Friday, May 31, 2013

Juice Detox Day 2

7:30am- Woke up to music wafting down the hallway. Groggily made some green tea with lemon juice and honey for myself and the hubby, then started washing and peeling vegetables and fruit for the first juice of the day.

Jolt Juice
       2 Apples
       1 Orange
       1 Cucumber
       1/4 Lemon Peeled
       4 Kale Leaves/Spinach

This is by far my favorite juice so far.


9:30am- Just now finishing the juice. Not sure why it takes me so long to drink these suckers, but two hours seems to be the trend. Feeling pretty good today. Bright eyed and bushy tailed so to speak. I've been tinkering around on my blog this morning, as well as reading in My Heart Is An Idiot by Davy Rothbart and Let Me Clear My Throat by Elena Passarello, one of which is required reading for my summer residency and the other is written by the professor (Elena Passarello) of the nonfiction residency.


I am just now beginning to draft my essay for the residency workshop. I'm struggling a bit with writing an essay, because my only background with essay has been through academic requirements. This is a new sort of genre for me, but I'm excited to try it. Rothbart's essays seem to be memoir vignettes while Passarello's are snapshots into theater vocals throughout time. Both are interesting, but they are unique and it's hard to find a common style to this genre. The only guidelines given were as follows:
Nonfiction: 1 or more essays (max. 22 pages total, double-spaced) We will forward all work submitted to your faculty mentor, who will select pieces to workshop during the residency. 

Here goes nothing!

12pm- Just mixed up lunch:


Bruschetta Tang
            2 Tomatoes
            1-2 Garlic Cloves Peeled
            1 Bunch of Basil (20 Leaves)
            1/4 Lemon Peeled


It's a little...different to drink garlic and tomatoes, but I think I like it okay. I keep thinking it would be really nice with some bread. Hubby isn't a fan of raw tomatoes anyway, so this is torture for him. I feel pretty good. He's getting cranky because he's doing school work and is hungry. I was planning on mixing up a salad for lunch, but we seem to be doing okay on just juice right now. I think dinner is a whole different story... 
 
5pm- Our hunger overcame us, so I made some soup. The ingredients are nearly all things we were putting in our juices anyway (and I even added some of the Bruschetta Tang from lunch that we didn't finish). It was tasty, but probably only in comparison to what we've been consuming.

Carrot-Spinach Soup with Dill

For The Big Batch
1 large onion, diced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
7 carrots, diced (about 5 cups)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon coarse salt
8 ounces green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

For Each Serving
1 packed cup baby spinach
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Juice Detox Day 1

11pm yesterday- After I did a small strength workout, hubby asked me if I'd like to try a 10 day detox with him. My brother's done it before with just V-8 so I was interested. We took it down to a 7 day detox because we'll be leaving for New Orleans pretty soon.

Today:
10:30 am- slept in as it was my first day off work from a year of school! Yay summer! Wasn't really hungry this morning and we hadn't gone shopping for juice supplies yet, so I just had a small cup of hot water and lemon and then a large glass of V-8 Fushion.

12:00pm- stopped by to see the bees, picked up chicken feed and dog food, went grocery shopping. Started to get a little hungry for something substantial. Hubby wants TexMex bad.


1:30pm- After washing the juicer and veggies, I juiced and made two Mean Green Juices. I blended mine with some ice and honey, and hubby shook his with ice (Just like our margarita preferences- frozen for me, on the rocks for him):

Mean Green
·       1 Granny Smith Apple
·       1 Cucumber
·       4 Stalks of Celery
·       4-6 Kale Leaves/spinach
·       1/4 Lemon Peeled
·       1″ Ginger


3pm- I'm just now finishing mine. The kale makes for an awful aftertaste, but overall it was fresh and filling. My stomach is full, but my mind wants something for me to munch on and chew. I'm considering grabbing some nuts since I DON'T need to lose weight and want to keep the muscle tone I have.

4:40pm- The hubby got hungry so we made "dinner."

Sunset Passion
·      1 Beet Sliced
·       1 Cucumber
·       1 Carrot
·       1 Granny Smith Apple
·       4 Kale Leaves
·       1/4 Lemon Peeled
·       1/4 Lime Peeled


7:40pm- I still haven't finished "dinner," but the hubby is "starving" and still wants to go out for TexMex. He even tempted me by saying we could get Thai food, which was really hard to resist, but I figure I only have an hour left before we can go to bed. We can make it! This is showing me how addicted we are to just the idea of eating something solid.  I'm starting to get a headache, which I haven't had all day. I've also had to go to the bathroom (#1) much more than usual. We'll see how I feel after I actually finish "dinner."

