Ok fine, water’s not that crazy (but, if you want to make it crazier, you can infuse it with fruit!). The good ol’ H2O is really important, though. I’m not going to go into the benefits because as a mature adult, you should really know why you should drink it. But HOW should you drink it? I’m all for spending a little extra money on something that is good for your health, and buying yourself a comical water bottle just may be the ticket to everlasting hydration.

Here are some ridiculous water bottles that will surely remind you to drink up throughout the day. I couldn’t help but include some nerdy teacher wish list items

From left: I got 99 problems but my swag ain’t one (my students would love this); I like big books and I cannot lie; Weapons of math destruction; and though she be but little, she is fierce (Shakespeare); I’m silently correcting your grammar; Sweat is just fat crying; ain’t nobody got time for that; Punch today in the face; Pair of blue-footed boobys; like!

Which is your favorite? I think I have to go with…I like big books and I cannot lie!

[I first want to say - today my thoughts and prayers go out to those in Boston who were effected by the bombings. It's especially troubling because the Boston Marathon isn't only an American event; it's an iconic world event. Stay safe and remember to be grateful for who and what you have every day.]

While perusing the good old Facebook this weekend, I saw that a former colleague of mine posted this op-ed from the NY Times: “Teachers: Will We Ever Learn?” This was good mind-timing for me because all things standardized testing are on my brain as the new Common Core state test debuts in New York this week. With debates over testing come debates over the teaching profession and our education system as a whole. As this article asserts, “America’s overall performance in K-12 education remains stubbornly mediocre.” ‘Tis true, and unfortunately it’s all my fault! I don’t get to school at 7am every day, or stay after for various meetings, or work several hours each weekend (that was a joke – indeed I do!); yet I, and all teachers in urban public schools, suck! Enough of this rant — the point is that our mediocre education system is a reflection on the system, not solely teachers. The excerpt below particularly resonated with me, but I encourage you to read the article and weigh in on what it will take for the American education system to improve.

HERE’S what the old debates have overlooked: How schools are organized, and what happens in classrooms, hasn’t changed much in the century since the Progressive Era. On the whole, we still have the same teachers, in the same roles, with the same level of knowledge, in the same schools, with the same materials, and much the same level of parental support.

Call it the industrial-factory model: power resides at the top, with state and district officials setting goals, providing money and holding teachers accountable for realizing predetermined ends. While rational on its face, in practice this system does not work well because teaching is a complex activity that is hard to direct and improve from afar. The factory model is appropriate to simple work that is easy to standardize; it is ill suited to disciplines like teaching that require considerable skill and discretion.

Teaching requires a professional model, like we have in medicine, law, engineering, accounting, architecture and many other fields. In these professions, consistency of quality is created less by holding individual practitioners accountable and more by building a body of knowledge, carefully training people in that knowledge, requiring them to show expertise before they become licensed, and then using their professions’ standards to guide their work.

This eloquently expresses my main frustration with my profession: that we are supposed to be educating our future doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc., yet we are often treated as factory workers in this industry-factory model. Teachers are expected to churn out test scores that meet or exceed the standards with little support or incentive. People from the State and City come in and see one lesson in isolation and deem us ineffective (not always, of course, but it definitely happens). No one is perfect and many teachers, including myself, have a lot to work on, but I do believe we need to view this as a systemic issue. Another point that drove it home for me is this one about the quality of teachers in America:

In the nations that lead the international rankings — Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Finland, Canada — teachers are drawn from the top third of college graduates, rather than the bottom 60 percent as is the case in the United States. Training in these countries is more rigorous, more tied to classroom practice and more often financed by the government than in America. There are also many fewer teacher-training institutions, with much higher standards. (Finland, a perennial leader in the P.I.S.A. rankings, has eight universities that train teachers; the United States has more than 1,200.)

The bottom 60%? This is sad. But on a positive note, I love what I do a little bit more each day (ok maybe each year ) and this crap won’t stop me, for now. Ideally, our schools will ALL eventually have “a clear mission, talented teachers, time for teachers to work together, longer school days or after-school programs, [and] feedback cycles that lead to continuing improvements.”

