>See you in my dreams!

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>Sleep like a baby? The person who coined that phrase wasn’t a new mom or dad. The phrase should really read “sleep like a rabbit.” Rabbits, like cats, never suffer from insomnia.

Buttercup is as stretched out as she can be and still fit under the table. Yes, she’s that big. She’s waiting for me to go away with the camera, already, so she can nap.

Peanut and Sadie snuggle in a sunspot on their favorite blanket. These tiny bunnies are peeking at the photographer, but they’re not worried. That’s because La Petite took the picture, and she’s their “mama.” They know she’s a safe person.

Remember Tiny Bunny? He could find his way into the strangest places. He napped almost anywhere, too. It’s true, bunnies never have a problem finding a good place for naptime.

Parent Bloggers Network asks about the creative excuses kids use to postpone their bedtimes. My kids are 22 and 17; I’m more concerned about getting them out of bed before noon! The new light goodies from sylvania still look mighty nice. I’m sure the bunnies would enjoy them.

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>Book to self connections.

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>As kids learn to read the words and understand the content, we help them move beyond the basic levels of comprehension by making connections: Book to self, book to book, and book to world.

Sometimes that spills over into my pleasure reading. I was reading Revolutionary Road and as poor Frank Wheeler faced his desk at work I could envision my own. He had an inbox, an outbox, and a stack of papers he referred to as “…stack of things he couldn’t face.”

Mine are more of a to-do and a ta-dah! basket, with the anything in the ta-dah! basket heading directly to its destination. Sounds efficient, right? Well, maybe. But I still have a “…stack of things I can’t face…” sitting next to the computer. In addition, the actual to-do basket has to wait until the planning and grading are done.

Eventually, it all gets caught up, and I can go home and read again.

If I read enough Harry Potter, maybe I’ll find a wand that will help me vanish the stack of things I can’t face.

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>Spring Fever Rhubarb Crunch

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>You’re right, I made this in March. In Wisconsin in March. I made this recipe the day after a snowstorm that dropped five inches of wet, heavy white stuff on us.
I keep rhubarb in the freezer. When it’s ripe and I can’t bake it quickly enough, I dice it and freeze it in one-cup portions. To make this recipe I needed six (6!) cups. Here’s the recipe and the play-by-play commentary.

1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel
2 tablespoons orange juice
6 cups diced rhubarb (about 1 1/2 pound)
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
2 slices white or whole wheat bread, cut into quarters
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, macadamia nuts, or almonds
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger or nutmeg (I used both, 1/8 teaspoon of each))
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter

1. For filling: In a large bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, orange peel and orange juice. My rhubarb was so juicy when it thawed, I wondered if I should skip the juice. I didn’t. Add rhubarb; gently toss until coated. Let the rhubarb mixture stand about 15 minutes or until a syrup forms, stirring occasionally.
2. Using the 1 tablespoon butter, generously coat the bottom and sides of an 8X8X2 inch baking dish (2 quart square). Set the baking dish aside. I had supper in the oven (homemade mac & cheese, mmm), so I put the pan in the oven to let the butter melt.) Set aside.

3. This is the part I changed from the original. I used the right ingredients, but I prepared it a little differently. Place a steel blade in a food processor. Add bread quarters, pecans, graham crackers, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Pulse a few times until mixture is crumbly. Somehow, it didn’t seem worthwhile to get out my large and heavy food processor for just two slices of bread, so I threw in the whole thing. It worked like a dream, creating a nice and even and aromatic crumble.

-Okay, we take a break here because I did when I baked this for the first time. As soon as I set aside the baking dish and the rhubarb syrup mix and made the crumble, my mac & cheese was ready. I set all three pieces of the dessert aside and had supper with my kids. After supper I finished the rhubarb crunch, put it in the oven, and cleaned up the supper dishes. Maybe that’s why I….never mind. I’ll get to that.

4. Evenly scatter 1/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with the rhubarb mixture. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over the rhubarb. Drizzle melted butter over all. Oh, no! I just took the finished dish out of the oven and realized that I completely forgot the melted butter!

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Serves 6 — or 4, with a little left over for lunches tomorrow.