8:30pm- FINALLY made it through "dinner." I feel full. Headache is still there in the background. I think I''ll try drinking a glass of water here in the next 15 min.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Summer 2013 Goals

This summer's goals look pretty similar to last year's. Let's see if I can stick to and accomplish them this time around.

Summer 2012

Personal
-Tackle 8 DIY projects off of Pinterest {1 per week in June and July}.
-Focus on one habit per month. Throughout May it is to stop nail biting.
-Return boots and scrapbook
-Scrapbook high school and college on Blurb

-Exercise 30 min. cardio 2x a week and 30 min. strength 3x a week. Yoga on the days in between.

Sustainable
-yogurt
-granola
-laundry detergent
-ranch seasoning mix

Marriage
-Go on two trips a month {We will be going to Florida and New Orleans in June}
-Have monthly date nights.
-Have bedtime 3x week.

Friendships/Family
-Write at least two handwritten notes every month to encourage someone/send b-day cards
-Get-together with a friend at least bi-weekly. {Ongoing}
-Call G-mom and Papa at least bi-monthly.

Teaching/Work

-Read through the following books:
-Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom by Marcia B. Imbeau, Carol Ann Tomlinson
-Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
-The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks
-Outspoken! by Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger
-Guy's Write book from Eva
 If I finish, I would like to start on my 6th grader's summer reading list.
-Keeping strict Office Hours for lesson planning/writing time each day. "Work" 8-12 M-F
-Meet with Liz a few times a month to plan.
-magnet board
-bathroom pass
-crate chairs
-paper towel holder display

Financial
-Spend only $70/week on food/entertainment
-Pay off cards.
-Keep up the green lifestyle
-Reduce paper use. {Try to use cloth napkins and wipes instead of paper towels.}


Just finished my first FULL year

I started teaching full time in Jan. of 2012, so while I have technically been teaching for a year 1/2, I was still considered a first year teacher. I might as well just get used to that and start saying 2013-2014 is my second year of teaching, even though it's my third school year.

I kept a self-reflection word document throughout the year, so these are the lessons learned from my first full year 1/2:

Spring 2012
·       All classes
o   POP book (includes not pushing in chairs (blue table, red table, etc.) Record names on board and in excel.
o   CHAMP
o   Rubric first
o   Anticipatory Activity (Attention grabber)
o   Student centered (no more than 5 minutes of teacher-led discussion)
·       LA
o   KPREP example
§  Give numbers instead of having students put names.
§  Switch with 2nd period, and give printed rubric
§  Have students write “why” they evaluated the paper the way they did
§  Have students rewrite until they reach a 4
·       Students who already have a 4 will either refine their response or try another example
§  On Multiple choice, print out one class set and ask students not to write on it.
o   Kony 2012
§  ALWAYS email parents before showing or sharing ANYTHING controversial.
§  Make sure to go over directions and project idea first. Make sure to fully research issue before addressing it with students.
o   Tornado Letters
§  Student choices (put top 3 choices, then name instead of just 1 choice)
§  Printed copy of letter example, figurative language, and rubric for every student. Walk the students through the format. Go over figurative language in class. It was a nightmare trying to get the students to follow SEE, have the heading, etc.
§  Have students turn rubric back in with letter for full points
§  Have students highlight sentence beginnings and figurative language
o   Speeches/Presentation
§  Have audience turn in their comments and self-reflection, then hand back to person
§  Make a presentation rather than a speech.
§  Stress the outline format
o   Narrative
§  Do life timeline and insist that it’s a personal narrative. The topics were too wide ranged including fiction.
·       CW
o   Memoirs
§  Day One
·       Rubric
·       “We will be presenting in front of the class”
·       Give a timeline
§  Peer editing
·       Give worksheet to evaluate (have this be a grade)
o   Freewriting
§  Weekly check-ins on personal projects
o   Plays
§  Offer the option to do in pairs or alone, but not as groups.
o   Fanfiction
§  Character page that tells about personality and character background
§  Do example peer edit on elmo as a class.
o   Fractured Fairytales
§  Ask to have illustrators from beginning.
§  Make more structured deadlines.
§  Teach Blurb in the beginning.

