A Teacher's Life in Summer!

So this happened!

This was our last walk to school day because these sweet faces finished kindergarten and third grade, respectively, and were anxiously awaiting the fun of summer!  In the last 7 days since school has ended we have...

planned and hosted my daughter's 6th birthday party, attended a friend's birthday party, taken two trips to the zoo, had four playdates,  attended basketball camp, played at some local parks, grabbed summer reading books from the library, begun our summer reading, played countless games of Uno and Go Fish!, eaten too many ice cream cones and popsicles, gardened, grilled, ran, biked, swam, stayed up too late, and snuggled!

The next weeks will bring more of the same and I can't wait!  Baseball, soccer, and cheerleading camp will be attended by my oldest kiddos, and I have some sweet time with my littlest.  I am attempting to sneak in some teacher work here and there, before all three kiddos wake up and at night.  I also try to get it in when I have a napping two-year old and big kids busy with friends.  I am happy to report that I did complete a novel unit that I am testing out on my son, which will be much to his chagrin, of course, but a boy's gotta read, right?!

So despite the urge to prepare for next school year, I am making sure to make the most of this summer with my kiddos.  While a teacher's work is NEVER finished, be sure to take some time to just BE and ENJOY!  I don't say relax because there isn't much of that happening at my house, so I assume it doesn't happen in other busy households either.

Happy Summer!  I would love to hear all about how you are spending yours!

Parenting and Teaching HACKS!

I don't know about you, but I am ALWAYS on the hunt for strategic ways of getting tasks completed.  Like you, I find that I always have 60 billion things to accomplish in a day, and minimal time to get everything completed.  So I look to others for ideas that can make my day easier to navigate and feel as though I have tackled every task I have set out to conquer.

As a mom I find that it is few and far between that I sit, again, I am CERTAIN you can relate.  I often eat dinner as I make it because I know that no matter how organized I think I am, someone needs something as soon as I go to sit and take a bite.  It is what it is, right?  As teachers, sitting is rare as we are always navigating our way around the classroom to meet the need of our students! 

The same is true for our family time after showers and baths...  Literally, as soon as it is sensed that I I am going to sit on the couch to: snuggle a small child, read a story, or heaven-help-me, open my computer, a Beers' kid is in need of S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G!  UGGHHH!  It used to be snacks, so here is my hack that was inspired by my never-willing-to-get-out-of-his-comfy-spot-husband, the SNACK BOWL!

The only materials needed are:

1. re-useable snack bowls with lids, these are in the Target $1 bins for a set of four mini-bowls,
2. snacks your children will eat and not complain about,
3. a larger bowl to place the snack containers in, so the kids can access them easily

Target Mini-Snack containers!

My kids LOVE Goldfish, Life cereal, Cheerios, peanuts, peanut butter pretzels

Filled snack containers ready to be grabbed by hungry kiddos!

These containers can be cleaned and re-used for the next round of snacks...no waste and maybe a moment or two that I don't have to hear, "Mom, I'm hungry!  Can you get me a snack?"  With water bottles filled and ready for the grabbing, and ready-to-grab snacks, you can sit for at least a minute or so before bedtime.

These would also be perfect for testing snacks!  Please share any tips or tricks you have that make your parenting and teaching life easier!  Summer is almost here and this lady is going to need as much help as she can get! 

Girl Scouts, anyone?

So coaching soccer just finished for the fall last night and I embark on my next challenge in motherhood...girl scout troop leader!  Has anyone else out there taken the plunge into this land of promises, laws, petals, pledges, and adventures?!  Holy Moses!

It all started a few months ago when my running buddy texted me...

Rachel: Is Lilah doing Girl Scouts?  The meeting is tonight at 7PM.
Me: No!  We aren't signing up for one more activity at our house right now!
Me (after 5 minutes of reflecting on the fact that my daughter loves crafts, playing with friends, and adventures): We will meet at your house and walk to the school together.

After the meeting...
Me: A few hours ago we were having nothing to do with girl scouts...
Rachel:  Now you are a troop leader!  HAHA

DANG IT!!!

