A common misconception amongst those that have had a math teacher is that they have no lives or aspirations outside of the classroom. Their second bias is that we know nothing about any other subject area except for math, to which I often need to sound a big buzzer. Math teachers, unfortunately, are often the most pegged into their subjects, and it’s a shame because they’ve often shown me to be the most talented.

Some of them, like my former high school math teacher, actually played chess in his spare time. Unfortunately, that fell in line with what we thought about him. However, I also had another high school math teacher after him who sang, acted, and directed, and played a mean set of keys (piano) in his spare time.

So of course, where does that leave me? Let’s just say I’m not big on chess. For those unaware of what math teachers do in their spare time, here’s a little rundown of my latest activities:

1) I’m taking one more class to get done with my masters’ education. It’s not just important for my salary, but my standing amongst my academic peers. Kinda boring, though.

2) I make speeches. I’m still proud of that moment when I got to stand in front of future fellow Fellows and let them know the possibilities we have to turn so many students’ futures around. And of course, it was in Lincoln Center. It’s getting exciting.

3) I party. And a lot. It’s one of those underground secrets amongst people in urban academia. We party like nobody’s business as a means of purging our souls from the exhausting weeks we have in school. I’ve been out of school for 2 weeks, and yet it was only last week I remembered my first name. And this was my second year …

4) I travel. Last year alone, I hit Chicago, Sacramento, Washington D.C. and San Francisco. This year, it’s been Miami and Detroit, and I have yet to take my summer trip. Next year, I’m leaving the country, and hopefully more than once.

5) I write. And lots. If it wasn’t evident already from this blog, I believe there’s more evidence here and here.

6) I network. That’s such an important part of life; meeting others and getting as many opinions as possible gives one a world-view that’s necessary. Because of my Aquarian nature, I meet people on the street and ask them their opinions on certain topics. It’s NYC.

7) Other things include: going to games (let’s go Yanks), going to parks, playing basketball, working out, eating different cuisine, catching up with old friends …

In other words, teachers have lives! Our society has become so concerned with work that now we’re living to work instead of working to live …

jose, who’s going to actually do some of these things on his list

p.s. I’m part of the Carnival of Education. Check it out.