·       Generals
o   Lessons
§  Always make sure it is grade appropriate (4th and 5th)
§  Make sure to use “CHAMPS”
o   1 personal narrative in the fall that we edit, revise, etc. The rest should be short stories (under 500-600 words), poems, etc.
·       Drama
o   Like the folktales, but talk about the different cultures first, then do folktales in partners, but with individual worksheets. Have students act out the scene. Then give rubric and read examples for students to write their own folktale.
o   Monologues
§  Give example and rubric first
§  Have students make a monologue booklet like Amber’s example.

Jottings for next year:
  • Write Source vocab root each week
  • Lexicon words- choice/reading/original compound sentence/none straight from dictionary.
  • SAT words/pictures
  • Story/poem using 10 words
  • Dictionary.com how many words do you know? Personal lexicon


Fall 2012
  • ·       Be more organized with grading so that there are no if’s/and’s/but’s about when and if I graded something. Get a unique stamp?
  • ·       Require students to keep EVERYTHING I hand back for each 4 ½ weeks, and if they can’t show it to me with a stamp on it, then they don’t get credit.
  • ·       Take Attendance EVERY day with EVERY period.
  • ·       3  Strikes you’re out rule.

o   1st offense, sign the board (after the third time in a 9wk period, sign the pop book)
o   2nd offense in the same period, sign the pop book and fill out a discipline sheet.
o   3rd offense in the same period (or already signed the pop book) call a parent
o   4th offense in the same period (or already called a parent) N in conduct
o   5th offense in the same period (or already has an N in conduct) U in conduct
o   6th offense in the same period (or already has a U in conduct) Saturday school
  • ·       I have… who has… game suggested by principal for review (formative assessment)
  • ·       Ask students, what do you ”see” and “hear” when reading.
  • ·       What do you perceive when listening and watching?
  • ·       Biweekly paragraphs

o   1st 9 weeks- Get to know you Prompts (Narrative)
o   2nd 9 weeks- Digital Anthology- all 5 types (Informational)
o   3rd 9 weeks- Video Debates- Pro/con (Argumentative)
o   4th 9 weeks- Poetry (Narrative)
·       Lit Circle jobs
o   Start with short article or fictional text.
o   Connector
o   Questioner
o   Literary luminary
o   Illustrator
o   Summarizer
o   Researcher
o   Scene setter
o   Word wizard
o   If not prepared, check at door, students sit outside group and finish
o   Absent? Phone or post on edmodo to participate
Checker sheet- did the discussion work? Yes or no. If no, why did the connecting not happen? Ex. Lack of prep, boring article/book, dif. Personalities, learning styles, etc.
If yes, describe 1-2 high points of discussion, topics focused on, questions latched on to. Evaluation your participation + = -
Review immediately and write responses
·       Grammar-
o   Starting with and…
o   Consistent verb tense
o   Comma usage
o   Fragments
o   Pronouns, dif. Types
·       Collect hw as they enter! Pass out missing assign. If they don’t have it.
·       As you watch the clip/video, compile a “viewer response” list of your reactions to things you see.
o   Direct quotes you’d like to comment on later in small group discussion
o   Things you learned or hadn’t though about before
o   Things you agree/disagree w/
o   Questions you have
o   Issues you’re still grappling w/
o   Personal connections
·       Reading strategies 1/week
·       10-12 p. / day of book
·       1 paragraph biweekly
·       5 words/week in lexicon
·       20 min/ night of reading
·       Grammar in class and occasional hw
·       ALWAYS PRINT A COPY FOR STUDENTS or fill in the blank for notes
·       Clear the desks
·       Slow down
·       Watch for students who are not engaged.
·       Bathroom signout closer to me.
·       Model in groups
·       1 group thick
·       2 group thin
·       SCAN picture books
·       Read biographies and compare
·       Handout assign. Instructions
·       Differenciate assignments
·       Check agendas and give more time to fill out during the first half of the year

Spring 2013
  •         Put together portfolio each year for each student.
  •         Coordinate Quarterly and Summer Goals with grade level colors and add to portfolio:

o   4th grade: Yellow
o   5th grade: Orange
o   6th grade: Blue
o   7th grade: Red
o   8th grade: Green
  •         Hold students accountable for Freewrite Friday reflections.
  •         Find a more authentic way for students to share their writing.
  •         Laminate and mat student published writing.
  •      Have Art minor do caricatures for each guest speaker.
  •      Always consider food allergies and have extra skittles in my drawer.
  •      Find a better book checkout system (one "librarian" in each class. Can only check out through them.)
  •      Find a better pencil checkout system (strong mechanical. Keep extra erasers and lead.)
  •      Put a pencil basket on each table for generals.