How to go about getting the haircut of your dreams

                           I have terrible luck with hair salons. For prom, I went to a salon to get prettied-up to the 'big day', and three well-meaning elderly ladies gave me what 'they' called a french twist. Sounds exotic right? WRONG!! It looked more like one of those hairdos from the 50's and I went home, cried my eyes out, washed it all out and wore my hair down and boring. I'm sure if I got one of those hairdos now, I'd be more than ecstatic, but at 16 years old, I was too insecure and shy to pull off a beehive. A few years later, in my 20's, I got brave and hopeful once again and went to a Dominican hair salon with my mom, being new to salons, I did not know to ask for no blowdrying, or hairspray; neither of which I ever use on my hair. I walked out of there looking like I was about 45. These are just a few misadventures of my unassertive youth, but I can assure you each one carries quiet disappointment and tears. This should then explain why I spent the majority of my adult years wearing a ponytail. I wore it well, mind you, but nevertheless it got to be terribly boring. Therefore, when I found Evelyn, at Simply Bliss, it was as if I had found diamonds. 

                            Looking back it was a combinations of things that created the perfect chemistry and I thought I'd share it here so that you too can find your very own 'hair whisperer'. I'm sure there are many, but these are the ones that were relevant to me:

1. They must know hair. This is HUGE!!! My hair when cut short curls (especially in DC when it's always humid), when long it looks limp and plays dead. I know a friend whose hair has weight and falls straight no matter what length it is. All I can say is THIS comes with experience. I can't tell you HOW to find someone who has this skill. 

2. Bring a picture of a 'do' with someone whose hair type matches you. This is so important. I brought a few pictures of the type of hair I wanted. They were of all the same person, various views. If you pick a celebrity, it's often easy to find various perspectives of the same person on Google Images. The crux is that this person's hair MUST match your hair type. If you have no clue what I am talking about, do what I do, touch your friends' hair more often, you will become aware of how different hair can feel, but also how different hair can weigh. 

3. Talk in silhouettes. A silhouette, according to www.dictionary.com, a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, uniformly filled in with black. My silhouette, whenever I have gotten my cut in the past, has always been the shape of a capital letter A. I hated this shape on my face and thought because of the way my hair behaves that I'd be doomed with my 'A-shaped silhouette' head my whole life. But the day I began talking about NOT wanting an A-shaped silhouette was the day my hair cutter made sure my hair did not do that anymore, simple. This speaks to the importance of being able to clearly define your vision of both what you want and also what you don't want. 

 

Visit to the National Zoo in DC

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At the CD release party of Marsha Goodman-Wood's Gravity Vacation CD!!! so exciting ....

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DC Parent Power Meeting September 29 6-8pm

DC Parent Power Meeting

If you’re an education advocate living in and around DC, you are invited to join DC Parent Power or to come to one of our meetings. DC Parent Power looks for common ground for civic engagement around public education in the District.

Meeting Information:

Thursday, September 29, 2011

6:00-8:00pm

Thurgood Marshall Center (directions below)

Directions:

Thurgood Marshall Center (the historic YMCA building)

1816 12th St. NW

Conference Room 1/ first floor

2 short blocks south of the U/Street Cardozo yellow/green metro

(Street parking available, but scarce as it gets later)

This is the third gathering of a group of DCPS parents, educators, State Board of Education Representatives and education advocates coming together to improve public education by re-engaging DCPS, District government education agencies and elected officials with the major constituency who use the schools.

City families, teachers & all interested community members

are welcome and encouraged to participate

We initially came together inspired by the National Save Our Schools event on the Mall and Save Our Schools conference this summer. The initial gathering indicated strong sentiment for bringing together various pre-existing DC education advocate groups and voices throughout the city as well as:

· Authentic public engagement

· Transparency at all stages of policy development

· Less emphasis on standardized testing

· Richer/ well rounded curriculum

· Strong backing for public education, as opposed to increasing privatization

· Decreasing racial and economic school segregation

· Use of proven methods in all levels of school reform

· Equitable funding for all Wards

If interested in attending, RSVP Miriam Cutelis at Miriam.Cutelis@yahoo.com.

