What Do You Love Most About Teaching?

Thursday night, on the way to the movies, I checked my email and saw that someone known as hisbeautyandgrace on Tumblr asked me: "What Do U Love Most About Teaching?"

I was taken a-back by the query. I haven't taught in over three years. Then I remembered a couple of pictures I had posted earlier in the day from the book, Multicultural Teaching, that I was reading. It all made sense and, after a moment, I realized this was a question I desperately wanted to answer. I shared my answer publicly on tumblr, but since I know most readers of Rivera Runs Through It are not also followers of my tumblr page, I thought I would share the answer with you here. I know it is not a post about writing, or books, but it is a post relating to a story: the story of me. Whoever you have come to know me to be as you have read my posts here on RRTI, it would be hardly representative if it did not include some understanding of my passion for teaching. And so I give you my answer (so far) to the big question:

What Do You Love Most About Teaching? 

Let me preface this first by saying that I, quite regrettably, am no longer teaching due to a rare disease that reconstructed my life brick by brick. I tell you this because it should be understood that part of what I say is coming to you through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia for a passion lost. However, that passion, even when I was in the throws of some difficult days in the front of my classroom over the course of twelve years in the New York City public school system, was always overflowing within me.

I loved nearly everything about teaching. It was what I was born to do and when one is lucky enough to fall into realm of what they were placed on this planet for, well, there is really nothing that can compare to it. It sounds almost cliche when said, but this is true: teaching is very rewarding. I think the only thing that may be able to hold a candle to it is  raising your own child (something I will, hopefully, be lucky enough to do soon as well). These are broad statements and don’t come close to answering your question, so let me try to answer it quite directly.

Teaching is a profession in which you have the power to design your own day, with your own little audience, to share. You share with them, they share with you, and together you learn more about each other, yourselves and the world. In teaching, you can dip into the creative wells within your soul on a daily basis to not only present lessons, but to make it an art form. I have always been a believer in the constructivist method of teaching, therefore, I do not believe it is the teacher’s role to thrust information upon students to gobble up, but instead to present situations and environments in which students can discover their own paths to learning. This is one of the most magical things to witness. When you are a teacher, you get to fully understand humanity’s unending potential.

What do I love most about teaching? To teach is to live within a world of hope. Sure, there are knuckle-heads and kids who will drive you nuts from day to day, but each one holds their own miracle. Every kid performs for someone. Every kid has the potential to surprise you, to teach you and to grow right in front of you. I loved (and desperately miss) the students.

I taught high school math for twelve years. I began my undergraduate career as an elementary education major. I graduated college with the intention of teaching middle school. I ended up teaching in high school and college classrooms. I loved every second of it until I got sick. If you are looking for my advice, I have a bunch (I was also a teaching coach for many years working with new and pre-service teachers), but I’ll just start you off with this:

• stay positive (this is not as easy as it sounds)
• forgive yourself your mistakes (you will make SO MANY)
• take advice of your administrators, but remember when you close your classroom door, THAT IS YOUR CLASSROOM, NOT THEIRS
• get to know your students (I really don’t see the point of getting into this profession if you don’t)
• stay curious
• keep learning
• be professional

I can go on like this forever, but I am sure I have already over-answered your question. If you have any further questions, or ever want to teacher-talk I am always willing (as you can probably already tell). The glorious Internet has given me my last quiet classroom. Here I share with whoever stumbles by, they share with me, and together we learn more about each other, ourselves and the world. It’s what we were made to do. :)

I will add this: If you have ever had a thought of stepping in front of the classroom, I say do it. There is nothing in the world like it. It is not for everyone, that is for damn sure, but if you think it might be in you, embrace the beautiful insanity of it and don't look back!

To my fellow teachers out there: 

What do you love most about teaching?

Share your answers in the comments below!

Writing A Novel - Insecurity

Writing a novel holds many parallels to my former career of teaching. Writing a novel is fun, liberating and exhilarating, but before all of that it is terrifying. Stephen King says the scariest part of writing a novel is right before you begin. I agree, but I wish to add to that. I think the most terrifying part is before you begin any new stage - starting the first draft, beginning the rewrites, asking for readers, and, of course, sharing your work publicly. 

Almost everyone has experienced the final product of all of the hard work, so it seems like anyone should be able to do it. I have blogged about this before when it comes to teaching. The short end of it is, since most people have somewhere around a decade and a half (or more) exposure to teaching as a student, it can be perceived that you have seen it done enough times that you get the gist of the job. I believe the same thing happens to writing. If you read enough books, you might start to think to yourself, Hey wait a second! I can write one of these! In both cases - teaching and writing - there is so much more that happens before you get to the final experience! When it is done right, those at the final product stage - students and readers - know nothing about that.

Where Does the Insecurity Come From?

As a teaching coach I helped many teachers in their classroom with insecurity. I began with telling my colleagues to embrace the fact that it wasn't going anywhere and that it was perfectly natural. I believe the same holds true for writing. Here's why, in both the teaching and writing profession, insecurity has such a happy home:

• You are asked to create something alone - from your own mind, heart and creative spirit - and then expose it to the world. 
• You have seen an immeasurable amount of people do the same thing with perfection, confidence and ease.
• You will be exposed to varying critics, who have their own individual tastes, that may affect your success in your career.
• It feels as though one public mistake will follow you forever.

There are more little insecurities that weave their way in and out of our everyday creating, but I believe these are the biggies.

How To Battle The Insecurity

So how do we fight against insecurity? First we have to fully understand that it is not necessarily something that is ever "beaten." Feeling insecure in these professions is a sign that you are human. Now, was I as insecure in my twelfth year of teaching as I was in my first? Of course not! So the goal is to minimize our insecurities and to ensure they don't stop us from taking those fun risks that result in fantastic creative products. Here are some things to remember when you are feeling insecure:

• You are always learning. 
• All the successful writers you love experience the same insecurities you do.
• Everyone makes mistakes, they can be both forgiven and forgotten.
• Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.
• Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.

