Lessons from the Field

Check out my "Lessons from the Field" interview on Cerftification.com.

Tell me what you think!

International Halloween

Wow. That is just about all I can say. Wow.

(Hey all you elementary teachers...what book is that from??)

The school where I worked back home forbade any Halloween costumes involving weapons, blood, violence, or gore. This year, they decided to forego costumes altogether as part of their decision to not celebrate holidays at school.

My new school. Total opposite. Let me paint you a picture.

This morning, the students arrived in their costumes which were a mixture of blood, violence, gore, death..all those fun things. The principal enters the third grade classroom dressed as Dracula with fake teeth and fake blood dripping from his mouth. The children, very excited by his costume, shouted out his name, "Mr. L!" Then he said, "I am not Mr. L. I killed Mr. L and drank his blood and now I am looking for more!"

Then the kids all carved pumpkins with the knives they brought in their backpacks from home.

Yup. Knives in backpacks. Kids having knives at school.

A little bit different than home...

Just Like Riding a Bike

At some point in your life, it's likely that you have heard this phrase. It refers to something that you once learned that you will never forget how to do. Something that is so ingrained, so automatic, that you could easily do it after not having done so for a really long time. The analogy of riding a bike is given implying that once you learn how to ride a bike, it will never again be a skill that you don't have. Anytime you get on a bike, you will automatically be transformed into a carefree, uninhibited, joyful child speeding along with ease....

or not....

After today, I would definitely hesitate before suggesting to someone, in hopes of encouraging them that something will be easy, that whatever they wish to do is "just like riding a bike."

Today around 11, the HR lady at my school approached me and said I needed to go to the Rathaus (townhall) to fill out a form for a new work permit since I am going to start working more than 15 hours and that is all my current permit allows. Because the processing may take up to two weeks, and my anticipated start date is Monday 11/2, she felt it was very important that I go today...before 2. Normally, this would not be a problem as I would just drive myself on over to the building and take care of business. That would not be a problem...if I had a car....which I don't. Neither does the HR lady who needed to come with me to explain in German what I needed from the office. Ever since we moved to Germany, I can count on my fingers and toes the number of times I have even been in a car. I walk everywhere. Everywhere. To work. To the gym. To the grocery store. To the post office. To the mall. Everywhere. I am completely happy with walking when places are relatively close, but the Rathaus is not super close. So HR lady suggested that we bike there. She said I could borrow a bike from one of the other teachers. Ok. No biggie. I know how to ride a bike. If riding a bike is the beloved analogy for easily returning to a long abandoned activity, then surely I can ride a bike.

It hasn't been THAT long since I last rode a bike. It's not THAT hard to ride a bike. This will NOT be a big deal. Can you tell I was seriously trying to pump myself up for this endeavor?

So off we went. She, carelessly riding her bike with ease...followed by me, pretending to ride my bike with ease, yet completely focusing hard on all aspects of bike riding in order to not fall off said bike and totally embarrass myself. Now on top of the fact that my bike skills were very rusty, I am in the midst of a population of bikers who seriously don't even hold on when they ride.

Really, no hands! Literally, neither hand touching the handles. Maybe one, but definitely not two.

I have seen bikers carrying takeout pizza in their hands, carrying grocery bags in their hands, smoking, enjoying coffee, or sometimes just casually resting their hands in their lap. You name it, people in Germany do it...while biking.

Then there was me. Two hands and a death grip on the handle bars. I am absolutely amazed that I did not cause a bicycle crash today. I would have been fine if we were the only ones out riding our bikes, yet I completely freaked out inside every time another biker rode near us or passed by us. I also freaked out when we passed walkers as some of them decided to walk across the bike path, directly in front of me. They must have thought I have the skill to easily maneuver around them as most normal bikers would. Ummmm. Yeah.

As if it wasn't hard enough to simply ride on the bike, stop at stop signs, and then quickly mount and start peddling as soon as the street was clear, I also had to follow someone taking a route that I was not at all familiar with on a bike that was not mine and was not fitted for my body. Too much....all at once....not fun.

I am happy to say that I survived this lovely bike tour in Erlangen and successfully filled out the necessary paperwork to get my new work permit without any major incidences.

