So much to say, so much to say...

Alot can happen in 5 1/2 months. If you're a procrastinator like me, 51/2 months is plenty of time to put your dream of being a freelance writer to the side-especially when you worked in a place that made hell seem like the Cayman Islands. But, luckily, things are slowly turning around to some form of normalcy, and as the kids say, I'm "back on my grind".


So what've we missed? For starters, I'm back to teaching 5th grade. All those years of running errands for the elderly must've paid off because literally out of nowhere, the opportunity to teach in my natural setting-and part of a Team Teaching environment, no less-fell on my lap around December. What I thought would be a 20-minute conversation turned out to be a 3-hour interview and tour of a school. It's nice to work in a place where people aren't crazy. Or spineless. Or full of deceit. My students aren't Road Scholars, but their ability to behave like kids makes up for their lack of high intellectual prowess. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how much of a joy it is to work with my co-teacher. My experiences tell me that teachers by nature are extremely territorial: my room, my books, my paper, my spleen. To share your space with someone else can be difficult. To share your space with someone who transferred into your school mid-year can be torture. We're in what administrators call a "Professional Marriage". Well, much like my personal marriage, she hasn't put me out yet.


What else is new? Triathlon season for me starts in 7 weeks. I'm planning to compete in the Patenella "Flat as a Pancake" triathlon in Staten Island on June 12th. I'm not ready. It's almost to the point where I have to start from scratch in terms of training and preparing for the experience of open-water swimming (for the record, I blame all my lack of preparation on the Devil Spawn principal I used to work for. It's amazing how much one person can make life miserable. I heard about people like her, but only read about them in history books. They had little square mustaches and outstretched their arm alot. but I digress...)


To round out the last few months in reverse chronological order:

*G.U.R.U. from Gangstarr died (that sucks),


*Ricky Martin came out of the closet (He really needed to announce that, huh? Maybe the news was meant for Stevie Wonder).

*I've decided to put my wrestling fandom on an extended hiatus. Everyone I've ever liked is either old, retired, or dead. This generation's crop of stars just doesn't do it for me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNz5CtLAB8. Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston. Whatever your thought was when you came across those names just now is kinda like mine. You should see their outfits. I'll wait until my daughter is 8 before I pick it up again. Hopefully, Ric Flair will be retired by then.

*My sister is embarking on her teaching career (oh God, why?) and lastly,


*My brother got married, hence the cause for the multitude of natural disasters affecting our world lately. He called me the day after his wedding and asked, "So, has it sunk in for you yet?". I said, "Dude, YOU got married. Has it sunk in for YOU yet?"

Time to get ready for work.

What could make this Saturday better? A nice run...

Of which I will not participate in. Sorry. It's just not in me today. Instead, I'm spending my afternoon enjoying the fact that I've got nothing to do.

I rummaged through YouTube and coam across this site:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRB1p89k7_I. If you've never heard of Julie Moss, and never saw her finish at the 1982 Ironman, this video is worth a few minutes of your time.

I hear that "Mighty" Lance Armstrong has announced his intention to enter the 2011 World Ironman Championship, and he plan's to do more than win his age group. I bet he'll finish in under 9 hours. If nothing else, his participation will give the sport some much-needed exposure. As popular it is, it's not quite mainstream yet. I wonder if MLS is more popular...

Images DO make lasting impressions...

Let's see-in the span of 5 weeks, I've been removed from my position as a 5th grade teacher and reassigned to teach 1st grade, been called "Grossly insubordinate" and "Disrespectful", had two disciplinary letters placed in my file, been accused of having no classroom management skills, and threatened with an "Unsatisfactory" year-end rating-in October. All by a principal who has never seen me teach, nor had a one-on-one conversation with me. Halloween came early this year.

On a different note, I came across this article: Nation's pupils find few black men to call Mister The Network Journal. It got me thinking about my place as an educator. In my school, I am the only male classroom teacher. There are a few other men-the gym teacher, two paraprofessionals and two resource teachers-but in terms of the one face who works with the same class for 180+ days a year, there's just me. The article really got me wondering why so few Black men get into this profession. Do we not like children? Are we unintelligent? Are we not wired to appreciate the concept of teaching others? I've come up with a reason why we have so few male teachers:

We've had very little images of them

I can't speak for the school system in the suburbs, but if you grew up in an urban community like I did, a considerable amount of your teachers looked like this:

Does she look like she lives in the South Bronx?

