Your Four-Week Meal Plan

Over the past few weeks I have been using a Real Simple meal plan in the October issue.  It is so slick.  Five recipes along with a big shopping list are given per week.  I'm a leftovers type of person for lunch and dinner, so this has been absolutely wonderful to make a meal or two, have it for a few days, and also have ideas and ingredients on hand for guests or more special dinners.  We had the turkey burgers after my sister's Chaska meet, the Brussels sprouts and cheese ravioli with bacon when my grandparents came over, and the steak on the grill for a fun night in with Paul.  It has introduced me to some foods that I hadn't bought before, but will now- Udon noodles, shrimp, pork, pecans, radishes, yum.  I would say that my grocery trips have been more expensive, but two weeks of meal planning has lasted me since the end of September.  And some of my dinners have actually looked like these beautiful pictures.

This week I will try chicken paprikash, shrimp with white beans and toast, and balsamic-glazed pork with lentils.  No mushroom and herb strata or Asian beef and mango salad for me.  What Minnesotan should buy mango?

Week 1:  roasted tilapia, potatoes, and lemons

           Penne with tomatoes, eggplant, and mozzarella

           Turkey burgers with creamy romaine slaw

           Pork cutlets with spicy noodles

           Steak with roasted carrots and onions

Week 2:  curry shrimp and snow peas

           Lamb meatballs with couscous and Feta

           Red currant-glazed chicken with spinach

           Chorizo potato tacos with black bean salad

           Ravioli with Brussels sprouts and bacon

Let me know what you like and what you try!  I would say my favorites turned out to be the spicy pork noodles and the cheese ravioli with bacon and Brussels sprouts.

November 13th, 2010

Snow.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts:

The Thaw Collection of Native American Art.

and Embarrassment of Riches: Picturing Global Wealth

Then, Pork, sweet potatoes, carrot cake at Spoon River on Chicago.

Finally, Das Boot.

Books on Tape

I've tried listening to more books on tape this fall, and I must say it's created tons of positive reinforcement for all the driving I do.  I get to listen to a bit more of the story anytime I get in the car.  It's especially helpful when I don't want to stress out to or from school.  I can wake up or unwind very easily.


Currently I'm listening to Native Son by Richard Wright.  The narrator is riveting, creating quirks and personality for the characters with his many voices.  I remember listening to The Cuckoo's Child by Suzanne Freeman multiple times when I was young.  I loved the young narrator who read the story and could picture the setting and characters easily as she spun them.  Reading outloud was (and still, embarrassingly, is) a way for me to get into stories.  I think I am probably more auditory than I think, perhaps needing to get started in a novel by hearing the character's names and the story's places.


A running total this fall:

Wicked- please don't read OR listen to this...horrible.

The Lacuna

The Bean Trees- both by the masterful Barbara Kingsolver.  They are musts.

Where the Red Fern Grows- yep, cried in the car on the way to school one morning as it was finishing up.

The Glass Castle- unbelievable memoir.

Native Son

The Chaska Public Library has not had the greatest selection for books on tape, but I grab the things I recognize even I'm not in the mood for them at the time.  Each book is between 10 and 20 hours, and it's interesting how much of a part-time job driving is when you consider how fast those hours in the car add up!

Black Bean Chili with Chard- SERVED IN A SQUASH!

This is quintessential fall food!  I tried it this past weekend with two great friends (the kind that appreciates quaint details like scalloped edges around an acorn squash bowl and the colors of chard, kidney beans, and tomato-soaked onions). 
 

Chili:
Heat 2 T oil in large stock pot
Saute 3 cloves garlic with 2 1/2 c. onions slowly until golden, about 9 minutes
Stir in squash chunks [we skipped this part because we baked our bowls]
Add 2 T. chili powder, 2 t. cumin *other spices to try- coriander, rosemary, cinnamon
Add 3 cans beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with juices, vegetable broth, bring to boil
Stir in one small bunch of chard and simmer for 4 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
Top with your favorite chili things- cilantro, red onions, sour cream, cheddar cheese


Squash Bowls:
heat oven to 400 F.
Halve squash and rub with butter or olive oil.  Sprinkle with spices and/or brown sugar
Put halved acorn squash face down in a deep broiler sheet with about an inch of water.  Continue replenishing water every 15 minutes or so for 40-45 minutes.


