Nonfiction Recs

I'm a bookworm. I've been part of a book club for 14 years. I've been reading YA for the past 25 years as part of my work with teens and currently as part of an awards committee that I chair.  When not engaged in my required reading, I binge on fantasy and sci-fi because I like to escape to a world where most always the good wins.  I do, however, love well-written nonfiction. Some might believe I am still trying to digest Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks, but I've long since given that book away to a friend who might actually finish it. I've put together a list of some of my favorite nonfiction reads. 

5.  Do you like science, or more specifically chemistry?  Have you ever wondered about how and why they created the periodic table?  With the history of the discovery of the elements and their addition to the periodic table, Sam Kean, author of  The Disappearing Spoon has put together a collection of one of my favorite scientific reads.  You can read the chapters as stand alone pieces and keep dipping into it if the science gets too heavy to read from cover to cover.  I've encouraged our chemistry teachers to use this with their students.

4.  If you camp as much as I do, then you will love Hope Jaren's Lab Girl.  This memoir not only recounts Hope's life as a scientist and her descent into mental illness, but every other chapter explores the biodiversity of the forests that she is studying.  Her work captures many of the spaces that I've traveled to in America and also captures the life of a female scientist in a male-dominated field. 

3. Do you love maps?  I love my Rand McNally Atlas.  In times of great need when there is no phone access nothing beats the large pages of the map.  I've traveled across the United States with this as my guide.  Longitude by Dava Sobel reveals how longitude lines were discovered. Talk about a picture of tenacity.  It took over 25 years of research for this important discovery to be made.  Sobel's account is compelling and makes me treasure my maps even more. 

2.  Live long enough and you will encounter tough times.  My dad died when I was young and few people in my life understood my grief. That is why when I find a book that encapsulates the way I felt and sometimes still feel, I am glad to know I am not alone.  Sheryl Sandberg effectively captures these emotions in Option B and the layer of research here is interesting as well.  Recently my co-worker reminded me, that even though you go through tough times, you can still have an amazing life and I do. Option B is a book that reminds you how.

1.  Do you love New York City? Do you oysters?   Read The Big Oyster to learn about the history of NYC and about the biodiversity for oysters at that time. What is a luxury food for us was a commoners food back then.  This is history and science at its best.

What nonfiction do you suggest I check out?

The Sunday Seven

Taking time each week to reflect on the goodness.

7.  Florida spring.  This is the time of year that I want to spend every moment outside. The days are warm, low 80's for the high and the nights cool mid 60's. I have often thought that we should have our summer break now and go to school during the summer.  I try to spend as many spring moments outdoors as possible. 

6.  Yoga in Lake Eola Park on Sundays.   I work out pretty consistently during the week with Camp Gladiator and walking. I've wanted, however, to add yoga to my routine for about six months.  I've checked out a few studios, but I found the $5 dollar yoga at Lake Eola Park on Sundays to be the just right fit for my husband and I. My friends meet me and I love the instructors.  The bonus is that it is outdoors.  There is also a vibrant farmer's market where we linger on the lawn and people and puppy watch afterward.

5.  Keeping my fingers crossed for next week, but just survived an event-less first week of testing. The testing magnitude at a high school of 3300 in Florida is unimaginable to most people. Our new testing coordinator is handling it so far with aplomb.  Only 9 more weeks of testing left!  We test 1600 9th and 10th graders on Tuesday and 1100 juniors and seniors on Wednesday.  Most testing requires room relocation by many teachers and a shift in our bell schedule.  It is stressful for all involved. A calm veneer is required at all times since everyone, kids and adults, is stressed.

4.  A semi-decent clean house.  I can always judge the crazy times by how messy my house and my car are and how often I misplace my debit card. I've only misplaced my debit card once in 2018.  It was MIA for three days, but my house has been driving me crazy.  In prep for the aforementioned nine weeks of testing, I have whipped my house into decent shape.  Winter clothes are packed away and the bathroom closets are clean. I have to minimize the chaos to survive. 