On my spring break this past week, I traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with a few teacher friends. Between beach drinks, laughing at/with college spring breakers, and eating fish tacos, we had a few life chats and I inherited an exciting new bucket list idea from my friend Tim. A couple of years ago, he made a list of 30 things he wanted to do before turning 30. I did some research and found that many bloggers and Pinteresters (pinners?) have made this kind of list, too.

With the start of a new year (I turn 26 in a few weeks), I figured I should do the same. I never want to look back on my twenties — a time with minimal responsibility and lots of energy — and think, I wish I had ____ . I’m sure I will modify and maybe add to my list, but it’s a way to set goals and dream up adventures for the next few years. I’d like to involve family, friends, and boyfriend in many of these, which will make it even more fun! I hope you’ll be inspired to make a list of your own.

In no particular order…

1) Go skydiving

2) Visit a new continent (so far I’ve been to North America, Central America, and Europe)

3) Start investing

4) Take a family vacation (this hasn’t happened in far too long!)

5) Take classes toward a second Master’s or Ph.D.

6) Master headstand and handstand in yoga without the wall

7) Read 2 books per month

8) Change up my look (bangs? hair color?)

9) Volunteer locally and/or internationally

10) Take a road trip within the U.S.

11) Try a new water sport (stand-up paddle board, kayaking, wake boarding, or surfing – I “surfed” in Hawaii but it doesn’t count b/c I pretty much just paddled )

12) Teach high school

13) Plan a “New York-y” date night for my BF every month

14) Go vegetarian for one month

15) Try boxing

16) Take a wine class

17) Complete a 30-day hot yoga challenge

18) Try acupuncture

19) Buy a real bed (yes, I still have my metal-frame, double-sized bed from my college apartment)

20) Do something crafty (make a gallery wall, paint furniture…I don’t know how to do crafty things!)

21) Get some real cookware/kitchen gadgets (Le Creuset? A Vitamix? Even just a Crockpot!)

22) Run a race in a different country

23) Eat brunch in a new-to-me neighborhood in each NYC borough

24) Learn how to drive stick shift

25) Move to a new city

26) Find my ideal everyday perfume

27) Build a bar in my apartment (get a bar cart, legit liquors, and bar tools; make adult cocktails)

28) Take a salsa dancing class

29) Get a dog

30) Throw a (theme) party [for my 30th?? ]

If you make a list, please share in the comments!!

Happiness is really in right now. I guess it has been for a while, with books like The Happiness Project, Eat, Pray, Love, The Secret, and even films such as Happy (has anyone seen that? I would like to). Everyone seems to be exploring how to live your best life, achieve balance, and find happiness in work, relationships, and all that jazz. I can’t say I’m not intrigued, considering I just spent about 15 minutes taking a quiz on the website Find Your Spot to find out which places in the U.S. would be best for me to live (sorry, Hartford and Little Rock, but I don’t want to live in you. I’ll take you, San Diego and Honolulu).

Beyond the trend, I would argue that happiness is extremely important. It sounds like common sense, but how often do you hear people say that they need to make more money, get a bigger apartment, have more/better clothes, get the perfect bf/gf…how often have you said it? I’m guilty. It feels like those things will bring happiness, although it’s possible that happiness is much simpler than that. I read a Forbes article yesterday by Jason Nazar, an entrepreneur (co-founder and CEO of Docstoc) who explains that accomplishment is the driving force in his profession, but what about while we’re waiting to be accomplished? He writes:

“If I accomplished everything I wanted in life, how would I feel?  And could I let myself feel that now, while I’m still striving for my goals?”  Discovering these questions was profound for me, albeit still struggling to apply the answers.

Anyone chasing something big in his or her life can relate.  We simultaneously feel special but alone in our sense of purpose.  And we sometimes complicate feeling the simple emotion of happiness.  So one night at dinner with my then girlfriend (now fiancé) I made a list of all the things that make me happy.  I called it “My 6 Happiness’s”, the list has grown since then, and I’m going to share in its original and amended form.

It’s really hard for me to overlook the improper use of the apostrophe, but I do like his 6 happinesses and believe that everyone should create their own list. I’ve summarized each in parentheses.

1) Growing Towards My Destiny (Allowing the fear that accompanies pursuit to bring you satisfaction – he says, “Pleasure and happiness are not the same.”)

