Organization & PowerPoint Templates

I don't know why, but I can't work with a messy desk. Messiness impedes my focus. I am at my most productive state when everything around me is organized and put in its proper place. In fact, sometimes I put off grading just to organize my desk and get ready to grade the GAZILLIONS of papers I have to read through. (LIKE TODAY!)


Secondly, I am slightly less-than-obsessed with using new PowerPoint templates. I use PowerPoint at least once daily in my classroom (for journal-writing and other such things). I cannot stand the basic templates that come with Microsoft PowerPoint. Those basic templates hold back my creativity from soaring to new heights. Sometimes, I take a break from grading to find a new template to use for my classroom. I found a few new ones today that I am so excited to use! I know I'm a nerd, but sometimes seeing a new PowerPoint template gives me a cool idea of how I could tie that in with what we're doing or learning in class.

Alright, back to grading persuasive essays!

Vantage Climbing

It's no secret that Evan likes to rock climb, even when I can't go with him! A while back, he was told about a website to find climbing partners in Washington state (Cascade Climbers). Evan has now used it multiple times when he has time off and I don't. One person he's climbed with quite a bit is Neri.

Here are some pictures from their recent adventures at Vantage:

Reason 597 Why Universal Health Care Would Hurt America

I love these thoughts. Please, take some time to think about and TRULY soak in the thoughts of this congressman from Michigan. Once you're done, let me know what you think about universal health care.

Clean Toilet

(Written 12/30/10:) I have no idea why I took this picture of Evan cleaning the toilet before church. I guess I thought it was funny. And it is funny watching Evan clean the toilet while dressed up for church, trying not to get his tie dirty.

Debt Free

As of yesterday, (Evan and) I are debt free! No more monthly payments. No more interest that is being paid to the bank, rather than in my pocket. More savings ahead!

7+ months ago when we got married, I still owed money on my car and my student loans from college. Meanwhile, Evan had no debt and had a good chunk of money saved in the bank. A month or so after we got married, Evan sold his fully restored '56 Chevy truck, realizing it was probably more important to us that we have that money for school and savings. At that point, we decided to use some of my savings and part of the money from the truck sale to pay off my car. What a glorious feeling that was!

However, my student loan debt was still weighing on me. I have been paying on it for 4 years and it seems like I was NEVER going to be rid of it. I increased my payments, but with a 7.14% interest rate compounded daily, it still seemed like I wasn't making as big of a dent in the loan as I would have liked to. Evan and I kept calculating and recalculating how long it would take me to pay off the loan if we paid "X" amount per month. Finally, we realized that we should use a majority of our savings to pay off the loan. That way, we are debt free and putting the money we would be paying on the loan into savings every month!


We thought about it, prayed about it, and decided to go for it! I have to be honest, it was very appealing to be DEBT FREE, but it was also hard to say goodbye to a huge part of our savings. We have revamped our budget and hope to save even more money for the future this way. Here's to being debt free!

P.S. Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey? We got his book for our wedding from a trusted, close friend. Sadly, we haven't read too much of it yet! What do you think of his principles?

Sailing Practice

Ever since Evan's dad bought a sailboat last year, Evan has wanted to take me out sailing. Well, today was the closest we have gotten to that endeavor. Evan's dad has since bought another boat and today Evan took the liberty of showing me how to sail. We practiced putting up and taking down the sails and using the ropes. Maybe someday we'll actually use the boat in water rather than just in his parents' driveway! :)

Leftovers, anyone?

Sometimes Evan and I get a little lazy about our leftovers and stick them in the fridge in the pot we cooked the food in rather than putting them into tupperware. Mostly, this is Evan's idea (I don't think I had ever done this BEFORE we got married).

Well, yesterday, I went to use our massive pot only to find THIS in our refigerator. Evan and I had a good laugh as we were choking through the nasty fumes. :) The pot got cleaned and we have since vowed to NEVER let this happen again!

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Review of "Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers"

The above-mentioned article came to my attention this afternoon via an email from the WEA, a state teacher union I am a member of. Every sentence I read through this article was painful and angered me so much, I had to look away from the computer screen to gather my thoughts and avoid yelling straight at the article. The entire article is biased, unfounded, makes faulty accusations, and does not provide a viable resolution to the education reform needed in America. The only solution the article provides is to fire all of the "bad" teachers who are not helping their students do well on standardized tests. What about student and parent accountability? What about providing teachers with better resources and actual time for professional development? As a teacher, I found this article HIGHLY insulting. My students have no accountability in the classroom (unless their parents are involved in their education) and I am left to blame that they sloughed off on a test that doesn't affect their education or grade. As you can see, I am angry. If you get the chance, scroll through some of the AMAZING (and hilarious!) comments written by teachers on the online version of the article.

The following is the response to the article I submitted:

In your article, you compare the test scores in the United States to those of other countries. I am a teacher of English and German and know much about the school system in German-speaking countries. Their teachers receive very little pedagogy training, instead being trained solely in their subject area. (Teachers also are paid on the pay scale of a doctor or lawyer.) They don't have to be "good" teachers or come up with an amazing lesson plan to engage their students. Education and studies are the currency for students there. Most students in a Gymnasium (highest German public school), study hard regardless of the type of teacher that they have. Education and studies is an important part of their culture. Students have bought into that and have no qualms studying for 4 hours each night after school.

