The Power of Choice

 Over the weekend, I had the great pleasure of attending the NSCC (National School Climate Center)'s Policy Institute in New York City.  At the institute, we focused on school case studies, possible policy, and the ways in which policy could lead to effective and consistent practice in schools.  I'm excited to bring back the energy of the Institute to our School Climate Team.
     One of the most important things I took away from the institute was to begin all school climate work by focusing on assets - not challenges.  It's overwhelming to look at an entire high school and feel the weight of administration, staff, the kids, and the community looking to "fix" our school.  As our School Climate Team Leader, I think about the struggles, the task of "getting everyone on board", about mending broken relationships, the trepidation of a contract year coming up, the inevitable exhaustion of attempting to balance rigorous curriculum development with grading with grocery shopping with new evaluation systems.
     This made me think about a video that a colleague shared with me.  The video was created by a super trendy animation and design company called The Glossary (check their website...I'd like to use this to inspire my creative kids about the sweet, new kinds of jobs there are our there for them!).  The video "This is Water" hits the heart of Foster Wallace's commencement speech:  we have the power of choice, of decision.   Amid the frustration and mundane and overall exhaustion of the work ahead of us as a school climate team, I truly believe that an effective school climate team must model this attitude of choosing:  we exist to model deciding to be positive and making the choice to focus and build upon our assets.

      "This is Water" Speech by David Foster Wallace & Video by The Glossary 

"We are in the business of saying goodbye"

     There's this eerie silence after the last class leaves on finals day.  For over 180 days, this room has been bursting with laughter, heated with debate, and the host of many first time discoveries of talent, skill, and creativity.  Now:  silence.
     That's it.  That's our job.  One of my teachers (and now CEO) at Golden Apple used to say to us, "We are in the business of saying goodbye".  Those words feel tattoo-traced into my forearms today.  What a strange feeling - to pour heart, soul, joy, discipline,and  every last ounce of energy into 140 young people, and for them to just simply stand up, walk out the door, and say "Have a great summer!", not thinking anything of it.
      How will I muster up the energy to do this all over again come August?

From the Book Blog: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I have to admit, when I picked up Foer's first novel, Everything is Illuminated, I was maddened by his writing style. It was ridiculous, all over the place, and I couldn't stand reading it. Needless to say, I was hesitant about picking up his latest book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but I am sure glad I did.

The novel details the life of young Oskar Schell following the tragedy of his father's death in 9/11. This is the first book that I've read that really tried to grasp this date, and I found Foer to be incredibly successful. The main plot of the story focuses on Oskar's mission to find a door that belongs to a mysterious black key that he finds in his dad's closet shortly after his death. Oskar feels that finding the lock that the key opens will somehow help him feel comforted, or at least more at ease, with the loss of his father.

Throughout Oskar's journey, the reader get's an array of observations about the world through Oskar's eyes. He must have been a fun character to write -- Oskar's quirks and obsessive tendencies are hilarious and sweet, tragic and hopeful, and altogether unique.

The writing style of this novel is completely captivating. It's artistic, fresh, and unexpected. Within the novel, photographs are interspersed that Oskar collects. There are chapters written by Oskar's grandmother that capture a whole other generation in the novel. Her chapters are beautiful and rambling and honestly work through the difficulties of immigrating to America and figuring out what it means to be married, have a family, and make a life in New York City.

In this review, I really feel at a loss for words. There aren't simple statements to wrap up the grandeur of this breathtaking novel. It is by far one of my favorite books of all time. GO GET IT!!

From the Book Blog: The Carrie Diaries

Seriously. I read this book in June, and I just now realized that I hadn't written a review for it.

As a pseudo-fan of Sex and the City, I thought it might be fun to read about Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager in Candace Bushnell's newest novel, The Carrie Diaries. I was intrigued about Carrie's high school days and how it is that she came to be a writer, so I decided to give it a shot.

Disappointed. Revolted. Bored. Unimpressed. The novel was just plain awful.

Turns out, Carrie grew up in the 80s (which , I guess I knew, but just forgot about) and spent most of her high school years smoking, drinking, and chasing after boys (no surprise there). That's about all that happens for 250 pages. There are some glimmering moments of writing when Bushnell is describing Carrie's thoughts and ambitions of becoming a writer, but other than that the book is a relatively empty shell. If you like books about teenage mischief in a small town, maybe this is for you, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother. And, as you hopefully know, I don't say that about many books.

Weekly Meal Plan: 4/29 - 5/5

One of the major changes that needs to happen in my life is organizing they way I spend money and calories on food.  I'm so busy all of the time, that it's really critical that I organize my meals and limit eating out.  So much of my money is spent on groceries, that is then wasted because I end up eating fast food because I'm too busy or tired to cook when I get home.  Here's hoping that starting a personal blog keeps me organized and on point.  This is as much about losing weight as it is about saving money!

This week's menu plan is looking really good...I'm already stoked about having leftovers of all this yumminess for lunch and after our game on Wednesday.  I'm the most excited to attempt the Posole tonight.  I found the recipe at AllRecipies and it had great reviews.

Sunday: Posole & Fish Tacos (AllRecipies)


Monday:  Spicy Basil Chicken  (Cooking Light April 2012 p. 95)

Tuesday:  Pan Grilled Flank Steak with Soy-Mustard Sauce (Cooking Light April 2012 p. 96) with Sauteed Butter-Thyme Mushrooms (p. 138)

Wednesday: (game night) Leftovers

Thursday: Grad School - Eat out at Chipotle!

Friday: Make your own pizza

Saturday:  Open Face Hummus Sandwiches (Cooking Light April 2012 p. 122) with Avocado Butter Lettuce Salad