2) Feeling of Empathy (Spending the most time with the few people who truly understand you)

3) Entertaining/Teaching (Making others laugh, teaching something that improves others’ lives, i.e. “Mastering Public Speaking”)

4) Being Loved (Support and encouragement from your S.O. To me this can be as simple as, “Wow you look hot” when I’m carrying a backpack and have Mr. Sketch marker all over my hands)

5) In Work-Flow/Creating (Losing track of time as you’re engaged in something you love; creating something new – he says, “…the joy of creation is only punctuated by completion, it’s fueled by concentration”)

6) Ego/Female (or male) Energy (Apparently this is aimed at dudes – “learning to harness [appropriately] our complimentary sexual energy and feed our ego” – unclear on how to summarize this)

[He includes an addendum with camaraderie, physical discipline, and children].

Were you waiting for my list of happinesses? Good, because I made one. Here it is. It is very short and sweet, and I don’t intend to add to it until I’m able to remember to relish in these every day.

1) Challenging myself: It’s easy for everyone, including myself, to stick to a routine and stay inside the proverbial comfort zone. From time to time, I feel really good when I challenge myself to do something more difficult or completely new: crow pose (I finally did it last night for more than 1 second!), starting a blog that 5-7 people read , trying a teaching strategy that may not work – anything really. These are little things but they bring me joy.

2) Doing things because I can: I know I’ve technically been an adult for some time, but occasionally I realize how awesome it is that I can just make decisions without consulting anyone. I can go on vacation without checking with an elder, I can watch multiple hours of TV without being scolded (but don’t do that kids, it rots your brain cells!), and I don’t have to tell anyone what time I’ll be home. I realize how juvenile/ridiculous this sounds as a grown woman (ahh! scary), but “you’re not the boss of me!” and it makes me smile. Love you, mom and dad.

3) Growing old with my friends: What I mean is, getting to know my friends from childhood and college in the adult world. While we shared Snack Packs as kids and certain beverages as college students, we aren’t exactly the same people we were when we became friends. As we grow up, we figure out whom we will be friends with forever, what those people’s interests are, how amazing they are at really cool things/jobs, and what they’re like outside of those little contextual worlds from yesteryear. It brings me a lot of happiness to spend time with my favorite people.

[My addendums: chunky babies, golden retriever puppies, making up stories in my head about people on the subway, Jewel]

Ok, go! Write your list of happinesses and share it in the comments below. Come on, all 5-7 of you who read this! 

[Disclaimer: I am not a fitness expert, personal trainer, yoga teacher, or anyone that can speak scientifically about fitness. I'm just sharing personal opinions and preferences based on my experiences.]

I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy yoga; I mainly do Vinyasa style in a normal-temperature atmosphere…however, I have dabbled in different types of HOT yoga since I was in college. Actually, the first kind of yoga I did regularly was hot! It was Bikram. But what does that mean, and is it good for you?! Can’t you die in a room that’s 105 degrees? WHAT ARE TOXINS?! These are questions I’ve asked and that I’m sure many non-hot-yogis are wondering. Here’s a little breakdown of the hot yoga styles I have tried, with my personal opinions on each:

Bikram Yoga

What is it? Whatup, Bikram Choudhury. You are kind of insane, but a lot of people really love you and, I’d argue, even worship you. You even call your 105-degree yoga rooms “torture chambers.” From Bikram Yoga NYC’s website:

Bikram Yoga is a series of twenty-six Hatha Yoga postures and two Pranayama breathing techniques designed to provide a challenging, invigorating, rejuvenating and effective yoga experience. During this 90-minute class, you will work every muscle, tendon, ligament, joint and internal organ in the entire body, giving you an incredible sense of well being.

Thoughts: Like I said, Bikram is cray. But in a good way, kind of! I really enjoyed taking Bikram classes during summers home from college and even back at school. I also went to some when I moved to NYC. I like and dislike Bikram, though, for the same reason: it’s the same every time. Knowing exactly what to expect is sometimes nice. The series of postures is also great if you want to see yourself improving — I remember struggling with many postures at first, but over time, I got better with practice and that brought me a sense of accomplishment. However, it can be a snoozefest if you have time to think about that in between sweating your a*s off and locking your knees. I like variation in my workouts. Back to locking your knees…the Bikramites make you do this in certain poses and it felt really unnatural to me. Maybe because I have hyperextended knees. So I did some research and found that what the instructors mean is to keep your legs stable and firm without hyperextending. An article on Livestrong.com explains:

When performing poses in yoga that require a significant amount of weight to be placed on one or both of your legs, avoid locking the knee or knees. Doing so will over stretch the ligaments in the knees and weaken the quadricep muscles, eventually leading to hyperextension. Instead, lift the quadricep muscle to activate stability in the joint. Also, keep your arch activated on your foot. Doing so will make it extremely difficult to lock your knee. If you stand with your arch flattened, locking the knee is almost automatic.

