Weekend in Austria

Mr. Sneaker and I are driving to Austria later tonight to visit some friends. We met them in Portland when Juergen was working there for a few years. They are German, but are now living in Austria. Well, technically Veronica is Argentinian, but her family moved to Germany when she was about 9 or 10, so she lived in Germany longer and she is fluent in English, German, and Spanish! They moved from Portland back to Germany a few years ago, then we moved to Germany, then they moved to Austria. Now we are going there to visit. They have two super cute sons, Luca and Hannes and I am excited to see their new(ish) house. They moved awhile back and Mr. Sneaker visited several times during my hiatus in the US, but I haven't been yet. The last time we drove through Austria on our way back from visiting Neuschwanstein, I was blown away by how gorgeous it is and I am really excited to go back! Luckily I did about a zillion loads of laundry yesterday so we can clean clothes to pack up. 

Actually, I think we could go months without doing laundry and still have enough clean clothes. Yesterday I went through Mr. Sneaker's clothes because we just have to get rid of some stuff before we move back and I counted 133 T-shirts. Yes, that's right....one hundred thirty three. And, then this morning I found some more hidden in my wardrobe. Sneaky husband... So last night we did a little sorting and I told hubs it would be ridiculous to keep more than 100 T-shirts, so he and I went through them all and made a large pile to get rid of. The only problem is that there isn't a Good Will or anything here, so I have to figure out what to do with this big box of stuff so that I can get it out of here before hubs has second thoughts! ::hehe:: Hubs is actually very good about getting rid of stuff, but he just accumulates so much working in the world of sports that no matter how much we give away, there is an ever reproducing pile.

I feel like I am rambling. Is this post going anywhere?

This afternoon I am headed to meet my friend Christy for coffee, whom I haven't seen since I left last summer. (was that the correct usage of whom?). I am looking forward to catching up with her and then skyping with my bestie, Cristina, a bit later. Cristina and I are both just a little bit excited that there is a new book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series...I thought it was over, but no...there's more!

I want to download it on my iPad, but it's $16.00 and that seems like a lot for a book that I can't sell, loan, or donate to anyone else. Even the hardcover is only $13. I thought that electronic books were supposed to be less expensive...oh well...We'll see if I can wait it out for it to become cheaper. Speaking of books, I read two Emily Giffin books in the last week.

Both were good, but I preferred Love the One You're With. She is the author of Something Borrowed, which is now a movie with Kate Hudson. I also re-read her book Something Blue while I was in London.  I kind of feel like it's a waste of money to buy a book that I will read in about 3 days, but I like to have something good when I travel because there is a lot of waiting around.

Now, I need to delve into some of the readings and books for my next paper! Somehow all this free time has not resulted in me working on that! I need to get it done this summer before I go back to work!

I don't think I will post this weekend, but I will be back with pics on Sunday night!

Wedding Weekend

Whew. After all of the busyness over the weekend and being overtired from all of the wedding festivities, I am very proud of myself for getting up early this morning and getting to work on my mile long to do list ( I actually made one today!). I have already been grocery shopping, unpacked our suitcases and put all the clothes away/in the laundry and am working on load # 3 of laundry. There is still a ton to do and I need a quick turn around because hubs and I decided to head to Austria this weekend to visit some friends. Do we ever stay home? We are pretty much on a mission to do as much as we can before moving back to the states because when else is Austria going to be a 3 hour drive away?? Hopefully the rain holds off because last time Mr. Sneaker went to Austria he did some great hiking and I would love to give that a try. 

Speaking of giving things a try, despite my best efforts to hang with the rest of the bikers in Amsterdam, I have to say that if I never ride a bike again it will be too soon. I feel like I should have worn a sign on my back saying "biker in training" or something because then perhaps the other bikers would have given me a bit more space and proceeded with a bit more caution as they whizzed past me. Some of the streets were so busy with cars, vespas, and other bikers, that I think it is quite a miracle  I managed to not hit anything or anyone or injure myself. Although I really enjoyed spending time in Amsterdam, I don't know that I would ever want to live there. 

The rest of the wedding festivities were super fun and I had several I can't believe this is really my life moments throughout the course of the trip. We never made it to the Anne Frank House, which is a huge bummer, but we did a lot of other really fun things and this trip was more about the wedding than sight seeing. On the 4th we went on a boat cruise around the canal with the majority of the wedding guests. We cruised around for about three hours with the champagne flowing the entire time as well as a full on BBQ from the front of the boat. 

 Mr. Sneaker and I both spilled on our holiday attire. 

I guess we just don't do well with light colors..

The following morning we had breakfast at the hotel and relaxed until checkout. Then we headed for the bus that took us to the wedding venue. The wedding was held about 45 minutes away from where we had stayed and was on a gorgeous grassy golf course. Absolutely beautiful. We had been told that we would be staying in cabins and I was very unsure of what the accommodations would be like, but the grounds were amazing and the cabins were super cute.

We had four beds in our little cabin, but it was only the two of us staying in it.