**Feel free to forward this invitation to other individuals or groups who might be interested.

What the wealthy want for their children....and ours

I was in the DC metro with my daughter, heading back home totally energized from the Save Our Schools March in DC and by pure chance ran into the same parent and child we saw heading towards the march in the morning. We struck up a conversation about the march and then about our public schools in Ward 3, which happens to be a fairly affluent area in DC and happens to be where I also live and teach. The minute I mentioned that I work as a teacher for the DC Public Schools in Ward 3, he injected his opinions that Ward 3 schools were still not 'as good as private schools' and that there 'still a lot of work to be done'. In the age of the highly misleading corporatist movie, Waiting for Superman, I am no stranger to the growing misdirected anger from parents at the so called 'crisis' of 'ineffective DC public schools and every time I get such comments as these I am in awe of how little parents really know TRUE FACTS about the forces affecting their own child's education today. They know a lot of myths, but very few TRUE FACTS.

If this parent were more aware of the misdirected forces shaping education today, he would not be saying such comments. He would surely know that private schools highly value smaller class sizes, while here in DCPS we are taking millions in foundation money from millionaire Bill Gates. Bill Gates has been working tirelessly to produce 'studies' to convince the entire country that larger classes are actually perfectly fine for public school children as long are there is a so called, 'effective' teacher in the class. In addition, private schools highly value experienced teachers and year-to-year stability in their staff. Private school want teachers who want to stay in the school community for years, it's good for the kids, it's good for the parents, it's good for the whole community to have this stable sense of continuity, of familiarity. We all know how much kids need stability. Meanwhile, DCPS is firing and churning in inexperienced teachers into the District, closing the so called, 'ineffective' schools, hiring Teach For America (TFA) teachers who possess a poultry 5 weeks of education 'training' to replace the so called, 'ineffective ones' they've fired. What's most illogical about this is that most TFAers don't plan on making teaching their life's calling. So much for stability there.

This misdirected anger towards public schools and teachers on the part of some parents needs to be analyzed, reexamined and placed in proper context. It comes to no surprise to wealthy parents in Ward 3 that any school with small class sizes, predictable, stable and experienced staff will be better. Ask any wealthy parent what qualities they look for in a school? They will never say they want a class of 32 kids, or teachers who have never taught before. Yet, common sense and logic seems to disappear when we judge the quality of our public schools. Somehow, some parents in DC expect public school teachers to perform miracles in often overcrowded, packed classroom, and without the private-school levels of resources they currently enjoy.

Unfortunately, true academic improvement in the DC public schools will not become reality until we, politicians, parents, and administration officials are honest with ourselves and admit that broad and gaping inequalities do exist in these key areas. The comparison does not need to be between public and private either. Even when just comparing public schools from various wards in DC, these gaping inequalities exist. These inequalities lie less in the quality of the teacher, but in every other aspect of the environment such as resources, smaller class sizes, course diversity, after school programs. Last year, I scored high enough in my teacher evaluation to be considered a 'highly effective' teacher by the District of Columbia. While it's flattering to be in this position, I doubt I'd score as high if I were put in a less affluent district, with 45 kids and 34 chairs, with only 100$ supply money to teach fine arts to 540 kids weekly for a year. These are not random fictitious situations I am listing, these are the facts teachers live with daily in some DC schools. Public school children deserve the same quality school characteristics that define what private schools are all about. The wealthy know it, the politicians know it, Bill Gates knows it. How do I know this? Because they all demand these specific characteristics from their own children's education system. Small class sizes, solid, experienced, career teachers do matter, no matter what Bill Gates' studies say.

Focusing the blame on public school teachers and coining them as the main reason for ineffective schools and further framing the teachers as using poverty as merely an excuse not to do their jobs, are THE BIGGEST excuses of them all.

Parents, please, I beg you, do not allow these broad, relentless and shameful tactics to fuel more disconnectedness between parents and teachers. Trust more the ones who have dedicated their lives, passion and love to OUR children and approach with caution the ones tearing apart OUR schools, OUR communities and OUR children's future at the expense of fattening their paychecks and feeding their bottomless egos.

As a parent of two young people, I logically want what is best for my children as the wealthy parents want what's best for their children. So I don't bemoan them for wanting the very best education money can buy. What is infuriating though is how these 'customers' of small class size schools, and believers of experienced teacher for their children are trying to convince the nation of the useless nature of such qualities. But shouldn't what's best for the children of the wealthy also be what's best for all children in America? Why are these reformers asking the exact opposite for OUR children than they ask for their children? Many years from now historians will judge us on our actions and true democracy lies in how we choose to educate our children. What would historians say about how we care for our young? Right now, our country's policies are making some schools more segregated, and making our poverty schools worse.

Brookside Gardens, Maryland

One thing we love about DC is all the FREE nature all around. This was from our hike in the Brookside Gardens a few weeks ago. Climbing trees....a MUST of childhood.

Nora always picks flowers for me....aww!!

