A welcome change of pace

On Thursday and Friday of last week I got to attend The National Title One Convention held this year in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Along with several other teachers from my school, we spent two days at the Salt Palace learning new teaching ideas and practices, along side educators from all around the country.

It was nice to sit back and be the student for a while. 

(We all agreed that we needed the break-as our students probably did, too!)

We learned how important music can be in the classroom.  Well, we were reminded again how valuable it can be.  It seems that in the past few years it has been given less and less importance.  Music can help with the way the brain processes things; it is a tool to help kids gain focus and discipline (a great  help for those ADHD active students), and a catchy tune can cement a concept in our memory for many years.

It was a fun reminder.

We were emotionally fed and motivated as we listened to Stacy Bess, the teacher who wrote about her experiences teaching at a homeless shelter, or what she referred to in her book as The School With No Name.  Hallmark channel made a television movie about it. 

She reminded us that our students need caring, patience, and love.  They might not remember what we taught them, but we can impact their lives with our kindness.

We had a wonderful time wandering around downtown Salt Lake during our lunch break.

On Thursday we had delicious Mexican food at the Blue Iguana.

On Friday we wandered through Temple Square on our way to eat at The Lion House, famous for its down-home cooking.

I love how the old Assembly Hall is standing proudly against the newly constructed tower in  the City Creek mall. 

Sixty-eight degree weather made it perfect for February exploring. 

Can you believe we didn’t even wear jackets?

In Utah?  In February?

I think we all needed a time to step back and refuel. 

 

Now, if I can just keep my thoughts positive.

Have a great, uplifting Monday tomorrow!

I love this quote that Chip and Joanna Gains hung on a wall in a client’s house:

“Today is a good day for a good day.”

P.S.  Do you love their show “Fixer Upper”?

I

 

 

A little Quiz….and a prize

Looks like I really need to put some glasses on.

(We loved watching an Imax butterfly movie last Saturday at the Planetarium!)

In my recent “thinking about Valentine’s Day” post, I made another interesting goof up on the cookie recipe. 

(I warned you I was stressed from too much testing at school!)

My husband thinks I should leave it.

Maybe I will.

Can you figure out what I did wrong?

I’ll send a copy of “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch” to the first person who leaves a comment with the correct answer to my mistake.  Please leave me a contact on my email so I have an address.

JoAnn

P.S.  The cute couple on the back fit right in with our family.

We should have shared our popcorn with them.

 

Oops!

My face is red!

I just noticed that I made a mistake on my ice cream recipe in the last post.  It is

PINEAPPLE SHERBET

Not Raspberry Sherbet.

The raspberry flavor comes from the frozen raspberries.

Sorry if anyone tried the recipe and had some very, very raspberry flavored ice cream.

* * * * * *

I love this picture of two of my little grandkids.

They are partners in crime.

They love to empty drawers, climb on furniture, color on the walls, and cause mischief together.

What one does, the other one does.

Aubrey fell asleep on the kitchen floor so guess what Zach did?

He wasn’t sleeping, but he still kept her company.

Looks like a great bond is developing between them!

I love it.

Have a great day/week!

JoAnn

Thinking pink….

 

No, this is not a baby girl announcement!

I’m just thinking about the upcoming Valentine’s Day, and some fun pink ideas.

(It’s almost February, right?)

Raspberry Pineapple \Sherbet is one of my favorite ice cream/slushes ever.

The best part is that it is also easy.

All you do is buy one carton of Pineapple Sherbet ice cream, add one package of frozen raspberries (juice and all).  Thaw it just enough to mix together.  You can use it then, or refreeze it for later.  If you are using it as an ice cream you can add a few banana slices if you like.  If you want to use it as a slush, add a little 7-up or Sprite.

It is refreshing and pretty!

How about a tea party with your grandmother’s pink antique china dishes?

This was one of my favorite Valentine’s from a student at school!

Give someone a “Heart Attack” without ruining their health.

Cover their door or front lawn with fun little heart messages (or their chair at school).

Serve pink food on a pink table cloth.

We love this sugar cookie recipe.

The cookies are soft and delicious.

Linda’s Sugar Cookies:

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 1/2 cups flour

Mix cream, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla a few minutes then add dry ingredients.  Mix together.  Chill until cold.  Shape cookies and bake at 359 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Read one of my favorite children’s books, by Eileen Spinelli.

And…

Who doesn’t like pink flowers?

Happy end of January-soon to be February!

JoAnn

 

Clay People

 

 

The past few weeks have been crazy testing weeks at school.

(Ask any teacher, and they will tell you there is too much testing nowadays!)

And to make matters worse-in one more week we have our big state writing test.

(It also doesn’t help that I gave my students the wrong computer test and now we have one more to do!)

Anyway, it was a busy, frustrating, too-much-to-do-no-time-to-do-it-week.

By Friday night I was feeling drained, depleted, and discouraged.

As I dragged myself home from school, I certainly questioned whatever made me choose education as my choice of career.

Do you ever doubt yourself,too?

