Presentation. Looks good. Tastes good.

Butternut squash hummus, home made pita chips, red pepper bean dip, and veggies.

50 Years Ago Today

I remember the phone ringing in our classroom. I remember the sadness on Mrs. Peter's face. I remember hearing the news of the assassination of our President. I don't remember the walk home  or what my mom said when I got there, but the TV was on and we sat transfixed that day, and for day's afterwards, watching the country mourn.

This Weekly Reader was published a few weeks later. I recently found it in a box of memorabilia, along with a biography of President Kennedy in my own third grade printing.

Music to a Health Teacher's Ears

"This salad is DELICIOUS!"

Say Cheese!

This is what makes this job so great.

Kindness Project

Big Thanks!

To Glacier Bank of Bigfork for sponsoring a community Giving Tree. They make it possible for children to receive a gift at Christmas, and they provide an opportunity for community members to give anonymously to a child in need.
And to Bigfork's Rotary Club for providing Christmas dinners for 30 local families. Your generosity is appreciated!

Unity Part 2

After telling the story and reading the book (see yesterday's post) we played the Egg Game. The teachers paired up students who wouldn't usually hang out together and we gave them a board and a marble egg. Together they kept the egg spinning on the board. The high achievers added another element to the game. Each time the egg dropped off the board, they told their partners one thing they appreciated about them. An ARFF filled activity is a great uniter!

Unity

A number of years ago, our school had some anecdotal evidence that we had a fairly good sized bullying problem. So we surveyed our kids, found out the extent of the problem and took steps to decrease bullying. We defined bullying, we made rules against it, we increased supervision, and taught all staff members to confront bullying head on.When we surveyed our students st the end of the year, we found that the problem had significantly diminished, particularly in the middle school. We asked the students what they thought had made the difference, and they said the thing that helped the most was when we divided the whole middle school into teams with people they never would have chosen to work with, and assigned a school or community service project. They had to work together for a purpose, and in doing so, came to value their class mates.

I was asked to teach a lesson on unity today, and I told that story to introduce the concept. Then I read a fun book that illustrates the power of music to bring people together. It's a good one. I hope you check it out. It's called "And to Think That We Thought That We'd Never Be Friends" by  Mary Ann Hoberman.

Pterodactyl Game

1. Stand in a circle.
2. Going clockwise around the circle, each person says "pterodactyl" without showing teeth.
3. If a player flaps their arms and makes the pterodactyl noise, the direction of the game switches to counterclockwise.
3. Players are out if they laugh or show their teeth at anytime during the game and have to sit.
4. Last player standing wins.

Try it when you need a bit of fun!

The ARFF of Teaching

Zoe's Four Pizzas

Harvest : onion, roasted butternut squash, craisins
Pesto: pesto and tomatoes
Green: broccoli, peppers, spinach
Dessert: peanut butter, Nutella, bananas

Book Recommendation

Great book for k-3 with a follow-up writing and art project.

Blessed

A third grade boy was walking down the hall with me today and we walked past a group of kids getting ready to go to recess. Many of them stopped to say hi to me and gave me hugs. The boy said, " Wow, a lot of people in this school like you! You must be the luckiest person in the whole school!"
Yes, absolutely blessed beyond measure.

Fall Carnival

Sixth grade did another amazing job creating fun for all!

Pilates

Michelle is a great teacher, with gentle words and touch, she can guide a student to make small corrections in alignment that make the pose safe and beneficial.

I think there's a message in there somewhere for our session on healthy relationships this week.

Grief

We had a tragic death in our community yesterday, and I've been pouring through my numerous books on grief for anything that might help. I've come up short mostly. Be there. Listen. Grieve.

We're never quite the same after experiencing a deep loss. But I hope what we are is better than we were before. More compassionate. More loving. More depth to our character. I found this quote that speaks to that.

"Sadness is related to the opening of your heart. If you allow yourself to feel sad, especially if you can cry, you will find that your heart opens more and you can feel more love."

S. Gawain

Personal Bill of Rights

Today in health class we talked about healthy relationships. To end our session, we each read aloud one of the following statements that is important to us today. Which one would you pick?