Serve with homemade bread, salad, Crispin, and Amy and Emma, and you have a treat!

Half Marathon

Over the weekend, Laura B. and I trekked down to Iowa for the promised half marathon in Mason City.  Laura, Nicole, who had worked with Laura at Woodstock, her sister Amy, and I had decided this while on a 17,000 ft. mountaintop in India together.  The race was a benefit for a local Catholic school.  Nope, no connections- just wanted to run 13. 1 miles- wherever.  The weekend was too short, but a reminder of how great of a connection we had on our travels together in July. 

Because Laura and I didn't preregister, we got a shirt that was too big, a number with a great big red slash through it, NO socks, and NO sausage  (sounds like a great race pack, eh?).  We met Amy, Nicole, and Amy's roommate Aimee in our hotel and drove the course.  Some of it we had to approximate, because it was on local trails, but for the most part it looked flat, wide, and not ALL pavement.  The race highlighted what puts Mason City on the map- a start line at Music Man Square (yes, 76 trombones hanging from the ceiling), and a scenic view of the Frank Lloyd Wright house and its neighborhood replicas. 

The evening before we ordered food from an Italian joint (I opened up Nicole's race sausage)

decorated T-shirts, the caption: "From India (17,000 ft)...to Iowa (1,100 ft)." 

and hennaed our calves.  Laura created an interpretation of the course, which looked like a little paisley.

The evening was comfortable and we headed for bed, feeling "warm and puffy," around 9:00.

Race-Day:
6:45 Up and at 'em.  Breakfast.  Tried to pack in some yogurt, oatmeal, banana, boiled egg, but only a small portion of each.
7:15 Dressed in our racing finest.  Weather is cool with a small breeze, yet almost humid.  Perfect for running.
7:45 Depart for high school to catch shuttle to start line.  I sat next to a guy who smelled like a crusty bar and looked like death.  He was looking forward to running.  "Anything's gotta feel better than this hangover."
9:00 Prayer and air horn in our ears.  Vamos!
9:30 3 miles down and feeling great- starting out slow, remember?  Slow and steady...
10:00 6...feeling great.  Starting to get passed by marathoners who started an hour before us.
10:10 7...feeling great.  More than halfway.  I start to think, "I could do a full."
10:30 9...feeling great.  Lots of great neighborhood cheerers and signs.
11:00 Almost done.  I start to think, "I would not want to be doing a full today."
11:05:26 Cross the finish line accompanied by my name, big push to the end, feeling great!
11:06 Wrapped in the big aluminum foil blanket, feeling loopy and teary, jelly legs.

After finding each other post race, we showered, changed, and wore out medals to a Mexican restaurant.  The fried ice cream was perfect.

India, Day 2- Delhi to Leh

Quoted from my travel journal (the tenses are weird to figure out on a blog).

"Yesterday at 2:30 am or so I was just starting to fall asleep at the Eurostar in Delhi with Nan.  Her train was late because a huge tree had fallen on the tracks and they had to clear it in the middle of a storm before they could continue.  We only had one hour before needing to get up for our flight to Leh.  At 4:00 am we met Chris and Nicole Farley, two staff members at Woodstock, and Nicole's sister, Amy.  We are all going on the trek together.  We piled into a hired taxi and started driving to the domestic airport in Delhi.  It was crowded even at that hour of the morning, and people were sleeping on the circular benches that surrounded pillars.  We took a bus to the tarmac, boarded the plane, and took our respective window seats (from Laura and Jed Bunkowski's recommendation).  The flight was 50 minutes, and after being served our natural lime soda and getting through the thick pink smog over Delhi, we waited in anticipation for the Himilayas.  They came out of the clouds eventually as razor sharp points, and the clouds gave way so we could see the lakes, ice and snow, and valleys of these huge mountains.  I was amazed the first time we saw a little green in the valleys , and more surprised to see villages that seemed to grow bigger as we approached Leh.  We landed and stepped off the steps of the plane to breathe in the noticeably thinner mountain air.  The sun felt a bit harsher, but the weather was lovely and a good break from Delhi's (haha I just typed Helhi and it kind of works) 100 degree nights.  We were greeted by a Ladakhi woman at the airport and began to fill out immigration forms.

