My Dad and the Boys in Green

In June of 1994,  the Rangers won the Cup, the Knicks lost the Finals and OJ was driving through Los Angeles in a white Bronco. I had also just graduated from 8th grade and was getting ready for summer, with freshman year in high school looming in the distance.

In June of 1994, the World Cup also came to America.

I am the son of an Irish immigrant. Prior to June of 1994, I had only visited Ireland once; a family vacation that I didn't remember much of because I was only 5 at the time. I always knew that a connection with my Irish heritage and family were important to my father and in June of 1994 the World Cup helped make that connection permanent.

One site of the World Cup would be just an hour from my home, at Giants Stadium. The first match? Ireland vs. Italy. My dad was able to get tickets and on the June 18th we made our way out to New Jersey.

Of the many memories that were created on that hot June afternoon, the one that I remember the most was the sight of the crowd. When we came out of the tunnel to go to our seats, we stepped into a loud sea of green. Out of the 80,000+ that could fit into that building, I could only see one section that wasn't wearing green or waving the tri-color. I knew the day would be special and it didn't disappoint. Ray Houghton scored, Ireland won and I was officially a fan of the "Boys in Green". In the following years, I would visit many pubs to watch many matches that often ended in disappointment but always left me wanting more.

I watched Jason McAteer beat Holland on the big screen at Slane Castle before U2 took the stage in 2001. (Bono called it the best opening act they ever had)

I stayed up late in New York to watch Matt Holland score against Cameroon and I got up early in London to watch Robbie Keane's extra time goal to earn a well deserved draw with Germany.

There was McCarthy, Kerr and Staunton, Trap and now the duo of O'Neil and Keane.

There were close calls, blown leads, losses in playoffs and of course the Henry handball in the Stade de France in 2009. The last European championship brought an end to a 10 year tournament drought but was also a competitive no show that ended quickly.

After a campaign that looked dead and buried a year ago, a stunner from Shane Long to shock Germany in Dublin helped Ireland qualify for the playoffs. A two legged win over Bosnia booked Ireland's ticket to France where it all starts today against Sweden (in the Stade de France no less)

I was thinking this week about why I was so excited for the Euros . Then, while messing around on YouTube, I came across a video of the aforementioned Italy match. After watching it, I looked at the following picture hanging on my wall and I realized why I care.

Here I am in all  of my awkward 13 year old glory with my dad and whatever dog creature was the mascot of the '94 World Cup

The love of this team goes back to Giants Stadium in 1994 and an amazing day that I got to spend with my dad. We ended up going to the after party that was held at the racetrack (I'm pretty sure my dad talked our way in) and we ended up driving two guys from County Monaghan back to Woodside, a move that only my father could make. These games and this team are important to me now because of how important is was to go to that match with my dad back then. It's a nice reminder of just how great my dad has been to me throughout my life.

Starting on June 13th,  I'll once again be cheering for Ireland, with passing thoughts of 1994 and going to that match with my dad.

Come on you boys in green.

Republic of Ireland Euro 2016 Schedule
All times listed in Eastern Time
Monday June 13: Republic of Ireland v. Sweden 12:00 PM (ESPN)
Saturday June 18: Belgium vs. Republic of Ireland 9:00 AM (ESPN)
Wednesday June 22: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland 3:00 PM (ESPN)

Reyes Returns: Why I'll Boo

Tonight, Jose Reyes returns to Queens for the first time since signing a long term deal with the Miami Marlins. While the Mets will be showing a video tribute at the beginning of the game and many fans will cheer, I will not. Tonight when #7 is announced as the lead off hitter for the Marlins, I will boo.

I will boo, but it's not for the reason you think. I don't blame Reyes for leaving the Mets last December. As a free agent in the prime of his career he made the right decision for himself and his family when he took the biggest offer, even if it meant leaving the team that drafted him and helped make him a star. Additionally, the Mets current financial limbo that the made it completely unrealistic for the team to sink an average of 16 million dollars into one player, especially one who is injury prone. I won't even boo because he joined the Marlins, a team that I have grown to hate after they gleefully ended our season two years in a row (fueled in 2007 by the antics of one Jose Reyes by the way.)

So no, I won't be booing because of Reyes' greed or a belief that he turned his back on the Mets. It won't be because he left for a rival team and it won't even be because of his highlighter orange hair.

Instead, I'll be booing because of September 28th, 2011.

On the last day of the 2011 season, many Mets fans showed up at Citi Field and tuned into SNY. they didn't do it to watch a sub-.500 team play one last game, but because they wanted to watch a homegrown player who they knew would be playing his final game in a Mets uniform. We wanted 9 more innings of the most exciting player to ever wear the orange and blue but instead we got three outs on the field and one pitch at the plate. After dropping down a bunt single, Reyes took himself out in order to win the batting title. To make it even worse he claimed that he did it for us, the long suffering Mets fans who have been clamoring for a batting champion for years, not for him and the millions that it would add to his contract (I guess I'm in the minority that would rather a championship or at least a pennant.)

