Grotto of the Redemption

On my way home from St Paul from visiting Reenie, I decided to take a detour through West Bend, Iowa.

The grotto contains the largest collection of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location! Fr Paul Dobberstein gathered rocks and stones from around the world and began the grotto in 1912.

Each of the 9 grottos portrays a scene in the life of Christ.

This was absolutely beautiful and the pictures do not even show how amazing and inspiring it is!

 

MS 25 Mile Bike Ride

Reenie and I rode the MS 25. Around mile 9 I was ready to be done! :) We made it, even though we were last-- we crossed that finish line.

 

One of the cheerleaders!

 

We did it! And there was a beer waiting for us! We also could choose from some food trucks for lunch! A brat and sauerkraut sounded amazing and really hit the spot!

 

The next morning we had to stretch out our muscles and we sure were not going to go on another bike ride! So we went on a morning hike! We passed this park about mile 12 and remembered where it was because we could hear a waterfall and new we had to see it! We saw a bald eagle and her nest, and being one with nature is always so refreshing! :)

Black Bean Burgers with Salsa and Avocado

Usually when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is cook, but when I got home tonight, I was inspired. Still need to go for a run this evening, but I am happy I have this delectable high protein meal in my stomach!

Here are the recipes I used!

Black Bean Burger
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces   
1/2 onion, cut into wedges                                                                     

3 cloves garlic, peeled                                                                     

1 egg                                                                     

1 tablespoon chili powder                                                                     

1 tablespoon cumin                                                                     

1 teaspoon hot sauce                                                                     

1/2 cup bread crumbs  

   

Preheat oven to 375                                                                

I put the first 8 ingredients in the food processor, then pulled it out and added the bread crumbs.
Bake for 12 minutes

Salsa

2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 lime, juiced

1 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
I threw it all in a food processor.

 

Guacamole

1 avocado
lemon juice
garlic
red pepper
hot pepper sauce

Baked Sweet Potatoes
1 sweet potato
olive oil
garlic salt
Pampered Chef Southwest Seasoning
20 minutes at 400 degrees

Ranch
I have found my FAVORITE ranch recipe! So I had a side of spinach with ranch.
The WHOLE recipe is 200 calories, its makes about 4 servings
1 ranch packet
1 cup milk (I use almond milk)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

Is it silly to say that I am already excited for tomorrows supper?

-Kelsey

Setting Goals in the Classroom

Goal Setting in the Classroom

I think it is so important for kids to set realistic goals and work towards them. It will prepare them for setting greater and bigger goals in life.

 

Here are some ways I help the students set goals:

-I let the students set their own realistic goals

-Our goals are small and the students are able to complete them in a 5 week period

-They choose a subject area that they need improvement in.

 

 

 Pictured above are our goal sheets that I have shown in the room. The students had to run their goal towards me so I know if it is realistic and that the student is able to complete it.

They have their goal, and 3 ways to help achieve it.

 

Pictured below is their "check in stars"

Once a week I have them "check in", rewrite their goal, and reflect about how close they are to accomplishing their goal. These will be hung up in between their first goal sheets.

This helps the kids realize that setting a goal takes time and work and can't expect to get something done without hard work and dedication. Its exciting to see the goals that they kids set for themselves, and hey, when they are working for a reward it makes it all worth it! We set our goal a couple weeks ago because the movie Frozen is coming out in March, and if the kids complete their goal they get a Movie Munch in my room and watch the movie!!! They are so excited to work towards this!

 ( I bought the sound track and he have been jamming to it during work time)

 

 

Teachers- This takes about 10 minutes a week to complete. Week 1 -I have the students think about what they want to improve on. I have the students reflect on their Spelling, Reading, and Math grades and participation to see if they personally need to improve on anything. Some goals are to finish a book, read a certain amount of pages, or on Spelling tests to practice their words and miss less than 2 on their weekly tests.

 

Today I had a student approach me and tell me that he already had failed his goal. His goal was to get 85% or above on his reading test, the previous week before he had missed 1 too many, he thought that right there and then he wouldn't be able to participate in the Movie Munch. I had a talk with him about how setting goals is important but the road is not easy, it is a rocky road to get there.

 

 

If you would like copies of anything I use, you can shoot me an email and I will share the documents with you!

Snow Day? I will take it!

What a wonderful feeling to go to sleep knowing that I can sleep in Wednesday morning... setting no alarm and watching onnnnnne more episode of Arrow, or Greys Anatomy, or Hart of Dixie, or how about one of each...midnight rolls around and I guess its time to go to bed!

A snow day feels like a day where anything can happen, it is bought time, time that I am supposed to be at work, but I get to choose how I use it! Sleeping in is always at the top of list, especially since I not longer get to do it on the weekends! My body still got up at 630am, but at least I wasn't forced to get up!

I was able to read at my local coffee shop while enjoying a wonderful cup of coffee
I was able to clean and do laundry
I was able to get my taxes done
I was able to get gas and fill up my window washer fluid in my car
I was able to go get groceries, and prepare snacks and meals for the rest of the week
I was able to go for a run
annnnd I was able to paint my nails, something I LOVE doing. (plus trying to save my money for my summer travels-- nail polish is SO much cheaper than a mani/pedi!)

So again...bought time.... now I might actually be able to use my upcoming weekend for fun instead of running errands..

I always feel blessed being a teacher and have never taken it for granted. I love what I do, and I still love that feeling of staying up late watching the news to wait and see my district go across the screen!

January Teaching Ideas

I have always loved the idea of an "exit ticket" but this one I added a little spice too! I have always had numbers on the kids desks so I can randomly call on them, so I posted the numbers on this board so I can see who participates!

 

Who knew there was a use for toilet paper rolls? I have SO many colorful pens and having them in a bag/box was not working...the rolls help them stand up!

 Change the number each time, but have the kids come up with their own math sentence to equal the given number! great if you have an extra 5 minutes in class.!

 Invisible Man

My new favorite spelling review game!

I have 20 kids, so I split them into 4 groups of 5, first one to spell the given word and put their marker down gets to erase a body part of the person. I give each team 13 things to erase. First team to have no body parts left-- hence invisible man-- WINS!

 This seems so simple, but kills 2 birds with one stone

-Volume

-Using centimeters and inches on a ruler

Kids loved it-- and this is SO much better than a worksheet, having the kids explore helps them remember concepts.

Go BRONCOS!

I painted my nails in Broncos colors for the Super Bowl!

I bragged all week about the Broncos winning....

 

The Broncos lost miserably....

 

I repainted my nails after the game and come Monday morning I had a student come up to me and say:

Him- "Miss Koch, I see you erased your nails"

Me- "You mean took off my nail polish?"

Him- "Ya, whatever, they lost anyway- Peyton Manning should have gotten the MVP for the Seahawks"

 

Oh the things that come out of 12 year old mouths...