Christmas Wonders

Christmas is such an interesting time of year. My family always does a nice job of focusing of the true symbols and purpose of the season, in action and in word-- and especially in song-- as we worship the Savior Jesus Christ. This Christmas the whole family was home-- and I mean the WHOLE family-- for an overlapping interval of 20 hours before someone had to visit another branch of the family, and that was so fantastic. It was my favorite part of this entire season. 

Anticipating and experiencing Christmas in a more secular way is an interesting phenomena to me. When you are a kid, it is the most magical time EVER, and it is hard to be disappointed except for the fact that you didn't ever get the Barbie Jeep (but you secretly knew that there was no way Santa could fit that down the fireplace anyway, so asking for it was just throwing a random wish out there). Then you get to that awkward stage where you still want to play with toys but are too cool for them; the tweens. This is where no matter the gifts, you still feel unsettled and feel awkward about having had expectations for Christmas. You aren't even sure what you wanted in the first place, so it's even harder to feel satisfaction about getting things. I feel like I was spared too much agony during this stage because getting new clothes was always a huge novelty, and so new clothes at Christmas= instant good gift. And new socks too. Hopefully that helped Santa out a bit. 

So, sorry to be giving a dissertation in didactic snippets-- I really am getting somewhere. As a kid, Christmas is magical, and you love what you get. As a tween, you are kind of disappointed with the whole thing, but are glad you got some things. As a teenager, everything is just confusing, but for me at least, this is where I started to really feel a lot of excitement about getting other people gifts. I just feel a bit sorry that my recipients were getting my part-time job budget shopping results ;0). 

I venture that it is now, in my young adult life, that Christmas is most magical to me. I love it. I LOVE IT. I suppose I still have expectations (I would like to get new shampoo in my stocking like we do every year, and again, new clothes = instant good gift), but I could get shampoo and a new sweater and feel pretty excellent about that. Throw in a chapstick and bam. Santa's set.  For the rest of the wrapping paper-strewn morning, I really enjoy seeing what other people get, and I love giving them a gift. Now, much like my teenage self, this year they are the recipients of a teacher's salary budget, but I hope they can at least use what I enjoyed choosing and giving, small though it was. 

All of those things said, I now have to show a most excellent treat that was next to my stocking. Imagine my surprise! Already put to use in the basement room where I sleep at home, is: fanfare--

THE VELVETEEN SNUGGIE

Then, coming in the mail, was this. I had put this on my Christmas list as the proverbial Barbie Jeep. By Ivan Aivazovsky, Between the Waves is a painting that has really struck me and I have been looking at it time and time over these last few months thinking that I would like to get a print of it. It came in the mail yesterday, and it is the first print of a painting I own that looks like it could have just been painted. The quality of the print is excellent. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

We saw this movie as a family, and I really loved the depth of the character's performances. It's a very personal musical version. Way to go, Russell Crowe.

I think the plan is to see this tonight. I cannae hardly wait.

My favorite gift to watch being opened this year was this one, to Melinda. Katy Cummings, the artist, painted this as part of her project to fund a year's tuition and send a girl to school (she met her goal, by the way! See the previous blog post). Giving this to Melinda has sentimental sister value, but I love it especially because this painting is so vibrant. You can see some of that through the picture online, but up close the fluidity of the colors and the deep gold makes this painting a rich portrait and a champion of a symbol for education and equality. Way to go, goose! and thanks to Katy for her incredible art. 

Do Something Different This Christmas

This is a goat.

This is an even more amazing goat.

My sister-in-law Katy is the creator of a project that will work with Heifer International to raise enough money to send a girl to school. You can read about her idea and inspiration here. 

This is your opportunity to think a little differently and give to a great cause. Can't think of what to give that one person who never needs anything because they always buy it for themselves anyway? Or are they so generous that they never put anything on their Christmas list, and so you have no clue what to get them? Try this on for size; a vibrant watercolor by artist Katy C. that is contributing to the betterment of an entire family and community. 

We all know that means a better world.

 Peace on Earth starts small. You can actually do something about it this time.

Visit her blog if you are interested in participating. Sooner rather than later, especially if you will require this to be mailed.

Me-eh-eh-eh-eh-rry Christmas.

 (Couldn't help it, with that goat picture and all...)

Hobart Shakespeareans

Sorry about the subtitles...but whomever put together the copy did a nice job getting some best-of scenes in the documentary ;)

About a year ago, Aaron and Katy told me about this documentary. Now that I have a Netflix account, I finally put it on my cue. This afternoon I watched it for the first time.