I found this recipe in the April issue of Midwest Living Magazine. They suggest modifications such as mixing berries such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries with rhubarb, substituting 1 1/2 cups of berries for the same amount of rhubarb. I suggest increasing the amount of sugar; mine was a little tart.
They also suggest not forgetting the butter. I won’t tell the family if you won’t.

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>March Madness in a Teacher’s Life

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>It might be March if I spend more time answering parent emails than I do correcting and recording papers.

It must be March if the kids are so over-energetic and unfocused that we jump at any opportunity for a field trip, no matter where and what it is.

It must be March if teachers are drinking coffee and tea at staff meetings after school — with full caffeine!

It must be March if there’s an argument between teachers, principals, and playground staff over who needs to hold kids in for recess — because the kids behaved badly for all!

It must be March when a few low-seniority teachers actually feel lucky to be headed for lay-off.

It must be March when the secretary makes an extra pot of coffee in the office and it’s gone by first morning recess.

It must be March when teachers actually want to take a sick day.

It must be March when you hear muttering in the lounge about inventing a Ritalin salt-lick.

It might be March when people on the calendar committee deny they had anything to do with scheduling the later-than-usual Spring Break.

It must be March when classroom teachers start looking at crisis intervention training as a necessity, not an option.

It must be March when the specialists close their doors and say, “I’m glad I’m not a regular classroom teacher!”

And finally, it must be March when teachers start to plan how to get even on April Fools Day!

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>Inch by inch, Green is a cinch.

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>BlogHer asked members to comment on ways they’ve been “greening” their lifestyles. The post has a sponsor, of course. Doesn’t everybody? I started to comment, realized I’d forgotten my password, and vowed to come back. As time passed and life went on, I couldn’t help but think that my recent Green Growth couldn’t possibly fit in a comment box.

You can tell from my blogs’ names that I’m an environmentalist at heart. Compost Happens, A Mother’s Garden of Verses… no doubt about this blogger’s philosophies. Not at all. Then look through the archives: start with Mom’s Playing in the Dirt Again! and then check out others under the labeles of garden and It’s not easy being green. Green isn’t just a color; it’s a way of life.

I’m not “crunchy” green in the hippy sense, though. I gave in to Husband’s desire to hire a lawn service. We use a clothes dryer, not a clothesline. Our home is air conditioned, although in our part of Wisconsin we are fortunate not to need it often. I drive a minivan, too. Hey, I’m a mom of a teen and college student. We’re always filling the back of the minivan with someone or something.

The pale olive comparison (see above) is here so readers will know that green, like any lifestyle, has limits and levels. Seriously, it’s easier than many people think. Teacher friends like to say “Inch by inch, learning’s a cinch. Yard by yard, learning’s hard.” Incorporating environmental actions step by step, inch by inch, can be easy.

I garden. This section of lawn doesn’t grow grass, doesn’t need mowing, doesn’t need any chemicals. It provides delicious and fresh vegetables for much of the summer.
We compost. Composting is easy, it cuts down on our family garbage, and it produces a nice soil additive each spring for the garden.
We conserve energy by using a programmable thermostat, minimizing the use of the clothes dryer, washing clothes in warm or cold water, and more.
There are more, many more, environmentally friendly practices in my home and family. Really, it’s quite easy to bring green living practices into everyday use.

Back to the top. It would be cheating to simply list the above practices in the comment box on BlogHer’s question. These are not new; they’re habits we’ve built into our lives for years. New and recent additions in my family’s eco-conscious behaviors do exist. For example:

We stopped buying paper napkins last fall. I keep them on hand (well, we haven’t used up the package that was in the pantry when I set this goal!), but we have switched almost 100% to cloth napkins. This was a frugal choice: I bought the first set from a store’s going out of business sale, and picked up a set of holiday napkins in new condition from a thrift store before Christmas. I wash them with the rest of the dirty clothes and towels each weekend – no extra laundry, no additional water/ heat energy used. This decision was so easy I wonder why I didn’t start years ago!

I set a goal last fall of buying No New Wrapping Paper. My family resisted a little, so I didn’t push it on them, but I predict they’ll come around. I reuse gift bags, make tags from last year’s cards, and collect rather than recycle packing material. It worked; I bought no new wrapping paper, and (don’t tell them I noticed), my family didn’t come home with any new paper, either.

