Category: Uncategorized (page 4 of 4)

Old Globe

Today 6th graders visited the Old Globe in Balboa Park to see a performance of various plays that students produced through the Playwright’s Project. Out of all the plays written in schools throughout San Diego County, Kirra’s play was chosen.

The Old Globe showed various student plays. It was so captivating to see student work come alive on the stage. Students were enthralled, laughing or crying throughout the plays. What a wonderful program!

 

 

Health Is a Human Right

I participate in CSA (community supported agriculture), a program that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to individuals on a biweekly basis. I pay a flat fee and get a box of whatever is in season. This has changed the way I eat. Although I grew up eating a fair amount of fruits and vegetables, once I started with the CSA, I was given foods that I had never seen before: broccoli romanesco, alien-like in color and “mathematically” designed; fennel with it’s licorice smell and long white stalk; varieties of oranges in all shades and sizes.

At first it was a bit trying to figure out what to do with all the vegetables and eat them all in time. While I don’t always eat all the fennel and the mustard greens sometimes go bad, I am eating more vegetables than I did in the past. As a result, the meat has moved from the focus of the meal to a team player who sometimes sits on the bench. I feel as though I don’t need as much meat and the vegetables become the focus.

On my way to pick up my fruits and vegetables today, I was excited at the thought of what I would get this week. I wondered if I would get more baby bok choy or rainbow chard. I hoped for rich, dark kale lacinto or earthy, red beets. And then I began to think about all the people who don’t have the same access to, knowledge about or opportunities to obtain fresh, healthy foods.

As a class, we have been learning about the problem of food insecurity in the United States. Our class has been watching A Place at the Table, a documentary about poverty in the United States. Did you know that 1 in 2 children in the U.S. will be on food assistance at one point or another in their childhood? Some places in the United States are considered food deserts in that the people do not have easy access to fresh produce. I feel blessed to live in my neighborhood where the grocery stores are stocked all year long with produce. Not everyone is that lucky.

I began to think about the problem and about the impact that it has on students who aren’t able to eat enough and do not have healthy choices. What if we could introduce students to healthy foods by trying them at school? What if we could give cooking classes to parents and families? What if we gave more money to the Healthy Families Act so that more than $1.00 (after taking out money for gas and labor) was given to creating school lunches?

The real shame is that the power lies in the hands of big agro business and their huge percentage of dollars spent on lobbying. Health is a human right, or at least it should be. Right now health in America is seen as a burden to large companies who might lose some of their profits. Let’s take back the power and make a health a priority for future generations.

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A Short List

One of my favorite books is called A Girl Named Zippy images

The author has one title entitled: “A Short List of Things My Father Lost at Gambling”. A second entry is called “A Short List of Things My Father Won at Gambling”. The lists are so funny and serve to show that her father was a huge gambler. I hope my lists show the kind of day I had and the mood I was in.

A Short List of Things That Made Me Smile Today:

1. A text message at 6:30 a.m. I received a unexpected message from a friend that I have not heard from in such a long time. That is a great way to start the week.

2. Vanilla Mocha. I treated myself on a Monday. One word: delicious.

3. Sushi for dinner. No prep work. Check. No clean up. Check. Loads of ginger. Check.

4. Twitter. Writing a tweet under 150 characters can be a challenge. Challenge accepted and completed.

5. Daylight savings. It was light out for so long today!

An Even Shorter List of Things That Made Me Want To Cry Today:

1. School Lunches. Today we learned that only about $1.00 of school lunch money goes to making school lunches. How can schools serve a healthy meal if they have so little to spend?

2. Spring forward. No thank you time change. I would like to sleep longer, thank you very much. Plus, I didn’t realize how late it was and I worked past 6 p.m.

3. A huge rat. It ran through the parking lot and looked as though it could win in a fight against the neighbor’s cat. It was that big. I hope he stays in the bushes far away from my front door.

