Chillin’

Ellie had three teeth break through (two molars included) this last week, and I got to experience a new teething side effect:  diarrhea!  Therefore, we were a lot more housebound than normal, since she was needing frequent diaper changes.  Poor E!  Poor me!  One of the side effects of diarrhea, other than insane diaper rash, is the temporary loss of lactose tolerance, which exacerbates the problem.  By Thursday, E was seeming back to normal, so I gave her a cup of milk, and she rewarded us with the return of the D.  In Target.  After half of my shopping was done.  Therefore, I had a choice.  Should I abandon the cart (and have to possibly start over in my shopping which would risk an irritated baby) to change her, or should I just let her have “spa time” and wait for Trav to meet me?  I waited and smelled.  I bought a bunch of pedialyte and white grape juice for E, and she was on a sugar rush this weekend.  To top off my trip, I managed to break a bottle of wine in the checkout lane by catching it on the handle of my shopping bag (we use reusable bags to reduce our trash and prevent paying a bag tax).  That was kind of embarrassing. 

I was super productive on Friday, since I was mostly housebound.  I vacuumed, did the dishes, fixed my printer by myself, watered the plants, cleaned the bathroom, and put away all clean laundry.  I have also been in high gear with researching World History curriculum for the upcoming year.  I have a bunch of books  ordered from the Library of Congress (Trav is a member), and I spent too much money on Amazon for resources.  On Sat, we all went to the National Museum of the American Indian. They have a toddler-friendly play area, and E had fun. Sunday, I took advantage of some alone time, and met up with a former coworker/friend for brunch.   Today, I have already vacuumed and watered the plants.  Once E goes down for a nap, I will mop the floors and I am hoping to do some kitchen projects like making toddy (cold-brew coffee), Travis’ spicy pickles, etc.  My plan is to make one more stop at my new school to work on the room this week, and pick up some stuff to start developing my syllabi for my classes.  My M-i-L will be out for a hot second on Thursday, so that day will be fun with everyone, and I would like to take E to Trav’s work one last time.  Yes last time, because this is my last week as a SAHM. 

Next Thursday, I will be a working mom yet again.  E will be getting her babysitter back.

My goals for improving my profession this year:

• Stay on top of grading and data DAILY.  My hope is to spend every afternoon grading my students’ work and putting it into the gradebook.  Over the years, I begun to struggle with this not because of the amount, but the different amount of assignments and preps I was dealing with.  With less to plan and prep, I should have more time to be an efficient teacher.
• Give regular, meaningful homework.  Now that I am teaching a different population of student, I would like to start exploring and developing a “flipped classroom” where the reading and notetaking is done at home, and the HOT and critical thinking skills are done in the classroom.  I doubt I will be able to have an effective “flipped classroom” in one year, but I can start by experimenting with it.
• Take two PD classes for my licensure renewal.  I think I will look around for a Soc St class and a SpEd class to take for my renewal which is coming up in a year for one of my licenses.  I think an online class will be the way to go.
• Maintain a clean classroom.  This shouldn’t be as hard, since students will no longer be eating breakfast and lunch in the room (no more fridge, microwave, and hot sauce in my room!), and I will try to integrate organizational skills into the classroom routine since I will be teaching students that will probably have goals such as them in their IEPs.

Two Weeks Left

This week, I moved my teaching supplies into my new classroom.  Yesterday, we actually arranged for a babysitter so that I could unpack and start arranging my classroom without Eleanor destroying everything or being completely distracting.  So yesterday, I finished bringing in my stuff, and then the school director had her student workers drop off all the textbooks and resources . . .

OMG.

Yes, this is a picture of just the supplies.  I didn’t take a picture of the closet, which was packed with Geometry and Careers supplies.  I was there from 9-1 just working on organizing and separating the possibly useful stuff from the useless stuff.  I also found a textbook from 1994 that I used when I was in high school.  Yes, a book almost 20 years old was among the stuff, and that I used.  God, I’m starting to feel old.

If you look closely, you will see that I am to teach World History I and II this year.  Now, I haven’t taught these courses in five years, but I guess that’s ok.  It just means I have a lot of planning to do, but it’s only two classes instead of the five I had to prep for at my old job.  I just need to research how I would like to teach World History.  I’ve got to review the standards, the textbooks, and then I can look up some other resources to purchase.  I need to start searching for some good materials that work well with teenagers, such as graphic novels, etc.  I’ll also trade info with one of my former colleagues. 

I will also have to come up with some good projects for the students.  I will have some computers in the classroom, and will also have access to computer labs, so I think it won’t be so hard to figure out some interesting projects.  I have a lot to prep for

Since I had the babysitter, I took the opportunity to get my nails done, of which I think they look quite nice.  As I was getting primped, one of my old students saw me from the window and stopped in to say hi.  Turns out she lives about three blocks from me, is doing well at college, and seems pretty happy.  We chatted for a few minutes and then she was on her way.  I have to say, I see my students A LOT.  You’d think I lived in a small town and not a large city.

I then went home to see my girl, and was finally able to crank out a picture of her smiling:

It is super hard to get a good picture of E because she mostly saves her smiles and grins for strangers and neighbors.  She was super happy yesterday though, and also super adventurous:  She managed to fall into the litter box.  I heard her say, “Oh, boy” which is my cue for her needing help, so I go into the hallway to find the closet door opened, and her feet sticking out of the box.  She was playing with a washcloth and dropped it in the litter, and then when she went to retrieve it, she fell in.  Let me tell you, litter is not fun to clean up on a toddler.  She had a bunch in her hand, and first she shook some of it on the floor, and then she put it up to her face, so then she was shoulder and face deep in soap and running water to try to clean herself up, and then I was sweeping and vacuuming as quickly as possible to prevent her from getting into her mess on the floor.  Why can’t my girl just want to play dolls or take everything out of her play-box?!

Today, I finally washed all of the clothes (E was wearing her last clean outfit), and so now I have 2 baskets and a laundry bag of items to put away.  I can hear E playing, so she’s awake from her nap, so adios!

Breakfast Hashbrown Casserole—feeds 12 or more

I developed this recipe because I wanted a bread-free casserole.  It reminds me a little of spanish tortillas (eggs and potatoes), but it definitely is tasty!  This was a family hit.

Ingredients
10 Eggs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheese (I recommend pepperjack, but sharp cheddar works well too)
1 bag frozen hashbrowns
breakfast meat (I used bacon, but ham or sausage would work well)
oil spray
onion powder
garlic powder
black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook the breakfast meat, if necessary.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a casserole pan, spray the bottom and sides.
4. Layer in the hashbrowns.
5. Sprinkle onion and garlic powder over potatoes.
6. In a bowl,whisk eggs, milk, mushroom soup, and pepper well.
7. Add 1 cup of shredded cheese to mixture and combine ingredients.
8. Pour the mixture over the hashbrowns.
9. Add your meat over top.
10. Top with remaining cheese.
11. Bake covered for 20 minutes.
12. Take cover off and bake for another 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown.
13. Take out and let it rest for 10 minutes.
14. Eat it!