2.27.2012

Marathon Training Week #2

Week 2 of training went much better than week 1! I can honestly say I feel like it's off to a smashing start now. :-)

On the schedule for the week...


Mon, 2/20 - I was exhausted. Story of my life right now. I had a lot to do that evening, but I still managed to squeeze in 20 minutes of core exercises. Nothing too intense, so I wonder if it really did any good, but I'm kind of in the mindset of anything is better than nothing.

Tue, 2/21 - A quick 2 miles to help recover from Sunday's long run. I could definitely feel it in my calves, but overall a nice little run.

Wed, 2/22 - Fail. I didn't manage to get in either a cross training session or any core work. Booo!!

Thu, 2/23 - I walked home from school. :-) On the schedule was a 5 mile pace run. I had a little technical difficulty at the beginning and then tried to just remember my turn around point. I ended up turning around much earlier than I'd mapped out before leaving, so my run only ended up being 4.39 miles. It was still a pretty impressive pace at 9:30.

Fri, 2/24 - I hit up the treadmill for today's 3 miles. Sometimes, it's just easier to treadmill it than to decide on a route that will be the exact distance I want. After the treadmill, I did some core exercises at home. I didn't feel up to doing an entire Strong Stride workout cuz it always kicks my butt, so I just did 3 segments - Core, Plank, and Back.

Sat, 2/25 - It took me forever to get going on Saturday. Truth be told, I was actually relatively productive during the morning with school prep and household chores, so I'm not beating myself up about it. Plus, my intention was to hit the pool with Jeff. That didn't happen, but before it got too late, I finally headed to the gym around 7:45pm. I did my first ever Tabata Interval routine review on that later. It was a 30 minute workout, and I only did the first 20 minutes before I really felt like I was about to die. Round one was jumping jacks. Round two was jumping rope. Round 3, high knee running. Round 4, squat jumps. I really pooped out on the squat jumps, but I tried to push myself and still give it my all. I wanted to do an elliptical workout after my tabata, but turns out the cardio room closed at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Helps to check the schedule before heading to the gym! Oh well. Instead, I popped in a video when I got home.


I hadn't done this one in a very long time, and I really enjoyed the pilates / dance flow. I think I'll do this more often for some cross training.

Sun, 2/26 - Time for a long run! My friend from the previous weekend had to work, so I knew I'd be on my own for this one. I was nervous that I would get really bored and that the time / distance would really drag on. Much to my surprise, IT DIDN'T! In fact, before I knew it, I had my sights set on my finish. It was a great run with a sub-10:00 pace.

All in all, here is what my week looked like.


It was a great week - despite skipping one day of cross / core.

What are your favorite ways to cross training? If you're going to skip a workout, what are you most likely to skip?

Don't forget I'm always looking for sponsors to help me with my training. Let me know if you're interested. :)

2.25.2012

CP Reflection Week 4

One of the things that has been really stressed in my teacher education program is the importance of reflection, so in that spirit, here is my reflection on this past week of Clinical Practice (i.e. student teaching).

Monday, 2/20
NO SCHOOL. PRESIDENT'S DAY.
This was a much needed break. I hadn't been extremely productive on Sat or Sun last weekend, so I spent most of Monday really working hard on upcoming lesson plans. Designing lesson plans is really mentally taxing. How can I best teach this in a way that students will learn? How do I make this interesting? What type of activities will reinforce learning?

Tuesday, 2/21
No school for students. Faculty Workshop. This was largely unhelpful for me. The purpose of the workshop was for teachers to create a Google site for their class. The school is very interactive with Google products. Their email (for faculty and students) is Gmail-based, and now by the fall, each class should have a Google site set-up. Since I am not a faculty member, I didn't have much to do during this portion of the workshop. I played around with Google sites briefly, but mostly worked on lesson plans. After lunch, I attended a seminar on Google apps. Since I've been a fairly avid Google user for years, I didn't learn much from this either. In fact, I was able to assist other teachers who needed help with Google  forms, etc. In some ways, it was a fun refresher for me since many things I hadn't used in quite some time.  After that seminar, we had a department meeting. It was a discussion on curriculum in the middle and high school. After that, we went out for drinks/apps - easily the best part of the day!

