Eat Teach Blog

Here’s the problem with me.

I started my job as the girl that left at 9PM. That had her breakfast, lunch, AND dinner in her classroom. And then I realized that work will never finish. There will always be e-mails to send, IEPs to write, lesson plans to perfect, things to organize. So it’s on ME to get up and leave work. Because work will always be there. Regardless of how much I get done per day.

Source: http://busywriting.net/

But in the last two weeks, I’ve become the girl that leaves work at 4PM. The girl that, on her drive home, thinks of how she’s going to be THE MOST PRODUCTIVE LADY for the remainder of the day. On the drive from work to home, I have plans of organizing my paperwork. Of boot camp. Recipes I want to try. Catching up on DVR-ed shows. Walks to explore the area I live in. Blog posts to write. Twitter chats to contribute to. I think to myself that I’ll get home and set a structured plan for myself. In the same way that I set timers for my students to transition from activity to activity, I plan to set timers that go off to move MYSELF from one thing to the next. So I get a bit of everything. So I don’t feel like I’m lacking in all aspects of my life………
………….yet I become somebody different. I’m the girl that sets foot into her apartment and throws her stuff on the floor and sits down for “a second”. The girl that changes the “second” into hours because she sees her bed that looks SO comfortable after being a maniac all day teaching kids and writing reports. The girl that has a glass of wine and calls it dinner. The girl that can’t seem to separate her work and personal/social life.

Source: zazzle.com

I knew that being a special ed teacher would be more challenging and more demanding than I had ever imagined. But I didn’t expect to be swallowed up by my job. I love it. More than anything. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. But I need to figure out a way to have a life. So I’m not burned out. Because, in the end, the kids don’t benefit from a teacher that is exhausted and ineffective.
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How do you separate your work and personal life?

How do you keep up with workouts and a healthy #Fitfluential lifestyle when your job is so demanding?

Today’s guest blogger and I first introduced ourselves through the Lose A Marathon online community, but I am so fortunate to have crossed paths with her. We are so ridiculously similar and I know I have a ton to learn from her – as I’m sure you’ll see through this post. Please welcome Laura from Spicing Up My Life! =) 

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Hi there!  I’m Laura, guest posting from www.spicingupmylife.blogspot.com!  It’s my first ever guest blog and I’m so excited for this awesome opportunity!  Thanks Divya!  Divya and I are both teachers, both trying to “Lose a Marathon” of weight and both LOVE to eat!  Divya is beating me with her 3 lb weight loss.  Great work girl!  I’m down 1.8.  My blog is about everything from weight loss to battling migraines to new recipes to running to life.

Since most of the country is experiencing some serious heat right now, I’m sure you understand that feeling of “ugggggh” as soon as you step outside.  Well the 4^th of July was no different.  I woke up at 5:30am to get ready for my very first race.  This girl decided it would be a GREAT idea to run the Firecracker5000, a sunny 5K that runs along the Illinois River…ha! It was hot.  Hot doesn’t really cover it…it was sweat dripping from your knees hot even at 7:30 in the morning.  But I had trained HARD for the past 8 weeks with the Couch to 5K program so I wasn’t about to give up.  My biggest fears:

1)     I would get run over (Yes, now that I’ve actually run a race, I know this is silly)

2)    I would have to pee or something worse in the middle of the race (I visited the lovely port-a-potty twice in the half hour before the race to ensure this fear DID NOT materialize)

3)    I would be last (This wasn’t even an issue because there were lots of walkers)

There was no order in which to line up…everyone just crowded towards the starting line and all of a sudden I hear the quietest little “poof”, which apparently meant that the starting gun had gone off and we were supposed to move out!  I was a little disappointed at how anti-climactic the start was, but it’s all good.  Thankfully, I found a fellow Sole Sister (the AMAZING running group I’m a part of) who was running at the same pace as me right before the race started so we decided to run together.  She has one of the fancy dancy watches that indicate the pace and mileage and so on.  She told me that our first mile was supposed to be the slowest…well she looked down and we were keeping a really high pace that neither of us ever run and we still had 2.5 miles to go!  Whoops!  It. Was. Hot. I just kept thinking “Ok, I can DO this. You trained for this.  You WILL do this.”  And I did.  I wish (really wish) I could say that I ran the whole thing without walking, but that’s for next time.  I walked twice just a couple minutes on the way back and ended up finishing 3.1 miles in 41 minutes.  Whew!  I am so proud of myself…I went from not even being able to run 1 minute at a time 2 months ago to running an entire 5K!

My AWESOME running group…The Sole Sisters!

Now that I’ve checked that off my list, it’s time to start thinking about school starting in August.  Since Divya is starting her job this fall, I’ve compiled a Top 10 list of things I wish I knew before I started teaching.

10) Get organized.  File cabinets, files, binders, dividers, thumb drives, planners, whatever you want to use.  Have a place for all kinds of paperwork.  Always write the date at the top of any paperwork you get and file it so you know where it is.  Someone will ask for it again and if it’s organized you will be able to find it, give it to them and smile because you are an organizing GENIOUS!

9) Students will not be enraptured by your teaching every minute of every day.  They just won’t and that’s okay.  This was hard because I had HIGH expectations of 24 smiling faces every day thoroughly enjoying every word I said.

 8) You can’t please every parent, colleague or student.  Not everyone will like your decisions or choices but knowing you did your best and stood up for what you believe will make it all worth it.

