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Saturday, December 31, 2011
31 December 2011
We could already hear the infamous fireworks in the square as early as 10AM this morning. Still not feeling 100%, Ali took it slow and enjoyed the new bathtub while Matt got some pastries. Then we switched. It is our vacation after all.
We aimed to check off the last two "must-dos" today, beginning with the Rijksmuseum. We took the tram across town and walked by an ice rink where kids and adults used chairs like walkers to help them along. The neighborhood of Museumplein was set up with an outdoor stage, decorations, and giant Dutch children in traditional garb framing the performance venue. This is where the biggest New Year's celebration will take place tonight including the countdown to midnight.
We have made some general observations about human behavior in this city.
1) Everyone we've needed to talk to has spoken English
2) Littering is widespread but the streets are cleaned frequently
3) People push in crowded places
4) Many people smoke. It is hard to escape the smell of tobacco and/or marijuanna
Anyway, the Rijksmuseum is a national museum showcasing works of Vermeer and Rembrandt. It also displays collections of furniture and collectibles amassed by rich and famous people of Holland's past. There was a display of fancy dollhouses, another of swords, silver, armoires, and artifacts from the height of exploration.
We found a nearby pub for lunch. Matt had a BLT with a "Christmas beer" and Ali had another croissant and sparkling water. Service was friendly and the atmosphere was cheerful- people were gathering to watch football for the most part. Aside for having to pay for the WC, it was a decent stop.
We decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking the tram because it would give us the opportunity to walk through the Jordaan, which is a quieter, upper class district of the city. It was a pleasant and romantic walk but a bit challenging given the unpredictable and increasingly frequent fireworks being thrown about. Matt used the guidebook to steer us back to safety as soon as possible. Matt got to have a free ollieballen from the front desk, which is a popular fried dough concoction this time of year.
Ali needed a rest before we could leave again, but we dressed up to prepare for a night on the town. Unfortunately, most restaurants were full, but we found a little Italian place called "Ponte Vecchio." Matt made reservations online ahead of time, but they clearly weren't necessary. First, the doors only open sliding sideways, so the waiters always have to come open them when prospective patrons start pulling and pushing in vain. Then, they open so wide that everyone gets a cold draft. The restaurant was offering a fixed price menu, but Ali didn't want to skip from zero to four courses. When we asked for a regular menu, it was hand-written. This may have been a bad sign (as was the steady stream of people coming in, reading the menu, and leaving), but we took our chances. Ali ordered gnochhi and Matt ordered pasta with meat sauce. We started with an insalata caprece and some bread, and Matt had a glass of house wine. The salad and bread were tasty. The gnocchi tasted more like potatoes than pasta (even though Ali knew it was made with potatoes, this hadn't happened before). However, it is hard to judge taste without being hungry. Matt's food was good and we had a nice time talking about our trip so far.
We walked around town after dinner to find the party almost everywhere. Some streets were so packed that cars were stuck amid throngs of people. The bars and coffee shops were full, so the dancing and drinking and smoking spilled out into the streets. The fireworks were everywhere by now, too, and much more difficult to avoid. We had to take cover every once in a while. We made the discovery that the trams were not running, so we wouldn't be able to go back to the party we'd seen set up at Museumplein. We stopped to buy a small bottle of champagne, and realized upon reaching our hotel room that we wouldn't be missing the party at all. The fireworks and cheering crowds sound like they're in here with us, and we plan on ringing in the new year on our balcony with Amsterdam celebrating all around us.
30 December 2011
Today got off to a slow start because Ali suspected she'd had some bad sushi. Rather than scrap a whole day of plans, we decided to do one activity at a time and come back to the hotel for a rest in between. Matt picked up a chocolate chip and pear muffin for himself and a plain croissant for Ali around the corner at a cafe. After breakfast, we set off on foot for Anne Frank's house. We were relieved to have a reservation because the line reminded us of Disney World. The tour started with a 30-minute English introductory lecture about the Franks' lives before they went into hiding, the people who helped them when they lived in the annex, the other people who had to join them in hiding, and Otto's decision to publish the diary after the war.
The house was left to appear as it had after the Frank's were captured, so it was not furnished. However, each room had a photograph reconstructing how each room looked while the annex was inhabited. It was interesting to see which quotes from the diary were printed on the walls- some of which were the same quotes the librettist drew for the text of Annelies, the oratorio Ali sang based on the diary. It was also very eerie to walk around the rooms we'd read about and imagine people living there. Ali realized that Anne would have been younger than both her living grandmothers if she hadn't been killed, which made everything seem more recent.
After a nap at the hotel, we went to a ticket counter a few storefronts down from our hotel to get a tram pass and tickets to our next few attractions. We then set off for the Rembranthuis, stopping along the way to get Matt a hot dog and Ali something like Tums (she guessed that "calcium carbonaat" would be a decent approximation). The Rembrandt house was fully furnished to best approximate what it looked like when Rembrant lived there, but also doubled as a museum of some of his works. The house was beautifully decorated but did not look comfortable or welcoming- perhaps because the box-beds were inserted into the kitchen, sitting rooms, etc instead of bedrooms.
