This summer is seriously flying. I can't imagine how fast it feels for teachers heading back to their classroom in a few short weeks. At this time I can't say I have my own classroom yet, but I'm hopeful that something will open up soon. In between looking for a full time teaching position I have been teaching swim lessons, house/pet sitting and training for summer triathlons. Not having a structured summer schedule has really spoiled me and allowed me to spend all the time my heart desires biking, swimming and running. I took a big leap and opened my own Teachers Pay Teachers store. I only have a few things up for now, but I am planning to grow my products as my schedule allows. I love taking an idea and watching it come to life on paper. Task cards are my current favorite product to make. Click the image below to snag a copy of my freebie. Stay tuned here to see what other things I come up with.
8 Comments
Add this post to the list of posts that I said I was going to do, but didn't. I'm human okay? About 2 weeks ago I had a HM in Schaumburg, IL. You can read my review on BibRave. I started training back in January using Hanson's Half-Marathon Method. I purchased the book and wrote out my plan according to the book. The plan I followed was the Advanced plan that included 6 days of running with 1 rest day a week. This was a big change for me as I typically took at least 2 days off of running a week, sometimes more if I felt I needed it. The first few weeks were a challenge, but nothing that I couldn't handle. The purpose of the plan is teaching our legs to run with little rest in between certain workouts. Tuesday and Thursday were harder days with a rest day in between. I always tried to push myself during my Tuesday workout because I knew the next day I was able to rest. Pros-It was all laid out for me. Very easy to type up and follow -Each workout had a specific pace chart -Workouts got easier -I did notice some speed gains -If done correctly this should be a way to prevent injuries, which seems confusing if we aren't giving our legs time to rest fully between workouts Cons-It took a lot of time to sneak all the runs in. Many times when I chose to skip workouts it was simply due to time -No days for cross training or strength training were included. I tried to pair these on lighter days, but it wasn't my first priority -While I purchased the book I didn't take the time to read it all before hoping into the plan. I tried to gather just what I needed to know. I feel like I missed out on key details as a result OverallI tend to get bored very easy and I have to say this plan kept me on my toes. During the cold months I did many workouts inside on a treadmill which helped keep the pace consistent and I didn't have to think about it. I hope to find the time to read the whole book so all the parts make sense. This Fall my dad and I have a HM planned. I am not sure what my dad has planned for this Fall, but maybe we will get a few longs runs in together. I will probably take some of the tempo, repeats and strength workouts from this plan and merge into a plan that keeps me swimming and biking this Fall. I actually really love writing training plans, maybe that is related to all the lesson plans I write. Hmm. Add that to the list of similarities between teaching and running.
It's good and rainy here. I'm ready for a nap, but I'm taking advantage of the time inside to get a few things done. Enjoy your weekend friends! I hope this post finds you on a wonderful Thursday morning. I didn't realize how long it has been since I have been by this old blog. Life just got busy. Last time we talked (mid March) I was finishing up student teaching. Since then I have said goodbye to the sweetest group of Second Graders and graduated from college with Cum Laude honors! It was sad to leave behind the college community I had grown to love in four short years, but I know great things are ahead for me. A huge thank you goes out to Ryan for being behind the camera and capturing all of these great shots. We went out on the beautiful quad the Friday before graduation to get a few pictures outside. We couldn't have timed it better, later that day it stormed! The professional pictures from the ceremony didn't turn out nearly as nice as the ones he got. I had my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, both of my grandmas, and Ryan and his parents make the trip down to campus. The ceremony was also being broadcast on YouTube so my family around the country was able to tune in and watch me walk across the stage. Man I love technology. The post graduation life is treating me well. I had a full house for the whole
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Education Career Fair on my college campus. I have to be honest. I really was not looking forward to going. My CT was going to be gone and I was worried about my kiddos. Luckily after getting edTPA done and out of the way I could focus on writing sub plans and finalizing my resume. It was definitely a little overwhelming to think about every detail of the school day as well as be on the top of my game for the fair. I told myself that the kids would be fine without me and this fair was an important stepping stone into starting my teaching career. Leading up to the fair I wasn't really nervous at all. And maybe I should have been, but I was confident that I was a good teacher and had to put my best foot forward. I cut the tags off my suit, checked my makeup, used way too much Static Guard and stood up tall. Who wouldn't want to hire me? I found a few of the other girls in my major and they were pretty nervous. I had made a list of what I wanted to say and which schools I wanted to talk to. My goal was really to get practice with interviewing and showing a recruiter that I had what it takes to be teacher in their district. My parents had done a great job preparing me in the sense that they had sure I had my suit, pad folio and was mentally ready. When the doors opened we got name tags and set off to meet some of the potential employers. I took one walk around the edge of the room to get my bearings. I chose to start off with the school district that I graduated from almost 4 years ago (yikes!). Was not the best interview, but it was a start. From there I circled the room and talked to whoever I pleased. I left the fair feeling good because I got a few leads on possible districts that were a good match for me and with a whole new level of confidence. Tips from a NewbieHere's a few things I learned or did to prepare that I felt where helpful.