3. The peace of my succulent garden. I've only killed one over the past year. They need direct sun and to be watered once a month.  The perfect plants for me.  I just added two more this week.

2.  Just hanging with my kid. She turned 14 last Sunday.  Our together days our numbered as she gets older and she spends more time away. We are binge-watching Reign right now. 

1.  Grilled cheese made my husband---totally decadent comfort food.

Spring into Saturday: The Weeki Wachee River

Apologies in advance to people in the North! When people hear Weeki Wachee, most think about the mermaids.  Mermaids did put Weeki Wachee on the map, but one way to enjoy a Saturday is to kayak or paddleboard the Weeki Wachee River.  You can launch your non-motorized watercraft from the state park and the first part of your float takes you through winding pristine crystal clear river. Once you exit the boundaries of the state park, you are free to hop off your watercraft and swim/snorkel your way down the river.  As you move closer to civilization, however, you can literally watch the water change from as clear as glass to a murky green.  Man's hand is apparent.  For this section, I advise staying in your watercraft and glimpsing into the backyards of people who are lucky enough to wake alongside the Weeki Wachee River each day.  There are expensive homes alongside weekend water shacks.  Pack a lunch since you will be on the water all day.  There are plenty of sites to pull over to swim and eat. Just be sure to leave no trace behind. It takes a full day to navigate the river to Roger's Park where most people disembark.  You could, however, float all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Roger's Park is my first choice because more motorized watercraft dominate the waterways between Roger's Park and the bay.  We typically leave a car there early in the day to shuttle drivers back to get their vehicles to load our equipment. If you rent, that's all taken care of for you.  The county has provided great landing where you can take your craft off the water and load your vehicle. There is a swimming area where you will find people floating in the water.  My daughter always enjoys Kona Ice while she waits for us to finish packing the car. You can even launch from this site as well as rent equipment, but there is nothing fun about paddling up river.  

I would suggest,  if you have the time, that you actually drive to the west coast of Florida. That area looks nothing like the coastal areas of most of Florida.  If  if you bring your own equipment, you do need to make a reservation to launch as the tiny launch site can get really crowded on the weekends. I prefer heading there during the weekdays in spring or summer. For Orlandians, just head west.  After a day of paddling, I recommend a stop at Becky Jack's Food Shack.

How will you spend your wild and wondrous Saturday?

Food for Thought: A Taste of Orlando

Orlando is notable for many things, but one of my most favorite things about living here is the food diversity.  There are so many locally owned restaurants featuring menus from all over the world. I love supporting local restaurants in my community.  With this trio Mecatos, La Mallorquina, and Padrino's, you can enjoy an amazing breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or happy hour at teacher-budget friendly prices. 

Mocha Latte from Mecatos
& some delicious chocolate
treat that I didn't eat.

My friend Shae introduced me to Mecatos, a Columbia bakery/cafe, in September after hurricane Irma hit and we had a six day vacation.  In the aftermath of the storm, we did what teachers do best in their time off and worked aka planning & grading. Mecatos was our gathering place for hot coffee and company.  Although it is open until 8 pm each day, I highly recommend breakfast.  You can kick start your day with one of the best espressos or lattes to be found on the east side of Orlando.  I like to add a pan de jamon & queso to my order while my daughter goes for the pan de bono. The pan de bono is freshly baked all day and if you time your visit just right, you can have one fresh from the oven.  I always take a bag home for later as they reheat well and cheese and bread, or a version of such, has always been my daughter's favorite food group. If you haven't had a version of this cheese bread, you should try it.  The bread has the viscosity/stretchability of cheese due to the use of tapioca flour.  We have unsuccessfully made a rather oily version at home, but I find it is simply more fun and economical to go Mecatos.  My friend Roxy swears by their guava ring. I also always surprise my husband with a treat from their dessert case. Savory or sweet, there is always something for everyone.  Their newest location, which is also closer to my house, has a great outdoor patio which makes it ideal place to visit this spring.