Tonight...17-five-year olds are heading into our elementary school art room and ready to begin their little journey, and take on the task of earning their Daisy petals over the course of the next ten months.  I have to say that a cafeteria full of rowdy 6th graders is a bit less intimidating to me than a bundle of chatty kindergartners. Do any of my middle school friends feel the same way?

Like any seasoned teacher, I walk into this adventure with lots of preparation, mounds of art supplies, sacks of snacks, and a bag of candy in case things go awry!  I have purchased some crazy binder from Amazon, taken a trip to the Girl Scout store of which I had no idea existed, spent lots of time on Pinterest, and I believe I am as ready for this as I will ever be.  Here is a look at our night...

Read more »

Remembering Boston...My Run in 2001

Before getting married and having children, I had a list of things I wanted to do!  At the ripe age of 23, I began running marathons.  I have completed 9, but will likely never run a full 26.2 again.  After running the first Flying Pig Marathon in 1999, I was hooked.  I was sore, but couldn't wait to do another.  I then did Chicago, a few more Flying Pigs, and Columbus.  Before the Columbus Marathon, my two best friends from college who had moved to Chicago told me, "You qualify for Boston and we will meet you there in April!" 

 

My best friends, Nikki and Julie!

  

So I did.  In October of 2000, with a qualifying time of 3:39:57, I qualified for Boston.  In April of 2001, we met there and enjoyed the most amazing weekend.  There were 6 of us, my mom, Gram, sister, Nikki, Julie, and myself all crammed into one hotel room for 4 days.  My mom works for Marriott, so we had a room at the Marriott at Copley Square on the 33rd floor. 





My mom and I right at the starting line!



We spent the weekend having tons of girls time-eating, shopping, touring the city!  I remember thinking how I didn't want the weekend to end because everyone had to go back their seperate ways to their seperate cities.  But, it was a weekend I will never forget.

I knew I wasn't going to run the race of my life!  It is hard to sleep with two BIG snorers!  But that wasn't what mattered!  I had QUALIFIED to be there and I was going to soak up the time with my friends and family, and the race.

At the Expo, which is where you get your packets, chips, and some goodies from the race, I was listening to as many side conversations as I could.  "Don't take anything that is not in an unopened water bottle around Boston College-those kids have been known to put vodka in cups and the runners drink it thinking it is water."  "Don't eat any oranges from them either, because those tend to be soaked in alcohol, too."

Good tips-got it!  Another bit of advice that I had a hard time following was "Stay to the middle of the road on the course.  There are tons of kids and they all want to give you high-fives.  It will wear you out."  I think I high-fived until my hand was ready to fall off that day!  There were tons of kids, tons of screaming spectators, and for 26.2 miles, I wanted to take it all in!  So my time was slower, who cared, I was RUNNING BOSTON!

It was not an easy race.  Because my qualifying time was one of the last, women my age need a time of 3:40-with 3:39, I just made it, I had to leave very early in the morning to get to the start.  They bus the runners to Hopkinton Elementary School, where the runners wait for the noon start time.  My bus left at 6:00AM.  I sat and froze for over 5 hours at this little school before I had to begin my grueling run.  I remember thinking how I wished I were a Kenyan for the day-you see these elite runners get these amazing buses, step off the bus, and begin the race-no freezing cold sitting on cardboard for them.



Very nervous!

I ran a slow race-I finished in 4:06.  As I heard about the events yesterday, my time was only a few minutes shy of those caught in the blasts.  SCARY!  Prayers go out to all of those runners and families that were there for the EXACT same reason I was 12 years ago-because they qualified and because their families and friends couldn't wait to see them run!   It wasn't supposed to and shouldn't have ended this way!





Mystery Readers...Bringing Readers into the Classroom

Being on maternity leave has provided me the opportunity to do many things, and I am only 5 weeks in!  I have been able to really enjoy my family without the daily stresses of getting things accomplished for school.  While I LOVE being a teacher, it has been kind of nice AMAZING, I must admit!  Closets have been cleaned out and better organized, multiple trips have been made to take items to Goodwill, I have been able to walk to pick up both my son and daughter from school everyday, make dinner, catch up with friends and neighbors, and most importantly, catch my breath.  It makes me laugh a little to think that I may be more well-rested despite having a newborn, two BIG kiddos, and a husband, than I have been in months!