Ali needed another nap after this excursion, so Matt wisely looked up a tapas bar near the Van Gogh museum so that she could order small portions one serving at a time. We found the restaurant easily and Ali ordered a bread basket with sparkling water. Matt ordered a puff pastry with spinach and feta as well as some meatballs in red sauce and a beer. The waitstaff was very friendly and we were served quickly. The ambience was relaxed and festive.
The Van Gogh museum was a short walk away. We were able to go at night because it is kept open late on Fridays for a swanky party experience. A DJ was there, a lighting designer had clearly been hired, and snacks and drinks were served. We made our way through four floors of exhibits and were struck by the fact that each room was devoted to only one year of Van Gogh's career. He was so prolific in such a short time and only painted for the last third of his short life. The museum also featured the various artists and movements that influenced him and some exhibits about how some of his works have been restored. There was a display of his famous bedroom painting constructed with real furniture to look like his own room had appeared. Van Gogh's most famous paintings were not at the museum. We'll have to go all the way to the MOMA in NYC to see those.
Ali went straight to bed after the museum but encouraged Matt to keep exploring. He walked around for a while and found a snack at some exotic chicken establishment called KFC.
Friday, December 30, 2011
29 December 2011
We woke up early to be the first in and out of breakfast, included in our hotel fare. The breakfast buffet was great- full of pastries, cereals, yogurts, fruits, meats, and cheeses. Ali had some smoked salmon, brie, a multigrain roll with jam, a chocolate croissant with nutella, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, and yogurt with a cup of tea. She had difficulty finding the butter among the impressive assortment of spreads, hence the nutella. Matt sampled all the meats and cheeses and also had a chocolate croissant, a soft-boiled egg, and fruit salad with coffee. Knowing it would be scarce later, we chugged some water before quickly packing up and checking out.
We filled the morning with a self-guided walking tour of the center of Brugge. Everything was very close together, but not necessarily easy to find. Part of the problem was that it started to rain hard and our umbrella broke early on in the day. We compensated by finding the closest chocolate shop to Church of Our Lady instead of hunting around through the hoards of them.
We finished the morning at the Half Moon Brewery. Short on time and frequent brewery-tour-takers, we decided to have a small lunch with a beer. The dining and bar areas were very crowded because those waiting for a tour wanted to wait indoors. We grabbed the only available table for two, but it was available for the important reason that it was the closest table to the tour-line. Despite the hectic atmosphere and inattentive service, we each enjoyed our blonde brews with some soup and bread. Ali had a vegetable soup that contained a variety of greens and vegetables in a flavorful not-too-salty chicken broth. Matt cheesy beer soup with bacon.
We rushed to the train station hoping to catch an early-afternoon train back to Amsterdam. As we'd done at the cathedral housing Michelangelo's Mother and Child sculpture, we got Ali the student rate and this time saved 20 euro in doing so. While we were relieved to make the train at the time we'd planned, things took a bad turn when we practically crowd-surfed into the standing-room-only train. Ali got a seat after the second stop but Matt had to wait two more to get a seat. Even with the aisle full of passengers, the consessions vendor was persistant and bowled us out of the way with his cart of snacks and doom.
We walked back to the Hotel Amsterdam to check back in for the next 3 nights. The receptionist told us we'd been upgraded to a suite. It is huge compared to the room we had Tuesday night. We got a candy bar on our pillow- not just one choclate. We have a king-sized bed instead of two twin beds shoved together. We have a nice tub. Everything is brand new (they haven't even made a real room number sign outside the door). Our favorite part is the balcony. It has a great view of the city- especially the area in which we thought we'd be jumping over firecrackers New Year's Eve. Matt realized that this meant we could have a Times-Squaresque view of the festivities. This will be great.
We had a two-hour walking tour scheduled at 7, but it was now 6:00. We decided to find a place where we could have a quick meal. The first two places we chose were closing. The next place was a Sushi restaurant, but we had no time to be picky and went in. Ali had an Unagi roll and a Sushi mix platter; Matt had vegetable fried rice and a spicy tuna roll. Everything was good, but the spicy tuna roll was much different than the one we're used to. It looked and tasted like tuna salad mixed with corn, and wasn't spicy at all. We were able to finish and pay in plenty of time to meet our tour group. Just as with the last tour (from the same company), there were way too many people attending. Our guide was friendly but started late. It was frustrating to have rushed our dinner and arrive on time but only to then wait for latecomers. Once she started, our guide gave a long intro in the same place we'd been waiting for the past half hour. We just wanted her to start walking!
We did soon enough. This tour was of the infamous parts of the city, with stops in the Red Light District and similar spots. It was very interesting to hear the history of the area and social laws through the centuries in Amsterdam. These areas felt remarkably safe, and our guide corroborated that Amsterdam is the 5th safest city in Europe. (She claimed the first four were in Sweden.)
Halfway through, the sky opened up and the wind began to gust. The wind made the umbrella impossible, and the pouring rain was replaced by hail and puncuated by flashes of lightning. The group took refuge in the nearest bar and had a beer while waiting out the storm. Thankfully, it was over around the same time we finished our drinks. The end of the tour included a free shot, but was a straight-shot two minute walk from our hotel so we handled it fine.