7) Don’t vent in the teacher’s lounge.  I know it will be VERY hard to resist and VERY easy to succumb to the negativity if you start.  Don’t do it.

6) Your plans will change-if the lesson isn’t working, STOP!  Do not pass GO!  Stop and try a different strategy or stop and move on to the next lesson.  There’s no point in continuing if the kids aren’t getting it.  Revamp the lesson and try again tomorrow.

5) Your first year of teaching you will try to be GREAT at EVERYTHING and you will be really sad when you are not GREAT at everything.  That’s okay.  But don’t be too hard on yourself.  Take on one thing at a time to be GREAT at each year (ex. Classroom management, guided reading, or parent communication) and by the time you have been teaching a few years you will be GREAT at many, many things.

4) You will cry.  Probably more than once.  It’s okay.   It’s all worth it.

3) Trust your gut.  If something doesn’t seem right with a student, ask.  Be a detective.  We are mandated reporters.  Remember this.

2) Earn the trust of your students.  Would you be able to learn much from someone you didn’t trust?

1) Put yourself in the shoes of your students.  If you wouldn’t want to do it, then your students won’t want to either.  If you don’t want to sit in a desk for 7 hours a day they won’t either.  If you like to get comfy when you read, the students will want to get comfy when they read too.  Think like a student…act like a teacher.

**Most importantly, remember you are so BLESSED to be entrusted with the lives of these students.  What a privilege! J

Before I sign off, I want to leave you with a yummy new recipe to try at home.  It is super easy and great for summer because you don’t have to heat up the oven.

Skillet Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (serves 2-easy to double or even triple)

2 tilapia fillets (or fish of your choice)

2 tbsp  breadcrumbs

2 tbsp parmesan cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

*Combine breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese in bowl.  Dip fish fillets in mixture and coat evenly on both sides.  If there is extra mixture, put it on the top of the fish when they are in the skillet.  Coat a medium skillet with olive oil and heat on medium for 1-2 min. Carefully lay each fillet in skillet.  Cook on medium heat for 4-5 min. and flip.  Cook the other side 4-5 min. Voila! Side with spinach salad, edamame, brown rice and enjoy!

Thanks for having me as a guest blogger today!  I hope you will head over to www.spicingupmylife.blogspot.com for some more running escapades, recipes and teaching adventures!

Good morning and Happy Tuesday!

So, if you follow me on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/all of the above (wow, when did I become such a social media fiend), you’ve probably already seen that I am now employed. I was trying to hold off on telling people until the paperwork had gone through and the contract had been signed (knowing my luck, I would have told the entire world only to have the district call me up and say, “actually, we don’t want you anymore. Hahahaha, sucker!”)

A few days ago, I went over to the school where I will be starting this fall as an Education Specialist. I just walked around the campus in silence – staring inside the classrooms, analyzing each mural painted on the walls, reflecting back to my middle-school days. I was experiencing so many feelings and emotions. At that moment, I was hit with the realization that I am a teacher. I am a teacher. I didn’t have that feeling when I completed my signature assignment and presentation. It didn’t hit me after I walked out of University Hall for the very last time as a student. It didn’t hit me when I walked across the stage to accept my diploma (maybe I was concentrating too hard on not tripping over my gown). It didn’t even hit me when I got the confirmation e-mail saying my credential had been issued. But at that moment, walking around campus, imagining myself in a classroom with my own students, I felt it. That feeling where you know that you’ve done something huge. That feeling that you’ve accomplished something amazing.

This wasn’t just two years of additional schooling tacked on after getting my Bachelors. This was a struggle I’ve had for years. For people that know me, they probably remember me when I  was the “pre-med Divya.” Or the “going-to-take-the-GMAT-and-go-to-business-school Divya.” Not because I didn’t want to teach, but because I was trying to make other people happy (primarily my parents). I was trying to mold myself into a person that I thought they’d be proud of. There were countless arguments, numerous tears, and a continual lack of excitement and motivation to do well in school. I think I realized it when I was sitting in a Life Sciences discussion and some dude sitting next to me looked up at the TA, bright-eyed and excited to share his results with the class. I had no such feeling toward the lab we were doing. I had no passion for this class or the path that I was headed down. So a few weeks later, I decided to change my entire career plan – to something I knew I wanted from the very beginning….

I know I will never have a lavish lifestyle. I know that I won’t make loads of money in education. I know that and I’m okay with it. Because I won’t hate my life on Monday mornings. Because I know that I have a purpose each and every day. Because I’m in it for the outcome and not the income. I am so excited for this next chapter in my life.

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Emily from “Living and Learning” on Teaching

Whether it’s complete ignorance or an unintentional lack of knowledge, people tend to have the wrong impression of what special education is. Contrary to popular belief, “learning disabled” does NOT mean lower-than-average intelligence. Most of the kids I’ve worked with are smarter than I was at their age (I say ‘most’ because I was a smart kid during those elementary years!)

But people continue to think that special educators work with “lower and slower” students. Sure, with an educator that’s unwilling to implement multiple modes of learning or differentiated instruction in their classroom, a learning disabled student may produce lower-than-average results. But given the right resources, the proper accommodations, and high expectations, these students will make progress.

My favorite teaching quote of all time is: “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, we must teach the way they learn.” An effective educator will understand that individuals may process things differently. They will understand that certain students may need more visual cues or step-by-step instructions. When a teacher keeps each individual student’s learning styles and abilities in mind, it will be pretty evident that these students are not as “low and slow” as people think. It’s pretty amazing how intelligent these “special education” students really are.

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