Blaaaaaaaaah. Oh my Goooooooood. I don't waaaaaannaaaaaa.
I might sound like a nine year-old complaining about broccoli or doing the dishes, but that's how my thirty-one year-old self feels. Like a nine year old. Facing chores. Or broccoli. Waaaaaaaaah.
I came home from work today, plopped myself on the couch between my husband and my doggie, and sat. We went through our days; we contemplated dinner; we settled for protein bars, cheesy almond crackers, sparking water, and whatever remnants of a movie were playing on TV; and we were accepting the coming evening with inevitability.
And then he went to do his evening video gaming with his friends. I was left on the couch with a sleeping doggie and Facebook. As I scrolled, watching videos of people who inspire others to overcome obstacles, taking quizzes of 'which color best represents me', and watching the photos of others scroll up...up...up and away, I suddenly stopped on a photo of a quote. I like quotes, so they tend to catch my eye, but generally I glance at them and move on. However, this one said, "Don't work for a company for 8 hours, then go home and not work on your goals. You're not tired. You're uninspired." I read it and tilted my head up and down in agreement, thinking "yeah, that's about right," and then scrolled right passed it.
And continued with my day.
Then twenty to thirty minutes later I started feeling restless. I wasn't anxious or in need of moving around, I was sitting uncomfortably in my lie. I was that uninspired person. I had a goal for this month, and that was to create more Spanish teaching material. And I wasn't doing shit today. No excuse! So I sighed really loudly, threw a personal, mental temper-tantrum, and opened a new Word document to get started.
And I got started. And I finished a whole new quick 40-point quiz. And it was a constant battle of the wills to get it done. Not one of my better days, but I can say that at least I did it.
And you know what????? I even went on to turn off the TV and work on my book, the sequel to Living with B, for an hour and a half. WOOT! Here's to motivation and goals, even if the transition from inert to movement is painful.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Spanish Material - Day 20
It's getting easier! I built a whole 2 page quiz for my Spanish Adverb "lesson" in 20 minutes. It's all about leveraging what you already have to build what you need next. Why waste time when you can leverage it?
What does leveraging mean when it comes to teaching paperwork? Using what you've already built to create your quizzes and tests. In the case of the adverb quiz, I used the worksheet and the initial guide that I built to build my quiz. After all, if I wanted my students to learn the items on the guide in the first place, and I gave them a homework assignment with other items to work through, it would lead one to believe that those items hold importance. Therefore, it would behoove me to leverage the already existing work to build the framework for the items on the quiz. And that's exactly what I did. I told the original guide and worksheet, switched around a few of the words, selected new words, added or reduced a few of the sections to hone in on the important items, and VOILA! Quiz!
Takeaway? Leverage your time. Success is not begotten merely by effort, but rather by those who make the most of their efforts. Thus, it is vital to leverage.
And just in time for those of you who need to build material for the new school year! Cheers!
What does leveraging mean when it comes to teaching paperwork? Using what you've already built to create your quizzes and tests. In the case of the adverb quiz, I used the worksheet and the initial guide that I built to build my quiz. After all, if I wanted my students to learn the items on the guide in the first place, and I gave them a homework assignment with other items to work through, it would lead one to believe that those items hold importance. Therefore, it would behoove me to leverage the already existing work to build the framework for the items on the quiz. And that's exactly what I did. I told the original guide and worksheet, switched around a few of the words, selected new words, added or reduced a few of the sections to hone in on the important items, and VOILA! Quiz!
Takeaway? Leverage your time. Success is not begotten merely by effort, but rather by those who make the most of their efforts. Thus, it is vital to leverage.
And just in time for those of you who need to build material for the new school year! Cheers!
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
High Five Ramen
Oh. My. Good God.
Best. Food. ......Ever.
It's Tuesday. I worked 10 hours today, I barely took a 15 minute lunch, and I could feel the cough of a cold devilishly pushing its way into my reality. As I plugged away, heading toward the bus, my brain started rattling off all the things I could do for the rest of the evening. Almost immediately, my stomach started filling with a queazy humming as it thought, "Oh God, am I really going to be at work within 12 hours? And, what, between now and then I'll, what, sleep, sit on my couch, watch olympics, and snuggle with my dog and then that's it? Back to this? ...and it's only Wednesday tomorrow?
Suddenly I wanted nothing more than a change. Immediately after that thought my stomach spoke, and it said one thing: Food.
