Crowd Sourcing?

Today many of my kids discovered the wonders of a shared document with editing rights. Many of them have never used that feature in Google Docs before, and it seemed to be especially fun when it’s projected for the whole class to see.  My biology class is in the midst of writing a lab report for the first time.  When I took an informal poll, only a hand full of students in my honors sections knew what a lab report was.  So I created a template for each section and shared it with all of them.  As I was showing each period how they needed to create a copy of the template, the edits started rolling in.  Without fail, it happened every single period.  What else could I expect?

Someone replaced the heading of “introduction” with “hola my hombre”

Someone else typed in the name of his friend sitting in front of him and tried blaming it on the friend.

Some one else added in rows and rows of random letters.

Then some one threw in the word “bitches”.  I felt my eyes grow big and my blood pressure rise.  That kid promptly got a stern talking to with time to reflect on her behavior.

I pointed out that we could all see a cursor with their NAME as they type, and the edits still kept coming.  I showed them how I can see who wrote what, and revert back to a previous version, and the edits still rolled in paired with hysterical laughing.  Teenagers.

madewell boy shirt 3 This is a new shirt from Madewell.  It was on super sale in the store, and the only size they had was XS. So fingers crossed it doesn’t shrink in the wash!  It’s double layered, warm, and with interesting details.  I feel a little bit like a cowgirl farmer in it because of the buffalo checks.  madewell boy shirt 5

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glasses: warby parker -cardigan: uniqlo – shirt: madewell – belt: gap – jeans: f21 – boots: steve madden

Treat Yo Self!

After months of debate with feelings of yearning mixed with guilt, I bought myself a new computer.  Our school got a hard-to-staff bonus this past December, so that finally pushed me over the edge into “treat yo self” territory.  My last iMac lasted me 7 great years, but is now so old nothing works well.  It won’t even restart without freezing up!  Oh hai, new iMac!

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While at the mall to pick up this new beast, B and I stopped into Banana Republic in search of new button down shirts for him.  He found nothing and I walked out with three new sweaters for about $20-$30 each.  Treat Yo Self.  Of course, I had to wear one of them the very next day.

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sweater: banana republic – belt: gap – jeans: uniqlo – boots: madewell – necklace: from my mom – watch: pebble

 

Science!

Thanksgiving break officially has started for me.  YAY.  I get tomorrow “off” with the rest of the science department, because my principal is generously sending us to the Colorado Science Conference for Professional Development.  I’m so freaking excited.  I haven’t attended a science conference since my first year, when the NTSA held their national conference in SF.  As a first year teacher, it was all wasted on me while in survival mode.  This time around, I’m ready with my science teacher hat.  I need a fresh step in my science curriculum.

I love science.  I teach science.  Every. single. PD I attend is about reading/writing/speaking (common core).  Where is the science at?  No where.  Until now.  Have I mentioned how excited I am about tomorrow?

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cardigan and jeans: madewell – belt: gap – shirt: uniqlo – boots: doc martins

The Greys

Winter’s color palette is here.  The leaves have fallen, a blizzard is brewing and everything looks grey.   I’m matching the vibe today – muted and grey.  A storm is brewing here in Denver.  This means ski/board season has begun!

Short post today – not much else to say except eat well and rest well over the Thanksgiving break!

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glasses: bon look – sweater: madewell – jeans: h&m – belt: gap – boots: cole haan via nordstrom rack

Wannabe French Cool Girl

I have a super fashion crush on French girls (women) such as Emmanuelle Alt, Lou Doillon and Capucine Safyurtlu.  Their look is functional, sleek, irreverent, and a bit bad ass.  They are also blazer people, meaning a blazer is as natural on them as a pair of jeans. I am not a blazer person.  A quick Google image search for “5 piece french wardrobe” will bring up all the cliche frenchie pieces – a striped shirt, jeans, blazers, boots.  All the things I chose for my wannabe french cool girl outfit.  I wish I were a cool french girl.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for being a poseur.
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Frenchies

glasses: warby parker – blazer and top: madewell – cardigan: uniqlo – belt: gap –  jeans: j.brand via nordstrom rack – boots: cole haan via nordstrom rack

The October Slump

We’re well into the famed October slump,  the one where teachers look tired, worn out and defeated because they are tired, feeling defeated and worn down.  In the words of Jim Furman (colleague from last year), it looked like we teachers were “on the good ship lollipop” at the start of the year, but now we’re all frowns.

I’m happy to report that this has been one of the mildest slumps I’ve had in 7 years.  I’ve had a few hiccups here and there with a few bad days, but all in all, things are awesome this year.  Not only, that, I feel like I have a better work/life this year which is HUGE for me.  That alone keeps the angry/bitter/jaded monster at bay.  Achievement #1 for the year unlocked!  Now I need to work on actually doing more cool things with that time.