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Recipe for A Successful Classroom Community

My students are participating in the slice of life challenge as well. It can be difficult to think of what to write about. Today’s post is about taking an idea that has been on my mind and putting it into a recipe format.

Recipe for A Successful Classroom Community

Ingredients:

1 Teacher

32 Students

9 cups of enthusiasm

2 cups of flexibility

1 bag of tricks

1 laugh per day

1 pound of understanding

1 teaspoon of humility- a little goes a long way.

Lots of writing

Chocolate

Steps:

Step 1: Start with one large cup of enthusiasm at the beginning of the year. Get to know your class and find out what interests them.

Step 2: Add lesson plans. Use 1 to 2 items from your bag of tricks when the class needs a change. (I find that introducing challenges, brain teasers and puzzles work well for sixth graders.)

Step 3: Sprinkle in humility when needed. We all need help now and then.

Step 4: Be sure to continue mixing in enthusiasm throughout the year.

Step 5: Knead in between a pinch and a cup full of flexibility when things get tough.

Step 6: Stir in lots of writing to get to know your students, to learn from them, to share.

Step 7: Laugh often. If laughing is difficult add a tablespoon of flexibility.

Step 8: If laughing still does not work, add chocolate. (Chocolate always makes things better.)

Step 9: Write, write and write some more. Write for your class. Ask them to write to show you what they know, what they want to know and who they are. Add understanding for when they need someone to listen to.

Step 10: Make any tweaks or adjustments. It is always a work in progress.

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Lazy Saturday

Lazy Saturday, lounging in my jammies.

Head still pounding signaling the need for more sleep.

I open my eyes and see the clock glaring at me. It’s seven a.m. and I am awake.

The house is quiet and I have nowhere to go today.

I thank the gods. It is the first Saturday in a month that I do not have plans.

My internal debate begins.

Should I get out of bed? Should I go back to sleep?

I close my eyes and think about not thinking.

That does not work so well.

Hmmm….what is on my twitter feed, my flipboard, facebook?

Suddenly there is a knock on the door. “Do want breakfast?” my roommate asks as she pokes her head in my room. “I’m making french toast!”

Breakfast made FOR me? “Absolutely!”

The smell of cinnamon fills the house. I shuffle down the hall and into the dining room to sit in front of hot french toast and a plate of fresh fruit and syrup.

Delicious.

I make a mug of hot chai and chat with my friend about nothing in particular.

What a lovely lazy Saturday morning.

Thoughts on Growing Up

Today I was asked to write about a time when I was launched into adulthood. I had a hard time thinking about when I decided to grow up. Upon reflection I thought about my life experiences and how I was always the youngest kid and I was coddled. When I was old enough to work, I chose to teach summer camp with the Girl Scouts and babysit. Then I chose to teach, in part because I thought it would be a joy to surround myself with children who had a spark for life’s moments, both big and small.

I never feel like a grown up when I teach. Sixth graders are this funny age in which they sometimes act like adults, then like kindergartens and then like emotional teens. Often I feel like they do, wearing my emotions on my sleeve spewing out my excitement or feelings of frustrations that bubble up to the surface, often when things don’t go my way.

I definitely don’t feel like an adult when I get to talk excitedly about the Divergent movie or about a new pop song on the radio. I feel joyful, excited, engaged. Isn’t that what we want from all students? Isn’t that what we hope that they never loose? I hope to always be a kid, if only a kid at heart. 

 

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Hmmmmm………What To Say….

This is the third time I have restarted my blog post tonight. All this fidgeting tells me I can’t quite concentrate, I can’t quite get into the groove.

Type erase repeat.

“Write something, anything!” I tell myself. And so I will write about this moment when I cannot write, when I do not know what to say. And yet I am writing, my fingers clack across the keys. The more I write, the more confident I feel.

Yesterday was easier. The ideas just flowed. Today I feel as though my ideas are stuck in mud, like I have to pull them out slowly, one by one. Like I’m at the dentist with a tooth slowly being pulled. And yet I know the tooth has to come out to feel better, to feel relief.

