In Anticipation of Choir Tour 2012

Last year, even though I am not Catholic and even though I have not sung in a choir since my first year of college, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to join the Basilica of St. Mary Cathedral Choir.  The Basilica of St. Mary is a huge and lovely building in Minneapolis, built over 100 years ago (about the closest we can get to an old cathedral here in the Midwest) and I am honored to help provide music for its services.  I forgot how much I enjoy singing in a choir and this choir is good.  The first night of rehearsal I kept dropping out of songs so I could listen to the talented voices of those around me and I could not believe they had actually let me in to sing with them!

Last July, while auditioning for a part in the coveted soprano section, the choir director asked if I would be interested in participating in a tour that following summer -- a tour that would perform in cathedrals around Belgium and France.  I think I said something along the lines of, "I would really, really, really, really love to, but I can't afford it."

Well, the choir tour leaves 9:30 p.m. this Friday night and I still can't afford it.  However: I am going to be on that plane!!!!  Renata's going back to Europe!  It's a whirlwind 9-day trip, crammed so tightly packed with concerts and mass appearances, that I don't even know how I'll fit in much sightseeing.  But, get this:  We're going to be singing at Notre Dame in PARIS!  Am I driving you crazy with all my italicized words?  Well, sorry.  'Cause that's just how my mind is working right now.

We will not be going anywhere near Germany so I won't be able to bring back "German Renata." We are, however, going to Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Antwerp, Tielt, Ghent, and wrapping it all up in Paris.  I'm contemplating at this moment whether or not people will notice if I sort of "forget" to get on the shuttle that takes us to the airport that final morning.  Or, what if I "accidentally" lost my passport?  I'd totally have to stay forever, wouldn't I?

More later!

In Which Student Assessment All Becomes Quite Clear

And thus nearly an entire school year has passed without another blog post.  June finds me teaching 4th grade, but in a different school than where I started.  Rather than go into all the details as to how that happened, I want to share something really positive that occurred yesterday after we teachers had loaded the students on the bus 3 hours early (it was a half day) and gathered together to share successes of the school year.

Here's the deal:  During my short career as a teacher, I had seen standardized tests scores, I had heard bits and pieces as to how that data was typically used, but I had yet to play any role in analyzing that data, nor did anyone really properly explain to me how to read and understand results.  I am happy to report that I am now a data-analyzer extraordinaire!

One of the things that I really like about the school I am currently at is that the administration provides the teachers with quarterly assessments that they are required to give students.  Now, this type of thing may be on par with what a school typically does, but my previous experiences were that teachers were often left to their own resources.  And, if you are a new teacher, that is overwhelming, not to mention completely confusing!

Yesterday, we split into groups according to grade level and took the data from the tests the students were given at the beginning of the year and compared them to end-of-the-year results, calculating percentages, figuring out growths (or deficits), and charting the progress of individual students during the course of the year.  At the beginning of the year, teachers had been given specific goals as to what students should be able to do each quarter and each time a test was given, the results page was color-coded into 3 groups: at level, slightly below level, and warning: this kid needs help!  It was all so lovely and clear-cut and .... easy to understand.  Experienced teachers may read this post and say, "Duh, how come this is news to you?"  Well it is news to me, so there, and also one of the many reasons I have been thankful to learn and grow as a teacher at this particular school.

At the end of the data collection meeting we were all given noisemakers and celebrated goals that were met and percentages that had been raised.  It was silly, but fun.  It also challenged us to look at things in a different light.  And I think involving teachers at this level is ingenious of the administration (and, I imagine, takes some of the work off their shoulders, giving them time to provide support elsewhere).  Bravo, school!



What's up next for Ms. Olson?  Weeeeellll, school's out in a week and then I'm off to Europe!  Details to follow ....  (Although it's only for a short visit.)

Extreme Makeover: Classroom Edition

This is, indeed, old news BUT I was lucky enough to be hired (last-minute, as is the only respectable way to be hired when you're a new teacher) by a charter school near Minneapolis.  I am, people, an official fourth grade teacher!

I was hired on a Friday, teacher's prep began the following Monday, and school began a week later.  A month after the first day of school (that would be today), I feel like I can finally breathe.  A little.

Getting the classroom ready was, really, the hardest part.  I walked into my classroom on the first day and saw this:

I thought the garbage can in the center of the room made a nice touch.

The previous teacher had used some adhesive to add a white board to the blackboard.  It took  hours to fully clean it off and I still find some sticky spots to this day.

You might say, "Oh, look at the all the materials you have to work with!"  Most of this belonged to the previous teacher and was carted away shortly after.

It's hard to know where to begin when you have never done this before.  It didn't help that most of the other teachers in the school (most of whom had been there for at least 2-3 years) were busy creating cute little themed rooms like frogs and zoo animals and fish, etc.