You Are Not Your Work 
 
I wrote the last line twice because I believe it is the most liberating. It also harkens back to my own personal greatest weakness - defining myself by my work (which is especially sucky when two chronic illnesses rip you out of the working world and chuck you into bed). So let's say this one more time:

Anyone who criticizes your work is criticizing YOUR WORK, NOT YOU.  

Even if you have a jerk critic who starts to talk about you while criticizing your work - that is their misconception of how this thing works, not a reflection on you. If you write a terrible novel (I have) and it somehow makes it out into the public eye (I haven't been that lucky yet),  then it is that novel that is terrible, not you. Even if it was your dream that it would be a success and the story was one you had floating in your head since you were a little child, the fact that it didn't succeed is not about you being a failure; the story was. Perhaps in five year's time you'll be able to see exactly why, but don't let it drag you down now. 

Be The Man In The Arena

By far, one of my favorite quotes from my favorite US President has always been the following from Theodore Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic" on April 23, 1909 in Paris. I believe every successful writer (and teacher!) carries this sentiment in their heart:  

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
 

 So, as you continue to write your novel today, go ahead and dare greatly, knowing that the only way you could do such a thing is if somewhere, in the depths of your soul, your were scared out of your mind because of some silly little insecurity. 

Thanks for reading!

What makes you most insecure about writing?

How do you battle against your insecurities?

Curtis High School Summer Reading List

Isn't it pretty?

In my second year of teaching at Curtis High School I was asked to be a part of pretty incredible program where I had the opportunity to teach the same group of students for three years of high school. It changed everything about me as a teacher and as a person. I connected with those students in a way that just isn't possible when you have a class for one semester and then they are gone. Even though I was their math teacher, I wanted to know about what was going on during their entire day. Jokingly, when they would ask why I was so interested, I would tell them to just think of me as their "in-house mommy," which, over the years, is exactly what I became.

Anyway, it was because of this desire to be a part of their everything, that I grabbed a copy of the school's summer reading list. I talked to my freshmen about what they would read for their sophomore year and asked them what they read the year before. The responses lacked enthusiasm. The students did not take this list seriously. They said all they had to do was "take a test" and "it didn't count that much, anyway," so they what they read, if anything, didn't really matter. Now, I was wise enough to know to take everything they say with a grain of salt, but the fact of the matter was, whether the grade did have a major impact or not, this assignment didn't count that much to them.

I looked at the list and there was little I could do in the ways of offering advice, since I had only read a few of the titles provided, so I made a decision: I was going to read these books.

I had a new class of freshmen coming in, this group was going to be sophomores, and the year after that they'd be juniors: I would read through as many of the books as I could, so I could bug them about these books in September! (Yes, I occasionally moonlight as an evil genius!)

As was the case for most of my "big lessons," this started out as something for my students and ended up being a wonderful gift to myself. I never read as much as I did that summer. I plowed through books - some were wonderful, some were typical "school" books, but every one had something to offer. I loved that experience. In fact, reflecting upon it now a decade later, I can not remember what the ultimate impact of this project was on my students, but I know it forever changed me.

This year I am going to attempt to do it again. This time with no students (unless I get some virtual volunteers via the Internet!!), and with the new Summer 2012 Summer Reading List that has changed so dramatically it includes TWENTY-SIX books I have not read and only eleven that I have!


So, without any further adieu, I give you the:

CURTIS HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER 2012 READING LIST

For the general population of Curtis High School students, not in IB, SIS or AP classes (which have their own instructions), the assignment is to read one book from Category A and one book from Category B.

Incoming Freshmen

Category A

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

Game by Walter Dean Meyers

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Cut by Patricia McCormick

The Heroes of Olympus Book One by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Theif by Rick Riordan

Category B

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

The King Must Die by Mary Renault

The Afterlife by Gary Soto

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Sea Monsters by Rick Riordan

Current Freshmen (entering Sophomores Sept. 2012)

Category A

The Running Dream by Wandelin Van Draanen

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Catching Fire (Book Two) by Suzanne Collins

Category B

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Color of Fire by Ann Rinaldi

Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father by Richard Rodriguez

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Mockingjay (Book Three) by Suzanne Collins

Current Sophomores (entering Junior year Sept. 2012)

Category A

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson

Category B

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Current Juniors (entering Senior year Sept. 2012)

Category A

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Category B

Lush Life by Richard Price

What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau by E. Lockhart

Here comes the crazy part: Are you with me? How many of these books have you read? If you took on this challenge, how many books would you have to read this summer? Do you want to follow the assignment and just select one book from each category? Do you want to tackle one grade? Do you go to Curtis? If so, which books are you reading this summer?

Let me know in the comments and we'll make up a fun summer reading party!

Book Love of The Moment - Math and Writing Unite

Since we have no book love interview this week, I thought I'd share my current book love with you. I am midway through a fascinating learning experience that came to me by way of Reddit. Yes, you read that correctly, I got a book from a website! Back in February, I signed up for the RedditGifts Book Exchange, a Secret Santa type of game that you play with strangers on the Internet, only this one is all about books. The person who sent my books found out I was a writer and, although she said she had no experience in the matter whatsoever, picked out three awesome books on writing for me. Right now I'm reading the first of the books she bought me, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks and it is literally the perfect book about writing for me there could be!

I'm a math chick. I know I've mentioned this before. I spent twelve years teaching the subject and an entire college career studying it. The thing is, I love Mathematics. I love the patterns in it; I love the truth in it; I love the way all of Nature seems to be built around it. Mathematics is seen by many as this exceedingly formulaic, boring and stagnant subject, but what it is, when you can see all it touches is beauty and art.

I am also a writer. This you have come to know, and I've mentioned this before as well. I've spent a lifetime steeping myself in stories. I read them; I told them; I wrote some of them down. What I always saw was the beauty and the art in each of the stories, but I believed that beneath it all,

there

must

be

a

pattern.

Perhaps this is the inner mathematician striving to make sense of every beautiful thing she comes in contact with. I don't know. What I do know, however, is that Larry Brooks is bringing this pattern to light for me. He is not stripping away the art or the beauty that lies within the worlds our words create, he is simply showing me their underpinnings. He is showing me the math behind the natural world of the story.

