Student Input

On the first day, I asked students to take a moment and write on an index card their feelings/past experiences with science.  Do they love it or hate it?  Was there a teacher that made them feel one way or the other?  What parts of science do you like?  Those kinds of questions.  Here's some of my favorites:

"I like science with chemicals and activities that I can interact in, but I don't really know much about Earth Science.  I'm not really interested in the Earth."

"My first year I was a freshman I had a teacher who was monotone dull and science seem very boring.  Really I love science and learn about things that go beyond this world.  I failed by the way the first time and got a like 42% average for my grade."    (yes, I have quite a few repeaters, at least 5 that mentioned it on their index cards)

"I am neutral."

"about the world.  Yhea!"

"Science is not my favorite subject, although I enjoy certain parts of it.  For example, chemistry is amazing.  I love things having to do with the periodic table."     (oh, that girl doesn't know how happy she has made me!)

"I like doing experiments.  I don't like writting.  I like working in groups.  And I might come in [to 4th period] like a zombie because my third period teacher is sooo boring."

"I think science is dreadfully boring."

"I think science is boring.  It isn't that interesting at all except for that stars are pretty.  Their are too many technical terms and stuff."

"I love science it's just that every teacher have their different way to teach it and my past teachers were just too boring but you seem fun to me :) "    (a girl I had been pre-warned about by her ESL student for having a bad attitude)

Classroom Pics

I finally got around to taking some pictures of my room now that it's presentable-looking.

I'm still working with limited school supplies, so Scotch tape has been my best friend this week.  Here's a picture of the sign outside my door, including Larry, my tiny wooden dinosaur I found at Michael's for 59 cents (confession: I just now decided to name him Larry).

My room: I tried to make it as colorful and exciting as possible, so I put up any and every science poster I could get a hold of.

My desk:  the beakers are to put popsicle sticks with the students' names in there so that I can call on them at random to answer questions.  Milli's there, as is my solar flower who LOVES the sunny window behind my desk.  It's dark in the picture because I took it at 6:00 when I got there Wednesday morning, but it's usually really bright.

My view outside my window once the sun came up.

I know that's not a lot of pictures, but it hopefully gives you an idea of what my room looks like.

First Day Fun

I survived my first day of school!  After all the panic and nervousness of the workweek, I was surprisingly calm when I woke up Thursday morning.  I had several outfits in mind, and ended up picking this one -- gray dress pants, blue patterned shirt, white cardigan.

I rushed around getting stuff ready this morning and hit my first snag -- my projector was bad!  We don't each have our own projectors, so we check them out from the Media Center.  I tried every option under the Menu, but with no success.  I ended up calling the Media Center in distress and they told me to bring that one back and they'd give me a new one.  The #1 rule of teaching is to expect things to go wrong.  I was hoping the projector would be my one "thing going wrong" and that the rest of the day would go smoothly.

And you know what?  It did!

Ever since my first day teaching in Dr. Siegerman's forensic class back in 2010 (my first semester of grad school), the "teaching" part of the teaching profession has come easily to me.  It's the brainstorming, planning, copying, setting up, etc. that's overwhelming!  Once the students were in the room, I felt at home.  That doesn't mean things weren't chaotic, hectic, and exhausting... but that is what "home" feels like for a teacher!

1 down, 179 to go!

Photos, Pound Cake, and Paint

I mentioned earlier that we celebrated Jason's birthday last weekend and on Monday because I had Open House on his actual birthday.  Here's a quick rundown on how the Selfs "do" birthday.

Friday after work: stopped by Harris Teeter to get Jason's favorite ice cream, HT-brand Bear Claw (or "Bear Kind" as we call it).  Dark chocolate ice cream, chocolate-covered cashews, and caramel swirls.  Yum!
Saturday: photos at the Arboretum, dinner with Rebecca at Brixx (pizza place)
Sunday: church, and then I made pound cake (for later that night) and prepped some mac and cheese (everything up until baking it) for Monday night.  I also did some painting, but I brought it downstairs so we could hang out while I painted.

Painting on the carpet?!?  Scandalous!

Can't share too much (especially since it's not done yet), but definitely the most intricate and detailed pattern yet! 

