Author Archives: olivia

Aug 13 2012
2 Comments
Health, Life, Teaching

Hot Yoga Saved the Day

Here’s the funny thing about teaching, or at least about teaching for me.  It’s incredibly inconsistent.  Last week rocked, today sucked.  I don’t know if it is the million degree heat, (my car said 107 degrees when I left work), or that the kids are tired, but today was rough.  I had to contact six families after school because of behavior challenges.  It felt impossible to stay positive when all I wanted to do was pull my hair out.  I felt like I tried everything and nothing worked.  Relax.  Relax, damn it!

Enter hot yoga.  60 minutes of pure, power hour bliss.  It’s so funny that the very activity that scared me so much a couple months ago is now the secret to my after work sanity.  I walk in stressed, I walk out calm, happy, a million miles removed from the rest of my day.  I even like it so much that I’m recruiting teachers at work to join me.  If you have hot yoga near you– you should try it too!

One of my favorite hot yoga rituals is to pick something to concentrate on for the length of the class.  Sometimes it’s my strained neck or my weak knee, other times its a little mantra.  Today was stay positive.  After what felt like such a negative day, I needed this.  Hopefully, it will transfer over to a more positive tomorrow as well!  Let’s hope so…

 

 

 

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Aug 11 2012
2 Comments
Life, Teaching

Vulnerability & Fitting In

In the same vein as my last post, I’d like to share a link a friend emailed me a few weeks back.  It shares four life lessons that I found to be incredibly well-timed reminders in my own life.  I’ll let the author explain these ideas for herself, but I’m trying to get creative in how to share these ideas with my students and also help myself remember them too.

Here’s to seeking out places to belong instead of trying to fit in with everyone else, remembering to find the important lessons in our inevitable imperfections, and embracing vulnerability as an opportunity for courage!

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Aug 11 2012
1 Comment
Life, Teaching

Cultivating Positive Self-Esteem in Girls

I know positive self-esteem is not just an issue for girls, but when it comes to friendships and the way students treat each other, it is most visible with girls.  Practically everyday, a different little girl will come up to me, upset because of how her “friend” treated her.  Yet, without fail, she will be back attempting to play with the same girl at the next break.

So, why do girls repeatedly try to befriend people that are not nice to them?  Self-esteem seems like the obvious answer, but I feel like there is more to it than this. I can’t help but wonder if there is also something attractive about the challenge of getting others to like us, or maybe even a love for the drama of things not being easy.

As much as I recognize the absurdity of these unbalanced relationships, I’m not immune.  Even as an adult, I find myself chasing certain friendships that are not reciprocated.  I share that detail not as some sort of passive aggressive jab at anyone, but because I genuinely do not understand the desire.  It seems simple, if someone does not reciprocate a relationship, whether they’re just aloof or actually mean, move on.  That’s what I tell the girls, but sometimes I don’t even do it myself.

Fifth grade is just the beginning of it all– girls figuring out how to treat each other as their hormones really kick in. I remember the end of the year with my first group of fifth graders during my residency program.  Talk about catty.

Knowing what likely lies ahead for the girls I care about in my class, I cannot help but try to understand the psychology behind these relationships.  We model how to treat people, do not accept malicious behavior, and facilitate problem-solving discussions, but when it comes down to it, life isn’t the ending scene of Mean Girls where everyone bonds and the mean girl learns her lesson.

I know this little chick has made multiple appearances on my blog, but it reminds me of being a kid and wanting friends. Whenever I started a new school, I’d carry it in my pocket. It made me feel braver and less lonely, but it still did not protect me from how mean girls can be to each other.

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Aug 11 2012
2 Comments
Teaching

The First Week of School, Again

I don’t want to jinx anything by saying this, but teaching the same group the second time around is already a thousand times better.  I just finished my first week of school with my fifth graders and it’s incredible to realize how much I have grown since my first week of school last year.  I now know when to move on to a new activity even when it’s not in my plans and when to stop and let the class guide the direction of our day.  I also know the value of fun.