775, 787, 788

A cab was waiting for us and we began the dusty grind up the hill to the Padma Guest House.  People filled up the streets and tiny cars squeezed barely by.  I was in wide-eyed observation and wonder, and with the impression that the world was so very big at that moment.  Mountains hugged the landscape in every direction, all brown on one side and snow-capped on the other.  A lorry brought our suitcases inside the gates of what seemed to be guesthouse-central.  We walked through our gate and saw white buildings with cherry-trimmed windows, balconies with chairs, an orchard and garden, and our friend Kate waving to us from the veranda cafe and lounge.  We had milk tea as we got over our shock and awe of the beauty and filled out more immigration forms.  It didn't feel Westernized, but the simple beauties felt local and honest.

792, 793

We were checked into our room- one window had a view of the mountains, 2 chairs, an ornately carved Tibetan table, and two twin mattresses pushed together to form a firm queen-sized bed.  Our room is padlocked from the outside and is attached to a bathroom with standing shower, sink, and toilet.  After unpaking a little bit, we feel asleep until 2:30 pm or so and then got dressed for tea and soup on the veranda.

our room pic

We walked into town later to Il Forno (The Oven) that promised to serve the best Indian, Italian, Israeli, and Chinese food.  The specialty was the large brick oven for woodfired pizza.  All but 2 of us had pizza; I had Dum Aloo: potatoes in a cooked chunky sauce with Garlic Nan (bread).  SO GOOD.  The sun set over out roof-top perch and the changing colors in the city below us were so beautiful.  We could see Leh palace from where we sat.  With the sun gone came the cold, and we walked home and went to bed early."

800, 802, 804, 806

India, Day 1- Minneapolis to Delhi.

Before heading off on my trip there were the usual last minute rushes.  I had forgotten a swim-suit and my Keens in Princeton (the Keens I drove back for after remembering in Rogers) and had trouble coordinating waterproof pants with my sister.  All my luggage was strewn over the living room and put into piles.

Mom and I stopped at REI so I could pick up some rainpants.  The only pair they had in my size were $90 Marmots.  Too bad.  When we get home I would be interested in looking up a phenomenon that my mom and I experienced.  Unbelieveably, we started shopping for headpands, Timbuktu bags, and Buffs when we should have been racing to the airport!  We likened it to someone who might feel the need to clean out their drawers during finals week- something controllable.

In Amsterdam there are a lot of colorful saris, head dressings, and talkative people.  Already, I have made two friends sitting next to me on my flight to Delhi.  They are both Indian and speak so much about how they love their country.  "There's nothing like it."  The landscapes and "mountains," they say, just aren't the same in the U.S.  We exchanged email addresses before navigating the world of customs, baggage, and taxis. 

1. customs- not a problem.  Stamped me through even though I filled out some immigration details kind of sloppily.  I followed a mother/daughter team from Louisiana and tagged along with their cues.

2. baggage- I was afraid it wasn't there for a few scary minutes, and then found it as I searched in the overflow section. :/

3. cabs- I walked up a ramp of sings with hotel names and customer names.  I went by 3 times before consenting to the fact that MR. MAN ONTTA meant me!  I had called Nan from my new friend Vheba's phone.  I found my driver in no time after that.  Once I stepped outside the airport, it was very clear that I was in a different place. 

-tiny cabs and cars for the most part, some resembling buggies or "deedledees" (JULIA!)
-dogs and cows roaming streets
-an all-consuming heat!  It was 100 degrees around midnight.  Coffee on the last flight was not a good plan- up at 1 am.

Left MSP 5:00 pm
Arrived AMS 8:40 am (1:00 am MSP time)
Left AMS 11:40 am (4:00 am MSP time)
Arrived DEL 12:00 am (around 12:00 noon!)