1. I have the right to be treated with respect.
2. I have the right to have and express my own feelings and opinions.
3. I have the right to be listened to and to be taken seriously.
4. I have the right to set my own priorities.
5. I have the right to say NO without feeling guilty.
6. I have the right to ask for what I want.
7. I have the right to ask for information and help.
8. I have the right to make mistakes.
9. I have the right to change my mind.
10. I have a right to all my feelings.
11. I have a right to carve out my place in this world.
12. I have a right to follow any of the above rights, to define my own happiness.

Bobbing For Apples

Really!
Beautiful day at our Harvest Party.

Today's Guest Speaker

One of the best parts of being a health teacher is introducing students to incredible adult role models. Michelle Reimer is a perfect example. She is a nurse at Clear Choice Clinic in Kalispell, who is willing to do school presentations about puberty, pregnancy, and fetal development.  She knows how to talk to teens, has accurate information, and years of experience as both a delivery room nurse, and as a counselor for young people facing an unplanned pregnancy. The students responded well to her expertise as well as her message about honor and goals and making informed choices. Looking forward to Michelle's return next week.

Why I like My Job

Four Days of LAFF

Love-Two hour phone conversation with Barbara
Achievement- Started a web site
Fun- Hiked to Glacier Lake
Freedom- Closed my eyes for all the scary parts of "Gravity"

The Little Choir That Could

There are only six students in the 7th grade choir, but they sang their heart out at their fall concert last night. Way to go!

B.Balanced Pilates

Michelle Wiggins had the health class with their backs to the wall, literally, so they could feel the

correct alignment in a lateral stretch.

Oat Applesauce Muffins

1 c. rolled oats
1 c. plain yogurt
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. ground flax seed
2 T. coconut oil
1/2 c. applesauce
1 egg

Place oats and yogurt in a mixing bowl and let sit for 2 hours at room temperature.
Mix dry ingredients and add to yogurt mixture.
Stir in  coconut oil, applesauce and egg. Add 1/2 c. nuts or raisins if desired.
Divide batter evenly into 12 greased muffin tins.
Bake at 375 until nicely browned,  20-30 minutes.

New Playground

What could be better than a sunny day and a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate a new piece of playground equipment and the teamwork that made it all happen?

Fun Photo

Food Corps Volunteer

Zoe Tucker brought recipes and all the ingredients for a white bean red pepper dip, sweet potato hummus, pita chips, and vegetable dippers to health classes today. I was able to assist and take photos.

It's such a joy to teach middle schoolers how to cook. Some of them have basic kitchen skills, but lots of them have no experience cooking with raw vegetables. Zoe and I were able to teach how to cut a red pepper, how to rinse and drain a can of beans, and how to peel a garlic clove.

The food turned out delicious, with lots of kids asking for the recipe. Thanks Zoe for all your prep work!

Brain Test

Last week our guest speaker taught us lots of facts about the brain. I gave the kids a quiz today regarding the things I thought were important for them to remember and apply. I also wanted to know what tidbits of information they picked up, so the last question on the test was, "What else do you remember about the brain?"

Here are two of my favorite responses:

"its the sise of your phists"

"not alot other than cells die when you're sleep deprived and you go bonkers."

Made me smile

2nd grader: why am I here?
Me: your mom thought it might help if you had some time with me each week.
2nd grader: I'm glad. I really like you.

Try This At Home

Shared Drawing Experiment

1. Find a partner.
2. Get one piece of paper and one pencil to share with your partner.
3. Choose a song you both enjoy listening to.
4. When the song begins, you both take hold of the pencil and begin to draw on the paper.
5. No talking. No agreeing ahead of time what you are going to draw.
6. When the song ends, stop drawing.
7. Celebrate your drawing and talk about how you worked together. Did one of you take the lead and the other follow? Did you take turns leading and following? How did you communicate without words? Was the activity fun or frustrating? How does this activity relate to your relationship with one another or with others? Are you usually a leader or a follower or does it depend on who you are with?