Now I must admit that in high school, there were plenty of male teachers (I went to an all-boys school, so I suppose the male presence had to be prominent). But the school was in Harlem. HARLEM! Explain to me why most of the teachers there looked like this:

This guy reminds me of Mr. Mackey in high school. Someone once put gum on his pants. Another kid hemmed him up against the blackboard. Halloween lasted a year for him.

See where I'm going? Red Aurobach once told a story of when he passed through Roxbury, Massachusetts and saw a bunch of Black kids wearing Philadelphia Sixers and L.A. Lakers jerseys. He walked up to them and said they shouldn't be wearing those jerseys. They were in Boston, they should be representing the Celtics. What Red didn't get was that no one on the Celtics-at least, no one Black-was as dynamic as Magic Johnson or Julius Erving. Those kids could care less about the city on the front. It was all about the name on the back. Why do so many of our kids want to grow up to do various forms of entertainment? For one, it's cool. But another reason is because there are sooooooo many images of people who look like them and grew up the way they grew up, that they equate those forum as the only way to attain success and/or wealth. Why would "Malik City Kid" want to teach if he's rarely, if ever, seen a Black man do it? He's seen Black men sing, rap, act and play sports. Ask him what he aspires to be when he grows up, he'll probably give one of those options. But teach?!? That's just crazy talk.

I think that in order to change the education system, we need to take a serious look at the issues that plague it. A lack of men in the classroom is a big problem.

To test a person's character, give them power...

As my triathlon season officially ends (I am going through some serious tri withdrawal), I'm officially gearing my attention towards the school year. 13 of a possible 180-something days are complete, and already, I'm annoyed. Not with the students. Not even with the parents. My ire so far is directed toward our administration. Without naming names or being too descriptive, my school has traded in one grumpy, middle-aged, nut job principal for another.


Recently, our new principal saw fit to berate us, the teaching staff, via the public address system because our outdoor bulletin boards were not up to a particular set of standards. Apparently, the person in question found it acceptable to do this 1) during school hours, when the students were in their respective classrooms and 2) towards the end of the day, when parents were in the building to pick up said children. So not only were our competency and intelligence called into question, but it was done so within earshot of everyone in the building. To me, that action set a tone that was harmful to the complexion of the school environment (Please bear in mind our school year is 13 days old. At this point, is it really necessary to walk around like this guy?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HdtO-ls3S0)

This behavior begs the question: why do school principals find it necessary to become a$$holes when they assume this position? Granted, I've only worked for two principals, but my previous one made it clear that they didn't like the staff (and initially didn't want to be in our school) they had, and my present principal just showed themselves to be somewhat foolish and/or irrational. That's not the type of person I feel comfortable working for. That's not a leader to me. We've all had that moment in our lives where we wished we could turn back the hands of time beacuse of something we said or did. But in this industry, I've learned that first impressions lasts a long time in the minds of everyone within a school community. Our principal's disappointment would've been better received if the guilty culprit(s) were met with individually, rather than the whole taking the fall for a few parts.

Phil Jackson once said that people should change jobs every seven or eight years so as to avoid stagnation and/or frustration.

I'm up to year nine. Maybe it's seriously time to find another chalkboard to write on...

Here I go, turn the page...

As one focal point ends, another one begins. The 2009-10 school year in New York City begins in 4 days. Wednesday will be my 9th year as a 5th grade teacher. The other day, I thought back to my first group of students (who I might add are college freshmen. Geez, where'd the time go?), and wondered how many of their educational careers were affected by my first-year mistakes. I concluded the answer to be "Very few, if any at all". This isn't because I was so great, but because it was only one year of their lives. I pray that somewhere along the way they received that uber-teacher who atoned for my screw-ups. Believe me, there were many.

