Quarter Life Weekend Update #3

I can't believe December has gone by with only 1 post.  Sorry everyone!  Needless to say, these past few months have been a whirlwind, and the break went by quickly as well.

The holidays were somewhat low key.  To be honest, I had a fever starting on Christmas Eve and have been sick ever since.  Sadly, that meant no holiday baking and not much of anything, to be honest.  It has, however, left me plenty of time to get ready for my next position.  The position I had since September ended a week before winter break, and I was incredibly sad to go.  I had taught a subject I was incredibly passionate about, with an age group I ended up really enjoying.  I don't think I could go back to elementary education.  I'm happy to be using my degree and sharing my love for science with older students that can really get into the material and appreciate it.  Middle school was incredibly difficult, but I cannot see myself continuing down any other path.

My next position starts right after New Year's, and I will be teaching 6th grade Earth Science for most of the remainder of the school year.  It'll be an interesting experience to say the least, since my first unit is on minerals and I know much less about minerals than I do about cells, for example.  Plus, I will also be teaching an 8th grade computers cycle class, which should be interesting as well...

I am both excited for and terrified by the arrival of 2013.  2013 will bring a lot of changes and take me out of my comfort zone, which is both thrilling and intimidating.  I had such a wonderful experience at my last position that it makes it hard to leave, but I know I will grow to like this new school as much as my old one.  It'll be difficult to start over in a new school with new students, parents, and staff, not to mention an additional 40 minute commute.  However, every new experience simply adds to my repertoire, and I'm not going to lie, I kind of hope the second half of 2013 begins with a full-time position...

New Year's Resolutions?  Same as every year I guess...keep up with my workout routines, run a 10K, and to continue to push myself to develop as a teacher (in both my lessons and my classroom management).

I hope 2013 brings you health and happiness and you get to spend New Year's Eve with loved ones :)

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Posted by Ali B at 11:56 AM

Science and the 2012 Election?

Think the two have nothing to do with each other?  So did my students, until I did this project last week.

I had two extra days at the end of my first unit and wanted to do a small project with my class.  I was debating between two different types of projects; the first one would have something to do with the Curiosity Expedition and the characteristics of living things.  I liked that project, but I wanted to do something a little more relevant, so after watching the presidential debate a few weeks ago, I started to research into how I could tie the 2012 election in with my science curriculum.

Unfortunately, there aren't many great sites that let kids explore the issues of 2012 election in great depth.  The sites that I did find only focused on the major issues like the economy and foreign affairs, whereas I wanted information on where the candidates stood on issues related to energy and the environment.  After looking at a multitude of sites ranging from TIME for Kids to CNN, I decided to go right to the source - the websites for the Democratic and Republican Parties.  You could certainly use the sites for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney as well, but the former two websites seemed a little less biased.

I created a webquest to help my students navigate the two sites and asked them to answer specific questions about where the candidates stood on issues like clean energy, protecting the environment, and using foreign oil.  This part took them about 2 days (my periods are 45 minutes), and students were able to spend the last 15 minutes of the second day working on the second part of the project: the campaign.

I asked students to critically investigate these issues and choose a candidate whose ideals about energy and the environment (because I wanted to tie it back to science) matched their own.  They were then asked to campaign for their candidate by making a poster or brochure.  The project followed very specific criteria; the students needed to include pictures and captions and specific reasons why the reader should vote for their candidate (using the research they completed for their webquest).

The students became very involved with this project, which I really appreciated.  This is a very important topic and as citizens these students need to understand their responsibility in presidential elections.  I would hear students talk about it in the hallway and in other classrooms, however, some students took this discussion too far, and I unfortunately overheard students bullying each other into telling them who they would vote for, and then criticizing their opinions and beliefs.  On the following Monday, I had to have a discussion about when debating becomes bullying.  I asked my students to write a project reflection, and many of them stated it was hard to keep an open mind about who they would campaign for based on what they heard from their family and friends and what they saw on the news.  This particular presidential election seems to be more charged than past ones, so if I were to do this project again, I would have my students make more of an informational poster, rather than becoming fired up over why their candidate would be better than the other.  However, being able to defend a point of view and convince readers are two important skills, so I do believe the project was a success.

The students (and I) loved doing this project because it allowed students to see the pervasiveness of science in our every day lives.  Science teachers can become involved in the 2012 election as well!

