In an effort to create a healthier life for my kids and family I am now making all of our bread at home, as well as making a concerted effort to eat as locally as possible. This is my happy little bread maker that has almost paid for itself now. Am I going to the lengths that Barbara does? No, we like fruit too much to let go of it until Summer. We are however making the most of our backyard garden and CSA from Great Country Farms. I have made a couple different tomato sauces to freeze, frozen some raw tomatoes and frozen some blanched corn from the farm. I even made peach freezer preserves. Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Making Some Changes
My neighborhood book club is a ton of fun and I love the variety of books we are reading. This month we are reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle. This book has honestly influenced me in a way very few books have. It is probably a combination of this book and the documentary Food inc. Both really discuss and show the way in which food is produced in the U.S. and problems within this system that make it less healthy.
In an effort to create a healthier life for my kids and family I am now making all of our bread at home, as well as making a concerted effort to eat as locally as possible. This is my happy little bread maker that has almost paid for itself now. Am I going to the lengths that Barbara does? No, we like fruit too much to let go of it until Summer. We are however making the most of our backyard garden and CSA from Great Country Farms. I have made a couple different tomato sauces to freeze, frozen some raw tomatoes and frozen some blanched corn from the farm. I even made peach freezer preserves.
In an effort to create a healthier life for my kids and family I am now making all of our bread at home, as well as making a concerted effort to eat as locally as possible. This is my happy little bread maker that has almost paid for itself now. Am I going to the lengths that Barbara does? No, we like fruit too much to let go of it until Summer. We are however making the most of our backyard garden and CSA from Great Country Farms. I have made a couple different tomato sauces to freeze, frozen some raw tomatoes and frozen some blanched corn from the farm. I even made peach freezer preserves. No Longer a First Year Teacher
It is hard to believe that my first year has come and gone and that I started my second year yesterday! I am so happy with the decision I made to go with the district and school I am in. I work with some really amazing teachers and I feel like I have made some great friends. My first year was not without its bumps but they were far fewer than I had been warned they'd be. My students for the most part were fantastic and really interesting to work with. The great thing about my job is that I worked with seven different teachers and co-taught with each of them. So I was never to the point of annoyance with any students, I would have had to move on to my next class before that could happen.
In the beginning of the year we had to make professional goals. I am not one who is comfortable tooting my own horn but I am really proud of myself and I want to remember that in the future. My principal felt I'd set some pretty lofty goals for myself and was concerned I would actually be able to meet them. I had planned to make the ESOL department's time used more efficiently. I worked all year on a plan and eventually it came to developing a whole class for each teacher to teach themselves. I'm so proud of the outcome and I think our productivity with our caseloads this year will really show in their scores.
I was also nominated for First Year Teacher of the Year. I didn't win but honestly it felt great to know that people did really value my teaching, my efforts and me. I was loving my first year and having fun, so to see that people responded to that meant a lot. I think this year I also gained some self confidence that I'd been lacking for awhile. And again that's something I'm really proud of myself for.
My second year is starting now and I'm really excited to put into place this new class and step up my teaching. I've thought long and hard about improvements I can make and I'm excited to dive in and do that.
In the beginning of the year we had to make professional goals. I am not one who is comfortable tooting my own horn but I am really proud of myself and I want to remember that in the future. My principal felt I'd set some pretty lofty goals for myself and was concerned I would actually be able to meet them. I had planned to make the ESOL department's time used more efficiently. I worked all year on a plan and eventually it came to developing a whole class for each teacher to teach themselves. I'm so proud of the outcome and I think our productivity with our caseloads this year will really show in their scores.
I was also nominated for First Year Teacher of the Year. I didn't win but honestly it felt great to know that people did really value my teaching, my efforts and me. I was loving my first year and having fun, so to see that people responded to that meant a lot. I think this year I also gained some self confidence that I'd been lacking for awhile. And again that's something I'm really proud of myself for.
My second year is starting now and I'm really excited to put into place this new class and step up my teaching. I've thought long and hard about improvements I can make and I'm excited to dive in and do that.
The Blog is BACK!
I did not really expect the blog to take such a backseat when I started working. Really, it's a combination of factors, the job and Facebook. Posting pictures and status messages on Facebook has kind of taken over my blogging. But I really do miss the blog and want to make a point of getting it back up and running. Normally I would try to get it all caught up but that's just too much and most likely we're friends on Facebook and you've seen/read it all already. So I'm just going to pick up and start running it again. So enjoy and try visiting us regularly again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)