Suffice to say, I'll be shifting my gears from triathlon to lesson plans. Due to a bike malfunction, my season ended last Wednesday, much earlier than planned. I was in full training mode for my Sept. 20th tri when the bike breakdown occured. As I was riding through Elmhurst, Queens, on my way to the Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center, my right pedal plopped right off. Yep, right off the crankset. Distance-wise, I was stuck in a tough place: too far from home to walk, and too far from the pool to walk. I spent 90 minutes rescrewing the pedal with my hand (not successful), pliers (a waste of time) and a wrench (effective, but not secure enough to last a mile). A detailed inspection of my damages revealed that the grooves in which my pedals were supposed to screw into had been grounded into a groove-less metal hole. I decided to count my losses and give my bike away on the spot. It was either that or re-enact the opening scene to "The Incredible Hulk" T.V. show where David Banner lost his cool changing his tire in the rain. Walking home, I found a guy who repairs and re-sells bikes and sold him mine for $20. I'm guessing I should've gotten at least $100 for it (I had a $300 hybrid), but that's how much I wanted it out of my hands. In the meantime, I'll spend the next 6 months swimming, running, and spin-biking. I'll also be doing research on a new, top-shelf road bike. If there's anyone out there who can guide me to a decent bike store within the 5 boroughs, your help would be appreciated. Pardon me for sounding a bit delusional, but now I know how pro-athletes feel when their season ends early and they're forced to wait an extended period of time to get back to their sport.

Get ready for some good teaching stories...

Temper Tantrums vs. Triathlons. Pick your poison...

I went through a fairly tough moment Sunday. And it wasn't from the rigors of an Olympic tri, nor was it from my 5th grade students. It was from someone diminutive, yet powerful and forceful enough to move mountains if they so please. Today's defeat came from my daughter. Her emotional outbursts whopped my a$$ today. And I learned a valuable lesson from it...


My daughter, whom I affectionately call "Chipmunk" (I woke up one morning to find she left bite marks on the top bars of her crib), is entering the Terrible Two's. Half of her responses center around the word "No". She whines. She has meltdowns. She throws things, like food, toys, and anything else she can get her hands on. It's a sight to see-sometimes. My wife has done a much better job of reading up on how to get toddlers to curtail their crankiness. I strictly follow her lead. This morning, however was one for the birds. I decided to be a good little daddy and take Chipmunk out for a walk while Mom got some rest. I propped in the stroller and made a B-Line for the park. It started off well enough, until she fussed with me when I kept giving her pushes on the swing. I asked her if she wanted to go on the slides. She nodded her head. Just to be sure, I asked again, and she nodded her head. So can someone explain to me why she fell out on the floor and put on a hissy-fit tantrum when I took her out of the swing?

I responded the way I always joked I would respond if my child had a tantrum in public: I left her right where she was and went along my way in the opposite direction. It didn't work the way I hoped it would. She still cried and didn't quite get up. The good news was that since the park was empty, I felt I could use this time to establish some ground rules about how to conduct ourselves in public. The bad news was that there were some women with their kids heading right towards us, about to occupy some park space. How lovely...

I convinced Chipmunk to go back on the swings, but she continued to put on the waterworks. As her waterworks flowed, I couldn't help but notice that next to the swings was a water sprinkler. THAT'S what she wanted. I asked her if she wanted to run in the water. She enthusiastically said yes. Sadly, I had to deliver the bad news that we couldn't do that. And with that came more tantrums and tears. I decided it was time to call it a day, what with the other park-goers gleefully using the swings, smiling away, yet slowly starting to stare at me. Have you ever tried putting a crying, defiant child in a stroller? You'll have more success eating soup with a fork. Honestly, this might've been tougher than the swimming leg of a tri.

I told my wife the story when we got home. She suggested I go online and Google "how to deal with temper tantrums". This some of what I learned:

1) Do NOT give in to her tantrum, whatsoever. Giving in to her screaming, foot-stamping demands lays the groundwork for a screaming, foot-stamping teenager (I knew this already, but reading it was extra reinforcement)

2) Ask her what she wants. Toddlers get tantrums when they cannot convey their feelings and wants into words. As my wife said, "Their comprehension grows faster than their ability to speak".

