What I'll Miss From Summer Vacation

This is not a Linky, just a post inspired by one written by Miss Trayers over at Not Just Child's Play. She wrote about what she'll miss from summer vacation, and I felt inspired to do the same.

1. Spending time with friends.
When you're a teacher there's really no time for a social life during the week, and naturally the little free time you have over the weekend you want to spend with your family. That makes time for friendships difficult to schedule (especially when your friends are also teachers!), compared to the freedom and flexibility of summer. Back in January I made a commitment to myself to meet my BFF in Chicago for brunch at least once a month, and it made such a difference in my well-being. I will be holding on to that this school year!

2. The ease of keeping the house clean.
This would seem counter intuitive, because I'm around a lot more to make a mess of things, but when work kicks in plus grad school, keeping up becomes a little more difficult. During the summer it's pretty darn easy to find a little bit of time during the day to clean, but during the school year I've got to keep to a pretty strict routine or things will get out of hand.

3. Time for reading!
I sooooo love to read! Reading time drops significantly once school returns.

4. Hanging out with my kitten.
We adopted a kitten this summer to keep our lonely cat (10 years old - quite the grumpy old man) company. He is such a cutie pie! The older cat spends most of his time during the day sleeping under the bed, and only comes out to socialize after about 4pm or so. The kitten spends most of his time hanging around me though, so we've had some good times. As I've started going in to work to organize my classroom he's become increasingly needy while I'm at home, so I hope he does well with the transition!

Back to School Goals

Yet another Linky - unusual for me, I know, but I was planning a "Back to School Goals" post already before I saw this and it was the perfect lead-in! If you want to join in, scoot on over to I {heart} Recess.

Personal - As I mentioned in my "Currently August" post, I am a recent C25K grad about to run my first race! I've really been enjoying running, so I want to make sure I keep up with it. I've been worried that going back to school might throw off my routine and/or dedication; I'm just going to have to establish a new routine that includes both work and running!

Organization - Every year I make one or two "New School Year Resolutions." The past couple of years one of them has been to make sure my desk is completely clear (meaning things are put away, where they belong, not stuffed in a drawer!) before leaving each day, and it has made a HUGE difference! This year I have a much longer commute, so in case there are any delays in the morning I want to make sure that everything is ready to go for the next day before I leave each day. I've always been really big on getting to work extra early each day (especially when I was coaching and staying after was not an option!) to set everything up and get caught up on grading, etc, but again with the commute I don't want to leave anything to chance!

Planning - My planning goal is stay at least one full unit ahead in each prep this year: activities, copies, supplemental materials, props, the whole sh-bang!

Professional - I have a lot of ideas for maintaining regular parent communication this year. I've done pretty well at staying in contact with parents in the past about their kids' performance, but with so much technology available now there are some things I want to try out to keep them informed about what's actually being accomplished in class. And after last semester I am completely in love with Remind101 and so I will definitely be implementing it for parents and students from the very beginning this year!

Students - My goal for my students is that they feel safe in my class and look forward to my class. This is an annual one, because of course how can they learn if those two things do not hold true? In some of my classes we have some pretty intense discussions (child development = conception is one that springs to mind) that require mutual respect across the room to be successful.

Motto - Make it awesome! If you still haven't seen Kid President's Pep Talk, watch it right now! My message to my students this year is that they have the choice to make their time awesome, or to make it boring. Awesome definitely seems preferable to me!

TPT & YouTube

Apologies for double-posting in one day...

I have after long delay decided to jump on the Teachers Pay Teachers bandwagon: 1) I've received many, many requests for my foods lab task cards, and 2) Who can't use a little side money for their classroom? Prices for task card label sets are only $1 each (and in MS Word, so completely open for customization), accompanying recipes are free (as they should be, I didn't write 'em!). Please note that only the .doc file for the labels is for sale - you still have to do the printing, the sticking, the assembling, etc.

Click the TPT button on the side of this blog, or click here to check them out if you're interested. Right now there are three sets available: Cheddar Bay Biscuits (just like Red Lobster!), Sugar Cookies, and Pancakes. All recipes are sized to an appropriate amount for one cooking group, and all task card sets are prepared for a three-person kitchen (because you just know that somebody's going to be absent on cooking day!).

Also, I am beginning to upload my lab demonstration videos to YouTube, under the channel "facsclassroomideas." They all have close-up shots that focus on what I'm actually doing, so while you'll hear my melodic voice you won't see me, just a pair of disembodied hands :). Feel free to use in class or as inspiration for creating your own lab demo videos. Or if you're extremely bored one night, fill up a bowl of popcorn, kick back and... call someone! Watching my demo videos is no way to spend a free evening! : )))))

Small Talk with Kids I Don't Know

Anyone else ever experience this occupational hazard? Sometimes when I'm out in public, I just automatically talk to a kid that I've never seen before in my life and who has no idea who I am. And then he or she naturally gets a little weirded out.

