Spicy Party Pretzels

In October, my cousin threw a birthday party for her little boy, and at the party she had out these yummy, spicy pretzels to nosh on. I couldn't stop eating them, and my mom really liked them too. We hatched a plan to make batches of them to give to our co-workers for Christmas, because the recipe is crazy easy and makes a ton at once. We put handfuls of the pretzels into pretty holiday containers from Dollar Tree, and voila...cute, tasty gifts! They were a hit! I can't tell you how many giftees sent texts asking for the recipe. And I may or may not have whipped up another batch for myself today.

Sugar, Spice, & Everything Nice

Today I finished reading Anna Kendrick's gem of a memoir/essay collection, Scrappy Little Nobody. As expected, her book was filled with witty stories about life as a budding movie star. What I didn't expect was how relatable and wise Anna would turn out to be. This little passage struck a chord with me:

"I gave up on being Nice. I started putting more value on other qualities instead: passion, bravery, intelligence, practicality, humor, patience, fairness, sensitivity. Those last three might seem like they are covered by 'nice,' but make no mistake, they are not. A person who smiles a lot and remembers everyone's birthday can turn out to be undercover crazy, a compulsive thief, and boring to boot. I don't put a lot of stock in nice. I'd prefer to be around people who have any of the above qualities over 'niceness,' and I'd prefer it if that applied to me, too. I'm also okay if the most accurate description of me is nervous, and a little salty. But at least I know what I want to strive for."

I feel like I get the Nice label a lot. "You're a nice teacher." "You're way too nice to actually say that." "You are soooo nice!" Don't get me wrong...all of that is (ahem) nice to hear. But maybe it's time to make like the cast of The Real World and stop being being polite. It's time to start getting real.

Part of the trap I fall into as a teacher is wanting my students to like me. I'm finally starting to learn that Niceness isn't the only part of the likability equation. It goes back to what Anna says; other qualities are important too. Here's to being more passionate, brave, intelligent, practical, humorous, patient, fair, and sensitive in 2017. And a little bit meaner.

Page 1 Of 365

My bookshelves have always been crowded, but throughout 2016, they became even more crowded. In fact, I bought a new bookshelf in the summer that has already reached overflowing status. Even my Kindle shelves seem more stuffed than usual. Between my Book Of The Month subscription, trips to Goodwill, Kindle deal purchases, and other miscellaneous book aquisitions, my personal library is getting out of control. And when I really stop to take stock of what I've got, the unread list is much, much longer than the read list. So, in 2017, I'm determined to flip the script with the help of a reading challenge or two.

The challenge I'm most committed to and the one that's going to help me knock a ton of titles off my To Be Read List is the Litsy A To Z Challenge. (Litsy, btw, is a wonderful social media platform for book lovers.) The criteria of the challenge is to simply read one book for each letter of the alphabet. The choices can be based on the first letter of the first word of the title (excluding articles, of course) or the first letter of the author's last name. Drumroll, please...here's the list I put together for the challenge:

That's Enough, 2016.

I sat down the evening of Christmas, ready to relax and do some mindless scrolling through social media. I refreshed my Facebook feed, and there it was...the shocking BuzzFeed headline:

Singer George Michael Dies At 53

I gasped out loud and did a double-take. Then I checked Twitter, because for some reason when I hear horrible news, I won't believe it's true until I've read it on Twitter. The story was all over my timeline there too, so I knew it was the truth. My heart broke into a million little pieces. 2016 had claimed yet another pop music icon.

Out of all the pop stars we've lost this year, this one has hit me the hardest. Bowie and Prince were amazing talents, but their music wasn't as...I don't know...accessible to me as George Michael's was. Elementary school me could appreciate a bouncy pop song, of which GM had plenty. Plus, there was no denying the man was a total hottie. I was 9 years old in 1987 when George released "Faith," which was just the right age for my friends and I to admire the way he rocked those jeans in the iconic music video. What I didn't appreciate enough back then is something I've realized as I've been revisiting his music these past few days -- he. could. SING. His voice was filled with soul, and his phrasing and inflections were flawless. Thank @God these recordings will endure and help us to remember his talent.

