Teacher's Summer Diary #2398: On the Tedium of Making Educational Digital Content (And Why a Walk, a Stretch, and a Sip of Water is Essential)

In this post, I talk about making educational resources for the middle and high school classroom and why distraction is my friendly passenger (although they don't always feel so friendly).

As per my last email (don't you hate it when you receive a message that begins that way) — or, shall I say, post — I've learned some new tips. First — there is beauty in

A message spray-painted on a side of
a train car.

small details. But my iPhone finds it challenging to capture the subtle beauty, so you'll have to contend with the bigger picture.

I read a quote today that I like — about achievement — "Before the gates of excellence, the high gods have placed sweat.”

I'm attempting to complete a monumental task this week, and I feel overwhelmed. I want to expand the teaching resources I created under my @stonesoferasmus brand — I have to go and proofread my inventory of 137 digital downloads I've created. I like the “making part” of the process — using design skills and creating incredible resources that middle and high school students can use. It's just very time-consuming. So to inspire me, I take long walks — hence the photos you see — and eat healthy — and stretch. Also — I got a bigger monitor for my computer. OMG. Having a large screen to work on makes a huge difference when creating digital stuff. OMG.

My goal is to have 200 products reviewed and created by the end of Summer. And on top of that, I'm taking a class on Special Education and Differentiation at Hunter College. The course is good — it solidifies some things I already knew about teaching and has already given me good ideas to move forward. Next year I'm teaching a section of Eighth Grade English, a World Religions class, a New York City history class — paired with Tenth and Eleventh graders in a combined section. Whew. I better get to planning. But. Oh. I see a bird in a tree. Ohh. Let me check this out. *Loses thirty minutes*. By the way, @kfs0520, is the last picture in this post an excellent example of Nantucket Red? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Feeling Kinda Heated in a Heatwave — A Solo Adventure to Washington State (And How I Was Almost Stuck Without a Ride at a Safeway in Monroe)

In this post, I recount moments in my solo adventure to Washington State during a historic heatwave — a brief stop in Seattle, and how I managed to get back to my hotel in Skykomish (after missing the last bus). Read on, readers!

Feeling heated in Seattle

The theme of my post is weariness. I hiked, and I walked, and I explored random parts of Seattle. Do you see the face of Greig? He’s bone-weary.

I’m not used to such locomotion. But I feel like the photographs capture the mood of the day — sultry, hot, relentless. A boy on the bus this morning played a Schecter electric guitar. And then told me a rational argument for gun ownership (although privately, I think to myself I’d never owned a firearm).

A Glorious Patch of Wild Flowers

Seattle is beautiful. I shop for groceries in the Safeway in Monroe. I miss my bus to Gold Bar — and thus miss my subsequent connection to Skykomish. It’s 10 p.m., and I’m stuck on a hot evening somewhere near Highway 2. In front of the Safeway, a gentleman has a long conversation with another guy — he looks like a professional hiker. I ask them for a ride to Skykomish. I’m lucky because one of the men lives in Sultan. And I’m given a ride back to my motel in the mountains.

At night the stars beam, and I feel restless. I consider the prospect of living in a rural area like the mountains of Washington State — “Fun to visit. But I prefer New York.” I gather my things in the motel room — today, I board the train again.

Early Evening in the Suburbs

   

Bus Stop Near Everett

Where do you think I’m going next?

Click Here to Read Part V 

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Photo : A Snail Climbs Up A Wall (And a Joke about Snails)

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A snail crawls up a stone wall. Hey, 🐌, do you know where that escargot went?

A post shared by Greig Roselli (@greigroselli) on May 26, 2019 at 3:59pm PDT

After taking this photo of a snail climbing up the wall of a friend's house, I was reminded of the following joke that circulated among us high school French students back in the day:

Car Salesman: What can I do for you today?
Snail: I want to buy a car.
Car Salesman: OK. Let me show you some of our newest models.
Snail: I know what I want. I want that car over there (points to a rad sports car). But when I buy it I want you to print the letter "S" all over the car.
Car Salesman: Excellent choice, Mr. Snail; but, may I ask why do you want the letter "S" printed all over your new car?
Snail: Because when people see me they'll say, 'Look at the Escargot!".

