Erika S. fun stuffs, outfits

Bag Raiders

I can hardly believe I’ve been away from the blog for a whole month! As I sat down to write today, I thought “Gee, it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post!” I guess time really does fly.

8 long short weeks left till final exams and sum-sum-summmer time!

The past month has been busy with B’s birthday, a few concerts, a bout with the flu, a trip back east to see the family for my mom’s birthday, and a girls’ weekend with my BFFs from San Francisco. Teachers really do have lives outside of teaching, I swear. The proof is in Instagram!

As part of B’s birthday week, we went to see one of my favorite Aussie-Indie-Dance bands play. I have fond memories of the Bag Raiders – my first ever teacher partner in crime Ann Zhao introduced me to them mid way through our first year teaching (she named our instant friendship trauma bonding). The Bag Raiders aren’t as well followed here in Denver like they are in SF and NY, so we got to see them at my favorite music venue here in Denver, Larimer Lounge. There is nothing much better than getting to see one of your favorite bands play a small bar. Obviously, I had to buy a t-shirt and obviously, I had to wear said t-shirt the very next day to school.

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bag raiders

glasses: warby parker – tshirt: bag raiders – jeans: f21 – shoes: anthropologie – belt: gap

I can’t resist – aren’t my mom and niece just the cutest? My mom takes care of Jojo while my sister and brother in law work, so naturally Popo (grandma in chinese) is Jojo’s favorite person ever.

mommy and jojo

Erika S. outfits, seriousness

Heavy and Light

A quick update from the last post:  I spent time discussing race with each one of my classes the next day.  Over the next few days, word had spread and individual students sought me out to talk about it.  We talked about so many things, and the students had a lot to contribute.

Each class’s discussion was different, and conversations morphed towards gender issues and consent.  I showed them this video showing a woman walking in NYC and dealing with catcalls and creepy men (I know that there is an issue with race in this video also, but I think the message overall is relevant).  As they watched it, I watched them.  It was interesting to see their reactions – none of them had seen the video before.  The girls faces either had horrified looks or nervous laughter (that weak laugh that we have been trained to do when they feel uncomfortable or scared).  The boys were either shocked or laughed.  It was a great learning opportunity and I’m happy I took the time out of traditional Biology curriculum for it.

Back to light hearted blogging!  This was what I wore that week.  Everything here is an oldie but goodie.  I’ve had these Pilcro loafers for ages, but never wear them.  I’m just too addicted to ankle boots!  I had listed them on my Poshmark closet, but decided to take down the listing in keep them after all.  I only just started listing things on Poshmark, and I’m feeling like it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

zara tshirtpilcro flatsforever 21 cardigan

cardigan and jeans: f21 – t shirt: zara – belt: gap – shoes: anthropologie – jewelry: madewell, family heirloom – watch: pebble

Erika S. outfits

Grown-ass Woman

I have finally reached adulthood, people.  I bought a house here in Denver – last May.  This is not news to people who know me (I can’t ever stop talking about it), but it is news to the blog.  Yup, B and I are now officially adults with adult type responsibilities such as mowing the lawn and making mortgage payments.  This also means that my conscience gets a whirl every day – B and I are gentrifiers.  Seriously, we are – Slate Magazine confirms it.  This means that I am one of those people who drive out economic and cultural diversity from “up and coming” neighborhoods because it’s the new hip area to move into.  And boy is it hip.  There are about 6 awesome micro-breweries within walking distance, and we regularly hear gun shots in the night.  Recognizing that I am a gentrifier puts me in a tizzy, since my hometown is experiencing all kinds of turmoil with gentrification and the homogenizing of culture.  Hell, even B and I have been priced out of SF considering we could never afford to buy in the city.  So I try my best to remember this article on how not to be a gentrifier.  

