I really didn't want to do my reading for class tomorrow.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Because I'm Awesome (#10)
After working out to Just Dance 2 with my Wii (because working full time, being a grad student, and trying to maintain a social life and romantic relationship have made it difficult for me to make it to the community education wellness and fitness classes I like), I decided I needed a snack. Originally, I had a craving for ice cream, but the rain all day today, which persists even now, has made my apartment rather chilly. Since I refuse to raise the heat, and I actually have milk in my refrigerator that is not two weeks past expiration, I decided to make hot chocolate on the stove.
Now, for a single 20-something, I will admit that my kitchen is fairly well stocked, as far as cooking utensils go. However, I am also an elementary ESOL teacher, and I have brought a number of my personal cooking supplies to school to use as props in teaching certain units this month. This means that I have my spaghetti pot and my le creuset available. Please keep in mind that I have a le creuset because I lusted after them insatiably at William-Sonoma for a long time, and finally snagged a black one on super clearance a couple of summers ago. I feel pretty highfalutin right now.
So I am making this hot chocolate in the le creuset using organic sugar and organic cocoa. This is not because I go to the store and only buy organic things, but because I try to avoid shopping at Hy-Vee and only shop at Trader Joe's now. When I go to Hy-Vee, I buy convenience food, most of which goes in the freezer. When I go to Trader Joe's, I plan meals, spend less money, and generally eat healthier. It seems, however, that another bonus is that there are a lot of times when organic is the only option.
And so I plan on enjoying this organic hot chocolate made in my le creuset on this rainy evening, curled up on the couch with my Cookie Monster skin blanket. I almost feel like it is necessary for me to get out the step-ladder to get down one of the fancy porcelain tea cups given to me as a gift to complete the entire activity.
Who says I can't be fancy-schmancy?
Now, for a single 20-something, I will admit that my kitchen is fairly well stocked, as far as cooking utensils go. However, I am also an elementary ESOL teacher, and I have brought a number of my personal cooking supplies to school to use as props in teaching certain units this month. This means that I have my spaghetti pot and my le creuset available. Please keep in mind that I have a le creuset because I lusted after them insatiably at William-Sonoma for a long time, and finally snagged a black one on super clearance a couple of summers ago. I feel pretty highfalutin right now.
So I am making this hot chocolate in the le creuset using organic sugar and organic cocoa. This is not because I go to the store and only buy organic things, but because I try to avoid shopping at Hy-Vee and only shop at Trader Joe's now. When I go to Hy-Vee, I buy convenience food, most of which goes in the freezer. When I go to Trader Joe's, I plan meals, spend less money, and generally eat healthier. It seems, however, that another bonus is that there are a lot of times when organic is the only option.
And so I plan on enjoying this organic hot chocolate made in my le creuset on this rainy evening, curled up on the couch with my Cookie Monster skin blanket. I almost feel like it is necessary for me to get out the step-ladder to get down one of the fancy porcelain tea cups given to me as a gift to complete the entire activity.
Who says I can't be fancy-schmancy?
Monday, April 16, 2012
"Game of Thrones" Boyfriend of my Dreams
The last couple of weeks, I have been reading "The Game of Thrones". I am enjoying it quite a bit, though progress is slow since I am a student and full-time teacher who is also trying to have a social life. Over spring break, I managed to get a couple hundred pages under my belt, while stopping every once and a while to watch bits of the first season of the HBO series with Mr. Sturm. We also cooked, ate food, and played games, etc., so don't worry that all I did over spring break was Game of Thrones related.
A couple of nights ago, I had an interesting, surprising dream. As it turns out, I was madly in love with Tyrion Lannister, "the imp". In my dream, it was not the Tyrion from the HBO series, but rather the Tyrion I had created in my head before watching any of the series while reading the book.
Tyrion and I were madly in love, though our love was forbidden, and just plain dangerous, for many reasons. First off, he is a Lannister, and clearly as a daughter of a much lesser lord, I would not do. Also, I was betrothed to someone else - a knight in fact, who had neither a face nor a name that I can remember. Perhaps most importantly of all, however, Tyrion was a wanted man by Catelyn Stark and her whole clan, so I spent a good deal of the dream trying to hide and help protect my beloved Tyrion Lannister.
Needless to say, I considered taking a break from the book after this dream. While I am not reading nearly at the rate as over spring break, I have decided to continue. If I am having weird dreams, might as well continue reading and get them all out there. It is interesting that my dream-boyfriend from the book, however, would be Tyrion. Perhaps it is because of his wit, the fact that I love an underdog, and I often feel like he is a good person who is just trying to get along in a swamp of politics, dealing with the loyalty of his disaster of a family.