To purchase the webquest, lesson plan, rubric, and project description for this project, please visit my TPT store.  Thank you!

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Posted by Ali B at 7:37 PM

First Year Stories: Walking a Fine Line

I think the hardest part about being a teacher is that you never leave your work at school.  I'm used to being a very busy person, so I didn't mind bringing home 100 tests to grade on my Tuesday night or staying up until way after my bedtime to plan an activity for next week's class.  To make matters worse, in an age where anyone can reach us at any time through email, it's even harder to break away from work.

I've been trying to leave more work at work over the past few weeks.  I try not to stay at school later than 5:00pm and I try to stop working at 10:00pm.  Of course, there are nights where I just need to grade the quizzes from 1 more class...and then I'm working until 11:00pm and of course can't fall asleep until much later than that.  I realized I needed a change this weekend when I let 1 parent email almost ruin my whole Saturday.  It actually took a second parent email to spur me to set rules (not guidelines) for when I should be doing work.

I have noticed the stress of my job affect my health and my personal relationships.  The wonderful thing about teaching is that it's more than a job, and that yes you do take hours of work home with you because the planning, grading, and emails never end.  However, in most other professions, work stays at work, and teaching should not be much different.  My mentor told me I need to make the students fit to my schedule, not the other way around.

So, I came up with a list of rules (not guidelines) I plan to follow.  If you're a new teacher, you need to read these.  It's already October and I'm unbelievably stressed out.  These rules are meant to keep your sanity, improve your mental health and relationships, and teach you to segregate work and your personal life.

1. Don't check work emails between when you leave work on Friday and when you sit down to do work on Sunday.  I try to avoid doing work serious work on Saturday (maybe some light planning), and after I let this parent email ruin my Saturday, I realized I needed to have a day just for myself.  Plus, that second email I received from a parent pushed me to create this rule, since she flat out told me not to check my work email on the weekends.  Good advice.

2. Don't stay at work later than 5:00pm.  The school is not your home, your home is your home.  Spend time after school getting ready for tomorrow's lesson(s) and gathering the materials you need to bring home to work on and then go home!  For me, this also means not checking work emails after 5:00 either.

3. Stop doing work at a set time.  Because different people have different home schedules, the time where you decide to stop doing work will be different for you.  If you have kids at home, you may decide to do a couple hours of work after they go to bed.  I try to stop doing work by 10:00pm, but I'm probably going to bump that up to 9:00pm.  You cannot spend your entire week working.  It's unhealthy.

4. Make a point to do things for you after school.  I'd put off going to yoga, watching MNF with friends, or going for a run because I had too much work to do.  You need to make time for you - remember those things called "hobbies" you used to have before the school year started?  Schedule 1 or 2 activities after school, even if it's just going for a 10 minute run or meeting friends to watch the latest episode of Glee.

One thing I noticed when I set these guidelines/rules for myself is that I was much more productive during the time I set aside to create lessons, do some unit mapping, or grade tests.  As a new teacher, the hardest thing is being able to balance your life with your job, and the line between the two becomes very thin.  Following these guidelines will certainly help keep those boundaries and keep both you and your relationships healthy.  If you have any more tips to add to this list please comment below!

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Posted by Ali B at 1:13 PM

First Year Stories: Meeting Expectations to Meeting in the Middle

As a teacher, you are always meeting someone else's expectations.  The expectations of your school, the administration, your coworkers, the students, the parents - the pressure is enough to bring on an anxiety attack.  And you have your own expectations as well - expectations for how your class will be run, how your students will behave, and how well your students will do in your class.  And you have expectations for yourself - you expect to be completely prepared for all of your lessons, you expect you can handle difficult situations with parents, students, and staff with dignity and grace.  And yet there are times (and there will be many of them) in which these expectations will not be met.

I realized that I run a very tight ship in my classroom.  My students come in, and I already have them with their planners out recording homework and their notebooks out recording today's objective and Do Now.  My morning classes greet these expectations by being very quiet.  There will be some chatting going on, but it's subdued and will usually stop when I come to see how much writing they've done in their notebooks.  To me, a quiet classroom is one I can control, and I feel my morning classes run very smoothly.

My afternoon classes are another story.  My first afternoon class comes in like a whirlwind - they need to chat with each other before they sit down.  They need to chat while they are working.  And recently, they felt the need to chat when I've been teaching.  That certainly did not meet my expectations, and I convinced myself that there was a big issue with this class.  I tried every trick up my sleeve - discipline ladders, rewarding the whole class should they not chat while I am teaching with a series of strikes.  Yet, nothing really seemed to work, and I found myself going to my coworkers with fear of losing control of my class.

