Math Rambles

Going on year 3 Say WHAAAAA. Wondering how this year will turn out. Yikes.

[mathrambles]

Happy 2022!

Just rediscovered my account and boy does time fly.

My last post was in 2020, then covid hit and then 2021 zoomed by with so many things in the mist of surviving teaching during a pandemic and lots of unknowns. I ended up getting my National Board Certification in Dec of 2021!

And now it is 2022 and I decided to switch jobs after close to 10 years of teaching at the middle school level.  Currently embarking high school at my dream job, literally. It is so surreal. I love it everyday. The kids are wonderful and hardworking. I feel like I am making an impact and difference and the best part: I get to use my math degree and kids are respectful and appreciate my level of expertise. It’s been a long journey to get where I am today, and I am learning even more everyday. Definitely felt stagnant at my old job after they got rid of math coaches and lots of things, and it was time for me to make a change rather than find myself being negative and losing my passion for teaching. It was hard to leave my coworker friends but my new job, everyone is so kind and collegial, smart and hardworking and I am learning so much from them!

Other news:

I paid off my mortgage! I am officially a homeowner! Zero debt. Super grateful. No hardwood floors yet. But replaced all new windows now! Got my piano tuned last year in 2021 and plan to get retuned this year or in January. Loving all the plants I collected over covid.

Hopefully going to maintain gold status for my flight. Love being able to go standby and be in the priority group or getting free upgrades to first class.

Appreciate my BF and what he does on a regular basis--made me breakfast and lunch before my flight home in addition to cooking Thanksgiving Dinner meal (I made the rolls and well worth it too). 

I am grateful for everything daily. And it’s nice to always work towards something but also important to step back and appreciate what is there, and this blog helps me to do so from time to time regardless of my busy schedule.

[mathrambles]

Happy 2020

It is year 7 of teaching. I cannot believe how much time flies. 

This year I am so grateful for many many things. I feel like these months can be challenging in terms of weather, lack of sunlight, but my students this year are all working and many a truly amazing and kind and give me hope for the future. So thankful for my students!

I am grateful for

Jan: New years Celebration with delicious food with my fam bam; lovely early valentines flower surprise :)

Dec: Having my first ever mini Christmas tree with the cutest ornaments; bought everyone presents and wrapped by thanksgiving break. King crab dinner for new years, rock climbing and 4 weeks of fun with the bf  and family :)

Nov: Lovely thanksgiving dinner, great break; presented at math conference!

Oct: 10k steps, yoga, staying active and hanging out with sibs in the city

Sept: Getting into the grove, keeping steps in and yoga and farmer’s market on weekend

Aug: Fresh start; set up classroom with my momma

Summer: Relaxed, made more dishes like banh mi and pickled daikon, got all the steps in , summer book club, genius hour project

Crocheted lots of hats and headbands

Learned how to french braid my hair finally

So many kids in math club this year! More girls than ever

Goals

I could pay off my place by next year or the following depending

I want to get hardwood flooring

I want to smoke proof my place...

Maybe figure out how to get laundry/dryer or look for place #2

Working on NBCT...we shall see but good news is I passed first 2 components!

[mathrambles]

Happy 2019

So many things to be grateful for, but it’s hard to see the bigger picture sometimes.

Winter is such a weird time of the year after the holidays-it feels like a sad limbo.

But here are positives:

Officially finished my Master’s Degree :D Will see increase in pay next year!

Almost done paying my mortgage (omg)

I got new storm doors this year!

My bro installed a new thermostat so I know temp in my house lmbo

No college debt! 

I have +125 Sick Days

I have a beautiful new classroom with so much storage space

Got 30 brand new calculators for kiddos

Bought a brand new sharpener for kiddos

My bf spent 4 weeks with me during winter break and dealt with my crazy family but we had lots of fun--nintendo switch (super smash bros, mario kart, and this creepy game that I forgot the name of) city adventures

My spontaneous weekend trips

We had a few cold days and snow days yayayaya

My students love to say Hi to me when I visit them in other classes :D it’s so cute!

A kid said the other day: “you’re one of the few teachers that appear to love math and show your passion” <3 made my day!

My bf surprised me with the most amazing gorgeous bouquet of flowers during pt conference week for Valentines day- he knows the secret to my heart

I completed 10k steps this week! EVERYDAY woot!

I am maintaining a healthy weight but want to get even more fit this summer

I can make delicious pho from scratch now-- have cooked it for countless friends and their families. officially a pho pro thanks to my momma and me eating it all the time when I was a child

3 more weeks till Spring Break

Pi day is coming up! My favorite day ever

I need to remember to write down the positives more often. 

