Snow, snow, snow

The north east got slammed with a major snow storm. And we have no more snow days left! NJ schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.

That means that if there is one more snow day, the district will start taking days away from our spring break, soooo a possible no to South Carolina. Thankfully, the hotel is refundable but, if that happens, I’ll be bummed.

In spite of the storm we celebrated my husband’s 45th birthday. The storm dumped some snow so T had to clean all that snow. He was a champ! We then had an ice cream cake ❤️

NYC

This week I am in New York City for my annual world language teacher conference. This conference is a three day affair (Thursday to Saturday) with tons of workshops taught by fellow educators.

NYC, of course, is lovely and unsettling at the same time – the city of contrasts.

My hotel is a no frills chain in Hell’s Kitchen, which is a change from last three years when I stayed in Korea town. This year I am not doing as much walking. Korean town was a good 15+ blocks every morning. This time the Garden Inn is much closer to the conference site. #badrightknee

My room is on the 32 floor! At first I went to the THIRD floor then had to go back into the elevator and go up to the THIRTY-SECOND floor. I felt like a village girl in a big city!

Thursday was day 1 of this conference, and it was exhausting. Lots of sitting and listening and taking notes. But also lots of talking with fellow teachers. Lots of socializing. I left home on a 5:56AM train to be in New York by 8AM.

I did NOT feel ready mentally or logistically to go to the NYC Thursday through Saturday. On Thursday morning, at 4:30AM I scrambling with lesson plans for Thursday while my daughter was keeping me company. Usually, I do not feel so pressured but this year, I am feeling overwhelmed.

The feeling of overwhelm augmented itself with each and every workshop I attended. Usually, I go through the notes after each workshop and decide what to do with the strategies that were shared. It is not possible to implement EVERYTHING so I have to pick and choose. This year I just let them PILE up. Now I have to dig through the notes when I come back home.

After day 1 was over, I checked into the hotel and went to the fitness center for an hour to spin and do some weights. Dinner was a salad in my hotel room, some reading and bed.

Day 2 of the conference is also packed! Workshops, lectures, notes. The theme of the conference is RHYTHM. They started the plenary session with taiko drums performance. You all know how much I love a rhythm of a drum so this was a nice surprise. Then, they had a Spanish teacher do a TAP dance! It was so joyful. To wrap up the plenary session, they had Tahitian dancers perform ‘Ote’a and Aparima dances. LOVE.

During lunch, I walked up to Cental Park and got some fresh air. The back to professional learning.

After the last workshop tonight, I am seeing an off-broadway play. It’s gonna be a late night since the play is from 7:30 to 10pm. The play is at The Shed next to the Hudson Yards, and Emma D’Arcy is in it.

Decisions

I have received so many wonderful comments on my last reflection where I struggled with decisions. I am yet to respond to comments, and I am yet to make ANY of those decisions. Sigh. I feel like I have NOT been on top of things in regards to reading blogs and writing comments, and am feeling behind. I am dreading this trip to Russia so I am giving myself permission to NOT go this summer. I am also giving myself permission to not feel guilty.

To do

After the conference is over, which is tomorrow afternoon, I need to:

*make a folder and throw ALL the presentations and notes into to share with colleagues in my district

*to go through the conference notes and select applicable strategies

*exercise at the Y

*do laundry

*lesson plans for next week! This is exciting because #NEWstrategies ❤️

*write a blog post “Goodbye February, hello March”

*leave some blog comments on my fellow bloggers’ writings

*spend some quality time with T

*go swimming or skating with the kids

*mayyyyybe purchase plane tickets for Italy

*mayyyybe part 2, book some accommodations in Italy