I gave in - Slice of Life Challenge, Day #7

March 7, 2018

Yesterday at school, we had a visit from a local business owner, who came to talk about running a business in the community. My teaching partner organized this visit, as she teaches Social Studies for our grade, and I teach Science. It was interesting to hear the story of a famous company that is still family-run. Students really enjoyed it, and wrote Thank You letters today.

Oh, one thing I forgot - this company makes PIZZA. So, ever since the visit yesterday, I've been thinking about taking a chewy, cheesy, crusty, spicy, delicious bite of pepperoni pizza. I almost ordered it yesterday, but didn't want to wait and had something quicker. BUT TODAY....

Today was a day where I was just stressed and thinking hard about how to solve problems. I was (apparently) short with some people at work, due to stress and concern for my students. I had after school math club (which is noisy). I was up half the night, due to my dog's ongoing respiratory and ear infection (coughing). So I gave in.

Presently, I'm waiting for a pizza delivery person to knock on my door with a gooey, warm, tasty, delectable pizza with double dough crust. I keep checking the website to see the updates on my pizza's progress. I am beyond excited. I just checked the update and IT'S ON THE WAY!!!

I know it's not logical, but right now I just feel that pizza will solve half the problems I am dealing with today. At the very least, it will help me forget about them for a while.

And I'll have lunch for tomorrow!!!

(Update: Literally the minute I finished typing this, guess what arrived!)

Namaste - Slice of Life Challenge, Day #6

March 6, 2018

Today I am grateful that one of the teachers at our school is also a yoga instructor.

Let's just say the student behavior today was not optimal (and to top it off, the issues were at lunch - so I'm not there, but have to deal with the aftermath). By the end of the day, I was exhausted.

About a year or so ago (this is my recollection, at least), our music teacher decided to become a yoga instructor. She offered some yoga classes for us for free, while she received her certification, and it was awesome. This year, she was able to lead a class in yoga for teachers that happens at our school, one day a week, about an hour after the kids leave. It has been such a godsend for me.

There was a time when I was a dedicated yogi. I lived in California for a while, and began taking yoga classes at my local gym (in California, the yoga teachers at gyms are awesome). I ended up going practically every day for 90 minute classes. This was after a particularly rough time for me, emotionally, and it really helped me refocus my energy. I lost a lot of weight, I was in great shape, I could do all these crazy poses...and then I moved back to Illinois.

I tried to keep it up, but it was hard. I didn't enjoy the classes at the gyms I went to, and couldn't afford yoga studios. I actually signed up for and completed a yoga teacher training program, myself, though the style of yoga wasn't my favorite (my favorite is Ashtanga and they don't do that as much here) and the program was a bit "new-age" for me. I did teach a slow Hatha Yoga class for a summer at a park district, but then I became a teacher and my focus really drifted.

I've always been meaning to get back into it, but have been procrastinating. Finally, since the teacher offers it at school, right after school, I am able to get back in the swing of it. I'm really out of shape, compared to how I used to be, which is discouraging. But today, I felt a bit of the old me coming back. I was able to hold some balance poses longer. I was able to do some strength poses again. I was able to really hold a low plank again.

Most of all, I was able to really focus on just breathing and holding the poses, and, for about an hour, was able to focus on myself and not the lunchroom seating assignments I am going to be making for my class (as soon as I finish this post).

Morning Surprise - Slice of Life Challenge Day 5

March 5, 2018

It's usually hard to wake up on Mondays, and I had a productive weekend, so it was a nice surprise to wake up this morning without having to convince myself to get going. I noticed it was brighter (for the time of morning) than I expected - I even double and triple checked some clocks in my house to make sure I didn't misread the time.

In my morning routine, the first thing I do is let my dog out. Today, when I did, I was greeted by a beautiful sunrise, which was a great way to start the week. I even had the presence of mind to grab my phone and take a few shots. Here they are:

Have a great week!

In training...

March 4, 2018

Good morning! I'm about to run 4 miles.

First, I'm having coffee and blogging here. I cleaned the dog's ear (he has a stubborn ear infection that won't go away) and started some laundry.

And then I'm going to run 4 miles.

4 miles isn't really that big of a deal. It's just that I've been out of shape since I started teaching (just being honest - there is a direct correlation). So that's about ten years.

Every year I say I will get in shape, eat better, etc, etc. And I don't.

Because I LOVE sugar. I love it so much. And I love sitting on the couch with my dog. And napping.

Each year, I do run a 5K race to raise money against Parkinson's Disease. My grandma had it and a friend from high school who has early onset Parkinson's started it (more on that later). I say I'm going to train, and I don't. I just go for it. And come in very late compared to family and friends that are in shape. I don't care that I'm slow. I know I'm out of shape.

I do care that I'm not healthy, though, so when a friend asked me to sign up for the 8k Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago, I decided to do it. And for whatever reason, I'm really doing it. I mean, I printed out the Hal Higdon Novice 8K training schedule, and I'm basically following it as best I can (and by that I mean, no I'm not working out after a 12 hour day because of Open House).

Sunday is the big run day and so today I should run 4 miles. It's a beautiful day outside, and I have been running at least 3.5 miles the last two Sundays, but still I am a bit hesitant. I have an old ache in my hip that is telling me I may need new shoes. I still need to make lesson plans and clean the house.
I have to spend like 15 minutes trying to shove an antibiotic in my dog's mouth (the pleasure of being a stubborn dog's owner!).