We craved an indulgent snack on our walk home. Ali got a Belgian waffle and Matt a cone of Belgian-style fries. Although we waited to leave Belgium before we enjoyed these local delicacies, each was well-worth it.
We finished them in our suite and put our feet up after a full day
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
28 December 2011
From Evernote: |
28 December 2011 |
28 December 2011
We had the best intentions of getting an early start. Matt even woke up before it was light out (which is less impressive here than it would be at home) to look for a good breakfast spot. However, it was then he discovered that not much opens around here until 10AM. This makes sense given the late sunrise, though. We got up anyway to pack since we needed to check out for our night in Brugge. Luckily, the hotel agreed to hold our baggage overnight so that we could just bring the backpack. They even held the backpack while we went out for a while in Amsterdam before our train.
Ali made a comment yesterday about how the many canal-facing streets with similar architecture, along with the semicircular grid layout of the city, might make it easy to get turned around. This proved to be true as we searched for the restaurant Matt had chosen for breakfast. We made the best of it and enjoyed the scenery before we finally found it. At least it wasn't raining. We were seated right away at the little cafe called "Pancakes!" Guess what we ate? Yep. Matt had Dutch pancakes with raisins and apple syrup and with freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. The coffee was between the size and appearance of an espresso and that of a small cup of coffee from the US. Ali had the OJ and a cup of tea, and both the tea and the coffee came with a little cookie that was similar to biscotti but not as hard. Her pancakes were muesli flavored and came with a side of rich, strained yogurt and fresh fruit. We topped our pancakes with the cinnnamon and sugar on the table and finished every last bite.
By now it was 11AM and we'd planned on fitting in a museum prior to a 12:30 concert. We walked to the Museum district and decided (after seeing long lines) that we should save that step for another day. That is a benefit of staying in one city for more than a couple days. It turned out to be fortunate that we made this choice, because the Concertgebouw was already packed when we arrived 45 minutes early. We were relieved to find good seats, because there was a brief Walmart-esque scene when the ushers opened the doors at noon.
The free concert was a half-hour long and included early music by composers such as Tallis and Dowland. It featured a quartet of wooden flute players and a male alto. We had never seen the instruments before but they appeared to be played like recorders and sounded similar. The music was soothing and interesting and quite entertaining given that we didn't pay. The stampede for the promise of classical music wasn't the only impressive culture-shock of the event. In the first suite, not ONE person in the audience clapped between movements. This may seem like a trivial point, but Ali has long considered using program notes, flashing signs, and announcements in attempts to achieve this single aspect of audience ettiquette at her own concerts.
The next bargain of the day was entirely by accident. We were trying to catch a tram back to the hotel, but we hung back to watch people get on and find out how to pay without a card. Having seen several trams include a car with a person behind a desk, we hopped onto the next one that was heading in the direction. Unfortunately, no such agent existed on this train. Without intending to, we saved 8 euro and got back to our hotel without incident. Oops.
We grabbed our backpack and noticed that we had a half hour until our train left. "Our train" was just the one that left when we wanted to leave, but we didn't have reservations or anything. We scooted to the station with 20 minutes to spare, but had trouble finding where we needed to go to get our tickets. After trying to purchase tickets at a machine and then at a computer, we had to take a number deli-style and wait to be called by an agent. Unfortunately, we appeared to have stumbled upon ticket-agent break-time, so we weren't called up until 2:10. We weren't even given the option to run for the 2:15 train, but waiting for the 2:46 was no big deal since it gave us time to grab a snack. Matt had a burger with unknown orange sauce (perhaps ketchup mixed with mayo and/or mustard) and Ali had a "shake" that looked and tasted like mango and a granola bar.
We were a little nervous about taking the train because we had to transfer in Antwerp. We took turns napping while the conscious one either typed or played a game on the ipad. Although we were a little disoriented at the Antwerp station, we boarded the right train and the right class car after only one try. Ali never did figure out how to open the door to the WC, but we made it to Brugge, passing the time doing crossword puzzles and looking at guidebooks.
The station in Brugge was much more upscale than the one we left in Amsterdam. Instead of offering shakes and fast food, there were multiple bars, chocolate shops, and paid waterclosets. Yes, you could enjoy a fancy Belgian beer, but then you had to pay again at the other end. Oh well. We copied down a crude map since we couldn't find one for purchase and then ventured out to find a bus. Luckily, the fare was waived, perhaps to promote holiday shopping. We'd drawn a large castle/church on our map and hopped off the bus the first time we saw one that might be a match. The problem/awesome part of Brugge is that there are a lot of buildings that are majestic and church/castle-like. We'd written down enough street names to find our way eventually. We were fortunate that the only rain seemed to have fallen during the train ride and not during our roundabout walk to the hotel. The city was so beautiful and decorated that Ali felt overstimulated and didn't take any pictures.
The Hotel Jan Brito is a renovated 16th-century mansion. We were greeted by a grand foyer warmed by a fireplace. The receptionist stood in front of an old-fashioned wall o' keys- the real kind- on key rings! He gave us a brief tour through ornately decorated sitting areas that have been converted into lounges, a bar, and courtyards. We had to walk outside through one of them to get to our room and were very excited to see that it had a great big tub.