Also, this What Sucks blog post made me laugh: “Perhaps Bikram just isn’t for me. But come on, who’s it for? People who say ‘Hey yoga’s cool but I wish we could do it in a sauna, in the earth’s core…at high noon!’?”

Cost: (NYC studios) $25 per class, $185 month unlimited (other packages available as well)

Moksha Yoga

What is it? Hi Canada. Yoga, eh? Moksha Hot Yoga is a group of independent and green yoga studios that originated in Canada. In addition to regular Moksha classes (intention-setting, 40-posture standing and floor series, ending in a savasana), studios offer options such as Moksha Flow, Hot Yin, Yang Yin, and Karma classes that benefit local charities. Classes are between 60 and 90 minutes. From Moksha Yoga NYC website:

Moksha Yoga is a green, clean, hot yoga series that stretches, strengthens and tones the muscles while detoxifying the body and calming the mind.  While all classes are rooted in the Moksha Yoga series, teachers are encouraged to bring their own unique knowledge and experience every time they enter the room to teach.  If you’re interested in how this sweaty community works, check out our 7 Pillars page to get a sense of what we stand for.

Thoughts: I just got a deal that the studios offer for new students ($40 for 30 days unlimited) and I’ve only been to 3 classes, but so far I really like it. I definitely like it better than Bikram, as it feels much more intuitive in terms of movement. I’ve tried Moksha and Moksha Flow, both of which incorporated Vinyasas and fluid movements. The teachers seem to use their own style and change it up, and also include ab work which is a nice bonus. I felt challenged but was encouraged to move safely in each class. Another perk: the space is really beautiful, clean, open, and there are showers and lockers.

Cost: (NYC studio) $20 per class, $130 month/unlimited or $160 with mat/towel rental (also student rates)

Hot Vinyasa (YTTP Style)

What is it? Thank you, Yoga to the People, for providing yoga classes at a reasonable rate. I will take a $5 yoga class to a $200 monthly rate any day! Except when I’m really rich (from teaching the youth, obviously), at which point I might go somewhere fancy. The different YTTP studios offer various kinds of yoga (including “traditional hot yoga” which was actually kind of “stolen” from Bikram, and there was a lawsuit), but I like their hot Vinyasa classes, which, as the name suggests, are pretty much Vinyasa flow classes in a hot room. From the website:

Our power vinyasa flow classes are inspired by Bryan Kest, a profound teacher who has found the balance between effort, awareness and breath. The emphasis is on you, not on any particular teacher.

Power Vinyasa classes are vigorous, yet accessible. They utilize fluid transitions from pose to pose, seamlessly linking body, breath, and movement.

Thoughts: I love that these classes are 60 minutes and that the teachers kind of let you do your thing. It’s no frills but it gets the job done, especially when you’re low on funds and want to practice yoga with unpretentious folks. I also like the overall mission of this studio: accessibility. The classes do get crowded due to the low cost, but that’s mainly during “rush hour” times. I know there are a ton of versions of hot Vinyasa classes and it seems to vary by studio, so I’d love to try some different ones in the future. This is a great place to start if you’re new to hot yoga!

Cost: (NYC YTTP) $5 per class (the costs of the studios and classes vary; some are donation)

Have you ever done hot yoga? What’s your favorite style? 

I’m back once again from a brief hiatus — and what a fitting post title, right?! (If this is your first time reading, I gave the site a little image makeover thanks to Lucy’s header design).

