Erika S. teaching

Pan Fan or Pun Faan

This is how I felt after a kid asked me today if he could get all his missing work for the quarter that just ended yesterday.

Happened again when a kid asked, “Ms. Schenck, have you graded our essays yet?”  The essays were due that period.

Happened again when a kid emailed me his essay, then emailed me again to say, “it’s not done yet”.

Seriously though, I love these kids and I’m glad I even get to experience these insane reactions at my job.  Much better than experiencing one emotion (bordom) over and over and over everyday.    Thanks kids, for keeping it real and making it interesting.

In the same humor vein, please, please check out this blog, Singing Pigs by a teacher in somewhere, USA.  In particular, check out this amazingly hilarious post as well as this one.

Erika S. teaching, trips

Crew Camping

As some of you may already know, I spent all of last week on a camping/backpacking trip with my crew.  That’s right, 5 whole days with 12 teenagers.  Our school is an Expeditionary Learning network school (we are not a charter school, though I think a few others are), and we are also an NYC Outward Bound school.  These are two overlapping programs here in NYC that are pretty intertwined, one setting the tone for curriculum and management of the school while the other offers outdoor opportunities to help develop character in our students.  This week-long camping trip to Sharpe Reservation (part of the Fresh Air Fund) is taken by all 9th graders with their crews (their homeroom for the next 4 years) and focuses on outdoors skills, leadership, communication and teamwork simultaneously.

New York couldn’t have been any more gorgeous for our trip.  In 5 days, my crew and I backpacked for 2 nights (in the rain), completed 2 high ropes elements, 3 low ropes elements and hiked about 6 miles.  In between, we sang songs, played games, settled differences, mediated drama (teenage hormones), learned how to properly poop out in the woods, laughed and cried (me – once, out of frustration).  We couldn’t have done it all without our two incredibly patient guides, Bill and Julia.  I owe them my gratitude for keeping me sane.  I love the outdoors/camping and I love my crew.  Those are two things that were completely mutually exclusive for me…’til last week. I survived!

Check out the Outward Bound blog for more on our trip and for photos with student faces.

Erika S. outfits

home work = домашняя работа

I have a good number of Eastern European/Cental Asian students this year, coming from countires such as Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Tajikistan.  Many of them speak limited/survival English at best, but they all speak Russian.  So it’s been a struggle teaching them biology…in English.  I rely on using pictures to illustrate concepts, using vocabulary charts and other students to fill in the blanks.  Today, I learned a new Russian word, which I have been using probably all too often to describe everything.  домашняя работа (domashnyaya rabota), which means homework, as in “Unless you can tell me right now what the ‘Z-scheme’ is in photosynthesis, I can tell you straight copied your domashnyaya rabota from the internet.”  That’s right.  Do your domashnyaya rabota!!

This corduroy pea coat has been a staple in my closet for the past 6 years at least.  I got it ages and ages ago from the Gap, way back when my old roommate Lori worked there.  Its the best cut ever – boxy in the body but slim in the arms.  So you have room to move and layer underneath, but you don’t end up looking like Popeye the Sailor Man with huge arms.

coat: hella old gap – cardigan: hella old therapy – dress: gap – tights: uniqlo – high socks: asos – booties: steven by steve madden

Erika S. outfits, teaching

a first day for everything

There is a first for everything.  Today was the first day of school, the first day of many to come as the leader of room 267 at Leader’s High School in Brooklyn.  I met my Crew (our version of a hardcore homeroom, meant for character building, teaching of social and literacy skills) for the first time, 15 timid little 9th graders who will blossom into grown men and women in 4 short years with me.  I already love them.

I also met my 80-odd Living Environment (New York’s name for Biology) students, freaking them all out as the crazy ass science teacher who eats dirt on the first day of school.  It was a quick run through on observations and inferences, a common lesson done by science teachers around the world on the first day of school.  Kids were buzzing about it in the hallways and to other teachers, an indication of success!  The real measure of success is if they start making inferences on their own without me resorting to tricks. 

First day of school outfit, taken at the end of the night.  It’s 9:30 right now and I’ve yet to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I’m running on stress and coffee fumes.  Everything but the goofy grin is meant to convey the sense that I know exactly what I’m doing at all times and that I am to be taken seriously.  Until I eat dirt.

Erika S. outfits, parties

I Love College

Many of my former students are starting their first years of college in the next few weeks, and I’m super excited for them.  This excitement (fueled by their updates on FB) is often mixed with fear that I didn’t help prepare them enough… lots of should haves and could haves.  Are they going to be screwed in freshman Bio because I didn’t make them memorize all the steps and intermediate molecules involved in the Kreb’s cycle?  Oh my god I ran out of time and never covered phylogenetic trees/cladograms!!!  Will they remember that hypo=under/below, iso=equal and hyper=over?  Are they going to maintain the self control needed to keep from partying themselves into hungover dropouts?!?!?  Will they remember my lesson on the benefits of delaying gratification?  O.M.G!

