Well the week of Halloween has come and gone. It was a fun week. On Halloween, we had our "character" parade at school. (I love when schools do sneaky thing to get around weird religious blah). I had 9 kids absent that day. You see, in the Bronx Halloween is a big gang initiation day where new gang members have to do crazy things to be initiated, so parents are notorious about keeping their kids home that day. Needless to say, I couldn't really teach any planned lessons because their were so many kids out. YAH!! We just had so much fun. We did pumpkin number problems, and sequenced the story "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat" and if they got all 8 things she ate they got a prize. Then we wrote spooky stories in the afternoon. Then at the end of the day they got to trick or treat with Mr. Robbins, which basically meant that they walked up to me said "trick or treat" and I gave them a bunch of candy. It was fun. It was the first time I have ever been able to teach a holiday at school so I took full advantage. I dressed up as the man in the yellow hat from curious george, and I have to say without coming off too braggy...I WAS A HIT!! It was such a fun day at P.S. 163.
That night we went to the famous West Village Halloween parade. I was so excited but I have to tell you I was a little disappointed. For this being NYC, I had big expectations for the event. I mean this is the town that holds the Macy's Day Parade and one of the biggest gay pride parades in the world. But, with a frowning heart, I must say that the Village Halloween parade just didn't add up. Oh bother... :)
The week ended well. I had another professional development day at Teacher's College at Columbia, and last night we went and explored an area of Brooklyn called Williamsburg. It was pretty groovy. It is up and coming and we had some great Chinese food. This weekend I am going to rest. Supposedly we are getting a huge rain storm with high winds but it doesnt look bad yet. Anyway, have a great weekend and talk to you soon.