My coworker had a prep during one of my afternoon classes, so she said she would peek in to see how it was going.  And after she did, she told me something I didn't expect to hear: "Your afternoon class is supposed to be like that!"  "But," I kept telling myself, "My morning classes aren't...why should this afternoon class behave so differently?"

I talked to my other 7th grade team members, and found they were having similar issues as well in terms of chatting and literal hyper activity in their afternoon classes.  My coworkers helped me see the bigger picture: they're coming off from lunch and their fine arts classes, where structure is minimal.  Then, they come to my class, where I expect them to be quiet and they just can't - they have too much pent up energy from the past two periods.  I realized at that point that it was my turn to change my expectations, instead of expecting others to rise to mine.  I set more concrete rules for when students would be disciplined, not something vague like "being loud" which I had before, but more like, "you will not chat while you are supposed to be taking notes."  I also practiced being calmer, and instead of constantly calling them back to attention with my countdown (which I only have to do once or twice with my other classes), I would stand there and wait and say, "we'll start this lab when you're ready" in a low voice.  I realized they're excited for my class and for science because they get to "do labs" - even in they're not 100% what that entails just yet, so they would quiet down pretty quickly.

Basically, the moral of this "first year story" is that sometimes you need to adapt and change your expectations.  Once I met my afternoon classes in the middle, I found myself enjoying them more.  And now that we are in the 4th week of school, I find they have also settled into my routine.  I opened my ears and my eyes to other classrooms as well, and watched as the 7th graders took forever to settle down, would run into the classroom and make a scene, or would have the absolute hardest time staying in their seats.  Moving forward, I realize that I need to not only adjust my expectations, but my teaching styles as well to fit the energy within this class.  My Do Nows need to be more concrete so they become settled quicker (a worksheet they will turn in for a grade instead of an open ended question in their notebooks) and I need to embrace the noise and the energy and realize a loud class is not a class I don't have control over.  That is not to say I need to throw away my expectations, and my students still need to know that they cannot chat while I am teaching and cannot be too loud or rambunctious during laboratory activities or experiments.

I feel that as a "first year teacher," there are so many things I was never told and a multitude of lessons I was never taught in school.  The hardest part about being a teacher is that although you are constantly surrounded by people, the profession can sometimes feel so lonely.  It is only you in that classroom, and you have no idea what is going on with other classrooms or other teachers when you are concerned only with what is going on within your four walls.  Sharing my story with other teachers helped me overcome my issues, and I hope it will help other teachers, be they first year teachers or veteran teachers, as well.

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Posted by Ali B at 10:10 AM

Tips for Making Review Time Interesting!

When I was in school, I always dreaded the day before the test.  Not because the test itself was approaching, but because I knew I would have to sit there and complete a study guide, which was pointless when I had been studying for the test all week.  I appreciated my teacher's efforts to let me know what was going to be on the test, but regardless I still hated sitting through students asking the same questions over and over and being assigned busy work to help me review for the test.

My cooperating teacher had a lot of great ideas for review games, especially in Math.  The day before a test, I would have my students play games like "Hands Off!" and "Face Off!"  The kids enjoyed these games because they were a creative, fast paced way to practice review problems.  Rather than have my kids work on problems independently, I had them working in teams, using the blackboard (which kids love to do, really), and tackling problems that were on their level.

The school I am working in now loves technology.  There are SmartBoards in almost every classroom, and this year every staff member was given their own MacBook Pro in order to help us prepare for when every student at the high school will receive his or her own MacBook within the next 1 or 2 years.  I wanted to make the most of my 2 months here by immersing myself in technology.  The information on technology and applications and software for teachers is overwhelming, and this summer I found myself getting lost going from blog to blog as I read what other teachers were doing with the SmartBoards in their classroom.  During my search, I found this wonderful site that teachers have used to create review games for their students.  These games allow teachers to go over the necessary material, yet the students are actively involved.  You can have students work independently or in teams to solve problems and answer questions.  The games will keep track of your score, so you can reward students who did the best (on a side note, I knew a teacher that would give 10 extra credit points to the team that scored the highest during a review game.  As we know, many of these games have a large element of chance, and I would never recommend awarding points to boost a student's test grade and give them an unfair edge over others.  Being able to pick a song to listen to at the end of the day is a nice reward though).