[mathrambles]

When your prior students come back to visit

It’s so crazy what a difference 4-5 years can make. Students come and go and their names drift away but surprisingly enough after an instant it just comes back. Two kiddos came to visit me this week, and the week before that a few kiddos did as well. Just so nice to see them working hard and keeping it up after they leave my classroom :)

[mathrambles]

Calling all Calligraphers

So I’ve been thinking,

I have always been intrigued by calligraphy. I remember my first set of calligraphy markers in 6th grade.  It’s something I take a lot of pride in and I enjoy hand lettering a lot. I’ve been so inspired by many calligraphers on instagram and am in awe how some are full time calligraphers. In high school, I used calligraphy to write names on certificates for teachers. I’ve also done table numbers for a friend’s wedding. All of these have been for free, and I wonder if I can take it to the next level.  I want to take that leap as well but am unsure how to even begin. Over the summer, I started exploring calligraphy again. Definitely continuing to learn and I have not perfected it yet, but I want to be able to do this full time. I’ve started to post some of my work on instagram https://www.instagram.com/jdaocreations/

[mathrambles]

Happy Snow Day!

Today I took advantage of the day off and..

Slept in

FIled taxes yesterday night

Cleaned my bathroom-bathtub, sink, you name it...it was getting bad lol

Completed laundry

Washed the dishes multiple times

Took out the trash

Apartment hunt for the bf

Grocery shopped

Made copies at staples for Math Conference tomorrow

Currently making baked chicken carrot zucchini for dinner

I was #adulting hard today

[mathrambles]

Gotta count the blessings

January is always a slump feeling month, not much sun, cold weather, it’s easy to feel drained... so these are things that help keep me going

Sushi Dates/Dinner Dates with my sister

Hot Showers

Phone convos with my parents

Free margarita samples 

Trader joes snacks: love the plantain chips, seaweed, mochi balls, chili lime mango, herb popcorn, vegan green tea mochi

Trader Joes wine (not breaking the bank)

Skype Dates with the bf 

Payday

Cute doggy vids

Weekends to myself- adventures to new Korean supermarket and tarjay

Sunny walks in above 40 degree weather

Cooking

[mathrambles]

Happy 2018

Taking some time to reflect is so hard. We gotta find ways to remember the good moments. Count every blessing, and when things don’t go right, it could be a blessing in disguise. As a 20-something year old, I have learned your friend pool will decrease, and time becomes more precious. You’ll learn how to figure out healthy relationships versus relationships that may seemed healthy before, turn into something toxic. Family is important, and distance makes it hard. But a phone call, text, picture message, always shows importance. I am juggling with figuring out how to spend more time with my family as I am booked with work, grad school, and tutoring.

Blessings:

My Family- my parents just turned 60, my dog is a grumpy old man, my brother is happy with his near job, and my sis is traveling the world

Amazing trip to Alaska with the bf during winter break

I’ve earned 106 sick days at work in my sick bank because I hate taking days off lol

I’ve paid grad school off

Focusing more on my health

I have a roof over my head

I can walk to trader joes 

I’ve learned to cook more

This summer, I had a chance to focus more on myself, and figure out how to do it without a car. Best learning experience ever. And I am at a point where I am watching my health and have shaved off the Freshman 15 and First year teaching pounds, and I am now well under my high school weight. Overall I think I went from about 160 lbs to 135 lbs. I went from a pant size of 10-12 to now fitting anywhere from a size 4-6 and my favorite pair are these lucky blue size 2 jeans. But these numbers are arbitrary and don’t tell the full story.  

My goal now is maintaining a healthy lifestyle without owning a scale. I want to figure out ways to tone out my body more, knowing that I am capable of it--yoga has been helping tremendously. The secret to shaving off all the pounds was not looking at the scale everyday or doing intense workouts, but literally walking. It’s an incredible stress reliever, and I caught so many pokemon (yes I am still a pokemongo player). I walked for about 2-3 hours a day, exploring cute little towns, finding a nice brunch spot, vegan smoothie place, and took the time to watercolor paint--something that I haven’t done in years.  In addition to daily walking, I made sure to eat healthier. I used to be a cheese and wine addict. I needed cheese in everything I ate. I learned that although dairy can be good for you, the way it is processed now is not the same, and it’s not the best for your body. I’ve made simple switches from milk to almond or soy milk. I no  longer eat brie and wine even though I miss it sometimes, when people have it at a party I don’t restrict myself from dairy and will politely eat, but I would not buy it for myself on a regular eating day.