Maybe I’m not cut out for the pressure filled responsibility of getting all my students on grade level, when many come to me way below grade level, or are struggling to just learn English.  Problems at home can make learning even harder for many.

Discipline problems, frequent moving, and absenteeism can get in the way, too.

Well, I’m not ready or willing to abandon my career quite yet.  Despite the frustrations, for the most part, I do enjoy what I do.  Working with children isn’t always easy, but the rewards are often priceless.

Some of my best compliments have come from eight and nine year olds.  Hearing a student say he didn’t used to like school, but learned to like it when he was in my class is a pay day I’ll always treasure.

Seeing a student finally “get it” after struggling and struggling with a concept is also very rewarding.

So what do the clay people have to do with all

this?

 

I love the creativity of children!

These interesting people, who sit on a shelf in one of our bedrooms, were created by our daughter, Liz, when she was still a child.  She created her clay people because she loved doing it. 

She taught herself.

All we had to do was provide the clay.

I hope that the future of education will still provide children with some time to be creative, original, and inventive. 

Yes, they need training, guidance, skills, and practice, but

maybe we need to step back a bit and let them be kids, too. 

What do you think?

JoAnn

P.S.  Time hasn’t been completely kind to this couple.  The man slipped from his original position in the frame, and the woman’s nose has suffered some major flattening from the glass (sounds like the aging process), but I still find them endearing.

 

Little things…January’s blessings

Sometimes the month of January is an unmemorable blur at our house-a month that quickly passes without much fanfare.  It is recovery time from the busy preparations and celebrations of Christmas, and a hibernation period from cold and stormy weather. It is when I prefer to be inside where it is warm and toasty and not so much outside where it is freezing and cold.

It’s also a time for promised changes and resolutions, yet none that are really happening for me yet.  (I really should get started!)

I always think I’ll do some cleaning and organizing projects during January, but don’t usually get too much accomplished before the month is over.

This year we all got hit with an after holiday flu bug, too.

Blah…..blah…..blah….

Despite the usual January doldrums, we have a few great blessings to add to our memory banks.

♥Sweet baby Naomi arrived safe and sound to her parents Heidi

and Ovidiu and big brother Paul.  We just LOVE her!  Isn’t she sweet?

 

(Heidi, Paul, and Naomi)

Ovidiu, Paul, Heidi, and Naomi

♥She shares a birthday with her uncle Andrew!  Happy Birthday,

Andrew!  We had a nice birthday dinner to celebrate.  Too bad that Naomi and her family were in Oregon and not here with us!

We can’t wait for our two new babies to meet each other.

Andrew and Evan

♥We completed two more of our City Connect Passes.  We hung

out with dinosaurs at the museum at Thanksgiving Pointe in Lehi, and we had fun exploring science at the Leonardo Museum down town.  Those Connect passes were worth every penny we paid for them because of the many outings we had together.

Dinosaur Museum:

Robbie, Aubrey, Brittany, and Karl

Robbie, Brooklyn, Ken, Zachary, Karl, Aubrey, Irene, Olivia

Maddie, Joshua, and Brooklyn

Zachary and Liz

Robbie, Katie, Maddie, and Zachary

Michelle, Olivia, and Joshua

Zachary and Aubrey

Zachary, Maddison, and T-Rex?

The Leonardo:

Ken especially liked the Tardis.

Olivia and me

Maddie, Joshua, Brooklyn, Olivia

 

Ken, Zachary, Joshua, Andrew, Robbie, Brittany

Irene, Joshua, and Brooklyn

♥We’ve entertained some overnight guests in the “after” version

of this room.  I like the improvements much better! 

Before:

After: 

♥The new floors have made the basement a great place for the

grandkids to play. 

♥School report cards are FINISHED and tomorrow is a holiday.

It was a lot of work getting a few of my students ready!

AND…

There is still enough time left in the month for me to add a few more memories.

Maybe January isn’t so bad after all!

Do you LOVE or HATE January?

JoAnn

 

First Annual Christmas Pageant…the unconventional version

This year we attempted our very first Christmas pageant with our grandchildren.  (We used to have our Christmas puppets when our children were younger.)

It was a bit rough and unconventional, but we wanted to rekindle the tradition with the next generation.

Our animals included a cow and a zebra.  That’s all.  Yes, there probably weren’t any zebras in Bethlehem, but we had the costume and not a lot of time to create new ones.

We only had one shepherd-and he kept climbing in the manger on top of the baby.

Joseph was frustrated that the animals wouldn’t cooperate and he realized midway through that we didn’t have any wise men.

Our angel was so eager to appear that she peeked out throughout the entire production.  When she did appear, I kept expecting her to yell out “Shazam!”

Mary tried really hard to defend and protect baby Jesus (who did an excellent part lying in the manger).

The paparazzi (whom we love for the pictures they get that capture memories) popped in and out throughout the show, too.

Our stage hand, Irene, had to keep plugging the chords back in for the video which we had playing in the background.

The Christmas Story "Birth of Jesus Christ" Silent Night Music by LDS David Archuleta

Click here if you want to see our unconventional version of the Christmas story.

Merry Christmas!

JoAnn