Pound cake time!

Monday: stopped by Meathouse after work to pick up marinated steak tips (yum yum yum!) to go with the mac and cheese (no pics, but it was definitely my best batch ever!).  Jason decided to celebrate with a monstrous amount of ice cream and cake (and cake).

Soooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday: I sang to him when I woke him up, wished him a happy birthday, and then saw him again at 8:30, when he was on the phone with his mom.  Not the most exciting birthday... oh yeah, except that there was an earthquake!

You may notice there was no real gift-giving.  That's because a few weeks ago he bought himself a universal remote and claimed "birthday" on it.

Birthday Earthquake!

It's 5:30, and I'm wolfing down a quick dinner at my desk, waiting for parents to arrive for Open House.  I figured now would be a good time for a quick update.

First of all, Happy Birthday to this guy!

Once I get a moment to breathe (and have a chance to get photos off of my camera), I'll do a longer post on his birthday celebrations.

Jason got one of the coolest birthday gifts today, an earthquake!  I don't know how many of you felt it, but it was surreal.  It was small enough that I wasn't scared or alarmed, just really fascinated.  I have to say, it was freakishly cool!!!!!

Here's a bit of info on the quake.  It was magnitude 5.9 in Virginia, and it was fairly shallow (<4mi) which is why it was felt so far away.

Jason sent me a picture of the Earthquake Devastation in DC:

I cracked up laughing right at my desk!  Thank goodness no one else was around.

Well that's all for now.  The PowerPoint is up, the room is spiffy, the contact sheets are distributed.  Best part of today's Open House/earthquake -- having no problem explaining to parents how Earth Science is relevant to their students' everyday lives!

Quick Dinner? "Focaccia" Covered!

I'm not a big couponer.  I do look through and clip coupons for products I was already planning to buy.  I also check out my grocery store's sales paper to see if it's a good week to stock up on meat or splurge on fun sale stuff (like this week's nectarines, something I wouldn't normally buy).  This week, I saw that the bakery was doing BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free... not sure why they don't call it BOGOF instead) on focaccia bread.  I thought I'd take a chance on it, and I'm so glad I did.

Today's five-minute dinner is brought to you by focaccia:

Step 1: Buy focaccia bread.  This one is a fresh tomato variety.  I also bought a roasted pepper one.

Step 2: Load with toppings.  We had leftover Italian sausage that I browned while Jason grated some mozzarella cheese.  Any topping that makes sense (or that you have around the house) would go here. 

Honestly, step 2 isn't even necessary.  As is, the bread is mighty tasty.  It could be made into a sandwich by slicing horizontally and filling with yummy things.  It could be left as-is and served with soup or salad.  It could be dipped in olive oil and spices (pepper, rosemary, etc.) for a guilty-pleasure kind of appetizer or meal.  But I did do Step 2, and boy howdy, it was delicious!

Step 3: Broil until cheese melts.  We're talking maybe three minutes tops.  But keep an eye on it!  My bread got a wee bit toasty while I was making our drinks and getting plates.

Slice and devour!

I can't believe it, one of my adventures in cooking was a homerun!  I'm so glad I bought two of these delightful breads.  Pizza night, Take 2!

First Day of the Rest of My Life

Warning: This is very wordy, all about school, and has no pictures.  Read at your own discretion.

Yesterday was the first official teacher workday.  We sat through a meeting with other schools where the superintendent and a school board member spoke.  After that, I got to go upstairs and work in my classroom.

Classroom challenges:

~My previous owner left NOTHING in the classroom.  Not a stapler, pair of scissors, or paperclip.  Everyone has been great about sharing their surplus or finding me supplies, but it has slowed down my process.

~My computer log-in isn't working.  This means I can't access my email, class role, etc.

~I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing.  Should I be working on my class role?  Hanging posters and decorating?  Trying to get my email issues taken care of?  Who knows!

Classroom fun:

~It's MY classroom!  I can arrange desks the way I want, decorate the way I want, and organize the way I want!

~The one thing I discovered in my room -- stacks and stacks of poster board on top of my file cabinet.  Oh yeah, we'll be using that!

