Month: March 2015

Slice of Life: Fish Fry 3/13

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Tonight my husband and I went out to enjoy a fish fry. There were many years in my life that I didn’t know that this is a Wisconsin thing. Those of you from other states will maybe not know that in Wisconsin, every restaurant has a Friday Fish Fry. People go looking for the best one. Tonight, we went back to a place we had not been for a few years. We enjoyed fried fish, coleslaw, potatoes, and soup. There is also usually a baked option. I love this little slice of Wisconsin life and I love that I now know that it is something special and not found everywhere. It is so neat that each place has these small customs that set it apart from other places. What is your custom?

Slice of Life: Mind Over Matter 3/12

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

It is day 19 of a weird sickness that is affecting my stomach and digestive system and wiping me out. I have come home immediately from school every day this week and promptly fallen asleep on my couch for an after school nap. This is not usual behavior for me. I was absent the whole week last week and now I really don’t know what is wrong with me. I decided tonight that enough is enough. It is time to bring out the brain’s superpowers and suck it up and start feeling better.

I went with my husband tonight to our favorite Mexican restaurant. I am pretty sure I will pay for that decision later tonight, but I am glad I decided to do so. I need to be healthy now. I am going to decide to be healthy. No more letting things get me down.

Positive thinking is going to make me better. Mind over matter. I will feel better soon. I must.

Slice of Life: Fairy Tales 3/11

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I don’t really know what to write about. I can definitely relate to my students who sometimes cannot come up with an idea during writing time. So, you will get the mostly boring ideas that are tumbling around in my head right now. Forgive my lack of creativity.

Fairy tales are not my favorite genre. However, I love teaching them and working with students on fractured tales. Today, I started a fairy tale unit that will mostly focus on Cinderella. I want to look at versions of the Cinderella story from around the world and have my students do some analyzing. I would love to take the students on a field trip to see Disney’s new version of Cinderella, but I am not sure I will be able to work that out.

We started today with our new read aloud chapter book that I will also incorporate into the fairly tale unit. I am so excited to read Rump with my students. I hope they will love it. The best sound in the world is the giggles from a group of students when they are entertained by a funny moment in a good book.

I am also excited to see what kind of creative ideas my students will come up with for fractured fairly tales.

Slice of Life: Searching for answers 3/10

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Have you ever had one of those situations that seems like it will never get resolved? That is my experience during the last several weeks. I thought that I was having another episode of Diverticulitis. It felt exactly like it did this summer. I went to my doctor and got antibiotics. I spent a week taking the meds and did not feel any better. So I went back to my doctor and then to urgent care. After a battery of tests and a switch of medication, I went to the gastroenterologist. I found out that my CT scan was normal and I do not have Diverticulitis. Although this is good news, I still don’t have an explanation for what is wrong with me.

On Monday, I called the neurologist because I thought that it might be a flare up of Multiple Sclerosis. The nurses there were pretty sure that this type of symptom would not be related to the MS. So, I am back to the drawing board.

I am so fatigued and worn out and it is so hard to get through the day at school, much less all the extra paperwork we are expected to do.

I am just hoping for an answer soon. (Or for the symptoms to stop so that I feel healthy again)

Slice of Life: Spring Ahead 3/9

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

The last few days have been sunny in Wisconsin. The snow is melting and the temperatures are approaching 50. That means ridiculously happy people. All of a sudden, there are crowds out and people taking walks.

I love living in a place where relatively cold weather can bring so much joy. I know that the days this week in the 50s will be days in which I will see shorts and short skirts. I love that we can find so much joy in what some people would say is cold, wintery weather.

This sunshine is a balm for our moods. Smile and be happy! I hope this nice weather trend will continue…but I know that we are probably not done with winter yet. Bring on the Spring!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/9

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:


Patient Zero: Solving the Mysteries of Deadly Epidemics by Marilee Peters was a fascinating read about how epidemiologists solve the mysteries behind how epidemics started. I highly recommend this very intriguing nonfiction title.

The Forgotten Sisters (Princess Academy, #3) by Shannon Hale is another great read. I really enjoyed going back to Miri’s world for another adventure. I recommend this one for fans of the other Princess Academy books. And if you haven’t read this series, you should!

Duke by Kirby Larson is a good historical fiction novel. I did not know anything about the movement during World War II of donating family pets for service with the military. I enjoyed the story and was able to identify with the protagonist, as I think all kids who own dogs would. I can’t wait to share this title with my fourth graders.


Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge was an interesting book. It is a fractured retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I thought it was an interesting premise, but not really my cup of tea. If you like science fiction, you will probably like this book. I might have enjoyed the book more in print. I may have lost some of the details while listening to the audio.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I started All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and La mirada de los angeles by Camilla Lackberg. I also am reading a Netgalley of Chocolate: Sweet Science and Dark Secrets of the World’s Favorite Treat. This will be another good nonfiction book to add to my classroom library. I am learning a lot about history as well as about cacao trees and cocoa. I also picked up The Right to Write last week.

What’s Next?