I wanted to take the time to review these games, as I have already made one of them.  If you don't have a SmartBoard, do not fret - you can still play these games with a computer attached to a projector (just control everything from your computer).  You could also create similar games in PowerPoint.

I do have to add a small disclaimer for this site.  There's an option where you can download the game, but to do that you need to sign up for a subscription.  I registered my email address, but then it went to another page where it asked me for my credit card information.  I never put it in because I didn't want this company to have my credit card number (even though downloading the games comes with a 30 day free trial), but for a few days I had a $1 pending charge on my credit card from this company.  My credit card is fine, but if this makes you nervous, I would suggest not using this site, and certainly not giving them your email address.  Make these games on a work computer and not one with your personal information on it.  I hate that this site does this, because my students have had a wonderful time playing these review games.


Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Complete with the sound effects from the actual game show, this game allows the teacher to create multiple choice review questions.  If students have their own laptops, you can assign students to answer each question independently and see who can reach the $1 million mark first.  When I did it with my class, I had them split into groups of 4 or 5 people each.   However, because the game just keeps going from question to question (as if 1 person was playing it) I challenged each of my 5 sections to see if they could earn the most amount of money.  So, not only were they working in a small group to come up with answers to these questions, they were supporting each other on a whole class level as well.

Jeopardy!

This is a great review game for open ended questions.  This game is good for a small group setting, and you can keep other groups involved by reminding them that any wrong answers can be answered by other groups.  The game keeps track of the teams' scores so you can just worry about moderating the game.  Plus, you can create final jeopardy at the end, with each group wagering how many points they want to risk on getting the right answer.

Speed Match Quiz Game
This game would be best for independent review. I would probably use it as a center for my middle students who need some extra review, but don't need my instruction for it.  This game times students as they match terms to a question.  If you know all of your students have computers at home, I would send this review game home for homework and ask students to write down how quickly they solved the quiz.

Board Review Game
This is another game which could be used as a center for 5 or 6 students to review the material.  The thing I like most about this game is the way you can differentiate it.  Just like with the speed match quiz game, you can make three different types of games - one for your high, one for your mid, and one for your low students.  This way, students are being challenged appropriately.  You can also play this on a whole class level as well, with the class grouped into 5 or 6 teams.

This site also has a few classroom management tools as well, such as a random name generator you can use instead of popsicle sticks and a group making tool so you can quickly and easily group students for these review games or centers.  I can see myself using this site often, especially the jeopardy and who wants to be a millionaire games, to help my students master terms and definitions as well as review for any upcoming tests.  Let me know if you try these games out for yourself and tell me what you think!

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Posted by Ali B at 11:46 AM

Quarter Life Weekend Update #2

My mind can't wrap itself around the fact that school starts in less than two weeks.  I've been spending the better part of my summer planning for the two months I'll be working.  When I'm running, I'm running my "welcome back speech" through my head.  When I'm on vacation, I'm devising ways to make my labs meaningful and exciting for my students.  I'm constantly working, and thinking about work, and yet I still don't feel prepared for the first day of school.  I guess I won't feel fully prepared until I'm in the school, in my classroom, implementing my lessons to my students.

I said before, I have been doing an inordinate amount of prep this summer (although I have heard you could never do enough planning), and one thing I have noticed is that there is a multitude of information on teaching online, yet little way to organize it.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you can see how much I have pinned to my Teacher's Toolbox and For the Classroom boards.  This is the main way I have been able to organize all of the material I have found online.  I may not read through everything as I find it, but I know where it is when I want to go back to it.  With a quick glance, I can peruse through my toolbox for lesson ideas, management strategies, and other classroom activities.  I would highly recommend using this method to organize your life; I think it's safe to say Pinterest is one of the best sites to have come around in years.

I've also found this blog incredibly helpful when it comes to creative lesson planning and, well, anything!  Rachel Lynette has tons of worksheets, lesson ideas, and resources that align with common core standards.  It's the perfect resource for any elementary teacher.  Unfortunately, I'll be teaching 7th grade in the fall, but I have been saving these resources to my hand Pinterest board should I find myself in an elementary class in the future.  I've recently been grabbing worksheets and resources from Laura Candler as well, and would definitely consider buying her books if I ever have to teach the reading workshop.  She has a lot of great resources and tips, and many of her materials can be modified for middle school students.

