Grape Jelly Postponed!

 

This was supposed to be “making grape jelly weekend”.  The grapes are deep purple and definitely ripe.  Standing next to the heavy vines it smells like a big glass of grape juice, they are very ready.  Letting them go another week may result in over ripe grapes and opportunity lost.  Saturday had me running every minute but I did think by Sunday I could steal some time to pick grapes and engage in the process of making grape jelly.  I make refrigerator jelly so I don’t go through the elaborate process of canning, boiling, and who knows what else, to make my jelly.  I just cook and refrigerate it.  It is a once a year treat and I look forward to it as my personal rite of passage into autumn.

Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat and the start of a sinus thing.  Yes, I am definitely sick and from the way I feel right now I will be spending the better part of this day on the couch sneezing, coughing and generally feeling miserable.  I will not be standing over the stove cooking and stirring my grapes as they convert to jelly.  Can the grapes wait or will they be wrinkled raisins on the vine by next weekend?  Disappointed and sick I am grabbing my Kleenex box and heading for the couch. 

How did I get sick already?  The influx of coughing germ infused children in our school has already begun but it still is early in the school year for random viruses.   I have not been mindful of getting enough rest and taking time to distress.  I have definitely been burning the candle at both ends.  That balance between work and self has been lopsided and I think it is a contribution to becoming easy prey for a floating virus.  In addition to school demands I have been helping an ill family member while I juggle my own family’s needs.  Yup, I have not been doing what I should to slow down a bit and think about self-care.

How do you balance the demands in your life to allot time for relaxation and rest?  Do you promise yourself that you will take time out tomorrow only to postpone it for the next day, and then the next day and so on? Nature has stepped in and now I am forced to take a time out …to be sick.  I should have slowed down and got more rest.  Now I regret my bag of potato chips lunch and other embarrassingly unhealthy eating choices as I worked through my lunch hour.  I replay all the unhealthy things I had been doing in my mind.  I haven’t even walked the dog in a week and in addition to that activity being great exercise it is an excellent stress reliever. 

How did this happen?  Only 3 weeks into the school year and I have already allowed myself to get caught up on this insane merry-go-round of nonstop activity.  I am not happy to be sick but I needed this eye opener.  I realize I need to slow down, breathe, and walk the dog.  Maybe it is going to take better time management but I definitely have to schedule some “me” time.

 How do you balance work, family life, and personal time?

 

Fall Mindset for Learning

The scent of fall is riding in silently on the chill of the morning air, slowly closing the door to summer.  I love summer and feel some what cheated because I was too busy with summer school and juggling family stuff to take the time to appreciate summer as fully as I usually do.  Such is the life of a working mother and I know a lot of people reading this can relate.  There never is enough time in the day to complete all the plans and projects on my list.  Now that I am back in school full time again the list is even longer and the time is consumed even faster.

I have been looking into new strategies to motivate my reading and math intervention groups.  Based on every teachers' favorite tool "data" (do I sound some what sarcastic? ... good) we group students and spend 45 minutes daily on intervention in small groups.  I work with a mixed group of special education students and students who struggle with proficient mastery of skills at grade level.  One of the biggest road blocks to move these students on is motivation.  They have simply given up and and therefore they are highly unmotivated.  I have been reading and researching about  Growth Mindset and I believe this needs to be a starting point for my intervention group.
A lot of struggling students lose their confidence in their ability to master a skill and by the time they reach adolescence the damage is done.  They have decided they are never going to be good at math, reading, or both due to repeated failures at attempts to master concepts. 
Even as an adult how many times are you willing to attempt to do something that you fail miserabely at? Once? Twice?  Do you tell yourself on the third attempt,"I am not good at this and I don't think I will be able to do it".  Then do you avoid any opportunities that involve attempting that failed attempt again?  We have all had those thoughts and our students do to when it comes to many areas of school curriculum. 

My students start each intervention period working on confidence and motivation.  Our first intervention time was spent talking about failure and viewing it as a learning experience.  We made personal motivation posters which are hanging in the room.

Introduction to intervention has evolved into a kind of a short  "pep rally" to help students approach our work with motivation and a willingness to engage in difficult tasks.  I am in the process of researching further activites to start out my intervention time that will be motivating and help them think about failure in different terms.

I will also be taking time to enjoy the approaching autumn and the beautiful sights, smells, and activities that come with it. 

 Yikes!  It seems like my Concord grapes were green just last week and now look at them, purple and very ripe.  I guess I will be setting time aside this weekend to make refrigerator grape jelly.

 

A Little Piece of Italy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The weekend consisted of rushing around doing errands, cleaning, shopping, and lesson planning.  It was back to back and by Sunday the manical pace of playing catch up from the week was making my head spin.  The weather was beautiful and by noon realizing I had not taken any time to just sit back and appreciate the day I knew I had to force myself to step off this tread mill to nowhere.  I grabbed my 8 year old and told him we were going out to lunch.  We headed towards Lake Michigan and ended up on Brady street,  the "east" side.  We decided to go Italian and stopped at Glorioso's, ordered a mini pizza, and headed outside to dine "el fresco".  

