The Potonacs.

I still argue with Jamie about whether his singing group's name should be spelled "Potonacs" or "Potonecs".  It's a pun -- would you expect anything else from Jamie -- having to do with the fact that they are based in D.C. which  is nestled alongside the mighty Potomac River.  I still say it should be the latter.

Anyway, here's a recording of the Potonacs/necs singing a song that I think he added to their repertoire for me.  Because, I love James Taylor (my Berkshire buddy) something fierce.  Jamie denies it, but I know better...

(Click on the little play button below...)

Lonesome Road - Po...

Edited to add: In case the little audio player above doesn't work for some reason and you're in desperate need for acapella (?) here's the "acapella" song (that there is some pretty heavy production) from tonight's Glee.  

We Are Marshall (and Lily).

A few years back, my brother and sister-in-law introduced me to the show, How I Met Your Mother by telling me to watch this video (which I have referenced before in this post.)  I am including it again, because I can still watch it and laugh.

Despite it not being as funny as 30 Rock or Community, or as entertaining as Glee, it still holds a slot on our Tivo.  Mostly because Jamie and I are "Marshall" and "Lily" (only awesomer because we never "took a break" in our relationship).

Now, I know that shows purposely create their characters so that people can relate to them, and Marshall and Lily, in particular, are very relatable.  In fact, I have heard more than one couple say that they were Marshall and Lily -- never mind the fact that they are based on the guy who actually created the show and his wife.  In those situations, I smiled politely and secretly thought to myself that Jamie and I were still more aligned.

• Marshall is Jamie's middle name
• Marshall is an environmental lawyer
• Lily is a elementary school teacher
• Both went to a liberal arts college (albeit, a rival liberal arts college)
• Like us, they dated for 9 years before getting married
• Like Jamie, Marshall comes from a family with 3 tall boys
• Marshall is from Minnesota
• They tend to have their big life events at the same time as us (i.e. wedding, moving, new jobs)
• Lily clearly wears the pants in that relationship

And many other reasons.  The final nail in the "we-are-Marshall-and-Lily" coffin came with the episode a couple weeks back (like I said, we Tivo) when they simultaneously came up with the name "Jamie" as an awesome name.  I agree.

And now, for another uncanny resemblance: a friend of ours visited the Norman Rockwell exhibit that is up here in D.C. and found Jamie's doppleganger on canvas.

Look at him flirting shamelessly with that redhead!

Happy Halloween.

For the record, I got the green light from Jamie to post this Halloween picture.  I find it to be adorably hilarious.

I think it may also be the closest I've ever seen Jamie to being unhappy.  He's just a pretty happy guy.  Also, for some Halloween fun, you may wish to check out this site.  I definitely had some costumes that belonged on that site.  Couldn't dig any of those up...but here is me as a bumblebee.

Rally Call.

A pretty great day for a rally.  It was gorgeous outside -- very crisp and fresh -- and the sun was shining.  It wasn't below freezing like the last time we stood outside on The Mall for a long time.  So, we strolled over to the Capitol and tried to find a place to stand and see the nearest Jumbotron.

Note: the sea of people on the other side of the stage.  Yowzers.

Even better, Marty McFly and Doc Brown came down from NYC to attend with me.  

There were lots and lots (and lots) of people there.  And, I found that -- just like at inauguration -- people were in such good spirits.  It was an important message, and in the end, I'm glad that so many people felt the clarion call to attend.

P.S. How awesome are Jess and Chad's costumes???

A Joke.

A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West.  He slides up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

I just skimmed through a list of the "Top 50 Funniest Jokes Ever Told" and the one above was the only one that got me to chuckle (and it was #44 so that's not a good sign.)  That being said, here is a great joke (for those of you who are craving a little update on the progress of the CUTEST NIECES IN THE WORLD):

You're welcome (...Abby).

Happy Heart.