When we first arrived, we put our stuff in our cabins and then there were some drinks and snacks to enjoy while we waited for the ceremony. At about 3:30, we headed over to the main building and J&M tied the knot. It was a beautiful ceremony, led by the bride's father, and everything was elegant, simple, and fabulous. They chose not to have a wedding party, they wrote their own love letters to each other, and wrote their own vows. 

After the ceremony, we enjoyed cocktails and snacks on the patio, followed by a delish BBQ dinner, several hours of dancing, and some late night marshmallow roasting. 

The groom surprised his lovely bride with an iPad and Mr. Sneaker helped get it all ready by downloading some good apps, downloading some books and getting People magazine all set up for the bride to read on the way to their honeymoon. They took off the day after the wedding and the location of the honeymoon was kept a secret until she opened her iPad and saw the location on the travel book that hubs had downloaded. He even put cute photos of the B&G as the background on the iPad.

It is so fun to tour around and visit new places, but there is nothing like climbing into my own bed when we get home. I slept so well last night and I feel energized for a day of organizing and cleaning!

Preview

We just got back from our trip to Amsterdam and I am too tired and worn out to write a real post, so here is a sneak peak of how I spent my time there...

so. much. fun!

Amsterdammage

Mr. Sneaker and I are in Amsterdam until Wednesday. Some friends of ours have lived here for about three years now and are tying the knot on Tuesday, so we are in town for their wedding and all of the festivities. We arrived on Saturday night just in time to go our separate ways for the bachelor/bachelorette outings. I have been to very few bachelorette parties in my day, but I certainly made up for that by dancing with the ladies until about 4 AM. I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw 4 AM. Needless to say both Mr. Sneaker and I were a bit tired all day yesterday. We enjoyed a nice picnic with all the wedding guests at Beatrix Park, tossed around a football, had a hula hoop competition (I came in second with 4.5 minutes of straight hula-ing), and soaked in the sun.

Amsterdam is known for being a biking city and most people bike instead of walking or driving. We rented bikes from the hotel and I have been trying to hang with all the seasoned bikers on the roads here. There is a lot of passing and swerving which makes me feel like a total train wreck, but I do my best. Last time we visited here, I was passing and bobbing and weaving with the best of them by the time our trip was near the end, so there's hope.

Last night we saw Transformers...in the very front row...in 3D. Fun times. Aside from being super close, I liked the movie. I thought it was funny/odd that the lead girl somehow managed to change from one sexy outfit to another all the time trying to help her beau Shia save the world from the Deceptacons, but whatever...I guest the typical Transformers fan would be so focused on other parts of Rosie's anatomy therefore not noticing that she had on flats in all the action scenes which somehow morphed into sexy stilettos for all of the close up shots. Overall, I do enjoy most of the movies Mr. Sneaker drags me to. And, I heart Shia Lebouf. Do you remember him from back in the day on Even Stevens on the Disney Channel? The Disney Channel really turns out a lot of stars these days....Hilary Duff, Shia, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez...not to mention the gaggle of kids from the Mickey Mouse Club that made it big.....ok that was a major tangent.

Hubs and I are hoping to hit up the Anne Frank House today, but it's already getting close to noon and we have heard it's best to get there early because the lines get really long. We missed out last time we were here, so we will have to see if we can be more successful this time around. Later we will celebrate the 4th on a boat cruise on the canal. Happy 4th to everyone!

Dumbing us Down

A few months back, I downloaded this book on my iPad and have been working my way through it at random times. A little at the gym, a little while waiting for my flight to San Jose over Memorial Day weekend, and a little more today. I didn't realize it, but I was actually pretty close to the end and finished it while nestled under a nice little blanket and sipping Chai Tea on my patio this afternoon. 

Per my usual poor reading comprehension, by the time I got to the end, I couldn't remember much of what I had read previously, but I enjoyed what I read today so much that I immediately went back to the table of contents and started re-reading some of the earlier chapters.

Although I don't support home schooling and non schooling to the extent that Gatto does, I do think he makes a lot of valid points about what is going wrong public schooling in the U.S. He taught for 30 years in New York's public schools and was named New York City's Teacher of the year for three consecutive years (1989-1991), so his claims are very much grounded in what he experienced in his work as a classroom teacher. 

Here are some of the passages/quotes that I highlighted as I read...

• As society rapidly changes, individuals will have to be able to function comfortably in a world that is always in flux. Knowledge will continue to increase at a dizzying rate. This means that a content-based curriculum, with a set body of information to be imparted to students, is entirely inappropriate as a means of preparing children for their adult roles (AMEN!)

• Conversation, the ultimate means of communication, must be a central part of a sound education (oh how I cringe thinking about how many times a day I ask my students to be quiet and listen...)

