Day 1 of TeachersWrite

So I haven't written on this blog since February.  My bright idea of writing everyday in 2015 crumbled much faster than I had expected.  This school year really kept me busy and I let my writing slip.  One of the things that I learned this year is that my lack of confidence in writing is harder to deal with when I'm focused on teaching it 100%.  Yes teachers aren't suppose to focus too much on their end of year test scores from their students, but this was an area where my students definitely struggled more than others in my classroom.

This lead me to think about what could I do to improve my writing teacher ability. I thought about taking a class, but I didn't want to be tied to something with deadlines/money/etc.  I stumbled across TeachersWrite on Facebook and I immediately decided that this might be something for me.  It will encourage me to write everyday, put me in the position of a student again, and even better: it is geared to teachers!

One of the things that I feel like will make me unique in this group is the fact that I am not working on a novel nor do I plan on coming up with one. I have often thought about doing that and maybe something will start with this exercise.  Today's prompt asked us to wonder and to make a list of those wonderings.  I have been thinking about it all day and I don't know how many I really have but we'll give it a go...

• I wonder what other wives of the Founding Fathers (other than Abigail Adams) thought of their husband's political careers and the new nation.
• I wonder if I will ever be really crafty.
• I wonder if I will get my house ready for the school year.
• I wonder how people really just keep moving and never stop--like those Energizer bunny people that are always busy and scheduled and seem so perfect.  How do they do that without burning out?
• I wonder if I can keep the blogging up during the school year--I wonder if I can have a better outside of school life this year or not.
• I wonder where this journey of writing will take me.

The other idea given out today was to basically make a list poem of the project that we are working on right now.  It seems more geared to people who are working on a story....but I guess to an extent this blog will be my story of this journey and it is really my project for this month.

This blog is all of my musings as I think them

I often write about knitting, reading, and teaching

That's how I came up with Inspirefly--it is everything that inspires me. 

I started it to get some web presence with the idea of maybe one day having a business.

It became more than that--it became a place to interact with people on a different level

It became a way to express what I was thinking and feeling

It became a way to write

I started this journey to improve my writing

To help my students improve their writing

To give both groups a place to keep writing and writing and writing

I hope that at the end of this month I can look back and say that I definitely learned something. 

Looking forward to this amazing journey!

For more info: Click here 

Freezer Meals

Freezer Meals are an absolutely great idea!! I wanted to tell you some of the things that I have done and figured out today.  First of all, I want to tell you that there are a lot of people that do this online.  I stole everything for this day at Who Needs a Cape? blog. She has a post called 40 Meals in 4 Hours.  She actually put up all of the recipes--to double so you can get 40 meals.  And then she put up a grocery shopping list.

Second--you really need to block out a day--this took me WAY more than 4 hours!  The grocery list was so helpful because making that the last time I did this took sometime.

Third--make sure you have a good spot in your kitchen with a bunch of room.

Fourth--make ones that fit your family.  I love crock pot ones because I don't have to be home to start it 90 minutes before we want to eat.

Fifth tip--I'm not sure where I read this but it made a lot of sense to me--put the meat in last!  This actually really helped me with this, because I did the first half of some of the bags one day and then put the meat in the next day.  It also puts the meat at the bottom of the crock pot.

Sixth tip--Come up with a schedule and put together a binder.  I put all of these recipes in a binder and then we pick one or two each week to plan on having a certain day.  I have to start defrosting the night before so having it scheduled ahead of time makes sure that we actually use them! And this way I can mark what we might change, what sides worked, etc.  So I can do it all over again eventually.

Finally, label your freezer bags before you get started.  This helped me to make sure I got everything in the bags that were suppose to and then you have it on the label for the freezer too.

Here's my pictures :)

This is my command center--the kitchen table!

I filled up my whole bottom two shelves of my freezer!

Brian got a picture of me working away.

A New Year, A New Goal

So as 2015 starts, I have been reflecting on what I want to re-start in my life.  It is always a time for new beginnings.  It seems to be more so for me this year as I kind of got thrown into a new beginning at the beginning of the school year and into a whirlwind of planning, students, grading etc.  