Sooooo, I'm up.

June 16, 2010

It came!  Hoooo my gosh now I can relax and not worry about forefeiting my wonderfully expensive ticket.

A Proud Fan.

Please note my newest blog favorite to discover of what.  Ariane and I watched episode 4 tonight.  So good!  There was a TAT-getting on this one.  One vice: there are far (far, FAR!) too many outbursts of song on this episode.  A capella, guitar, improvised, alcohol and/or love induced-- enough to make me curl up and walk right out of the room.  I really can't watch these people's faces when they sing badly.  It's really horrifying to me.

--

I spent another day in Jordan today.  Yesterday I attacked the filing cabinet and all the curriculum materials to get thinking, and then today I started in on the actual organization of costumes, materials, and instruments.  Mostly, there is just SO MUCH of everything; posters, games, hats/wigs, textbooks, on and on.

The tally of totally misused and abused instruments is as follows:
1 flute
3 (2 real, 1 plastic) clarinets
2 (1 real, 1 plastic) alto saxophones
1 tenor saxophone
1 trumpet
1 cornet
2 trombones
174 jingle bells
3009 recorders

Other findings of note...
Coconut bra
An actually awesome cartoon of Beethoven wearing headphones
"Meet Osmo" promo video from the Minnesota Orchestra.  Hm...
A sheet of classroom rules that includes # 20. No sitting in the closet to do worksheets and #21. Football.

I'm starting to look at colors for the room.  The office walls are bright blue, Ms. DeCorsey's office has been bubble gum pink and is now red and royal blue- I'm thinking she meant it when she said "make it your own!"  I hope that I can have the walls painted and carpet cleaned by the time I get back from India.  As far as Jordan Ace Hardware color goes, "Crippled Creek" is a peacock blue winner.  With a corresponding, slightly lighter color for the accent walls.  Perhaps "Brighton Beach" or "Over the Rainbow."  Fun job idea: writing color names for Benjamin Moore.  For teachers out there thinking about painting their room, at least look at this, this, or this before assuming that yellow makes for cheery 3rd graders.  For devine colors, look on.

I'm looking for a blue...

And this is my color family...             

Off to read the beautiful A Fine Balance.  This novel has it all, and is totally teasing me as an English major: Mistry uses crazy symmetry, understatement/minimalism, yet 500 pages, beautiful symbolism, messages about society that I can't quite come to terms with yet.  I need to chat with someone about this, really.

 

A worthwhile crime:

...from our neighbors' bush to my nightstand.

Sunday, June 13th

Last night I visited the Rangel's household for a BBQ get together of friends new and old.  The Lutherfolk began talking about forming the much-anticipated "Nordic Alumni Choir," and we spent some funny moments on dictionary.com searching for words with pronouncable Norwegian couterparts that would have something to do with our experiences.  The Rosas/Brockshus team had some good ones.


We are in need of Anna Scholtz for this project- and put the group name on hold until we have some help.  I say the next Nordic wedding that occurs, we get together and sing with as many alums as possible.


I am missing Wilderness a little bit.  It is a place that really sticks with you when you aren't near it.  For some reason, I picture staff members congregating in the entryway of Pinecliff more than any other scene.  I see the mostly nighttime activities of teeth being brushed and headlamps clicked on as clumps of staff head off to bed or start a late night game of cards.  There are other things, too, that I remember and miss.

 -the sounds of Pinecliff's lacquered benches scraping across the floor as we hungrily wait to eat.
-the feeling of packing on the night before a canoe trip; the most supreme multi-tasking I think exists.
-putting together the food for the trip and locking the red and blue Duluth packs into the locker.
-taking what feel like the same treks around Fishhook over and over and over again.
-feeling like a mother duck to the tiny (tiny) ones.
-the trip's first paddle stroke off of main dock, which starts the week-long journey from dread into pride and joyfulness and familiarity.

 

It all has a slightly dingy but happy glow about it.  Paul has been reminding me of the nostalgia of it all- and he feels it too because of his shift in perspective this year.  I hope to visit Wilderness and carry some canoes after I get back and settled from India: I'm thinking July 16th or 17th through the 23rd or 24th.
Tomorrow: visit JES, prep for Jen's wedding, and India planning!

