four - first day of school

borrowed from here

Today was the first day of school. Aside from the fact that my classroom was sweltering in today's 96+ degree heat, it was a good day.

I love the first day of school. First, it always reminds me of that line that Tom Hanks says in You've Got Mail. "Don't you love … the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils..." Although the grammar of the title has always bothered me, I absolutely love that movie. I also love my yearly trips to Staples to buy school supplies. What is it about 3-ring binders, dividers, folders, fun colored grading pens, notebooks, and bouquets of sharpened pencils that is so exciting?

The best part of the first days of school, aside from the supplies, is the students. I love seeing them sitting in their seats, eager to learn - some of them I'm just meeting and some I've known previously. The highlight for me today came in one of the math classes. As he walked out of the room, one student said, "Have a good day, Amy. Thanks. Really good class." My job truly doesn't get much better than that.

Here's to another great year.

three - Isn't it romantic?

It's the beginning of the school year.  And, for the first time since I started teaching seven years ago, I've been reminiscing about what it's like to be a student.  In fact, I've realized that I'm a bit jealous of my own students and my various friends who are currently engaged in graduate studies of some sort. 

Do you remember what it's like to be student?  To be able to sit in a classroom and just learn?  Yes, I remember the studying, the late nights, the research papers, the exams.  But, there is something almost romantic about being a student.  As a student, you are free to just sit and think about new ideas being presented to you.  You can challenge the status quo, be wowed by an amazing teacher, and you are able to learn something for no other reason than that you actually want to learn what is being taught in that classroom.  You get to choose your own course of study and just soak it all in while walking around academic quads of green grass surrounded by ivy covered brick buildings.  See?  Doesn't that sound romantic?

My point is that this has made me contemplate the possibility of going back to school.  Sure, I've always dreamed about culinary school, but at this stage of my life, it just doesn't seem super practical.  So, I've put that idea aside, and I've started to research masters of education programs … probably a bit more useful in my current occupation.  I've decided to explore a few M.Ed. in School Leadership programs in the Boston area and also at UPenn and Columbia.  It's a bit daunting - not in the least because I will need to take the GREs again!  Evidently the ones I took in the fall of 2000 are outdated.  In addition, I'm looking at perhaps starting in the fall of 2012 and by then I'll be 33 years old.  The idea of going back to grad school at the age of 33 is a bit scary, too.  We'll see what happens.

So, if anyone has either gotten an M.Ed or has a friend who has, let me know.  I'd like to enter this endeavor, if I choose to follow through, with as much information as I can.  It's a big decision and a bigger financial investment!

Until then, I'll just keep dreaming of being a wide-eyed, impressionable, and eager student sitting on a campus green, discussing current trends in education with groups of intelligent fellow educators.  Doesn't that sound nice?

two - Grafton Street

Several weeks ago, Becky and I went to dinner at Grafton Street in Harvard Square with some friends.  I really like the restaurant.  It has a decent atmosphere, food that is reliably well prepared, and solid beer and wine lists.  The service is usually quite good, as well. 

Everyone knows that it can be a pain to park in Harvard Square, but Grafton Street has a deal with the church across the street so that patrons of the restaurant can park after hours in the church's lot for no charge.  I knew vaguely of this from Becky's sister who had done it once before, but as I pulled my black Mazda 3 into the church parking lot, the large towing signs made me nervous.  So, I decided to call Grafton Street to double check.  The hostess who answered the phone wasn't super helpful but confirmed that we could, in fact, park in the church lot and assured me that it would not be a problem.  We walked to the restaurant, were seated right away, and had a delicious meal. 

In case you're curious, I had the baked lobster macaroni and cheese without the lobster and Becky had the gorgonzola, prosciutto, and fig jam rustic pizza without the prosciutto.  (Ah, the trials and tribulations of keeping kosher!) 

After dinner we stopped at JP Licks (for some delicious kosher ice cream) and then headed to the car.  Lo and behold … My Mazda 3 was nowhere to be found!  I called Grafton Street from the parking lot and confirmed - again - that I could park there and then asked the hostess (a different woman from before) why my car was no longer in the lot if we could park there.  She then said, "Oh, well, you need to get a pass from the hostess station and put it on your dash."  Huh.  It would have been nice if the hostess from earlier in the evening had mentioned that to me!  I was livid.  I explained to the hostess that no one at the restaurant had informed me of this crucial fact when I called about this and asked to speak to the manager.  The manager got on the phone and told me that she would right this wrong and asked me to walk back to the restaurant.  Meanwhile, Becky called the tow truck company to confirm that they had Sweet Pea.

We walked back to Grafton Street, and I met with the manager.  She was incredibly apologetic and promised to take care of everything.  She handed me the cash for the tow charge and had one of the bar's "bouncers" (I'm using the term bouncer liberally here … I mean, it's Grafton Street) drive all four of us to the tow yard in her car to rescue Sweet Pea.  Considering it could have been a really crappy night, I was most impressed with the restaurant manager and I remain a loyal customer of her restaurant. 

If you haven't been and need a good bite to eat in Harvard Square, visit Grafton Street!

Update: Two days later, I drove into downtown Watertown to run some errands.  I had recently refilled my stash of quarters for parking meters and dug through my center console to find my coin purse.  I realized then that whoever towed my car that night in Harvard had stolen the little money I keep in the car - about four one dollar bills and all but two of my quarters!  Grrrrr!  Unfortunately, there wasn't too much I could do about it at that point, as it was about $7, that was all that was missing from the car, and I had no proof that it was in my car in the first place.  Good thing I keep my iPod in my purse!!!

one - introduction

Each summer, Concord Academy "assigns" its faculty and staff summer reading. This summer, we all read Better by Atul Gawande. Gawande is a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and a staff writer for the New Yorker. Better is a collection of essays containing anecdotes and observations regarding various aspects of the practice of medicine, including the collection of data to insure specific or improved outcomes, the importance of habitual practices such as washing hands, and ethical dilemmas between doctors and patients or between doctors and society at large. Although Better is written from the perspective of a surgeon and the topics it deals with are rooted in the medical field, its core messages are applicable to anyone of any profession.

The last chapter talks about how to become what Gawande calls a positive deviant - five behaviors to help you be "better" at what you do. He suggests the following: ask an unscripted question; don't complain; count something; write something; and change. I have decided to act on these as best I can. And, so, I created this blog. I have decided to write something, and I hope you enjoy what I write.

As for the title … This blog will probably be a conglomeration of a variety of thoughts, observations, and stories of my everyday life: perhaps some anecdotes from my classrooms, some random stories of everyday occurrences in my life, and definitely some recipes and discussions of food. So, this blog doesn't have a specific theme other than the fact that it's about me and what I think. For those of you who know me, you probably are aware that I was a "rocket scientist" - at least that's what some people like to say. I'm not entirely sure that a masters of science in aerospace engineering automatically makes one a rocket scientist, but I think my friends and family like saying it. And, so a title was born.

I mean, really … it's not like this blog - or my life - is rocket science.