Dashboard Confessional

Having spent more than 4 hours in TWO different chapels today, I am feeling compelled, if not moved,  to make a confession.  In case you hadn't noticed, I don't have a handle on the photo layout scene. Yes, I've read and attempted the "help" articles.  Bottom line is that pictures don't always end up where intended.  For example, the picture of the entire mouth-watering cannoli and steaming cappucino should be presented before the scraped over plate and full-bellied eater.  I'm a novice blogger.  So if photos seem out of order or mismatched with text, it is not an oversight, merely an expression of my slowly blossoming blogability.   Amen.

Hitting the Books

Lucy Calkins, founding director of Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, started the morning off with a passionate and thought provoking keynote at the Riverside Church.  She talked of building a better world through literacy and how we, as teachers, can each change our corners of the the world.  

A couple of my fav quotes from Lucy C: 

• Strategies are just tools to be used if they are not backed by passion - just like a screwdriver is just a hunk of wood and piece of metal without someone who wants to take the back off the dishwasher.
  
• We write to cherish the moments that would otherwise float untethered and undifferentiated, without meaning; to push the pause button, to hold the moment in our hands.

So we sat in church and drank up the sermon from the leader in the field...

In this photo, I wanted to exhibit my camera's ability to capture the glow of knowledge surrounding K and L's heads, as well as the other 1000 participants from 48 US states and 19 different countries.  (It's call "cross" mode - on the camera) 

Later in the day we broke into grade level sessions...

In my small group section, a writer's workshop mini-lesson was modeled and we all wrote about a significant moment, (which I enjoy getting to do!), and shared our work with partners.  In the afternoon we talked about the structures of units of study and mini-lessons.   Loved my section presenters - articulate, engaging, practical.  

And, yes, there is homework.  I seem to have been assigned about twice as much homework in the 2nd grade section as DR, K, and L were assigned in the K and 5th grade sections.  All K and L had to do was decorate their notebooks, (with what?? we left our art supplies home - I think L is affixing some produce price tags to her notebook and K is doing a one footed version of River Dance on hers to give it a hip-hop, weathered look). One of my assignments was to write for AT LEAST 30 minutes, which I am doing now.

A highlight of my day was getting to hang out at lunch with my fellow Banana Slug, SC.  I haven't seen her up close and personal for around 4 and a half years!  Long ago she left the West Coast and now works here, at Columbia.  Super exciting to have a spontaneous lunch together on a different college campus, though I missed grazing the granola troughs and sampling from bulk bins, (eating skills SC taught me), since we both had to get back to business.

Arrival at the Crack of Dawn

After red-eying it across the lower 48, we checked in to our

 accommodations early to try and recoup some our lost shuteye before hitting the town.  First stop was a cannoli and capuccino at Caffe Dante.  I saw this yummy tea party set-up on a Food Network show called, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and I've been coveting the duo ever since.  It was not a disappointment!  Excellente! Perfect way to start the groggy afternoon. 

Then we made our way over to the Gay Pride Parade.  It was a marching party of peacocks and politicians, punctuated by the funky grooves of Beat It, Thriller, and Billie Jean every five minutes or so.  The parade originated as a way to commemorate the Stonewall Riots.  This year is the 40th anniversary of the protests against the unlawful treatment of gays and lesbians.

 On the academic side, we did lots of reading today - I've never loved my iphone more!  It is the most incredible navigational tool.  We used it to find subway stations, yelp restaurant ops, investigate the location of cannoli and cassata, and just find our way around in general.

Setting the Stage

DR, K, L and I met for a travel planning meeting.  Excited, eager, unsure what to pack for the "hottest and rainiest month of the year" in NYC, we conferred.  How far can we get on jeans and a cute top???   Will we rate for the mandatory Sex and the City cosmo at a rooftop bar??  We confirmed that transport for the luggage laden was best handled by taxi.  Then on to previewing some of our show options: Avenue Q, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys...  

And then, a moment of disbelief, hearing that not only had Farrah left the building, she was shadowed by Michael J.

Gearing Up for the City

In order to begin acclimating to metropolitan life we decided to take a preliminary jaunt to Japan - Japan Town in SF.  We checked into our Japanese style high-rise accommodations and enjoyed a complimentary pot of Dream Mountain White Cloud tea while viewing the cityscape from our balcony.  

As everyone knows, an all important part of gearing up for travel to a new locale

 is tempering one's taste buds to a wider variety of flavor sensations.  In anticipation of the east coast palate we obligated ourselves to an outstanding meal at the french california fusion restaurant, bushi-tei.  We "fork sliced"

our way through seared tuna with rock shrimp risotto and authentic, Japanese kobe beef, then polished off the evening with my new favorite dessert, black sesame blancmange' with a coconut reduction.  A truly succulent, earthy-sweet delight.      

Breakfast followed suit with taiyaki - fish shaped waffles filled with red bean 

paste.

 

After a morning of tanking up and chowing down, we put the pedal to the metal and headed over for a  blissfully scenic hike in Muir Woods, to keep our inner Country Mice happy.

Acquiring Supplies -We'll be off in a New York minute

In preparation for the 2 week journey into the world of Reading and Writing Projects at Teachers College I have begun acquiring the necessary supplies:

100 page notebook - I'm counting on no more than 10 pages of notes per day

journal, pens, and other literary supplies

preparatory reading - Writers Workshop

personal reading to take along - an item strongly suggested by Readers Project - for discussion 

map of The City

sanitizing wipes

luggage large enough for adequate costume changes and domestic necessities

and the like...