Wednesday, 2/22
All the classes were shortened by a few minutes for a special chapel service for Ash Wednesday. Being a product of public school, it is still weird for me to have a weekly chapel service during school.

The only class I taught today was in World History (AP Gov had an essay test; AP Euro was taught by my mentor teacher (MT)). We covered the Mejii Restoration in Japan. I ran them through what some of the changes were and why they wanted to change. My MT took them through some specifics that demonstrated the rapidity of Japanese modernization and how they were able to successfully accomplish such a feat.

Thursday, 2/23
I went in early for a grade level faculty meeting. This week it was for all faculty who taught sophomores. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss students who were failing and to get advice from other teachers with the same student. Was the student doing poorly in all his/her classes? What could  teachers do to assist and better ensure learning by the student? It was interesting to sit in on the meeting. I knew several of the students that were being discussed. There weren't quite as many suggestions and helpful advice as I would have hoped, though.

In World History, we spent some time discussing Japan and World War II. My MT teacher provided some background on the war, and I introduced nuclear warfare (i.e. the bombing of Hiroshima). We did an ethical exercise (taped several ethical statements around the room, students indicated if they agreed or disagreed or were neutral). I showed the following slideshow (taken largely from this website), and then we began reading excerpts from Hiroshima by John Hersey. The rest was assigned as homework over the weekend.



I think this lesson turned out really well. The students seemed pretty responsive to the war and the devastating effects of the nuclear bomb. On Monday, we will continue our discussion of nuclear warfare.

In AP Euro History, I mostly did all the teaching. My MT opened the class and ran through a bit about the economic situation in Europe after WWI. Throughout Europe during the 1920s, many political experiments took place. Today's lesson was on the experiments going on in Russia. The driving question of the lesson dealt with how to reconcile the conflict between ideology and practicality. The Bolsheviks/Communists wanted to fundamentally change all of society. How could this practically be accomplished? We walked through how you would change society (via legislation, education, arts) and if it was even possible to ever achieve this ideal. My MT and I were working on this lesson plan almost up to the moment class began. It definitely could have been polished a bit more, and I ended up running out of time before getting to the end. I do think it was put together pretty well, and we may not have run out of time if I'd had better control over the flow. There was a bit of group work throughout the lesson that I could have managed better (e.g. clearer instructions, less time in the group, smoother shift back out of the groups) to provide us with more time to get through all of the material. This was my first observed lesson by my MT. He had a lot of good suggestions for me.

Things I need to work on:
  • Questioning technique - planning a series questions to lead students in a logical direction, asking the right questions.
  • Transitions - using motivation language to get students into groups, being clearer about what the groups should be doing and why, pulling students back from the groups and getting them into groups, connecting disparate elements of the lesson
Friday, 2/24
I was not in the classroom; I had a clinical practice seminar. In my post yesterday, I alluded to having one of those days. Let's just say that the seminar was completely frustrating. My fellow teacher candidates are so poorly behaved. They are just plain rude. I'll be honest. I would hate having them for students in my class. One girl in my group was texting on her phone nearly the entire time. Most of them have no qualms about talking when someone is presenting information, and then they have to ask a bunch of unnecessary questions, because they would have been answered had they been paying attention. I had to concentrate extra hard to compensate for all the chatter around me. Ugh! If I were more vindictive, I would actually wish poor student behavior on them, as punishment for being poor students themselves. I could go on and on, but I won't. I know I've already rambled enough.

Overall, not much classroom time this past week. I am pleased with how much I am learning in clinical practice, and I'm fairly confident that it will help me to become a much better teacher some day.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon! I've been quite productive today. How about you? Do you tend to be more productive during the week or on weekends?

2.24.2012

5QF #4 & Flashback to 2009

I haven't done this for awhile, but it's a fun, easy post and that's just what I need after today (more on that hopefully tomorrow).


1. What's your favorite way to spend down time (alone or with a significant other)? Watching TV or a movie, reading blogs, or taking a nap. Probably in that order of preference, but really any of those will do.

2. Are you the kind of person that wants things more as soon as you know you can't have it? Yes, definitely. Me and will power aren't the greatest of friends. I mean especially when it comes to food, which is precisely why I don't diet and don't eat particularly healthy.