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Photo Post: Ghosts that May or May Not Inhabit Nantucket Island

Ghosts inhabit Nantucket Island. Or maybe it's just a storefront mannequin.

A ghost of Nantucket island appears in a storefront window on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

I am a writer and cannot confirm or deny the existence of ghosts. However, it is likely that the reference to a "storefront mannequin" is meant to be metaphorical or symbolic rather than a literal statement.

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Photo: Street Scene from Queens (My Favorite Instagram Pic from 2018)

I took this photo in the Summer of '18 at the Jackson Heights Queens Pride Parade.

So. I went through my Instagram profile and chose this photograph (above) as my favorite from 2018. Since it was Gay Pride Day in Queens on the day I took this picture, I was strutting my stuff on the Avenue taking pictures of anyone who’d say “yes”. I must have taken like thirty photos on my phone. I like this picture because it’s instantly noticeable as a New York scene: notice the “A” Health Inspector sign in the window of the restaurant in the background. If you look closely the boy is wearing a Superman t-shirt - and he serves as the focus of the image. I wonder what he’s eating - crackers or chips? The woman looks happy. And of course - there’s a bunch of people-moving going on. It was a busy day but oddly this photograph marks the day as peaceful and I’m grateful I was able to capture some of it on my digital camera.

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Aesthetic Thursday: A Dandelion Flower Grows on the Side of the Fall River Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park

I took this photograph back in the Summer of 2008 - I had discovered this field of dandelions on the Fall River Road, a windy road in the Rocky Mountains - west of Fort Collins. I think I got a decent shot of the flower - which I can’t identify but let’s call it a Rocky Mountain Dandelion.

A lone dandelion found off the Fall River Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park, U.S.A.

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Photos: Jackson Heights Queens Pride Parade (2018)

I captured a few pictures while participating in the local gay pride parade in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens.

A guy with a rainbow flag in front of the United States Post Office in Jackson Heights for the Gay Pride Parade.

I love parades because capturing faces in the crowd is so easy. A man waves a pride flag in front of the post office on 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens.

A boy wearing baby blue clogs and a rainbow cape dances on 37th Avenue in Queens.

Click the jump to see more photos from the Queens Pride parade.

Eating a Beignet in New Orleans: Classic Portrait Photography

A photo of a cousin’s friend eating a beignet at the Café du Monde in the old casino building in New Orleans’s City Park.

I was home for the Summer. We went to the Café du Monde in City Park 🌃. A kid eats a beignet with glee. One rule when eating a New Orleans-style powdered fried cake - always eat it with glee.

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Summer Travel Attire — From Brooklyn to Raleigh

A photograph of me in Raleigh evidences how I basically wore the same t-shirt all Summer long.

I've been traveling this Summer dressed like how I look in the above photograph. I made it to Raleigh, North Carolina after a long trek by train from New York. I'm wearing the tee of my school — I am a teacher (but you would know that if you read my blog often.

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Picture: Looking Through the Door of a Subway Car Window on the Pelham Bay Local

I took a photograph of a subway car door's window and posted it here on my website. Check it out and read other fabulous stuff by Greig Roselli.

Greig Roselli Has a Fascination with the New York Subway

If you read this blog, you may notice that I have a certain fascination with the New York City subway. Riding the trains, one gets a glimpse into various bisections of the city that it is nearly impossible to witness in any other setting. New York City is a very segregated town — in the sense that the "haves" do not mix with the "have nots." On the subway, people are forced to commute together — so it is possible to see a stuffed shirt punching away on a laptop sitting next to a rag-a-tag homeless man asking for spare change. It is both disturbing and beautiful, both topsy-turvy and the norm. No one really expects much on a subway ride — but I swear it is the best place for writer types and artists to get a punch of inspiration. I'll just ride the subway for fun, often just staying on the train several stops after my home station — just to finish writing. That's what I'm doing now. The Six train has pulled into the Pelham Bay Park station — so it is time to go back downtown. See ya.

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Photo: Bike

Poem: "Feet in the Sun"

image credit: Greig Roselli © 2010

If a foot dangles
From a deck chair
Catching
Sun,
Does the heart know
That the body knows
Those rays are from a star?

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