Here are some articles that explain his legacy way better than I can...

• NY Times: George Michael Mattered Beyond The Music
• George Michael Lived His Life Without Apology, by Dave Holmes
• George Michael: 20 Essential Songs

Now excuse me, I have to go try to get over Carrie Fisher's death. #dammit2016

Color & Number Word Flash Cards

We've been in school a month, and I still have some students that are struggling with basic color and number words. Sooo, it's time to drill down and get these mastered. I made these small flash cards to help us get some additional practice. I laminated the cards and put them on binder rings, making them easily portable. I can grab them and take them with us to practice during restroom breaks.

color words

number words

I also printed another set of the color word cards to add to our word wall. I'm sure all you creative teachers out there can come up with a million other uses for them. Sharing is caring, so you can grab these on Teachers Pay Teachers for FREE! Click here to download and enjoy!

Stranger Things

wino forever

If you're a Netflix subscriber and haven't checked out their original series Stranger Things yet, you should get on that ASAP. I finally took the time to watch it this week, and it's definitely one of the best (if not THE best) things I've seen on TV this year. I was thrilled by it. I was moved by it. I was taken back to my 80s childhood by it. I wish I could watch it all over again for the first time. I'm obsessed to the point of stalking the cast's Instagram accounts, haha. Feel free to do the same, or enjoy some other cool Stranger Things-things I've found around the internets...

• Make It Stranger - How awesome was the retro title sequence? You can strangify your own text with this fun little online tool. 
  
• The Duffer Brothers on EW - How did Winona Ryder get involved with the series? What happened when Millie Bobbie Brown got that buzzcut? Find out the answers to these questions and more by reading the short, trivia-filled articles the show's creators wrote about each episode for Entertainment Weekly.
• Stranger Things & its influences - Throughout the show, there are obvious callbacks to the great scifi/fantasy films of the 70s and 80s, and there are others you may not have noticed. This great video is a montage of Stranger Things scenes shown side-by-side with the classic movie scenes being referenced.
• Film References A-Z - Speaking of film references, Vulture put together a glossary of every one made in the series. I have the urge to rewatch, or in some cases watch for the first time, all the movies on this list!
• Barb Appreciation - We were simply not worthy of Queen Barbyonce.

Thankfully, this week Netflix announced there will be a second season of the show. Until it returns, remember this...

Welcome!

Here we are, on the last day of August, and it seems as good a day as any to write my first blog post. I've been wanting to venture into the world of blogging for a while now. I thought about creating a food blog, and even read a book about it. Ultimately though, I decided my blog theme should be less limited in order to give myself an outlet to talk about all the different things I'm loving and feeling passionate about. So, I've chosen the name Eat. Teach. Love. for my blog.

• Eat: Don't worry, food definitely IS a thing I love and am passionate about, so you can expect to find food posts here. ;) I really enjoy baking...I'm a total amateur at it, but there's something relaxing about it. Satisfaction is biting into a perfectly baked, warm, gooey, chocolate chip muffin. I plan to share some recipes here, and maybe I'll even talk about yummy food I've been eating lately.
• Teach: I'm in my fourth year of teaching elementary school. I spent my first two years teaching 5th grade, and now I'm on my second year of teaching 1st grade. Moving from 5th to 1st was a huge adjustment for me, and really, I feel like I'm still adjusting. My job is challenging, but I love every second of it, and I'm excited to write about my experiences here.
• Love: I've discovered so many wonderful things through blogs and other social media, so I hope to sort of "pay it forward" here. I can't wait to post about the stuff I have mad love for, whether it's a fun podcast I've been listening to, an awesome new Netflix show, or a great book I can't put down.

Thanks for visiting and reading about my plans for this little space on the web. Come back soon!