Teaching Demo

Monday's quote of the day was: "A real person is not afraid of trying." It was a great motivator.

This past Monday, I did a teaching demonstration down in Indianapolis. I went in with a standards-based lesson that allowed students to learn about a skill theoretically, see a demonstration of the skills, practice the skill, and then demonstrate the skill back to me and their peers for feedback. I gave it my all, and it turned out well! Of course there are things that I can work on, but I am very happy with the way my 30 minutes of instructional time went.

Being in the classroom again was fantastic. I've been out of the classroom for over a year now. And while I have been teaching (tutoring, leading girl scouts, and subbing) I have not been solely responsible for planning effective lessons for a while.

I came out of the demonstration feeling rejuvenated. I go through waves of excitement and then fear and dread about what the Fall will look like for me. But, I am excited. Perhaps I'll be in Indianapolis.

A special thanks to Nora for her support and encouragement and great Facebook  brainstorming!

Sweet Potato Rolls

I've been blogging a lot about food recently. But, when you don't have any time to pour into other creative outlets, it only makes sense to cook a little bit more creatively. We all have to eat anyway, so why not make it interesting. 

I guess I'm also pretty lucky to have a human vacuum cleaner at my table with me most nights. He appreciates the great, even the good meals, and never complains about the sub-par. 

Today's adventure was sweet potato dinner rolls. It came from the weight watchers cook book from 2006. I'm not actually on weight watchers, but when you find a decent cook book for $2 at Goodwill, you buy it.

YUM!

I only made a half recipe. 36 rolls for 2 people seemed extreme - not that 18 is that much better! They were super sweet - almost dessert like - almost.

Refigerator Sweet Potato Rolls 

(Weight Watchers 2006)

Rolls:

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 packages dry yeast (I used fast acting)

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup warm milk

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated orange rind

1 large egg, lightly beaten (I used farm fresh again!)

5 cups bread flour, divided (I used all-purpose and it worked fine)

Glaze (I don't think it's necessary):

1 tbs melted butter

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 tbs orange juice

1. Bake sweet potatoes (I did it in the microwave - 5 min, flip, 7 min - since I really didn't want to spend an hour with my oven at 400 degrees when my house is already too hot).

2. While potatoes cool dissolve yeast + 1 tsp brown sugar in warm water in a large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.

3. Add milk, the rest of the brown sugar, butter, salt, and orange rind. Stir until sugar dissolves.

4. Add egg.

5. Mash sweet potato. 

6. Add in 1 1/2 cups.

7. Add 2 cups of flour. Stir.

8. Gradually add in flour until a soft dough forms.

9. Kneed on lightly floured surface.

10. Place dough in a lightly greesed bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

11. Let rise in the refrigerator for 8 hours - up to three days (I did mine for 6 hours, and it rose just fine).

12. Coat 3 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.

13. Shape dough into 36 1 1/2 inch balls. Place 12 in each pan - not touching.

14. Let rise in a warm place for about 45 min or until doubled in size.

15. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

16. Uncover and bake for 15-18 minutes.

17. Make glaze and brush over warm rolls in pan.

18. ENJOY!

FYI: Apparently each roll has 111 calories. 3 g protein, 2.2 g fat, and 0.9 g fiber.

Best Cookies Ever

I've been craving white chocolate macadamia nut cookies since my dad brought me back my favorite macadamia nuts from Hawaii over a month ago. 

Yesterday I baked. I don't know if it was the farm fresh organic eggs, the real butter, the Ghirardelli white chocolate, or the authentic Hawaiian macadamia nuts that made the cookies, but they are melt in your mouth delicious. Sooo glad I didn't make a whole recipe :)

I got the recipe from a very yummy looking blog. I'll have to try more of her stuff soon!

ps not sure why i can't get rid of the italics.....

Teacher Fair

"To be wise, go out a meet people."

- African Proverb

How perfect is this quote. And it was today's - the day I had six interviews at the teacher fair.

Yesterday was spent navagating through tons of applicants to find schools/corporations with potential Health or Health/PE posting and then finding a time slot on the schools interview sign up to squeeze my name. Well, I made it onto six lists. After today, a few sound interesting a few are just not going to work out. If all else fails, I had a lot of practice talking and I certainly met and networked with a lot of people.

On to the thank you notes...

Quick Break to Blog

May 3rd

"Keep your eyes on your destination and not where you stumbled." 

- Nigerian Proverb

Over the last few weeks I have been cleaning my house in Indiana and I cleaned my closet in Minnesota. I've gathered 2 boxes full of junk and clothes hat I have accumulated over the last 23 years and priced it to sell in a garage sale.

One of the not so junky things I came across in my cleaning was an African Quote Calendar that Dad gave me a few years ago for Christmas (he always gives me a calendar - sometimes 2). This one rocks for a number of reasons:
- It doesn't have a year on it so it can be used over and over agian.
- Sometimes the translation of a traditional proverb is hilarious and makes no sense in English.

Today's quote seemed very fitting for this exact moment of my life. Since January, I have applied for 19 jobs (teaching and otherwise). I have 3 of them (all part time).

The count:
- 3 jobs
- 4 interviews
- 3 rejection letters
- 1 that called to set up an interview, didn't show for the interview, and never called back
- 1 that said I am in the second pile of potential candidates (in case no one from the first pile takes the job)
- 10 that I have yet to hear anything about. (I still have my fingers crossed on 2 of them!)

Tomorrow I am attending the Teacher Fair on campus and hope for the best. I have my list of top schools to talk to and a stack of resumes. I have a professional outfit picked out and plan on showing up confident but not cocky, mature but not stuffy, and flexible but not desperate.

I know I will be a great teacher. I wont be perfect and I know there will be days that I get frustrated. I know I will fail at times but I KNOW I can make a difference in the lives of students. I am passionate and competent and eager to keep learning. 

I will forget about the 16 stumbles and I will find a job, that I love - hopefully tomorrow :)