One of the main reasons I left Baltimore was because of the heartbreak.  I loved my school, I loved my students,  and I felt successful within my classroom.  The problem that I couldn't get past was the uncertainty that surrounded my students when they left my classroom.  There was the chance they would continue their growth with their next teacher, but there was also a chance that they could be placed on the roster of a "lemon".  Every year, I watched and suffered repeated heartbreak at seeing some of my students slide back into bad habits, lose confidence, or end up suspended more and more often.

So I left.  There were many, many other reasons why I left -- we bought a house, the commute was rough, etc. -- but I may have been able to live with those, had it not been for the lemons.  Unfortunately, I felt powerless to stop it.  It was a city-wide...and even nationwide issue.  So I decided to go with charter schools where the school could hire the most-qualified teachers and fire those that did not pull their weight.

Today, DC Prep was in the news again and it made me cry.

The students in that video are largely made up of my former students -- the last class I ever taught.  After all these years, it is wonderful to know that I have passed them along to excellent teachers in 3rd grade, then 4th grade, and now 5th grade.  What is even better is knowing they will get more of the same at least through 8th grade, and very likely through high school and college.  So proud of DC Prep.

One of my teachers always tells her students that they make her heart smile.  My heart is smiling now.

Musket-free Post.

Hop into my time machine and get magically whisked back to a couple weekends ago when Jamie and I decided to spend Columbus Day (or Indigenous People's Day) in Harper's Ferry.  So we hopped into our car and drove over to West Virginia for a glorious autumn afternoon.

And, of course, it being a holiday weekend, there were all sorts of civil war reenactments going on.  Including this one of Jamie pretending to be President.

All in all, a lovely day with my favorite person.  Thanks, Harper's Ferry!

Heroes.

Look!  Prep is in the news!  Aren't our babies adorable?

If you're in the area and would like to volunteer let me know! 

Be The Hero.

Tonight I spoke on a panel for TFA.  It made me realize how long it has been since I have thought back to when I was nervous about my interview, or when I actually got in, and all of the adventures that followed.  Plus, I never would pass up an opportunity to brag on our students.  They are pretty awesome, though.

I got a little thrill seeing all of the eager, young faces eager to take a part in the movement.

Along the same vein, Jamie and I (and Scott!) went to see Waiting for Superman a couple weeks back.  Our School Board hosted a private screening for staff and friends.  And I know that I have posted the trailer on here before, but I'm doing it again...

Because, seriously, if you haven't seen the movie yet...you should.  As an added bonus, when you buy your ticket online, you actually get a $15 gift certificate to spend at Donorschoose -- which is an awesome organization and is the source for many grants I have received in the past...and actually have many of you to thank for the generous donations!  (Thanks!)  

As a sidenote, Davis Guggenheim allegedly told one of our Board Members that if he had the chance to do the movie all over, he would have included DC Prep in the schools he followed.  I take it with a grain of salt, but still fun to think of...

Speaking of which, if anyone is local to DC, DC Prep will be on the news again next Tuesday...at 6am...got a DVR?

Another Fine Day in Our Nation's Capital.

Oh boy, do I love long weekends!  They are very much worth the pain and sorrow of having to return to work.

I do have plenty to share -- most of it not all that exciting, but I will have to parcel out to several days rather than try to cover it all at once.  Jamie and I are trying to turn over a new leaf and get to bed at a reasonable hour these days.  We gotta be in bed by 10:30!  But, you can stay tuned for: (a la Friends)

• The One Where Jamie is Handy
• The One With the Muskets
• The One with the Panel
• The One with the Rally
• The One with Superman
• The One with the Transformers

I'll actually start with the last one, because it is the mystery that has been bugging me all day.

Jamie and I live on an Emergency Thruway -- meaning we're among the first streets to get plowed, and that we have emergency vehicles going up and down it like nobody's business.  That said, we are pretty used to hearing sirens and firetrucks whizzing past our house.  It doesn't really bug us anymore.  But this morning...

This morning, we had sirens blasting for a solid half hour and I counted more than a dozen emergency vehicles go past our house.  It was enough for me to get out of bed and check the computer for any breaking news regarding an attack on the Capitol and think about whether we should close the windows to combat a biological attack of some kind (as if it would help).  Some story about how Transformers 3 would be filming in the area and shutting down streets around town for the next week or so.  Aside from being bummed that I couldn't be inconvenienced for a better movie, I thought nothing of it.