Mojito
from Padrino's

La Mallorquina is a Puerto Rican bakery/cafe by my school.  I've never been there, but I've had many meals catered by them and had them cater lunch for our last edcamp. Everyone raved about their quesitos and the croquettes.  Julio knows that I love their croquettes so much that he last sent them to me in a heart shape. I would have a picture, but my phone died. They deliver and that makes it a bonus too.  I do have to pay their storefront a visit, but I've been happy with everything I've had from there including the tres leches cake.

Friday become Friyeah when I can head to happy hour at Padrinos, a Cuban restaurant, that has migrated its way to Orlando from SoFlo. They've been serving Cuban food to Floridians since 1976.  Though you could go there for lunch or dinner, I prefer happy hour where I enjoy sharing an order of a two-for-one mojitos with a friend.  Since I am a T1, I am only allowed an occasional one drink a day. It is a great place to gather before the dinner hour.  My girls love the Ropa Viejo while I stick to the happy hour menu which has 1/2 priced appetizers including empanadas. There are some real traditional Cuban offerings here, but I really want to go to one of their special events where they roast a whole pig.

If you find yourself in Orlando, you might just wander off the beaten path and try what I get to enjoy in the City Beautiful beyond the magic.

Celebrating 7 Years!

Copper is the seven year
anniversary gift!

For seven years the Slice of Life Writing Challenge in March has been a way for me to force myself to write daily, learn from other teachers across the country and reflect on my personal and professional practice.  I created this blog in March 2011 and only wrote a single post.  My initial purpose was to be reflective as I worked to find balance in my life as a teacher, learner, mom, and type one diabetic. Almost an year later I attempted to write again with an initial push from my friend and colleague, Lee Ann Spillane, also a fellow slicer, in my first Slice of Life Month-long Story Challenge. I did complete it.  

Lee Ann & I (I am wearing the glasses)
& our combo One Little Word shirts!

After completing the challenge in 2012, I started having my students blog, both college and high school.  Friends and former students from near and far have joined me over the past six years and I've loved having a window into their lives.  

My writing has evolved after two hundred seventy-eight posts, but I still have more work to do. Like one of my teacher-educator idols, Troy Hicks, I see my blog as a drafting space.  The writing won't be perfect. The writing will have taken longer than I wanted to spend. I will have, however, devoted each day in March spending time in the company of my writing and in the company of other teacher writers from around the county as we give each other feedback and support.  I am not a weekly or daily writer, yet, but it is a goal I hope to continue to pursue after this month.  Each day of the week I focus on a different topic. On Monday, What R U Reading?, Tuesday, A Slice, Wednesday, Eye-Spy, Thursday, Teaching, Friday-Food for Thought, Spring into Saturday, and the Sunday Seven. I welcome my new and old readers throughout my journey this month!  And if you get the urge, there is still time to Slice!

Thanks to Stacey Shubitz and her team at Two Writing Teachers
for hosting this challenge every March as well as each Tuesday! 
Check out the challenges here.