Ah well.
A couple of nights ago, I had an interesting, surprising dream. As it turns out, I was madly in love with Tyrion Lannister, "the imp". In my dream, it was not the Tyrion from the HBO series, but rather the Tyrion I had created in my head before watching any of the series while reading the book.
Tyrion and I were madly in love, though our love was forbidden, and just plain dangerous, for many reasons. First off, he is a Lannister, and clearly as a daughter of a much lesser lord, I would not do. Also, I was betrothed to someone else - a knight in fact, who had neither a face nor a name that I can remember. Perhaps most importantly of all, however, Tyrion was a wanted man by Catelyn Stark and her whole clan, so I spent a good deal of the dream trying to hide and help protect my beloved Tyrion Lannister.
Needless to say, I considered taking a break from the book after this dream. While I am not reading nearly at the rate as over spring break, I have decided to continue. If I am having weird dreams, might as well continue reading and get them all out there. It is interesting that my dream-boyfriend from the book, however, would be Tyrion. Perhaps it is because of his wit, the fact that I love an underdog, and I often feel like he is a good person who is just trying to get along in a swamp of politics, dealing with the loyalty of his disaster of a family.
Ah well.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Louisiana Purchase: A Scam
Teaching elementary students is actually an ongoing education process. Sure, I think it is my job to teach them, but let's be honest. I learn just as much from them.
The other day, in fourth grade, we were discussing the Louisiana purchase. The textbook and test emphasize the importance of this purchase, from the French, because it doubled the size of our country. Since I constantly go "off-script", I felt it necessary to point out that France was really quite far away, and there were already people living on that land that were not informed of this transaction. When I asked how the French could sell this enormous bundle of land without really owning it, one of my students blurted out:
"The Louisiana purchase was a scam! Whoa! What a big scam!"
Since I had to turn around to disguise my laughter as a cough, it was very fortunate my co-teacher held her composure, requested the student to define "scam", then defend his claim. We both accepted it as valid.
The Louisiana Purchase: A Big Scam
The other day, in fourth grade, we were discussing the Louisiana purchase. The textbook and test emphasize the importance of this purchase, from the French, because it doubled the size of our country. Since I constantly go "off-script", I felt it necessary to point out that France was really quite far away, and there were already people living on that land that were not informed of this transaction. When I asked how the French could sell this enormous bundle of land without really owning it, one of my students blurted out:
"The Louisiana purchase was a scam! Whoa! What a big scam!"
Since I had to turn around to disguise my laughter as a cough, it was very fortunate my co-teacher held her composure, requested the student to define "scam", then defend his claim. We both accepted it as valid.
The Louisiana Purchase: A Big Scam
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Because I'm Awesome (#9)
Last night I melted a bag of cat treats. Then, I tried to change my shower head only to realize that I myself am not strong enough to get the new part on tight enough so the water doesn't spray out in all directions. Now I have to wait for Mr. Sturm to come visit on Sunday to fix it, so I think I need to go to my parents house earlier than planned today to shower.
Finally, Squeaky has a furball on her back leg that I want to cut off before it gets any worse, so I chased my cat around for a while this morning with a scissors. Goodness only knows what an observer would have thought. Eventually I gave up, because even when I caught her, I couldn't hold her down and cut off the furball in what I felt would be a safe way. Now I have two jobs for Mr. Sturm on Sunday.
In good, less incompetent news, it is Spring Break for me! Monday and Tuesday I get to go to a bed and breakfast in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Then, I'll putz around at the cabin for a while before returning to my folks' home for Easter. Yay!
Finally, Squeaky has a furball on her back leg that I want to cut off before it gets any worse, so I chased my cat around for a while this morning with a scissors. Goodness only knows what an observer would have thought. Eventually I gave up, because even when I caught her, I couldn't hold her down and cut off the furball in what I felt would be a safe way. Now I have two jobs for Mr. Sturm on Sunday.
In good, less incompetent news, it is Spring Break for me! Monday and Tuesday I get to go to a bed and breakfast in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Then, I'll putz around at the cabin for a while before returning to my folks' home for Easter. Yay!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
4th Grade Social Studies
One of my co-teachers in 4th grade has let me go crazy and take over for our Social Studies Unit 4 on the Midwest. Teaching the content from a language perspective (since I am an ESOL teacher) has been a little more challenging than just following the book to the tee, but we have seen great results! The kids are active, engaged, participating, and, while we have yet to do a formal assessment, seem to be getting the material. Their illustrations to go with the unit vocabulary and definitions were all quite good.
