Warby parker – Page 4 – Teachers Have Lives Too!

09/18/201409/18/2014 Erika S. outfits

Backpackin’

The days have been long and hard lately. I’ve taught 12th graders before, but the batch I have this year for Physics are just too cool for school. I started the year off thinking I could give them a lot of freedom and personal responsibility, only to realize that they just can’t handle the truth – they need some hand holding. Cell phones out left and right just to “check the time” and independent practice time spent chatting it up about homecoming (yup, it’s a thing here and I’m really weirded out by this new-to-me Americana type tradition). I’m working on it – slowly but surely. I gave a stern behavioral expectations lecture today about how “you’re young adults now, that means I shouldn’t have to mother you”. sigh. I’m not the motherly type.

I bought a backpack to lug my papers and laptop back and forth to school. My back feels better (though I have a car now – my back never gets a chance to complain anymore!), I like the organization, and I like the color. Also, I was really tired of the plastic tarp smell that never really goes away with the Freitag bags and a purse just wasn’t cutting it – too small.

I just realized how many times I typed “I” in such a short post. Feeling very self centered and narcissistic now. On to the photos!

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glasses: warby parker – cardigan: uniqlo – dress and belt: f21 – shoes: saltwater sandals – backpack: jansport – charm: ugly dolls

09/03/201409/03/2014 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

08/29/2014 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

11/27/2013 Erika S. outfits

Nice Photos

Today, one of my crew kids O told me, “you take nice pictures, miss.” It took me a full minute to process what she had said. “oh, so you’ve seen my blog”, I said finally. My initial feeling was one of fear – a ridiculous feeling considering how open I was about my blog when I taught my week long blogging intensive. What ever students discover about me through my blog has already been out for a long time. I’ve been running this blog for 2 years!
Another comment struck fear in my heart today. A student, H, told me it looked like I was wearing a crop top with this sweater. He then rushed on to explain that the colors are deceiving with the tan bottom, and “you know. . .it looks like you’re naked.” OMG, kid. it’s practically a grandma sweater! right?!?
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glasses: warby parker – sweater and boots: madewell – jeans: uniqlo – belt: banana republic

11/19/2013 Erika S. outfits

Pumpkin

I miss the pumpkin ice cream from Mitchell’s in SF. In it’s place, I’ve been making loads of pumpkin muffins, pumpkin-lentil soups and I’m wearing pumpkin. It’s my favorite fall color, next to my bordeaux cheap-o lipstick. Since B is away at a meet-up in Denver (I’m going for a quick weekend visit this friday!), I went shopping this past weekend and I did some damage at Madewell. I swear I was just there to pop in to see what was new (yeah, right) till I saw the extra-30%-off-sales sign. I’d just finished wasting brain cells watching “Sister Wives” on Netflix (I know, I know), and this top just screamed Mormon-chic. Naturally, I had to have it. By the way, everything seems to be a lot more online than in the shops – this shirt cost me $28, while online it is listed at $80 without any extra sale! Ridiculous.

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glasses: warby parker – shirt and boots: madewell – skirt: j.crew – cardigan and tights: uniqlo

11/15/2013 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

11/06/201311/06/2013 Erika S. outfits

rock genius

A perfect science teacher shirt for me: a math/science genius emblazoned on a t-shirt in the style of the rock gods of the 80’s and 90’s. This Target tee was quite the find and right up my alley. As it turns out, it’s a huge hit with the kids too.

♬ I’m a little bit science ♬
And I’m a little bit rock ‘n roll ♪
I’m a little bit of Watson and Crick
With a little bit of Darwin in my soul
I don’t know if it’s good or bad
But I know I love it so ♪

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glasses: warby parker – t shirt: target – skirt: j.crew – shoes: super old nine west

09/23/2013 Erika S. outfits

Autumnal

It’s Fall — meaning it’s time to bust out the flannels and the checks! It was a cool 65˚F here in Brooklyn and I couldn’t be happier with this SF-like weather. It’s the third week of school and I’m still working on trying to find a nice groove in my work flow. Student schedules are still changing and I’m still trying to figure out how to teach my Urban Agriculture class (culinary/healthy eating/urban farming). I’m channeling my inner Brooklyn hipster farmer today. Also, new fall boots! I had a very weak moment while browsing at Madewell and am now suffering from wallet guilt. They’re tearing my heels apart right now as I break them in, but I’m holding out that they will eventually soften up. Fingers crossed that I can finally stop with the constant blister first aid!

End of the day yawns – pretty much par for the course on a Monday afternoon.

glasses: warby parker – shirt: uniqlo – jeans: bdg – boots: madewell

09/11/201309/11/2013 Erika S. outfits

To a Tee

I found this skirt at the start of summer at Beacon’s closet. My friend Grace and I were out for a lazy walk in our ‘hood when we stopped in on a whim. I’d been there to root around a few times before, but generally speaking, thrifting is not something a get a thrill out of. But this day was my lucky day! Equal parts cheeky, cute and teacher friendly. It also fit me to a tee. Zing! I don’t play golf at all. My only experience with golf was back in ’98 when I went with a boyfriend at the time to the driving range (back when there was one in Mission Bay) where he hit (drove?) a bucket of balls and I just watched.
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It was hot as hell today and some ridiculous percent humidity. My hair was down for all of the five minutes it too me to take these photos at lunch. Also, the sweat just makes my glasses slide right off — it’s a constant battle to push them up, which means I ~~get to~~ inadvertently give people the finger sometimes.

to a tee

glasses: warby parker (I really want them in seaglass blue too) – tank: super old banana republic – skirt: beacon’s closet – shoes: worishofer

09/09/2013 Erika S. outfits

First Day

This is my 5th first day of school, and by far the best. The lesson went smoothly, the kids were all engaged and I didn’t loose my mind. A success!! This morning, I got on the subway and counted 5 other teachers on the same car as me. It’s funny, I feel like I can spot fellow teachers from a mile away: The large tote-ish bag, the hair pulled back in a no nonsense bun, conservative but still youthful dresses (mostly florals) and a zen-but-frazzled-on-the-inside demeanor. That was me to a T today (except for the florals). Of course, there was a cardigan involved at first…till I started to sweat right through it. Then I started to regret my choice of top. You win some, you lose some I guess.