My goals this year:

Finish Grad school

Build running stamina

Learn more yoga moves

Finish another sketchbook full of watercolor

[mathrambles]

Year 5

Remember when I cut dairy out of my diet? I have dropped close to 30 lbs give our take

26 And working on Healthy Lifestyle

Mason Jar Lunches

Treat myself every now and then

Glass of wine a night

Yoga

6am walks

10,000 steps a day on fitbit

Jogging

Medicine ball

Dropped pant sizes. I used to be a size 8,10,12. Now I can fit in to 2,4,6

Gonna work on trying to maintain my weight

I am not dieting. Just changing my lifestyle for the better. Tried apple cider vinegar of the spring, maybe that sparked the weight loss but I have been working on maintaining being under my high school weight :D didn’t think I’d see the day.

One more term and I will have my Masters :D

[mathrambles]

When a student tells you...

Math Class is Amazing! It goes by too fast, didn’t even hear the second block period bell ring. 

#small wins

[mathrambles]

Highlights

Kiddos gave me candy when they found me upset the day before <3

I shared my seaweed snack

Everyday is, I love your outfit Ms. _____!

When your praise or smile highlights their day

Days when students work and are productive

When you finally win over their respect from the tough cookies-secret to everyone’s heart is food whether it be jolly ranchers, chipotle chips or hot funyuns

when they share you their puns and corny jokes

when they love the art projects you give

#hanginthereteachers #loveteaching #sometimes #teachers

[mathrambles]

That moment when...

A kiddo offers their Hershey's chocolate bar to you when you ask another kid who is eating f a candy apple where is your treat?

You run into a prior student's sibling and say that they look familiar. They mention their sibling mentioned how lucky they would be to have you as a teacher 💞 melted.

[mathrambles]

Week 2

Highlights of first few weeks

Awesome math team- work with three other bright ladies and they inspire me everyday; also work with another teacher in different grade level who has been my friend since day 1 and has always been there and has been supportive <333

In our support class, I have had great convos with the students--building self esteem and self efficacy. Today we talked about Paul Lockhart’s Mathematician’s Lament and asked them what would happen if they taught music like they did math? and the kiddos smiled thinking, wow that would be weird and sad. Wonderful analogy painted. Hopefully they got something out of it.

Kiddos are working <3 it is honey moonphase and I am soaking it in.

So many new ideas to implement:

-Algebra portfolios online on adobe spark/google sites

-Online quizzes on desmos

-HW error analysis

-Desmos for launch explore summary

[mathrambles]

Summer Highlights

Rekindled <3 for watercolor painting-Finished an entire sketchbook!

Calligraphy-Working on my lettering with gold and silver ink

Crocheting- made laptop case, and gonna make cacti

Daily exercise: 30 min yoga on rainy days or 1-2 hour walking/jogging

Sushi dates with the bf

WICKED

Morimoto Dinner Omakase style for my bday <333

FREE Block party tickets to see #VanceJoy and #JudahandtheLion <3

PEACHES (donut peaches at the farmers market) I love peach season

Bing Cherries

Boiled eggs for breakfast daily and banana

Chocolate Chip Brownie Larabar--my fave.

Caught Legendary Pokemon at raids- Moltres, Zapdos, working on more

Bought a red dress at Macys ;)

Farmers Markets on Saturday Mornings

Brunch at Sabrinas Cafe- lox and eggs benedict, and best french toast

Best smoothies and heartbeetcafe- vegan, blueberry dates and banana is the way to go

Completed 2 summer curriculum projects and 2 grad school classes

Had chick fil a for first time ever

Trips to Philadelphia- Philly art museum, philly cheesesteaks, festival, Reading Terminal Market-Dinics has best sandwiches

Oysters-never again

Turtles galore

goT

rickandmorty

[srsfunny]

R2D2 Math

[mathrambles]

When...

Your boyfriend got you tickets to see wicked!!!!🤣🤣🤣😄😄

[flyingfloatingfree]

The best revenge is happiness.

It really is. Especially when you are dealing with an emotionally abusive narcissist.  Narcissists have a very specific target. They choose someone they are jealous of. They choose someone who is sensitive. They choose someone who is intrinsically good. They choose someone who tries to see the best in others.  They then systematically bring that person down in order to feel good about themselves. We know this right? The worst thing you can do to a narcissist is ignore them. The best revenge is happiness. Happiness is relative. We are all in different places in our healing journeys.  We all have our resulting issues.  Some of us are stuck in these relationships. Some have walked away. But, you know what? We can all find a little more, just a little more… just a flower to smell or a good book or a new friend. We can all have that revenge and the happier we become, the easier it will be to find a little more. Also: The abusive narcissist will hate it.  Good.  <3