i.am.chabebe

It’s been quite a busy time now that it is almost time for the regents state exams. I managed to finish the curriculum which finished with modern physics. Although I find the topic of quantum physics incredibly interesting, I found myself having a lot of trouble explaining the role of photons, hadrons and leptons in the subatomic world. It’s so difficult to teach a world that doesn’t function the way we are used to when it comes to interacting with the things around us on a daily basis. My fix to this was to pick up some books on quantum physics and read up!

Though it may look like there are two of the same books for a Brief History of Time, one of them is actually A Briefer History of Time. My favorite so far is Quantum – A Guide for the Perplexed by Jim Al-Khalili.

On a more interesting note, my students have been staying late after school since it’s crunch time before the regents! At the end of the day they are usually just completely drained so I let them just hang out and draw on the white board and smart board. Today’s artwork was a picture of me, in my classroom.

It’s funny to see how my students view me. My favorite part about the whole drawing is how I am saying “Use your reference tables” For those who are unfamiliar with the NYC regents, students get a 6 page reference table with all the equations they need for physics.   I guess I refer them back to it quite a lot. I would have made it an all caps rage though, since I am usually screaming it out at the top of my lungs!

There are only….
33 days left to the end of the school year
21 days until all my students take their regents exams
15 teaching days

First year as a teacher is almost complete. Then….SUMMER VACATION!!!!

Being on spring break I have had more time to read. This really spoke to me. Enjoy.

Emotional Creature

Here’s what you will be told:
Find a man
Seek protection
The world is scary
Don’t go out
You are weak
Don’t care so much
They’re only animals
Don’t be so intense
Don’t cry so much
You can’t trust anyone
Don’t talk to strangers
People will take advantage of you
Close your legs
Girls aren’t good with:
Numbers
Facts
Making difficult decisions
Lifting things
Putting things together
International news
Flying planes
Being in charge.
If he rapes you, surrender,
You will get killed trying to defend yourself
Don’t travel alone
You are nothing without a man
Don’t make the first move,
Wait for him to notice you
Don’t be too loud
Follow the crowd
Obey the laws
Don’t know too much
Tone it down
Find someone rich
It’s how you look that matters,
Not what you think.

Here’s What I’m Telling You:
Everyone’s making everything up
There is no one in charge except for those
Who pretend to be
No one is coming
No one is going to
Rescue you
Mind-read your needs
Know your body better than you

Always fight back
Ask for it
Say you want it
Cherish your solitude
Take trains by yourself to places
You have never been
Sleep out under the stars
Learn how to drive a stick shift
Go so far away that you stop being afraid of
Not coming back
Say no when you don’t want to do something
Say yes if your instincts are strong
Even if everyone around you disagrees
Decide whether you want to be liked or admired
Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out
What you’re doing here
Believe in kissing
Fight for tenderness
Care as much as you do
Cry as much as you want
Insist the world be theater
And love the drama
Take your time
Move as fast as you do
As long as it’s your speed.

Ask yourself these questions:
Why am I whispering when I have something to say?
Why am I adding a question mark at the end
Of all my sentences?
Why am I apologizing every time I express my needs?
Why am I hunching over?
Starving myself when I love food?
Pretending it doesn’t mean that much to me?
Hurting myself when I mean to scream?
Why am I waiting
Whining
Pining
Fitting in?
You know the truth:
Sometimes it does hurt that much
Your mother wanted more than that
It’s easier to be mean than smart
But that isn’t who you are.”

Eve Ensler

If you can’t already tell by my lack of posts, my teaching job has pretty much consumed my life. I live in 45 minute intervals and plan my events around that schedule.

My commute to work has its pros and cons. One major pro is that I live in NYC and live two blocks away from two different train lines. One con is that since I live and work in Queens, there is no direct way to get to my school because all trains go into the city so my commute is a bit lengthy. I have come to really enjoy the commute however because I can multitask. I sometimes grade papers, sometimes I catch up on sleep. Mostly though I read and this week I managed to crochet up a sleeve for my nook in less than a weeks commute.

I found that a protective case was becoming necessary for my Nook since I have been carrying around a backpack full of my stuff and my students’ stuff and my nook slowly has been getting lost in the mess. After considering crocheting kitten mittens I figured I would make something a bit more useful at the present time. Who knows how much he kitten will grow and end up out growing any mittens I might make!

This was my first time crocheting anything. I wasn’t very sure what I was doing but figured it out along the way. I am quite pleased with the results considering I didn’t measure anything to begin with.

Nook inside the new sleeve. Had to include some teacher stuff

Snug fit. Backdrop is a poster made by my brother!

Side by Side Comparison

What do you think?? I personally love the way the mixed blue and yellow colors came out.

So today as I stumbled out of my dorm in a semi-asleep stupor only to see a bunch of tables covered in doughnuts. Turns out Oprah loves teachers and donated a ton of doughnuts for Teach for America (TFA) as well as a bunch of books from her book club. Check it out

This is the book I got. This is also my first picture taken with instagram. Figured I would try it out since all the cool people seemed to be using it.

“Wild” recounts the months the author Cheryl Strayed spent, during the summer of 1995, when she was 26, hiking alone on thePacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. There were very frightening moments, but nothing particularly extraordinary happened to her.

I saw this video a while ago and I was almost positive I had shared it in the past. I think it’s a beautifully done video rendition of Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Suess. This was a compilation made during Burning Man last year.

I am completely in love with this book and the wonderful message it sends. And for me, right now, I couldn’t have a better way to describe the crossroad I have currently reached in my life.

Enjoy. It’s lengthy but worth the watch.

I finally finished up my latest knitting project. YES I KNIT AND I AM NOT A GRANDMA. After getting myself a new 13″ laptop to replace the 15″ I regifted to my mom, I found the sleeve I used to have was no good for the smaller laptop. So I decided the best thing to do was make a sleeve myself. I present to you my latest creation:

Now that I have completed that project, I have moved quickly onto another one. After returning from my trip to Thailand I was curious about reading a bit more about Buddhism since we were at all times surrounded by the religion and I found myself knowing very little about it. Before wanting to jump straight into learning purely about Buddhism, I decided to entertain the thought first by reading The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Now that I am almost done reading it, I decided to create my very own Mandala as my response to the book. Below is a picture of just the beginning of it. Although it is not an exact representation of Mandala, this is my interpretation that has its own significance to me.

Lets see how long this one takes me!