And always check your spice jars. Today at lunch I took out a tupperware of white bean chili and couldn’t stomach more than two bites. It requires a small amount of cloves, so I thought a sprinkle would be okay. However, the jar did not have a sprinkle cap, and way more cloves tumbled into the pot. I thought adding more ingredients to counteract it would save the chili, but no such luck. However, the masa cornbread that I made to go with it (pictured above, I think I subconsciously knew the chili would turn out badly) turned out great. Go figure.
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the cookbook challenge: an update
Top Row: chickpea + asparagus + red pepper salad, Chef Chloe’s roasted apple/butternut squash/caramelized onion pizza, fresh veggies from New Hampshire and Chef Chloe’s BBQ pineapple tofu pizza, green curry and impromptu veggie soup, Moroccan chickpea stew (modified from Food52, which is chicken), green curry Middle Row: eggs with mushrooms + fresh mozzarella+ apricot chutney, Chef Chloe’s BBQ pineapple tofu pizza, Chef Chloe’s roasted apple/butternut squash/caramelized onion pizza, impromptu quinoa salad Bottom Row: Peanut noodles and the chickpea + asparagus + red pepper salad, Giada’s spicy calamari stew (modified with shrimp and corn), Heidi Swanson’s chanterelle tacos, and peanut noodles take #2. So far, cooking has been going very well this school…
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15-year reunion
Last night I went to my high school’s homecoming game with other Class of ’98 alumni. It was good to see familiar faces, get to know new people, and to learn what everyone is up to these days. Someone commented that so many people in our class are teachers. I found that interesting because back then, we felt compelled to become doctors, lawyers, and engineers. One alumna who teaches math at our high school joked “oh that’s an Asian F” when another mentioned that he’d somehow managed a B+ in French III even when only reading aloud once in French all year. I think that “Asian F” idea stuck with…
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blast from the past
Facebook message from a student: “Hey Ms. Buenafe! I really really need your help. I remembered us doing conversions but what was the phrase we used to remember it? Thanks!” Two years ago, one of my 11th grade math classes came up with their own mnemonic to remember this metric conversion chart: Image Source: http://lifescitpjhs.wikispaces.com/file/view/metric_ladder_500.jpg/256798714/metric_ladder_500.jpg Kelly hates donkeys because donkeys cause madness. Bizarre as it was, that phrase stuck (at least to get the student to write to me about it!)
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first day
A little over a week behind on blogging, and in a 90 degree classroom (thanks Boston weather and no AC), but I want to keep up my blogging habits this year so here goes… Greet and Seat – I had students sit where they liked rather than make a “find your seat fraction challenge again.” That saved me a lot of time–I’m working on simplifying my teaching life and not fussing so much over small details that whose impact is worth the fuss.I had intended to give them my computer/internet survey but didn’t realize that I forgot to copy 2-sided to 2-sided, so I scrapped it. I also had them…
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solitude racecation idea
Saw this on Miles Covered. I’m intrigued by the idea of racing completely by myself, with no dinners or expo trips to coordinate with others. However, that means I better start racing again…
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shortcutting
Last year I switched up my seating charts weekly. I would sketch out the tables in the room on a piece of scrap paper, assign students to each table, and then rewrite the names on post-its on the tables. Today I decided to create a table in Word and put the names in each cell, then printed the paper to cut up and tape to the tablees tomorrow. Why I didn’t do this before, I have no idea.
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scaffolding
I’ve been thinking more about how to support my students in succeeding at their academic goals for senior year, particularly with breaking down tasks into more manageable steps. Tackling smaller chunks makes them less likely to give up or get tempted to fall back into old habits (e.g., rage quitting and choosing not to do work out of fear of failure). For example, I’ve helped some students start to tackle their World Studies Extended Essay research in chunks like “find five fast food menus and email them to me so we can discuss the patterns and trends that you see with calories, fat, and sugar.” I think the last thing…
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my cookbook “reading list” #1
In college, I rarely highlighted or wrote in my textbooks. I always felt like it was wrong to mark them up even though I didn’t have to return them like I did in high school. I liked the clean feel of the pages. However, this habit doesn’t facilitate my cooking out of the cookbook collection which I’ve amassed over the years. I’ve tended to look up recipes online rather than risk marring clean, glossy cookbook pages with errant spills. This year, one of my “appetite” goals is to cook more from my cookbook collection. I skimmed a bunch to pick out three to try. I figure this initial list will…
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new slang
Today during our rules discussion in math class, I had the students generate ways to facilitate and disrupt our atmosphere of learning (being on time, prepared, and respectful). Me: What’s one way to disrupt learning? Student: Turning up the night before. Me thinking: What, at school the night before? That’s kinda weird. Student seeing my quizzical expression: Partying the night before. Me: Well then. I just learned something new. Never stop learning!