Research: Where to live.

Trying to find a place to live has been slow-going and puzzling.  It's brought me to craigslist, rent.com, and facebook, so I can plead on an individualized basis with friends I know to be looking.  My principals are looking out for me and have put emails out to the staff on my behalf.  I have even gone so far as to sign up for a roommate profile online.  There are normals out there, right?  These are my possible future homes.


Chaska- Home to the Jonathan community.  Driving north on 41 back to Plymouth was really a lovely drive, passing through Deephaven and then Minnetonka.  The places I've been looking at are townhomes near Lake Grace with walking/biking trails and an association that seems to care about the community.  Near the University's Arboretum, good school district, and a pretty area with trees and windy roads.
commute: 10 miles

Shakopee- there have been several offers from fellow teachers to live in townhomes in Shakopee, home to Canterbury and Valleyfair.
commute: 11 miles

Chanhassen- home to...the dinner theater?
commute: 17 miles

Eden Prairie- close to whatever- 494, 212
commute: 20 miles

Jordan- perhaps I've been there done that with the small town thing.  Have Decorah and Princeton been enough?

KG??

moving...

I've recently accepted an elementary school position in Jordan, MN. Which means, well, lots of things.


-leaving my stellar one-in-a-million roommate, Ariane.
-leaving the high school teaching learning curve for another one.
-the chance to feel like a permanent employee with colleagues, students, and parents. And not really competing with the loyalty of the previous (ahem) one.
-many many more options for evening activities. Walk around the lake or arboretum? Trip to the Y? Dinner at Istanbul? Sure.
-Being closer to Paul, a perk that rides atop my list.


Life is a-changin' this month and next. I will be starting new adventures on August 1st and ready to move in to a new place (garage, hardwood floors, 2 BR, roommate, dishwasher, and close to trails and the Cities, please?). Hmmm...


This means that I've begun the cumbersome and somewhat awkward search for an apartment in the Chaska, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie area. I quickly banished Jordan from my list, based on the terrible experience I had with craigslist and rent.com properties (read: mouse poop, slanted floors and ceilings, and exorbitant prices). It was kind of a cute outing, both my parents and sister tagged along, the new Garmin in hand, punching in 3 digit small-town addresses.


Ariane and I have been in denial that we're moving, but it's happening.


I am in need of a summer hobby, and I thought that blogging could be it. We'll see where things go!

Reflective Journal #3:

Well everyone, we are officially in the sixth week of the semester- I love that the weeks are moving fast and the weather is getting cooler (but not too cold yet!!). Today's REFLECTIVE WRITING is all about ME :), and all the planning and ideas that I have running through my head about my college education plan. I recently sat down the other day and made some big decisions about my college experience. I picked out a minor in addition to education, I chose a time for my recital, and I decided on a student-teaching semester. These were all things that have been racing around in my head for a long time, and it felt good to get them all nailed down. When I reflect back to my initial search for universities and colleges to attend, I am so glad that I decided to pick a liberal arts college. Where else would I be able to have a vocal music performance major and a double minor in education and english? I was highlighting classes that look interesting in the new academic catologue not too long ago, and there are too many to fit inside my next five semesters. I think I'm going to end up taking some classes at the University of Minnesota this and next summer- my mom did it as a young adult and really encourages me to pursue an academic lifestyle of life-long learning. We talk about this in Ed. Psych a lot; it is important to practice a life of curiousity and ambition, and subsequently pass these values on to students. I think about my senior Modern Problems teacher; her goals in life are to become a Fullbright scholar, travel and teach all over the world, and continue to acquire degrees after degrees. In short, "when she grows up" she wants to be a student, which I really really admire. SO- my point of today's journal is to annouce- I FINALLY FEEL ORGANIZED AND IN CONTROL OF MY NEXT 2 YEARS AT LUTHER! I am an English minor, and I am going to take classes at the U of M to keep on learning about things I am interested in. Woohoo. Sorry, there is no fanciful transition here into my INTERVIEW section. Today I met with my advisor, Sandra Peter. I had some general questions about completing a music-ed major at Luther. We talked about recitals, student teaching, and about getting "the first job." I asked her many questions about her experiences and about the benefits and drawbacks to certain decisions about teaching. I've wondered since I came to Luther about the 8th v. 9th semester student teaching option. What is right for me? I've always assumed that it would be beneficial to student teach in a semester where I can see how a classroom is set up and established in September. I always thought that coming in to a new classroom in February would be disruptive, and I wouldn't be able to see how the classroom had changed and progressed throughout the year. I spoke to Mrs. Peter about this, but she seemed to think that the experience of student teaching, no matter where or when, is a very beneficial experience. "When you get your first job, you just end up figuring it out," Sandra told me. What she said really makes sense with what we've been hearing in Ed. Psych. We will probably learn more in our student teaching semester and our first year of our first job than in all the education classes throughout college. In the end, if I decide to do an 8th semester, I will figure out how to establish rules and expectations for a class in September. My attitude these days is that I just want to get done with my degree and get started with the rest of my life. Just because I have been on this kick about Luther and decisions that we as students are beginning to make, I will reivew education.luther.edu for my WEBSITE REVIEW. Absolutely everything we need to succeed (and graduate) from Luther's education program is offered here. I printed out a music education planner and was able to plan out my years; I was informed of the application to the education program and found forms to apply; I looked at stellar student websites, and I was able to answer some general questions about the music education program. One thing to note- some of the course numbers listed on this site are NOT updated from our new course catalogues, just keep this in mind when you're using the academic planners and the wrong numbers are listed. We as Luther students should learn to be familiar with this website, because it is going to serve as a crucial resource for us in the coming semesters. Play around on it today!

Reflective Journal #2: Thinking About Location

You hear it all the time, "location, location, location." Lately I have been thinking about this phrase as it relates to my teaching future. I'd like to start today's REFLECTIVE WRITING out with some thoughts about "location" (I guess that would be obvious my looking at my title). I hold such high esteem for the west suburban schools that I grew up in, and to contribute to that area as a teacher is something I am very interested in. However, when I learn about urban city schools and the need they have for strong teachers and the development of strong programs, I wonder if it is my calling to teach in St. Paul, Minneapolis, or Chicago. Talking to Danny Lee has really put into perspective the inbalance of resources that inner-city schools have in comparison to suburban ones. "Do the thing you think you cannot do," you sometimes hear. Teaching in a familiar environment where I can learn through modeling how to teach effectively would benefit me a lot early on in my teaching career. But what about the notion of "flooding," being tossed into an experience without anything but your own resources to help you? What if on the first day of teaching you walked into a wild classroom that was behind academically to their peers? What if you were the one who needed to revolutionize the school and turn the student body around? I think of movies like Sister Act and Lean on Me and the amazing work that teachers are capable of.
I actally had a discussion about this with my friend Ryan at lunch yesterday. I'm going to cite parts of our conversation for my INTERVIEW section. He told me "there is no doubt in my mind that I am supposed to live and work in the Iowan Midwest when I'm older." We talked for a while about having this mind-set of wanting to stay where you are comfortable. "Is it close-minded?" we wondered. I know that I want to stay in the suburban suburbs of Minneapolis to teach. But would it be worth it to see the world and experience different atmospheres before deciding on the ideal? Ryan said there is something romantic about moving all over the country or world to experience and learn and grow. But is it fair to say that remaining where you grew up to build a career and a family is boring? I look also to the director of Nordic, Dr. Craig Arnold. He worked at Luther in the 1980's, and left for the East coast for fifteen years before returning again to the top post. Should teachers be able to build their program (and I'm talking specifically music teachers here...) elsewhere before they return to their ideal location? These are the thoughts that have been running through me lately. OK, finally we'll go to my INTERNET SITE REVIEW. I visited nea.org, the website for the National Endowment for the Arts. I read a lot about No Child Left Behind legislation in this website, and their call to reform the laws relating to education. As future teachers, all Ed Psychsters need to be informed about NCLB and how it will affect their jobs and their students in the future. I know I don't know enough about NCLB to have a strong opinion. Here's what I have observed. Most teachers do not support the law- why is this? My boyfriend, a College Republican and a conservative, claims that teachers do not support the legislation because teachers become more accountable and are under more pressure to deliver results. My opinion on it is this: why wouldn't teachers want their students to succeed? Why wouldn't they want to deliver top notch test scores and successful student reports to their states? I can't name a teacher who doesn't want this. I think the problems arise when testing and standardization become the MOST important thing in a school system. Standardized testing is not everything. Also, fun fact. Under the current expectations for the law, did you know that every school in the United States will be labeled "failing" by the year 2012? Food for thought. Ciao.
Oh PS- I went to a phenomenal poetry reading by Carol Gilbertson. Her language and her words really spoke. NOW I know the woman on the main page of the Luther webpage! Does anyone know any symptoms of a stress fracture? (Quite the subject switch, but I'm worried and wondering).