3. If you were given $1000 to spend on yourself, what would you buy? I would overhaul my wardrobe. Perhaps with the advice of a personal shopper or something. Fashion is definitely not my forte, and my clothes are pathetic. All too often I show up at work only to realize how much I hate my outfit.

4. Do you ever go out to eat by yourself? Dinner? No. Lunch? Absolutely. I wouldn't really have a problem going out to eat by myself for dinner, but I just don't ever do it.

5. What company would you want to do a blog review for? Probably just about any company that would offer me something to try to improve my running or core. There are likely a few companies in particular, but I'm probably be willing to do a review for just about any company that I find interesting.

******
I thought I'd do a little Flashback Friday today as well.

Back in Feb 2009, I did a little daily photo challenge. Topic: winter

On 2/24/09, I posted this picture of Sallie playing in the snow.


It's probably not as fun for you to Flashback with me, but I love looking through old posts and pictures. Brings back fun memories of our last apartment. We didn't get anywhere near this amount of snow this year (knock on wood).

Sooooo... happy Friday, everyone! I've got a lot of work to do this weekend, but no other plans, which is niiiiice! What are you up to this weekend?

2.21.2012

Marathon Training Week #1

Last week was week 1 of marathon training.

Unfortunately, it did not get off to the stellar start I was hoping for.

Mon, 2/13 - I felt sick to my stomach all day long. It was difficult enough to get through the school day, so I thought it best if I put off starting training a few days.

Tue, 2/14 - I was feeling better in some ways but still not good enough to work out. Instead we ordered a pizza and played pool to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Wed, 2/15 - I missed my bus to school in the morning, so I walked the 1.2 miles. After work, I did not feel like working out, but I forced myself to head to the gym. I did 20 minutes on the StairMaster and then a few core exercises in the weight room and a few more at home.

Thu, 2/16 - I was so tired and weak feeling that I skipped another day of training. Well, I did walk home from school. That 1.2 miles must have really wiped me out!

Fri, 2/17 - It was such a nice afternoon that I walked home from school again. I pretty much headed straight to the gym after getting home and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I finished my workout by doing my Strong Stride video to work on some core. The video was 46 minutes and TOUGH!

Sat, 2/18 - Jeff and I went to the pool. We were probably only in the water for about 20 minutes. I probably did more floating than any attempt at actual laps, but at least it was something. :-)

Sun, 2/19 - What a beautiful day for a run! Saturday evening, a friend texted me to say she would like to join me for my 8 miles on Sunday. Way to hold me accountable! :-) I'm so glad that she texted me. 1) It really motivated me to actually go for a run outside. 2) It made the run go so much faster with a friend. 3) It made me feel really special knowing that someone was checking my training schedule.

Total miles: 11
Total cross: 60 min
Total core: 61 min

Overall, it was a bit of a rocky start to the start of training, but not too bad overall. I do know it will take a lot of tenacity for me to stick to this training plan.

Remember, if you're interested in sponsoring my training, read this post for some fun sponsoring ideas.

2.20.2012

I'd Rather...


Today's listicle topic was things I'd rather do than clean my apartment, BUT I'd rather clean my apartment than write lesson plans, so...

Top 10 Things I'd Rather Do than Lesson Prep
  1. Cook dinner.
  2. Take Sallie out.
  3. Go swimming.
  4. Watch TV or a movie.
  5. Talk to Jeff about said lesson planning. Sometimes helpful, but often just distracting.
  6. Blog - either my own or reading others.
  7. Shave.
  8. Organize my class binder.
  9. Clean my apartment.
  10. Just about anything else.
Sorry for the lack of creativity. I actually need to get back to planning lessons on Japan, the Soviet Union, and Latin America. I squandered way. too. much. of my long weekend. Boooooo!

Have a great week!!

2.19.2012

SOC - It must be Fate, right?


#SOCsunday

Today’s Writing Prompt: What's your take on fate? Does everything happen for a reason? Are we in control of our own destiny?

No, I don't really believe in fate. Life is to be lived and experienced. I think fate is kind of a crutch for some people. Something good happens? It must be fate. Something bad? Fate.

Um. No.

Let's take responsibility for our own happiness or misery.

I think we are in control. We can choose to be happy.