It was now about 8:00 and we were hungry. We quickly looked up and mapped out some highly-rated restaurants and hoped we'd be able to find at least one of them this time. We turned around once but perservered and arrived at De Gastro: A Food Experience. Since we were hungry enough to feast but too tired to make choices, we selected a Flemish tasting menu and some fabulous Begian beers. Sorry, we only remember that they were fabulous. We were given little balls of mozzarella with tomato and cucumber and some fresh bread before our menu even began. The first course was mussels (well-loved in this area but not because they rhyme with Brussels) for Ali and cheese croquets for Matt. The second course was fish casserole for Matt (including mussels, of course) and beef stew for Ali. Finally, Ali enjoyed some chocolate mousse (it's BELGIUM, after all) and Matt had the house specialty cinnamon-cookie tirimisu, which tasted like whipped gingerbread. We were given complimentary shots, probably of limoncello, and lemon hard candies at the end of the meal. The "experience" lasted over two hours, but we felt relaxed without ever getting bored or impatient. The food was great and we walked back to the hotel happy.
Untitled Note
From Evernote: |
Untitled Note |
26-27 December 2011
Our flight from Newark was above average. We had a smooth takeoff and landing but rather frequent turbulence that prevented us from getting much sleep. The TV service came with the airfare, so at least we were entertained. We were served some pretzels, a dinner and breakfast/snack. We arrived in Amsterdam on time but were confused at how dark it was at 8AM. We realized we'd have a lot less daylight to work with than we thought with sunrise not occurring until nearly 9am.
We caught a train at the airport, which brought us to Centraal Station. This turned out to be a very short walk to our hotel- even with luggage and crowds. We checked in around 10AM and were pleasantly surprised to hear that our room was ready for us.
Our first planned activity wasn't until 1PM. We didn't want to go to sleep because we wanted to ward off jetlag and because we didn't trust ourselves to get up. So, we made some tea and got cleaned up, putting our feet up for a little while until lunch. We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant since we got a discount there.
Since we called and made "reservations" about three minutes prior to our arrival, we were whisked to a table facing the bustling street. Matt had a mozzarella, tomato, and prosciutto panini. Ali had a "Vegetarian Bread Roll." This was a whole-grain sub with sliced hardboiled egg, gouda cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
We bundled up with scarves, gloves, and headgear and set off for the National Monument, which was the meeting place of our tour and right next to our hotel. There was some confusion at first as the tourguides tried to wrangle patrons with reservations and redirect customers without them in a number of languages. We made it onto an English tour, along with people from Hong Kong, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Australia, Italy, Canada, and the US. This was not the mix we were expecting, but that's because we are sadly monolingual on a continent where that is almost unheard of.
Our tourguide was from Australia and was born in Princeton, NJ, so he kept talking to us as we walked along. After going around the group to ask where everyone was from, he asked us what brought us to Amsterdam. When we explained that we picked it out of a hat, he said he'd never heard our answer before. We liked that.
The walking tour was three hours long and was well-timed at the beginning of our visit. It gave us an idea of where to find most of our destinations and showed us that much of the places we want to go are walkable. We walked through the Red Light District where the day-shift (or bench, or second string, or whatever) madames were posing in windows. We averted our eyes for the most part since we weren't in the market for their services and didn't feel right about oggling. Along the way, we saw many "Coffee Shops" and "Smart Shops," the former being a code for "we sell marijuanna" and the latter for "we sell magic mushrooms and other all-natural mind-altering substances." These establishments cannot also sell alcohol, but we heard that many bars unofficially permit use of drugs inside.
WIthout taking notes, it is really difficult to recount all of the stops on our walking tour. We saw many old, old buildings. We walked along many pictueresque streets overlooking canals. We enjoyed sparkling Christmas lights, which covered the facades of entire hotels and hung in various displays overhead across most alleys and streets. We saw lots of boats and lots of bikes, and learned "if you hear a bell, run like hell." We walked around a winter festival, through a garden in a former convent, through the Amsterdam Museum, and by Chinatown. We saw the royal palace and Rembrandt's house. We got to stop at a cheese shop and sample aged Gouda (wow). After the tour was over, we followed our guide to a new pub that lets customers pour their own pints from taps in the middle of each table. We used the time to get some advice from our guide, who wrote on one of our maps and advised us about what we should do with the rest of our time.
We decided to go straight to dinner so that we could turn in when we went back to the hotel. We wandered around for a while, but the 1 hour of sleep followed by a 3 hour walk had started to take its toll and we didn't want to wait for a table. We went back to the hotel and ate dinner at the restaurant. We justified this choice by the different menu and the fact that we got a discount. We tried hare for the first time, which was cooked two ways: a rare, thinly sliced filet with baked apple and a stew with a side of cranberry sauce. We like the rare hare and the flavor of the stew, but the stewmeat itself was tough. We also ordered salmon with lobster sauce. The sauce didn't taste like lobster, but the dish was still good. For dessert, we had white wine with a cheese plate. One piece of cheese had whole cloves in it. There were also two circles of brie, a strong off-white cheese, and a mild pale-orange cheese. There was a slice of something brown and mealy which we tried without overthinking what it might have been. Having successfully stayed up till 8:30, we decided we could go to bed early and rest up for the next day.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Amsterdam Travel Information
We still have a lot of specifics to work out, but the general layout of our somewhat spontaneous trip to Europe is coming together:
United/Continental #70 Newark-Amsterdam 6:21pm-8:05am
December 27:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Walking tour, Heineken Experience
Stay at Hotel Amsterdam de Roode Leeuw - http://www.hotelamsterdam.nl/
December 28:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Free concert at Concertgebouw
Train to Bruges, Belgium
Stay at Jan Brito Hotel - http://www.janbrito.com/
December 29:
Bruges, Belgium
Explore the medieval city, brewery tour, lunch at #1 ranked restaurant
Train to Amsterdam, The Netherlands
December 30:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Anne Frank Huis, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum
December 31:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
January 1:
Amsterdam The Netherlands
United/Continental #71 Amsterdam-Newark 9:15am-11:55am
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21
Board Office:
- Worked on developing the rest of the 8th grade honors assessment materials.