~I have about 40 cabinets and ten book shelves that have nothing in them -- room to grow into!

I share a stock room with another new-to-LRHS teacher who has been really helpful.  For every school supply I'm missing, he has five of them, so he's been sharing.  He's also been a sounding board for me with all of my "Hey, how do you do ______ in your classroom?" questions.  The supply room is going to be another challenge, but we'll tackle that maybe next week.

The science department (most of which are in the other building) came by to introduce themselves and invite us to lunch.  They. Are. Incredible.  Super nice, very helpful, and are really embracing us as members of the family.

Other interesting things from the day:

~I ran into MHS teachers at the multi-school meeting, and they were so excited.  "Yay, you got the job!"  They were crestfallen when they found out that I DID get a job... just not at their school.

~At lunch, one of the teachers said I looked like a former math teacher -- someone in my Sunday School class!  (ps, we look nothing alike...)

~Someone has already asked me about Paint by Letters and said they may commission me for a pregnant colleague's gift.

~The science department buys each other cakes for their birthdays, one of which is today.  They are also renowned for their participation in Homecoming/Spirit Week.  I can't wait!

~For those who don't know the whole long story of my hire, they were hiring 1.5 positions (one full-time, one part-time).  They were considering me for a part-time position because they had someone with years of earth science experience for the full-time position (my new neighbor).  I found out yesterday that they liked me so much, the petitioned the principal to reallocate money to hire me full-time.  I hope I live up to their expectations!

Ok, that's it for this morning.

Today's goals:

~Start planning earth science for the first couple of weeks.  Fortunately, the other teachers have already gotten a head start on that, and we're meeting to share notes, ideas, and labs with each other.  

~Get my log-in fixed, check (and handle) my email, and sign up for equipment in the media center.

You won't get a day-by-day report, I promise, but Mom always talks about "Make sure you write that down!" when some significant life event happens, so Mom, this is me "writing it down."

Special Surprises

I don't care who you are, everyone loves getting gifts.  Jason always amazes me at Christmas and my birthday because he gets me things I had randomly mentioned wanting months before.  Birthday 2009 (the year of the 26 alphabetical gifts), he also got me trouser socks, colorful beaded jewelry, and a Sudoku book -- all things I had wanted but not purchased.  Wow, he was listening after all!

Monday afternoon, Jason came home with the best kind of a gift -- a "just because" surprise gift!  Some girls may like jewelry or flowers.  My husband, however, knew exactly what I wanted -- a new lunch box!

What a sweetie!

When A Plan DOESN'T Come Together

Around the Self household, weekends are synonymous with outdoor photography.  For the past month or so (last Thursday not included), this hasn't happened.  We've either been traveling, entertaining, visiting, or staying indoors to hide from the 105-degree heat.  Then, watching the weather last week, what is this?  High of 88?  On a weekend?  That could only mean one thing -- pictures!

So Saturday morning, after our muffins, we got dressed in "photo clothes" and headed to one of our favorite destinations, Duke Gardens.  Sure, we noticed the dark looming clouds, but summer weather is fickle and DG is over twenty minutes away, so who's to say what the weather will be like when we get there?

The weather when we got there:

My reaction to the weather:

Jason's reaction to the weather (checking his iPhone to see if it was a passing shower):

Ok, we need a plan B!  What, we don't have a plan B?  What do you want to do?  Go to Wal-Mart, buy a new internet router (ours went haywire on Friday), and then head to the mall?  *shrug*  Sure, sounds good to me.

Maybe next weekend, photos.  Maybe next weekend.

It's Here!

Slowly weaning you off of my week-daily posts...

Today's my first week of school!  I'm so very excited that words cannot express the squealing, wide-eyed, fists shaking in excitement, panicked expression I have right now.  At least I get to ease into the school year by going to orientations today and tomorrow before starting my first real workday on Wednesday.

I will definitely keep you posted on all the happenings in my life, just with slightly less frequency than I have been this summer.  Stay tuned!