3) Don't worry about the other people if my child have a public meltdown. My objective was/is to calm my DAUGHTER down, not make the atmosphere pleasant for strangers. I should've found a quiet corner and given her time to regain her composure (Now THIS I didn't know. I will store this and use it for future reference)

4) Offer an alternative to pull her attention from whatever it is that's got her frustrated. Something along the lines of, "No, chipmnk. We can't go in the water. But we can go...." (Again, useful to store).

5) When all else fails, maybe a good 'ol hug will settle the nerves (A hug for ME, not her).

So that was my Sunday morning. I also found out the best time to get a ride around Forest Park is during the early morning hours, between 8-10 a.m. The roads are VERY free.

33 days until the FDNY Tri in Orchard Beach. I'm off to Savannah for a week. The running shoes are packed. My goal is to log 4 miles a day.

How Safe Can We REALLY Be?

Before I begin, I'd like to mention that I've had this blog for a little over a month now. I find it odd that Google hasn't accepted me for their AdSense. Don't they know how BLAND my page looks without some ads for you people to click on? I'm tryin' to get paid here! I've got kids to feed (actually, I have one child, but if you count my dog, then that's two, hence, kids).



On to my thoughts...

I was watching a documentary on Jim McKay, who was a broadcaster for ABC's "Wide World of Sports" from the 1960's to early 2000's. He's also known for covering the 1972 Olympics from Munich, Germany, where 11 members of the Israeli team were kidnapped and ultimately killed. Just before he made the announcement of their death on live television, he referenced a quote that went something along the lines of, "Our biggest dreams and greatest fears are seldom experienced". That quote came to mind this evening when I read a Twitter link on a triathlete who was killed in a race by a drunk driver (http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=10839689). The victim was hit from behind by a man who had a history of DUI's, as well as a suspended license. After the accident, the driver continued on his way-despite the fact that the victim's bike was lodged in the windshield of his car. Then there's the story of the Argentinian who died at last year's NYC Triathlon (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25774529/)


Depending on your religious beliefs, occurrences like these could be chalked up as an example of how the "Lord Giveth and Taketh Away". But in reality, was it their time, or could their accidents have been avoided? Tragic deaths aren't limited to athletes. However, due to the nature of this sport, you have to wonder if there were any precautionary measure that could've been taken to avoid their death. So, seeing as how swimming is my weakest leg, I've decided that next week I'm going to invest in a new product: SwimSafe (http://www.triaids.com/). It's a floatation device that ties around your waist. It kinda looks like something you'd find under your seat on a plane in the event of an emergency. To me, it makes sense to have something that will ease my fears in the big, scary water. Besides, it might get my wife to relax a bit and not worry about me drowning and leaving her a single mother widow. Nothing is sure-proof, but as I teach my students in the classroom, "Confidence is half the battle. The other half is preparation".


Having written all that, here's the contradiction that is my life: I haven't done a lick of training in 2 1/2 weeks. I think my novice head got somewhat lazy and gassed-up over finishing the Mossman Tri in under 2 hours. Geez, you'd think I came back from Kona. My next scheduled race is August 30th in Staten Island (My wife doesn't want me to do the race because, as she put it, "You'll catch something nasty in them waters"). I've got 25 days to get my tukkus in gear. Other than enjoying my summer vacation of nothingness, what's holding me back is the rusty rough patch you hit when you haven't done something in a while. But starting tomorrow morning, I'm getting out there.


Random Thoughts:


*I asked my daughter what sound a dog makes. She said, "Arf, arf, arf". I asked her what sound a cow makes. She said, "Mooooooo". I asked her what sound a pig makes. She said, "Pig, pig, pig". Toddlers rule!!


*I don't understand how one could choose the Iraq-Iran border as the ideal place for hiking. Something is VERY up with that story...

*Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary



This is one of my favorite photos from the 3 bazillion we took that day. Time really flies, man.


*Anybody want to help me create a kick-@ss website? Something that combines my teaching, triathlon and adventures. There are some ideas in my head, but I need guidance on how to get them out.

*Rummaging through Twitter led me to a book review about my high school alma mater. I'm really curious about its content. To my knowledge, there aren't too many books dedicated to the going-on of a high school.

Until next time. Paz a todos los hermanos....