Friday, August 31

Board Office:

• Reviewed the economics curriculum and submitted it for approval
• Distributed online access codes for the new economics books and the new elementary school materials (to 3 of the 6 schools)
• Prepared for Tuesday's K-6 and 7-12 department meetings
• Distributed the social studies weekly update
• Approved purchase orders
• Spoke with a local reporter about our use of The Day the World Came to Town
• Wrote my monthly report
• Sent a follow up e-mail to the parent with whom I met yesterday

Thursday, August 30

Board Office:

• Met with elementary gifted specialists to work on planning for the 9/22 parent/student REACH overview session
• E-mailed some statistics about this summer's curriculum writing to the Assistant Superintendent
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's questions about new curriculum and resources
• Prepared for a parent meeting 
• Responded to a high school teacher's questions about new curriculum and resources
• Sent a number of e-mails about PLC team assignments
• Spoke with an intermediate school vice principal about REACH placement for students new to the district
• Reviewed a high school teacher's first attempt at developing a class website
• Distributed suggestions and a model lesson for The Day the World Came to Town for the high school teachers
• Prepared for next week's opening meetings
• Met with a parent and the Assistant Superintendent regarding REACH placement

Wednesday, August 29

High School:

• Attended the PLC overview session at new teacher orientation

Board Office:

• Attended a supervisors' meeting
• Worked on scheduling professional development for Renzulli Learning
• Worked on scheduling a year opening elementary REACH meeting
• Started the process of updating the district social studies website to reflect this summer's changes
• Responded to a question regarding grading policies from a new teacher at the high school

Tuesday, August 28

High School:

• Attended the LPDC presentation at new teacher orientation
• Presented an overview of gifted education to new teachers
• Presented a bit about our use of The Day the World Came to Town as a common read to the new teachers from the high school
• Worked on unpacking my entire high school office which had been boxed up to replace the floors while I was away on vacation

Monday, August 24

High School:

• Attended the opening session of new teacher orientation
• Planned with the Supervisor of Literacy for joint sessions we are doing next week during teacher in-service

Board Office:

• Responded to an e-mail from the Chairperson of the Board's Education Committee regarding the social studies curriculum development process
• Prepared for a gifted education presentation
• Invited the new elementary school principal to the gifted education presentation
• Worked on adjustments to the PLC assignments
• Responded to a parent question regarding REACH
• Worked on planning for the Third Grade REACH Overview session for parents/students

Friday, August 24

Board Office:

• Made decisions on a few honors/AP appeals
• Read a bunch of articles that had been piling up in my inbox
• Followed up with the rep from Renzulli Learning about our order
• Responded to an e-mail from one of the new high school teachers
• Sent an e-mail to the elementary principals requesting information I need to get resources to the teachers there
• Began updating PLC team assignments for the year
• Responded to two parent calls about REACH placements
• Began preparing materials to support teachers who need to do something related to the summer reading book on 9/11
• Distributed the high school curricula to the teachers
• Worked with other supervisors and the Assistant Superintendent to revise the in-service schedule to address a concern raised by the teachers' association

Thursday, August 23

Board Office:

• Presented an overview of the new curricula and textbooks the Education committee of the Board to a very positive response

Intermediate School:

• Attended gifted education graduate certificate class
• Distributed new elementary curricula to the teachers

Wednesday, August 22

Intermediate School:

• Attended class for the gifted education graduate certificate program all day
• Distributed middle school curricula to the teachers

Tuesday, August 21

Board Office:

• Reviewed the high school curricula and submitted them for approval
• Interviewed two candidates for substitute teaching positions
• Completed paperwork for the Crossroads of the American Revolution PD days
• Distributed the intermediate school curricula to the teachers

New England Vacation Part 2, Day 5

Ali started the day with a walk on the beach with her mother around 8. The sun glistened over the water and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There was a cool sea-breeze but plenty of sun to compensate, making the perfect walking-weather. Ali counted 21 happy dogs swimming, running, catching frisbees, and taking walks.

Breakfast consisted of coffee and cinnamon buns from the Ocean Park Store. They are known for their freshly-baked cinnamon buns, which are perfectly flaky and rich and chewy and gooey. Yum.