In introducing this structure that he argues is present in all stories and screenplays, Brooks discusses the resistance he often runs into from writers who argue this type of thinking is too formulaic. Brooks says he is not instructing the reader how they should write the story - you can still be a pantser, if you like to just let things flow; or be a plotter if you'd rather plan ahead - either way, there is a structure, a core that lies beneath the story no matter which approach you take.

I can not fully express to you how closely this rides to discussions in math education. The argument rallies on over whether mathematics should be taught procedurally (this is akin to our plotting writers - set up the rules ahead of time, then dive in) or through problem solving and discovery (like our pantsers, problems solvers dive in, start working, make mistakes, start over, make discoveries along the way and unearth the rules for mathematics as the problems are solved). Whichever teaching technique is employed, the mathematics at its core remains the same.

There is so much in this book that simply makes sense to me and, I believe, will make me a much better writer as a whole. When I have completed it I will be sure to write a thorough book review discussing Brooks' thesis in full. For today, I simply wanted to share with you my most current book love experience. The book that has currently enthralled me and pulled in my conscious and subconscious thoughts toward it. While I am reading these days, with pen and notebook in hand, I am thinking of stories, of structures, patterns, architecture and the beauty that they all create. It's a wonderful read and I just wanted to let you know!

Writers: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Math Minds: Do you think math is best taught procedurally or through problems solving?

Readers: Do you believe there is an inherent structure in all stories you read? Why or why not? 

What Teachers Do

I feel like there is a misconception about what teachers actually do.

It is understandable, of course, as nearly everyone (save those who were home schooled) have seen a teacher in action, in their job, working. Why not assume, then, that after years and years of careful observation of numerous different subjects doing their job in front of the classroom you know what is entailed in the job of a teacher?

What A Teacher's Job Looks Like

Here's what we can determine from our years of observations in classroom after classroom. A teacher:

• lectures,
• questions,
• presents,
• inspires,
• strikes fear,
• instills a love for a subject,
• instills a hate for a subject,
• punishes,
• rewards,
• assesses, 
• likes to give lots of notes,
• communicates,
• demands attention,
• makes up tests,
• grades tests,
• likes to give homework,
• likes calling parents and guardians during free time,
• hangs things up in the classroom,
• will tutor during "free" periods,
• maybe drinks coffee in a teacher's lounge, 
• probably never goes to the bathroom, and
• might sleep in their classroom.

Most of these are right on. Perhaps you observed even more from your teachers over the years, however, what happens IN the classroom, is oftentimes the smallest inkling of the job. (I often thought, "Now comes the easy part," whenever the bell would ring to start my class!)

The piece that is missing from what most people see from teachers is THE REAL WORK. There is no lesson plan fairy. There is no "Teacher's Bible" that scripts out your every waking moment with a captive audience of youths (although I can recommend a ton of awesome teaching books!). There is no "one right way" to do teaching. You see, teaching is an art.

What Teachers Also Do

Whether your teachers inspired you or bored you to tears, they still had to do tons of work before seeing you to bring that lesson to you. Whether they surprised you every single day with a new creative technique, or you could recite their routines to this day, that presentation was not by accident, not off the cuff or on a whim.

Teachers create. That is their job. They create connections between you and the content you must master while with them. (This is easier with some lessons than others!)

Why It's Important To Know What Teachers REALLY Do

You may wonder why I am writing about this. Well, the thing is, I keep reading about, learning about and hearing about how districts keep on "dictating" how teachers should be teaching and I find this ridiculous.

I understand changes need to be made.

I understand some teachers are resistant to change.

I understand that it is the 21st century and technology needs a larger role in our classrooms.

However, rather than dictate how a teacher should implement this technology (which will only limit your results to what you have come up with), instead teach them (think you're up to it?) what the technology can do and you WILL BE AMAZED by what THEY CREATE. 

Would you give Picasso a paint-by-numbers? No. You'd give him paint and a canvas.

Would you dictate to Shakespeare how sonnets should be written? I doubt it. You'd give the man paper, ink and a quill.

Would you sit Beethoven down in front of a piano and have him play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" over and over again? I think you'd sit him down and let him play with the keys.

This is all I ask for our modern day creators. Do not limit teachers by dictating they use what is currently deemed to be cutting-edge techniques, technology and/or tools! Introduce them to the tools, techniques and tech and allow them to find the appropriate places for them in their classroom with their students.

What were some of the things you thought teachers did after your years of observation?

Know a teacher whose creativity impressed you? What did they do?

Are you a teacher? What are some parts of your job that I missed? 

Paid for School: My Thoughts As a Teacher

When you are in front of the room with a lesson in hand, questions ready, poignant points to preach and waiting anxiously for, more than anything else, questions, conversations and discussions from and with your students about the topic at hand, nothing, I mean nothing, is more heartbreaking than empty seats. The battle is lost before it has even begun. The occupant of that seat will miss this lesson, you, as a teacher, will miss one more day to get to know them better as a student and as a person.

How do we fix this problem?

• We call home.
• We call their cell phones (if they were silly enough to give us the numbers!)
• We make attendance part of the grading policy.
• We make attendance part of the school's policy, the district's policy.
• We send letters.
• We send people from the school to the home.
• We have truancy officers patrolling outside the school and in the neighborhood.
• We walk the hallways during our free periods.
• We publicly congratulate those with perfect attendance.
• We send e-mails.
• We put our attendance online for parents to access.

We do a lot more. Yet, some seats remain empty. For this reason, teachers and education professionals as a whole are open to suggestions. This is why I am not surprised AT ALL by the program presented in Camden, NJ this year called ICE-T ("I Can End Truancy") which is using a state grant to pay a small group of students (I have read 66 students) $100 on September 30th if they attend every day of school until then as well as an anger-management course. Is this THE solution? Probably not, but it might be one solution.

Here's the thing, we talk about students en masse as if they are all the same, all to be treated the same way, all motivated by the same things and all coming from the same environment, but they ARE NOT. You were a student once (maybe you still are), are you exactly the same as every other person you went to school with? Did you all perceive school the same way? Did you all enjoy the same successes in the same classes? I don't even know who you are thinking about right now and I know the answer is NO.