1. Dress the part Yes you need a suit. Keep a neutral color and make sure it fits properly. I got really lucky and ordered mine online in one size in a coat, skirt and pants. To my surprise they all fit great! We might need to hem the pants a bit, but I do have rather short legs. 2. Get lots of sleep You want to look well rested and that you are able to take care of yourself. Make sure to budget your time in the morning so you can get ready and get to the fair on time. 3. Proper supplies Don't take in your Coach purse or giant Vera Bradley bag with you. A pad folio is a must and if you must have a bag get a briefcase. My mom had one with the tags still on it that worked great. 4. Be confident! This is your chance to show and tell someone that they need to hire you. Often times when you apply for a job you only get what is on paper, but at fair you have opportunities to say things that are not on your resume. 5. Ask questions Do your research on the schools beforehand. I printed my notes and questions I had for each district. This was more of a security blanket to read of I had time to kill waiting in line or I drew a blank on what I was going to ask. By asking the recruiter questions you are showing them that you know facts about their school and are interested in learning more. Final thoughts At the end of the day I know that for many people it is scary to approach future employers and talk to them about your strengths and weaknesses. Prepare as much as you can. Now is the time to put on your teacher face and don't let them know you are shaking in your bones. First impressions are huge and you only get one. Make the most of it! Well I made it through edTPA with all my limbs attached. Hooray! After a week of writing, recording, analyzing and reflecting Ryan came to visit for a whole weekend. I usually only get him for 24 hours so it was a nice change having more time with him after a long week. I am sure glad to have that experience behind me. One thing I learned was that I am NOT made to sit at a desk all day. Good thing teachers hardly ever sit down. I luckily had an Ice Day to spend time focusing on getting that submitted and off of my plate. What a good feeling it was to be done. I was able to sit back and really pour all my energy into my lesson plans for my kiddos. I gathered some funny pictures to hopefully put a smile on anyone's face who is suffering through Tasks 1-3. Source TipsHere's just a few things I learned that I would have found helpful to know before venturing into this long and tedious process.
1.) Take it step by step Each task has anywhere from 3-10 different things you need to complete. I found that only looking at one thing at a time helped me not get overwhelmed. 2.) Make realistic deadlines We were lucky to be given the week "off" of teaching. My fellow student teachers and I went to school, worked on stuff, taught and went back to our dungeon. I made deadlines for myself and worked to meet those. For example I would tell myself that before leaving for the day I would have all my lesson plans done. That way I felt like I accomplished something and felt okay to walk away from it. 3.) Take a break (or fifty) We took tons of breaks. Get a snack, some water to just stretch. I can't sit still and find that I work best in smaller chunks of time. 4.) Use your resources Don't be afraid to reach out to your peers for questions. Even if they don't have an answer for you, it always helps to talk an idea out. 5.) Practice recording You never know how these recording will turn out. If your space allows practice recording before the actual time. The students will adjust to the camera being there too. I had a conversation with my students about the camera. I told them that the camera was only watching me and I needed their help to show whoever was grading my portfolio that I was a great teacher. 6.) Break it down Instead of filming your segments in one large piece, break it into smaller clips by starting and stopping the recording at certain parts. This can be tricky if you are trying to teach and record yourself. Tripods are your friend. I picked up the camera to talk around and get close up of the students working, I focused on their work and not their faces. Some of them didn't even realize I was recording. 7.) Thank your students This was not an easy week for them with me out of the room and messing with their routine. I made it a point to thank them for their help and even brought in donuts for the kiddos. I really wanted a donut too, but I promise I was only thinking of the kids. 8.) Think about your outfits Watching some of the film back made me realize that my clothing hangs differently than I think it does. This might not be that big of a deal, but you want to come off looking like a professional. I will definitely be buying some Static Guard for future use. 9.) Take care of yourself If you need to come home after a long day of typing and sit on the couch all night, do it. I did my best to keep up my normal running schedule, but I found it hard when my body was telling me it needed sleep. Pay attention to your body and listen to it. You won't want to be run down and tired this week. 10.) You can do it Even when you are up to your eyeballs in work samples remember that you love what you do (or at least I hope you do if you are doing through with edTPA). This isn't a forever thing and before you know it it will be over. My advice? Don't draw it out longer than you need to. Get it out of the way, your students miss you! I guess when they said student teaching would be busy, they weren't kidding. I have just under 3 months until I graduate. I am sad already thinking about saying goodbye to all the wonderful students I've met and the staff that I've had the pleasure of working with. Each day I'm still learning the ins and outs of teaching and each day has it's own unique challenges. That's what I love about it. Each day will be different and I can't possible predict what it will be like when I wake up that morning. Just for laughs: I am guilty of doing this. One thing I have noticed is that when I get up before school and get a good workout in, I have a much better outlook going into the day. Why is that? Well for one I am wide awake and ready to go when I get to school. A good run does me and my students a lot of good. A run is better for me than a cup of coffee. I also tell myself that a tempo run at 5:30am is the hardest part of my day. Everything after that point seems easy. Even if it isn't. The training plan I am currently following has me running 6 days a week. My rest day is Wednesday. I can definitely see a difference in my mood on those days, but my body looks forward to a break from running.