No, I wasn't hungry, although I could tell I would be within an hour or so. Instead, it yearned for food - hearty, delicious, real, inspired food. A salad of mozzarella, sad lettuce that would go bad if it weren't eaten in 24 hours, and one tomato hardly seemed "inspired. It seemed as sad and monotonous as the regularity of what my day had faced and would seem to face if the plans continued unchanged.
Then a thought came. High Five Ramen. My husband had wanted to go for his birthday in February, but the restaurant is a tiny hole in the wall, doesn't open until 6pm, and only takes walk-ins. It's well-known that it's commonplace to see a line of people waiting to be seated. We hadn't wanted to deal with 'standing and waiting' in the deepest part of winter, so we had decided against going for his birthday dinner.
Well, suddenly, as I checked my watch, the place beckoned like a lighthouse to a drifting boat. *Potential*. I curiously checked my watched and calculated if I could get home, take the dog out, feed him, my husband would make it home, and we could arrive at the ramen shop all before 6. I knew, as it was Tuesday night, that we would have a far better chance of getting in on a Tuesday than a Thursday evening, and forget a weekend. And suddenly, as I finished walking for the bus, I decided. That was it. We were going to High Five Ramen for dinner.
And HOLY BANANAS is it amazing. I ordered the High Five (no spice) and my husband ordered the Seasonal Special (half spice), and ever ounce of my body hummed with joy as I took my first bite. It was warm, hearty, pork flavored, filled with love, purpose, and internal 'hug' that comes with any homemade, made-to-order, small batch cuisine. I can't remember the last time I had life-changing food like that. No joke.
High five, High Five Ramen. You may even kick my devilish cough right back underground if the miso in the ramen is as effective as it was gratifying.
Best. Food. ......Ever.
It's Tuesday. I worked 10 hours today, I barely took a 15 minute lunch, and I could feel the cough of a cold devilishly pushing its way into my reality. As I plugged away, heading toward the bus, my brain started rattling off all the things I could do for the rest of the evening. Almost immediately, my stomach started filling with a queazy humming as it thought, "Oh God, am I really going to be at work within 12 hours? And, what, between now and then I'll, what, sleep, sit on my couch, watch olympics, and snuggle with my dog and then that's it? Back to this? ...and it's only Wednesday tomorrow?
Suddenly I wanted nothing more than a change. Immediately after that thought my stomach spoke, and it said one thing: Food.
No, I wasn't hungry, although I could tell I would be within an hour or so. Instead, it yearned for food - hearty, delicious, real, inspired food. A salad of mozzarella, sad lettuce that would go bad if it weren't eaten in 24 hours, and one tomato hardly seemed "inspired. It seemed as sad and monotonous as the regularity of what my day had faced and would seem to face if the plans continued unchanged.
Then a thought came. High Five Ramen. My husband had wanted to go for his birthday in February, but the restaurant is a tiny hole in the wall, doesn't open until 6pm, and only takes walk-ins. It's well-known that it's commonplace to see a line of people waiting to be seated. We hadn't wanted to deal with 'standing and waiting' in the deepest part of winter, so we had decided against going for his birthday dinner.
Well, suddenly, as I checked my watch, the place beckoned like a lighthouse to a drifting boat. *Potential*. I curiously checked my watched and calculated if I could get home, take the dog out, feed him, my husband would make it home, and we could arrive at the ramen shop all before 6. I knew, as it was Tuesday night, that we would have a far better chance of getting in on a Tuesday than a Thursday evening, and forget a weekend. And suddenly, as I finished walking for the bus, I decided. That was it. We were going to High Five Ramen for dinner.
And HOLY BANANAS is it amazing. I ordered the High Five (no spice) and my husband ordered the Seasonal Special (half spice), and ever ounce of my body hummed with joy as I took my first bite. It was warm, hearty, pork flavored, filled with love, purpose, and internal 'hug' that comes with any homemade, made-to-order, small batch cuisine. I can't remember the last time I had life-changing food like that. No joke.
High five, High Five Ramen. You may even kick my devilish cough right back underground if the miso in the ramen is as effective as it was gratifying.
Spanish Material - Day 16
I officially have 4 new worksheets for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I plan on uploading everything at the end of the month, as I would like them all to be available at the same time for those needing comprehensive work. I have built 2 guides - one for adverbs and one for prepositions/clauses to help with infinitive/indicative/subjunctive understanding. Additionally I have created 1 worksheet for each of the guides, thus the 4 items. I would like to build a quiz so then I have six.