Yeah, sure. Sometimes bad things do happen to good people. Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.

But even when that happens, we can choose how we react to it.

I don't think I would like to live in a world that was pure destiny or fate. Why would I work hard to achieve my goals or dreams if nothing I did made a difference?

Would I even have dreams or goals?

******
Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:
  • Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
  • Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
  • Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
  • Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
  • Link up your post.
  • Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

2.18.2012

CP Reflection Weeks 1-3

Hello, long weekend! I am so happy to finally see you. :-)

The past two weekends, I've wanted to take a few moments to write a reflection about how clinical practice (student teaching) is going, but I haven't. My weekends have been so busy with lesson planning and grading and procrastinating doing both of those things.

NO MORE EXCUSES. 

This reflection will be a bit longer than future ones, because I'd like to recap briefly the weeks I missed.

Week One
2/1 - This was my first day in the classroom. You can read about more it here, so I'll just leave it at it was a great start! Oh, I didn't mention in that post, that I did get to work with a few students that first day. Most of the students were asked to write a short reflection briefly defending or refuting a statement while a few students were sent to orally discuss the statement with me. It was fun to start interacting with students right away.

2/2 - This was my 2nd first day. Because of the school's modified block schedule, it was a whole new (to me) group of students. I was not feeling as confident today, because I didn't really care for my outfit. Plus, my nylons got a run in them when I was putting them on in the bathroom, and I was forced to wear my skirt with heels and no nylons. Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make. Oh well. In World History, time was mostly spent in individual reading time. Students read a few articles on China from the New York Times website. We gave them specific areas to look at on the website, but they could choose their own articles. We then placed them in groups to discuss what they did as well as do a specific task. One group created a survey of questions they would ask to determine if a person was happy. Another group created a venn diagram of American values and Chinese values and where some overlaps would occur. The third groups drew pictures of what they thought would make a good life and then indicated which they thought the Chinese would also think made a good life. I helped out with the groups to make sure they were staying on track and helped them to tease out some ideas. Because of the nature of the group work, I really should not have worn a skirt.

2/3 - Today was the same lesson plan for World History. I basically just helped out with the groups.

This week ended with me telling Jeff how much I am enjoying student teaching - more than I thought I would. I am surprised at how much love being in the classroom. Even though I am tired a lot, there is just such an energy I get from being with the students and learning and teaching!

Week Two
2/6 - Classes are a little shorter on Mondays. It's not a block schedule on Mondays, so all 7 classes meet. World History was fun today! We watched segments from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and talked about the symbolism and some of what China was trying to tell the world. This was a true co-taught lesson, as we each had specific parts of the ceremony to discuss.

2/7 - This was the last day of instruction for the unit on China. We handed out articles for the students to read and then, after giving them time to read through their article, we had a fishbowl discussion. I didn't know what this was, so I'll explain it briefly. Basically, 5 students sit at a table in the middle of the classroom and begin a discussion. We provide them with an overall, general question to base their discussion around, and they are to use evidence from their articles as well as previous classroom discussions to mold their conversation. When anyone from the perimeter of the room wants to join in the conversation, h/she joins the students at the table and someone else leaves. Basically there are always 5 people in the middle, but not always the same five people. This is a graded discussion, and everyone is supposed to participate. It was fun to listen to their conversation and some of them actually made really good points. I was a little surprised at how much enthusiasm they brought to this discussion.

2/8 - Same lesson as the day before, but it is amazing the difference between the three sections of World History. Yesterday's class was really into it and made some great points. The first class today did, too, but there were a few students that didn't say anything. A couple students even joined the circle, but then didn't contribute it was kind of baffling. The third section is by far the most talkative class (of the three), but it is really dominated by a few. There were several students that never got in the middle and a couple that never said anything when they were in the middle. This was pretty disappointing to my MT. Overall, I do like this activity and will most likely incorporate it into my classroom in the future. The articles we chose for them to read were long and may have been a bit difficult. The third section was especially resistant to doing the reading.

2/9 - Test in World History. World History is the first class of the day, so we spent most of the rest of the day grading those tests. We actually finished grading all of this class! The test was 10 multiple choice questions and 4 short essays (1 para each). It was my first time grading essays. I was quite impressed with some of the writing.