Inspirational teacher movies can do one of many things. They can make you feel inspired. They can make you feel guilty for not being as good as that teacher. They can make you feel like you need to go teach in an inner city school so you can finally make a difference because that's where the kids will really show the night and day change. They can make you feel like even if you end up being the teacher at the end of the movie who has lost their hair, who looks 15 years older than they really are, or who is out of a job because of budget cuts (thank you, Mr. Holland's Opus), then at the end there will be students who come back as adults and thank you to swelling background music, and you will feel like you really made that difference. That's what teachers are really out to do, right? Make a difference.

Let me tell you one of the things that I liked about this documentary. It features a man who is obviously looking for the good in life and in the kids around him, but he is very realistic about his expectations. That might seem ironic since it features a man who is teaching fifth graders how to read and understand Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn. But in the documentary, they keep showing sweeping shots of glowing performances and interviews, and happy glimpses where kids meet celebrities and go on national tours... but then they include dialogue where the teacher says that no teacher is going to reach every single kid in the classroom; there are some really terrible days that at times do outweigh the good ones; there are some obvious sacrifices that come with the successes of the students in his class. This admission is important. "Teacher Movies" hint at it, and sometimes even have whole scenes dedicated to it. Granted, this documentary's main focus isn't the ups and downs of teaching; it's a class of kids learning Shakespeare. But I do give the credit to the POV makers for including much more information than a focus on one teacher triumphing over a hurdle in society. I appreciate how they treat the topic of teaching in general. I think it is good for me to see, and for others too. I find new ideas, I find validation in things I am doing, and I get another opinion on how to approach something. Watching this movie felt like being back in college and having one of those moments in class where I knew that this would be something I used and would hold on to.

I like "Teacher Movies." I do. I own many of them. I watch them for different reasons. If I want to feel like being a novice is okay, I watch "Freedom Writers." For just all-around wow-spiration, I watch "Stand and Deliver." For entertainment, I watch "Take the Lead." For philosophical, political, and intellectual food-for-thought, I watch "The Emperor's Club" and "Dead Poet's Society." Now, for classroom ideas, teaching direction, and insight, "Hobart's Shakespearean's" will be added to the list. I really loved it, and even cried.

There's still one that will always be my favorite, though. Still one of my favorite movies overall: "The Miracle Worker." I watch that when I need to feel like a teacher. Or when I just need to connect to something deep inside of me. It's one of those movies that always makes me a little more of myself after watching it.

Lessons from Baking

Today at school my grade level and some other teachers were in charge of putting together a spread of goodies for our once a month "fat friday" brunch in the teacher's lunch room. The routine goes like this: we set up the food and then teachers can come in before school or when they have a break and get a plate of what ends up being mostly carbs (but tasty carbs, to be sure) to take back to their rooms. The array of treats this morning was impressive, but a little more on that later. My main comment is more personally based, and it has more to do with life and emotional lessons than calories.

For my contribution, besides napkins and plastic cups, I decided I would bake a Grapefruit Pound Cake  , for I had been privy to its most excellent, light, fluffy flavor when Katy and Aaron made me this for my birthday. I decided this would be a perfect choice, and it would be a great opportunity to use my oven at my new apartment for the first time.

Last night I came home, I got my ingredients out, juiced and zested some grapefruit, pre-heated the oven, prepared my bundt pan, and things smelled and looked great. The first and only other time I have tried this recipe I made it for the family, but I over baked it and while good, it was dry. I was determined not to make the same mistake twice.

Cooking time on this is an hour and ten minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean, which was good for me since I was grading papers and used that long baking time well. I checked on it after 58 minutes, and guess what? Toothpick came out clean. Checked again, and it slip out, clean. Sides looked brown. Top was barely golden, but it looked just like what the picture showed. I took it out, cooled for a few, and removed it from the pan. I made the glaze (which I like better just fresh juice and pwd. sugar) and set it in the fridge (no use making the cake soggy overnight with it) and went to bed.

Today I woke up and plated by cake, glazed it, and wrapped it up. I made my little card to say "Grapefruit Pound Cake"and went to school, set it up, then proudly put my contribution on the table. I couldn't wait to come back and get my share of the cake-- it is quite delicious to be sure.

