Projects for break

1. finalize dates for trip, contact family friends in Europe, begin making plans for the European trip (thanks for the feedback)
2. make coaster sets
3. re-purpose a pair of jeans into skinny jeans
4. make a tube scarf from fabric found in my (very tiny) fabric stash
5. clean "casket room" and turn it into an office (perhaps paint it?)/turn current office into "spare bedroom"
6. work on roman shades for dinning room

To me this sounds like a relaxing time, but lately anything outside of my job sounds like a relaxing time...

Need a little help here

Calling all cousins! (Too bad there isn't a cousin beacon like the batman signal.)

James and I are planning on attending my host-sister's wedding near Stuttgart this coming summer and are looking for a little European travel advice. By the way we're planning on traversing through three countries - Germany, Switzerland, and France - if all works out and we're able to make a couple of connections with family friends. We're starting to check travel sites and are wondering about car rental vs. rail passes. I love public transportation, but enjoy the freedom of hopping in a car and heading out without worrying about schedules (which seems very American of me for some reason...). Yet there are pros and cons of both. Just curious if anyone has an opinion or advice to share.

Accountability

The new school year has started and with it a load of new questions...mainly, whatever happened to accountability? We hear a lot about accountability for teachers, but what about for students? Last year I was informed that "The Administration is watching you because too many students are failing your class." To be fair, I did have a some students who failed my class, yet the vast majority passed without problem - many of them with IEPs and 504s.

As always, I try to make each year better but I'm already running into the problem (with only four weeks into the year) of students failing due to lack of turning in homework, studying for quizzes and tests, and not turning in work completed in class for participation. I've been told I need to make my class "easier" for struggling students so I have started putting "Basic Concept" questions on study guides that I use verbatim on assessments but I've found that over 90% of students don't fill them out or study them before taking a quiz/exam even if I point out that a concept we're covering in class is a Basic Concept question answer. (And this is just one of numerous examples!) When students can't (or won't) pass basic recall questions on an assessment how does one move on to the next concept or higher levels of thinking? Further, how did those students make it to my class? (I have students who read at an elementary level - second grade - but I am forced to give state mandated tests that are written at a high school level). Also, there is no accountability for their grades because even if they don't pass my class (or their other core classes) they are passed on to the next grade in my corporation, which means there is no incentive to try.

Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that teachers should be held accountable for teaching state and national standards, content at grade level, using a variety of teaching strategies to hit numerous types of learning, and using valid assessment measures. Yet, we are doing a disservice to our students by shuffling them from one grade to the next without the skills to be successful which just compounds the problem as they get older. Something is broken in the world of education and this is just one bit of the problem. Instead of slamming "bad" teachers, lets give them training on how to help these kids and lets hold the kids accountable as well.

For those who are sick of the education rant, please ignore this post - I just needed to let off a bit of steam.

Menu

I've been contemplating the menu I've planned for August's dinner club. I think I have it pinned down, but I still have some minor choices to make and am looking for suggestions.

Here it goes:

Drinks: sangria, limeade (?), and water

Appetizers: ceviche and avocado salsa

Soup: gazpacho

Entree: tangy yucatecan grilled pork (from Rick B), rice with sweet plantains, and vegetable empanadas

Dessert: flan (perhaps coconut?)

Suggestions welcomed! Currently, I'm looking for a nice sangria recipe. Most of the ones I've looked at look really delicious, but I have a rather picky crowd. Also, I'm looking for a foolproof tortilla recipe...mine never seem to turn out right - always too doughy.

Recuperating

To start off my summer break (as school just ended last Friday), I had a bit of out patient surgery - a D&C with a hysterscopy. All is well and I'm spending the first part of my vacation lounging around in recuperation though I have to say that I feel fine. I even felt well enough to go for a short walk yesterday evening with James and the dog. I'm hoping the rest of the summer will be more eventful as we have a lot planned.

1. A trip to Arizona (besides the extreme heat, I'm looking forward to it!)

2. A large family reunion or two

3. Working on the house (There is some peeling paint that needs to be taken care of prior to arriving family members and some trim/cabinets in the kitchen to take care of also.)

4. Rewriting lesson plans in August

5. Volunteering at SHV, the small farmers market in town, and the Wellness Pavilion

6. Teaching Children's Church

7. Camping

8. Gardening (We actually have a nice garden this year, and our first strawberries -planted last year- were quite yummy.)

9. Canning (Our cherries are almost ready!)

10. Baking some pretzel bread (which is soooooo good)

11. Participating in Dinner for 8 and Gourmet Dinner Club

And the list goes on....

Gourmet Dinner Club

Recently I joined a Gourmet Dinner Club with a couple of friends, and am enjoying it immensely! We've only had a couple of gatherings thus far but the food and conversation have been great and left me looking forward to the next soiree. (I think using a word such as soiree fits in this instance... and its fun to sound a bit uppity every now and then). So far we've had a Greek inspired meal - yours truly making a mean mousaka and another meal that had an eclectic approach - I made a lemony gnocchi that was super delicious! (perhaps due to the pecorino cheese liberally sprinkled on top?)

I am a bit nervous about planning my meal - perhaps something with a Latin American feel? I'm interested in trying out a seviche and a sangria but am unsure of where to head next. Also I need to find some top-notch recipes. So I guess I'm soliciting ideas. Anyone out there with some great recipes or ideas feel free to send them my way!

It has a nice ring to it - "Aunt Trina and Uncle James"

In case you haven't heard, my niece has arrived!