One thing I have loved about being on maternity leave is having the time to spend with my now 7-year old son.  Excitingly, it was his birthday yesterday.  One very cool thing that the first grade teachers do at his school is "Mystery Readers."  Every Friday at 11:40, a mysterious person comes in to read their favorite story before the kiddos head to lunch and recess.  It can be a parent, family member, community member-anyone willing to come in and read aloud to the students. 

Knowing that I would be on maternity leave and that April 12th is my son's birhday, I was eager to grab that spot.  My son's teacher, Mrs. DeWitt, asked me to e-mail her four clues that the children would be given to try to figure out who the "Mystery Reader" was.  My clues were:

#1: Reads lots of books with kids at home and at work.

#2: Loves to play outside, run, bake cookies, and go shopping.

#3: Has three silly children.

#4:Thinks Sponge Bob is kind of funny and loves "The Campfire Song"!

Being my son's birthday, with Spiderman cupcakes in hand and Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss, the classroom door opened, and I was greeted with the BIGGEST hug ever by my son.  As my eyes got teary thinking about 1. how old he is and 2. that I wish he would be this excited to see me forever, he proudly walked me to the front of the room where I had a special reading spot and he had the chance to sit right next to me in the very front. 



The birthday boy making bugs!



The book was a hit-the kiddos laughed about the idea of a bird taking them to Katroo for their special day.  They loved the tongue-twisters, and especially the illustration of the boy pictured in only his towel-silly first graders...I even got to stay and have lunch with my son, which I LOVE to do!  Cafeteria conversation in first grade is the best!

While I have worked for an incredible principal who used to come and read to students as well as take spelling tests in the classrooms right along with the kiddos, I thought that my 6th graders would even love this experience of Mystery Readers.  Inferrring based on the clues provided by our special guest.  In addition, with the focus of the Daily 5-the students have the chance to Listen to Reading.  They love to be read to, and would enjoy others-teachers, parents, community members to come read to them.  It is an enjoyable experience to listen to others share their favorite stories.  I will work to incorporate this into my classroom next year! Please let me know if this is something you have tried...

Milestones and Accomplishments

As a mom and a teacher I try to be the biggest motivator I can be.  I am however, pretty competitive so I like to see things through until the successful end.  This summer has already been jam-packed with milestones and accomplishments.  A few to note...my son completed kindergarten and moves onto first grade in August, and my daughter turned three and is officially potty trained. 

Last Friday began the quest for the "YELLOW BRACELET" at the pool.  If you have a yellow bracelet, it means you can swim a lap in the deep end, all by yourself. This means you are able to go on the WATER SLIDES!  For two 6 year-olds it is like winning the gold medal in the Olympics.  Sici, the daughter of my very dear friend, Maria, took on the challenge first, and SUCCESS.  What a moment to see her face when she swam that lap!  ...and off she went to the slides. 

My son, Brennan, a bit more reluctant to try something that doesn't guarantee success, decided that Friday wasn't his day to try, he just wasn't ready.  Upon arriving at the pool today and seeing Sici head to the slides, he quietly said, "Mommy, I think I am ready to swim the lap."  Off we went to get the lifeguard to watch, bravely he got into the water, and successfully he swam his lap.  With his little heart pounding out of his chest, he shared his name to be written in the pool binder, and held out his wrist to collect that "YELLOW BRACELET." 

He is now one of the BIG kids.  Just like that he is off and run-walking toward the slides with his trusty, yellow-braceleted-pal, Sici.

Today...

Sici bonked her head on the slide and this is Brennan making sure she was alright!

Two yellow-braceleted slide-goers and a little sister that loves her picture taken!!

6 years earlier...

I couldn't resist posting this photo of Sici and Brennan the very first summer of their lives, and their first trip to the Cincinnati Zoo. How fun that they get to share these milestones and accomplishments together!

To some these may seem like simple "Rites of Passage," but to me, these are a few of the amazing aspects of being a parent.  As teachers we need to recognize the milestones and accomplishments of our students.  I always try to keep my camera on-hand to capture those momentous school moments as well...reading more words correct per minute, completing a task that has been challenging in the past, and even participation in an exciting school event.  Capture, celebrate, and thoroughly enjoy these exciting moments with your children and your students because the time goes by so very quickly!