So, I really enjoy Ted Talks and recently came across this one from model Cameron Russell. In the past decade, she has modeled for Victoria’s Secret, Chanel, DVF, Prada, Ralph Lauren…the list goes on…and has appeared in many magazines. She’s gorgeous, has a lucrative career, and upon further research it appears that her mother (Robin Chase) is the founder of Zipcar! Everything seems well in her world. And I’m sure it is…she doesn’t seem like a miserable person, but she sheds light on the privilege that genetic lottery and legacy have afforded her and many women. She emphasizes the power of image by explaining the perks that come with beauty (speeding ticket write-offs, free clothes), but also, that those modeling photos are not of her. My favorite part was the side-by-side images she displayed of herself as a regular kid and a sultry, not-at-all-a-kid glamazon, taken within days of one another.

I found this talk to be refreshing (just hearing a model talk is new) and was surprised that it carries a bit of a shock value in the mention of gender, race, and body image and the statistics included. The fact that nearly 80% of teenage girls are unhappy with their bodies by the age of 17 is striking.

A few quotes from Cameron Russell’s talk:

“Image is powerful. But also, image is also superficial.”

“Saying that you want to be a model when you grow up is akin to saying that you want to win the Powerball when you grow up. It’s out of your control and it’s awesome — and it’s not a career path.”

“[Models] have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes, and they’re the most physically insecure women probably on the planet.”

{Takeaway:} “…that we all feel more comfortable acknowledging the power of image in our perceived successes and our perceived failures.”

Check out Cameron’s non-modeling projects: ArtRoots and The Big Bad Lab

Read Cameron’s follow-up to her TedTalk: “I get what I don’t deserve”

What did you think of this Ted Talk? What power does image carry for you?

If there was a simple fix for reforming low-performing schools, 123 in NYC wouldn’t be listed as priority schools, state reviewers who have never taught a class wouldn’t be blaming teachers, and people would actually be able to agree and make decisions about education instead of losing $240 million for NYC public schools. I’m not going to rant beyond this because I honestly don’t have well-founded, clear beliefs on education policy at this point in my career. But, my point is that school reform is a complicated, multi-layered topic which people approach from many different angles. Unbeknownst to me, Union City, NJ public schools have made significant gains, as noted by the NY Times opinion piece The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools, by David L. Kirp. This is an impoverished community with high unemployment and 75 percent Spanish-only-speaking students, many of whom are undocumented. With a new approach to education, though, Union City has managed to “beat the odds,” as everyone who has ever written a book on education reform would say.

The piece explains:

…they start with prekindergarten, which enrolls almost every 3- and 4-year-old. There’s abundant research showing the lifetime benefits of early education. Here, seeing is believing [...] Cognitive and noncognitive, thinking and feeling; here, this line vanishes. The good teacher is always on the lookout for both kinds of lessons, always aiming to reach both head and heart [...] To succeed, students must become thinkers, not just test-takers.

Philosophically, I believe in this. Early education truly impacts a child’s development and success in future years — just look at research-backed The Baby College, created by Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone. Further, I know that testing is necessary, but if that’s all we focus on, we are doing our students a disservice. Theories are legitimized by practice, though, which is why I’m more convinced by Union City’s approaches than my own lofty ideals. Kirp goes on to explain:

And the [Union City High] prinicpal is persuading teachers to raise their expectations. ‘There should be more courses that prepare students for college, not simply more work but higher-quality work,’ he tells me. This approach is paying off big time: Last year, in a study of 22,000 American high schools, U.S. New & World Report and the American Institutes for Research ranked Union City High in the top 22 percent. What makes Union City remarkable is, paradoxically, the absence of pizazz. It hasn’t followed the herd by closing ‘underperforming’ schools or giving the boot to hordes of teachers. No Teach for America recruits toil in its classrooms, and there are no charter schools.

I don’t think that charter schools and Teach for America are creating the problem, but I do feel that this school system is on-point in their approach to learning by doing as opposed to memorization, high expectations for teachers, parent involvement, and administration that leads effectively. Closing schools doesn’t seem to be the answer, because they’re replaced with new schools with the same level of teachers, the same type of students, in the same neighborhood, in the very same building. I’m not sure what the answer is, but Union City schools do seem to have more resources than others of a similar demographic:

That these schools are generally financed makes a difference — not every community will decide to pay for two years of prekindergarten — but too many districts squander their resources.

These schools require more financing, which is where most of our districts fall short, and something that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon for NYC schools any time soon. My hope is that more school districts will get on board with this approach and think seriously about what is best for our students. A salary raise for teacher’s can’t hurt, either.

What is your opinion on school reform? What’s the biggest problem?