Church at the Temple was at 10:30. For the first time in anyone's memory, communion was served. This was no problem, but it meant that the service was a bit longer than expected. The pipe organ is one of the oldest in operation and still sounded great. The Temple was built in the 1880s and has an impressive and unique wooden cathedral structure. The result is an awe-inspiring ceiling that seems to go up and up forever and great acoustics for the choir, brass, and bells. 

After some roast beef sandwiches at Ali's parents' cottage, we headed over to the beach. Matt read for school while Ali reviewed her flashcards. After a few hours, Matt and Ali headed to the soda fountain to buy one of Ocean Park's favorite treats- a raspberry-lime ricky. Then, Ali went back to the beach to go boogie-boarding with her mother.

Dinner tonight was at the Landmark, so chosen by Ali because lobster stew was listed first on the menu. The fresh hot bread tasted great with the stew, but we were a little disappointed with the lack of lobster meat. Ali had baked scallops topped with lobster, which were sweet and rich. Matt had a steak that was perfectly cooked but a very large portion. The family split two bottles of chardonnay and had a great time.

We topped off the night with mini-golf at Pirate's Cove. Ali's dad had a doubloon from scoring a hole-in-one on the magic hole many years ago, which entitled us to a free game. Ali felt good about getting a hole in one...but her 93-year-old grandmother got two of them and her father got three of them! Miraculously, none of these were the magic hole. We still had a great time (even though there was extra adventure when balls went into the sidewalk and water hazards). 

We plan to finish up our trip tomorrow morning with breakfast at the Ocean Park Soda Fountain. Our stay has flown by but it was really nice for Ali to share one of her favorite places in the whole world with Matt. Ayuh! 

New England Vacation Part 2, Day 4

When we awoke to the sound of pounding rain, we feared our bike tour may have been cancelled. It wasn't. We grabbed some raincoats and a quick breakfast and then headed to the Ocean Gateway at Portland. Luckily, we'd built in some extra time, because the rendezvous address on the website plum didn't exist. When we called, they gave us an entirely different one.

We met our tour guide by the harbor and found out that we were the only two who showed up for the tour. The other three people with reservations must have been scared off by the rain...or perhaps gave up when they couldn't find the place. In any case, it was nice to have a private tour because we didn't have to wait for other people at each stop and could go at our own pace. As usual, this pace was faster than necessary, as our guide pointed out at the end. We were a little proud to have "beaten" the average time. Luckily, we weren't rained on at all. In fact, the sun peaked through just enough to improve the views but not so much that we were overheated or sunburned.

The tour included a shoreline trail to the first two lighthouses and then a ride through more residential areas to the third lighthouse. This one was the Portland Headlight, which is situated in a lovely park where we had our picnic lunch. Unfortunately, the man with the lobster-roll cart wasn't there (perhaps also scared off by the morning rain). We had some sandwiches from an Italian restaurant instead. One was eggplant with mozzarella and the other was prosciutto with mozzarella. We also had pelligrino sodas, potato salad, and gazpacho. This was all tasty, but we wished we hadn't been looking forward to lobster rolls since not much could measure up to that expectation.

The next leg of the trip was the longest and most difficult- bad timing with full bellies. The roads were a little busier and the hills were a bit higher. We got to see some nice large homes, some new but many very old. Sadly, we rode by a deceased turtle and a lost dog. Someone pursued the dog, so hopefully he got home.

Our guide split off from us to go get the van to pick us back up and directed us to the last two lighthouses. We biked to these on our own and by now it was sunny. This stop was called Two Lights, so the fifth light-house was a 2-for-1 stop. That was probably a good thing since we haven't been biking in a while. We traversed a final killer hill and ended our tour in a picturesque park at Crescent Beach. This was a good place to stretch, sit on a bench, and look at the water. We watched people taking paddle-board lessons (you stand on a surfboard and paddle like a gondolier), kids playing frisbee, and dogs being walked. Soon our guide picked us up again and brought us back to our car.

Ali changed in the car into better restaurant gear and we walked to the Shipyard Brewing Company. We were excited because we like Shipyard Ale but it typically sells out near us- especially their pumpkinhead ale. Unfortunately, the brewery was more of a factory with an adjacent store- it didn't have a place to sit and relax while sampling beer. We decided to come back and purchase our cases on our way home, and instead found Sabago Brewery where we rehydrated and then dehydrated with a generous sampler of their various seasonal and year-round brews. We also split a lobster roll with some sweet-potato fries, figuring we could justify an extra half-lunch today to reward our hard work.

