paella for days

Prior to going to Spain, I watched a few Rick Steves travel videos. What I came to learn is that ham is super popular in Spain. Check out this spot, just off the city center in Madrid --

Ham Museum? No gracias. I'm not a huge fan of ham. I'll have a bit on Easter and that's enough for me.

Another popular cuisine in Spain is Paella. Paella is this grain - sometimes like rice, sometimes more like a noodle, cooked in a huge... frying pan, maybe like a cast iron one? and then you add different things to it - seafood, chicken... dare I say it... ham?

I ate Paella for the first four days in Spain...

Paella in Valencia was a bit different, the grains were more noodley...

And I tried crawfish...sweeter than I thought it would be!

By the end of all of this, I was ready for tapas. And also missing pancakes and a burger back home, both of which I have had since my return!

I can't wait to read your posts for BigTime Blogging Challenge 2017! Leave your permalink in the comments and feel free to share on SM with #btbc17!

gratitude lately

Thankful for the cool breeze blowing through my second floor apartment windows.

Thankful for new love and a lifetime of possibilities.

Thankful for fourth of July flowers.

Thankful for America the Beautiful to close out a perfectly timed mass on Sunday at church.

Thankful for the easy, slow days of teacher summer.

Thankful for American food... like tacos from an authentic Mexican restaurant :-)

Thankful for clean sheets and a bed that is actually made.

Thankful for visits from family that involve coffee and donuts in the kitchen.

What are you thankful for?

I can't wait to read your posts for BigTime Blogging Challenge 2017! Leave your permalink in the comments and feel free to share on SM with #btbc17!

barcelona

I was all excited for Barcelona, especially after Ed Sheeran's new album dropped and this song:

Here are the highlights from my visit :-)

Park Guell - amazing park done by Gaudí - our tour guide wondered aloud if he was a genius or mad man... since he began designing parks and buildings in totally new styles. At Park Guell, he used all this recycled glass to create beautiful landscapes and also benches that were aerodynamic (I think that's what she said!) Gaudí said, "I want to capture God's architecture into geometrics," and so he did.

Here Max and I are at the iconic benches that overlook a little plaza with temples.

Gaudi also designed Casa Mila with sculptures on the roof - La Pedrera:

To give a point of comparison, check out what other architects were doing at the same time:

And so you can see how his work was totally new, inspired by nature, beautiful, original - GENIUS :-)

Look at the sculptures at the top of Casa Milá:

Take a stroll down Paseo de Gracia, see all the fancy stores, make your way to Placa de Catalunya, and then to Las Ramblas. This is a tree-lined street with tons of little outdoor shops for souveniers, flowers, food, art, and much more! On the outsides of that street are restaurants and shops, including a Nike Store that all our kids had to stop by...

We also visited La Sagrada Familia, super amazing church designed by Gaudí. I can't even remember all the symbolism with all the differnet parts, but it looks amazing. Next time we're totally going inside, didn't get to this time though!

Those were my favorite parts of Barcelona, but it wasn't even my favorite city of the trip, so can't wait to share more about it with you!

I can't wait to read your posts for BigTime Blogging Challenge 2017! Leave your permalink in the comments and feel free to share on SM with #btbc17!

expectations

Things never go as planned.

You think your flight will leave on time.
It gets cancelled.

You think your luggage will show up at your destination.
It doesn't.

You are unsure that you will have a good time.
You realize you could have never envisioned the amazing time you were about to embark on.

With teaching, you have to always maintain unwavering, high expectations for your kids, but in life? I think maybe it's best to let a bit of that go.

Case in point - Everyone told me how amazing Barcelona was going to be. Park Guell. The beach. Las Ramblas. La Sagrada Familia.

But we were late getting in, missed a day of sightseeing, and didn't even go into Sagrada Familia, and so Barcelona was just okay for me.

On the other hand, no one mentioned Madrid much, and so I was not really even interested in visiting. And then we go there and it totally exceeded my expectations.