I didn't get a chance to come back until a few hours later, and when I did, I noticed that yes, indeed, the cake had been cut into and one piece was missing, and inside I could see that it was dense and woefully underdone. My heart sank.

It seems so trivial, but I was actually really excited to offer that as a contribution. I knew that amongst the donuts, the casseroles, and the bagels, it would be nice to have a light, citrusy alternative. I think that more people should be exposed to grapefruit in their food-- cookies, cakes, cocktail.... and on a personal pride level, I was hoping that people would be interested enough to try my cake and I wanted to see how much would be gone.

Accordingly, to look inside and see how underdone it was made me feel very embarrassed. I wanted nothing more than to snatch my tray back up, slide the perfectly done apple cake over to fill its spot, and take my wounded pride and deflated cake back to the corner of my classroom. I thought to myself, "Well, this is actually a perfect metaphor for how you're teaching is going this first year at the school. You are putting in some great effort and are enthused about what you have to bring, you want to share it with others, and you do your best, but inside, you are still just raw and inexperienced...just underdone. You are going to have to face the fact that this is how the year is going to be and it will just have to be okay. You'll just sit with those other cakes who have had more baking time and more experience, and you'll make it through. It will be embarrassing sometimes, but it doesn't mean you aren't doing the best you can; you know that you are trying your best."

I was already nodding to myself looking at that sad cake in the empty teacher room between classes-- and then I found myself snapping my head up and thinking, "Stop. THIS IS NOT SOME HUGE SIGNIFICANT EVENT. It's just a cake on a table. Period. It doesn't have anything to do with your teaching, and it is not a perfect metaphor. There are no signs like that, so stop making meanings out of mishaps. So the cake didn't turn out. SO WHAT."

It's hard for me to talk myself into failure-apathy ...so I had to think through that two or three times, but it helped. I looked at that cake, took the knife, and cut myself a slice. For all its denseness, it still tasted great.

                                                 ------------------------

Other treats at the Fat Friday:

Donuts
Bagels with Cream Cheese
Fruit Salad
Egg and Sausage Casserole
Potato and Cheese Casserole
Apple Cinnamon Cake
Peanut Butter Acorns (MY FAVORITE!)
Dried Fruit
Blackberry and Cheese French Toast Casserole
Juice
Chocolate Pretzels
Muffins
Yogurt and Granola
Cinnamon Bread

Call Me "Happy Birthday,"

Ishmael.

I read you when I was eleven. And I understood you when I was fourteen.

One of these days we'll meet again, and not just in the recesses of subconscious dreams where occasionally a whale swims below the surface of my view. 

Now, to just make the time to read....

Lat like Hat, or Lat like Ladder; Long like Rapunzel's LONG hair....

Grading papers, about 6pm on Thursday evening. The janitors and I are the only ones left in my hallway. Maybe that's why this was SO hilarious to me. Maybe it's because I was grading the paper of one of my boys who is the quarterback of his football team, who never really asks any questions during class. I know he's listening though-- at least to some of it, and here's why.... We talked all about Longitude and Latitude, what the weather would be like if you were at 5 degrees S Latitude, or 80 degrees N Latitude. What the names of the "most famous" lines of Long/Lat are, their measurements, etc. Question on the homework:

What is the measurement, in degrees, of the equator?

His answer?

Really hot.

Resounding, echoing laughter--all the way down the hall. I hope the janitors enjoyed that, because I know I did.

The Rise of the School Year: Gr 5. Bwahaha.

It would only be fitting to choose a melodramatic title (as well as using a word from the urban dictionary) to describe the beginning of the school year. I love what I do; I teach 5th grade this year, and I am in charge of Social Studies for my own class, then we switch for our 4 core subjects, so I am the Math teacher for all 100 kids. I love it. The first day of school went in the direction I had planned as I told kids that math is something real and challenging but not a thing to fear or be stressed over. I wrote a story that I put on the Promethean board; it follows two kids on their first day of school who were bogged down by their fears about math. We discussed as a class what could have made them feel worried about math before they even tried it out in 5th grade. Students gave me answers like "Maybe the didn't pass the SOL," or "They might not have been very good at their times tests" or "Maybe they were really good at math, but the people around them made it hard to learn." Wow! Then, in my class that has some of the top kids in it, one of my boys raised his hand and said, "I bet they were really upset and worried about a zombie apocalypse."