After a quick nap at Nana's apartment, we headed to the beach to watch all the labs and golden retrievers go swimming. With the sun setting and the crowds dispersed, it is a very relaxing time to go to the beach. The day had cleared up and we could see out to the distant islands. It was a great setting for catching up on some work while still feeling very much like we were on vacation.

We had a spectacular lobster dinner at Ali's parents' house.  After cheese and crackers, wine, and salad; we each enjoyed picking apart our two steamed lobsters with a dab of melted butter. There is no tastier dinner. To top it off, we went to the Ocean Park Soda Fountain to order dishes of Graham Central Station, Cake Batter, Peanut Butter Iditarod, and Maple Walnut flavored ice cream. We left the cottage stuffed and satisfied for a quiet game of Scrabble at Nana's.

New England Vacation Part 2, Day 3

Matt got to sleep in today while Ali got to have a massage. The spa was conveniently located two doors down from our room, so Ali took the hostess' suggestion of just showing up in her robe. It was very easy to roll out of bed and walk across the hall to get a massage. The masseuse was attentive and kept checking in to make sure everything was okay. The result was a personalized experience more helpful than most.

After the massage, we packed our things and went down to breakfast. This time, pumpkin spice muffins were available in addition to the fresh fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and greek yogurt we had yesterday. It was a well-rounded and tasty breakfast. We checked out and set off for Maine.

We'd hoped to stop for lunch in Portsmouth, NH because it has a bustling downtown with a variety of restaurants by the water. Unfortunately, it was bustling so much that the parking lots were full and we had to move on. We stopped in York, ME for a slice of pizza. They were overpriced, undersized, and generally unremarkable, but we just needed something to tide us over so it was okay.

We arrived in Ocean Park in the early afternoon and found it much more crowded than Ali remembered. The air was still cool and refreshing and we got changed right  away so we could go enjoy the beach with her parents. The water is much warmer than usual this summer, so it was surprising to see so many people sunning instead of bundling up in sweats. The ocean was nice and clear and didn't even numb Ali's ankles when she went in with her mother. The waves were very small, but it was  still a nice swim. After we took a walk to the "gut" or creek down the beach, we schlepped our stuff to Nana's apartment to unpack and settle in. With a late dinner reservation, we had time to finish the bottle of wine we opened last night and have some chopped veggies in a makeshift happy hour. We watched people walk home from the beach, a horse-and-buggy trot by, and the trolley roll along. 

Dinner was at Joseph's By the Sea in Old Orchard Beach. We had a great table at the window overlooking the dunes and beach beyond. Matt had a half lobster and fliet mignon "best of both worlds" meal and Ali had a lobster saute. We wanted to dive right in and get as much lobster out of our trip as possible. We'd hoped to go to mini-golf at Pirate's Cove afterwards, but thunder and lightning thwarted our plans. Instead, we drove to Len Libby's candy store in Scarborough to visit Lenny- the life-sized solid chocolate moose and his other chocolate animal friends. Matt ordered Nedham ice cream- their specialty, which is coconut with dark chocolate chunks. Ali had maple walnut, a flavor she always orders in Maine since it is scarce outside New England. We finished the evening playing Boggle at Ali's parents' cottage.

New England Vacation Part 2, Day 2

Every vacation locale has an official toast for every time we have a drink. In Vermont, this one is "VT" uttered as a sound rather than distinct letters.

Anyway, today started with a continental breakfast at the Snapdragon Inn. We had some Greek yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, and fruit. We grabbed some waters and set off for a hike at Mount Ascutney state park. We'd heard it was going to rain, which may explain why we seemed to have the mountain to ourselves. Luckily, the sun peaked through without contributing too much heat. In fact, the mountain air was nice and cool. We hiked the slate trail up to the summit (I should add that we drove up quite a ways first), so named because of the large sheets of slate covering much of the trail. We only needed to use our hands a couple of times and enjoyed the peaceful woods and lovely views. At the summit, we climbed an observation tower. The wind through the trees sounded like a waterfall, but we felt pretty safe and enjoyed the view. We took the slot trail on the way back to the car, which was steeper and narrower and marked less frequently. We thought we may have gotten lost, but only for a few minutes. The nearby cell phone towers would have made it easy to call for help with great reception. Once we got underway, we stopped at Quechee gorge to look at the gorge.