It can't be just me, right? I'm used to making small talk with kids I see around school, even ones I don't know; after all, even if I have no idea who they are, they usually know who I am, or at least know that I'm a teacher. So that's okay. But apparently I don't know how to shut it off.

I first noticed this when I was in a Panera restroom near Madison, WI, waiting in line to wash my hands. A junior high aged girl was standing there also waiting, and she was all dressed up. I automatically said, "Wow, what a pretty dress!" And she then looked at me like I had a forked tongue or something. At which point I realized, right, I'm just a creepy stranger. Good job, Denise.

Last weekend I boarded a hotel elevator where there was a 6 or 7 year old girl who was holding what seemed to be a really cool looking balloon giraffe. So I asked, "Is that a giraffe?" She leaned into her mother a bit and looked up at her. Mom, thankfully, nodded at the girl, who then said yes. I told her it was a really awesome giraffe, then kept my mouth shut.

Awkward.

Sometimes this goes well, though. This past week my husband and I were waiting in line for a shuttle bus to take us from the JFK Library & Museum (truly awesome place - if you're ever in Boston, you simply must put this one on your to-do list!) back to the train station. What appeared to be the worst chaperoned group of teenagers in the history of summer field trips was running around the area, and when the shuttle arrived they all crammed around the door jockeying to be the first on. My teacher voice automatically kicked in, reminding them that they needed to wait for all of the people who were trying to get off the bus first. Like a charm they all backed off and started telling each other to stay out of the way of the people who were getting off the bus.

So maybe it's okay for me to boss around children I don't know in public, just not make small talk. I suppose more research needs to be done to answer this question.

Anyone else have any similar experiences?

No Names

Why I stopped accepting no-name papers during fourth quarter last year. This was from one week. One week.

Currently August

Hi everyone! I have been on vacation the past week, and it was wonderful! For those of you who have recently contacted me or commented with questions, I promise I will get back with you over the next couple of days - I'm excited to see a lot more people have been reading recently! Summer break certainly helps with time to scout out new blogs, doesn't it?

August is here, which of course means it is officially Back-to-School season but also means a new Currently from Farley! Time to link up!

Listening - Why is it that pets always believe that they are starving? My cute little guy eats like a little piggie, that's for sure!

Loving - My classroom WILL be 100% ready to launch this year before the kids arrive! Woo hoo! Always important, especially after last year's fiasco. I've already had the opportunity to go in and purge a few cabinets, so real progress is already being made. 

Thinking - Over the summer I conquered the "Couch to 5K" program! I've always been active, but running has never been something I've been successful at (really bad side stitches, really bad!). C25K has changed all that, and I am now running 5K straight through without stopping! I signed up for my first race, which will be at a local town's annual festival a week from today. Can't wait to be able to wear my first official 5K race tshirt! I highly, highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to start running but has never been able to and/or doesn't know where to start, I cannot say enough good things about it. It's amazing what it trains you to do in only 8 weeks!

Wanting - At minimum, I want to have at the VERY LEAST three full weeks of planning fully completed before school begins. I only have four preps this semester (six classes total, two repeat during the day - yippee!), and all but one I have taught before, so this is completely realistic. Hopefully I'll get much more done, but it's hard to go too far in advance without knowing your kids and their particular talents and quirks.

Needing - As I mentioned earlier, we just returned from vacation. I find it helps a LOT to go through the photos right away and add notes so that I remember everything. I usually wait several months to a year after a vacation to create a photo book on Shutterfly, that way I don't try to cram every little thing into it - the distance offers some perspective on what was really important or special. Of course, it can also lead to forgetfulness...

B2S Must Haves - I'm assuming the necessary planning and preparation are givens, right? First for me is an organized room, so that I know where everything is and it makes sense to me before the room is "active." Saves sooooo much time and frustration! Next is the "master binder" - syllabi, unit & lesson plans, sub folder, rosters, etc, etc - you know the drill. And finally for this year I'm adding "commute helpers." My drive this year is going to about twice as long last year, so I want to make sure that not only do I keep myself from going crazy but that I actually put the time to good use. Checking out some podcasts, good music, and the like to use the time.

Please Explain

Looking at the "Back-to-School" supplies has raised a couple of questions for me. First, colored pencils. Now I understand why Crayolas are more expensive than other brands - those other brands are just plain not as good, we all know that. But how do you explain double the colored pencils being triple the cost? Is a pink colored pencil really that much more expensive to make than an orange one?

Then there's the safety scissors. A regular pair of safety scissors is $.50; safety scissors with the little cap will cost you about $2, four times as much. For that additional little piece of plastic. Which (and correct me if I am wrong here, elementary teachers) if not lost within the first 24 hours will almost certainly never be used to cap the scissors after initially removed in class, instead will just be thrown haphazardly into the supply box until it does indeed become lost. Or maybe it's the included stickers that inflate the price. And why the stickers?

