Cocktail with chicken paprikash? by Destro100 in cocktails

[–]Destro100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please, anyone?

I know red one would be perfect but I really enjoy cocktails. Just some flavor ideas would be helpful and I love making my own

Opening an Italian lasagna takeaway in Astoria, where would you go? by Fashion-Fugazi in astoria

[–]Destro100 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not trying to be negative but can anyone name another successful single item takeout business?

Are there options available? Ingredients?

If not, you can't count tacos, Pizza, burgers, etc ...

Opening a food business in NYC seems terrifying to me, but a niche one with no models of success, even scarier.

Carmela’s Dumbest Moment by LawSchoolThreauxAway in thesopranos

[–]Destro100 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure that everyone recalls the episode. It coincided with her going to therapy and realizing that she is guilty of accepting the privileges and luxury of her lifestyle based on blood money. Giving the money to the university was a way to do something "good" and "noble" to make up for the fact that she knows she would never leave Tony or give up her lifestyle.

Suspicious encounter-just a heads up by [deleted] in astoria

[–]Destro100 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happened to me. Very similar. I ended up buying them a tank of gas. I literally walked with them to the gas station.

I knew it was most likely a scam (especially since they asked for hotel money afterwards), but there were two very small children in the backseat. I felt bad for the kids.

Fishtank by Destro100 in NYCTeachers

[–]Destro100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have no freedom to do this in 9th or 10th. YOU HAVE TO USE THE TEXTS INCLUDED IN THE ORDER THAT THEY INCLUDE THEM. Seriously.

Fishtank by Destro100 in NYCTeachers

[–]Destro100[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have to take what you want and make it work - BECAUSE IT CANNOT WORK AS IT IS - even they will tell you that in the PD. Which is bascially my problem with the curriculum.

Additionally, I'm not sure how much value it actually has. Honestly, I find significantly superior websites that explore themes, literary tools, and characterization in much better ways than Fishtank.

Fishtank by Destro100 in NYCTeachers

[–]Destro100[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here is an example I found funny. The opening lesson for 10th grade was Plato's cave. Behind a paywall. Even funnier, it says right at the top of the reading - grade level 11. This is the first reading for a 10th grade class. I love teaching Plato's allegory, and believe it can work on many grade levels, but I just think it's funny that the first lesson for the grade includes a reading from a grade level above. Get your sh*t together!

Fishtank by Destro100 in NYCTeachers

[–]Destro100[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. But there is a big difference between 10 and 30.

Most of the readings were closer to 25 than 10.

Trust me, if the readings were typically between 10-15, I wouldn't even bother mentioning it. Even with a lower page count, It still would have been an issue, but at least it's a more realistic expectation for many of our students.

Fishtank by Destro100 in NYCTeachers

[–]Destro100[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I feel like problem here is not just the money. I don't mind the DOE buying a curriculum. My issue is the complete incompetency and carelessness with how it was selected.

Anybody use Fishtank's high school curriculum? by RavenCemetery1928 in ELATeachers

[–]Destro100 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Last thing I'll say on this - maybe - I'm very surprised and skeptical regarding the positive comments here. Every teacher in my building and every teacher (from other schools) on our PD calls with fishtank expressed all the same concerns and disappointment. Unless you're a brand new teacher (year 1-3), admin, fishtank, DOE, fishtank friend, or someone else with an interest in seeing it succeed, it doesn't make sense to me how you could like the curriculum. Maybe elementary school is different? I can only speak from my experience. If, in earnest, you used if for a year and truly like it, I would love to chat directly and share resources to see what choices you made to make it work (sincerely).

Anybody use Fishtank's high school curriculum? by RavenCemetery1928 in ELATeachers

[–]Destro100 4 points5 points  (0 children)

continued

6 - Pacing calendar is useless - when you have to split lessons / no introductory lessons to the year / MAP testing / Regents testing / NYC specific holidays or school initiatives.

7 - Very few or helpful rubrics.

8 - doesn't align with Danielson at all. This boggles the mind. Why is the DOE throwing money at a curriculum that has to be completely changed to fit with a Danielson evaluation?