Building Relationships

Relationships matter!  No matter what happens the first day, my AP's motto is get them in class, get them fed, and get them home.  Not a small task for at the high school where I work with over 3000 students.  That's the overall school goal.  My classroom goal is to learn their names and figure out who they are.  Our new teachers were encouraged to integrate team building games to foster relationships on the first day of school rather than the cursory reading over the syllabus.  During the first week, I like to incorporate relationship building activities that embed reading and writing strategies.
        On the first day of school I have my students write a Dear Dr. S letter in response to a letter that I've written them.  I have them tell me about themselves as a reader, writer, learner and a human.  One of my professors at the University of Florida did this as part of our first days of school and I've used this for 25 years.  It allows me to get a writing sample on the first day of school.  I've often thought about digitizing this assignment or letting students add images, but paper and pen always work on the first day of school.  Everyone has access.  For my ELLs or other struggling writers, I've offered a writing frame and sentences starters, but regardless of where my students are as writers, they always get something on the page.
        I've used a book pass (Allen, 1995) during the first week of school too.  I have integrated this strategy in my first week of school since 1996.  The book pass allows me to see what my students are interested as readers, how they respond to books verbally and non-verbally and gives me a way to get an independent reading book in students' hands before the end of the week.  It's simple too do aka not high tech- pen, paper, and a copy of different books for each kid.   I review how to preview a book, teach them how to fold their paper into three columns rather than hot-dog style. Next I give students one minute to preview their book by jotting down the title, the author and comments about the book.  They then pass and review another, we typically do about 10-15.  I gauge the time of this activity based on their wiggliness.  Afterward I ask them to star their top three and allow students to share their favorites where others can see books they might have missed and add them to the beginning of their TBR list (to-be-read). This step allows me to see student's off-the-cuff speaking skills as well as beginning to building the social culture of reading in my class.
        My last and most complex task is having students write Poems for Two Voices as a way for them to publish their first piece of writing and learn about each other. Friday is our performance day.  I want to go digital with this by recording this. It, however, runs best with paper and pen for drafting and the computer for finalizing the writing and accessing RhymeZone to find words for tricky rhymes.  I learned this strategy at my first AVID conference in 2004 and have used this with all ages successfully.  I integrate writing frames.  While students are writing, I bother each one and gather data from them to write a poem for many voices to be performed with all members of the class.
      All of these work as formative assessment for me.  By the end of the first week, I know more about my students as readers, writers and learners than I would by just examining their test scores.  In doing so, I have also build the foundation for community of readers and writers.

What do you like to do for your first days of school?

Take Care of Yourself!

My 250th Check-in on August 8, 2016. 

As we are getting ready for the upcoming school year (some of us in our minds as we relish the last days of summer, some pre-planning, and some already in the midst of students),  I  wanted to take a few moments to remind myself  about the relationship that I need to continue to build with myself.  My next step will be to build relationships with my students and colleagues, but first I need to take care of myself, aka teacher self-care.

 Teaching is an incredibly demanding job like many jobs where you are care-giving. It gets intense responding to the needs of students throughout the school day.  My work week sprints from the starter gun on Mondays to the finish line on Friday. When I started doing yoga, I just scoffed at the idea of laying down for ten minutes on a mat to breathe. I rarely had ten minutes to pee during the day much less breathe.  Self-care, however, is a valuable component to my teaching life.

I do Camp Gladiator most days as part of my self-care routine. Based on the photo to the left and my current data, I have spent a minimum of 135 hours doing CG this past year. I will add about 45 Sundays of net-walking and an assortment of swim days at the springs and the beach.  I can sprinkle in days spent hiking too.  All of that motion adds up. During my best of self-care weeks, I workout at least 5 times, the worst three times.  I think do a solid job of physical self-care.

Reading each night is a my form of mental self-care.   I read each and every night,  some nights more pages than others. I am sure the number of books by my pillow is annoying to my husband at times and I often wake up with my glasses lost in the blankets, but reading nightly is my self-care ritual. My daughter has joined me in this practice since she was born, which makes it seem a little less selfish as a parent.  I say this because self-care can feel selfish, but it is a valuable practice to model this for your kids.

My self-care is a work in progress though. Last year, I made a conscious effort to do no work for my day job on Saturdays.  I tried to live my Saturdays throughout the year as summer days.  I also hermit-ed on Sundays afternoons by getting my exercise and grocery shopping for the week completed by 10 am.   This year I resolve to write more, blog weekly, attend that yoga\mediation class that I have been researching for four months.  These are some steps I want to take to better my care and the start of the school year is always a fine time to do that.    How will you put yourself first this upcoming school year?