My husband and I make a conscious effort to pay attention to buying local, especially in foods. That’s tough in a cold climate like ours, and we’re hoping to freeze more of our garden produce in order to avoid buying produce imported from out of the country. This is a nutrition decision as well as a commitment to minimizing our carbon footprint, as well as noting that local and fresh simply tastes better.

So, BlogHers, are you satisfied with my contribution? I almost hope not. I’m committed to living lightly on the earth, and there are many easy ways to lighten my footprint. In my future I predict a second compost bin, a rain barrel or two for the garden, and possibly a food dehydrater to make the most of my garden yield. Spinning the rabbits’ shedded fur into yarn might not be possible, but I know that inch by inch, my family and I will weave the green consciousness into action.

And action, after all, is what environmentalism is about.

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>Ah, Friday. Friday!!

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What a week! I found myself honestly including clip art in almost all of my emails. When I realized which search terms I’d used, I had to laugh. It was semi-hysterical laughter, of course, with the underlying, “How long is it until spring break??”
To reschedule a parent-teacher conference involving four staff members: circus. It’s true: step right up! Take a look at the drama in the center ring as we try to meld four conference schedules and find one common time that fits the parent’s (narrow) request!
I responded to an email from a co-teacher on the subject of another parent who is so in denial that she has one foot in Egypt: scream.

After we finally got across the tightrope of scheduling by working out a time with three out of four teachers, followed by a time slot when two out of four can continue if needed: relief. This search term got me a batch of buildings and maps, though, thinking of “relief” as texture or architecture, so I tried relax. That did the trick.

In response to a coworker having a rough week: “Could be worse; we could be out of coffee!” Of course, the keyword was coffee.
I wonder what will turn up in the email today? Hm, maybe I really don’t want to know.

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>A rohs by any other name

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>The names have been changed to protect the innocent – and the outrageous.

I received the following note from a parent:

“It really bothers my daughter Preschusz that her name is misspelled so often. It should be P-R-E-S-C-H-U-S-Z, not PRECIOUS.”

What I wanted to write:

Dere Mrs. Preshus’ Mommie;

When your daughter was born and you created a new and inventive spelling of her name, you did her no favors. If it really bothers her to see her unusual name spelled in ways that are more or less unusual than the one on her birth certificate, you might want to consider counseling. After all, she is cursed, er, blessed with this unique name that will be with her the rest of her life. Did you think about this when you named her?

Did you think about the way she’d have to learn how to write her name in kindergarten, how you’d have to teach the teachers how to spell it so they could work with her?

Did you imagine she’d feel precious, er, special having to re-do her name constantly, justifying it to her peers?

Did you think about the bullies who would jump on her name like moths are drawn to a porch light?

How will she feel when little Paula down the road can find key rings and coin purses and bicycle license plates with her name emblazoned on them and poor little Prech, er, Presci, er, whatever-the-heck you called her can not?

How will your little one feel when she’s a teenager and trying to fit in, but her name makes her stand out instead?

When you named your little sweetie with that abominable spelling, you made sure she’ll be bothered again and again by seeing errors on her name. Does she know it’s your fault?

In conclusion, dear Mother of the Spelling from Hehll, I’m not so sure it’s little Precious who is bothered.
I think, very possibly, quite probably, this whole name spelling conflict might be not about her, but all about you.

Sincerely,
The Teacher (or is it TeeChere?) from the Black Lagoon — or rather, Lahguhn

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>Not exactly Dooced, but close.

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>An article in our association newsletter titled “Blogging and MySpace” discussed teachers in the blogging world.
“In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that neither teachers nor students “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate…. School employees, however, do not have an absolute right to First Amendment protection.”
The writer went on to give examples of cases balancing the public’s right to know with workplace safety and privacy laws. Then it went on:
“Most importantly, teachers must understand that they are held to a higher moral standard than most other workers and should not engage in public speech which might jeopardize their status as role models. Teachers are held to a higher standard as role models. If you behave inappropriately away from school in a way that can affect your role model status at school, you may be subject to potential disciplinary review.”

This part got me thinking. I do not discuss my politics at school, but I do volunteer and contribute to campaigns. If current administration considered my political involvement inappropriate and a negative effect on my “role model status,” could that mean an end to my career? Could my letter to the editor in support of a candidate rub an administrator the wrong way?