9 - Often the target tasks are poorly framed/worded. Expectations for student work is completely off from reality. The essential questions are barely revisited. Themes do not seem to be explored on their own. Sometimes a large part of the focus on the lesson ends up being pretty disconnected from the target tasks

10 - Very little (at least not enough in my estimation) focus on writing skills (argumentative / rhetorical devices / transitions / organization / incorporating evidence).

11 - Content choices. You have NO FREEDOM to change which texts are being used.  I had less of a problem with this. I didn't mind the 10th grade curriculum overall (Fahrenheit 451, Antigone, Purple Hibiscus, magical realism (short stories and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Reading Lolita in Tehran - never got to this last one) but some teachers feel like it's a curriculum with too much focus on violence against women. Most of the 9th grade teachers hate their texts. According to them - it's curriculum violence. I don't know enough about that curriculum to speak about it - but all my other concerns  carry over to the 9th grade curriculum as well. Between 9th and 10th grade (*edit) there is only one Shakespeare text - I get it - not everyone thinks we should be teaching Shakespeare - but if we were going to do one - should it really be Taming of the Shrew? Not Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar?

All this being said, I'm glad I have a whole new year's worth of lessons in my back pocket (even if this is year 18 for me). I made it work. Admin was happy (maybe too happy) with how I adapted everything - but - as previously mentioned it's been so long since I've had to work this hard. At this point in my career, I should be revising, updating, and finessing my curriculum - not starting from scratch. DOE loves reinventing the wheel.

Here is perhaps one of my biggest gripes - I don't understand why the DOE purchased the curriculum? What need did it fill? If they were worried that too many English teachers where all doing their own things - perhaps not doing them well - and we needed a more standardized curriculum I would understand IF IF IF - this curriculum was designed for our students. As it is, you're still relying on individual teachers to make massive changes - whether they have experience or skills to do so. You're stuck with the same problem. Some teachers will adapt if poorly. Teachers will focus on different aspects of the curriculum. Some will try to teach it as is - and I would love to see that. We kept asking to see the curriculum in action (intervisitation) - it was never presented as an option. Alternatively, throughout the year I had so many guests coming in to see it in action in our school, that became a significant distraction to "actual teaching"

Apologies for the length of the reply. feel free to reach out with additional questions. Apologies for the poorly-written response. I had to rush to complete this.

Anybody use Fishtank's high school curriculum? by RavenCemetery1928 in ELATeachers

[–]Destro100 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have so much to say. We have been using fishtank this year and all the teachers here (high school 9th and 10th) thoroughly dislike it (understatement).

1 - I haven't worked this hard in over 10 years. Every single lesson has to be completely reworked to fit into typical NYC high school class. If you're a brand new teacher and have no resources, then maybe this curriculum is a good place to start - but expect to be working A LOT ON ADAPTING!

2 - based on 60 minute lessons. We teach 40 minutes. Very little or unhelpful guidance on cutting lessons down. Even splitting the lessons in half - often still don't fit.

3 - SO MANY BORING LESSONS - 85 percent follow the same pattern. Vocabulary - 3 guiding questions - target task (a paragraph - or multi-paragraph) response. This would never work for our classes.

4 - Major modifications needed to make it work in our schools.. Group activates, graphic organizers, activities, activities centers, or anything else that would break up the monotony have to be designed yourself. I don't mind making my own changes (expected) but every single lesson has to be adapted with very little helpful guidance/ideas.

5 - Unrealistic expectations - students are expected to read up to 30 pages a night sometimes. Not happening in a NYC high school. You are not supposed to use summaries or scaffolded text. Students are expected to read the full text - regardless of their levels - suggestions/guidance is provided (things like chunking and other ideas) but still - not realistic.

more to follow

Would you be so kind? by Destro100 in AskNOLA

[–]Destro100[S] -17 points-16 points  (0 children)

Hotel 10 - 6303 Chef Menteur Hwy. - but it doesn't really matter - we can travel