The Great Outdoors

I've mentioned before that Jason and I like to photograph nature, especially the smaller, more unnoticed things found in nature.  The more we photograph, the more attuned we have become to looking for those plants and creatures that so many others passed by without a second glance.  Sure, we often look silly doing this, staring three inches from a tree looking for insects on the bark or hovering over a bush trying to sneak up on a butterfly before it flies away, but the pictures always make it worth it.

Last night, we took advantage of the cooler temperatures (and of Jason's dart night being canceled) and did a mid-week photography trip the arboretum.  We go often, but we always find neat stuff to take pictures of.  Last night, I was struck by how intricate nature is.  Leaves of all different shapes and colors, flowers with five petals and twenty-some petals, spiders, and bees.  Here are a few surprises from last night.

I was taking a picture of this tiny spider and didn't even see the tinier guy right beside the berry-looking things until I was editing this morning.  How many more things were there that I didn't see?

This is a bit philosophical, but we always pay so much attention to the fronts of flowers that I was really surprised by how beautiful the back of this flower was.

For years, I had never seen this type of spider, but now we see them everywhere!  Just as I got excited about seeing this one, I looked around and realized there were four more on this same plant!

I love the pop of color of that lone green leaf among all the purple leaves.  Hold strong, little greeny, you make the plant so much more interesting.

I saw the 7-day forecast today, and this week's weather is going to be gorgeous!  Even if you don't take pictures, get outside this week and really look at the nature all around you.  You'll be surprised at all you see!

Before and After

From this:

To this:

NOW I'm ready for school!

The Great Dumpling Debate

Jason and I are both native North Carolinians, so we were raised on a lot of similar food.  However, there are occasions when it's clear that we grew up on opposite sides of the state.  The most obvious instance is when defining "chicken and dumplings."

An Eastern Girl's View:

"Dumplings" is synonymous with "pastry."  The dumplings in chicken and dumplings are thin sheets.  Your final product should look like this.

A Western Guy's View:

"Dumplings" mean dropped dumplings, a dough that you drop into a pressure cooker and cook with the chicken.  This dough puffs up and becomes pillowy.  At least, this is what I gather from my cryptic hubster.  I *think* his final product would look like this.

I never knew people had other ideas of "dumplings."  I was made aware of this the first time I prepared said dish for Jason, to which he replied "This isn't chicken and dumplings."  After a back-and-forth tennis match of "Yes, it is," "No, it isn't," we agreed to disagree.  And I, the ever-devoted wife, went on a mission to make him the dumplings of his youth.

Two Swings and Two Misses:

~If I had my way, we'd keep eating the thin sheets.  I'm not ashamed to mention that I do not make these pastries from scratch.  My go-to pastries are Anne's Flat Dumplings, found in the freezer section of the grocery store.

Adding frozen pastry to your chicken broth

~I found a slow cooker recipe one time that called for pulling apart pieces of canned biscuits and adding to the chicken when it had about an hour left to cook.  I thought these would be similar to the pillowy dumplings Jason loves.... I was wrong.

Alton Brown Saves the Day (sorta):

While watching a rerun of "Good Eats" the other day, Alton Brown addressed the dumpling debate!  He said his mother and mother-in-law had VERY differing opinions on the dumplings in chicken and dumplings.  He called them slickers (Davenport POV) and floaters (or swimmers?  I can't remember) (Self POV).  His "floater" recipe sounded doable, so I thought I'd give it a try!

Two-Hour Meal?  Ha, Try 30 Minutes:

You can find his whole recipe for chicken and dumplings here.  I cheated a bit, since I had some leftover baked chicken and store-bought stock, which made the meal a LOT quicker to prepare!

The dumpling dough is butter, chicken stock, salt, flour, and eggs (PS, I love when recipes call for stuff I already have around the house!).  You mix them together (in a certain order, follow the recipe), transfer to a ziploc bag, and pipe 1" pieces into simmering broth.  I promise, the whole meal took less than a half hour to prepare.

Now, I will have to point out that I was close and the dumplings were tasty, but apparently still not like the ones Jason's Maw Maw makes.  Looks like I'm going to have to try again... and the Great Dumpling Debate Lives on.

