Over the past few days I've finally realized that what I did in the past can't necessarily be what I'm doing now. Now, there are many aspects of my practice that I am very happy with (planning, learning from my coach) but something just wasn't clicking with my class. In the past I had handled the kids on a regular basis and rarely got publicly frustrated with them. This year, it's been the opposite. My kids can be tough, but it's nothing that can't be turned around, especially since I'm with these fine children for another 8 months.

I'm going to try a new management technique starting tomorrow; one that I've been averse to in the past, but could see the benefit in using. I'm going to post updates on how this change is going for a two reasons:

1)it makes me write/reflect which can only be positive
2)it makes me accountable to you, my (possibly non-existent) readers, because if I'm going to write about it, I'm going to have to do it.

Talk to you next week.