I did this activity with 7th and 8th graders today and there were smiles all around. However, it can be very frustrating. Try it and see what you think. Under what circumstances might it be difficult? What concepts can it teach us? How can it make us more self-aware?

Brainy Lady

Bridget Martel, our local expert on how to take care of our brains to maximize teaching and learning, taught the health classes about their teen brains. Here's some of the things I learned.

• Young kids and adults have similar circadian rhythms. Their brains are most alert in the morning and tend to be a little sleepy after lunch. Teen brains tend to be sleepy until mid morning and are most alert in the afternoon and evening.
• We need to eat plenty of omega 3 fats for optimal brain function.
• The best way to slow down the stress response is to breathe.
• The easiest way to increase serotonin is to smile :)

My Favorite Group Activity (and you're invited)

Look into my basket of objects and find one that reminds you of something you like about one of your friends.

I'll go first.

The carabiner reminds me of Steve. He's strong. I can rely on him in dangerous situations. I take him with me on my adventures. And according to Wikipedia, carabiners are used for fall protection and rescue.

Your turn.

Outstanding Guest Speaker

The incredible Amy Thoreson, Flathead High School's athletic trainer, came to our health class today to teach us about the treatment of sports injuries. She had just the right amount of information with demonstrations to back it up. She knows her stuff and relates well to middle school students. Thank you Amy!

it's amazing what one plant can do

Week 1 - my little friend spent a lot of time under the table, under his desk, under most anything he could find. we came up with an alternative activity to escape the noise of the world.

Week 2 - i found myself under the music room piano telling him that i support him, i believe in him. we used new tools and made tiny steps forward.

Week 3 - we stayed out from under tables but were dragging our heals. he used the tools but he carried the weight of the world. it was stuck there with super glue, not much i could do. we were too turned around to tell if we'd moved forward or backwards.

Week 4 - while standing at my desk he suddenly hugged me. i said "thank you" and asked if it was for him or for me. the moment of hesitation gave him away, but he said "you looked like you needed one."

this morning i brought him a plant. i found a small, shiny, gold lid from a jar and i told him i had a surprise. "i have a special job for you. i noticed that you are really good at taking care of people and creatures, so i brought you something to take care of. will you help me?" he wanted to smile, but he held it in, looked at me skeptically and said "sure," like he was doing me a favor. when i showed him the plant and the cup his eyes lit up. i told him it would be his job alone to take care of the plant. we talked about how plants need water, but not too much: once in the morning and once before going home should be good. i showed him how to check the soil and we talked about how we all have hard times, plants included, and we need help to prune the sad parts. he gently plucked the dying leaf from the plant and we marveled at how much better it looked.

hard times can weigh us down but today my little friend stood taller and looked lighter. it's amazing what one plant can do.

thanks for the plant, it makes a great gift :)

My New Friend

This is my favorite time of year for so many reasons:

digging potatoes
picking apples
canning green tomato mincemeat
snow on the mountains
new school supplies
the comfort of routine
and lots of new friends

Here's one of my new friends. We get to start each week together. See why it's a joy to come to school!

LAFF in the Cafeteria

Love: hugs from kinders in the cafeteria
Achievement: 7th graders are no longer afraid to wipe down tables
Fun: rolling tacos for the kinders
Freedom: leaving the classroom to support the cafeteria workers

What I Learned at School Today

When I moved into the home ec room to teach my health classes, I discovered boxes of old film strips on everything from meal planning to sewing. There was one TWO WEEK unit on measuring. Liquid measure, dry measure, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pints and equivalents. At the time I thought how ridiculous it would be to spend all that class time studying measurement. Surely 7th and 8th graders know how to use measuring cups and spoons.

Well, today the 7th graders made stove-top energy bars, and I was wishing I had spent at least a day teaching measurement. Here's why:

The recipe called for 1/4 t. vanilla. I watched one boy measure the vanilla into a 1/4 cup. Luckily I stopped him before it was added to the other ingredients.

Three kids were trying to measure 1/3 c. of brown sugar. One student held the cup and the other two held the bag of brown sugar. I watched in disbelief as they tried to pour brown sugar into the cup from a small opening in the bag. Brown sugar doesn't pour.