Treasure Trove

Most of you know I live in a townhouse.  We don't have a lot of storage, but I decided to see what we already had in the house before going out to buy school supplies.  Holy cow!  Everywhere I looked, I found stuff I wanted to take to school with me!  I took inventory (making a list, naturally) and put everything I plan to take with me on our guest bed.

Trust me, it will be MUCH more organized when I take it to school!  This was just a temporary dumping site.

I haven't seen my classroom yet, but I already know things I want to put on my desk for decoration.  Here are a few of them.

This is Milli Mole (if you're scratching your head, it's a chemistry thing, don't worry about it), my stuffed mole that I bought from ACS (American Chemical Society) back when I was a member.  Isn't she adorable with her little lab coat, closed-toe shoes, and safety goggles?

This is actually a hand-me-down flower pot from Jill.  We'll have to see if I have a window suitable for a plant... or if it will just hold desk supplies instead.

Yep, my solar-powered dancing flower (that I first talked about here) is headed to school with me.

Jason made this for me for Christmas 2009, right when I had been accepted to grad school.  He had been very neutral when I was reevaluating my post-Enthalpy life, so it was really comforting to see that he had embraced my new career choice.

That's all for now.  Of course there will be tons of pictures once I get things settled in my classroom (Mom, did you count how many times I said "my classroom"?), but I've still got a bit more time before that happens.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I've always loved the Staples commercial where a dad is frolicking around school-supply shopping (while his children trudge behind) to the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." (Have no clue what I'm talking about?  You can see the video here.)

It's Back to School time!!!  On Saturday, Jason and I ventured to Staples into the insanity that is Tax-Free Weekend to pick up some supplies I knew I needed (others I'm going to have to wait and see what my classroom looks like first).  Normally, I'm a Target shopper, but the thought of going in Target on Tax-Free Weekend gave me the shivers, so Staples would have to do.

Here's some of my loot:

From Staples: Three 3" binders (to keep copies of everything I do in class), large index cards (to use as name tags while learning students' names), a new planner (one of many, I'm sure), pencils, and notebook paper.

I also needed to kill some time before an eye appointment the other day, and I scored some colored file folders.  Dr. Siegerman (my mentor from student teaching) had color-coded folders for her three class periods -- one for each day of the week (with handouts, labs, etc already copied), one for taking up/handing back work, and one for their tests.  It was an awesome system, and one I plan to replicate in my classroom.

It may not look like much, but from being a) a student and b) crafty, I already had a lot of supplies that I plan to use.  Check out tomorrow's post for more about that.

Do Dinosaurs Taste Like Chicken?

My parents came to town last week and stayed with my aunt and cousin.  Naturally, I went to hang out with them, too.

Thursday:  I was worried about finishing a rush order for letters, so my aunt Carol (who we call "Roofy" for some unknown reason) suggested that she and Mom could help me paint.  I definitely took them up on the offer!

We set up three stations, where they worked on the dots and circle letters, while I knocked out the letters with animals on them.  I have to say, I like free labor!  I did feed them homemade cheesesteaks, so I consider that a fair trade.

Friday: We visited the Museum of Natural Sciences downtown.  I'm pretty familiar with the museum, so it was nice going with people who hadn't been in a long time or were visiting it for the first time.  It made everything seem new and fresh.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Mama and Roofy checking out the fish

Adam wanted to see what was in the bat cave...

Apparently, so did Mom, who accidentally stepped in my way when I was taking the picture!

Does this one mess with your mind at all?

Roofy comparing her foot to a dinosaur's footprint

Blue poison dart frog

One of the coolest things I've seen in a while at the museum -- a snake shedding its skin.  We sat there and watched it for about five minutes!

The museum-goers: My cousin Adam, my aunt Carol, my mom Sandra, and my dad Grady

Me and the folks

We had a great afternoon at the museum -- so much that we never did make it to the history museum across from the science museum.  Oh well, I guess that means they'll have to visit again soon!

As for today's title, my aunt has a chicken-themed kitchen and loves all things chicken.  She squealed a bit when she saw this sign at the museum that said "Dinosaurs tasted like chicken.  How do we know?" promoting the new wings (pun unintended) of the science museum in 2012.  I guess we'll have to wait until then to find out.  Hmm, another other visit?