Yesterday, my students started their own philosophical debate about the inherent easiness or difficulty of life.  Instead of finishing our read aloud, we moved into a big circle for our discussion, spurred by the respectful disagreement between two of my historically toughest students.  One thought life was basically easy, the other thought life was basically hard.  Unsurprisingly, in a group of predominantly low-income kids, most sided with the student that said life was basically hard.  Still, their comments were surprisingly respectful and well-crafted, giving me hope for a year full of high level thinking and debate.

While this was definitely a highlight of my day yesterday, the best part came at the very end.  My class is known to be loud during clean-up, leaving me to petty strategies like m&ms for the first group silent and ready, (it works).  But when that same student that started the debate requested I play his One Direction cd, (earned by his fantastic behavior, of course), I obliged.  At first I naively requested the students clean up silently while the first track played, but then I realized it was no use.

Fun prevailed.  The entire class broke out into song, with a couple dancers here and there, and I decided it was better to let them be happy and have fun than to worry about whether they were following my directions for silence.  Fortunately, the room looked amazing as a result, so half my directions were still followed.  They just looked so darn happy.  And, that kid was one smart boy. The girls loved him for it.  If you want to make a room full of fifth graders happy, One Direction is apparently the answer.

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Aug 10 2012
4 Comments
Teaching, Travel

Teaching Kids to Love Travel

I shared our first Husky Fan Club postcard of the year with my students today.  My college roommate/maid of honor/you get the idea sent a postcard from her recent trip to Prague.  One student raised her hand, “How does she do that?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“How does she take trips like that?”

Needless to say, they were captivated.  We found the Czech Republic on our map, discussed why castles were built high up on hills, and calculated her flight time and path.  For most the kids in my class, getting on an airplane is not a familiar experience, so when we talk about traveling, I have to really build their understanding of what travel actually entails.  When I explained they could study abroad in college for about the same price as a semester away at college somewhere in the United States, their jaws dropped.  They were excited because they already believe they can and will go to college, which means by extension, travel is also possibly in their future.

The timing of this conversation was perfect because it turns out our art teacher’s daughter is currently on her gap year trip around the world, so she has been helping them understand what her daughter did to take her own fantastic journey.  Her daughter saved every penny herself, working from the age of 14.  I thought I liked to travel, but this girl has me beat.  She is currently in Machu Picchu, which is even cooler because of our Machu Picchu poster in class.  The kids already knew where she was talking about.

Encouraging kids to want to see the world is probably my favorite part of teaching.  I still remember all those amazing social studies pictures that inspired me, the Taj Mahal, Versailles, Machu Picchu. This weekend my goal is to make a new poster of different ways to say “Good Morning” around the world for our morning meeting greetings.

Thank goodness for vicarious travel.

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Aug 09 2012
2 Comments
Life, Travel

Vacation Withdrawals

I’m such a baby.  I’m finishing up my second week of work since summer vacation ended and all I can think about is how I can make my weekend feel like vacation again.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m making the absolute best of being back at work and I’m even enjoying parts of it, but I’m still coming home and googling weekend getaways, plotting how I can swing another trip over fall break, daydreaming about escaping today’s 104 degree heat to nosh on free-range fried chicken in Yountville or paddle board on the calm waters of North Lake Tahoe.

I guess that’s one good thing I can say about Sacramento, it’s less than a two hour drive from some pretty incredible places in California.  If you’re a NorCal reader, I would love to hear your favorite weekend getaways.  With the 101 degree weekend forecast, I could really use some inspiration to get myself back out of town.

Now, if only getting to Hawaii was as easy…

I’ve decided life should look like this more often.

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Aug 08 2012
6 Comments
Family, Life

29

Today is my 29th birthday.

You can ask my close friends, I’m not one to complain about birthdays or age.  In fact, I’ve been looking forward to my thirties, (or my perception of what my thirties should be), for awhile.  You know, increased financial stability, maybe kids.  Not such bad things, right?