Some people are intrinsically motivated, not requiring any kind of outside input to want to learn, get good grades, be at school, or be active in the school community. Most others require some sort of extrinsic motivation, whether it be positive or negative, to do the same things. The types of extrinsic motivation also vary from parental pride/disappointment, grades/college choice, scholarships, money or social status (just to name a few!). I think these are just the facts. And I do believe that there is a portion of the population that could be positively motivated by being paid to go to school.

I understand the dissent expressed by many that paid students may get used to a "handout" mentality, or that students may feel that they are entitled to some sort of payment for their schooling, however, I have two over-arching issues in my mind that argue those down:

1. The money should not be "free"and the value of the education must be appreciated by ALL. Valuable learning outweighs monetary bonuses in the long-run. While students are motivated by this little carrot, they should be exposed to the best program available. There should be evidence of the greater gain that they can continue to appreciate if they invest themselves in their education.
2. Sometimes being motivated by money says more than "I like handouts." A student motivated by money may really be saying, "I'm hungry," or "I'm tired" or "I didn't think I could help my family by going to school." I've lost the battle with too many students over the years that chose the workforce over the classroom simply because their family needed it. Good students. Students that I could have long and difficult conversations about their life as it spread out before them conflicted with the reality of their TODAY. If such a grant existed for these students... If my students didn't have to choose between putting off their own education until their younger siblings were grown up enough to all hold part-time jobs together, rather than those of age splitting bills by working around the clock in jobs rather than careers.

SO... What IF Students Got Paid To Go To School?

Just like any other motivational tool, I think money would help with some students, hurt with others, make absolutely no difference with a select group, and ultimately fail if not implemented correctly and carefully. It can work if done correctly, if we can just find some wonderful source to fund it!

This post is written as part of the What IF? Project hosted here on the Rivera Runs Through It Blog. Each week a new "What if?" question is presented and I do my best to respond to the query.  You are invited to as well. This week's "What if?" was

What if students were paid to go to school?


 [I also answered this question from the perspective of a learner, to read that response, see Paid for School: My Experience As A Learner] 

The Magic of Math Dollars

This week's "What If" Question has got me thinking about money and school. I simply can not move forward and answer the question this week, without first telling you the tale of the magical math dollars! It seems there is no way for me to think about money in the classroom without thinking of these beauties!

The Birth of Math Dollars

Once upon a time there was a young high school math teacher filled with frustration over the lack of motivation shown in her students. While at a professional development meeting, some middle school teachers started discussing the merits of tangible rewards. This young teacher listened very carefully - she knew that her "older" high school students were really only a couple of months older than those middle school kids!

One teacher said she had a point system - every time a student showed some reward-able behavior, she would mark it down in her "point book" and when the student received enough "points" she would give them either extra credit on an exam, or a homework pass. This idea seemed intriguing, but the young teacher, even after less than two years on the job, knew that keeping things like "point books" was one of her greatest weaknesses.

Another teacher shared another system she had - "bonus bucks." She printed out fake money, called it "bonus bucks" and, like the teacher before, kept an eye out for reward-able behaviors. When she spotted them, a student got a buck. Then, each Friday, the students could trade in their "bonus bucks" for candy or small trinkets the teacher would bring in. This teacher said her key was that getting the buck got harder and harder as the year went on. The teacher with the "point book" concurred that it was the same with her points.

The young teacher went home that night, head spinning with ideas. How would she do this? She couldn't start a project that would ultimately fail at her own hand - which would happen if she dared start a point book. And she couldn't start buying candy for all of her kids

1. her mother would scream again about how she would never make any money if she kept spending it all on her students, and 
2. her colleagues would hang her for sure if she sent them students on sugar highs! 

 Then it hit her - combine the two! Create "Math Dollars" that can be traded in for extra credit or a free homework pass.
The Creation of Math Dollars

Math Dollars happen to be the silliest looking things you've ever seen. They are modeled after the American dollar, but shrunken to be about the size of Monopoly money. Depending on the year they may have had some clip art on them, some mathematical function, or, my favorite, a caricature of my face drawn by one of my students in the center where George Washington's face is supposed to be. Instead of saying "In God We Trust," Math Dollars say, of course "In Math We Trust" and they are printed in all types of colors (basically whatever color printer paper I could get at Staples for the semester). Many of the design elements I picked up all over the place, as it is true what they say in education - There really is no such thing as a new idea! (Lots of people use some type of Math Dollar in their classroom!)

I would get anywhere from six to eight math dollars per 8.5" by 11" piece of paper (I got better at fitting more on the page over the years) and copy them in my bedroom/office/creation zone. I'd then have to cut them out which ultimately led to me buying a paper cutter (of course, this was before I bothered to ask if we had one at school!). I'd wrap up huge stacks in rubber bands, put them in my locker and make sure I always had at least one stack in hand as I entered my room.

The Magic of Math Dollars

I only ever meant to use them with ninth graders. They were the silliest things in the world and they had no business being as effective as they were. By the time I was teaching Advanced Placement Statistics, those students were actually offended when I didn't use Math Dollars with them, so after a one semester mistake (maybe a whole year, I don't remember), all classes got to use Math Dollars. Here's their magic:

Math dollars can be EARNED when you do amazing things. Some amazing things are: answering questions in class, ASKING questions in class, being prepared, explaining your work to the class, presenting a group solution, being on time, being a "Super Student," volunteering to do a HW problem on the board, etc.

When you EARN ten Math Dollars, you then have a choice. You can trade them in for a FREE HW pass OR for TWO POINTS on any test (even one we've already taken!!).

And with this, these silly little pieces of paper transformed me into a better teacher and my students into angels!

