bags – Teachers Have Lives Too!

*jazz hands* New classroom!! *jazz hands*

Today was day three of seven “school launch” days for staff at my new high school here in Denver. It’s been meeting after meeting, training, team building activities and orientation. I barely had time to snap some photos in my new classroom. I still have to find the optimal place with the best non-yellow lighting in the classroom, but as you can see, my new room is really stinkin nice. Talk about an awesome science classroom – there is a dedicated instruction section and separate lab benches in the back. It’s the nicest classroom I’ve ever seen AND, the students get ROCKING CHAIRS. That’s right, rocking chairs. Today’s training was on classroom management, aka 100% engagement (buzz word alert). It was actually a nice refresher on methods I’d forgotten about such as various non-verbal cues, anonymous whole class corrections and private corrections. It made me think about my classroom management style, which has evolved into a very stern, strict, I’m-not-playing-around-so-you-better-check-yourself type of management that some students find a bit rough around the edges and if I’m honest with myself, a bit jerky. I don’t usually loosen up until second semester when the kids know the routine and know not to test me anymore (for the most part). So my focus this year in terms of classroom management is, don’t be a jerk. I need to breathe more, control my frustrations, stay calm, and utilize private corrections more. One of the first things I taped up on my wall by my desk is my post card of a Barbara Kruger piece, “Don’t be a jerk”. I love that little postcard – I picked it up at the Hirshhorn in Washington DC in 2012 and it’s been a classroom staple of mine. This year, it has new meaning. I used to point to it occasionally when kids were mean to each other, but this year, it’s for me.

On the clothing end, it’s really nothing exciting. I’m still on a basics kick and I’m in love with my summer sandals: the oh so trendy right now Birkenstocks. B calls them “Jesus Sandals” or “big black boats” and I can’t really disagree with him. I just got so obsessed with how cute I found then all of a sudden (just last summer I called them the ugliest things ever) when they started popping up all over my Feedly feed of fashion bloggers. I’ve also retired my trusty Freitag bag for a while. The plastic smell never really dissipates, and I was getting pretty tired of it. So I dug out the old J.Crew purse from my SF teaching days. Still holding up ok for now. I do have my eye on the also uber trendy Fjallraven Kanken backpack though. I’m such a sucker for hipster trends. Sigh.

glasses: warby parker beckett – cardigan and bag: super old j.crew – t-shirt: madewell – jeans: j brand via nordstrom rack – shoes: birkenstock

Every teacher is a bag lady/man to some degree. We manage to schlep large quantities of paper, supplies and knick-knacks to and from school regardless of the day. I’ve carried papers home to grade, only to carry it right back to school untouched. Even so, I consider myself a light packer, based purely on the number of bags I bring everyday – one. Here are my bag residents, the stuff that lives permanently in my teacher bag – a little teacher voyeurism.
bagging it

1) beanie – for those really frigid Brooklyn mornings 2) phone – with a card case that carries my ID, credit card and metrocard 3) small pouch for small things like lip balms 4) lipstick of the day 5) sunscreen, for field trip days outside 6) non-scented hand lotion 7) tokyo milk roller ball perfume – for the days when I need an olfactory pick-me-up 8) mirror – to check for boogers and lipstick smears 9) oil blotting sheets – I’m an oil slick by the end of the school day 10) smelly floral hand cream – gives a little zing to my keyboard action 11) various lipshit with color – I need to have a selection at all times 12) gum – so I don’t dragon fire my coffee breath all over the kids 13) headphones 14) first aid kit and tissues – for when “I have a hangnail, I can’t write, so I can’t do my work” complaints 15) baggu bag (llamas!!) – for packing in the groceries needed for the day’s culinary class 16) book of the moment for zoning out on the commute 17) pens/pencils – obviously 18) wallet – for everything else that doesn’t go in my phone case 19) glasses cleaning cloth – that oil slick inevitably ends up all over my glasses 20) sunglasses – unused for the past month or so

bagging it2 All this crap and more fits into my daily carry for the past 1.5 years, my Freitag tote bag. On top of all this, I throw in my lunch for the day, about 32 ounces of coffee in 2 thermoses and a scarf/puffy coat if it’s cold out.