However, here I am, 29, and I finally feel a little bit freaked out by my birthday.  My twenties are almost over.  Really.  Somehow moving toward my thirties gives me the sensation that it’s time to be a real grown-up.  You know, the kind that does responsible things like save for retirement.  Not that I haven’t attempted to do so in some capacity or another over the past half-decade, but now it feels real.  People in their thirties are supposed to be more serious.  They commit to careers, have children, make wise financial decisions, achieve actual, measurable success in wider numbers. No pressure or anything.

So, why do I still feel like I’m this kid dancing around in grown-up clothes?

Looking young for my age, I always thought it would be great to hit my thirties and actually look like a grown-up.  That way, people would stop asking me stupid questions about how old I am.  Yes, I can drive, thank you.  But, as I suddenly notice my age shifting in pictures, this transformation is nowhere near as satisfying as I expected.  What do you mean you don’t need to see my ID?  Are those wrinkles?

All joking aside, I really do not think 29 is old, or 30, either, for that matter.  It’s just a strange thing to finally let go of childhood.  I’m not a kid.  I’m not even that young anymore.  Excited for certain aspects of my thirties or not, it feels like a transition.  The end of eras have always made me emotional.  I was the teenager that cried because I was not a child anymore.

I won’t cry today, though.  Or at least I hope not.  Instead, I’ll relish the fact that I have 364 days left before the dreaded, dirty thirty.  I’m already planning that birthday out in my head.  I think I need to go to Vegas, or do something else completely out of character, (third life crisis, perhaps?).  Until then, I am determined to wring every last ounce of non-grownupness out of my twenties.  Outlandish travel adventure, anyone? Oh, wait, that’s my book…

I’ll instead leave you with my favorite words on aging:

“For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

My lovely family bday celebration.

A fitting name for a new favorite wine.

29.  Wait, it looks like it’s his birthday, not mine.  Oh well, you get the idea.

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Aug 07 2012
2 Comments
Dogs, Family, Life, Teaching, Travel

Five Things in a Bag

While I cannot take credit for this great idea, still want to share.  Part of the new school year is designed around building a positive classroom community where students know and trust each other.  Tomorrow, my fourth/fifth grade team will ask students to bring five things in a bag that represent themselves.  We’ll share our own bag to model the project and then allow students to ask questions about what we brought.

Me in a bag:

1.  Since I will be sharing my bag tomorrow, on my birthday, I chose the lion stuffed animal my dad bought at the hospital the day I was born.  It represents the fact that I am a Leo and reminds me of my family growing up.  I heard the story of this lion so many times.  It also caught most of my adolescent tears.

2.  My travel yoga mat kills two birds with one stone.  I love yoga, I love traveling.  Easy.  Debating whether or not to gross out the kids with a description of hot yoga…

3.  The little green ball with the face belongs to my dog child Simon.  Yes, I just called him that. No further explanation necessary.  Although, I will note that he looked confused about why I went out to the backyard to get his toy and then put it in a bag instead of playing with him.  He probably thinks we’re taking a trip.  He knows that bags mean trips.  Come to think of it, he’s now sleeping by the door.

4.  I included my Buddha notebook because it is filled with my writing, which is obviously an essential part of who I am.

5.  Last, I grabbed a wedding picture off the side table in our living room.  The kids got a kick out of hearing that we met in fourth grade and I wanted to also show them that they can bring pictures and/or drawings if what is important to them does not really fit in a bag, (you’re welcome Alex that I did not ask you to get in the bag instead!).

My five things…

…in a bag!

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Aug 06 2012
2 Comments
Life, Teaching

Life is Full

As you probably already know, I was dreading going back to work.  I feared my writing life would be over, that the summer me was gone.  While the students returned today, I actually went back to work last week, transforming the past two days into my first legitimately earned weekend in awhile.  To my surprise, instead of feeling rushed or deprived, I instead felt like life was full.

Even though I hate to admit it, there is something comforting about the return of the school year. For some reason I give myself more opportunities to relax when I know I have to go to work than when I’m trying to fit every imaginable pastime into the open expanse of summer.  I don’t understand the logic, but it’s true.  This weekend I actually hung out on the couch for a couple hours and did nothing.  Oddly, that didn’t occur once this entire summer.