 It was absolutely lovely.  A little piece of Italy right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I finally could relax and put all my school ideas, plans, and hopes out of my mind for the moment.  I enjoyed my child's conversation and did a little people watching as we finished eating the cheesy flavorful pizza in the sun.  All too soon we would leave and it would be back to reality.

Week #2 It's About to Get Real-Update

The first week of school was filled with smiles, excitement, new school supplies and dreams.  However by Friday issues were starting to rear their heads and the middle school drama was beginning to emerge,  Facebook drama, stressed out kids and hot tired teachers were the theme of the day.  The week had been very hot and humid and this 100 year old building becomes a brick oven under those conditions.  Everyone was thankful for the 3 day weekend and hopefully a cooling off in the weather would begin.

Now we are back for week 2 of school and the kids are quiet and a bit sleepy.  It is still hot and humid and that affects energy levels.

I am energized and excited to implement a variety of new strategies this year.  After reading about and researching growth mindset I feel like it would be an excellent strategy for my math intervention group.  There is a lot of research supporting growth mindset and data showing increased motivation, improved behavior, and increases in math and verbal achievement test scores.  Growth mindset originates from three decades of work by Carol Dweck. I am currently reading her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

I see so many students that are only in 7th or 8th grade yet they have totally given up and decided that they will never be good at math or even school in general.  It is so disheartening to see 12 and 13 year olds decide at their young age to quit and not put forth effort because they truly believe they will never be successful at the math curriculum for their grade level.

I have read a few negatives regarding growth mindset however the positive seems to out weigh the "nay" sayers.  I will be continuing my research and planning on implementing this strategy with my intervention math group.  I will report back as I use these techniques and we will see how it impacts my students' motivation and ability to stay focused when they fail.  I hope to see them continue to work on challenging skills until they have mastery.

Have you used growth mindset in your classroom?  I would appreciate any comments(positive or negative) regarding your use of growth mindset in the classroom. Thanks!

 

Update:

 

The students began learning about growth mindset by analyzing how they feel when school work is difficult or challenging.  We discussed the differences between fixed mindset and a growth mindset.  After a lively discussion they designed their own motivating poster. 

 

Labor on Labor Day

Labor on labor day...it doesn't seem right. On September 5, 1882 aproximately 10,000 workers participated in America's first Labor Day Parade in New York City.  In 1887 Oregon became the first state to declare Labor Day an offical holiday, soon the rest of the nation followed.  Labor day weekend is dedicated to the hard working individuals who go off day after day to  a job, giving it their best and precious moments of their life.  Some of us are lucky enough to be doing what we love and getting paid for it while others force themselves to engage daily in a job that defines drudgery.

 I feel blessed that I am able to work in a field that I am passionate about, education.  Just like everyone else it isn't easy getting up when it is still dark and pushing myself to keep moving as I get ready for work.  However once I am out the door my mind is racing with a multitude of ideas and plans for the day.  I really love what I do.

This weekend is supposed to be a break from our hard work and yet I foolishly planned a rummage sale.  The heat was horrendous and once again I was up at the crack of dawn to "work".  I had driven around the night before and placed signs directing people to my rummage sale.  Soon they starting coming, yes, before the appointed time of 9:00 am.  It was OK though, we were ready for them.  As the day crawled on the temperature and humidity index rose.  The eclectic collection of remnants of past decorations, dishes and furniture slowly began to sell.  I had no regrets parting with any of the items and it was a relief to see them find a new home knowing I would not have to lug them down to the basement when the sale ended.

For some reason that remains unknown, Labor Day weekend is a popular weekend to hold a rummage sale here and the neighborhood is filled with sale signs as people use their 3 day weekend for selling and shopping at neighboring garage sales.

Originally I was going to do the 3 day rummage sale, however after sweating and wishing I was somewhere else and doing something else I decided I am done after tomorrow.  So Monday, Labor Day, I will enjoy the day and honor the American labor movement movement by appreciating the opportunity to sit back in thankfulness. 

The Best Teaching Tool Ever

 

 

 

You are looking at the best teaching tool ever!  

At least for today when the temperature is 90 degrees and the humidity is 90 plus.  Children walked in the door looking as fresh as a daisy and walked out looking like melted crayons.  It was hot! 
 Thus, the fan became the best teaching tool of the day.  Although it was only pushing around hot humid air it created an illusion of being cooled off and that was enough to keep all of us persevering.  In every classroom there was the low hum of numerous fans in the background as you walked through the building and it was music to our ears because it meant moving air.
Take note, I am not complaining because only a couple of months from now Wisconsin will become an artic tundra of ice and snow.  They are predicting a drop of temperatures into the 70's after Labor Day so this sauna won't last much longer.  So, kudos to the inventor of the fan!  We wouldn't have survived today in this old brick two story building without it.