"I like songs about drifters - books about the same. They both seem to make me feel a little less insane. Walked on off to another spot. I still haven't gotten anywhere that I want. Did I want love? Did I need to know? Why does it always feel like I'm caught in an undertow?
The moths beat themselves to death against the lights. Adding their breeze to the summer nights. Outside, water like air was great. I didn't know what I had that day. Walk a little farther to another plan. You said that you did, but you didn't understand.
I know that starting over is not what life's about. But my thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth. My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth. My thoughts were so loud." ~modest mouse

Things are crazy at school right now. I was there for ten hours on Thursday and ten more hours today, going through professional development workshop stuff and then working on my classroom. I've spent more than five hours putting together my classroom library and it's still not completely finished yet. I spent hours just putting up my bulletin boards (not even decorating them, just covering them with paper and borders). I feel like there's so much I need to do before school starts, and I don't have any more time; school starts on Tuesday and I won't be going back to the school before then. Oh, and I'm teaching Social Studies as well (I just found out). They're having sixth grade ELA teachers teach their classes Social Studies as well. It seems like that should be something they tell you when they hire you, but apparently not. I'm actually really excited about it, though. I was a history minor in college; I love history. I think it'll be fun. The assistant principal, who's really nice, said she'll work with us on planning and stuff. I think the curriculum is centered around something like ancient civilizations and world cultures.
There are two other sixth grade ELA/Social Studies teachers. One of them is Victoria, the girl I met on my first day of new-teacher orientation at the school; she just graduated in May and moved to NYC this summer, and we get along very well. She was initially scheduled to teach seventh grade ELA, but she was moved to sixth grade. The other teacher is a great guy who taught sixth grade last year at this school and is going to be a wonderful resource for me; he's already started giving me lots of advice and has assured me and Victoria that we'll work together in planning. So far I'm very pleased with the support system that it seems like I'll have. That doesn't mean I'm not nervous, though. No matter how much support I have, I'll still be the one standing in the front of that classroom, responsible for those kids. And there's a lot of pressure to improve ELA scores this year. We got some data and all of my kids except for one are at a failing ELA level coming into the school year. I need to raise them up. Which will not be easy. But I'm going to work hard.

On Wednesday I got in line at the Public Theater at 6:30am and waited for Shakespeare in the Park tickets for Nic and I (which were given out at 1:00pm). I got third row seats for that night, directly in the center of the theater. We had a perfect view. The six-and-a-half hour wait was totally worth it. I've seen four or five different productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, but this was by far the best (of course that was expected, because it's the Public's Shakespeare in the Park). A Midsummer Night's Dream is now without a doubt my favorite Shakespeare play. It's the perfect play for a summer evening performance in Central Park. We also had the perfect night for it; there was a slight breeze, the moon was glowing, and the sky was clear. I thought the set was great; the centerpiece (pretty much the only set piece) was a huge, whimsical tree that contributed positively to the action and the atmosphere but didn't detract from what was going on. The costumes were Victorian and absolutely wonderful. I'm in agreement with the New York TImes review that the rude mechanicals (the actors putting on a play within the play) were the focus and the best part of the production. They had me in stitches; I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Jay O. Sanders plays one of them, and he's absolutely hilarious. He's such a good actor and this part is perfect for him. Jesse Tyler Ferguson is equally hilarious. They worked well together. Martha Plimpton (as Helena) was another standout performer. She's very funny. Nic said that although Martha Plimpton been in over 35 movies, she (Nic) will always think of The Goonies when she sees her (who could forget The Goonies?). I was able to see her completely as Helena and thought she fully inhabited the character. She was very feisty. This Shakespeare in the Park show doesn't have one single standout star like many of the organization's past shows, but it has a very strong ensemble consisting of many well-known actors (Jay O. Sanders, Martha Plimpton, Keith David, Jason Antoon, and more). I think it's a very good production. I especially loved the ending; Puck sings his final monologue to a simple yet moving melody that I couldn't get out of my head for the rest of the night. I needed a break from thinking about school, and this play provided me with the perfect escape.