The LOVE tree....check out all the initial carvings....
Publish Postthe most climbable tree I've ever seen.....

Union Station and a walk to the Capitol-Family day trip

Right outside Union Station in DC there is this huge fountain sculpture. The angel's expression was so amazingly beautiful and calm against the blue sky.
Here is a different view.


Nora and Luke laying down in the sun.
Luke doing what he does best......running!
Trees right around the capitol are humongous....so beautiful.
There was a 'Quinceanera' (equivalent to sweet 16 for Latin Americans) at the Capitol posing for pics. The minute Nora noticed she yelled, 'There is a Princess'. We HAD to take a picture with the princess.
Nora watched 4 Tibetan monks posing for pictures and asked me to take her picture too.
Luke loves to climb trees. The trees right near the Capitol are very old Japanese cherry trees.....they are so beautiful.
Nora, future president....
Such an inviting tree.....
That is the wonderful thing about having kids. You might perfectly plan a trip, then find out that instead of having them enjoy the things you planned for, they enjoy things you often overlook. Thanks to them I can again appreciate a leaf pile, or tree climbing, or running down a hill.

Blocks, Blocks and MORE Blocks...

Above is a rainbow created by Nora

Blocks, blocks and more blocks. The best toy you can ever get any child is a real wood block set. Not just 20, or 30.....get at least 50 or more. We live in a small 2 bedroom, 850 square foot apartment in the middle of DC and these blocks are used daily by both my kids from building all the way to puppet play and retelling of familiar stories.

When I get home from work, there is a new block sculpture up which Nora had build during the day.

She is so proud of her creations that she usually wants me to photograph them with her in the picture.
Every once in a while they will go to other forms of shape sculptures....
But most of the time it's the blocks.

Here is Luke, helping her explain her creation.
Most 'sculptures' stay up for a whole day. But, the kids have become a lot more flexible in taking them down more often so they can rebuild sooner.
Nora's style in building has absolutely been evolving steadily. She has learned tons about balance, symmetry, weight, design, and the list continues.

Cleveland Park Day

Here are some highlight images form Cleveland Park Day 2 weeks ago. Nora was all excited about going but on our walk there she fell asleep and kept on going.....so, she missed the entire ordeal.

I could just eat up his smile......

Had a great little lunch on Dupont Circle

Dupont Circle has got to be my all time favorite places to just hang out in DC. I took the kids out to get a present for Lela's birthday at Bedazzled and then we got a pizza lunch on the circle.

Water looks good but I would not get in it....
Luke wearing his MAN hat......he's such a character.
Nora's new 'take my picture' smile.
She finished the whole pizza....oh yeah!!

Missing my 132 Crew....

Ms. Green is the one in the middle.

As I start a new year with a new community I am reminded of all the times I've been new.

There's the time I first moved back from South America at age 9 and did not speak a lick of English sitting at a NYC public school absolutely terrified, alone and miserable. I am also reminded of all the times I've been new at the many schools I've been blessed to work in and having those difficult few weeks adjusting.....Each time I've been more confident and less nervous.

Today I find myself at an excellent school and a strong community, but I find myself missing my old PS132Q; the school I left behind. I feel more confident than ever, yet I find myself yearning for the community I left behind. In thinking about it further, I come to see that certain people in that community are the ones that gave it a community feel. This revelation speaks volumes about the power just one person has in creating and shaping a community.

A great example of how one person can shape and create a community would be Ms. Green. Ms. Green was the 3rd grade teacher at the old school I taught at for 4 years and my dear friend and classroom neighbor. On days where I forgot to bring lunch I'd be surprised with a tupperware-full of soup she had made the night before. She would greet me every morning with a huge smile and went the extra mile to be there for everyone with advice and encouragement. No matter the circumstance, she always resorted to making good out of the situation and never once spoke negative of anyone of our colleagues; always gave people a chance.

I'd say being "Ms.Green-like" is my goal in terms of how I'd like to be within a community. I aim to be consistent, positive and free of judgement toward others. I aim to be true and congruent in all my words and actions. I will also most certainly aim to keep my core strong and not allow other people's drama to consume me in any way. But most importantly, I aim to be proactive in building a new community now, where I am, no matter how unnatural that may feel to me at the moment. This last goal is a hard one for me for I am initially aloof as a newbie. I've been told before that this attitude comes across as snobby, yet there's not an ounce of snobby in me; it's all just shyness.

I will open and allow and not close away my heart to new experiences and friendships. Instead of yearning the past, I will carry their diamond gifts in my heart and allow their gifts to help me flourish in this new place I will someday feel as "my home".