Slice of Life: Sprecher soda 3/4

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Over the weekend, my sister and her husband and my niece stayed at our house for a visit.  Since my brother-in-law is on an epic quest to try many different beers (he actually has a spreadsheet and is working through the list of beers that judges in beer festivals have to try to be able to define certain beer types), we decided to tour the Sprecher brewery.  Now, in Milwaukee we have multiple brewery tours available to us so it is sometimes hard to decide.  Since my sister and I were planning not to drink this weekend, we chose Sprecher because they have sodas as well as beer at their brewery.

Since we have done multiple brewery tours, the actual tour was pretty boring. What was interesting was hearing about the soda-making process and the way that root beer outsells everything.  The end of the tour when they give beer samples was the best part.  Normally, I would be sampling right alongside my husband, but I had been under the weather lately so I decided not to have beer.  At Sprecher, they give unlimited samples of their sodas in the beer garden.  This was AMAZING!!!  The sodas are so delicious and there is so much variety in what is available.  There are flavors like raspberry, blueberry, grape, orange cream, cherry cola, and of course root beer.  I now will be a bit obsessed with Sprecher soda for a while.  I really wish it were good for you!

I highly recommend this brewery tour if you ever are in Milwaukee.  Even for the beer drinkers, sampling sodas between beer samples would be a great way to extend your time there.  I know it hit the spot for me on Saturday!

Slice of Life: It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/3

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Every Monday, I write a blog post on my other blog to update my reading for the week.  It is an awesome way to keep track of what I am reading and what my reading plans are.  I really enjoy the community of readers/bloggers who post each Monday and my TBR pile is ridiculously tall because of these blogs.  

If you are interested in reading my It's Monday! post click here.

Slice of Life: Report Cards 3/2

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

This week, I need to get my report cards ready to send home.  I have to turn them in on Friday and my principal will then read them and give feedback so that we can correct them and have them ready to give out next week.  I always dread this time of year because I feel like there is so much information that we need to share with parents and this is such a short (and confusing) document.

A few years ago, we switched to a standards-based report card.  This means that I give students proficiency scores on each of the standards in each area rather than giving one letter grade for each subject.  I am glad that we report student progress in this way, but there are so many people that are confused by our system that it makes report card day a dreaded time in my building.

Compounding the problem is the fact that I work in a large urban district and the students are far from proficient in many categories.  Helping parents to understand that the effort score is really what tells them if their child is doing everything they can to make progress is very difficult.  Our society is so set in the traditional grading system and so many people think that grades are all about jumping through the hoops and handing things in.  I don't know what the solution is, but I do wish more people would understand that a score of Basic or even Minimal in a standard does not automatically mean that the student is not doing everything he/she can do and making progress.

The last few years have been extra frustrating because by the time I get students in 8th grade, many of them are very far behind.  Getting 8th graders to understand that doing "extra credit" is not going to change their score (unless the extra practice helps them get proficient) is really challenging.

As I enter into this week in which every waking hour will be spent grading and writing report card comments, these thoughts scramble through my head.  I hope that with the comments I write parents will be able to understand how their child is really doing in school.

Slice of Life: Family 3/1

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I am so excited to participate in this challenge again this year.  I have not been so great at getting to the Tuesday slices, and I am excited to make writing a priority during this month.  Last year, the challenge helped me to start writing more regularly on my blog.  I am hoping this year the challenge will be habit forming to get me consistently writing daily.

This morning, as I am writing this, my sister and her family are sleeping upstairs.  It is so fun to see her and my brother-in-law. We always enjoy their visits.  This time it is super special, because it is the first time they have come home with the baby. My niece is ten months old and so fun to be with.

The best part of the night last night was watching my dog and the baby together.  So precious! The baby loves doggie kisses and was laughing and playing with the dog. I love seeing such cute moments happening.

Our family time is precious since we live so far apart.  My sister lives in California and we live in Wisconsin.  It is so amazing to spend family time enjoying each other.

Slice of Life: Reflecting on 2013 and Looking Forward to 2014

The ladies at Two Writing Teachers
host the Slice of Life every Tuesday.