Now that I am an adult with adult responsibilities, I felt the need to dress like a child today.  This is a new top from Anthropologie (super sale, as always) with a very child-like collar.  I dig it, Alexa Chung style.  The lipstick, by the way, is a cheap find from Wet n’ Wild (Plumegenue, by the Fergie collection) and I highly recommend it.

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top: anthroplogie – belt: gap – jeans: uniqlo – boots: franco sarto via nordstrom rack – watch: fossil

Erika S. outfits, teaching

Back to School Night

We had back to school night the second week of school and I’m only now getting around to posting about it.  I’ve always struggled with BTS nights.  I always end the night feeling like I put my foot in my mouth a couple times.  Meeting parents for the first time always shakes my confidence a bit.  I’m a bit socially awkward around adults anyway, so meeting a bunch all at once is hard.  I always feel like I’m under scrutiny and that I’m being sized up.  Of course, this all stems from my own insecurities – I can hardly blame parents for wanting the best teachers for their kids.  I also shot myself in the foot this year by not taking the extra time needed to prepare a “Hi, I’m your kid’s Bio teacher this year, here’s some info about my background!” type presentation.  If I had, I probably would have had a more successful night.

Anyways, I chose to wear heels for BTS night this year.  It was a 13 hour day, and my feet were 100% comfortable as I walked my tired body and mind to my car at 8pm.  Midi skirts just always look better with some extra leg length.

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BTS night

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glasses: warby parker – top: uniqlo – belt: jcrew – skirt: anthropologie – shoes: sweedish hasbeens for h&m

Erika S. outfits

The Mids

We are just about midway through the school year here in Denver – winter break is just around the corner.  The weeks in between TG break and winter break just seems to draaaaaag forever!  It’s crunch time for everyone at school.  Kids are just now worried about their grades and getting in heaps of late work.  I’m scrambling to serve each and every one of them while planning for their final exam review sessions, grading like a mad woman and trying to make as many “sorry, but your kid just may fail this semester, but here’s what I can do for them” phone calls as possible.  The countdown to a full 2 weeks off has started.  I’m working on convincing B to take a road trip back home to SF this break, but so far he’s not biting.  We don’t have anything else planned, so it’s either stay-cation or road trip.  I vote for an SF trip!

This is a new dress I picked up at Anthropologie over the Black Friday weekend.  It was on sale with extra % off so by the time I swiped my card, it was practically dirt cheap at $35 or something.  I got a lot of comments today, such as “Ms. Schenck, why you wearing an old lady dress?”  and “you look … different”.  At the same time, I also got more than a few, “I really love your dress!” and “where did you find that dress?”  So hits and missed over all.  I just know that I really like it and makes me feel even taller than I already am at 6ft.  I found a picture of what it looks like on the anthropologie model here, and it makes me think the dress is a tad too big on me.  Too bag = extra comfortable, right?

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dress: anthropologie – cardigan: super old free people – belt: f21 – boots: madewell

Erika S. outfits

Coffee and Cream

I found this note in my classroom today.

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It must have been left by a friend/colleague, or my students have googled me.   Either way, it was a nice reminder to pay a bit more attention to things I love outside of my classroom.  Coincidentally, I had packed my camera just for this purpose this morning!

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I call this my coffee and cream outfit.  Pockets in the dress!  I drink about 10 cups of coffee a day (black, no cream) – I’m sure many of you teachers can relate.  i heard one time that “only a fool would get in between a teacher and their coffee”.  Made me think back to that first morning out of a week camping with my 9th graders in New York.  I got so frustrated when I couldn’t find the secret coffee location for teachers that I cried.  Seriously. coffee and cream3coffee and cream

As an aside, things have been picking up a bit at work.  Like my “partner-in-crime” bio teacher says, “you are like water flowing past the obstacles.”

glasses: warby parker – dress and boots: madewell – sweater: j.crew – tights: anthropologie – everything from seasons past

Erika S. outfits

Birds and Shit

I did it this year – I brought poop into my classroom today.  I did my “alive/dead/not-living” lesson today, as I do in the beginning of every school year.  The lesson includes an activity where students circulate through about 14 items, where they have to determine if the item is alive, dead, or not-living.  It helps to prime the kids on what it really means to be alive (biologically speaking).  It’s a brilliant lesson borrowed from my mentor/coach from my first few years of teaching, Eric.  It’s a hit every time, and really gets the kids thinking about common characteristics/processes that all living things share.  Today, the lesson was a smash – because now I’m the teacher who brings dog shit to class (in a sealed baggie).