Our next stop was Cabot Creamery. Ali is a fan of their reduced-fat cheese, and we've tried the few available varieties in NJ. Up here at the source, however, we took advantage of sampling the many varieties of cheeses. The aged cheddars were amazing. There were also some dips, including a pumpkin cheesecake dip, which tasted great. Fresh popcorn was available with shake-cheese topping. We found it far superior than the bright orange cheese-like product from Kraft that we grew up with as a popcorn topping. Speaking of orange cheese, we found out on the tour that Cabot began offering orange as well as white cheddar only because it was expected by people from certain parts of the country. There isn't a difference in flavor- just natural coloring from the lipstick plant. What's the point?

Between the cheese and the ice cream, we decided granola bars would be sufficient lunch. It was a good call. Ben & Jerry's was fun but packed. We liked the cemetery featuring retired flavors, though we mourned some of them when we read the descriptions. The grounds also included tie dye and spin art stations and other hippie-friendly fare. The sustainable, cooperative, fair-trade philosophy was plastered around the plant and reiterated in the tour video. It's nice to know the product is more expensive because of the quality of ingredients and the fairness of their business practices, but who needs an excuse to buy ice cream? The tour offered views of the plant and a decent explanation of the process. It ended with a sample of mint-chocolate chunk, which we thought was a rather boring choice given the many creative flavors for which the brand is known. We decided to purchase some of these on our way out. Matt had Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream in milkshake form and Ali had a cup of the 7-layer cookie bar flavor. Yum!

After relaxing for a few minutes back at the Inn, we headed to Harpoon Brewery. We hadn't had a chance to visit the Boston location, so this was the perfect stop on the second installment of this year's domestic trip. We ordered a sampler since we'd only tried the white UFO and the IPA. We spotted cases of the pumpkin UFO and pumpkin cider and asked for samples so we could decide whether to purchase some. While some Harpoon brews are available locally, we hadn't seen the pumpkin varieties in NJ and wanted to be sure and stock up for our 2012 pumpkin party if they were any good. They were. We lucked out coming on a Thursday night because there was live music. Matt had a BLT and Ali had a hummus/veggie pita panini. The food was fine for the price.

We were greeted back at the Inn by the last two cookies of the night and the hostess gave us some ice and glasses for the bottle of wine we brought. Time for a relaxing night with a bath, a movie, and some wine.

New England Vacation Part 2

While we originally picked "Boston and Portland" out of our hat, we had to break the trips up and visit Boston in April. We finally had time to go to Maine and figured we'd take a side trip to Vermont since there was a great groupon deal for a B&B. We found it to be an eerie coincidence that this B&B happened to be in Windsor, VT, since Ali grew up in Windsor, CT. The coincidences continue, as both towns are the first in their states and both sit on the CT river. Nearby towns to both Windsors include Hartford, Wethersfield, Norwich, and more. Windsor VT, however, is much more rustic and sparsely populated. The Snapdragon Inn has a nice open foyer with a library on one side and dining room on the other. The library is well-stocked with books and DVDs and a welcoming sitting area. Through the doors sits a nice big porch with fans and rocking chairs. We took a hike halfway around the pond before catching up with a lawnmower and turning back. There were quite a few geese standing guard over the trail past a defensive blockade of droppings. There was a lone semi-flightless blue bird that was so tall and thin we couldn't see him until we were up close. Other than that, we had the path to ourselves.

Our room was lovely with wood floors, a fireplace, molding, and real snapdragons in a small vase. The bathroom had a heated floor, soaking tub, and shower. All the fixtures and decor seemed to be a mix of antiques and newly renovated parts or updated pieces. We relaxed for a while and then drove to Hanover, NH for dinner at Murphy's. Ali had salmon topped with crab stuffing and greens salad atop a tomato risotto with an Allagash white beer. Matt had a whole trout with potatoes and broccolini and a Long Trail blackberry wheat beer. We shared an olive oil cake with cherry coulis, marscapone ice cream and granola. We then headed over to the Skunk Hollow Tavern for some live music and Harpoon Brewery UFOs. The tavern is from the 1790s so the atmosphere is pretty unique. The place was packed but we got the feeling it was the only thing to do around here on a Wednesday night. 