A week later and things gradually fell into place, just in time for Meet the Teacher night.  Things look more or less the same now, albeit slightly more disheveled and the bulletin boards are more full.

I started with 23 students, but only 19 showed up on the first day. (The rest are going to different schools, I guess.)  I can live with this.

Stool purchased at Goodwill for $2.99

The students are filling up this board with "Book Boosts."

The "Wall of Awesome-ness" has collages on it right now.  I figure it will be reserved for art projects or whatever else we do in class.

I wish my desk still looked this neat!

The birthday cupcake wall!  It's full of names and candles now.  (On the day the photo was taken, mine was the only candle to be seen.)

Lightning McQueen CD player with Clifford in the window.

Some of my kids have learned the hard way the my toys are off limits.  Nobody plays with Pippi Longstocking but me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My castle, my rules.  Got it?  Get it?  Good.

 

At Meet the Teacher Night.  It sort of made me popular. 

I hope to share more experiences later.  As for now, I may go back to bed!

My Running Shorts and I

Those of you who read my post about Wizard Camp may remember that I took the kids swimming every day for a couple of hours.  Well, I wasn't so happy about baring my legs in a swimsuit for five straight days.  While in the bathroom stall adjusting my Little Mermaid towel -- yes, now you all know that I never go swimming without my Little Mermaid beach towel -- so that it covered a good portion of my legs, I heard two of my older Wizard Camp girls talking about who would leave the locker room first.  These girls were not yet 11 and they were not remotely heavy, BUT they had already learned to compare themselves to other girls.  And, in comparing themselves to other girls, they had realized that there were slimmer figures out there.  And here I was, in a  nearby bathroom stall, exhibiting the same symptoms of self-loathing.

Fast forward a few weeks later.  It's 90-some degrees, humid, and I'm trying to go for a jog.  Another fact about me?  I have not allowed myself to wear a pair of shorts since at least senior year of high school, if not even slightly earlier than that.  So, I'm going for this jog wearing a pair of black capris.  Yeah, they're more flattering to my shape (which is decidedly pear-like), but it's HOT outside.  And my boyfriend asks me for the umpteenth time:  "Why, why, WHY don't you finally give in and buy a pair of shorts?"  And I give the obvious answer (the same one I've used for years): "Because I'm too FAT, darn it!!!"

But then I realized something.  As an educator, I am committed to being a good role model for boys and girls alike.  How can I properly set a good example if I am saying one thing (such as, "Girls - don't be ashamed of your body!") while doing the exact opposite?  Shortly after, I went to Target and bought myself a pair of running shorts.  If you happen to see me running around one of the Minneapolis lakes during what's left of summer, I'll probably be wearing them.  It may not be pretty, but I'm cool, comfortable, and (slightly more) confident!

In Which Mad Men Inspires Me To Examine My Life

I plowed through all four seasons of Mad Men recently.  It's one of those shows that tries to remind us the the past was not a great time in which to live and yet makes you want to live in that time period anyway.  Mad Men is unique from all those other shows, books, and movies in that it examines angles other than that of the suppressed and unhappy housewife.

The deal is that back in the 1950s and early 1960s the American dream for a man was to find a successful career, house, and wife who would subsequently take care of the house and future children.  The dream for the wife was to find a husband whose house and family she would take care of.  We've learned since then that this sort of lifestyle obviously does not buy happiness.  In fact, the media continually likes to remind us that these products of their time were severely UNhappy.

I would like to point out that in today's society  it is generally expected (of men and women alike) that at some point in your life you will:

A. find a successful and fulfilling career
B. buy a house
C. get married
D. have children
E. be a well-rounded and sincerely HAPPY individual

Um, really?  The people in the 1960s weren't expected to be really, truly happy and the women didn't even have the pressure of finding a job.  The only thing today's generation has got on those of the past is that we have until we are 30 or so to reach that goal.  I, however, will be 30 in a year (and a month) and have yet to acquire any of these things.  I mean, usually I'm a reasonably happy and well-rounded individual, but then I take a look at factors A through D and realize I have a long way to go before I can attain COMPLETE happiness.

Thankfully, I have also learned from Mad Men that drinking and smoking can solve all of my insecurities and make me look insanely suave.  Pass me a bottle of brandy...

A Week At Wizard (Harry Potter) Camp

Last week I spent time with a group of witches and wizards. Seriously.  I got a job this summer teaching Wizard Camp and, oh my, was it a fun time.  And tiring.  The kids (ages 6-11) were dropped off at 8am and I had them until 5pm.  No breaks, no down time, and we went swimming for two hours daily.  Exhausted as I was at the end of each day, I never knew a job could be so much fun.