Again, and surprisingly, I'm not as quick in my building of material and thinking as I was before. I believe part of that is due to the fact that I simply don't do this on a day-in day-out basis anymore. As a result, my brain is not wired to think in 'worksheet' mode. Additionally, I know that part of it is also because I don't have to build any specific curriculum or sub-course or quarter curriculum, so I don't have a definitive start and end point. Amazingly, not having one - or rather, having the ability to start and stop anywhere you choose - leads to greater vagueness and definition of scope. When you have to teach or reteach X, no matter how odd the parameters or how many gaps you see that you have to fit into one lesson, creativity flourishes as you have to overcome one very specific obstacle. Your brain starts working on all the possible ways to complete it. But when it doesn't have a given problems - when anything can be the problem - it's not sure when to 'draw the line', if you will.
However, I have outlined that I will be continuing with Adverbs and Prepositions. Then I would like to include at least 1 more before the end of the month. Here's the new teaching year ahead!
Again, and surprisingly, I'm not as quick in my building of material and thinking as I was before. I believe part of that is due to the fact that I simply don't do this on a day-in day-out basis anymore. As a result, my brain is not wired to think in 'worksheet' mode. Additionally, I know that part of it is also because I don't have to build any specific curriculum or sub-course or quarter curriculum, so I don't have a definitive start and end point. Amazingly, not having one - or rather, having the ability to start and stop anywhere you choose - leads to greater vagueness and definition of scope. When you have to teach or reteach X, no matter how odd the parameters or how many gaps you see that you have to fit into one lesson, creativity flourishes as you have to overcome one very specific obstacle. Your brain starts working on all the possible ways to complete it. But when it doesn't have a given problems - when anything can be the problem - it's not sure when to 'draw the line', if you will.
However, I have outlined that I will be continuing with Adverbs and Prepositions. Then I would like to include at least 1 more before the end of the month. Here's the new teaching year ahead!
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Spanish Material- Day 7
It's been a week into the new month, and this month I am upping the amount of teaching material I sell on Teachers Pay Teachers, a website for teachers who want to sell and buy other teaching material. I started listing all my teaching paperwork there when I was teaching because I had to build all my own material for the 5 years I was teaching. Truthfully, it's been an immensely rewarding experience, as the feedback from those who have purchased my work has been wonderful. It's a truly rewarding moment to know that what you have built has helped others.
Well, it's been about 3 years since I created teaching paperwork for Spanish, and as a result, I have seen my sales decrease because people don't buy the same thing multiple times. Therefore, I have dedicated this month to building more Spanish material to help my followers and clients.
So far, I have built paperwork around Adverbs and Subjunctive -vs- indicative phrases. I dedicate about 20 min a day to building material, and I can admit that having been out of the game, I don't build them as quickly as I used to. I find I have to think harder and longer about what to include and how to build the handouts than I did when I was doing it daily. I used to be able to build a full test in 20 minutes if I needed to. I was extremely efficient. While I may not be as quick as I was before, I want to ensure the quality of my work is up to the same standards of the items already listed for sale.
And so that is what I'm doing. The coolest part of this, and a byproduct I hadn't anticipated when I scheduled this month as Building Spanish material month, is that I get the pleasure of doing work while watching the Olympics! It also reminds me how vitally important it is to encourage and build bilingual children in today's global society. Knowing another language opens so many doors and expands your understanding and appreciation of culture, that anything I can do to help promote global thinking is a genuine pleasure.
Next month, I think I'm going to work on building my very minimal french so that when we go to Europe I'll know more!
Cheers! And go team USA!!
Well, it's been about 3 years since I created teaching paperwork for Spanish, and as a result, I have seen my sales decrease because people don't buy the same thing multiple times. Therefore, I have dedicated this month to building more Spanish material to help my followers and clients.
So far, I have built paperwork around Adverbs and Subjunctive -vs- indicative phrases. I dedicate about 20 min a day to building material, and I can admit that having been out of the game, I don't build them as quickly as I used to. I find I have to think harder and longer about what to include and how to build the handouts than I did when I was doing it daily. I used to be able to build a full test in 20 minutes if I needed to. I was extremely efficient. While I may not be as quick as I was before, I want to ensure the quality of my work is up to the same standards of the items already listed for sale.
And so that is what I'm doing. The coolest part of this, and a byproduct I hadn't anticipated when I scheduled this month as Building Spanish material month, is that I get the pleasure of doing work while watching the Olympics! It also reminds me how vitally important it is to encourage and build bilingual children in today's global society. Knowing another language opens so many doors and expands your understanding and appreciation of culture, that anything I can do to help promote global thinking is a genuine pleasure.
Next month, I think I'm going to work on building my very minimal french so that when we go to Europe I'll know more!
Cheers! And go team USA!!
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