So, if you are a teacher out there teaching Houghton Miffline Social Studies and are looking for some different lesson plan ideas, I would be more than willing to share some of the slides and handouts I made to teach this unit. Of course, it is all based off of the Houghton Mifflin States and Regions curriculum, so you'll see a lot of quotes or similar phrases and statements.
As a teacher who teaches so many different grades and subject areas, I always enjoy when people share their ideas. I especially like "Waltke's Web" for ideas or powerpoints about the Scott Foresman curriculum. If there is an interest, I will post or somehow share my social studies materials.
Teaching is pretty fun, isn't it?
So, if you are a teacher out there teaching Houghton Miffline Social Studies and are looking for some different lesson plan ideas, I would be more than willing to share some of the slides and handouts I made to teach this unit. Of course, it is all based off of the Houghton Mifflin States and Regions curriculum, so you'll see a lot of quotes or similar phrases and statements.
As a teacher who teaches so many different grades and subject areas, I always enjoy when people share their ideas. I especially like "Waltke's Web" for ideas or powerpoints about the Scott Foresman curriculum. If there is an interest, I will post or somehow share my social studies materials.
Teaching is pretty fun, isn't it?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
One Good Foot, One Sweaty Foot
I once returned from school to find the Protagitron frozen in our kitchen, standing in a lake of red oozing in all directions. It had turned out that she had dropped a bottle of some sort of red sauce which had broken. The shards of glass had then sliced open her toe, and the sticky crimson lake was a horrifying mixture of condiment and human blood.
Practical, and with General Tao Chicken in mind, this small setback did not hinder the Protagitron's progress. She cleaned up the mess and bandaged her foot. As it was, however, the toe wound was quite deep and continued to bleed for quite a while. Rather than visit an emergency room to see if she needed stitches*, Protagitron wrapped her foot in many bandages, put it in a plastic baggie, propped it up on a chair, and enjoyed her Chinese food delicacy of a dinner.
I bring this story up, and hope the Protagitron does not mind me telling it as imitation is a form of flattery, because I now have a plastic bag on my foot. After a delightful bath in my relatively clean tub in my somewhat tidy bathroom, I could not stop the bleeding from a shaving wound. If you are a person who shaves their legs, you know how these wounds can be. They are small, but gush blood in an endless stream. After bleeding on my towel, in the tub, on the bathmat, the kitchen floor, and in the sink as I tried to wipe up the blood and apply bandages, it became clear that my efforts were futile, much like resistance to the Borg might be.
Taking inspiration from one of my favorite women of all time, I did what I could with a band-aid, then put my foot in a quart sized bag, sealed it around my ankle, and called it a night. It is better my foot sweat a bit and the inside of a plastic bag get blood-stained than I bleed all over my couch.
*And who could blame her? I once walked in and right back out of an emergency room in Quebec. Also, I watched the film Jesus de Montreal. I know that visiting a hospital, especially the urgent care part, is a surefire way to die a slow, agonizing, death due to incompetent and negligent care and understaffed healthcare facilities.
Practical, and with General Tao Chicken in mind, this small setback did not hinder the Protagitron's progress. She cleaned up the mess and bandaged her foot. As it was, however, the toe wound was quite deep and continued to bleed for quite a while. Rather than visit an emergency room to see if she needed stitches*, Protagitron wrapped her foot in many bandages, put it in a plastic baggie, propped it up on a chair, and enjoyed her Chinese food delicacy of a dinner.
I bring this story up, and hope the Protagitron does not mind me telling it as imitation is a form of flattery, because I now have a plastic bag on my foot. After a delightful bath in my relatively clean tub in my somewhat tidy bathroom, I could not stop the bleeding from a shaving wound. If you are a person who shaves their legs, you know how these wounds can be. They are small, but gush blood in an endless stream. After bleeding on my towel, in the tub, on the bathmat, the kitchen floor, and in the sink as I tried to wipe up the blood and apply bandages, it became clear that my efforts were futile, much like resistance to the Borg might be.
Taking inspiration from one of my favorite women of all time, I did what I could with a band-aid, then put my foot in a quart sized bag, sealed it around my ankle, and called it a night. It is better my foot sweat a bit and the inside of a plastic bag get blood-stained than I bleed all over my couch.
*And who could blame her? I once walked in and right back out of an emergency room in Quebec. Also, I watched the film Jesus de Montreal. I know that visiting a hospital, especially the urgent care part, is a surefire way to die a slow, agonizing, death due to incompetent and negligent care and understaffed healthcare facilities.
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