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glasses: warby parker beckett – shirt: anthropologie pintucked buttondown – jeans: f21 – shoes: birkenstock arizona – tracker: fitbit flex – watch: fossil

Erika S. outfits

One Two

First day of school with students was this past Monday and Tuesday.  Both days – 9th graders only on Monday and all the rest on Tuesday. So I had in effect 2 first days of school.  This is what I wore on day one and day two of the first day(s) of school.  For me teaching is like childbirth (or so I hear).  It’s agony sometimes, but then your mind seems to block all that stuff away after a break from the agony.  The summer must have given my brain time to block a lot of the agony away, because I. Am. Exhausted.  It’s been 11-13 hour days all this week and lots of mental strain trying to get organized and learn 110 names and faces.  Much of it has to do with the fact that I’m starting a new school and teaching one (physics) and a half new courses.  The half is because 2 of my 4 sections are Honors Biology, and I’ve only ever taught at non-tracking schools in the past.  I’m generally not a fan of tracking students, but I’ll admit it’s going to challenge me more as I now have to up the bio game.

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day one –  dress: thrift store find – belt: h&m – shoes: madewell – glasses: warby parker – day two – tshirt and belt: jcrew – skirt: anthropologie – sweater: uniqlo – shoes: sweedish hasbeens

Erika S. outfits

The chop

I chopped my hair for my birthday this past month – more than 6 inches off.  It felt great, though I still just tie it up in a bun most days.  This day though, I wore it down.  It felt weird.  Also, it was back to school night, so that meant I was at school actively teaching/planning/talking to parents from 7am to 8pm.  In addition, my outfit turned out really matchy-matchy.  fun.

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shirt: anthropologie – belt: urban outfitters (old) – jeans: uniqlo – boots: madewell (old)

Erika S. outfits, teaching

Q1 in the bag

Today is the last day of the first grading quarter at school.  One in the bag, three more to go.  The end of the quarter also means it’s “final product” time for the kids – the one major “assessment for learning” project to demonstrate their “mastery” of the unit’s “learning targets”.  A bit of teacher speak for big assignments in every class.  For me, final product time means I’m spend a lot of time “scaffolding” the project I’ve assigned and giving lunchtime and after school help with writing lab reports, graphing, and making sense of experimental data.  This year, I’ve decided to get two birds with one stone and assigned the kids a state mandated lab report as their final product.  It’s been a 2 week process so far, with a lot of hand holding along the way.  It’s looking good though and I’m optimistic about the quality of work I’ll be getting come Monday.  I can’t even count how many brain cells I’ve devoted to making this learning process as painless and accessible as possible.  I’m feeling a lot of coulda-shoulda-wouldas for last year’s curriculum.

In the meantime, if you come here to check out outfits, you’ve probably been disappointed this past month.  I’ve been MIA, mainly because I’ve been sticking to this teacher uniform, and I’ve been on a shopping ban.  Also, it’s been pretty crisply cold here in Brooklyn – winter is here.  This morning, I figured I’d splash out some bit of color and warmth with an old summer skirt.  I swear it looked better in my head this morning while I spent 5 precious minutes staring blankly into my closet.  In real life, I’m actually not a big fan – an experiment gone bad.  You win some, you lose some, right?

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glasses: warby parker – scarf: topman – t-shirt: everlane – belt: gap – skirt: anthropologie – tights & cardigan: uniqlo – boots: steve madden