New York Subways

This is a video taken on our last subway ride in New York.  Always expect the unexpected!

Brain Overload

As our fellowship comes to an end, I have started trying to put into perspective all that we've experienced and learned over the past 13 days.  The overwhelming amount of knowledge we have gained during both our own self-guided experiences and the writing institute has my head spinning.  There have been multiple nights I haven't slept well because my brain just won't stop.  There is so much I need to do:  organize all the valuable information I've collected at the writing institute, set up meetings with my team and staff, begin planning lessons using our new primary sources, download and set up Evernote on the phone and iPad (the absolute best way to keep track of reading and writing conferences), and most importantly, prepare to meet my wonderful students on Monday.

I'd like to thank Fund for Teachers and PEF again for given us this invaluable opportunity.  I know the many "small moments" (writing verbiage) I have collected have made me a better, more knowledgeable person, and will definitely make me a stronger teacher.  Thanks to all that have followed us throughout our trip by reading our words.  The "I hate you" messages can stop now (Daniel Middlebrooks), since real life begins again Monday.  A big thank you goes out to Leigh for being my navigator, random fact holder, and support during this trip.  Thank goodness she MADE me finish revising the grant with her!  Finally, I'd like to thank my husband who had to survive without me for almost two weeks (although at times I'm sure he really enjoyed it).  He has shown tremendous support and patience while I've run around the US looking for better ways to teach.  What he may not realize is that none of this would be possible without him.

So, on that note, I am going to close my computer and start to pack.  I pray that my suitcase will still be under 50 lbs AFTER all the resources (and goodies) I've collected.  Thank goodness I had to bring along that extra bag at the beginning of the trip!

The New York Experience - A Note to Mrs. Hartley's Students

One of the most memorable experiences in New York is riding on the subway.  It's hot, it's noisy, and you get to see ALL types of characters on the train!  Watch the quick video below to see what it's like to get on a train during rush hour (in the morning or evening when people are going to/from work).

 

Below is a view of Time Square.  Look how busy it is!  Thousands of people are out on the street here at the same time.  There might be just as many cabs, too.

A quick view of Lady Liberty, the Statue of Liberty located on Liberty Island between New York and New Jersey.

View of New York from the Empire State Building.  Buildings and people packed in like sardines!

 

Me on top of Rockefeller Center with views of the Empire State Building.

Don't forget to scroll down and check out the responses to your questions from yesterday!

Mrs. Hartley's Class - Response to Questions & Comments

I was SO excited to receive your questions and comments yesterday (even the potty one)!  You have no idea how frazzled my brain was about missing the first day of school.  I am really glad there is a way to talk with you.

I took the "potty" picture while I was at the National Air and Space Museum in DC.  This is what the toilet in an airplane looks like (specifically an old Pan Am plane).  Have you ever thought about where everything goes when you use the restroom on an airplane?

Here is what the sign says:  Airplane bathroom waste has always gone into a storage tank in the airplane, which is pumped out after landing.  If the tank gets full, there is an overflow valve that discharges extra waste out of the aircraft - during flight (Yuck!).  The chemicals used to treat the waste turn it blue, and the waste freezes during its fall to earth - the infamous "blue ice."

So...if you are ever struck by "blue ice" while you are walking down the road, run for the shower quick.  You've just had airplane waste land on you! :)

In response to...
*  Sherry - I would have loved for you to eat with me also!  My meal was one of the best I'd every had (especially the coconut cream pie at the end), but also one of the most expensive.  For only me I spent $70!

*  Class - Mmmmm.  Gifts?  All depends on how good you are while I'm out.  Make sure I receive a great note about your behavior!

*  Jordan - You won the book?  Won the movie?  Won the game?  Can you write out a sticky for me and put it under the car (back closet) in the parking lot? :)

*  Rose and Jerod - Wouldn't it be nice if we were close enough to visit the Statue of Liberty as a class?  A couple quick Lady Liberty facts:  There are 357 steps inside the statue, she weighs 450,000 pounds and had to be sent to the United States in pieces, and her shoe size would be size 879.  And I thought I had big feet!

Welcome, Mrs. Hartley's 5th Graders!

Good morning to my wonderful 5th graders!  I hope you all had a great summer and are ready to get back in the swing of school.  Please watch the video real quick, so I can say hello in person! :)

 

I've gotten to visit many cool places the past two weeks.  Right below are some of the places I was able to visit while in Washington, D.C.

On our first full day in DC, we visited both the Lincoln and Washington Memorials.  Look at how tall the Lincoln Memorial is compared to me!