On Monday I start the last big hurdle before graduating: edTPA. For those of you who aren't familiar with edTPA, just know that it is a very long and tedious process in which I am writing lessons, teaching them, reflecting on them and uploading carious pieces of information to support what I did and why. I have heard it is close to 50 pages of writing I willing be doing over the next week. While I know I am capable of doing all of these tasks, I'm looking forward to getting this week behind and so I can focus on teaching. My goal for next week is to stay calm and work hard. Ryan is heading down next Friday so I have a light at the end of the long, winding edTPA tunnel. Enjoy the rest of your weekend friends! The second half of senior year is fully underway and I can't believe it. I ordered my cap and gown last week. It hasn't hit me that I will be wearing it in 100 days (yikes!). That time is going to fly!
Since I am full time student teaching now more responsibilities (that I gladly welcome) are being put on my plate. I love being there everyday. Well most days :) We worked out a schedule for what areas I will take over when. This will help the students by still having my CT lead major activities and slowly shift over one subject at a time. This week I took over Science. With the kiddos I'm working on life cycles. I had planned each day this week what I wanted to cover with the kids on each day, but quickly I learned how fast we were moving through the material. I found a great sheet on TPT that has boxes and lines for the kids to draw and write out the life cycle for an animal or insect of their choice. I want to get a bunch of animal books from the local library and teach a mini research unit. I will keep you updated as I move forward with this! One of my concerns about transitioning from 3 days of student teaching to 5 days of student teaching was that I would get burnt out. Fast. I kept a pretty easy work out schedule the first week. By the second week I was in the swing of things and start planning for morning workouts. I get a lot of crazy looks when I tell people what time I get up to run in the morning. I try and explain that it really wakes me up and then I know after school is over I can prep for the next day and or just relax. As much as I'm happy to see the gym full with people making resolutions to get fit, I not so secretly can't stand the crowds. I've found that it is most crowded after 3pm....when I get out of school. Thus this girl sets her alarm super early to beat the crowds. By taking that time in the morning I can clear my head and remind myself that yes I can do this. <- This has been a huge one lately. The conversation came up the other day about the way the teaching profession is changing to a data driven occupation. Not exactly something an almost college graduate wants to hear, but needs to. Seeing how much work goes into assessing each student and logging all that information has been extremely eye opening. I've been very fortunate that my CT has given me many opportunities to be hands on in the classroom and the assessments he needs. I have a million things I want to blog about but only so much time. Or some much time that I actually sit down and do it. Guess I can work on time management for my own life outside of school. Have a great Thursday friend!
Happy Monday everyone!! Hope everyone had a nice day back at work or school. We had meetings today. Now that those are done I can't wait to get back in the classroom. I say that now while I'm fully rested. Ask me again on Friday when my patience is shot.
Before I left this morning I put dinner in the Crock Pot. Italian Chicken. Literally 5 ingredients. Can you say easy?I found the recipe on Crock-a-doodle do. Since I am only cooking for myself I made a few modifications. I did not snap a picture this time as I was too hungry to think about anything else. Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts (They were partly frozen when I put them in) 1 bag of baby carrots 2 Russet potatoes, washed and cut into small pieces, peeling is optional :) 1/2 bottle of Italian salad dressing (I used low fat as that's what I had on hand) Packet of Italian seasoning 1. Spray Crock Pot with non-stick spray 2. Add some dressing to the bottom of Crock Pot 3. Add chicken, carrots and potatoes 4. Sprinkle packet of Italian seasoning over contents of Crock Pot 5. Add remaining Italian dressing 6. Cook on low for 8 hours or 6 hours on high Notes: I put this into the Crock Pot before I went to school (7:15 AM) and didn't touch it until I ate at (6:30 PM). Everything was cooked perfectly. No stirring or adding a thing! My Crock Pot has a feature that allows me to set it for a specific amount of time and cooking power. At the end of that time the Crock Pot will turn itself down and just keep the food warm. I love this feature! It can be hard to time dinners when I am away teaching all day, but by adjusting the cooking temp after so many hours is a huge help. I recommended playing with your Crock Pot and seeing what works best for you. Will I make this again? You bet I will. It hit the spot after a cold day and was pretty healthy. I would play with the seasoning that I added, I felt it was really salty. Next time I would reduce the seasoning and add more dressing instead as well as another veggie. Green beans maybe? We have probably 2-3 inches of snow on the ground with more on the way. Cross your fingers that the snow is all plowed so I can get to school in the morning. I'm not getting my hopes up for a snow day as it will just make Wednesday and beyond much harder. I'm off to bed. I did not do a thing to prepare for tomorrow (oops!) instead I watched every minute of The Bachelor from the couch. Goodnight friends! While I've been on break I have been working to get things updated around here. You will notice that there is a new tab up top. There I posted what I wore for each school day. Check it out!
I have updated the Running Shoes tab as well. This is where I will post my training plans and other running stuff! |
AshlynI'm a college student pursuing my dreams of being a teacher. When I'm not in the classroom observing or writing lesson plans I love to run! Follow me along for the ride. Archives
March 2015
Categories
All
|