These photos are from a week ago, right before the weather here in Denver turned frigid.  Anything below 60˚ is frigid to me.  Everything is old, loved, and from Madewell.

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Mucking Around

The other day, a kid in my first period asked me what crawled up my ass and died.  Yup.  I had gotten tired of his and his friends mucking around (Aussie speak, thanks to B) during class and employed multiple non-verbal “100% engagement strategies” on them all at once.  I stood right next their chairs.  I tapped on the worksheets they were supposed to be paying attention to.  I mimed putting a cell phone away and taking head phones out (teenagers are a cleaver bunch when it comes to illicit technology use in the classroom).  I made eye contact and scanned their work area.  Then finally, I crouched down to their level and asked if they needed help getting started.  “Miss, what crawled up you ass and died today?”  LOLZ.  I chuckled and said something along the lines of “your lack of work”.  Was that appropriate?  Who cares?  The kid who said it got started and got his work done eventually.

Today I wore a new linen button down from Madewell (super sale!).  White shirts are basic, classic and creates an instant “professional” look.  This one in particular is awesome because it’s long enough to cover my entire torso.  Also, I can wear this shirt till I’m old and fabulous as it’s not too teenager-y like other things I have.  Linen is pretty much permanently wrinkled, so it fits my non-ironing life style.  When B’s mum was in town, she actually helped me iron a couple shirts (#winning).  I’m saving those shirts for a special occasion now.

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glasses: warby parker – shirt: madewell – belt: urban outfitters – jeans: j.brand via nordstrom rack – boots: steve madden

Peek a Boo

Summer is winding down and we’re just starting to get some autumn like weather here in Denver.  I figured the time was right to take out this summer dress I picked up at Madewell (on super sale as always) while in New York.  It’s a bit risque for work, with cut outs on the sides.  So I kept my cardigan on all day while at school to cover up all the torso bits.  I even kept it on through the “I’m now sweating profusely because all of a sudden my admin/evaluator just walked in to hang out” moments of the day.  Bonus: the dress has huge pockets!

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glasses: warby parker – cardigan: uniqlo – dress: madewell – shoes: saltwater sandals

The Second First Day

I wore just about this same outfit just about a year ago.  It’s a pretty reliable go to outfit – pencil skirts solve all sorts of morning wardrobe emergencies.  On Tuesday morning, I wasted about 10 minutes in the morning staring at my closet with a blank head.  I was stuck in one of those “I have nothing to wear!” panics.  I did not have those 10 minutes to waste.  If I’m not in the building at least 30 minutes before first period starts, the whole day will feel off.

About these sandals:  I’ve had them for about 5 years now.  I have a black pair and a tan pair, so they go with everything imaginable.  I wear the crap out of them every summer and they’ve been with me every time I travel.  It’s almost time to retire them, but they’re still holding up.  Maybe next sumer I’ll switch it up a bit and try out something else.  If you don’t already own a pair of Saltwater Sandals, I highly recommend you check them out.  The best summer sandal ever.

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Day two

top: madewell – skirt: jcrew – shoes: saltwater sandals

Fallin for a Safety Net

There is something to be said about high quality professional development. When you participate in a good one, you can walk away with immediate ideas and an implementation strategy to try out the very next day. You know the PD was worth your time when you learn something new that blows your mind a bit and makes you excited to try it out. This was how I felt after a PD led by one of my colleagues recently on “close reading”. I had been struggling with teaching my students how to read independently AND gain useful information from their reading. None of my students in Brooklyn were reading at grade level and I never really knew how to teach them reading comprehension strategies. Of course I took a literacy class in my credential program, but that was more theory and not at all practical applications of teaching literacy.  At most, I annotated for/with them and hoped that things stuck after some questioning and discussion. Here in Denver, some of my honors kids are reading at or above grade level, but I still have a majority who will read fluently, but without full understanding. It’s refreshing to have a short PD that teaches you something concrete, useful and simple to implement the very next lesson. In addition, it’s super helpful to have somewhat of a safety net in the form of a fellow teacher right at your school to help clarify routines, and give you tips.  If you want more information on close reading, check this out (though it’s much more useful to see it in action).

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glasses: warby parker – cardigan: madewell – tank: banana republic – pants: urban outfitters – boots: steve madden

This outfit is from the day I incorporated close reading into my lesson on Potential and Kinetic Energy.  I know these pants aren’t the most flattering for my body type with it’s slouchy look.  But hot damn, they’re comfortable.  They were also just $15 from the sale section at Urban Outfitters.  They’re still on the website (but for $30 – I got them at an extra 50% off), the Silence and Noise Winston Trousers.  They’re thick and warm for this freezing weather in Denver, and have I mentioned how comfy they are yet??