Last week's This American Life reminded me why I started blogging in the first place - to document my thoughts, reactions, and observations during this first year in the classroom. I'm going to spend the next few months doing just that.
Naturally, this brings me to last week. On Thursday, I accompanied 20 7th and 8th graders to the Alvin Alley American Dance Theater in Midtown Manhattan. As a charter school, we have an amazing network of supporters. This trip was arranged by the Robin Hood Foundation and a lot of employees from Burberry helped out. It was an incredible afternoon and watching our students give 100% in the dance studio was well worth the trip into Manhattan.
On Friday, I joined our 5th grade writing teacher ice skating in Prospect Park with 10 "VIPs" from the 5th grade. It's incredible spending time with students I don't teach. The difference between an 8th grader (and even 6th) and a 5th grader is palpable. 8th graders are a little too cool for school, whereas 5th graders couldn't be happier hanging with a teacher after school, falling on the ice, and just be kids all afternoon.
Finally, Friday night I played in a tennis tournament supporting scholarships for kids to play tennis in Prospect Park. It's a great cause and one I hope to write more about in the future.
I should mention that before Thursday I had never taken a dance class in my entire life, and before Friday I had never been on ice skates. So yes, my life is a lot different these days.
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