Afterwards at the dentist I feel better, as though I learned it wasn’t so bad after all. The next time I go back I’m not so afraid, unsure. The next time I put pen to paper or fingers to keys, I will feel more confident. That’s the hope, anyway.

 

 

And the Point is….

Tick tick.

The time keeps passing.

Tick tick tick.

Darkness has arrived.

My left eye begins to twitch, telling me to sleep.

Thoughts of my warm bed creep up into my brain.

It would be so nice to cuddle up in my bed.

To dream away the work load.

To dream

To  s   l     e     e    p.

To imagine.

And then I remember.

And then I cannot forget.

The blogs to read.

The comments to make.

The questions.

The need.

Reading and typing, reading and typing.

I read…

A funny phrase

I find…

A snippet, a snapshot.

I did not know…..

the fall on the skateboard, the almost accident, the friendship

I connect…

How similar we are

What needs we all have

to be heard

to be noticed

to matter

how to tell them

how to make them see

it does matter

I do notice

They are special.

 

The Lemon Zester

Most nights I cook at home. Since my roommate and I get veggies from a local CSA there is always plenty to eat in the fridge. Cooking tends to relax me and lets me be a bit more creative. Lately I have been trying out new recipes, trying to use up produce that I don’t know what to do with.

For the second day in a row I have used tried to use lemon zest in a recipe. I did not know that lemon zest required a tool other than a grater. Three graters later and a few layers of freshly peeled skin I had given in. The kitchen tools tore a chunk out of my finger right across the knuckle of my thumb, for the second day in a row. I gave in to the kitchen gods, threw up my hands and finished the meal sans lemon zest. I’ve decided that zest isn’t worth it for me.

I’m not one for useless kitchen tools but this is getting ridiculous! I might need to buy a zester before I do any more damage to my hands. I know kitchens are dangerous places but hopefully I won’t get scarred in the process of making dinner.

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Mystery in the Unexpected

March 4, 2014

This is my first blog post for the month of March.  I am starting the slice of life challenge. I am writing every day for the month of March. Yes you may be looking at your calendar and thinking this post is a bit late for the month of March. Well I was gone this weekend, backpacking in Cuyamaca, right next to 6th grade camp. We passed the sign on our drive in! Sorry 6th graders, I don’t have photo evidence.

This was one of the rainiest weekends in San Diego and I was scheduled to go backpacking with the Sierra Club. I prepped and packed the week before, begging and borrowing from those I knew to make sure I stayed as dry as possible. Worry crept into the back of my mind, wondering, if  my gear would hold up?  By 9 a.m. on Saturday morning we were at the trailhead, bundled up from head to toe, about to tackle the mysteries that lay ahead.

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As we walked the wind whipped up the rain into our faces. We trekked through the forrest, away from the freeway, from the cars and into the wilderness. After all the planning, we were on our way. Then something wonderful happened. All the stresses faded away. We walked into the wilderness and away from the daily responsibilities. Meadowlarks sang in the flat stretches of land. And we walked on. Large trees changed into valleys of grasses and  we walked on. Raindrops pelted our hoods and backs over hills and valleys as we walked. With each step I felt lighter, more free.

When we arrived at camp, the rain stopped and we set up the tents. The air, rich with fresh smells after the rain, permeated the forrest. Later on the rain began again. We cuddled up in our tents, listening to the pitter-patter of drops on the tent roof, hopping we had set up the tent correctly, that we wouldn’t be flooded.

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After the heaviest of the rain clouds passed, we hiked in the mist to a mountain top, looking out among the clouds. That night we sat under tarps strung between two trees listening to the rain attack our shelter, huddling together with new friends. While sitting under the tarp, I felt a renewed appreciation for a warm meal, for the comfort of a shelter and for the joy to be alive!

 

 

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