Healthy Eating?

Due to the health concerns I have experienced these last few years, Kyle and I have been slowly trying to make our lifestyle a little healthier. He has been particularly insistent on finding more natural methods of eating. We began using aluminum-free deodorant. We have started making our breads and baked goods from scratch to reduce chemical additives. We incorporated more fresh products and less canned goods. We have replaced plastic water bottles with reusable Nalgene bottles. We engage in regular exercise most nights. We drink more water and less soda. We buy more organic foods. We don't consume high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sugars. As a result, in grocery shopping this weekend I found myself reading the fine print on every item I handled. As this genuinely takes more time, Kyle quickly grew bored and meandered over to the lawn & garden section. As our time in the store grew to a close and he rejoined me, I scanned my health-conscious list in a final check and then turned to ask, "Is there anything else you want?"

In his hand...




And I am doing all this extra work to what end?

Effects of Spring and SAT's...

CRAZY antics from four foot tall individuals!

We just completed our week of Standardized Achievement Testing. While we are blessed to spend little time preparing for this week (unlike our public school counterparts), what are the results of long periods of silence and lots of minuscule bubbles?

A snapshot of my week...

I bent over to get napkins from my desk drawer only to rise and face a group of boys with marshmallows STUCK to their front teeth and pretzel rods up their noses.

Where is the camera when you need one?

April Fools!

Harmless prank or cruel torture? Ask my fourth graders to decide!

About mid-morning I announced to my students we would be taking a "thinking test". This is a common procedure for reading comprehension practice, but today was a little different. I asked the kids to put their hands on their heads (the signal for full attention) and listen closely as I informed them this was "a special test to measure their memory capacity". A little speech on the principal's endorsement of this very important assessment that comprised 30% of the grade on the report card they were receiving today, and even the most nonchalant looked terrified.

As I distributed the specially comprised test with the most obscure memory tasks I could conjure, the faces of 15 fourth graders began to register varying degrees of shock. I could see plans of fun weekends fading away in light of serious groundings for the grade they could already foresee. For the three who actually read the directions, the ten minutes were glorious fun as they studied the faces of their less conscientious classmates. After ten minutes came the big reveal... April Fools!

It might have been a wicked trick, but it was fabulous fun! :)