Reflective Journal #1: A First Attempt

Today is my first attempt at this Ed. Psych journal thing. I guess I'll do this in order, so I don't forget anything. So, first off, INTERNET SITE REVIEW. Well, with the recommendations of Paige Brandt's blog, I visited ArtsEdge, a site on the music links page of educationindex.com. This site was created by the Kennedy Center in DC, and it seems to be a really great resource for teachers. I visited the teaching section and was able in seconds to look up complete lesson plans and search for them by age and subject. I flitted around the site and became more and more impressed with the design and the offerings it boasted. I read about National Standards and their levels of achievement. I found a great article not just for music teachers about the ways that music can be integrated into other parts of the school day. I would definitely recommend this website to new and old teachers alike, as well as the developing ones in Ed Psych! Check this one out, people. There is lots of information on all forms of art education including theater, dance, and the visual arts. I could use this information to help my classroom stay focused on National Standards and to keep classroom ideas fresh and meaningful. REFLECTIVE WRITING (sorry, no fanciful transition here). I think all the time about my future classroom and how I want it to run. More importantly, I think about the students inside that classroom and the skills and values I want them to take from my teaching. I want to be a choir director; some might think that there are only limited skills to learn and teach as a choral director. I obviously disagree because I have experienced firsthand the amount of growth and development that accompany being part of a choir. Being in a choir teaches the importance of dedication, practice, and self-discipline. It places people inside of a community where the group is more important than the individual. A choir encourages responsibility and feeds an enjoyment of aesthetic experiences. I really could go on and on with the value and worthiness of skills learned in a choir (bands and orchestras too). This summer and when I was home during my first year of college, I helped the WMEB (Wayzata Music Education Boosters). Our school district's elementary band and orchestra program was cut recently, and the booster group's cause is essentially to bring back an expectation for children to be a part of music. After three years of hard work, fundraising, and advocacy, in the fall of 2006, the elementary orchestra program will be reinstated in Wayzata schools. Woohoo! Music is for everyone, they say. It is not for the people who have perfect pitch or have been taking viola lessons since birth. The brain that develops with the company of music is more logical, is more spatially intelligent, and ingrains basic learning and comprehension skills. I wrote my senior paper on all this in high school, but that's for another entry, I think. I just want to introduce y'all to my passion that music education is for EVERYONE and is vitally important for our learners, thinkers, and culture of today and tomorrow. Last, but certainly not least, I take you to the INTERVIEW SECTION. I discussed with a few of my residents this week about their 9/11 experiences, similar to the discussions we had in class the other day. Every person knew exactly where they were on that morning, and could tell me in great detail about what they had experienced. I asked them about the ways their teachers dealt with the day, and for the most part, the girls had good experiences. Most teachers allowed the students the rest of the day to reflect and watch the news, a select few used the the incident as a tool for discussion and questioning, and only one teacher I heard about tried to ignore the situation and brush it aside until the students left for the day. We can compare our experience during 9/11 with the experiences, perhaps, of our grandparents during Pearl Harbor. I have asked my grandma about this day, and she can tell me in detail where she was and what she thought about. For major traumas like these that happen during a school day, children will not only remember what happened, but how others around them reacted. It's really important for us as future teachers to think about the ramifications we will have on students' memories and what lessons they will be learning from us as we react during stress or trauma. This is just a reminder for myself to write about Danny Lee, Eric, and my conversation from Wednesday for next time (purpose of education and effective evaluation of students). Peace out! "Out of tune to singing is like bad breath to conversation. The content may be good, but it still smells." -Dr. Arnold, 9/8/05