2013 was a mixed bag of fun and amazing moments and some not so great moments.  Here is my list of the top five important moments of 2013:

1. My niece Lena was born on May 1st, 2013.  I was so happy when she was born both because now I had a beautiful baby niece and because my sister would not be suffering anymore.  Her pregnancy was awful.  I had never heard of Hyperemesis Gravidarum before, but I learned a lot about it during my sister's pregnancy.  At the end of her pregnancy, she was 10 pounds lighter because she was unable to eat for the most part.  Now she feels like it was all worth it because she has this little peanut to love.

2. The highlight of my year was going to Pasadena, CA to stay with my sister and help care for Lena.  I was there for three weeks and had some quality sister time as well as fun-with-baby time.  I love my sister and her husband and had a blast there.

3. My husband, Ramon, was supposed to do student teaching this semester as his university time came to a close.  He had the placement all lined up and had met with the cooperating teacher already to start planning his experience.  Then, a week before school was supposed to start, he got an e-mail.  A local high school was in a bind because their Spanish teacher had resigned on the first day back to work. The classes they offered in this high school were for heritage speakers so they really wanted to hire a teacher who was a native speaker.  My husband's professor knew that he would be a good fit for this job.  The professor called and talked to the principal and Ramon had an interview that same day.  By the next morning, he was hired and had to report to work the following day.  The paperwork was submitted for doing student teaching on the job and he went to work.  We both felt so blessed by this amazing turn of events.  The best part of everything was that now he would be paid for this semester of teaching.  Ramon has done an excellent job and I am so proud of the excellent teacher he has become.  Although it meant extra work for me (I basically took on the role of cooperating teacher), I have felt rewarded all semester seeing how happy Ramon is doing this job.

4. I was able to coordinate two author visits to my school through the local bookstore Boswell Book Company.  It was so awesome to see how excited my students got about being able to ask questions of a real author.  We had one visit last Spring from Amy Timberlake and another visit this fall from Jasper Fforde.  Both of these authors did fabulous presentations and our students were excited to meet the authors and get their books signed.  Being able to provide these experiences for students at my school made me feel so great.  I can't wait to set up more visits in the future!

5. This one is important, but not in a good way.  One day in September, my feet started tingling.  By the time a few days had passed and I started being unsteady on my feet, I knew it was time to visit a doctor.  I went through about two weeks of urgent care visits and testing.  A hospital stay and two MRI's later, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  This diagnosis basically consumed my energy for all of September.  I am now injecting myself every day with one of the medicines to try to prevent the disease from flaring up as often.  The diagnosis definitely explains a lot about the medical issues I have had in the last five years or so, but it was not very fun to hear.  I am doing fine and I have done a pretty good job of accepting that which I cannot change.  2013 will definitely always stick out in my mind as the year I found out I was not healthy.

Looking forward to 2014, I have a few things that I would like to accomplish.  Here are the top five things I hope will happen in 2014:

1. I want to eat better in 2014.  My husband and I both got lazy in the last few years while he was going to school.  Many of his classes were evening classes so we got into a pattern of quick, unhealthy alternatives for dinner, usually eaten late at night when he got home from class.  My plan is to eat following a diet outlined in The Blood Sugar Solution.  It is close to the Whole 30 plan with many natural, whole foods, and very little processed food.

2. One of the hardest things that we have dealt with in the last few years has been infertility.  Over the summer, my husband and I decided to move forward with a procedure.  Then when I was diagnosed in September, it seemed more prudent to focus on that health issue and learning about the disease.  Now, we are ready to move forward with the procedure.  I am crossing my fingers that this year will bring luck and a new addition to our family.

3. I am seriously contemplating some sort of career change in the coming school year.  I have really been itching to move or at least look around at the opportunities available in other schools, but have stuck with my comfort zone in the last few years.  This year, my principal is retiring at the end of the school year.  I am thinking about applying for a sabbatical next year and going to school full time for either a second Masters degree and a reading license or starting a PhD program.  I also might apply for a coaching position in the district.  Lately, our district has had a difficult time filling those positions so it might be time for me to try it out.  I also might just look around at the positions available in the district at other schools.  I miss working with students in 4th and 5th grade.  My goal is to really force myself to examine my options and not continue to settle for what I already know.

4. I look forward to spending some time in Spain this summer.  My husband and I have already decided that we want to do this because we are unsure how long it might be until we can do it again if things work out for us.  It is always a wonderful time staying with my in-laws at the beach.