One problem I often find when planning lessons is that I have the perfect worksheet in mind to go along with it, and then I spend a couple hours making one up.  I wish there was a site with blank worksheets that I could pull from (especially concept maps).  Sometimes I'll find the perfect worksheet, but it's in PDF version and I can't edit the template to fit my needs.  I have found this site incredibly helpful, and am often downloading the free science resources.  Yet I wish there was a better place for me to find the templates I need to create my own worksheets quickly and efficiently.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

In other news, both my mother and father had a birthday this August.  We celebrated my mother's birthday with this angel food cake roll, which was well received by everyone.  I would highly recommend making it for your Labor Day party!  We celebrated my dad's birthday with a special pasta and fish dish, which I will post sometime next week when I can get the pictures off of my camera.  See, my camera won't connect for the computer, so the only way I can get my pictures off of my camera is to insert my SIM card into my dad's laptop, which he took with him to Pennsylvania.  You know what else he took with him to Pennsylvania?  This cupcake.  Which he ate without me.  But, I did receive a picture.

It's going to be a pretty crazy week next week as I begin to finalize my plans for the first few days of school.  Any tips other than establishing consistent and firm procedures would be greatly appreciated :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Posted by Ali B at 2:53 PM

Quarter Life Weekend Updates

I wanted to start a new series to give the blog a more central theme again.  I have loved writing in this blog because it has given me a creative outlet to explore all different areas as I journey through my quarter life crisis.  I have learned how to cook and bake, made lovely homemade gifts for others, found a love for running and being healthy, and met people whose words and encouragements inspired me at my lowest points.  I have also been able to express some thoughts about teaching (my new life path), which may increase in the very near future...

The main reason why I started this blog, though, is to share with others in their quarter life that it is ok to not have your life all figured out after graduating college.  I had hoped that my story would inspire others to make changes in their lives to better themselves and to follow their hearts, even though these changes may be drastic and scary.  In the hope to continue to inspire others, I wanted to create this Quarter Life Weekend Update series.  It may not be every weekend, but I wanted to have a place where I could talk about the challenges I have faced during my quarter life in hopes that others with similar stories will be able to find a place to relate and discuss.  Let's begin...

Someone once asked me the following question:

"At what point in your life do you consider yourself to be an adult?"

Is it when you graduate college?  Move into your own place?  Start your career?  Get married?  Or is it defined by something like age? 

For me, I believe I won't truly feel like an adult until I do two of those things: moving into my own place and starting my career.  And right now, I'm doing one of them. 

A few weeks ago, I had an insanely busy week.  In one day, I had a demo lesson for a middle school science position and a second interview for an elementary position.  I felt that both went well, and they said by the end of the week they would call me with an answer.  I was thrilled with the fact that my job search could be over so suddenly, which is somewhat unheard of in the teaching field.  I didn't want to get ahead of myself, but I began to imagine what it would be like to work in either position.  

I received a part-time offer at the elementary school, but unfortunately I had to turn it down.  The school is 1 1/2 hours away, and a part time salary would not have been sufficient to cover the costs of living out there.  I was disappointed it didn't work out, but I was also relieved that I wouldn't have to make a difficult choice.  If the right job was offered to me, would I have taken it and moved 1 1/2 hours towards the Pennsylvania border?  It was something that had kept me up the entire night before, because I did not know if I was ready to make that sort of decision.  I don't think I would have a problem living on my own, but 1 1/2 hours from anyone I knew?  That would be much different...

The second job just didn't work out, they decided to go ahead with another candidate.  I was extremely disappointed, but I was happy to have had the opportunity to give a demo lesson.  I tried to see the positive in the whole experience, but I'm not going to lie, I was despondent over the thought of having to start again from scratch.  It was still early in the hiring season, but to get so close with two different places and then not have either of them work out is incredibly discouraging.  Plus, by this point, I had sent out 70 applications, and I was forcing myself to search through the paper, stuff those manilla envelopes, and drag myself to the post office.  I wasn't about to give up, though, because I knew I was made of better stuff than that.  This whole story has been about facing one crisis after another, and I knew I could get over this week. 