Suddenly I am craving the return of new episodes of my favorite television shows, the subtle darkening of the sky a little earlier each night, and the eventual change from summer to fall.  I know it’s still a ways off, but starting school at the beginning of August creates a false sense of the impending shift in seasons.  Still, this transformation brings me back to my childhood, the whispers of Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas around the corner.

One of my favorite parts of teaching is this difficult to verbalize connection to my own childhood love for the change in seasons.  I’m sure I won’t feel this way every night during the school year, but tonight at least, life is full and the return to my routine is comforting.

Happy first day of fifth grade!

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Aug 05 2012
4 Comments
Writing

You Like Me, I’ll Like You Back!

Shameless plug time– like me on my writing Facebook page and I’ll return the favor wherever you direct me.  Gearing up to send out my queries in the next couple months, I am reminded of a conversation I had with David Henry Sterry of the Book Doctors.  He underlined the importance of developing a writing platform before contacting agents and a Facebook page was one of his biggest recommendations.  So, if you don’t have one, get one, and I’ll like you too!

Thanks and Happy Sunday.

Sharing is caring! (Pretty please…)

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Aug 05 2012
3 Comments
Writing

Query Secrets: Knowing Your Characters at the End of Your Book

In fourth and fifth grade, when we want to add on to something someone else has already said, we begin with sentence starters like, “I’d like to piggyback off what so-and-so said,” or “I concur with so-and-so because…”  In the same spirit of properly acknowledging other people’s thoughts, today I would like to piggyback off what Descent Into Slushland shared recently about the importance of knowing your characters when writing your query.

Basically, he suggests that writing a good query hinges on knowing your characters instead of attempting to outline the plot.  He has some great points and examples, so instead of trying to recapture his ideas, I recommend clicking the link above and reading his post yourself. Interestingly, his points inspired me to make a list of the characteristics of my two main characters, Kristen and Jake.  We all think we know our characters, but sometimes we need check-ins to keep ourselves honest, or at least I do.

What I discovered was actually amazing.  I found a small hole in my book that I was able to fill with an additional short chapter, adding another 1,000 words to my word count in the process and helping to create a fuller understanding of my characters and their relationship with each other. Sure, I outlined my characters before I began my book, but they changed through my writing, creating slightly different people than the ones I started with.  Instead of tweaking those original descriptions, I just kept my evolving ideas of who they were in my head, which ended up leaving a gap between who I thought they were and who I wrote they were.

I can tell my query is going to be a lot stronger as a result of this reflection too, although I still refuse to give it my full energy until I finish my final read of my book, (here is my pitch as it stands now).  I guess what Descent into Slushland helped me realize is that written check-ins with your characters throughout your writing are important, not just in the beginning or middle.  Of all the advice I have read on query writing, this has been most useful for the way my own brain works. Thanks Descent!

I wanted to share how informal and quick these check-ins can be. Instead of agonizing over finding beautiful words or painting an entire picture, I just typed in a stream-of-consciousness, errors and all.  What I discovered was a small hole in my book and a good foundation on which to base my query.

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Aug 03 2012
4 Comments
Teaching, Travel

The Huskies Want to Hear From You!

Fixing up my classroom today, I eventually got around to our Husky Fan Club, a little patch of wall next to our carpet easel, where postcards surround a map of the world, one of my little personalized attempts to share my passion for different cultures and travel with my students. Sure, last year left the postcards a little crooked, as students strained to reread the messages on the back, but this is still one of my favorite places in our room.

As new postcards trickled in throughout the year, we read aloud what different places around the globe were like– Ireland, New York City, Sweden.  The students were excited to listen and ask questions.  In fact, many of them wrote about the Husky Fan Club being one of the most exciting parts of fourth grade.

Help us bring this tradition back to life for the new school year!  Tell us what life is like somewhere else.  For kids that have only ever left Sacramento to go on our field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, anywhere is new, different, and interesting.  Heck, even I get excited when I get a postcard in the mail!  And, finding your location on our map helps develop a personalized sense of geography, especially since the carpet the students sit on is also an oversized map of the world.

Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll send you info.  We’d love to hear from you!

Send us a postcard, the kids (and I) will be excited to receive it!

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