I often pick my restarts in life with what I feel like I have been missing in my life. One of my missing things has been this blog.  One of the things that I really had been missing is writing on this blog.  This blog's history with resolutions has been 1 for 2.  In 2013, I did a 365 challenge in which I wrote a blog post everyday.  It was hard at times to come up with new content, but overall I really enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and it really kick started my blog.  In 2014, I resolved to blog 3ish times a week--I was going to set aside certain days and then on the off days I was going to do all of the things I had learned over the year to help grow my blog.  I felt like I could give it the right attention if I commented, shared, interacted on the days I didn't write--and it wouldn't take over my life.  I was also going to do some fixing up of this blog--new design, update links etc.  But if you notice over the past year--I've done nothing in that department and I'm pretty sure I only wrote like 15 posts...okay I shouldn't beat myself up it was like 67--but a very noticeable decrease from like July on and half of those are April A to Z Challenge blog posts.  

Anyway....I'm rambling again.  Point is: I am resolving to write everyday again this year.  I am applying everything that I learned over 2013 and 2014 to hopefully make this a little bit less stressful, more organized, and do everything that I want it to do! I will be sharing them as I go along on a couple of different places.  To start with I will be sharing things: here, my Twitter feed, and my new Facebook page!  Yes, this blog has a Facebook page. :) Please go like it!  And check back for the next posts--hopefully I don't regret doing this again!

Quote Inspiration

I thought that I would share a cool quote that I found the other day...

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. --Bill Nye

Because of my job, I have the opportunity to meet a lot of teenagers and their families that a typical teacher wouldn't meet, especially in a small town.  Usually there is a limited number of families and yeah there are the moves in and out. But I meet a lot of interesting people from all over the country because of the nature of my job.

With each person being unique, it is exciting to meet new people and see what they can teach you.  The hard part about that though, I think, is allowing yourself to step out of your comfort zone.  It is hard to meet new people--but if you really try then it can get easier, and you can usually be grateful that you did.

angelabrook.com 

Stress--How do you deal with it?

So I was searching through Pinterest for inspiration today and I saw this quote:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/11/response_using_self-compassion_to_recover_from_a_bad_day.html

This quote caught my attention, because I have been thinking a bit lately about the stress that comes with my job.  How much it wears me out--and I wonder if it is because I don't handle my stress right. Which gets me thinking that if I handled stress better, would my overall life be better? The obvious answer to that one of course is yes---but then it circles back to the only way I can think of to control my stress better is quitting my job.  Currently that is not something that I am contemplating (though my more faithful readers know that I do contemplate this at my low points). So I clicked on this quote.

It came from an article on Education Week that is the third part of a series answering the question of how do you deal with a bad day as teachers. After reading the responses from various teachers, I realize that they are talking about the days in which the lesson doesn't go well, or the kids are driving you crazy, or you have those moments that just make you want to walk out.  And yes I still have those--but these articles didn't give me completely what I was thinking it was.  My job is stressful--as the quote says---it is the nature of the beast.  And it confirms what I have been thinking all along--it is not just this particular job.  So how do we deal with it? We can't just stop being teachers.

Some people offered the standard answers of taking care of yourself and leaving work at work--including in your mind.  And I agree with those, but others talked about things to do to prevent the bad days and when in the middle of them.  What about when you just get so tired of getting up in the morning? So in response to this response article....I thought I would offer what I try to do to deal with my stress.

1. As much as leaving at 3:00 when you get off is good for you...sometimes it is helpful to just stay a little longer so that you actually can leave work at work.  Even though some days I get home at 5...I go home without having to worry about anything.
2. Be willing to say no to things...having too many things on the plate along with teaching is hard.  Don't feel guilty just because you can't do it all.
3. I have noticed that if I don't take time for myself every night the next day is harder.  Even if it is a couple minutes of TV watching, book reading, Facebook, etc.--I recharge so much better.
4. In line with 2 and 3--make the important things a priority.  For me--church is a huge priority.  It helps me to deal with the stress of work--and it is a priority in my life.
5. Put your life in perspective.  Now this might sound really like a strange way to do so....but sometimes I say to myself, "Well at least I am not having to go through this like so and so is." I have a teacher friend right now who is teaching a full course load, directing the school musical that opens this week, and getting ready for basketball season that starts as soon as the play is over. And to top it all off her mom is currently fighting cancer.  Seriously....I have it easy compared to that.  It makes my stress not seem so over-whelming.  When none of you have horrible things happening in your lives (which is preferable don't get me wrong)--TV is a great replacement for--see my life isn't as horrible as it could be--especially medical dramas like Greys.