When my friend, Kayla, (hi Kayla!) mentioned that Bumblebee (a Transformer??) was in an accident with a police car today, I immediately pictured some giant Transformer animatronic something or other crushing a police cruiser...something like this:

It did not occur to me that movies these days actually do most of that stuff with computers.  So, in fact, the accident looked more like this*:

Apparently, the police SUV was responding to a bomb scare somewhere on the Hill (which Jamie insists are a weekly thing) and did not get the memo about the streets being closed for filming.  I wonder if he noticed that something was off when he saw the giant Optimus Prime tractor-trailer passing by.  Fortunately, the police officer was okay -- minor injuries -- and no bomb went off on the Hill, and my mystery from this morning was solved.

*If you watch the full video here, you can see how sad it is when they totally have 7 people attending to the Transformers car while only one guy is checking on the police officer (only after seeing the fancy car first.)  

Another Year, Another Go.

In an effort not to stay up way too late and wake up the next morning in a complete funk, I am posting from work!  No worries, kids have been safely dismissed and I'm just taking a mini-break before my next meeting.

I know it's been less than a year, but the OK Go! guys put out a new video today.  I figured, since I had made a little tradition out of posting them on here, I wouldn't stop now.

What would have been really impressive was if they did this with cats.  Or porcupines.  (No.  I'm still impressed.  Apparently, this was Take 74 or 75...)

Back to work.

All Work and No Play...

...makes for a very boring blog.

The trouble with spending over 12 hours at work, then an additional 4 hours working from home every night, is that there is nothing to blog about except work.  Put into that the fact that it is generally not a good idea to blog about work and the blank screen staring back at me gets pretty intimidating.

(Don't worry about me -- I whine, but I do get to do fun things too!  Thanks for the post-work dinner, Kayla!  Ooh!  And thanks brunch on Sunday, Lindsay and Connie!)

Anyway, I realized that I never finished the Wedding Trivia -- so here is the final question:


What is Melissa’s favorite phrase that she picked up from her students?

a)      You big baldheaded boy!

b)     What d’do shorty?

c)     Oh-wah!

d)     I didn’t do nothin’! 

To be honest, I don't actually know which one I would have listed as my answer -- I actually hated ALL of these because of how many times I had to hear them.  If it is based on the phrase that I adopted as my own, it would have to be option "c".  The "Oh-wah!" is a perfect expression of shock at an "unjustified" accusation.  Of course, "unjustified" is in quotes because it was ALWAYS justified.  Always.

In Baltimore at the beginning of the decade, "a" was the worst insult one 3rd grader could throw at another 3rd grader.  And "d" gives me indigestion just to think of...I had to listen to "I didn't do nothin'" about 25 times a day.  *shudder*

And so ends wedding trivia.  Can't believe it took me so long to get around to finishing that up...hooray for procrastination...and now: bed.

A Concerted Effort.

Despite the craziness that is work right now, I'm going to make a concerted effort to blog more.  It seems like all around me things have been happening -- people are suffering loss, people are celebrating successes, people are moving away, people are multiplying, people are hitting milestones -- and it makes me remember why I wanted to have this blog in the first place: to keep in touch with friends.

Now more than ever, as I get more and more of my time swallowed up by work, it is important that I leave this trail of breadcrumbs behind me as I go.  As has been established in past blog posts, I am terrible at keeping in touch with friends -- no matter how dear they are to me.  So, if I haven't spoken to you in a long time, just know that I'm alive and well!  While I may not be able to swing a post a day for 30 days, I'll definitely try to do much better than the post a month as of late.

No Spoonful of Sugar.

Too tired to post anything of substance -- it's been exhausting at work lately.  But, I'm still alive!  And well!  Just super-busy.  And now, a video of a puppy taking some medicine.  We've all been there little Spanish-speaking puppy...we just don't look as adorable when rejecting icky food.