I probably won’t have much time to read anything besides the books I have already started. If I do get finished or decide to pick up another book, I will be choosing from my TBR pile.

Slice of Life: Summer Travels 3/8


I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

When my husband became a teacher, we were excited that we would finally have the summer off together. We were hoping to spend extended time in Spain with his family most summers. Our plan this year was to go to Spain together to spend a month at the beach with his parents. We have done this in the past and it has always been amazing. 
Yesterday, we made the decision to have just my husband go for this time to visit with his family. It is just too expensive for both of us to go and to find someone to care for our dog while we are away. I am disappointed that this is what we had to do. We were hoping that lower fuel prices would bring airline tickets down in price, but no such luck. 
I know there are many things that I will be able to do this summer while my husband is gone, not the least of which is going to my sister’s house in California to help her care for my niece Lena and the niece that will be making an appearance at the end of June. However, I am sad that I will not be going to Spain with Ramon. The time there is always energizing, if a little bit annoying to be staying with in-laws. 
I do not like this adult responsibility of having to be aware of budget constraints. Sometimes I wish I were still in the carefree stage of reckless abandon and freedom to spend money on travels because I didn’t have to pay for house, food, car, etc. 
Its time to start a travel fund jar. You would think after 15 years of this we would already have done so. Oh, well. Better late than never.  Here’s to hoping that next summer we both can spend some quality time in sunny southern Spain. 

Slice of Life: Waiting Rooms 3/7

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

In the last few weeks, I have found myself in waiting rooms a LOT. Most of the time, I think ahead and am prepared for a wait with a book. This morning, for some reason, I was caught without a book. As I sat there, trying not to make eye contact with the other people waiting for the labs, I started really wishing I had my notebook with me. Of course, I had also recently switched purses and the notebook I usually have was not there. I am going to try to recreate some of the wait here.

We sit in an awkward silence, with just a couple of people braving whispers in the heavy hush of the room. Every once in awhile, someones voice breaks this precarious silence. “Young lady,” booms the deep voice of an older gentleman, then he points. The girl looks at him in confusion until the man with him says, “You dropped your ring,” and points to the ground in front of her. The room falls back into the hushed silence of people waiting and slightly annoyed at the longer-than-usual wait. I stare at the ugly mustard color on the wall, feeling slightly nauseated and wondering why they would have painted this color on the wall. The harsh fluorescent light does not forgive anything. We all watch people coming and going. The ones who are finally finished with the lab leave with relieved smiles and we sit here waiting. Then the man next to me whispers, “Oh, they’re finally on clipboard number 2.” It all makes sense then. I thought it was weird that there were only five or six names on the list when there were so many people waiting. Now, I get it. I start to think about books or movies I know of in which a group of strangers is thrown together in some sort of crisis. Which one of these people would step up and be the hero in our story? When the man next to me gets called, he yells out, “One hour and seventeen minutes waiting!” It is as if he has won a prize. We all chuckle slightly. Then, suddenly, the list seems to go faster and the last of us are called in. I did not have to wait nearly as long as that man, but my 40 minutes was enough.

Slice of Life: What to do? 3/6

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

After missing work all week, except for going in to do parent conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, I feel a little stir-crazy and guilty.  “I should be doing something,” my mind screams at me. “I am in pain and so exhausted,” my body shouts back. So, I compromised. I started planning and trying to decide what my mind will be doing this summer. I have a lot of options. I am trying now to narrow down the options to what I can afford and what I can feasibly do.  I do need to renew my license and therefore need to choose some things to do for credits. 
I have these ideas on my mind:
1. Go to a local conference on innovative ideas in education. Summer Spark sounds excellent, with Dave Burgess as the keynote speaker. We can learn to teach like a pirate, matey. Arrgghh!
2. I am seriously considering driving to AllWrite. The line-up is amazing! I think it is wonderful that they are able to offer speakers with that calibre for a super reasonable price. Plus, there are so many people that I have “met” online that I would really like to meet in person. 
3. There are two local universities that offer a short NWP project. I have experienced the one already and really loved it. The other is more intense, but that might be just what I need this summer. I always welcome the chance to give myself the push into writing more and revitalizing my writing instruction. 
4. I am considering starting the process for National Board certification. I wish I would have looked closer at it earlier this year, because it has changed a lot. I think it looks like I would not be able to get this process completely finished during the 2015-2016 school year, but my state has an option for getting an extension on your license while you finish this process. 
Of course, all of these options include fees, some more expensive than others, which also means that I will have to pick and choose and consider which things will give me the most bang for the buck. I hope I will be able to find something that will energize my mind and transform some parts of my practice.  

Slice of Life: Dog Snuggles 3/5

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

This morning, my dog was extra cuddly. I have been home sick from school for 4 days now, and she seems to know that I am still not feeling well. I love how pets are so intuitive about how you are feeling. Carmela draped herself over me and snuggled right up to me all day.  It made me feel so much more positive.

I love having a dog. Even though there are sometimes situations like this:

It is worth the extra clean up to have the doggie snuggles every day.