Below is a picture of the Capitol building in DC.  This is where both the House of Representatives and the Senate meet.

 This was as close as we could get to the White House.  Pretty, isn't it?

If you want to see more pictures from DC, click on the Washington, D.C. pictures link on the right hand side of the Blog.  You can also talk to me if you'd like (click on "No Comments" below then write me a line or any questions you have for me).  

I can't wait to hear from you!

Standing on Top of the World

Today at our writing workshop at the Teachers College at Columbia University we were able to hear Ralph Fletcher speak about the use of mentor texts in the writing curriculum.  Not only is he an incredible author, but he's an inspiring speaker.  Finding powerful mentor texts to share with students and adults alike can inspire us to write so many different things.  I can't wait to take back what I learned today and share with my students!

This evening Jennifer and I went to Rockefeller Center to eat dinner at Del Frisco's Grille.  After what has been the most delicious meal I've had on this trip, we walked around Rockefeller Center snapping pictures of Radio City Music Hall and the NBC Studios.  Then we took the elevator to The Top of the Rock.  It's an outside observation deck, well three decks actually, at the top of Rockefeller Center.  We went up at the perfect time.  The sun was setting, so we got some phenomenal shots of the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, The Crysler Building, and Central Park at dusk.  While the concrete jungle can be intimidating from the street level, the beauty of the city shines through when you're standing on top of the world. 

Let the Writers' Block Begin!

Today was our first day at Columbia University. We both found it especially hard to stop our learning excursions and focus our minds on curriculum (and sitting in the classroom) again. We shouldn't have been worried, though. The Writing Summer Institute is full of movement and exceptional speakers. We (1000 teachers, administrators, and coaches) started at Riverside Church surrounded by amazing stained glass windows. Lucy Caulkins was our keynote speaker. She did a great job of getting us psyched about starting our new writing units. Her key phrase was, "Don't waffle. Go for it!"  In other words, even if it seems overwhelming, just jump in and get started.  Everything will come together once you decide to take the first step.

Following our keynote, we divided into a group of about 200 and talked about writer's workshop and the writing process, which due to our early summer training, we were already comfortable with the lingo (thank you Debbie and Jennifer). Our afternoon small group sessions were amazing.   My instructor, Cornelius, is a classroom teacher in Brooklyn. You could tell he loves teaching just by observing the energy he put into modeling a lesson for us today. It is amazing how much we learn by observing each other in regular teaching settings!  Our day closed with homework assignments (ugh) and a great feeling about the rest of the week.

Empire State of Mind

The concrete jungle has been messing with my sense of direction.  To get off the subway at the South Ferry Station, we had to be on the first five cars of the train.  I made sure Jennifer and I were in the first five cars when we got on our subway stop by the apartment.  The only problem was thanks to my awesome sense of direction, or lack there of, we ended up on the last five cars!  Awesome.  So for the next several stops we spent our time train hopping.  The doors would open, we would jump out and run up to the next car or two and jump back in before the doors closed.  We decided to take a break with about 10 stops left.  When we got down to the last 5 stops, we jumped off again only to realize that the car we were hopping into was the front car. 

Once we got to the South Ferry Station, we exited and made our way over to one of the ferries that transports people to the Statue of Liberty.  We were able to get to the top part of the ferry that is open and took some amazing pictures of the New York skyline and Lady Liberty.  The skyline still seems so bare without the Twin Towers there, but it's so good to see One World Trade Center standing tall and proud.  We wanted to visit Ellis Island, but it is still closed due to damage from Hurricane Sandy.  Upon arriving at the Statue of Liberty we realized we had made a terrible mistake.  We forgot to buy tickets to go onto the podium where Lady Liberty stands!  They don't sell tickets on the island.  So we walked around the base of the island taking lots of pictures and visited the gift shop to buy books about The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for our classrooms. 

Once we got back to Manhattan, we took the subway to 34th Street and made our way to The Empire State Building.  While the building does a have a romantic feel to it, dismiss those An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle ideas of running in the building and being whisked away on one elevator to the 86th floor.  The line moved fairly quickly at first, but then it slowed down as we took a couple of escalators, two elevators, and traversed the labyrinth inside the massive building.  I felt like a lab rat making its way through the maze.  The treat for finding your way to the exit was the incredible view from the top.  It reminded me of being on top of the South Tower at the World Trade Center.  The streets were lines with little yellow taxis that looked like yellow ants scurrying around on the ground.  The Statue of Liberty appeared to be the size of a golf pencil, and the wind blew our hair about like we were in a tornado.  The experience was exciting, dizzying, scary, and breathtaking all at once.