- Replied to e-mails from an elementary principal regarding CogAT administration.
- Sent calendars out to teachers who requested them.
- Sent an e-mail out to two high school teachers who volunteered to preview possible summer reading books in advance of them receiving the books.
- Unsuccessfully tried to install a moveable platform for my laptop on my desk.
- Corresponded with a high school teacher about monthly reports.
High School:
- Met with three teachers to discuss proposed changes to one of the elective courses.
- Facilitated the final meeting of my CEU. This was the first CEU I taught and it went really well. The teachers expressed very positive feedback about the course and requested a follow up course in the future.
- Reviewed lesson plans including comments on two high school teachers' plans about appropriateness of showing The Simpsons and having holiday parties in high school classes.
Tuesday, December 20
High School:
- Met for a post-observation with a teacher only to find that something went wrong with saving my observation report and I lost most of the file. I explained the issue to the teacher and we agreed to schedule another observation.
Board Office:
- Forwarded information about a joint project between a local environmental group, the Historic Preservation Commission and (hopefully) high school students to advisors of relevant clubs at the high school.
- Responded to an elementary REACH teacher's question on behalf of a parent regarding summer camp opportunities.
- Worked on the logistics of scheduling the Colonial Day events.
- Followed up on a teacher's request for teaching materials.
- Replied to a high school teacher's e-mail about a rubric.
- Sent a lesson plan reminder out to teachers who did not submit this week's plans.
Middle School:
- Held post-observation conferences with two teachers.
Monday, December 19
Middle School:
- Distributed copies of the 8th grade assessment letter for distribution to students and answered questions from the teachers.
Board Office:
- Followed up on the status of an elementary school student who was placed in REACH for this year with the expectation that we would review his status in December.
- Forwarded the proposed social studies perception surveys to the Assistant Superintendent for approval.
- Prepared for the final meeting of my CEU.
- Responded to an e-mail from a middle school teacher regarding changes to the middle school curriculum.
- Worked on editing the rubric for the writing portion of the 8th grade assessment.
High School:
- Met with the student teacher for a post-observation conference/general coaching session.
- Checked in with three PLCs.
- Responded to an e-mail from a middle school teacher about a gifted education resource.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, December 16
Board Office:
- Worked on drafting the letter to parents of 8th grade students about the honors assessment procedures
- Edited a recommendation letter for the long-term substitute at the middle school
- Followed up on an issue with two students who were nominated for the REACH program in 6th grade
- Responded to an elementary REACH teacher's question about publicizing the second grade parents' night
- Corresponded with our gifted and talented consultant about her participation in the second grade parents' night
- Corresponded with a high school teacher about his pacing and how it relates to the common midterm
- Spoke with someone from
- Updated the district social studies web site with new curricula
- Sent out the weekly social studies update
- Sent out observation reports for the two teachers I observed yesterday
- Spoke with the high school principal about one PLC team's request to move its meeting to before school and shared the outcome with the team in question
Thursday, December 15
High School:
- Held post-observation conferences with two teachers
- Observed a student teacher in a US History I class and another teacher in a Gender Studies class
Board Office:
- Worked on scheduling the rest of my social studies observations in January and February
- Attended the World Language implementation meeting. I was invited due to possible changes to the REACH program that may be needed to accommodate the new World Language program in the elementary schools.