• How did I become a better teacher because of Math Dollars? I was constantly engaged with my students. I was watching them, working with them, walking among them and talking to them throughout the entire lesson. Not just the students who were participating, but also those who were not, because I would become aware of the fact that I hadn't walked to this corner or that corner, wherever it was. I knew what was going on in my room. I was able to individualize rewards, talk one-on-one with kids, "OK, you've been getting too many Math Dollars for putting up HW problems. That's too easy for you! If you want more, the class is going to have to hear your voice!"or "How come you haven't gotten any Math dollars today? What's going on?" -I can't tell you how many times that led to valuable discoveries about students that require parental contact or guidance counselors (kids are quiet, but they usually let everything fly if you just ask them directly what's going on).
• How did my students become better learners because of Math Dollars? They wanted them. I still don't fully understand why, but they did. All of the things I would normally ask students to do that their teenage-ness just forced them to resist, would come so easily with the possibility of Math Dollars. Students would see me in the hallway before class and say crazy wonderful things like, "Miss! I did the homework last night. I'm going to put number 4 on the board for a math dollar, OK?" Um... OK, sure - no one used to put homework problems on the board. The bell would ring, I'd unwrap my Math Dollars, start to circulate the room mumbling something like, "I wonder if anyone has done that problem yet?" Heads would whip around, notebooks would fly open, pens to paper, calculators punched, a hush falls over the room. And, while it was unintentional, the students were given more autonomy over their rewards (no one really has to know it's because I feared the paperwork of a "point book," right?). They had to keep track of their dollars (most carried them in their wallets - very cute!), then they had to make some pretty big decisions about how to best use them.

Math Dollars are magic. That's the only way to explain something so silly, so simple, having such dramatic effects.


Funny after-thought: I just did a Google search to see if there were any Math Dollar users out there that I could link up to for you, instead I found an aging Facebook group! It's about to be archived, so I'm not going to link it, but, for awhile, it seems our Math Dollars even had a little Facebook fame!

What If #6

This post is an invitation to you to think about the word in the middle of life: IF (L-IF-E). Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog will present a different "What If...?" question for you to explore. Some will be serious, some will be silly, some might be political, religious or historical.

You can either write a response of your own, or just tune in to see what everyone else has to say about it. At the bottom of this post will be a place for you to link up your own post about the question, so feel free to share. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...
It is back to school time here in New York City, so we need a back-to-school What If!

What IF #6:

What if students were paid to go to school?

Some people pay to go to school, but what if we flipped it around the other way? What if students were paid to go to school? What if you were? Is there a particular grade or subject that you think that would have made sense for? Do you think this idea is ridiculous all together? Should students be paid based on merit (in other words, only get paid if they attain a certain grade or level of achievement).

What kind of culture do you think would be created by paying students? What are the benefits of such a move? What are the drawbacks?

There's tons to think about with this topic, so pick a direction, and go for it! Let us know what you think! Link up below, or comment below!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

"I'm Not Good At Math" Says Too Much

This post is written as part of the What IF? Project hosted right here on the Rivera Runs Through It Blog. Each week a new "What if?" question is presented, and, if we so choose, we respond to the query. (If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.) This week's "What if?" was

What if saying "I'm not good at Math" had the same stigma as "I can't read"?

The Reader versus The Mathematician

I can read. I love to read, in fact. Saying such things does not necessarily imply that I hold Ph. D. in literature, or that I am a master of all of the classics or that I can speak, with any type of authority, on the expanse of books in Bloom's Western Canon. I am a reader in its most basic function: for the purposes my own entertainment, edification and to get around in society. That is all that is meant by the statement, "I can read."

created by Susan Barker

I can also do math. Believe it or not, I also happen to love doing math! Personally, I have studied Mathematics professionally and while I do not hold a Ph.D. in this course of study, I do have a B.S. in Mathematics and have taken countless hours of graduate level Mathematics courses from various institutions of higher learning. I do not believe, however, that all of this is required for one to state simply, "I can do math."I believe, on the other hand, that one can say, "I can do math," if they have the same sort of relationship with the subject as I do with reading: basic functionality for the purposes of personal entertainment (yes, that is possible), edification and to get around in society.

What "I'm Not Good At Math" Really Means

When we say something like "I'm not good at Math," this is the same as making the ridiculous declaration, "I don't eat food," just because we don't eat one particular type of food (for example, I don't eat dairy - I can't - this does not, by any stretch of the imagination mean that I do not eat food!). When we go around saying "I'm not good at Math," because we struggled in Algebra or Trigonometry, or because we are confused by theorems put forth in Chaos Theory, we are making a similar unrepresentative statement. It is important to remember that "Math" is short for Mathematics - a plural word (this is why I love that outside of the US, it is shortened "Maths") representing many disciplines within!


What's the Big Deal If Everyone Says "I can't do Math"?

I believe that nearly all of the people who walk around this planet declaring to anyone who will listen, "I can't do math," are, in fact, quite mistaken! What saddens me is that I am not sure that they believe so. The ability to "do Math" has for so long been accredited solely to the Mathletes, Mathematicians and the elite group becoming casually known as "math people" that everyone else has started to believe that, without those types of academic successes they are devoid of all skill.

This, on its own would not be such a huge problem if the words spoken by Henry Ford did not ring so true:

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right." ~Henry Ford 

Once the seed has been planted, the idea will sprout. Millions of people are leaving their formal educations believing they can't do math, and, so, once free of their homework, they don't. They grab a smartphone to figure out a tip, they let an online service or a computer program balance their finances, they buy the ELECTRONIC BANKING EDITION OF MONOPOLY for the family (can I start an angry petition about this one?! Please, someone tell me it doesn't do ALL of the math for you!), the list goes on... The huge problem that comes from all of this is the fact that math is definitely a subject where you use it or lose it!

I Propose A Culture Shift

In order to save us all from losing our abilities to do Math and raising another generation that believes it's OK to say "I'm not good at Math" or "I can't do Math," I propose a simple challenge to those of you who truly believe you can't do math:

JUST DO IT!  

Not all of it. Remember, Mathematics is plural, find the piece you like. If fractions and decimals scare you or the thought of figuring out a percentage gives you the chills, I am not suggesting that you do anything that will cause you to seek the aid of a therapist. I am simply suggesting you s-t-r-e-t-c-h your expectations of yourself.