I'm going to do it, though. I'm going to run out and enjoy the sunshine and being healthy and hope that's enough to keep me going.

How are you spending your Sunday?

I want to do so much... Slice of Life Day #3

March 3, 2018

My classroom this year is pretty big for the suburbs - 26 second graders is a lot. Individually, each student is so interesting and funny, but as a group sometimes they can get into the "red zone" very quickly. It's been a challenge, because so much time is spent on behavior management, getting them to follow directions, and listen to each other or instructions. They had a reputation from last year, but I was so hopeful and positive about being able to "whip them into shape," but honestly, I feel quite defeated at this point in the year.

I've started a new behavior system last week and am going to try to adjust reading to be what I had hoped it could be this week. I've been putting off small group work because they can't really be trusted to behave when I'm not just standing and monitoring them. (When I say behave, I don't mean just stay on task - I mean not hurting each other or themselves on accident). I'm switching my math time to the morning, as well. So I'm just going for it this last trimester. 

At the beginning of the year, we received pacing guides, our daily schedule was mandated, we received new reading resources (which absolutely don't align with our assessments), and we started a new math program that we were told to follow, since it was designed to build on itself. Since then, we've been told the pacing guides were maybe too ambitious, we can adjust our schedule to meet our needs (Except for 2 areas - specials and interventions), the reading resource we've been pushed to use has fallen by as everyone is encouraged to use one strategy book, and last week it was suggested to me to start bringing in some material from the end of the year math units, just so kids are exposed to material they will need to progress on their benchmark tests.

Between the fuzziness of district mandates and the student behavior that I am trying to improve, I feel like I have been forced to be no fun. If I give an inch, the kids seem to take a mile. They move around the classroom slowly during transitions but run in the hallway when they should be walking in line. They draw pictures of underpants on post-its they are supposed to use to jot thoughts in their reading books (and pass them around, I might add). I made calming glitter bottles that they love, but I can't really trust them to use them safely, so I've not been able to implement it as best I'd hoped.

They also make me lovely notes and cards, tell me about their weekend, and give me hugs. I don't mean they're bad kids or they don't have redeeming values. There's just too many of them to be in one classroom and give each of them the attention they desire. I feel defeated.

I wanted to do so much at the beginning of the year...

Small Victories - Slice of Life Challenge, Day 2

March 2, 2018

I am addicted to the website Zulily.com. Zulily is a website that you subscribe to and then receive an email every day with new sales from vendors, like Dansko, Sanita, various clothing, Lancome, pet supplies, and anything else you can imagine. You can buy classroom materials (and I do!). You can buy an exercise bike (and I did!) and you can buy garden supplies and plants, and just about anything else.

Sales only last a few days, so a lot of times, I just put items in my online cart and then let the sale end and never buy what I didn't actually need anyway. But sometimes (okay, more than I'd like to admit), I do purchase items from Zulily and then forget.

You see, the thing about this website is that the shipping takes a long time. It's not fast. So you have to plan ahead OR just order things you don't need at the moment. Since I put lots of possible purchases in my shopping cart, I often forget which ones I ordered and which I didn't. So I never know what to expect. It's kind of fun, but I also feel pretty guilty about it.

But this post is about one of the nice surprises.

Last year, I ordered a patio lemon tree from a gardening company. I did it very spontaneously - I wasn't looking for one at all - but it was about $20 so I decided to order it. I have no idea how to take care of a lemon tree, not to mention a lemon tree that has to be brought inside for winter.

When it arrived, it came in a nice rectangular box, just like you might get something from 1-800-flowers. Opening it up, I found a small plant with several small, white flowers on it. I was pretty impressed that it survived shipping with flowers still intact.

I set it up outside and hoped for the best. Gradually, over the summer, it started growing fruit. First very green, then turning to a bright yellow around September. In the end I had about 5 lemons on this small $20 tree! But that's not the best part.

The best part is that I had to take it in for the cold months, and I was able to keep it alive! I'm not sure how much light or water it really needs, so I'm playing it by ear, but the plant is still kicking, and I'm happy to report that in the last few weeks, it has started blooming! I'm so excited! I get so much pleasure out of knowing I kept this plant alive in my house all winter, with enough sun and water to continue to bloom. I look forward to getting more lemons this year, too!

So, I guess the moral of the story is...impulse buys from Zulily aren't that bad, right? I think I'll just go check on today's sales right now...

Slice of Life Challenge Day #1

March 1, 2018

Well, here we are again.

Last year, I participated in the Slice of Life Challenge for the first time. By the end of it, I wasn't sure I would do it again - mostly because I got sick of my own voice! I never had trouble coming up with ideas of what to write, which was a blessing, but I did get tired of writing about myself so much. So, why did I choose to participate again?

1. Honesty first - I won an awesome prize last year of about 20 hardcover picture books! That was amazing. The prizes are worth it.
2. My district encourages it.
3. I'm feeling - like I did last year - that I have a lot to say at this point in life (not just my life - but history of the world, US, etc. We are in crazy times, people!
4. Probably the biggest reason - I switched job assignments this past year and I think it will provide more material that is relatable to others. More to come on that topic😆

So, for these reasons, I decided to give it a go again, and I applaud everyone who is also participating. It can be time consuming - reading others' blogs and commenting (actually, maybe the commenting is the hardest part for me - I feel sorta weird writing to people I don't know...) - so props to all of us for taking the plunge!

Happy Writing!