In America, however, we do not have such a culture. Instead, teachers are looked down upon and paid poorly in spite of the amount of work we do. As a teacher, it can be a HUGE struggle to engage students. We study and research in order to create master lesson plans that make learning fun. And, in the end, students take tests and have NO ACCOUNTABILITY for what they do on those tests. Teachers, rather, receive all the accountability for what they have tried to teach those students.

How does it make sense to test students and not hold them accountable for how they do on the test? We have students that mess around on our state standardized test because they know they don't have to actually do well. The test scores does not reflect poorly on the student achievement, but rather achievement of the teacher. Where is the student accountability? And do test scores truly, accurately measure a student's knowledge and ability in a certain subject area?

If we start to hire and fire teachers according to their students' test scores, we will start to lose a lot of teachers to other professions. We will also get teachers who only teach toward the test. At the end of the day, is that what we want for our students? Do we want our students to be able to pass a state standardized test, or do we want them to have the knowledge and ability to go out into the real world and succeed?

If you look at the schools with the highest test scores, you must also look at the instruction that is happening there. Look at the types of support those teachers have. Look at the support from PARENTS, administrators, curriculum guides, etc. As a teacher, those factors do help my teaching. In fact, the support of parents in almost all areas can make a drastic difference in the way I'm able to educate a student.

Before we start pointing our finger at teachers, we need to start looking at the accountability we're giving to students and parents. Are they responsible for the knowledge that they gain or don't gain? Have we established a culture in America where students APPRECIATE going to school and where parents push their children to get an education? Until we do that and make our students and parents accountable, we cannot use test scores to indicate whether or not a teacher is proficient.

Auntie Helen

Helen Marie Therese Ryan is Evan's Great Aunt. And she is GREAT! For every single birthday or holiday of every known relative she has, she writes and sends cards. Nevermind the fact that the cards say the exact same thing every year or that she writes Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at the top of every card. (She writes them months ahead of time and fills in the blank with the name.) She is awesome.

She also has hosted a "Cookies and Cameras" party at Seattle Center every Christmas for the past 40+ years. I've never been, but sometime I will to find out if it's just what the name entails or perhaps a little bit more.

Well, today we celebrated her 80th birthday at her sister's house (another great aunt of Evan). I've gone to a few family functions with Evan's mom's side of the family, but hadn't met all of the extended family before! It was great to be together to celebrate Auntie Helen's 80th birthday. We looked through old photo albums and got to reminisce about the past. She never married or had kids, but she loves her family!

The Squeaky Wheel Gets Greased

And I, my friends, am one big, squeaky wheel. I don't mean to draw attention myself in group meetings, but I always seem to. If I have a question, comment, or concern about something, I will ask it. And I won't be able to help asking it. Sometimes this may ruffle some feathers, but I think, ultimately, it helps to improve what we do as a group because it spurns us all to work it out and then act on it.

I'll give you an example of what I mean. Today, at a team meeting for school, I stood up and said what my coworkers and I had been whispering about for months behind closed doors. Sure, it was a tough question. Everyone was thinking it. I just happened to be the spokesperson for the group when no one says what they want to say. (Maybe they're trying to shorten our meeting time.)

This has not been the only recent instance. With me, it happens in all group settings: in my Relief Society presidency, at our staff meetings, at our team meetings, at language arts curriculum meetings... if I know it's a concern on my mind, I will say it. Because, let's face it, the squeaky wheel gets greased. I get an answer to my problem, with the hope that appropriate action will be taken, and we all get to move on.

Changing of the Sign

Have you ever caught someone changing a sign or billboard?


I have and it's exhilirating, like I've caught that person in a secret act. Like that moment was meant for only them to know about, but I was fortunate enough to witness it. (Not to mention, watching someone choose their letters and punctuation marks carefully is very interesting with a limited amount of letters. Will the "M" become a "W?" Will that period mingle with a small "l" to become an exclamation?)

I'm not sure why sign-changing is such a big deal to me. Maybe it's because I generally witness the finished product or only notice the sign after it has been changed. Plus, I always wonder how they get those words up onto the tall signs. Ladder? Long stick? All pointless thoughts running through my head this week.

My Husband Can Cook

I give much credit to my mother-in-law for raising a son who not only takes care of himself, is good at saving/food shopping, but can cook to boot! Evan always says that when he's hungry, he makes himself some food. Generally this involves a lot more time than I would take if I were hungry. He sort of a snob in that way: He likes his food and he likes it to taste good. (Me, I just grab for anything handy and half-edible.)

The fact that Evan cooks is a very, very good thing. I wake up to breakfast in the morning and Evan making me a lunch. If I'm tired when I get home from work, Evan will make dinner. If Evan wants a treat after dinner, he'll make homemade cinnamon rolls. (He converted a drop biscuit recipe from his mother he has MEMORIZED into his own version of cinnamon rolls. YUM!) In order to actually prove to you that Evan can, indeed, cook, I decided to document this.


On Friday, we were wanting a "snack" during our free library movie date night. I suggested cinnamon rolls and Evan went to work making them. No, they didn't last long, mostly because they involve 2 types of sugar, butter, cinnamon, and milk chocolate chocolate chips. They were THAT good.