 Goodbye happy, inspirational teaching ambiance. The next four comments were all boys trying to one-up each other on zombie end-of-the-world scenarios. I cut them off and said "Listen. I don't mind creativity in my class, but that doesn't make any sense. It has nothing to do with our conversation, and your comment doesn't apply to anyone at your table, or anyone else in this class. You need to think about your comment and change it so it is helpful to other people in our room. Raise your hand when you have done that." The next kid raised his hand immediately and said "They are worried about dying." and I told him that was inappropriate again. Sent him back, had him think. Each of those boys apologized of their own volition; I give them credit for that. Their next comments were very applicable to our discussion. We finished the story and pulled out two themes: a light at the end of the tunnel (hope) and you're never up the creek without a paddle...even if all you see next to you is a piece of driftwood (math has all kinds of tools to use, and not just one way to find the answer). I don't know if that makes sense outside of the context of the story, but the kids did a good job picking that out. 

Fast forward two days. Things went considerably zombie-free. Yesterday we worked on creating math goals for the year, and their homework last night was to write up a math vision statement. My classes did a really amazing job writing them... I was proud of their efforts. I feel very positive about where we're going. Even when I saw one kid...again in that class. His vision? Become a ninja. 

We're working on relating that to math.

Remembering Aurora

Today is a tough day for me, because in the news the recent shootings hit close to the home. I was in Aurora for about 70% of my mission, and that area and the people that live within it will always have my prayers and my love. 

I had three companions in Aurora: Hermana Lopez (companions twice) on the far right

Sister Tupou

 Hermana Flores

My love to all.

Apps Review July 2012

I recently discovered an unused iTunes gift card for $10 that I received from a coworker at Christmas. Since then, I have gotten a few new things, and I am finally getting down to posting about these apps and how they have worked/not worked for me.

Sleep Pillow Sounds: $1.99

1. My schedule and workload have recently resulted in my sleep schedule being completely out of wack, and so when I saw this early one morning, I thought why not? I tried the free version, which has 9 different sounds and all their ads, and quickly upgraded to this version. About 50 different sounds, a sound timer, volume control, and favorite shortcut. Easy, nice variety, and pleasant sounds. And yes, the crackling fire is my favorite right now. I also like all five of their rain sounds (rain into water, rain on leaf, rain on tent, rain on car windshield, rain and thunderstorm, etc.... although after these current events, I don't know how restful the thunderstorm one is to anyone else).

Virtuoso3 FREE

2. Next app: this one I discovered today at church during choir practice. We were doing some sectionals, but we're restricted to one piano. I was waiting for our turn to get the notes for the alto section, when one of my altos gave me her phone and I presently plucked that E flat and we went on without a pause. Since then, yes, I have tried playing with multiple fingers at once on the keys. Pretty entertaining. For those with iPads, I can see this being even more effective. 

Book Retriever $0.99

3. Book Retriever was a referral off of Pinterest. It looked promising; scan the bar code of a book and create your digital library. Make student accounts so when they borrow your book, you scan it and log it, knowing who had what and when they should return it. It seemed like a great idea, especially because I am working on my classroom library and leveling my books, and this has an automatic book leveler. My issue? It's' still a new app. I saw that on the comments before buying it, a few people saying they wished the digital inventory were more extensive. But I thought I would try it. 

I have mixed feelings. When I scan Amelia Bedelia, it works like a charm (see below). But The Witch of Blackbird Pond? Busy Tree? Enchantress from the Stars? My Corner of the Universe? The Big Snow? Some of my alphabet books? Not on their database yet. You can enter it in manually, but I don't have too much time for that. This will be good once they hire an intern or two to go through a few library catalogues and Scholastic publishing lists. 

Path FREE

4. Path. Love it. Don't use it as much as some in the family, but it's a nice interface for sharing videos, pictures, and quick checkins with family that can be kept completely private and thus more open to family variety. Nieces and nephews at the beach? Dan videoing our water catastrophe at Disney World? Dad's new iPhone accessory? Check. It's also fun to see where Adam and Dan go on their jogs. Makes me want to cheer them on! 

Sound Hound FREE

5. My best friend Carrie and I were on our way to NYC. We stopped for lunch, and in our fast food restaurant, we heard possibly the best dance song ever. Lyrics were about as profound as, "I am the coolest dancer, I am the best dancer, I am your favorite dancer" followed by some base bouncing. Within seconds, Carrie had captured the title, artist, and even where she could acquire said song... all by tapping a button. I've been waiting for this app since I was taping songs from the radio back pre-high school. Nice.