• If you typically use a calculator or a smartphone APP to figure out some mathematical calculation, then try to see if you can start to predict an estimate of what the answer will be before you use it.
• If you have children heading back to school who are taking Math classes, ask them to teach you something from that class that they feel comfortable with.
• If you are a seamstress, a quilter, a carpenter, contractor, electrician (oh boy! this list goes on...), recognize that you are DOING Math all of the time! (Probably even more than I am these days!!)
• The next time you get a phone bill, or a cable bill, or something else with a ton of number-y stuff on it - double-check their sums, just for kicks (maybe you'll catch them stealing from you!)
• If you're bored, do a Sudoku puzzle, a logic puzzle, or  play any one of these cool math games.

As you can see, there's lots of stuff you can do, but it shouldn't feel like homework. It should feel as natural as reading does when you pick up that menu in a restaurant, just find the math in your day, and recognize that you are doing it and that you are probably good at it.

If you really can't, if it confuses the heck out of you, if you're stumped, stymied and thinking about giving up - DON'T! Please feel free to come back here and ask me for help - believe it or not, I enjoy that kind of stuff! And if it's too advanced for me (that can totally happen), I'll find a resource we can both tap for furthering our math-y knowledge!

Do you consider yourself a "math person," a "non-math person" or neither? Why?

Did you like Mathematics in school? Why/why not?

Do you believe this challenge is possible for all people?

The Number Devil - A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Mangus Enzensberger

The following post is taken directly from one of my hand-printed Reader's Journal. I will be sharing these reflections each week on the Rivera Runs Through It blog. The date at the end of each post is the date of the original writing, which is typically the date I completed the book. The reflections are short, but represent my initial reactions to a book, a brief summary of the book or the questions it raised for me at the time. I hope you enjoy this segment in my blog and feel free to comment on what you read here.

The Number Devil - A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Mangus Enzensberger

What a fun book! A boy, Robert, dreams of a Number Devil that takes him, humorously, through many mathematics topics. While the official names of Mathematics and terms are not given, an index in the back of the book refers to all of the correct terms. I will read this again and possibly read it with my students as part of this Spring's (2001) MP2* curriculum!

Dated: 01/28/01

*MP2 was the second semester of a "Math Foundations"/PreAlgebra course that I taught to ninth graders. (I DID use the book and the kids liked it!)

Have you read The Number Devil? 

If so, will you be my friend???

If not, how do you feel about reading a novel centered around mathematics?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Just a bit of the fan fare in the Times Square subway station advertisements for HP7 Part 2.

Before the Film

To all of my faithful readers and facebook followers, it is no secret that I was highly anticipating the date July 15, 2011.  With a group of friends, the midnight tickets were obtained and a party was planned. We were all going to meet up at seven to eat snacks and re-watch Part 1 and get to the theater early enough to find our seats.

We had a fabulous time! Besides our typical snacks of chips, edamame, veggies and dip, one brilliant buddy came prepared to mix up some butter beers! Now, I am, sadly, dairy-free so I could not have one of my own, but when I saw the faces of every single other person in the room light up with pure glee as they pulled back from their mugs with a foamy mustache; I insisted that I have a sip - regardless of consequence - to gain a full understanding of the experience. It was A-MAZ-ING. I did not get the actual recipe (I plan to), but I recall ingredients such as cream soda (a favorite of mine!), butterscotch, butterscotch schnapps and ice cream being discussed. I believe this will be a recipe easy enough to adapt for my tasty pleasure!

As we watched part 1, those of us who read the books whispered back and forth about How do you think they handle this? or I can't wait for the scene when... Those who hadn't read the books, asked clarifying questions about part 1 and insisted we stay tight-lipped about spoilers for part 2. Whether we knew the story or not, we were all tingling with anticipation.

The Theater

Just one line, that we had the pleasure of not waiting on!

  
When the movie finished at about 10:30pm, we received news that the multiplex theater was already loading up the theaters that had the midnight showings. We got on our feet, split into various cars and speculated about how many students we would see this year.

Our group midnight trips to the Harry Potter films always lead to surprised squeals of, "Oo! Oo! Miss!!" leading us all to flinch - either looking to see who's calling, or ducking behind a seat. My husband will often get an entire band at once, "Miiissterrr RiVERaaaaaa!" However, we know, this is the price of teach-lebrity, an issue that plagues teachers all over the world, I am sure, when they live in such close proximity to those they teach.

This year was not that bad since we were not left out on display on a line for an hour or two. This year, we strolled right into the theater, straight into Auditorium 9 and had third row seats (the theater was already packed, of course). It was 11pm and we were ready.

And, Of Course, The BIG EVENT: The MOVIE

The Harry Potter midnight movie experience is something I will miss. While my husband and I do fit midnight movies into our schedules more than most of our friends, they all tend to pale in comparison. This is never a one-theater event and we never go it alone. We were in a group of ten this time, and, for the most part, it seemed most others in the theater traveled in the same types of groups. The energy was buzzing - the robes, the wands, the endless Harry Potter t-shirts - the kids were squealing and yelling from one row to another, but when the lights went down after all of the trailers, there was a collective inhale and silence.

I was impressed.

I was excited.

When I saw Severus Snape up on the screen, I already started to tear up. I was invested in this story.

There are seven defined battles in the Deathly Hallows book; five of the battles were in part 1 of the movie, which left only two for this last part: the break-in at Gringott's Wizarding Bank and the Battle at Hogwarts. I felt as though one was done perfectly and one left me wanting more. To be honest with you, I have already began my discussing my hopes for what I might see in the deleted scenes when the DVD comes out!

Did I enjoy the movie? Absolutely. Should you see the movie? Without question! Haven't you already?! I think Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a very good movie. I simply wanted more. In order to appropriately describe my feelings about the movie, I think I must devote a second post to my Book to Movie experience with Harry Potter.

Here's my plan for now: I will see it this movie again. I know, from previous experience, these feelings of disappointment will dissipate. In the meantime, these are my honest feelings about the film upon my first viewing.

Have you seen it yet?

What are your thoughts?

Did you have a Harry Party?

Do you know of any Potter-related snacks we all should be trying?

The Perfect Formula for Learning at Old School with The Damsel

Do you like to learn things?

Do you like to laugh?

Do you wish you knew the simple ways to get things done like they used to get done - with stuff around the house, cheap to get, or at least with multiple uses?