And sure enough, the following week I was invited to a group interview for a middle school science leave replacement position at a school down the street.  I practiced my responses to some of the trickier questions I was asked during my other two interviews.  I made copies of transcripts, Praxis scores, and letters of recommendation for my portfolio.  I woke up early the day of the interview to research the school.  I even signed up to substitute teach in a middle school science class that week, just so I could get back in the classroom so I may bring pertinent stories and experience into my interview and (hopefully) demo lesson, if they asked for one.  I put every effort I had into this interview, and although I knew it was just for a maternity leave replacement, it was the foot in the door I needed. 

The interview went well, and before I arrived home there was an email in my inbox asking me to come back in for a demo lesson.  My lesson was to be a review of the metric system, and I put together a Powerpoint of tools used for metric measurement, reviewed how I would use the SmartBoard, created a review game and worksheet, and came up with ways I could help students connect the prefixes they saw on the page to measurements in the laboratory.  Afterwards, I met with the vice principal, who admitted he thought I was a strong candidate.  The second demo lesson was being conducted the following day, and the supervisor said she would give me a call afterwards. 

I sat on pins and needles that entire morning.  I was in the car with my parents, about to head down to Hilton Head, and I couldn't put my phone down for a second, in case that was the second in which she called.  I know it sounds silly, but to come so close a third time, to be down to the final two, and then not get it?  Have you ever been so close to something a few times, only to have it all fall through?  I didn't want to think about the dwindling number of job openings in the papers or online, and I wondered if anything would come up for me for the rest of the summer. 

The phone rang, I answered, and I was asked to come work at the school in September.  I immediately agreed, and now plans are underway.  The position is only a 2-month maternity leave, but it's the experience I need to land a full-time position.  Plus, the more I think about it, the more I fall in love with it.  It's a 7th grade life sciences position, the age and subject I'd want to teach.  I will be starting off the year instead of picking up someone else's class.  I'll do back to school night and other beginning of the year events.  I'm already planning out what I will say on the first day of school, how I will lay down the ground rules, and how I will set the tone for the year.  Plus, the position is right down the street, so it couldn't get much better than that when it comes to saving up money.  

Even though I might not have wanted to admit it, I did imagine myself with a full time position for the 2012 - 2013 year.  It sort of reminds me of what I was like during college, where I imagined myself beginning my career right out of school, moving into my own place, and becoming a full-fledged adult by the time I was this age. I had said this before, and I'll say it again, one of the most difficult things about being in your quarter life is that many people do have those expectations for themselves, and when those expectations are not met, you begin to feel as if you're doing something wrong, or that you failed at something.  Enter the quarter life crisis.  

It takes some time, but I have come to accept that whether or not you're living out on your own or have a full time job does not make you any less of an adult.  I am beyond thrilled to be starting this journey, and I'll be sure to keep you updated along the way with more weekend updates!  

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Posted by Ali B at 2:30 PM

Bacon and Cheese Grits

I've been craving comfort food lately.  First the waffles, and now these grits.  Plus I've been eating bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches for lunch for the past few days.  Last week was absolutely wild.  In 48 hours, I had 4 interviews, an offer at a tutoring center, and 2 callbacks (one for a second interview, the other for a demo lesson).  Over the past 4 months I had sent out over 60 applications and had heard nothing for those entire 4 months.  And then, by the end of last Monday, I had those four interviews lined up.  It's amazing how your life can be turned completely upside-down in a moment.  The interviews are for places all over North/Central Jersey, so within a few months I could be living somewhere new with a new job.  Or maybe I'll still be living at home, blogging.

Either way, it's a pretty difficult thing to wrap my head around.  I feel like I'm at a turning point here, as if I'm at the brink between young-adulthood and adulthood itself.  Many of my friends my age have had to make some pretty adult decisions over the past few weeks, and it looks like I may be doing the same this summer.  Even if these interviews don't work out for the best, I'm incredibly excited to have the experience and I'm looking forward to what ever lies ahead.

The moral of the story here is that when your whole world is up in the air, it's nice to have some thick, salty, cheesy, creamy, stick-to-your-ribs grits to bring you back down.

I love polenta.  It comes together in about 4 minutes and you can do anything with it.  It can be used for any meal of the day and you can boil it, grill it, or fry it.  The only thing you need to be careful of is you must be constantly whisking while you're pouring your grits (polenta) into the boiling water.  If you don't, it's going to clump up and won't be pleasant to bite into.  Once you have poured all of your grits into the pot, you can leave it alone and let it simmer so the grains soak up all of the water.  It doesn't get much easier than that.