Linky - 10 Things I've Learned

Hooking up with a Linky from Miss Kindergarten - aside from Farley's Currently I don't really do much in the Linky world, but this looks like a good one! Most of the teachers on this Linky are elementary, so here goes a middle school/high school perspective.

10 Things I've Learned From Teaching (in no particular order)

1. Jr high/high school kids are too tall to efficiently place garbage in a trash can - put your bins on chairs and you won't have trash surrounding the can.

2. Go Slow to Go Fast! The more time you take to explain, check comprehension, and break activities into small pieces, the more you will accomplish, and the faster it will go in the long run. If you rush or give too large a task to do at once, it will take sooooooooo much longer to get done.

3. You absolutely must have the support staff behind you. Take care of them, and they will go over and beyond for you. One, because they are good people who have usually chosen their profession because of a desire to help. Two, because they are treated poorly by most faculty, so they appreciate appreciation. Nice matters! (Fabulous example: I was recently rehired by a school I used to work at. During the "tour" part of the interview at different points the principal and I ran into the three custodians, all of whom made a big fuss over me. Talk about your good impressions!)

4. Look for opportunities to make a personal connection with your students, even if it's something silly. I once had a student totally zone out (not pharmaceutically, just daydreaming) at the beginning of class, and as a result she was still sitting in her desk in the middle of the classroom alone after all of the other kids had left for the computer lab. I just stood at the door and waited for her to come back to reality, at which point she was really surprised. When we took our next test, I stapled this in the middle of her copy:

(apologies to Bill Watterson)

She loved it!

5. Never underestimate the motivating power of stickers. Yes, really, for high schoolers - when they see that some kids got stickers and they didn't, most will step it up on the next assignment/quiz/test/etc. The same applies to cool stamps.

6. If you have a group of really annoying jocks in one class who are all great friends and band together, it REALLY helps if the "hot girl" in class is on your side. I was dreading a second semester class one year because I knew I had a group like this. "Hot girl" was in this class, and since I have several different preps this was the sixth class of mine she had taken. The second day of class she asked "When are we going to start taking notes?" in an anticipatory tone. Captain Football asked her "Why are you so excited about taking notes?" She said "Her notes are really fun and interesting, not boring like other teachers'!" Never once had a problem or disruption during lectures in that class.

7. Schools are almost incestual. They are a web of relatives, in-laws, best friends, frenemies, childhood friends, etc... staff, faculty, students, and administrators, all interwoven. Until you really know your school, never say anything about anyone, ever; in fact, just hold on to that rule the whole time you work there.

8. Make NO assumptions. Never, ever, ever assume your students know anything, no matter what grade they are in. Always assess (and by this I of course do not mean bubble tests). I have had seniors who did not know multiplication tables, food groups, or how to create a title page. I've had untold (and growing) numbers of students over the years who did not know how to hold scissors. Reading levels, comprehension levels, basic social skills levels... you cannot assume anything.

9. You will care more than your students do. No matter what you teach, your class is a mere tiny fraction of their lives. They will not be as excited as you about the tedious details of your content area; they will not devote enough attention to preparing for your class; they will not be mentally present for your class at all times, every day. Your class will never be their first priority. That's NORMAL. And freeing. That short writing assignment from a week ago you just haven't been able to get around to grading? They've forgotten about it. It's okay to occasionally let things like that disappear. No matter what crazy thing happens during your first hour class, something will trump it by the end of their school day. Five years from now, they will only remember vague bits and pieces from your class (think back to your own high school career!), so if a lesson doesn't go well one day, or a unit tanks - it's okay! Do better next time! You will not destroy their education if every day isn't a homerun.

10. You are never "off the clock." No matter how hard you try, you will only be able to push teaching out of your mind for very brief periods of time. You will be on vacation and start thinking about pencil procedures; you will be out to a nice dinner with your husband and recall that nasty parent phone call you received; you will be at Target and, well, you know very well what happens every time you go to Target. For better or worse, you will never leave the job at work.

Those are my ten things! Link up and add yours!

Foods Lab Prep: Unopened Containers

A little advice for people teaching Foods for the first time. Whenever you have a new package, carton, box, bag, jar, etc that you will be using in a lab, always, always, always, ALWAYS open the container yourself before the lab. Always. Why? Because when you set out unopened containers for the first time, you're probably expecting a result something like this:

What you are actually going to get is something like this:

I am so not kidding. And this is the best case scenario, wherein the food inside the container didn't go flying all over the place (chocolate chips? bread crumbs? etc...)

p.s. These were demonstration items assembled in my home. And yes, it was painful to do this to the peanut butter. We all have to sacrifice for our art.

Why We Need Home Ec

Really?