So tonight I will boo. I will always remember the triples, stolen bases  and "Jose" chants but tonight at 7:10 I'll think back 7 months and remember the man who dropped a bunt, walked away and blamed us for doing it.

"Historical Graffiti": KWL Charts in my Classroom

I like to use KWL charts (Know, Want to Know and Learned) when I introduce big topics. It's a low stakes way to gauge my students prior knowledge as well as possible topics of interest that could lead to later lessons. After doing one to start the previous two units I felt that it was getting a little monotonous for the class. When I started my unit on Slavery this week, my students once again made charts but instead of the traditional three column KWL on handouts, they created KW charts on paper that was hung around the room. We watched two clips from the film Amistad during which the students recorded two pieces of information in their notebook for the K and W charts. After the clip, students were required transfer their four pieces of information to the chart paper.




A colleague of mine saw them hanging in the room and referred to them as "historical graffiti" which is not only pretty accurate but also the coolest things anyone has ever called my students' work. I have a total of eight of them hanging and while they look great from a far, it's what you see up close that is the most interesting. Each poster not only reveals a lot about what my students knew about slavery before they entered my room, but they also speak volumes about where my students are academically and intellectually. Comments featuring poor grammar stand in contrast next to sincere questions about the existence and nature of slavery.



As it was the first day back from break, I was just looking for something to get my students out of their seats while being productive. I really didn't have any expectations (good or bad) for it but I love the way it turned out and will definitely be doing it again.

Service Learning: Veterans and the Bronx

I'm lucky enough to work at the Bronx Lab School, a community that has made a commitment to service learning as a part of our philosophy and curriculum. Each year, for the last three school days before spring break, all students participate in a service learning project that is designed by one or two teachers in a program called Explore Week. After working with the music teacher on a project last year, I was looking to develop my own project for this year. Because of my experiences working with Operation Wounded Warrior through my volunteer fire department (chronicled on this blog in the past) I knew that I would love to do a project where our students got to work with our nation's veterans. When it was time to design our projects, a colleague of mine in the history department had the very same idea and our project was quickly developed: giving our students a chance to meet and interview veterans about their experiences, as well as issues relating to veterans and to make a short film about both.

After brainstorming about partner organizations, I reached out to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), an amazing not-for-profit organization who are helping to serve the over 2.2 million new veterans returning from Iraq and/or Afghanistan. We pitched them our idea and they agreed to have us down to their office in Manhattan so that our students could meet with staff/veterans and film their interviews.

The students spent Tuesday of this week researching one issue relating to veterans (PTSD, physical disabilities, unemployment/homelessness and the new GI Bill), developing questions for their interviews and gathering information and photographs that could be used in their "mini-docs." We spent almost two hours at IAVA on Wednesday interviewing the veterans before finishing up at school today editing the films and having a pizza party/premiere.

The last few days were fantastic. In full disclosure, I often dread Explore Week because it can be a lot of work during a time of year when you're starting to feel a bit burned out. However at the end of Explore Week the last two years, I was grateful for the experience that I was able to have with the students at my school. Service learning not only allows students to get out of the classroom (it such a pleasure to see that student who drives you crazy in the classroom excel outside of a traditional setting) but it also allows them to learn by doing and see the amazing work that is happening in our greater community. The students that I worked with did a tremendous job researching, creating and editing their films and they also learned a lot about the issues facing the brave men and women who serve our country so proudly.

If you have the time, please check out the students work at the links below (Blogger took way too long to load the video directly on the blog) and check out the great work that is being done at IAVA on their website www.iava.org

Finally, if you ever get the opportunity please thank a veteran and never forget what they do for all of us.

Film #1: PTSD (click the title)

Film #2: Physical Disabilities (click the title)

Film #3: The GI Bill (click the title)

Film #4: Unemployment/Homelessness (click the title)

The One Hour Do Now

Do Now: Name the 3 largest cities in the North in the 1800's.

What I thought would be a quick Do Now to get my 9th graders settle down and activate some prior knowledge from yesterday's lesson turned into a spontaneous 60 minute conversation ranging from the compass rose to the continental divide. It was one of the more interesting, exciting and enlightening periods I've had all year.

As he was working on the aforementioned Do Now, one student started calling out answers such as "Mexico" and "Georgia". Although this student can sometimes be a joker, his answers made me pause, so before we reviewed the Do Now I asked the class if, when they just guess apparently random answers, they are serious or not. When many responded they were serious (especially the student that guessed Mexico) I knew that I needed to slow things down and take the time to review some very basic information that I (wrongly) assumed that 9th graders would know.

