Friend Makin' Monday

The theme for this week's Friend Makin' Monday is...

things that make you happy

Check out all of the other responses on Amber's blog.

1. my husband

2. my family

3. my BFF Cristina

4. being a teacher

5. getting into my cozy bed at night

6. reading/learning

Global Literature Week 4

This weeks reading theme for Global Lit. is War, Violence, Prejudice & Death. Sounds fun, huh? But the reality is that so many groups have experienced these four things throughout history, so there are many important stories to tell. The school library has The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ( I have seen that movie, so I already know the story), The Other Side of Truth, and Milkweed. I am thinking about reading Milkweed which is the story told through the eyes of a likeable orphan about the streets of a Nazi-occupied Warsaw ghetto.

Skype-fest

Last night I had my first experience Skyping into one of the doctoral classes. I have to say, I am pretty disappointed that the faculty voted not to let me do this for all of the core courses because I thought it went really well. Granted, there were only 8 students in the class, but I could see and hear everything and was able to participate in their discussion of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The teacher, who is my advisor and the one really helping and supporting my distance education participation in the program, also showed a video clip and I was able to watch that without any technical difficulties! The only real challenge was piping into the group discussion because I wasn't sure if there was any sort of delay and I was worried I would be interrupting, but at several points, the teacher specifically asked me if I had any comments and then I was able to chime in.

I can't get over how cool technology is!

Here I was sitting at home in Germany, magically transported to a classroom in Portland that I spent many hours in throughout my master's program. I could see out the window to the familiar street corner on campus. It made me nostalgic for home, but at the same time, how COOL is that?!

I am going to Skype into my advisor's Multicultural & Urban Education course tomorrow at 6:15 to watch some presentations that the students are doing based on case studies from the text. I have been doing a TON of reading for this course including chapters in the text Affirming Diversity, Other People's Children, and Lies My Teacher Told Me. I have over 150 pages left to read for tomorrow in Lies My Teacher Told Me which is about how social studies texts/curriculums leave out a lot of true information in order to glorify and heroize certain figures from our history such as Columbus. It outlines many particular instances of where the information typically taught to students is a far cry from the reality of what really occurred. Pretty interesting stuff, yet it's similar to reading a social studies text, so it is slow going!

I also just got this book called Black Ants and Buddhists which I have only read a small part of, but I can already tell I am in love with it. It is about "thinking critically and teaching differently in primary grades" and is written by a first/second grade teacher who has done an amazing job teaching in a way that really values cultural differences and teaches children to be accepting of and knowledgeable about differences. It is one of those books that is both inspiring and frustrating to read because you think, of course I want to teach like that, but I am constrained within researched based curriculum mandated by the district! I still come away with ideas and ideals and hope for changes in our educational system that will allow all teachers to be as creative as the author is.

All of those books are on my little Shelfari Bookshelf on the top right of the page if you want to take a look or get more deets.

A Little Shred Shred

Ahhh...Jillian Michaels never fails in completely kicking my butt. Sadly, her Shred workouts are now more difficult for me than they were when I first purchased the DVD. I did her Level 2 workout today and whew...the walking pushups were not happening! I feel like I have increased my lower body strength, but my upper body strength needs some serious help!

I always feel like doing one of her Shred workouts is not enough because they only last about 20 minutes, yet by the time I am finished my body is screaming, so I never end up doing anything else. I should...but I don't.

I've got a Skype appt. with my advisor tonight and I will actually be skyping into a class for the first time! He said he is putting my on the big projection screen so I can introduce myself to the class and then I am going to participate in some partner/small group instructions. (Better make sure I look decent for the big screen!) Despite the fact that it will be at 7 on a Saturday night because of the time difference, and I would rather be out with my teacher friends who will be chilling at the local bar, I am really excited to see what it's like to be part of the class.

Still hoping for job news on Monday!!

Moved to Germany..Became a Little Old Lady

I know I don't post a lot about health & fitness and I would like to start adding more posts along those lines. It just seems like there is always something to say about teaching!

When we first moved here, I joined a gym that is right down the street from our new apartment. I have been working out on a regular basis, which for me is about 4-5 times per week. 3 times a week at the least! My new gym has the treadclimber machine which is a combination of a treadmill and a stair stepper of sorts. The belt is divided into two sections that move independently and go up and down while the belt goes around. Does that make any sense???

This is what it looks like in case that gives you a better visual.