2/10 - Test in World History. I worked on some lesson planning while the students were taking the test and then grading once the first section had finished. We also met with my supervisor during one of our free periods. It was basically an introductory meeting to discuss her role and more about my MT's role. We graded most of the day but still had to take some tests home to finish over the weekend. I forced myself to finish the grading before going to bed. :-) Otherwise, I knew the weekend would be over, and I wouldn't have gotten back to it.

Overall, I'm still really excited about being in the classroom and working with students and my MT. 

Week Three
2/13 - The last Monday of each unit, is set aside for current events. 3-5 students are assigned for the unit, and they are given a pretty detailed assignment sheet to help them narrow down their current events topic. Their presentation is to be 5-7 minutes and include some multimedia (slide, video, image, etc). There were quite a few people gone today, and a few students that just weren't prepared for their presentation. I felt sick to my stomach through most of the day. It was a real struggle to make it through, and there was a very slight sense that I might not make it in for Tuesday.

2/14 - I was feeling better in the morning, so I made it to school. In World History, we began our new unit on Japan. Again, this was a co-taught lesson. I taught a lesson on how Japan's geography affects its culture and then my MT taught about Shinto. The timing and flow was off a little, and we made a few changes to the lesson for the next day. In AP Euro History, I taught a lesson on the Russian Revolutions. Since this was the first time I'd really interacted with these students, I designed the lesson to be co-taught. It was fun to prepare and give this lesson. We provided the students with some background and then we did a simulation. We split the students into different groups (autocrats, moderates, Mensheviks and socialist revolutionaries, and Bolsheviks) and each group met to discuss if they should join the Great War and then met several other times to discuss their next steps as we moved through the war and 1917. There were definitely some things we would probably change if we were to do the lesson again. There were a couple times when I lost my train of thought and gave the impression that I didn't know what I was talking about, but overall I was pleased with how well it went.

2/15 - Same lesson in World history, but with the few changes we made to the order/timing. The first class of the day was also my first official observation by my supervisor. I wasn't particularly nervous that she was there, so that was a good thing! After that first lesson, the three of us sat down to discuss how we thought it went. To be honest, it was a little discouraging. She said she didn't see any red flags, but then gave me a lot of things to work on. This is what I should have expected for my first observation, but it was still a little difficult for me to take in. Honestly, I took it harder than I should have. I blame the fact that I had a cold and was dealing with some female issues. Anyway, I also hadn't exactly set myself up for success because I didn't reprint the modified lesson plan and tried to stumble my way through the old one.  This gave the (not untrue) impression that I didn't know where I was going with the lesson. 

Major things to work on: Asking questions across the whole spectrum of Bloom's taxonomy. Creating smoother transitions from one idea or activity to the next. Tying everything together. Again, no real surprises here.

2/16 - Continuing with Japan, we co-taught a lesson on major themes in Japanese history and Japanese values. We focused on art, the Kamakura period (basically the Middle Ages in Japan), the samurai (this was the bulk of the lesson) and the Mongol invasion. We took a look at the Heiji scroll this is a really neat interactive look at the scroll. This was my section. I didn't feel very comfortable with what I was doing for this section of the lesson, and I think it showed. I was able to stumble my way through, but it wasn't pretty. lol. My other part in this lesson was leading them through a short reading and discussion on what it meant to be a samurai and live by the code of bushido. I definitely could have done this better. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with my parts of this lesson.

2/17 - We made a few changes to the lesson. My parts went much better today than the day before, but you could still tell that I was nervous and maybe not 100% prepared. There was one group in particular that was frustrating. When the small groups were discuss the reading on the code of bushido. This group simply said it was illogical to behave like they did. End of discussion. I tried to push them passed this, but I wasn't very successful. The third time around was much better, though. Afterwards, my MT teacher commented that I seemed much more relaxed and was able to really made some good connections. I did a good job tying the discussion back to earlier discussions in the lesson to make stronger points during the bushido portion. It was really good to get such positive feedback.

Overall impression from the week? I need to work a lot harder at my preparations. To be honest, I haven't been putting in the time or effort necessary for a beginning teacher. As my participation in the lessons is going to get more and more intense, I really need to spend more time in the evenings focusing on lesson prep and less time watching TV and lounging. When I get home from school, I feel like I need some decompression time, and that seems to take longer than it should / than I really need. I need to change that.