Well then it is time that you join me in attendance in one of my favorite places on the Internet - Old School - Self Reliance 101, with one of the greatest teachers I know, The Damsel.

I was first introduced to The Damsel back in November when I first joined my StumbleUpon group. The first post I read was about fruit flies. I read the post and understood - I, too, hated fruit flies -  I was amused - Was this woman writing about herself in the third person?? - and I learned - the "Cup of Death" is simple to assemble and implement with the Damsel's clear instructions.

I thought it must be a fluke. A great, simple, short post highlighted among many others that could not have all possibly fit this beautiful formula: relevant, fun and educational - I was so wrong - this IS the Damsel's formula! This is what you will find each and every time you attend The Damsel's class. Now, not all of her posts contain recipes for death traps, but every single one will either teach you something or leave you in deep thought about something. As a teacher, myself, I could ask for nothing more from each of my lessons.

Enough. I am wasting your time. I'm making you late for class! Here are some of the posts on my must-share list:

• Spring Cleaning
• Caramel Popcorn, Lazyman Style
• Nostalgia as a Life Choice
• How to Make Your Own Jet-Dry - sort of
• Walking to School (or Biking)
• How to Wash Windows
• The Last Week of School - Old School Style

I had to stop myself. This list was a lot longer a minute ago, but I want you to go explore the school grounds for yourself. Get on over there! The Damsel is waiting and I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you today!

***

This post was written as ta part of my continuing series on My Stumble Buddies. To be a part of our StumbleUpon party to read and stumble week by week, come visit the Kludgy Mom community in Blog Frog!

Other Stumble Buddy Posts:

• Are You Reading Read Aloud Dad?
• Get a Clue With Kludgy Mom

 


**Don't forget Rivera Runs Through It now has a brand-spankin' new FaceBook Fan page waiting for YOU to LIKE it!!**

4 Great Ways to Get Your Blog Writing Going

You are sitting in front of your computer. You are ready to write for your blog. You've even managed to carve out a nice space of "me time" to accomplish this task, but then it hits you - what the HECK am I going to write about today? Since you have little time to waste, let me tell you about some of the fabulous resources out there to get you juices flowing.

Share Your Knowledge/Learning 

Do you have a skill, a hobby or something else you can teach your readers? Have you just gone to a class, watched a movie or read a book where you have learned something? Take a post to teach us! Here are some examples of some great teaching posts that I've run across:

• 6 Ways to Start An Art Collection Without Breaking the Bank Using what she knows from being an artist's wife, Ginger teaches us some tricks of the trade so we can all add that glitz and glam to our spaces no matter what our income is!
• 4 Heartstopping Myths On Drowning Every Responsible Parent Should Know When Alison learned about what drowning really looked like, she knew she had something to share. It was an extremely important post and, because of that, it went viral. Do you have some important knowledge that you should be sharing with the world? Don't take it for granted that everyone knows what you do!
• Lemonade Pie Kristl of The Budget Diet blog had a fun, yummy recipe from her childhood that takes only four ingredients and some chill-time. She shared it with her readers who are always interested in fun things to do, make or get for a bargain!
• How to Wash Windows from The Damsel of the Old School - Self Reliance 101 blog. The Damsel is one of my great online teachers, this is just one example of her fun and funny teaching style that leaves you begging for more. ...and this is a post about washing windows. Moral here: inspiration can be anywhere - you just have to be up to the challenge of writing about it!!

Challenge Yourself

Pick a challenge, either for yourself or for your blog and write about it. This can be a lot of fun and an easy path to finding material to write about. Here are some challenges you might want to think about:

• Go Meatless! This past November I found out it was World Vegan month and decided, in honor of that, to go meatless every Monday for the entire month. I documented it on my blog Searching for Sustenance and it gave me an easy day of writing for six weeks of Mondays. I also couldn't help but occasionally refer back to it from time to time, so it continues to be a source of writing inspiration. Here is my wrap up post What I Learned from Meatless Mondays.With this challenge you'll examine ethical eating and your blog will benefit from it as well.
• 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Do I write about this enough on this blog? I love this challenge. I am going through it again right now. If you participate with a community like I am (shout out to the SITS Girls!), then not only does the eBook give you tons of ideas for writing, but so do your fellow participants! You will be improving your blogging skills and you'll have something to write about every day! Here's a fantastic look at one of the most content-heavy days in the challenge From Eileen of the Web Design School blog: Tips and Tutorials for Bloggers Day 6.

• Couch to 5k Program This is a nine week program to go from couch potato to 5K runner. It is a program designed for people who have often thought most exercise, especially running, is a far away dream. Dream no more! MAKE IT HAPPEN and take your readers with you on the journey! You will transform yourself, inspire others and be able to write about the program, your ups, your downs, your runs, your falls - there is SO much to write about here... (I keep dreaming of the day my IIH takes enough of a back seat for me to try this one!)
• 30 Day Challenges In general there are a lot of various types of 30 day challenges out there - fun ones, fit ones, financial ones, a quick search on Google will send you on your way to finding one that fits for you. One post about 30 Day Challenges that caught my eye was 10 Thirty Day Challenges No One Wants to Take.

Causes
Many causes need people to be talking about them. If you have a cause, or an action that is near and dear to your heart, then get writing! You'll feel better about it and you can engage your readers in discussing important issues. Here are some examples of blogs writing with causes in mind:

• Conversations on Giving  This is a segment on the Do Good blog where the act of giving whether through charity, kindness or self is discussed. It is a simple idea that can be written about in so many different ways.
• 365Give This blog fascinates me. It is about giving every single day. It doesn't have to monetary, it doesn't have to be huge, but it is making the commitment to giving at least once every day and then writing about it. Imagine you made this commitment. Imagine you had to write about it. How would this change you? How would it engage your readers?
• One-Shots Stay in the loop with your special causes to find out if there are any special events or petitions floating around that need some publicity. Don't forget that your blog can be your podium when necessary. For example, this week I am trying to get people to let the Girl Scouts know I would like some gluten-free cookies! To that end, I wrote this post: Tell the Girl Scouts How Big the Gluten-Free Market Is! (if you have a minute, you should totally check this post out and sign the enclosed petition!).