I started by asking them to draw the compass rose in their notebook which most, but not all, got correct. We started to discuss the map of the United States, the compass rose and the geographical locations of major states and cities. We tied in our Essential Question for the unit ("How does where we live affect how we live?") by talking about how New Yorkers might view Maryland as being a Southern state, but those in Maryland don't. We were also able to touch on what I feel is the biggest historical understanding for them to take from my class: the seeds of the Civil War were sown with the geographical differences between the North and the South and the societies that were created as a result.

I learned a tremendous amount during first period today, including....

-My students know very little about basic geographical concepts, including directions and maps, a fact that is even worse to me since I use to spend the first month of my 6th grade class (and to a lesser extent my 7th grade) on geography.

-It's a lot of fun to just throw a lesson out and go with what the students are offering. It takes a little maneuvering but once you get the conversation going, the students natural curiosity will take over and all you have to do is jump in every so often to move the conversation along.

-Never assume students know anything. I've learned this lesson before but I obviously didn't learn it well enough. Tomorrow's lesson? Mapping the United States. Break out the atlases!

-Teaching is the best.

Remember the Good....

I have got to stop being surprised by the roller coaster of emotions that make up the life of a teacher.

One of my classes kicked the shit out of me today. Students talking, paper balls flying and a lesson that wasn't going anywhere made 4th period today one of the worst of my year. During the next period I had to have one of my advisees escorted out of class because she was ready to start a fight over a missing jacket. By lunch I was totally fried and the prospect of parent-teacher conferences later in the night wasn't making anything better. (My twitter feed from around this time reveals a lot about where I was mentally at the time)

I met with a number of parents tonight, but one in particular saved my day. I have a student who failed my class both first and second quarter. We were working on a project a few weeks back and it was starting to look like the third quarter would be more of the same. I pushed him to get to work and over the next few days, something clicked with him and he ended up doing his best work on the year. On the last day before Winter Break, I shared the good news with his adviser and later in the day he approached me (rather sheepishly) to ask if I would do the same with a phone call home to his mom. I left her a message that night and was able to meet her tonight at parent-teacher conferences. We discussed how much he has improved and that the past few weeks have marked a new beginning for him in my class. By the time we were done, his mother was in tears as she told him how proud she was of him. Her reaction, and the look of pride and accomplishment on his face absolutely made my day, one that had been pretty bad leading up to that point.

Teaching is really an amazing thing. There are times when the challenges of teaching can be completely overwhelming. During these times it's easy for a teacher to wonder if there's anything he or she can do to make things better, but then there are night's like tonight where you get to celebrate the joy of a successful student and a proud parent. It's important that we remember these times of joy when the tide rises against us.

It Might Get Loud

During my third period class today my 9th graders were yelling at screaming.....

They got so loud that the principal came down to my room to check that everything was under control.

Ten minutes later one of the hallway staff also appeared at my door to make sure that everything was ok.

Each time these people peeked into my room today, they saw 32 9th graders yelling and screaming at each other.

They also saw a smiling teacher.

Today was day three of a Constitutional Convention simulation in my Government class. Each day we have used James Madison's diary to guide our debates, focusing on the major issues that divided the delegates in Philadelphia in 1787. The debates have gotten progressively better, with today's debate on representation in Congress being the absolute best. After a not so exciting beginning to the debate, in which almost every student thought each state should have the same number of votes (sounds like "socialism" to me) I pulled a student aside and asked him to make the case for "big" states. What followed was a twenty minute, student led debate over not only how states should be represented in Congress, but the legitimacy of counting slaves towards population. I did jump in twice to share the voice of the Southern slave owner in order to shake the hornet's nest even more but the large majority of this debate was student run. While this did lead to the class being loud, and even a little chaotic, it allowed my students to cover the content I wanted them to cover on their own terms.

I had an absolutely amazing experience with my student's today because of two realizations that I have come to over the past few years: 1)it's great when students are running the class instead of the teacher and 2)yelling and screaming kids are not always a bad thing. I truly believe that one of the biggest problems in classrooms is that there are too many teachers who either don't agree with these beliefs or are too scared to try. Don't get me wrong, there's a time for a teacher to be in the front of the room and for students to be silent, but it doesn't have to always be that way; in fact it should never always be that way. Student-centered learning empowers students in their educational experience while also increasing teacher/student relationship and decreasing teacher work load (if that doesn't sell teachers on it, I don't know what will!) Additionally, when you're teaching adolescent students, taking advantage of their desire to talk and argue with each other makes classroom management that much easier.

During my third period class today my 9th graders were yelling at screaming.... and it was great. It was great because instead talking and yelling about Call of Duty or the fight that almost happened in the hallway, they were talking and yelling about the issues surrounding the creation of our Constitution.

As a teacher, I couldn't ask for anything more.