New York Recap

Well we're back. No thanks to the snowy weather in Chicago but we made it home alive and in time for Christmas so thank you Southwest, you continue to amaze me with your wonderful service and funny anecdotes over the loud speaker.

New York was a great trip! We did a lot of walking and looked at many pretty things. There were a few moments where I felt a meltdown coming on such as the times when we realized we walked four blocks in the wrong direction and the wind was stinging my face. Once we figured out how to get around things went much smoother.

Some highlights of our trip.

1. We saw Katie Holmes while shopping in J.Crew. The girl is tall and very nice, she was kind to those who stopped to ask her if she was indeed the Katie Holmes of the beloved Dawson's Creek tv sensation. Chris strongly discouraged me from taking a picture with my camera, which I now feel was a wise piece of advice, she did have two bodyguards with her and somehow I thought my photo session might put a damper on her J.Crew outing.

2. Slightly less exciting, but also a celeb sighting, was when Ann Curry (NBC's Today show) walked past me like we were BFF or something.

3. We saw a Broadway show, Spring Awakening. It's about a sexual awakening in Germany during the 1980s. Must see but not with your parents. Yes folks, this is not your Grandmother's musical. Wonderful songs. Chris and I have been singing the four lines we know from each of the songs over and over. We hope to someday soon actually acquire the music so that we can break free from our repetitive chorus.

4. We ate pizza three different occasions over our three day trip (you do the math). Thank you Ray's for providing a budget friendly piece of pizza and not trying to rip us off with bottled water. Note to self, when in NYC, order "tap water" and avoid the $4 bottle charge for some stinking filtered water.

5. Boots are a way of life in New York. Women have the cutest riding boots and I was uber jealous. Chris and I looked all over Soho for a reasonable pair of boots but had no luck. The new thing seems to be these Hunter boots. I know they look like these ugly old boots you might wear to go fishing but these things were all over New York and certainly any fashionista in the city must own a pair.

NYC or bust

Chris and I head to New York early tomorrow morning for a three day vacay. We'll be seeing Spring Awakening on Broadway and doing lots of window shopping!

Merry Christmas faithful readers! New York pictures to come.

The Jaeger's Little Apartment of Horrors

We have mice.

Let that sink in a moment. I have small animals sharing a home with me. Disgusting!

We've set some traps and these mice are taking the bait. The first time I was lucky and Chris was the only one home when he heard the "whack" from the trap closing in on it's prey. The result, one messy, headless mouse. After disposing of the body, Chris thought, maybe he should look behind the refrigerator where the other trap was set. Sure enough, the trap had successfully massacred another little mouse. We're talking blood all over the floor.

So today, on my snow day ,I called the leasing office to see if they could set some more traps. While I was out someone came by and placed the traps in the two places we'd had them before. I was nervous to come home, thinking maybe the mice were on to our plan and would lead a revolt the second I walked through the door.

I came home to a house where nothing seemed different. The note from the maintenance man said they'd indeed been by and set two traps. I forced myself to peek in the furnace closet to make sure that a mouse was not already trapped. Nothing. I'd been home a total of 15 minutes when I head a loud sound from behind the refrigerator, followed by a whimper and some scratching... oh sick, I knew that some little mouse was fighting for his little life. I could not bring myself to look so I just ignored the sound. I've been sitting in my apartment with the dead mouse behind the fridge for a few hours. When I heard maintenance shoveling the walk, I thought, this might be my chance to dispose of the rodent body. The maintenance man was very kind, he came right in, didn't flinch once and pulled the trap out from behind the fridge and carried on conversation with me while the lifeless body dangled off the trap.

Now I sit, waiting for the second "whack" to come. I can't help but feel a little bit like a cruel person, like we have own little apartment of horrors.

Really Columbia Public Schools? Really?

It's icy, I mean my parking lot looks like an ice rink. I knew last night that today was going to be a snow day. So when the alarm went off this morning at 5:15, I eagerly turned on my TV to get the final word. Nope, no Columbia Public Schools. I drug my feet to get in the shower, thinking maybe they were still deliberating and that any minute they'd call off school. By 5:40, school was still on. Begrudgingly, I get in the shower, get myself completely ready. I sat down to enjoy my morning coffee and do a little reading before I have to thaw out my car from it's position under a thick sheet of ice. At 6:05, Columbia finally calls of school. While I am grateful to have an unexpected day off from work, I am irritated that I now am fully dressed, bundled, and make-uped. Really CPS? Did it look like the ice was going to melt itself between 5:00 am and 6:00? Really? And who waits until 6:00 am when some bus routes start picking kids up at 6:20 am? Really. I mean couldn't you make that decision last night when the anchor was reporting an inch of ice? Really!

I shouldn't complain, I'm off and many of my friends will have to thaw out their vehicles and make their way down treacherous streets to get to work today. My plan for today, read a book, work out, read my book some more, send my students an e-mail about how they still need to work on their portfolios because they will still be due Thursday, no matter how many snow days we have. The life of a teacher has it's perks!

Prove it!

Christmas break is near.... two weeks and I've got to think, how can I engage my students and remind them that school work is important up to the last day before break. Note: I made this mistake last year. I had one week before break with with little plan on how we should spend that time. My students viewed my disconnected daily activities as optional and were instead, insanely hyper and difficult to manage for one week straight. Note to self, winter word search warm-up does not send the message that we mean business in class today!

So my plan this year, in order to avoid the before holiday high, is to create a project that will take them right up to that last day of break. We just finished a poetry study and I want them to reflect on all they've learned in the last month. There were four learning targets (or goals) and I am giving them a portfolio assignment on Monday. They must take each learning target, write an explanation of the target and their understanding as well as provide three artifacts from the unit that support their learning of the said target. Basically I am challenging them to prove to me what they've learned.

Now, I realize that is higher ordered thinking, the kind of thing that originally sends my concrete students into a tizzy but eventually, they'll begin to figure out how to communicate understanding. Projects are due the 18th, which gives me one day to bust out winter bingo or some other silly holiday activity. This time though, if you don't have your project turned in, you have to work on it while the other kids play and enjoy themselves. How's that for some natural consequence!? I can already hear some of them now, "That's not fair!" it will be an excellent opportunity for another real world, life lesson with Mrs. Jaeger. Choices have consequence, if you don't work, you don't get to play.