- Attended a webinar regarding the Common Core State Standards and new assessment system
- Spoke with my assigned Emerging Leader coach from ASCD who is an Assistant Superintendent in another district in NJ
Wednesday, December 14
Board Office:
- Offered feedback on the Assistant Superintendent's Framework for Accountability presentation to the Board of Education
- Spoke with a high school vice principal about an observation he did on a social studies teacher
- Prepared for this afternoon's CEU
- Compiled lists of participants in the gifted education graduate certificate program
- Forwarded an e-mail to world history teachers about allowing students from the high school's diversity council to present to their classes in January
- Met with a representative from a vendor about K-5 resources
High School:
- Observed a US History I lesson
- Held a post-observation conference
- Ran another successful CEU class
Tuesday, December 13
Board Office:
- Met with my secretary to discuss a few REACH items
- Met with the public relations person to discuss publicity for the 2nd grade parents' night for REACH and the Japanese visitors
- Sent e-mails to the elementary REACH teachers with budget allotments for supplies for the second half of the year
- Sent an e-mail to people who had not submitted lesson plans for the week
- Responded to a question about REACH from a parent via e-mail
- Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about accepting late work
Middle School:
- Observed two 7th grade lessons
- Conducted post-observation conferences with two 7th grade teachers
Board Office:
- Sent an e-mail to the Assistant Superintendent about allowing numerous teachers to attend the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children conference
- Participated in a webinar with other ASCD Emerging Leaders
- Sent NJASK information to the 6th grade PLC
Monday, December 12
- Assisted a 6th grade PLC with the development of its SMART goal
- Held a post-observation conference with a teacher I observed last week
Board Office:
- Responded to a middle school teacher's request for guidance on using films in the classroom
- Confirmed with a vendor for a meeting on Thursday
- Read some articles
- E-mailed the middle school principal about nametags for the visitors from
- Sent out two observation reports to high school teachers
High School:
- Forwarded information a potential book for a new course to the relevant teacher
- Spoke with the contact at
- Responded to an e-mail regarding lesson plans from a high school teacher
- Followed up on a series of e-mails regarding the gifted education graduate certificate program
- Spoke to a high school teacher about a reimbursement check she is waiting on
- Reviewed lesson plans for upcoming observations
- Sat in on the US History II PLC
Elementary School:
- Helped the REACH PLC develop its SMART goal
- Attended the Board of Education meeting in the evening to show support for elementary school students who were presenting about the learning they've been doing in social studies
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Friday, December 9
High School:
- Held a post-observation conference with a teacher.
- Responded to a parent e-mail regarding the REACH program and his potentially gifted 4-year-old son
- Responded to an e-mail from the ASCD Emerging Leaders program
- Observed two high school teachers
- Responded to an e-mail regarding the Japanese teacher visit
- Held a post-observation conference with a teacher
- Signed PD day approvals for a teacher
- Talked for a minute with the person who runs the food services about the Japanese teacher visit
- Spoke with a high school teacher about the possibility of release time for midterm development between regular and special education teachers
Out of District:
- Attended a presentation from the state Department of Education's Director of Assessment about changes to the state tests.
Board Office:
- Responded to an e-mail from a colleague in another district about the testing presentation.
- Spoke with an intermediate school guidance counselor about some mistakes that were made with REACH screening.
- Sent the social studies weekly update.
- Sent out an observation report to an intermediate school teacher.
Monday, December 12
- Offered support to a 6th grade PLC.
- Held a post-observation conference with a teacher.
Board Office:
- Responded to a middle school teacher's e-mail about showing film in the classroom.
- Spoke with a representative from a vendor about his visit on Wednesday.
- Read up on lots of articles that I've been saving.
- Sent an e-mail to the middle school principal to gather information for the Japanese visit.
- Sent out a couple observation reports to teachers.
High School:
- Sent potential book information to a high school teacher for the new course we are proposing.
- Corresponded with the representative from
- Responded to an e-mail regarding lesson plans from a high school teacher.
- Followed up on some e-mails regarding the gifted education program
- Spoke to a high school teacher on the phone who was looking for her reimbursement for a course
- Reviewed lesson plans of those teachers I am observing this week
- Checked in with one of the PLCs
Elementary School:
- Helped the REACH PLC refine its goal
- Attended the Board of Education meeting to see presentations some elementary school students were doing related to social studies. It turns out that the content they presented on is not really in the curriculum for their grade level. Not their fault
Thursday, December 8
Board Office:
- Attended a meeting the middle school principal and other supervisors to work on the schedule for the 8th grade honors assessments
- Worked out a meeting time with the Supervisor of Special Services to continue talking about adding an in-class resource option at the CP level
- Attended the district supervisors' meeting
- Conducted an observation of a fifth grade class.
Elementary School:
- Facilitated a meeting with the elementary REACH teachers to plan for a 2nd grade parent information night in January.
High School:
- Responded to various e-mails that only required a quick reply.
- Held a post-observation conference with the teacher who I evaluated with a "Needs Improvement." As usual
- Attended the high school supervisors' meeting.
- Worked on securing some gifts for the Japanese teachers who will be visiting us in January.
- Responded an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about a book replacement cost.
- Sent an e-mail to AP teachers about reading for The College Board
- Ran by CEU
Wednesday, December 7
- Attended a Colonial Day planning meeting.
Board Office:
- Corresponded with a high school teacher about making a significant change to one of the electives. This led to changing the Program of Studies
- Distributed the agenda for Thursday afternoon's meeting with elementary REACH teachers.
- Sent feedback on the agenda for Thursday's supervisors' meeting.
- Replied to an email from a high school student assistance counselor regarding a Diversity Council.
High School:
- Responded to various e-mails that only required a quick reply.
- Held a post-observation conference with the teacher who I evaluated with a "Needs Improvement." As usual
- Attended the high school supervisors' meeting.
- Worked on securing some gifts for the Japanese teachers who will be visiting us in January.
- Responded an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about a book replacement cost.