Phew...this was LONG! I won't feel bad if you didn't make it though the whole thing. Next week's will be much shorter, I promise. :-)

Now, I'm going to enjoy my long weekend with some swimming, running, LOTS of lesson prep and some grading.

What are you up to this weekend?

2.15.2012

Delays

Two days ago, I was supposed to begin my long-anticipated training schedule for my marathon in June.

BUT I felt sick to my stomach all day and had to struggle to get through the school day. I had two huge lessons to do on Tuesday, so I took a nap after school on Monday and then also went to bed at a decent hour.

My lessons went well yesterday, but I was still feeling pretty tired and weak, so I put off starting another day.

TODAY I MUST GET BACK ON TRACK!

I went to pinterest for some inspiration.

And I found the perfect pin!

BUT when I clicked on it, it said, sorry, this pin has been deleted. Bummer!

What did it say?

ME 
AGAINST 
MYSELF

I'm the only one stopping me at this point.

I need to get back on track.

TODAY!

2.13.2012

L-O-V-E Love

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Growing up, it was always one of my favorite holidays.

I'll always remember my freshman year in college. My mom had died the previous year. I was away from home. When Valentine's Day came around, I was completely homesick for my mom who I couldn't call and wouldn't be seeing very soon. It was so difficult for me. BUT I ended up getting a care-package and my friends were really supportive.

Well, that was kind of a crappy way to start a post on love.



Today's topic for Monday Listicles is LOVE. Freestyling is encouraged.

Five Reasons Why I'm Still in Love.

1. He is supportive. He encouraged me to go back to school, and now I'm student teaching and really enjoying it.

2. He has such big dreams and can convey them in such a way that I always end up loving the ideas, too. Latest big dream? One day own a catamaran and offer educational summer camps (scuba, history, etc) and / or luxury vacations.

3. We have had a lot of adventures together. Living in Brooklyn. Moving cross-country 3 times in the first 3 years of marriage. Scuba diving. Traveling.

4. Sometimes, he still looks at me in a way that makes me melt.

5. He loves it when I put my arm through his when we're walking outside. Sometimes he even insists that I do this. I think maybe it's so I don't walk so slow and end up walking behind him.

Bonus. He always carries the heavier stuff - bags, scuba equipment, etc.

That's all I have time for this morning. I need to get ready for school. :-) Today should be relatively easy, but tomorrow I'm teaching a lesson the geography of Japan and how it has affected its culture and a lesson the Russian Revolutions of 1917. No, I'm not 100% ready or confident on either lesson. Wish me luck!

I wanted to end this post with a video of my favorite song about love, but I can't find it on YouTube. Here are the lyrics instead. Maybe later tonight I'll have time to search a little more. The lyrics are pretty awesome, in my opinion.

Reasons Why  by Merril Bainbridge.

I finally found the reasons why
Everything I feel inside
Feelings that I cannot hide
Tell me that it's you

Got me acting kinda strange
Like I'm on a different plane
I never thought I could explain
But I know that it's love

I finally found the reason why
Rainbow colors fill the air
People always stop and stare
Whenever I'm with you

Suddenly the flowers bloom
Whistling a happy tune
I never thought I'd understand
But now I know it's love

'Cause when you smile
And look at me, then suddenly
I know why the birds
Keep singing every place I go

I finally found the reason why
Everything is upside down
My feet don't even touch the ground
But now I know that it's love

'Cause when you smile
And look at me, then suddenly
I know why the birds
Keep singing every place I go

I finally found the reason why
Everything is upside down
My feet don't even touch the ground
But now I know that it's love

This is love, I know that it's love
This is love, it's love, this is love, it's love

2.07.2012

StrongStride Winner

I know, I know. I said I would announce the winner yesterday, but the evening ran away from me, and before I knew it, it was way past my bedtime.

I want to shout out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who entered my first giveaway.

The winner was ...

Suzanne @ Cows and Lasers and Everything In Between

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks, Suzanne, for tweeting about this giveaway. :-)

2.05.2012

SOC - Goodbye, goodbye

#SOCsunday

Today’s Writing Prompt: Write about something that you unexpectedly had a hard time saying good-bye to.

