The Low Times at Ridgemont High

I am a high school teacher. I must say most of the time, I love it! I try to make an impact on the kids, be personable, get to know them and tailor assignments to their liking. Sometimes, my tailor made assignments crash and burn.

Take last week, for instance. The assignment was to create a research paper using Word. I taught them how to create a Research Paper, you must have an introductory paragraph, include three paragraphs about the topics you introduced, and a conclusion to wrap up your paper. I admit, we only touched on these topics, because, hey! I’m a computer teacher, not an English teacher.

I think everything I covered went in one ear and out the other. Here are some of the gems that were turned in:

In October they have to important events, Columbus Day and Halloween.

Everyone celebrated the day Christopher Columbus came to America, which accrued October 12, 1492…

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) in March was the national nutrition month.  The ADA is United States' largest organization of food and nutrition professionals with nearly sixty seven thousands members. Approximately 75 % of ADA's members are registered dietitians and about 4 % are dietetic technicians, registered…

In this month of October there is this holiday named Halloween...

Today, we started a newsletter. I thought it would be a fun assignment to create a newsletter for the neighborhood they live in. The lesson didn’t go so well. We walked through the steps of creating a newsletter. Adding columns, section breaks, clip art, everything. At the end, I asked if they understood everyone had tons of questions. Turns out, no students even knew what a Newsletter was. Opps. Lesson failure #2…

I found out the students don’t learn five paragraph essays anymore. Instead, they are required to write very personal, descriptive paragraphs that don’t need to follow the normal conventions of a research paper. Now that I know this, I can plan accordingly. I don’t have to agree with it, though. All the teachers are aware that this is doing our students a huge disservice when they get to college, but who are we to change it? Just a few small voices who vent on a blog….

Where to Begin?

Yesterday was a pretty good day as far as the diet and fitness went…

I had to eat 1 cup of oatmeal (A LOT!), topped with ½ oz of raisins, 8 oz skim milk and 1 tbsp of protein powder. Breakfast was amended slightly to my liking; I topped it with about 2 tbsp of Libby’s Canned Pumpkin and about 1 tbsp mixed nuts. Also, my 8 oz of milk was actually a triple grande, three pump, non fat, no whip Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. It was only a few minor changes!

 

Lunch was chicken pasta pomodoro and dinner was:

6 oz extra lean burger patty

1.5 oz low fat cheddar cheese

2 cups salad greens with cucumbers and tomatoes and 2 tbsp dressing.

I should have also had ½ cup of fresh berries but have you been to HEB looking for berries in October? It’s not a pretty sight. Most of them are moldy, or they look like they will die by the time you get home from the grocery store. It’s so not worth it… We are considering trying frozen berries, now that we have the Vitamix!

Yesterday’s dinner was delicious!

I also did the Core Synergistics workout, which is not my favorite. Actually, I guess I can say that about all the P90X workouts. I always feel so much better after I finish them though, that’s the only thing that keeps me going.

When it was time for bed, I washed my face with my new toy: the Clairsonic face/body 

I must say it was awesome!! (Please note, this was not given to me by the company to review).

I have wanted one of these things for a few Christmases now, so when I saw it offered on qvc I ordered it right away. I felt a noticeable difference in my skin just after one use. CRAZY!

I will leave you with a not so great picture of my not so great smoothie I made yesterday. Still working on recipe ideas for the Vitamix…

What’s your favorite smoothie recipe?

Busy Day!

Today was such a busy day! I would love to blog about it but it’s time to get ready for bed! 

  

I will be back tomorrow with a long post including a product review, food and P90X summary, and a post about the stress that goes along with teaching high school students. That teacher would be me, by the way. I am a high school teacher who will occasionally vent, but will mostly try to share the words of wisdom passed to me from my students. 

See you tomorrow!