Our final outing for the day was to see The Lion King on Broadway.  Wow!  It was absolutely amazing!  I have been dying to see this musical since it was released back in 1997.  After waiting 16 years to see it, it did not disappoint in any way, shape, or form.  As a teacher, I wish I could take my students to see more musicals and experience more of the arts.  While I completely understand and support that students need to know the core subjects, I'm afraid what many students in the country are missing when the arts are cut from the curriculum.  I wish all students could experience the museums, memorials, and performances Jennifer and I have had the privilege of going to on this trip.  I know our lives have forever been changed for the better from all these experiences. 

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Today Jennifer and I took the morning off to sleep in late, eat breakfast, and then go back to bed for a nap!  We have been constantly on the go visitng monuments, memorials, and museums since Monday, and our bodies were demanding a break. 

Finally around 2:30, we made our way to one of my all time favorite museums, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET).  We viewed several different exhibits: Photography of the American Civil War, Musical Instruments, Arms and Armor, Drawings and Prints, The Civil War and American Art, the American Wing, European Paintings, Modern and Contemporary Art, Photographs, and my favorite - Egyptain Art.  This was my fourth visit to the MET, and everytime I spend the most time in the Egyptian Art wing.  When I was in college, I loved studying about the ancient Egyptians more than anything else.  i've always been amazed by the things they were able to accomplish.  Plus I'm a history nerd and love looking at things that have survived for thousands of years.  It's amazing something that someone used that long ago has survived for me to see in present times.  But today, something else in the museum topped my love for the Egyptian Wing.  In the American Art exhibit, there was the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware.  The picture has always annoyed me because of its inaccuracies, but seeing the painting in real life brought a new found appreciation for it.  I stood for at least 5 minutes staring at it's enormous size while reliving in my head what those men had to endure that Christmas night so long ago to help our country gain its freedom.  In my classroom I always read the book George Washington's Socks to my class as we study the Revolutionary War.  The book is about the crossing of the Delaware, and this famous painting is on the cover of the book.  I can't wait to show my students the picture I took of the real thing! 

Where's the Love?

Today Jennifer and I went to the one place I've been dreading and looking forward to the most since we applied for our Fund for Teachers grant - the 9/11 Memorial.  I was fortunate enough to go to the observation desk of the World Trade Center (South Tower) twice before 2001.  The buildings were incredible, and the view was amazing.  The second time I went, my husband took a picture of me sitting on a bench reading a subway map in between the two buildings.  When the attacks happened on 9/11, I watched the North Tower collapse not realizing at the time that the South Tower had already fallen.  While I'm not a New Yorker, I felt a strong connection with the towers and was devestated by all that happened on 9/11.  The Memorial is a beautiful, peaceful sight that truly honors those who lost their lives that fateful day.  Jennifer was kind enough to take a picture of me in roughly the same spot my husband took that picture of me several years ago.  I spent some time today reflecting on the past, thankful that neither New York nor our country crumbled under this attack.

After lunch at the apartment, we took a stroll through Harlem on our way to visit the American Museum of Natural History.  We took many pictures of different artifacts left from different Native American groups we study along with pictures of how glaciers and plate techtonics can shape our land.  We are excited about putting the pictures together in various presentations to present to our students.  We can't afford to take them to see this wonderful museum in person, but we can take a part of it to them in our classrooms. 

This evening Jennifer and I splurged on tickets to go see Wicked on Broadway.  We both love musicals, and this one is phenomenal!  We're guaranteed to be singing some of our favorites from the show for weeks to come!  We laughed.  We cried.  We sang.  And we were inspired.  After a morning of reliving one of our nation's most horrible attacks, it was nice to end it on a happy note! 

Train Jumping

This morning we got up nice and early to take the 50 minute Subway ride downtown to Battery Park. Our goal was to use our passes to board a boat heading out to Liberty Island. About 2/3 of the way there, Leigh pointed to a sign that said we needed to be in the first 5 cars to disembark at the South Ferry stop. We, of course, were nowhere near the front of the train. We spent the next 4 stops hopping 1-2 cars forward and jumping back in before the doors closed. Reminded me of all the movies that show people running to catch the subway!  Finally we had arrived and OOOPS! Leigh forgot her City Pass which would allow us to board the boats. So...we decided to visit the 9/11 Memorial instead. We hopped onto another train and viewed the Memorial Pools. Now we are lunching back at the apartment, grabbing Leigh's pass, and planning the rest of our day!