See you in September!

Today was a tough day. It was my last day of work before I officially go on sabbatical and I found it hard to see all of you with new teachers. I felt a little possessive and jealous that I won't be working with you and keeping up with what you are up to until September. For my seniors, this was it. I will not be seeing you again. Maybe I'll go to the prom dinner. That's not until May. It's up to you to keep me posted.

For a teacher without a schedule, I was pretty busy. I helped get my paperwork in order for the new teachers. I got to "schmooze" with some of you. I had my last lunch with my people. I completed 3 annual reviews. I cleaned out my locker and got some RCT stuff together. I said a lot goodbyes and then headed home. It was a nice feeling. I think it's good that I left with a bit of longing inside. I'm not completely burnt out and I know when I come back, I'll be very energized.

Now for the academics: I go back to class on Thursday. I have 5 more chapters to read in The Iliad. I have to read this other book and some articles for another class. I can't stress enough how important it is to be prepared for your classes. If the teacher asks you to read something for the next day, do it! Do you know how boring it is to try to teach something and the students are not prepared for it? Very boring and frustrating!

Enough lecturing. I have to go read now with a cup of hot cocoa...fat free, of course.

Be well my little students! Do well in class! Work hard. Your efforts will reward you!
Until my next entry...

Goodbye Regents and RCT's

Well, exam week is over! For those of you who came in and took your exams, I hope you are recovering! For those of you who had the week off, I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I was in school proctoring and grading. It was so nice and quiet. It was almost peaceful! I graded the math and science RCT's. No comment on the results. You will all find out soon enough!

I was going over the syllabi from my courses and I have so much work to do before I go back to school on Thursday, Feb. 2nd. I have to read 8 more chapters of the Iliad, 60 more pages in another book and I didn't even start on the reading for my history course. I'm feeling a little pressure here! I must admit that I am enjoying the Iliad very much. At first I was intimidated by it's size but it is a very amusing, in my opinion, story. I can't wait to get into class and start to discuss it with my fellow students! See, if you read the book, you can discuss it with others. READ THE MATERIAL FOR YOUR CLASSES! It makes you a better student and the class isn't boring because you know what's going on. Also, the language in the book is usually wonderful! You learn so much. Am I sounding like a teacher right now? GOOD!

Hey Allison, thank you for that great comment! Keep writing...it's a great release. Good luck to you for the NEW semester. Omkar, it's great hearing from you via e-mail. If you want to e-mail me directly, use this address: robinfre@yahoo.com.

I'll see you all next week. My last day is Tuesday, Jan. 31st.

What am I Getting Myself Into?

Yesterday I went to SUNY-Purchase to attend the first day of classes. My first class was the history class. When I walked into the room, the people in the room stopped talking because I think they thought I was the teacher! Okay, I was the oldest one in the room but then a woman older than me walked in. Yeah! Someone who was born before 1959! My professor is a short woman with a lot of energy. She handed out the syllabus and discussed the requirements of the course. There will be papers and 2 exams. She showed us the books that we have to have and then started to lecture. I think I'm going to like this class. It's about women in the Bible and the Ancient World. I know Ewa was interested in the books we'll have to read.

Then I had about an hour to kill between classes because the first teacher let us out early. I'll usually have only 20 minutes so I took advantage of the hour. I went to get my ID which I'll need for everything including the library. Then I headed over to the bookstore to try to buy some books. Most of my books were sold out. I went to the library so I can register into their system. Then it was back to class. This literature course is taught by a male professor. This guy knows his stuff. We have to do some very heavy reading. I started to get a little anxious. Will I be able to keep up? Will I understand the work? I'll be missing 3 classes, can I catch up? I was really getting nervous. I spoke to him after the class to explain why I'll be missing 3 classes. (He told us that 4 absences and you are out!) He understood and wanted me to make sure I get the notes from someone. I turned around and there was this tall kid standing there so I asked him if I can borrow his notes when I get back. He said yes. I met my first friend. His name is Mason and I met his friend Shane. Okay, I'm old enough to be their mother but hey, I need those notes. I'll bring them some candy to thank them. The older woman in the other class will lend me hers.

I came home and began reading "The Iliad". This is very classic literature. It is a big fat book written in Greece around the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. by a man named Homer. It really is a poem and I found it very intimidating. Yes, I am scared of this book! I have to read about half of it by the time I get back to class on Feb. 2nd. I can't even start reading for the history course because I don't have the books! I had to order them from Amazon.com. They should be here by next week.

So what did I learn today, my first day of school? I have to do the reading. The Literature professor said that there is no way to get through the course by just reading Sparknotes or Cliff notes. Sound familiar? He told us to read through the pages twice. The first time we'll skim, the second time, make notes on the pages or summarize each page on the bottom of the page. You should try it...at least try to read the book. Also, I learned that I have to get all the reading done so that when I walk into the class, I'll be prepared even after being absent. Something else you all should try.

I'll see you all on Monday.

Blog Introduction

Hi Everyone!

As promised, I told you that I would start a blog so you would not miss your "Miss" so much. I really don't know how much you're going to miss me, but at least you can see what I'm up to while I'm away from good old Columbus. Of course, I am going to miss MOST of you. I felt this was a great semester and honestly, I had great students. Even those of you who weren't my actual student were great to work with. (except for the kid who took my cell phone...BOOOOOO!) I hope you all understand that I just needed a break from work. I've worked nonstop since Ben was 1 1/2 years old and since NYC teachers are given this unique opportunity to take a sabbatical, I thought I would take one again. Besides, my boys are very excited that their mother is going to be a stay-at-home mom. I think my husband looks at it as an opportunity to straighten up the house. What he doesn't know is that I'll probabaly end up throwing a lot of his stuff out!

So, what am I going to do while I am not working? I am required to take 8 college credits. I am suppose to take the courses in my subject area but since I teach more than one subject, I am taking a class in history and one in literature. My history class is called "Women in the Biblical and Ancient World". I got closed out of the class but I e-mailed the teacher and described what I did for a living. She thought I had the most interesting job and life so she is going to let me enroll in the class. I feel a little pressure to perform in this class now. My other class is called "The Ancient Epic". I will be required to read classic literature. The reason why I picked this class was because I thought it would go well with the history class and it would make me read books I've never read before. Also, it will teach me how to get through the classics and then I can teach all of you had to read and understand them. I can't recall the titles but once I find out, I'll post it.

So that's my sabbatical all summed up. I'll probably be the oldest one in my classes but I can deal with that. Now I'll find out how cool I really think I am!

Stay tuned for more!