My fears for the impressionable young minds of my students were revisited the other evening when B and I went on a booze cruise down the East River hosted by coed.com (probably/most likely NSFW).  Coed.com is hosted on WordPress.com VIP (B is a developer at Automattic) and thus our invite and our free swag – blue sunglasses.  For the record, B and I held it together, there was no vomiting over the side, all staggering was due to the choppy waves on the river and we exercised self control and moderation.

I bought this dress (called the Shore House Shift dress) from Anthropologie over a year ago on sale.  It was a great buy because of the massive markdown, the high quality silk material and the cute little anchor buttons at the shoulder.  It’s held up pretty well too, but I’ve only worn it about 3 times.  This last time may be the last though, as I managed to get ketchup, pickle juice and just about every other condiment all over the front of it that night.  I’m not known as the family klutz for nothing, here’s hoping that I don’t ruin it totally trying to get the stains out.

dress and bag: anthropologie – shoes: madewell also seen here – mustache necklace: purchased the renegade craft fair

I had to throw in this shot of B, because he’s cute and the glasses matched the lining of my bag.

Erika S. fun stuffs, teaching

the non fashion, fashion blog

It’s ridiculous trying to write a semi fashion themed blog when there is never anyone around to help me take photos.  I fail at this. The majority of my clothes are now en route to Brooklyn inside a crate.  So I’ve been sticking to t-shirts and 2 pairs of jeans for these 3 weeks till we get settled in our new place.

It’s the first day of summer vacation!  Yesterday I cleaned out my classroom, said my good byes and left TMAHS for the second time in my life (first time was as a high school graduate).  I almost don’t know what to do with myself now that I instantly have all this free time.  B is also out of town for the weekend getting smart at some superhero conference thing.  So I went shopping after leaving school yesterday.  Madewell was having an extra 20% off sale items, so of course I ended up leaving the store with a few things.  I had to buy this lace t-shirt because I figured it would be perfect for my dinner date with Marisa and Matt later that night at the Salt House.  It would have worked better with a black tank underneath, but all I have with me now is white.  Oh well.

This past week I’ve also broken my long standing ban against adding students as facebook friends.  I now have something like 30 new friends and my newsfeed is cluttered with screenshots of students chatting on ooVoo.  I’m having mixed feelings about this.  I want to keep in touch with students and I’m invested in their future, but at the expense of my own privacy (hi kids!!).  Then again, I keep an open, publicly viewable blog.  So what kind of privacy should I be expecting?  All of a sudden I’m gripped with fear that my social life is being judged by my students.

Erika S. outfits

tiny flowers

It’s friday. The kids have finally stopped singing that Rebecca Black song on fridays.  I know floral jeans have been all over the blogosphere lately, my favorites here, there, here and there.  I’ve had these Forever 21 jeans sitting in my closet since last september and have only worn them once.  No better time than now to pull them out for the second time.  My students knew right away where I found these jeans.  One teenager even told me that she has the same pants.  Great.  I dress like a teenager.  A big teenager that can confiscate your hats and cell phones.  I really tall teenager who forces you to write TEA paragraphs about why income is the greatest indicator obesity in the US and then imitates your groaning.  Happy friday, kids!

glasses: bonlook – necklace, blazer and jeans: F21 – tank: target – v-neck: threads for thought via nordstrom rack – belt: gap – booties: steve madden – key lanyard: TMAHS

Erika S. outfits

The “you must have a date tonight!” outfit

Teenagers notice everything.  Nothing will slip past them, especially not when they spend an hour (sometimes 2) staring at you as you teach.  Coincidentally, teenagers are also trying to figure out their mental–>verbal filters. Random/inappropriate/funny/embarrassing/ghastly things come flying out of mouths daily. Case in point: “Ms. S, you look really nice today…..OMG YOU MUST HAVE A DATE TONIGHT!!!!”

No, I don’t have a date tonight.  Can’t I wear a skirt every once in a while?  Especially when said skirt is new and super cute?  Never mind that I still have the usual teacher hairdo (more like the non-do).

My health class says hello BTW.  They left me a message that I just found this morning.

Glasses : bonlook – necklace/bracelet : my mom’s from when she was 12 – tee/belt/skirt : j.crew – cardi : super old from Therapy – shoes : nine west (also seen here) – watch : Marc by Marc Jacobs via Nordies Rack