5. Last, but not least, I plan to really get back on track with fitness this year.  I have a fitbit and it is really motivating for me to try to get my goals each day.  The new secretary at our school is a Zumba instructor and will be starting to do a Zumba class on Thursdays after school.  I also have my spin bike at home and will be committing to at least 2 intense spin sessions a week.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Slice of Life: SNOW 12/10

The ladies at Two Writing Teachers
host the Slice of Life every Tuesday.

On Sunday, we were supposed to get snow but it was supposed to come in the afternoon.  My husband and I drove about 25 minutes away for brunch and were surprised but not too worried when the snow came early.  But then it just kept falling.  It was that beautiful kind of snow that makes you feel like you are in a snow globe as you look out the window.  The setting at our friends' house was gorgeous. A snow-covered forest of old trees.

Then, it was time to drive home. I got to do the driving since I am a better winter driver.  My husband does a great job, but he didn't grow up around here and does not have as much experience in the snow.  The interstate was still snow-covered and everyone was sensibly driving at about 35 mph tops. It was treacherous and scary and I was so happy when I arrived at home.  I was especially thankful that we got home safe when I turned on the television and saw on the news updates that almost every other spot in the city there had been a multiple car pile-up on the freeways.  We're talking 20-30 cars in these crashes.  As I had mentioned to my husband as I drove us home, it was a blessing that everyone was driving sensibly and no one was trying to speed around everybody.

This is one of the multiple car crashes that happened.

When I got home, I started thinking about some of the conversation we had at the brunch table.  The people we were with were talking cars a lot of the time, which is something I know almost nothing about.  However, when talked turned to the crappy handling of some higher end cars in the snow, it was something that I could relate to.  You see, when I was in high school, I drove a Mercedes.

My father always wanted to have a Mercedes. We made fun of him and got him models of Mercedes. It was one of those things that he had always wanted for his whole life.  So, when the opportunity presented itself for him to lease one at a reasonable price, he went for it.  My mother was a teacher and he was a salesman, so they made decent money, but were not rich.  My father had his dream car for the last 6 months of his life.  When he passed away, my mother had the difficult decision of which car to get rid of.  She decided to keep the Mercedes because it made the most sense. It turns out that this car was something of a lemon.  So when I started driving, it became the car that I could drive.

The car I drove was a sedan similar to this one. 

That car was horrible in the winter.  It had rear-wheel drive and fishtailed around every corner in the snow.  I got really good at driving in the snow.  Even though it was probably not the best idea for me to drive a car like that as a teenager, the experience taught me a lot about winter driving.  Now, I am a natural at handling tough driving.  My reactions when driving in snow are natural.  The car fishtails? No problem.  Having a hard time getting through that snow pile? No problem.  I have confidence and know what I am doing because of the crappy way that car handled snow and ice.

When I encounter the tricky winter driving situations like I had on Sunday, I am so thankful for the confidence that I have.  My reactions are automatic and I don't even have to think about which way to steer or how hard to hit the accelerator.  I wonder if my dad knows about the lessons that his dream car gave me.  I hope so.

Slice of Life: Lessons I have learned from my dog 11/19

The ladies at Two Writing Teachers
host the Slice of Life every Tuesday.

My dog Carmela is super smart.  She has some great lessons to teach us all.  Here are the top ten lessons she has taught me:

1. Sometimes it is time to put aside the work and relax.  My dog will push the computer right out of my lap or try to lie down on top of it--her not-so-subtle reminder that it is time to cuddle and put away the work.

2. If someone you love is upset or crying, you should drop everything to console them. The doggie form of consolation is licking all over your face, but you could probably pick something else like hugs.

3. You should welcome everyone home with exuberance. That way they will know you love them.

4. Credit cards are dangerous. You should not use them.

5. Sometimes you should be wary of strangers.  Follow your instincts.

6. Books are amazing.  You should kiss them every once in a while because they smell so good.

7. There is no such thing as too many belly rubs.  You should ask everyone you come across for a good belly rub.

8. The best way to start the day is with a good walk.

9. Sleeping in is for lazy bums, but naps are perfectly acceptable.

This is one of my favorite pics from when she was a puppy.

10. If you are naughty, just beg for forgiveness. Who could resist that face?

If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with a pet, I am sure you can relate to this post.  I certainly have learned a lot from every pet I have had.  Carmela just has some particularly great lessons for me.