The addition of milk makes the grits even creamier, and you could of course use whole milk or cream (I just didn't have any on hand).  And the more bacon you put into this recipe, the better it will be.  I mean, come on, everything tastes better with more bacon.  This is a simple recipe but incredibly delicious and the perfect thing to have heated up first thing in the morning.  I highly recommend making a batch right now, it will not disappoint :)

Bacon and Cheese Grits

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients

-     ½ c polenta

-     ½ c milk

-     2 tbsp unsalted butter

-     ½ c shredded cheddar cheese

-     5 – 6 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

-     Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Follow the directions on the polenta package to determine how much water should be used (I boiled about 2 cups).  Pour water into medium sized pot and bring to a boil.  Add the polenta to the boiling water and begin whisking immediately to avoid clumping.  Lower heat and bring polenta to a simmer and cover.  When all of the water has been absorbed (about 5 minutes), pour in the milk and stir, leaving to simmer until the milk has been absorbed as well.  Mix in butter and shredded cheese and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and add bacon.  Serve immediately.   

4 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 8:48 AM

A Reflection

I know it's been almost a month since my last post, but this is the first chance I have gotten to breathe since student teaching began.  By now, I am teaching the entire day, as well as bringing the kids to their specials and to lunch.  On Wednesday, I spent almost 12 hours at school in preparation for open house.  I think the hardest thing about teaching is the fact that it is so physically and mentally exhausting.  For 6 hours, I have about 60 kids (between my math, homeroom, and science classes) who are watching my every move, hanging (but not always) on my every word.  I need to find ways to inspire them, to challenge them, and (most importantly) get them to remember the information.  And not just for a test, but teach it in a way that will stick with them for the rest of their academic careers.  When I'm not at school teaching, I'm at home planning units, planning lessons for the next few days, grading tests and projects, and trying to find a job for the summer and the fall.

There are some days I come home and reflect on every little thing that happened that day.  There were some days in which I sat on my couch and thought "I can't do this."  I feel most people do not and cannot understand what teachers must go through until they spend a couple months in their shoes.  I look at my cooperating teacher and I cannot understand how she balances her family, her life outside of school, and the needs of 60 children every day without fail.  I keep telling myself that it's something that comes with time and dedication, but it's so hard not to think I am failing because I am not at that level yet.  When I peek in the rooms of some of the other teachers in the school, I can tell they have been crafting their units for their particular grade for dozens of years.  The care and planning these teachers put into their every day teaching is remarkable and inspiring, and I hope to work towards what they have accomplished.

When you're inundated with planning or problems with students it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I've tried to teach myself to think of something positive that happened each day, whether it's getting a boy with anxiety to complete the writing portion of his test or (much to my pleasant surprise) watching my 5th graders eat up my poetry lessons, which I thought they would hate.  One boy in the class, who struggles in many areas, will pull me aside to show me what he has written for my poetry lessons, his face beaming and his voice getting excited.  It's those moments that I strive to hold on to because it is the reason I want to do this job in the first place.  I want to be that person that inspires 5th grade boys to write poetry and a sarcastic and unruly science class to explore the wonders of the deep ocean.  As my student teaching is coming to a close, I'm trying to sit and reflect on the things I still need to work on in my last two full weeks of student teaching.  I fear that I will not have enough time to develop lessons in which I differentiate instruction or practice different classroom management techniques but I need to remind myself that I will have the rest of my life to perfect these things.  I am not solely limited to my time left in student teaching.  When I first entered my quarter life crisis and was trying to understand what to do with my life, I realized I needed a job that was challenging and always changing.  Teaching is just that, because even if you've been teaching Kindergarten for 35 years you're always going to have a new set of students, with a new set of challenges and things to teach you as well.

I want to be a teacher because I want to inspire others, to help them reach their fullest potential, and to give them the tools they need to succeed.  I want to design lessons that are tailored to students' individual needs, that challenge their critical thinking skills, and that inspire them to do more.  I want to be a role model to students and help guide them through some of the most difficult and rewarding years of their lives.

This post was originally titled "Fried Onion Rings," but I guess I had more to say about the past few weeks than I realized.  This post quickly went from a quick update to keep my readers interested to a deep self-reflection on my student teaching experience.  Thank you for taking the time to read this, I guess the onion rings will have to wait until another day.

3 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 10:14 AM