Nordic

Today was my first rehearsal with Nordic choir, an ensemble of 72. After a week (well, actually 4 months) of callbacks and stress, I was finally and unbelievably there, among others who shared my passion for choir.
Long story short, I was overwhelmed by the amount of engaged participants in the room. Dr. Arnold commanded attention and respect, and we were drawn into his world of vowel shapes and beautiful diction. I loved the way he said in so many words, "I am not Weston Noble. This choir will be different, and I do not wish to compare it to what some of you have known. Let's accept that fact right now." I admire the way that he won't accept less than exellence; we discovered that as we warmed up on do-re-mi-fa-sol and "My country 'tis of thee." "Think of the possibilities," he told us, "if we set our bars high and understand that we can ALWAYS improve." It charged me to know that I was in a room with enormous potential, more than I had perhaps ever experienced, and I will be a part of that for an hour five days a week.
We began with a piece by Z. Randall Stroope, material that had been used in callbacks. It must be for Christmas at Luther or something. When he (finally) asked us to read our own parts, I had to stop singing for a moment. It was unbelievably gorgeous, and a first-time read through like I had never experienced. A high-school performance times 10 on the first go.

"You are the choir I will remember," Dr. Arnold said. I didn't think about it too much, but it's true- we are part of a historical premiere that will be remembered in the choral community for many years to come. I am so blessed to be a part of this.

Visit to Big Birch

Today we visited my grandfather in his nursing home, St. Benedict Center, in St. Cloud. When we arrived my grandma was in the middle of telling him a story from his childhood that had been reprinted in the Chisolm Times. Hail the size of men's heads had fallen from the sky over 70 years ago. My grandpa was commenting about how big the hail actually was, and how he hid from the hail in his cellar. To give a little background, my grandfather has had multiple strokes, and he simply is not the same sharp witted man that he used to be.
I was looking at the sheets and pictures posted around his room. Instruction sheets that said things like, "Richard swam for 35+ years at the veteran's center (VERY STRONG)" or, "Andre Boccelli and classical music will calm him" also, "Once a fighter pilot in WW2, crashed his plane in the South Pacific." Although I turned toward this wall to avoid crying in the cramped and awkward space, I noticed that his whole life seemed to have marginalized into a page of statements of these kind of facts- good conversation points and distractions, it seemed, to help with difficult patients.
My family was visiting my grandfather before taking my grandmother to her family's lake home, a place she had not revisited for any length of time in the past five years. It was a favorite place of my grandpa's. When he found out where we were going, he spoke incoherently, and asked questions about going home, coming with us to the cabin, and always referred back to the head-sized-hail. "Can I go home?" he asked. I remember when my grandma told him that they were moving from their home in the historic district of St. Cloud; he cried and cried, he loved his house so. His children grew up there, he built and painted and fixed. I know when he asked to go home he was asking to go to 223 South Street, not the new townhouse that my grandma now lived in. Grandpa asked where the group of us was going. We told him, and he said, "Well, I'm not doing anything..." "I could go with you..." Although he seems emotionally unattached, I think he is very present and aware that he is left out a lot of the time.
The day at the cabin was like usual- mowing the long grass, repairing the dock, reconstructing the beach, and then after an afternoon of work, a picnic lunch and windsurfing. We taught Phe how to run and jump off the dock after a stick. After a while, she started to jump off the dock for the heck of it; like a little kid off the diving board.
I kept thinking back to my grandpa- how much I miss the old him, and how much it hurts to see him deteriorate. I guess you'd have had to know my grandpa when he was well to understand how hard of a situation this was, He is so dependent on others now, something that I know he doesn't like, but really can't help.