For the Art of Writing

• The Red Dress Club Every week these ladies provide two writing prompts. The prompts could be as simple as a word or a picture, or they could even be specific lines to be included in the writing - they change all the time and I check in every week. If you write on one of the prompts, you can return to the site to link up your post to share with the Red Dress community for concrit. It's pretty awesome.
• One is called the Red Writing Hood prompt and can usually be either fiction or nonfiction and is typically limited to be anywhere between 600-700 words. Here are some of my prompt responses: Detour in "Off My Trail", Someone who drives you crazy in "One Lucky Turtle" and Fightin' words in "Someone Stole My F-ing Car" (*warning: this one is angry)
• The other prompt is called RemembeRED and is a memoir prompt and has the same types of length restrictions. Here are some of my prompt responses: Forgiveness in "I Forgive You", A positive from a negative experience in "Wash Away My Normal" and something you are proud of in "My Teaching Appreciation Day" 

• The Writer's Toolbox This is an offline resource that I actually found in the Barnes & Noble bargain section years ago. The box comes with a timer, a number of different tools (sentence sticks, sensory cards and the protagonist game, for example) and  book describing different ways to use them in conjunction with each other to find inspiration.

There's More!


There is definitely at least second post in here about how you can write about what's going on in the news, how you can join blog communities like Blog Frog or SITS Girls or even Twitter parties like #CommentHour to see what other people are writing about and write a reaction post to it and link up. There's still even more, but to be honest, I think I am taking up too much of your time because you really need to get to writing!
 

Cue The Rocky Music!

There are times when nothing serves you better than a healthy dose of confidence. When mentoring new teachers I used to tell them, "You have to own that classroom before any student walks in." I had a ritual that I used to go through at the beginning of every semester to accomplish this for myself.

I would go into my classroom the day before classes began, preferably, I would like it to be late afternoon or evening, when nearly everyone else was out of the building and I would walk around the room. I would look at everything I decorated. I would check to see how the desks were arranged. And then the internal monologue would begin (I was never nuts enough to say it aloud), "This is MY room. We are going to learn here, discuss here, and build a class community here. I am the authority." Behind these words I would hear the Rocky music, you know, "Gonna Fly Now" just to make sure I was completely amp-ed up.



I would end it off with something like, "This is going to be an awesome year," and then I would smile, lock up the room and go home to re-read sections from my book First Days of School by Harry Wong.

In the beginning, it was completely forced. I have never been a terribly confident person, but that is unacceptable when you are standing in front of 34 adolescents. So I faked it this way, for years, until I embodied it.


I think this is an important thing to do, even if it is just for yourself. Sometimes you need convincing that you belong in the arena, and when you do, if The Rocky theme doesn't work for you, then you simply must embrace the words of one of my greatest heroes of all time, Theodore Roosevelt. This excerpt from a speech he gave in 1910, is often called The Man in The Arena:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

This builds confidence in the sheer act of doing. You read these words and you want to dare greatly! You want to spend yourself with a worthy cause. Most of all, though, you do not want to be a cold and timid soul, because you can feel the adventure, the life and the power that belongs to that man in the arena!

Do you have any techniques you use to "amp" yourself up?

What quote or song moves you to action? 

3 Quickie Lessons from My First Day at Blog World Expo New York 2011

Click above to find out about their NEXT event!

I did it. I ventured forth and, on my own, with tickets given to me as a gift from my husband, I experienced the first full day of my very first Blogger's Convention. Needless to say, after a day on my own traveling back and forth to the big city after nearly one full year of being on medical leave and doing... well... nothing, I am exhausted. Therefore, this will be a quick run-down of some of the stand-out lessons for me with promises of more in-depth posts to come (I really hope I make sense here and don't babble too much)!


Lesson 1: This whole social media, blogging, Internet thing is not just about communication, it is about RELATIONSHIPS.
This was a theme reiterated by many of the speakers I saw today. In one way or another, the moral of the story is if you want more followers, if you are looking for your audience, if you want to have genuine, sincere comments and conversations with the people of the World Wide Web, then you had better be thinking first and foremost about how you are building your relationships with these people.

"Amazing things start to happen when you converse for the sake of conversing..."

~Srinivas Rao

Lesson 2: Nothing "sells" better than an authentic YOU and PASSION.
Again, words spoken by many, and not things I heard for the first time here either. Each of the speakers I saw today were blogging about things close to their heart, things they were passionate about and it showed.

"If you are not passionate about what you are doing - find something else to do!" 

~Jared Rolin

Lesson 3: The Nerd Within Might Be Exactly What You Should be Proud Of.
Just hours after feeling ashamed for letting all of my geek-goo go all over the Twitterverse, I found out, that perhaps the persona I so proudly flaunted in my classroom should also have a place in my web space!

I am a nerd, to ignore such things, or leave out such telling details separates me from my readers because they do not know the authentic me without it. Your nerd within doesn't have to be so nerdy (I mean, honestly, could I be any more cliche? Comic books, math, calculators???) - you might be a grilling nerd or a knitting nerd, who knows? Only you know, until you let us in on your juicy secret!

"Tell me about your inner geek... You don't have to go open kimono!" 

~Michael Margolis

Bonus Lesson from BEA: Free Books are Awesome, But Quickly Become Heavy!

As a bonus with the admission to BlogWorld, I also get access to the exhibitor floor of the Book Expo that is housed in Javits Center as well.  Considering I am a book lover I could not pass up this opportunity and hopped in during the lunch break between blogging panels. These people are just giving away books! In some cases, the authors are there to autograph them for me!! I was in heaven, until the weight of my decision became a reality when walking eleven city blocks to my express bus home. I have not yet come up with a better action plan for tomorrow... I will sleep on it.

"This was a bad idea." 

~my left knee, my foot, my right shoulder, my lower back, and, of course, my ACHING HEAD

Related Posts:

• 3 More Lessons from Blog World Expo NY
• How Darren Rowse Has Forever Changed My Life in 10 Days 
• Where Do I Get My Degree In Blogging?