The city center was named Puerta del Sol and the streets that ran out from the center of the city actually made it look like the sun. The days we were there it happened to be the annual worldwide Pride Festival, and there were signs all over the city saying, "No matter who you love, Madrid loves you." There were all kinds of shops and restaurants, a beautiful mercado, and tapas and churros and... joy. It was just amazing and I can't wait to go back.

So expectations. I say keep them high in the classroom, keep them high for yourself, but for everyone else? Let stuff go.

I can't wait to read your posts for BigTime Blogging Challenge 2017! Leave your permalink in the comments and feel free to share on SM with #btbc17!

10 days time

I just got back from Spain yesterday. I went with another friend who is also a teacher, 6 of her students, and one of my former students. Max and I are in Chicago and Heather and her kiddos are in San Diego, we all met in Barcelona 10 days ago.

It's amazing what can happen in 10 days. Take a look at some of the kids' Instagram posts on Heather's hashtag, which all came through at the end of our trip:

These kids named themselves Spain Squad around day four, got matching henna tattoos and bracelets, and essentially, became best friends staying up all night playing Twister.

Max had said to me when we were at the airport that he thought he'd mostly be bored and in bed by like 9pm every day. Instead he got 16 new best friends.

Maybe that's what new culture, a different language, exploring a new place, and being open to others who are different from you can do.

Maybe that's what traveling can do.

New friendships. I'll take it.

I can't wait to read your posts for BigTime Blogging Challenge 2017! Leave your permalink in the comments and feel free to share on SM with #btbc17!

bigtime blogging challenge '17

Hey friends!

BigTime Literacy turns FOUR on the fourth of July! Horray! For the past three years, to celebrate, I've written every day during the month of July and I invite you to do the same!

I am not creating a list of prompts like in the past (but you can find them here, here, and here), but just writing a little bit each day about whatever I'd like to. After all, authentic writers aren't prompted, they write from the heart and from their experiences and passions!

There are so many formats you can take, like a Slice of Life (link up with Two Writing Teachers every Tuesday, too!), Letters, Gratitude Lately, book reviews, Currently, and Hey, It's Okay. And really, just whatever flows off the top of your head, because as writers we know that...

This year I'm not going to use the link-up tool - just leave your permalink in my comments so we can share, read one another's posts, and comment for each other, too!

I'll do my best to schedule posts for midnight of the day they're due, but if it's a bit late one day or two, don't worry, it will be on the way!

Hope to share writing with you this month!

they taught me

Most people think that in education, teachers are the only ones doing the teaching. But in an equal amount of our work, it's the kids teaching us. As my 14th year has now wrapped up, I'm thankful to continue to learn from the adolescents who sit in the chairs in my classroom. Thanks to Pernille Ripp for the mentor text, I couldn't wait to write one of my own.

They taught me that how I appear to them on their first day is what matters most, and will certainly set the tone for the rest of our days together.

That they prefer to see me smiling when they come to class, and that even when I am totally annoyed by behaviors, I have to call forth even more patience.

That while it's important to read and write regularly, honesty, integrity, and kindness are always what is at the top of my list objectives.

That in light of a particular political climate, I have found that if needed, I would definitely do anything to keep them safe.

That in my classroom, all cultures, languages, family histories, and stories will be not only valued, but also honored.

They taught me to pick my battles, that having them in their chair rather than walking out my door is always more important, even if it means that they don't engage with me for part of the time.

That they prefer the classroom to feel like home, with different options for seating, and with reflections of themselves in the books in our library and in work lining our walls.

That I need to find far more opportunities for them to create things - to have the space and freedom to work - in an artistic way - from their hearts.

That I should not make up my mind about them so fast, that you can still be surprised by them in the best possible ways.

That it's okay to hug your middle school kids, because sometimes, that's just what is needed to calm some anxiety or show a student that, no matter what, you are there for them.

They taught me (again and again) that they're always watching, and my choices, my words, my actions tell them who I am and what our class is all about.

That consistency and unwavering high expectations really do make a difference, even if they cannot get to that understanding for a few years.

What have your students taught you?