Today's topic was the kind that really gnawed at me. I knew there was something somewhat recently that I had to say good-bye to and it made me sad, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was.

Was it our car? We've been living car-free since Aug 2010. I knew it would be difficult, but I didn't really have a hard time saying good-bye.

So that wasn't it.

I racked my brain.

Finally, I asked my husband what he might remember. Our first apartment? Not really. Our apartment in Brooklyn? No.

And then I remembered our electric piano.


We sold it a few months ago. I didn't play it very often, but I just liked knowing it was there if I wanted to play or attempt to play.

I grew up taking piano lessons. I can't say that I loved it or that I was particularly fantastic at it, but I could get by. I played in a few recitals and competitions in high school. It was fun.

Deep down, I really believe that music can be so beneficial in our lives. I think that playing the piano is an excellent skill. It's impressive when showing off.

I miss our piano at times.

But I know we'll have another one some day.

******
Now it's your turn! Here are a few rules:
  • Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
  • Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
  • Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
  • Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
  • Link up your post.
  • Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

2.03.2012

Did you know?

I've been blogging on this blog since the summer of 2006.

Occasionally I've done Flashback Fridays posts. Usually these posts were random photos from my past, but I thought it would be fun and I didn't have anything else to blog about today to re-post some of my older posts.

The following post, How Many of Me?? was originally posted on February 7, 2007.

Clarinda Dodson

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.
How many have your name?

Clarinda Wilson (This was surprising to me.)

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are:
5
people with my name
in the U.S.A.
How many have your name?

There are 1,500 people in the U.S. with the first name Clarinda.
There are 50,995 people in the U.S. with the last name Dodson.
There are 1,016,894 people in the U.S. with the last name Wilson.

I honestly was surprised at how many Clarindas there were. I've never met another one (besides my Great-grandma) and most people I meet have never heard the name before.

Of course there is that small town in Iowa...

End of original post.


Five years later?

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are
1
or fewer people with the name Clarinda Dodson in the U.S.A.
How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are
5
people with the name Clarinda Wilson in the U.S.A.
How many have your name?

Apparently one person has my name now. Or is that one person me?? *shrug* I don't know.

Have a great weekend!


Don't forget to enter my giveaway for StrongStride. Only two more days to enter.

2.02.2012

Marathon Training 2012

I finally got around to creating my training schedule for my upcoming marathon. If you click on the image below, you can see it a little larger.

I modified the training program I signed up for to include cross training as well as core, speed and hill work. 

Wish me luck!!


P.S. I also published this same post as a Page up at the top of my blog, if you're interested in keeping track of my training. I also plan on doing a weekly progress report - hopefully on Mondays.

2.01.2012

Day One

Well, my first day has come and gone. I'll never have another first day.

Until tomorrow, that is!

The school I'm at is on a modified block schedule, so tomorrow will be like another first day because I will be meeting all new students.

Still, it won't be the same. I don't think I'll be nearly as nervous.

Today was good! But tiring. Mostly because I wasn't really doing much. The World History classes were watching a Frontline video on China. It was really interesting but still difficult to watch the same documentary twice in one day. :-)

I am looking forward to a fun semester, though.

Despite being am a little intimidated by my mentor teacher. He is awesome and so full of knowledge!, I do think I will learn a lot from him; we should work quite well together.

Here are a few thoughts from my first day.
  • Dress in layers. i.e. wear a cardigan or sweater. I knew this would be the case, but still I chose to ignore it today. I usually get pretty warm when I'm in front of a group, but since I was mostly watching a movie today, I ended up pretty cold most of the day in my short sleeve top.
  • My first day's outfit.
  • Bring more food. I ate half my lunch as a snack during prep around 10:30am or so. I had to stop myself from eating more. I finished my lunch during lunch period, and I was pretty hungry by the time I got home. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't bring more food. Y'know, to aid my weight loss journey.
  • Teachers are master cryptographers. Most of the students in the two World History classes today had decent enough handwriting, but others are quite a stretch to decipher. I'm pretty pleased that there was only one whose writing I couldn't stumble through at. all.
Overall it was a great way to ease into teaching and my home for the next three months.

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