So what do you do at Wizard Camp?  The first thing we did was find our wands. This consisted of going outside and looking around for sticks on the ground.  If they wanted, I had glitter and other materials on hand so they could decorate their wands.  Most kids were happy with their sticks plain.  Wizard Camp kids, you see, have a lot of imagination.

In fact, these kids were hardcore Harry Potter fans.  Now, I consider myself a fan of the series BUT I had nothing on some of these self-proclaimed wizards and witches.  One explanation would be that they have read all of the books multiple times within a short time period, while my Harry Potter reading, although I've read all of the books at least twice, has been spread out over the past 11-12 years or so.  Or else they're just plain crazy.  (I'm kidding, obviously.  I adored them.)  A fun fact I shared with my Wizard Camp kids?  When the first movie came out in the Fall of 2001, I was in college.  They either were not born or were babies.   Yep.  

I am now kicking myself for not taking pictures of some of the activities we did.  The only time I remembered to take out my camera was to take a few pictures of the group creating the Tri-Wizard Tournament Maze (out of sidewalk chalk) on our very last day of camp.

The Sphinx at the end of the maze.  

My most popular Wizarding activity?  Every day we made a different Harry Potter-themed treat (we were lucky enough to have access to a kitchen). Butter Beer was, by far, the biggest success, followed closely by Chocolate Frogs.  The Butter Beer recipe I found is apparently really similar to what is sold at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios and consists merely of cream soda, butterscotch sundae topping, and whipped cream.  (Recipe here: http://www.mugglenet.com/misc/rosmertas/cicisbutterbeer.shtml )
For Chocolate Frogs, I purchased this mold from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003QMMOZ8/thehomeimprovemz ) and they turned out beautifully.

Before putting them in the refrigerator to harden, I had the kids stand around (with their sticks/wands) and perform various enchantments on the frogs to make them hop like the ones in the books.  I then told them that if anyone opened up the refrigerator door to see how the frogs were turning out, the magic might get out.  Well, as luck would have it, a few peeks were made, so we had lifeless Chocolate Frogs.  Lifeless, but delicious.

Quidditch proved to be more of a challenge.  After doing some research on "Muggle Quidditch", I came up with a version that represented soccer more than anything else.  I gathered all of my witches and wizards together and presented my ideas and asked them how they wanted to play. One girl had brought her copy of Quidditch Through the Ages and wanted to stay true to all of the fifty gazillion fouls mentioned.  A boy was upset that I was downsizing the amount of goals to two.  A couple of the less athletically inclined wanted to sit out and watch.  I reminded them that at 10 wizards and witches (including myself) we were already short and need all the players we could get.  So we finally were able to agree on most aspects of the game, found a place outside, and played.  After lots of running around and being confused about who exactly was keeping score, among other things, one of the Seekers finally found the Snitch (a tennis ball the Keepers hid before the game started).  We never played again.  Although during our final hour, while sharing our camp memories around a Pasta Pensieve (a bowl of spaghetti noodles with some dry ice mixed in to give it a nice magical effect), playing Quidditch frequently came up as a favorite.  Score!

One day, as we were going back inside after playing a game of Aurors and Death Eaters (i.e. Cops and Robbers), I heard an outsider mutter, "Harry Potter nerds," under his breath.  He received a very dirty look from my direction.  Anyway, being a Harry Potter Nerd is quite a wonderful thing to be, if you ask me.

In Which I Make Lots of Lists

As mentioned in my previous post, I am now a substitute teacher. I am also back to working the front desk at ye olde hair salon for about 16-17 hours a week.  This makes me feel better on days, like today, when I do not get called for a  teaching job.

The worst thing about not getting called for a job?  The fact that even if you don't get a call right away in the morning, there's always the chance you'll get called later on in the day to fill in for a teacher who has to leave suddenly.  Now, this is not a bad thing.  After all, I need all the work I can get these days.  It does, however, put a damper on one's day.  Frankly, it turns me into a neurotic mess.  Should I go to Target?  Should I go to the gym?  What if I get called?  What if I don't get called?  How much money could I have made if I had switched my schedule and worked with a different school district today?

Okay, so this has nothing to do with anything.  I did an image search for "neurotic", hoping to find a nice picture of someone pulling out his or her hair, and this came up instead.  It was too weird NOT to use.

 
Do you know what calms me down in moments like this?  Lists.  Yeah, I've turned into some sort of list-making nut.  But, see, lists are awesomely helpful because I can gather my thoughts and figure out what I can get done while I wait.  I get a lot more laundry done this way.  It's good.  So is the feeling you get when you cross something off of a list.

"Writing a blog entry" was on my list today.  Check.