When I’m most stressed about work, I might blog about it. I won’t share details, however, because it would violate an important part of my work: privacy and confidentiality. You’re more likely to read about my reaction to an event and my resulting stress level than the event itself.

We teachers know we’re role models, and we know our conduct is important. But could actions out of school really affect our jobs now, in the twenty-first century?

I’m not talking about criminal actions. To keep our children safe, certain people should not work in schools. I’m talking about human nature, balancing role model status with personal life.

We’re no longer in the days when a woman could not continue teaching while pregnant, when a teacher who dared to go to a bar would risk formal reprimand.

My blog is written under a pseudonym. Friends and family (including several coworkers) know who I am. Blogging intimate details about work, though? Constitutionally or otherwise, it would playing with fire.

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>Lemon Snaps

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>From the We Energies Cookie Book, 80th Anniversary edition

2/3 cup butter, softened (works best for me with 1/3 cup margarine and 1/3 cup butter)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon rind
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
(cold water)

Cream butter; add sugar gradually. Blend well. Add egg and egg yolk, lemon juice and rind; beat until light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to creamed misture and mix thoroughly. Place dough in refrigerator to chill for several hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Working with a small portion of dough at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut with a round cutter. Place onto greased cookie sheets. To make crackled surface, brush each cookie with cold water before baking. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Makes 5-7 dozen.

These were good: simple, tasty, good with coffee. I wonder if they might be better with frosting? Maybe a light powdered sugar frosting with a hint of lemon and a drop of yellow food coloring would do the trick. Anything too heavy or too rich would take away from the subtle lemon flavor.
I think I might try my rabbit-shaped cookie cutters next time, just for fun. I have at least three different sizes in bunny shapes. Who says cookies have to be round?

In other news, EcoWomen are holding an anniversary party to celebrate one year of their blogginess. Check it out here!

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>Read Across America

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>Dr. Seuss’ birthday was March 2nd, and school across the USA choose this day to commemorate his genius and the fun of reading. In honor of the “Doc” and his work, here are my favorite facts about Ted Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.

1. His first book was rejected by 27 publishers before someone was wise enough to pick it up. Take about patience! The man never gave up.
2. Dr. Suess worked hard. His book ideas that came by accident, such as Horton Lays an Egg, happened while he was at his desk brainstorming.
3. His books were not fluff; he incorporated serious issues into many of his creations.
4. The good Doctor questioned the status quo. When given a list of words he was to use in an Easy Reader, he realized the list was woefully inadequate and moved beyond it, creating the now classic The Cat in the Hat.
5. Above all, Dr. Seuss realized that reading should be fun. His stories inspired children to read and keep reading, to enjoy their books and improve their reading skills at the same time.

To really honor the man’s memory, I need to act on these concepts, not just restate them every year on March 2nd. In keeping with my own personal Action goal and with Read Across America, here goes.

1. It’s time to look at crafting another professional article. My last one was published over a year ago. I have several ideas floating around my head; it’s time to rough draft a few and settle on the best choice to complete and submit. In other news, I set a goal of adding to my poetry blog at least once a week. I’ve posted Haiku Friday most weeks, and occasionally added another. I missed when I was sick; well, there are priorities.
2. Frustration often stops me in my tracks. Frustration with student behavior, lack of resources, budget cuts, and more, all get in the way. I need to get back to good old-fashioned hard work, set aside what I can’t do, and focus on that which I can.
3. Important issues? I spent time and money (mostly time) on supporting candidates that I believed would make a difference. Now that they’re in office (Yes! We can!) I need to keep writing and calling and reminding them of their responsibilities to the constituents, the people who need them.
4. See #3.
5. The best motivator is often enjoyment. In this category, I’ll keep reading. I read for fun, for reviews, for my profession. I keep passing on magazines to my daughter so she can read the most fascinating pieces. Amigo and I will continue to sit out on our swing when the weather gets better, and sit on the couch and read for fun when the weather is cold. Tales of Beedle the Bard is waiting for us.

Happy Anniversary of your birth, Ted. Theodore Seuss Geisel, the man who revolutionized reading. We celebrate in the best way: by reading, reading, and reading more.

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