- Sent an e-mail to AP teachers about reading for The College Board
- Ran by CEU
Monday, December 5 revised
Elementary School:
- This morning I covered for an elementary principal who was absent. Most of the time was uneventful; one issue did come up with two students who had an altercation at the end of day on Friday while waiting for the bus. I met with the classroom teacher and students involved
- Sent some resources to a high school teacher with primary sources about the use of torture in recent American history that they might be able to use for work they are doing.
- Sent out some observations from the end of last week.
- Greeted students as they got off the buses.
- Worked on putting the 8th grade honors assessment into a digestible form for me to share with teachers during presentations at both the middle and high schools.
- Sent an e-mail to the high school department looking for information about proposals for new elective courses that I can include in an upcoming survey for the program evaluation.
- Worked on edits for the high school Program of Studies.
- Spoke with the person from Rutgers about hosting the teachers from
- Responded to an e-mail form a high school teacher about my expectations for common midterm development for the World History PLC.
- Responded to an e-mail from a Board member about a partnership between a local environmental group
High School:
- Met with the teacher who sent the e-mail about World History PLC. We had a good discussion about my expectations and ways to approach disagreements that have arisen and will arise.
- Observed an AP Economics class.
- Met with one of the high school vice principals to talk about an upcoming observation he is doing of a social studies teacher.
- Received an e-mail from a high school teacher about concerns he and other members of the department have with my common midterm expectations and other things within the PLCs. He and I then met briefly and had a productive conversation about where we are going.
- Popped into the US History I and World History PLCs to offer support for common midterm development. Both teams seemed to be on the right track for making progress despite their concerns. It seems like they are complying even if it is with reservations.
- Typed up and sent out the AP Economics observation report.
- Reviewed a potential resource requested for AP Economics.
- Spoke on the phone with a middle school teacher about the gifted education graduate certificate program.
- Sent an e-mail to appropriate high school teachers about the role of special education in-class support at the Standard versus the College Prep levels.
Tuesday, December 6
Board Office:
- Continued working on program of studies revisions for the high school. Sent revisions to the Director of Guidance.
- Reviewed lesson plans.
- Reviewed the elementary REACH SMART goal. I need to meet with this team to make it "SMARTER."
- Signed up to take some NJ Principals and Supervisors Association webinars.
- Downloaded and set up eCove software which will help me quantify teacher and student behaviors during observations.
- Edited the surveys that will be used for the program evaluation based on feedback from a sub-committee of the program evaluation committee.
- Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher regarding taking off on the federally-recognized holiday of January 2
- Wrote an agenda for Thursday's 2nd grade parent night planning meeting.
- Forwarded information about serving as an AP Reader to appropriate teachers.
- Spoke with the Assistant Superintendent about hosting the Japanese teachers.
Middle School:
- Presented the data from last year's 8th grade honors assessment to all 7th and 8th grade social studies teachers and the principal.
- Met with the principal to discuss hosting the Japanese teachers.
Board Office:
- Responded to an e-mail from a social studies supervisor in another district about rumors regarding future standardized testing in social studies.
- Met with the Assistant Superintendent regarding hosting the Japanese teachers.
Monday, December 5
Elementary School:
- This morning I covered for an elementary principal who was absent. Most of the time was uneventful; one issue did come up with two students who had an altercation at the end of day on Friday while waiting for the bus. I met with the classroom teacher and students involved
- Sent some resources to a high school teacher with primary sources about the use of torture in recent American history that they might be able to use for work they are doing.
- Sent out some observations from the end of last week.
- Greeted students as they got off the buses.
- Worked on putting the 8th grade honors assessment into a digestible form for me to share with teachers during presentations at both the middle and high schools.
- Sent an e-mail to the high school department looking for information about proposals for new elective courses that I can include in an upcoming survey for the program evaluation.
- Worked on edits for the high school Program of Studies.
- Spoke with the person from Rutgers about hosting the teachers from
- Responded to an e-mail form a high school teacher about my expectations for common midterm development for the World History PLC.
- Responded to an e-mail from a Board member about a partnership between a local environmental group
Friday, December 2
Board Office:
- Met with the Assistant Superintendent to talk about some issues
- Responded to a high school teacher's e-mail regarding last test dates before the midterm
High School:
- Observed a high school teacher who I had trouble with last year. Today's lesson had some serious weaknesses in areas that were not the issue I saw last year.
- Reviewed lesson plans.
- Reviewed high school teachers' monthly reports.
- Corresponded with an intermediate school teacher regarding Renzulli Learning for REACH students.
- Corresponded with an elementary REACH teacher about the 2nd grade parents information session.
- Observed a high school US History I teacher and class.
Board Office:
- Corresponded with a high school teacher regarding a lesson plan issue.
- Spoke with the Director of Special Programs at Rutgers about an opportunity to host some visiting teachers from
- Left a message for another person at
- Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about the development of the US History II common midterm.
- Spoke with the middle school principal regarding three issues: 8th grade honors assessment
- Wrote up observation reports.
- Sent out the weekly update.