I will also say that the next time I tell someone, "it's just like riding a bike" I will probably be referring to something that will seem really awkward, will be fairly embarrassing, and will require a lot of conscious effort as opposed to something that they will easily breeze their way through as if they had done it everyday of their life.

**snaps!**

I got an email today saying that www.onlineschools.org posted the list

"100 Blogs Every New Teacher Should Read"

How cool is it that blogs have become such a great resource for teachers to share and learn from!?

How cool is it that Sneaker Teacher is on the list!

Check it out **here**

I am not sure how this happened, but I am so excited! Sometimes I feel like blogging is like writing a diary that goes on the internet for everyone to read instead of being hidden in a drawer or underneath the bed. I am really thrilled to know that readers find my blog interesting and helpful when it comes to teaching.

And she's back in the game!

I am so happy to announce that I am rejoining the ranks of "real" teachers as the new support services teacher for my school! WOO HOO! It took a lot of patience to wait for their decision, but I am in! I will start the Monday after our fall break, which is the first Monday in November.

I am hoping to meet with the special services team this week to go over scheduling and job details so that I can prepare next week during my time off. It is a .75 position, so I will do 21 lessons a week instead of 28 which is what full time staff members do. That works out to about 4 45-minute blocks a day with some prep time (hopefully!) as well.

I am so excited to start this position because it just feels like it is meant to be both because it is a new challenge, yet something I know I will be good at. I am sure it will take some getting used to, but I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to work with older students. I think the most difficult part is starting a new position over a month into the school year because I missed out on all the new teacher orientation stuff and will still have to learn the ropes of being a teacher at the school while learning the new position at the same time. Being a TA is very different, so there is still a lot about the school and staff I have yet to learn.

Thanks for all of your kind, supportive words of encouragement as I waited and waited and waited to hear about this job! I really appreciate all the kind thoughts and confidence in my skills as a teacher based on my writing/stories on this blog. You guys rock!

Workin' It Out!

Two MckLinkys in one day...whew! Hopefully today will be a day to make some new bloggy friends!

Susana over at My Family My Forever is hosting a Get Excited About EXERCISE blog hop!

She wants to know what your exercise routine is!

I named by blog Sneaker Teacher because I am a teacher who loves to workout and stay fit. What I envisioned to be a blog with a good mix of fitness and teacher talk, turned into a blog mostly about teaching, being a grad student, and getting my doctorate. I am definitely interested in talking fitness/health more often, so this opportunity is great!

I actually just posted about my recent workout routines *here* and *here* but I am happy to talk shop again because I find talking fitness motivates me and keeps me going!

I love Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred workouts and she always kicks my butt! Go Susana for trying two of her workouts in a row. Whew! Don't forget your towel because you will be dripping sweat, I promise!

These other two workout DVD's by Jillian are also great. They are done in circuits with about 5 different exercises in each circuit that are repeated twice. These are longer videos, I think they last about 45-50 minutes, but the DVD does have options to select specific circuits instead of doing them all. I don't do these as much because there is a lot of jumping/hopping in the cardio and I now have people living under me since moved into an apartment. I don't want to make my German neighbors mad because they will complain!

Boost The Metabolism is all cardio and only a mat is needed.

No More Trouble Zones incorporates weights.

Both are awesome!

I also really like Jackie Warner's One-on-One Training With Jackie Workout DVD which has three twenty minute segments: upper body, abs, & lower body. Her ab workout is a killer and I am always *good* sore after doing her workouts. I like the flexibility of having the three choices because even just one of the segments is a good workout and all three together makes for a fantastic sweatfest!

I have been trying to incorporate some more Jillian and Jackie into my life because I tend to do up the cardio and neglect the weight training. Although it's good to do cardio and burn calories, weight training is what truly changes the body, so I need to balance out my workouts a little more.

I have really been enjoying the Treadclimber at my new gym here in Germany and occasionally, I will run. It is so fun to run on a German treadmill because the screen provides speed in km/hour so I always feel like I am super speedy even though I am running at my regular (6.5-7.5 m/hour) pace.

I am also trying really hard to keep my water intake up so I stay hydrated because my little friend Diet Coke (Cola Light here in Europe) is my vice in life!

Happy Workouts Ladies!!