• When I'm at my best I plan lessons very carefully in order to produce this show of enthusiasm. But when the bell rings I insist they drop whatever it is we have been doing and proceed quickly to the next work station. They must turn on and off like a light switch (So true, especially when some of my lessons are 15 minutes long. There is never enough time and we are constantly hurrying to clean up one thing in order to squeeze in the next! And, yes, I do believe this is reflected in students' attention spans and diligence in their work)

• Successful children do the thinking I assign them with a minimum of resistance and a decent show of enthusiasm. Bad kids fight this. Curiosity has no place in my work, only conformity. (::hmmm:: This statement really makes me think about what is happening in my classroom and what actions/behaviors are being valued)

•  In their ability to think, children schooled at home seem to be five to ten years ahead of their formally trained peers (ok, yes there are some home schooling families out there that have as many children as I do students in my class (hello Duggars), but I think adult to child ratio has a big impact on student learning and our class sizes are only getting bigger....) 

• Schools are intended to produce, through the application of formulas, formulaic human beings whose behavior can be predicted and controlled. (where was this quote when I needed it for my core defense section on organization!)

• We need to rethink the fundamental premises of schooling and decide what it is we want all children to learn and why. 

• But no large-scale reform is ever going to work to repair our damaged children and our damaged society until we force open the idea of "school" to include family as the main engine of education (I think that family involvement is so important as well as honoring as best we can in the classroom what is valued by different families)

I found each one of these statements to be thought provoking, so I thought I would share them. If Sneaker Teacher has been less than teachery as of late, let's bring on some discussion and debate about the state of public education in the U.S.! (::hehe::)

(Seriously, please comment...I am in withdrawal from lack of education courses and weekly discussions with other educators who care deeply about these issues!) 

One of the points that Gatto made that I definitely agree with is the idea of having all students engage in community service. I remember being really impressed when I read Black Ants and Buddhists as Mary Cowhey talked about her class assembling together at school on a snow day because they had planned to deliver pies to a shelter for Thanksgiving. Despite the horrible weather, her children were eager to carry out the kindness they had planned. I am thinking about what I might be able to do with my kiddos next year to delve into this area of kindness and giving. 

When I was in 6th grade, my dad had to work on Thanksgiving (he is a firefighter and has to work one major holiday each year), and my mom, brother, and I went to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter with my brother's 7th grade English teacher. I will never forget that experience. When I was in college, a group of us drove to a shelter for women and children in Philadelphia every Thursday evening to do arts and crafts and games with the kids. I will never forget that experience either. 

Gatto stresses the importance of community and I really appreciated reading his perspective on education because, although I may not be able to change education on the grand scale, there are things I can do when I work with my students, that get at the heart of what Gatto thinks public schooling is lacking. 

One more thing to add to the 2011-2012 school year to do list. My idealistic summer self always has hopes of a school year to out do all other school years, so why not add a little of John Gatto into the mix...

Whew, are we in need of something light and fluffy after that?

Anyone seen Bad Teacher? 

Thoughts?

I heard someone say she was tired of media that puts teachers in a bad light, but I would still like to see it. It's got to be good for a few laughs and anything I can hear in English instead of German sounds great to me!!

Rock the Vote

I recently got an email saying that Sneaker Teacher was nominated for the Really Good Classroom Blog Contest. I have no idea how that happened and I think my blog pales in comparison to many of the other teacher blogs out there, but hey, I'll take it!

I am going to attempt to put this little banner up and it will link to the site where you can vote if you are so inclined. Hopefully I can get it to work.

I always struggle with the balance between focusing only on all things teachery and educational and other things that are going on. Sneaker Teacher tends to drift a bit and focuses a little bit more on my life in general, which happens to revolve a lot around school, teaching, learning etc., but I kind of just continue on and it is what it is. I definitely want to get back to posting more often, but when summer comes and I am not teaching, the focus tends to shift more away from teaching and wander to other areas of life. 

Here are a few of today's favorites...

 

Are these not the cutest cake pops you have ever seen? My good friend and roomie this past school year has a Boston named Bailey, and I am not a huge fan of dogs, but I HEART Bailey. These pops remind me of my cute little cuddle buddy and I am in awe of the creative talent that so many people have for making adorable pops! These were posted on Bakerella's site, but she didn't make them. My cake pops always taste great, but they are pretty plain in comparison...

my iPad

 I love playing Words with Friends with various friends, especially Mr. Sneaker (although he keeps beating me!). I am also really loving the highlight and bookmark functions on my Kindle app. I am reading a book about curriculum theory for my next big paper and I love how I can highlight important parts even though I am reading a digital book. I still have a deep love for "real" books, but I have to say that having an inventory of books on this one small device is fabulous! It would make traveling a lot lighter if all of my books were on this little gem!

My View

 

Although I haven't been out and about a ton in my little town in Germany aside from grocery shopping, a few trips to the gym, and a dinner with my friend, I love looking out the doors to our balcony and seeing the sun shining and lovely view. Unfortunately, it's too sunny to read out there and my iPad got so hot, it was hard to actually hold it.

Even though I have been reading for my paper, which technically counts as work, I am feeling lazy and ineffective. I am thinking about cooking up something fabulous for dinner which will make me feel a bit more productive!