I am grateful for both.
Following a fast-paced first week of training, I have been very happy enjoying my break from coursework this weekend. It has been a nice 48 hours or so to recuperate. Friday, instead of coursework, we were assigned to visit the neighborhood of where we will be working in the fall or classroom teaching during the summer. While in the area, we were supposed to make some anthropological and ethnographic observations.
Instead of just taking the train, I decided to ride my bike to the area of my high school - midtown Manhattan. What a rush. While 8th avenue may have "bike lanes," they are rarely left unobstructed thanks to stopping cabs and double-parked cars. Most of the time, one must dart in and out of traffic to continue down the avenue. While exciting, it was nice to leave midtown and head to the west side for a leisurely ride down the park along the river.
Yesterday, I went for another biking excursion in the city. Up 6th and 8th aves from 14th st to Central Park I rode. I took the main road all the way through and around Central Park and it was absolutely beautiful. Afterwards, while heading back downtown via 5th avenue, the ride was not as smooth as it had been. While staying to the left on the avenue (there was no bike lane in that area) a car decided to stop short as it turned onto a side street just before the crosswalk. This would normally make perfect sense.
Funny though, that a car would stop for a crosswalk when no pedestrian are in it. So as the car stopped and I continued, I quickly gripped my brakes as hard as I could and skidded right into the rear bumper of a silver Altima. Luckily, I wasn't going fast enough to cause any damage to either party, although I think my few choice words may have caused some emotional damage to the driver. Learn how to drive.
Otherwise, I'm finding that biking is a great leisurely activity. With Sunday here and storm clouds lingering, I'm not sure if I will bike again today or stay in and write my ethnographic paper for tomorrow. Either way, I am fully bracing myself for the busy week ahead.
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Immersion Training, Stipend Checks & Bikes
Contrary to the title, finishing immersion training and my bicycle purchase are entirely unrelated.
In training yesterday, we gave small group presentations on our evaluation of a sort of packaged lesson plan kit for various subjects. My groups subject and kit was a SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Program) kit intended to be used to teach major concepts about evolution. The kit is supposed to come with everything a teacher needs to teach a lesson on different subjects including workbooks, teacher's manual and supplies. Overall, I found the kits to be rather contrived and poor quality to actually teach such subjects in an engaging way. Unfortunately, these kits are already being implemented in NYC's public schools. Maybe these work overall to improve student achievement when implemented, but real life science is not a kit, so why on earth would we teach it like that? - Just my opinion.
On Thursday, all of the science and math immersion fellows were delighted to receive the first portion of the summer stipend of $1,000. Needless to say, I was happy to have an income again. Also, a small extra perk is that the checks were from Chase, which happens to be my bank, so I did not have to wait for the check to clear.
Lastly, I've been considering purchasing a bike to either commute (probably not) or just go around town on. While it's a nice idea to be active in my self-transportation, the potential disastrous accidents while biking absolutely terrifies me. However, this fear was not enough to stop me from purchasing a bike. I went to a bike shop on 14th st near 1st ave and test rode a three of the same brand - Dahon. Dahon typically does not sell standard bikes; most of them are foldable. As dorky as it may seem to have a bike with 20" wheels being folded up at the train station, I really don't mind losing a small amount of dignity for a large amount of convenience. The bike is actually quite comfortable and convenient. There's even a tired pump IN the seat! It's about 23 pounds also, so I can carry it without breaking my back, although not much further than a few blocks. Ideally I would ride this to work, but somehow I think I would be far too sweaty by the end of my ride, which itself would be far too long for a daily commute. Maybe I'll start riding in my down time and then see if I want to step it up a bit later. If all goes well, my new bike will come with a more active and healthy lifestyle (hopefully!).
In training yesterday, we gave small group presentations on our evaluation of a sort of packaged lesson plan kit for various subjects. My groups subject and kit was a SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Program) kit intended to be used to teach major concepts about evolution. The kit is supposed to come with everything a teacher needs to teach a lesson on different subjects including workbooks, teacher's manual and supplies. Overall, I found the kits to be rather contrived and poor quality to actually teach such subjects in an engaging way. Unfortunately, these kits are already being implemented in NYC's public schools. Maybe these work overall to improve student achievement when implemented, but real life science is not a kit, so why on earth would we teach it like that? - Just my opinion.
On Thursday, all of the science and math immersion fellows were delighted to receive the first portion of the summer stipend of $1,000. Needless to say, I was happy to have an income again. Also, a small extra perk is that the checks were from Chase, which happens to be my bank, so I did not have to wait for the check to clear.
Lastly, I've been considering purchasing a bike to either commute (probably not) or just go around town on. While it's a nice idea to be active in my self-transportation, the potential disastrous accidents while biking absolutely terrifies me. However, this fear was not enough to stop me from purchasing a bike. I went to a bike shop on 14th st near 1st ave and test rode a three of the same brand - Dahon. Dahon typically does not sell standard bikes; most of them are foldable. As dorky as it may seem to have a bike with 20" wheels being folded up at the train station, I really don't mind losing a small amount of dignity for a large amount of convenience. The bike is actually quite comfortable and convenient. There's even a tired pump IN the seat! It's about 23 pounds also, so I can carry it without breaking my back, although not much further than a few blocks. Ideally I would ride this to work, but somehow I think I would be far too sweaty by the end of my ride, which itself would be far too long for a daily commute. Maybe I'll start riding in my down time and then see if I want to step it up a bit later. If all goes well, my new bike will come with a more active and healthy lifestyle (hopefully!).
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