A real post soon.

Emerging.

I am emerging from my blog silence.  A couple reasons for this: 1) my parents are out of the country and I bet they are checking my blog for updates while they are in Peru and 2) I was encouraged to "breathe, then blog" by a colleague at work (who I didn't know knew I had a blog.)  I started this blog as a way to keep in touch with people -- or rather, for them to keep in touch with me -- while I was across the country in Massachusetts.  It's kind of sad to think that my work schedule is such that it has now become a way to keep in touch with people who are across the building.  Bum bum.

Still, it's worth it right now!  Our kiddies started up again this past week and things seem to be going pretty well.  By day two, the kids were looking great walking in the hall, the teachers are on top of their game, and we are already moving pretty quickly towards our goals.  Feels good!

I promise, I'm almost done bragging about our kids and teachers, but I have to get one last one in there.  After all of the District's test scores were released, our Assessment Associate pored over them in order to run some comparisons.

• In the end we found that overall, our 3rd through 8th graders performed over 35% better than the average for all DC public schools and public charter schools.  
• Our middle school is ranked #3 in reading and #4 in math for overall student performance (and that includes schools that have very different or "traditionally high-performing" demographics then ours).
• Our middle school is #1 in reading and #2 in math in overall student performance among the "disadvantaged" demographic.  
• Our 8th graders -- those who have been with us the longest -- are the highest performing students in the city.  (You can't get much better than 100% proficiency.)

I see how hard our students and our teachers work every day and it is the most motivating thing...

Is It Wrong...

...that as someone who works in a public charter school I can totally relate to the dog owner in this video?  Constantly encouraging kids/people...making excuses...not getting much back in return.  Although, I can probably relate to that dog too...(disclaimer: there is some foul language and a pooping dog in this video.)

It's been a very long week.  Students returned to school and it has been early mornings and late nights*.  Totally worth it, though...but I'm going to get into that in a later post.  For now, I need to finish up reviewing these lesson plans before I can start packing for our quick trip to New York!

*I am so sleep-deprived that this video made me laugh so hard that I cried.  

Pacey-Con.

Stumbled upon this today.  As you know, in my youth (er...and my adult life) I was a big fan of Pacey...So I enjoyed this.

Pacey-Con with Joshua Jackson from Joshua Jackson

I would totally go to Pacey-Con.  Drew...you game?

Can't Resist.

Hope my brother and sister-in-law don't mind me posting the latest nieces video despite them being the tub -- because, holy moly: my nieces are smart/adorable/beautiful/articulate/etc.

I have watched this video a ridiculous number of times today.  My favorite parts are Leah's attempts to cut the time short (i.e. "three? four? FIVELEAHTURN!!!") and Riley's simple "No! no." response.  And of course, Leah's sighing "fiiiiive" (at 0:47) and passing off the bucket to her sister.  

Baby geniuses.

Bowl-rack O-bowl-ma.

For the record, Jamie made me write that title.

In my continued effort to catch everyone up with the happenings of the past couple months, I want to share a few pictures from our most recent adventure to The White House.  Earlier this summer - late June, I think - a friend of ours invited us to go bowling at the White House bowling alley.  Jamie made sure to use the opportunity to ham it up for the cameras.

He's supposedly holding back W's ball.

Guhlers Goodness.

Work is really, really busy right now.  I haven't gotten to post about some of the happenings over here lately.  Since tonight was a pretty late night at work, I left my computer there and gave myself the rest of the night off.  So tonight, I will share some pictures of the fun we had in Olean, NY a couple weekends back celebrating the first year of marriage of our friends Ari and Heather.  (They had gotten married very quickly last year and did not have a wedding to celebrate it with friends then.)

It was fun times!

 It was a gorgeous day -- sunny in the afternoon during the ceremony, and after the sun went down, we got a big thunderstorm that put on a great electrical show over the mountains in the evening.  We played Cornhole (which I guess is just a beanbag toss) and caught up with friends...saw plenty of hilarious dancing...it was a pretty great night.