How do you relieve your stress?

Food for Thought

So, today's post is inspired by a quote from Margaret Mitchell--author of Gone with the Wind. She said:

With enough courage, you can do without a reputation. 

Ever since I saw this quote, I have been thinking about what that really means.  You could interpret this in a few ways to me. The first thing I thought about was social capital.  Everyone has personality bank accounts. When we need favors from other people, we pull from this bank account.  When we give favors to other people, we are depositing into the bank account for use later.  Some people relate this bank account to your reputation, because it serves as the interest on the account. If you have a "good" reputation your interest rate is higher so there is a higher reserve there.  I wonder sometimes how my reputation affects my bank account.  But if you think about Margaret's words....you don't need this interest rate if you have the courage enough to stand up for yourself.  While I agree with this, sometimes it is a lot harder--so there is a price to pay for this courage.

But on the other hand, I was thinking about reputation like your own self-esteem.  If you worry about other people think of you, reputation means something completely different. You want other people to think well of you, so you please them to help your reputation.  But if you have the courage to stand up for what you believe in no matter what other people think, then you don't need a reputation because you don't care what other people think of you.

What do you think? Is reputation worth it? Or is courage more important?

Margaret Mitchell courtesy of Wikipedia 

Reflection on Resolutions

So today I have an interesting train of thought as I have been looking at different things on the Internet. I have become very aware of how quickly life has gone this year.  At the beginning of the year, I had a lot of great plans for the year.  The only plan that I have stuck with is this one, which shocks me.  Honestly, some of them are a little bit more important (like renewing my license which I totally am procrastinating!!). Some of them are probably a bit more productive....like I had lots of readings planned for myself--both academically, enjoyment wise, and spiritually.  I haven't even come close to doing what I had planned with that. This became apparent when I signed up for RoofBeam Reader's Austen in August.  UGH! It is almost August. I had planned to read all of the completed Austen novels this year (well at least the seven in my complete works book) and I have only read one!

But on the positive side...August will bring a great trip home to see my baby brother come home! I am so excited.  Hopefully by then I will feel like I have accomplished something...if nothing else I will be reading a little bit of Jane Austen! I hope to finish Pride and Prejudice (for the umpeth time) and Mansfield Park. Feel free to sign up too here.

Family History

Okay so my day has been BUSY!! Came home from work and had dinner and visited with Brian for about two hours.  Then I went visiting teaching. Visiting teaching is a great opportunity for the women in the ward to get together, check on each other and make sure everything is okay, and then leave a spiritual message.  I just barely got home...threeish hours later.  I visit with some great women and they sure like to talk a lot! But the message I gave tonight was about family history and I thought for a quick blog post I would share a great quote.

As members of Christ’s restored Church, we have the covenant responsibility to search for our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel. They without us cannot “be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40), and “neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:15).

Family history work prepares us for the blessings of eternal life and helps us increase our faith and personal righteousness. Family history is a vital part of the mission of the Church and enables the work of salvation and exaltation for all.

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said: “When we research our own lines we become interested in more than just names. … Our interest turns our hearts to our fathers—we seek to find them and to know them and to serve them.”²

It is great to be able to learn about those who came before.  Shout out to my aunt and grandmother who do such great work and always tell me about their "dead people" :P They are my inspiration today!

http://www.lds.org/images/Magazines/NewEra/Archive/neweralp.nfo:o:d59.jpg

Places You Will Go!

So I am plum out of ideas about what to write about today....so I looked to Paula's Place for inspiration.  Her prompt today is: "Someplace you'd like to move or visit".   I have lots of places that I would like to go visit.

1. Washington D.C.
2. Boston
3. Philadelphia
4. Palmyra, NY
5. Kirtland, OH
6. Mount Rushmore
7. Italy
8. France
9. England
10. Germany
11. Switzerland
12. Spain
13. Vatican City
14. Hawaii
15. Nova Scotia
16. Prince Edward Island
17. Australia
18. New Zealand
19. South Africa
20. Visit all the LDS temples in the lower 48

I could probably keeping going but I like the evenness of 20...it will be funny if I actually ever go to all of these places.  It sure sounds expensive for a girl who doesn't have a passport or a lot of time off and not a lot of money to spend on extra stuff like that. But I want to dot the world!

www.mapsofworld.com

P.S. I am blogger famous!  I got a shout out on Trish's blog, go check it out!