LDS Media OnDemand $1.99

6. Don't get me wrong; I love my Gospel Library App, especially because it's free, but I have enjoyed this  addition because it provides an audio database for CES Firesides, LDS Gems, the Ensign, Church News, etc. It allows me to listen while driving, getting ready, brushing teeth, etc. I've enjoyed this one, and think it to be worth the 2 dollars. 

Temple Quiz FREE

7. This one is just fun. Great collection of pictures, and it is neat to see the architecture and the locations of these temples. There are some where I find myself asking, "Wait, do they have a temple in that country yet?" Yes, they do.  

June in Review

Heather, R and M: Family Barbecue 

My best friend from college, Carrie, came to visit! We started our visit in NYC: This is outside of Juliard, as we made our way to the Temple.

 Me and Rexy at the Natural History Museum

The absolute highlight of the trip; NEWSIES!

 Successfully negotiating the Subway

While we went to NYC, we got to stay for three days with Jenny and Nathan; their first visitors to have slept over at their new apartment. It was incredibly fun to be with those kiddos!

At the end of this month, I am turning over a new leaf and de-cluttering my possessions. I decided to get rid of the trophies and instead photograph them. Here is the award I got for my nomination as Substitute of the Year. It's a lovely picture, right?

And in case you didn't see my Facebook page, here's a video of what you miss if you don't make it to NY before the end of August: 

Sleeping on Sunshine

I came home from work after a really stressful day yesterday. On my way home, I wandered around Target for about an hour just to decompress. As I went through the bedding aisle, thinking to get a new pillowcase, I saw that it was time for me to make the bed I have in the basement into a real bed. It's a King, and I've been working with some 1990s striped sheets, a queen comforter that I remember since childhood, and my twin quilt from college to make up the difference. My pillowcases ranged from a nice green one I grabbed from someone else's sheet set, two that I had in college, and that flower one from ten years ago. All great bedding, to be sure, but as you can tell, this bed has been a collage of unassociated decor for far too long. As a treat, I decided:

Get a set of nice, high-thread count, Green Sheets 

Buy a Duvet

Get a Yellow Duvet Cover

Buy a new Pillow

My room light is very yellowy (making my bedspread look orange on the phone camera) so I used a filter. It looks way better in person, and I had one of the best sleeps I have had in two weeks.

High-thread count = luxury.

Katy and the Camelbak

That sounds almost as if it could be a book title. In that case, it would have to be a BPA free book, and the illustrations would include the following figures:

Three of these reside in VA (two of which are mine), and one in TX. The idea of acquisition was all borne from a nice stay at my sister-in-law's house, where I saw these all being used and loved. Tonight I told Joel that he really should get one. Clever guy: his response was, "Well, my birthday is coming up."

Ruminating-- how many more colors do they carry at Target?

Thanks, Katy. I don't know how you feel about being a trend-setter, but I am grateful for it. I enjoy the design and functionality, plus I have not used a disposable water bottle in months. That just feels right.

Not quite...

My recent bout with Pinkeye looked nothing like this... more like Quasimodo. Maybe now that I've had two days with the eyedrops I can start wearing pretty eyes again.

DC with the Dekkers

I went and had lunch with my dear friend Abi a few weeks ago when they came into town. I have all kinds of wonderful connections to this sweet family. When I officially met Abi, I learned that we had both been in the BYU Women's Chorus-- the same three semesters. We met in the same cohort in our Elementary Education classes. I met Arie while they were still dating, and then after they were married, when I was in the MTC, I met Arie's brother at the call center in the MTC. Abi helped me get a job at BYU Independent Study. I owe her many happy memories and excellent moments.

I love this small world. And I love this friend. She is the reason my Kindergarteners sing "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and "My Paddle Keen and Bright."

Fruit Salad. Yummy yummy.

My kids and I have been watching the Wiggles when we have some indoor recess days (cold, wet, etc), and I love how much they get to move in a controlled-environment-kind-of-way!

The only down side is that songs get STUCK, and I mean STUCK in my head.

Crunchy munchy honey cakes. They're great to eat and fun to make.

Fruit Salad, yummy yummy.

Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little puffabillies all in a row.....

You're welcome. Now I've shared the pleasure of Wiggles singing to your head when you are in the shower, as you sleep, as you read, and when you're listening to the radio.

One thing I would like to know: What on earth are Muesli flakes?

Okay...maybe just one more. Whose idea was it to put this in the show? (Shudder)