Anyway, I have been using this cardio machine a lot because it gets my heart rate up, gets a good sweat going, and it works the buns a lot because it feels like you are climbing stairs/walking uphill. Fun stuff! I have to hold on for dear life because I have tripped several times and I have a fear of falling off, but it's all good. I have this image of Jillian Michaels screaming "Let.GO.of.the.TREADMILL!," but honestly I feel like my safety is at risk, so I am good with holding on!

I have also recently been doing a lot of recumbent biking because I kill two birds with one stone by reading on the bike. I am using level 11, so it's not like I am just chilling and relaxing.

Sometimes, I use the weight machines, although the general smell in a German gym can get to me pretty quickly and this particular area is usually pretty stinky so I tend to hit the road after cardio.

Lastly, I am trying to incorporate some of my workout DVD's although I feel like I have to be careful because people live below me and I can see how me doing jumping jacks and butt kicks could be annoying to them. These videos do include a lot of lunges, squats, and the like, but again, I have been doing these vids for the past year, so they are nothing new to my workout routine.

So what is the point of this post? Ever since moving here, I have been having knee pain! I never ever had pain before and I have always been active. Even when I was doing hardcore boot camp classes, my knees were fine. I don't remember ever feeling like I did something to injure my knee, yet I feel like an old arthritic lady sometimes when I am climbing the stairs and feel it in my knees!

The only thing that is truly different is the fact that shortly before we moved, I got custom orthodics for my shoes. I was told that I have hallux limitus, which means the joints in my big toes are not as flexible as they should be. Although this is a condition that can lead to problems down the road, I never experienced any overt difficulties because of it. Heck, I didn't even know I had any issue until the lady doing my pedi told me I should see a podiatrist. $380 later, I have my custom shoe inserts that I am supposed to wear all the time in any pair of shoes I have on. I will admit, I don't usually wear them to work, but I am going to start. I always have them on when I am walking or working out.

They are really small and actually fit quite well, and discretely, inside dress shoes and ballet flats.

I am wondering if there is some correlation between the orthodics and my knee pain!? That is the only thing I can think of that is very different. Maybe using them sometimes instead of all the time is bad and has caused my joints to yell out in protest! I am just nervous because I don't want to mess around with knee pain. Being active is such a big part of my life that I would be very disheartened to have to cut back or take it easy. My blogging buddy Kelly talks a lot about her issues with knee pain on her blog. Check it out, she's great and very informative. She has made me aware of the foam rolling bandwagon that I absolutely must jump on.

If I were in the U.S. I would definitely call the foot clinic that gave me the shoe inserts and go back in for a consult, but I can't really do that. I don't have any doctors here yet and I am debating if I should wait it out or be on top of this so it doesn't become a bigger problem. My trainer always used to recommend taking fish oil capsules daily, because they are good for the joints, so I am going to see if I can find those at my local store. I am willing to try anything because this pain is bumming me out!

Sub for 1/2 day

Today when I arrived at work, I headed to the classroom that is on my schedule for the morning. The teacher pointed next door and said that the other teacher needed me because she was having an emergency. Luckily, it wasn't anything bad, but she needed to get back to her apartment asap because the service man who was supposed to come next Thursday to hook up her internet was actually coming today between 8 and 12. It was already almost 9 at that point, so she needed to try and get home quick so she wouldn't miss the chance to get her internet hooked up.

The school that I work at is accommodating to stuff like this. Especially, if there is a classroom assistant that can cover for the teacher. Well..I should say, at least if there is a trained teacher as the assistant, which I am! There are no substitute teachers, but the principal or the trained assistants can cover in the event teachers need to be absent for part or all of the day.

So the teacher left and I got to be in charge. Oh, I can't tell you how good it felt to be in charge! I am not on a power trip, just a teacher who misses doing just that....teaching....leading....being responsible for the whole group at once. It was a pretty easy 1/2 day. The students had English for the first hour which consisted of a grammar page, a journal entry, and silent reading. Then after their morning snack/recess break, they took a math test. Then we had a class meeting during which we talked about not touching other students' belongings when some of them switch to the other room during German class. Since that didn't take too long, I had them respond to the writing prompt: One day, when I arrived at school, I noticed all of my school supplies had gone missing! They enjoyed doing some creative stories about what happened during the night that cause the supplies to go missing. I made that part up because the teacher said to have them silent read, but most of them had already spent quite a bit of time silent reading after completing their math test and I didn't want the natives to get restless.

For all of my teacher readers... What is it about your favorite substitute teacher that makes them your first choice when you have to be away from your classroom?