Thursday, December 1
High School:
- Provided back-up information for a few professional days I requested
- Submitted my monthly report to the Assistant Superintendent
- Observed a high school teacher in a US History II class
Board Office:
- Completed paperwork to get travel reimbursement
- Worked out scheduling for a meeting with elementary REACH teachers regarding the 2nd grade parent night
- Sent an e-mail to middle school teachers regarding a presentation regarding the 8th grade honors assessment analysis
Middle School:
- Observed two 7th grade classes
- Replied to an e-mail from an elementary school reading specialist requesting help with purchasing books that would tie in to the social studies curriculum
- Followed up with a high school teacher regarding the notes of meeting memo about lesson plan expectations
- Replied to an e-mail from the person who helps with REACH assessments and placement decisions about some new assessments tools
- Sent an e-mail to a high school teacher about the format of his monthly report
- Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about her idea to take an entire grade to see the movie Warhorse
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Monday, November 28
Middle School:
- Sat in with both PLCs to check on progress and offer guidance
Board Office:
- Processed registrations for an NJASCD event that is taking place tomorrow afternoon
- Responded to an e-mail from an elementary principal that questioned why I looked at a 4th grade teachers lesson plans
- Reviewed lesson plans for teachers I plan to observe this week
- Sent out a reminder to the CEU participants about what they need to do to prepare for Wednesday's class
- Prepared for a meeting later in the day with NJASCD
- Spoke with the
Out of District:
- Attended the first meeting of the NJASCD/NJACTE (NJ Association of Colleges of Teacher Education). This is a very small group (10 participants) that is working on developing three events about how NJ's colleges & universities have to change teacher preparation to respond to changes in education – the Common Core standards, new teacher evaluation systems, etc. I am on this committee due to being an ASCD Emerging Leader. The other committee members include deans of university schools of education, former commissioners of education, current DOE officials, superintendents, etc. Wow!
Wednesday, November 23
Today was a half day!
- Attended a Colonial Day planning meeting
Board Office:
- Drafted surveys for the social studies program evaluation
- Sent an e-mail to the
- Sent the social studies weekly update
- Sent an e-mail to staff that did not submit their monthly reports and an extra e-mail to one particular teacher who had not submitted it for the past three months
Wednesday, November 30
Board Office:
- Responded to a question from a supervisor in another district about the elimination of courses below the college prep level.
- Scheduled observations for December.
Education Association HQ:
- Attended the meeting of the Local Professional Development Committee.
High School:
- Met with the principal to inform her of the teacher issue regarding lesson plans from last week.
- Prepared for my CEU.
- Ran my CEU.
- Sent an e-mail to all teachers of US History I regarding my expectations for a common midterm exam.
- Attended the Community Partnership Network meeting with a focus on the Superintendent's Building on Excellence report and the results of the World Languages Task Force.
Tuesday, November 29
Board Office:
- Sent an e-mail to an elementary principal requesting a copy of the REACH teacher's professional development plan.
- Began working on the scheduling of the 8th grade honors assessment.
- Followed up with teachers who were affected by decisions made by the Board of Education at its meeting last night.
- Responded to a teacher's e-mail regarding a US History I Honors student's poor performance in marking period 1.
- Met with a high school teacher who sent me an e-mail indicating that the US History I PLC determined it could not create a common midterm as instructed.
- Analyzed the results of last year's World History Honors placement procedures in light of how students performing during marking period 1 this year.
- Sent an e-mail to a consultant about coming to work with our district during a parent's night in January.
- Met with a high school teacher to discuss grading and the honors assessment.
- Attended the district's technology committee meeting which included some exciting information about a 1:1 initiative to get all staff wireless tablets within the next year and to open up the network in grades 5-12 so students can bring their own devices fo ruse in school.
- Responded to a parent question about preparing for the CogAT for REACH placement.
Out Of District:
- Attended a presentation from a state DOE official about the new teacher evaluation system pilot and how it will affect things in our districts next year.
Tuesday, November 22
Board Office:
- Responded to a question about using Grademaster forms to do data analysis
- Responded to a question about gifted education registration
- Spoke with an elementary school REACH teacher about a file
- Prepared for a post-observation conference
High School:
- Read some articles that had been accumulating in my mailbox
- Conducted a post-observation conference with a teacher
- Unpacked Grademaster forms and distributed them to all of the high school teachers
- Met with a teacher to discuss expectations for lesson plan submission
Board Office:
- Spoke with a high school science teacher on the phone about the gifted education certificate
- Followed up regarding a student nominated for REACH at the
- Reviewed lesson plans with a focus on how teachers were using the day before Thanksgiving recess
- Drafted the notes of meeting memo based on the conversation I had with the teacher about lesson plans
- Responded to a teacher's e-mail about using
- Ordered some supplies to make it easier to use the technology I now have access to in my office
Monday, November 21
Board Office:
- Responded to a high school teacher's e-mail regarding access to online materials
- Filled out the paperwork to register for the first two gifted education certificate courses
- Registered for ASCD's Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy in
- Completed an observation report and sent it to the teacher
- Prepared support materials for all gifted education certificate participants to ease the submission of registration forms
- Prepared for a meeting with a high school teacher about her not meeting expectations for lesson plans
- Processed the curriculum writing hours for a high school teacher
- Wrote a recommendation letter for a high school teacher applying to become a vice principal at my previous school
- Composed a memo to all staff regarding the gifted education certificate program
- Worked on a draft schedule for Colonial Day
- Sent an e-mail to high school staff requesting information for the updated Program of Studies
- Sent an e-mail to one of the professors in the
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