Tuesday, August 14

Intermediate School:

• Attended gifted education class

Board Office:

• Approved a professional development request
• Reviewed projects with my secretary
• Spoke with a high school guidance counselor about a placement question
• Sent an e-mail to a speaker for a program in September
• Responded to a parent's e-mail about REACH placement

I will be out of the district from Wednesday, August 15 through Monday, August 20 on vacation.

Monday, August 13

Intermediate School:

• Attended class for the gifted education graduate certificate program

Friday, August 10

Out of District:

• Attended and facilitated the Crossroads of the American Revolution professional development at Princeton University on Friday and in the field (Washington's Crossing State Park, Battle of Princeton, Millstone, and Morristown. We also had a group lunch/history lesson at the Yankee Doodle Tap Room in Princeton. The teachers seemed to really enjoy the two days, but we had a number of logistical challenges during the field experience on Saturday, mostly due to the tour guide we hired not showing up. We made it through however and had a good two days together!

Thursday, August 9

High School:

• Responded to the gifted education professor's question about resources for class next week
• Followed up on the independent study application at the high school from a couple days ago
• Met with a textbook reseller who agreed to buy over $6,000 worth of our old textbooks

Board Office:

• Clarified the time for next week's gifted education classes with the professor
• Sent out free giveaways
• Submitted all K-8 social studies curricula to the Assistant Superintendent
• Prepared for Crossroads PD

Out of District:

• Attended a welcome ceremony for a group of Japanese teachers who will be at Rutgers for the next 5 months. This included making a brief statement. We'll be hosting these teachers at our middle school like we did last year for one day.

Wednesday, August 8

Intermediate School:

• Attended administrative PD focused on district values, the Common Core State Standards, and new curricula. I was part of the presentation team for the latter two items.
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about new textbooks
• Responded to a middle school teacher's e-mail about parking for Friday

Tuesday, August 7

Board Office:

• Gathered all of my things to set up my office
• Sent a book to an elementary REACH teacher
• Sent an e-mail to all social studies and REACH teachers to give away lots of stuff from my office
• Responded to an e-mail regarding textbooks we are getting rid of
• Prepared for tomorrow's administrative professional development that I am presenting at
• Completed professional development paperwork
• Reviewed a student's independent study application and corresponded with the teacher and guidance counselor about it
• Contacted the professor of our next gifted and talented course

Monday, August 6

Board Office:

• Reviewed curricula
• Had new office furniture delivered and began setting up the office
• Sent an e-mail regarding Crossroads of the American Revolution parking

Friday, August 2

Board Office:

• Packed up the rest of my office for Monday's delivery of new furniture
• Responded to a parent's e-mail about a missing textbook
• Agreed to attend a reception for Japanese teachers spending a semester at Rutgers. This is the next cohort of the group we hosted at our middle school last year.
• Provided REACH screening information to an elementary teacher for a project she is working on
• Followed up with a parent and guidance counselor about a middle school student's REACH status/schedule
• Replied to a teacher who offered to provide professional development related to Korea
• Sent an update to the participants in next week's Crossroads of the American Revolution PD

Thursday, August 2

Board Office:

• Submitted information for a new psychology textbook
• Provided information about REACH to an intermediate school teacher for a project
• Made final decisions on some REACH screening based on newly received state testing data
• Processed the final timesheets for curriculum writing
• Approved new textbook purchase orders
• Worked with the math and literacy supervisors on planning for next week's professional development
• Packed up my office for Monday's delivery of all new furniture

Wednesday, August 1

Board Office:

• Attended a supervisors' meeting with the superintendent to discuss common assessments, department support at the high school and other issues
• Worked with the math and literacy supervisors on the plan for next week's administrative professional development for which we are responsible

Tuesday, July 31

High School:

• Supported teachers participating in training for the 1:1 iPad/Chromebook pilots
• Facilitated ongoing curriculum writing
• Updated the total number of participants with the lunch venue for next week's Crossroads of the American Revolution PD day
• Provided an intermediate school teacher with information regarding REACH budgeting for a project she is working on

Monday, July 30

High School:

• Facilitated ongoing curriculum writing
• Finalized ordering of Renzulli Learning System for intermediate school
• Reviewed K-2 curricula