The recipe called for 2 cups of oats. One student was convinced that three 1/3 cups equalled 2 cups, then couldn't figure out why his mixture was so runny.

This was definitely a learning experience for me. Next trimester we will have a measurement mini lesson before we cook. However, I think I will skip the filmstrip.

Achievement

Middle schoolers taught elementary kids about healthy habits.
Elementary kids illustrated what they learned.

Healthy Relationships

I'm doing a unit on healthy relationships with my health classes. It's good stuff and I want to give the unit a name but I don't like the name Healthy Relationships. It just sounds old and boring to teens I think. Any ideas from anyone who reads this blog?

I came across this quote by Mandy Hale in preparing for class tomorrow. I like it.

"A healthy relationship will never require you to sacrifice your friends, your dreams, or your dignity."

So, in addition to a zippy name for my relationship unit, I would love some more quotes. If you find a good one, send it my way, please.

Health Class Buddies

Eighth graders teaching kinders to sing, "If you're healthy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you're healthy and you know it, make new friends."

Awesome Responsibility

Every once in a while, a student will say, "I've never told anyone this but.." and they proceed to tell me a story that must be painful to tell because it hurts just to hear it. Right in my gut.

Every time I pray, "Lord help me to do the right thing right now. Help me to say something that will be even a tiny bit helpful. Help me to be a blessing in this student's life."

I want to fix it. I want to erase the memories they speak of. I can't.

I can listen. I can try to understand. I can say encouraging words. I can try to make meaning out of the pain. And hope that's enough for now.

Backyard Performance Headliners

Cousin Jane and Me 1962
(see yesterday's post)

Thursday's Health Lesson

Your dream is important. That was today's lesson. Staying mentally healthy is so much easier when you have a vision of good things to come. A new friend, a trip to somewhere, a day off of school or work, finishing a job, having time to create. (a few of my dreams.)

Your dream is important enough to tell it to somebody. And if you tell a healthy person, they will support and encourage the pursuit of that dream.

I told my students how fortunate I was growing up to have parents who supported my dreams. I loved to perform. Dance recitals were the best. I got to dress up in a costume and dance for an auditorium full of people. But an annual performance was not enough for me. When I wasn't performing I was dreaming about performing.

One summer day I said to my mom, "I want to put on a show." Mom didn't hesitate. She said, "Okay, let's get started!"  I called all my friends RIGHT THEN with an urgent message to meet at my house in an hour and bring their little brothers and sisters! By the time my friends and their siblings arrived I had dug out the tutus and sequined costumes, the record player and records and had a vision for the acts we were to perform. As we practiced our songs and dances, Mom made sandwiches and cookies and Koolaid. Dad came home for lunch and hung a big canvas tarp between the tree and the garage for our backyard stage.

We ate Mom's sandwiches, and were ready for an audience. We hopped on bikes and rode around the block stopping at every house to invite all the neighbors for a FREE afternoon show with a cookie and Koolaid reception to follow. And guess what? Most of them came! Makeshift benches on the lawn held moms and babies and a few old folks.

It was a magnificent afternoon of truly quality acts. (I will dig through some old photos and try to post one to prove it. ) And all because I said OUT LOUD, "I want to put on a show."

So take time to dream, share your dream, and support and encourage someone else's dream. It's just so much fun.

Today's LAFF

Love and respect: Introduced myself to the kindergarten classes as one of the helpers in the school. When I passed them in the hall this afternoon I got big smiles and excited waves.

Achievement: Made peach smoothies with the 8th graders.

Fun: Ultimate frisbee with the 7th grade.

Freedom: 45 minutes of quiet time to plan for tomorrow.

Tuesday's Health Lesson

Carrot Sticks!

Monday's Health Lesson

Last week when I was getting my back to school hair cut, Kay, my chatty hair dresser said, "Discipline is the key to success in anything you do in life." I immediately thought of what I wanted to teach my health classes this year. A perfect quote to share with middle schoolers, right? I jotted it down in my mind.

Today was the day to introduce the topic of goal setting and healthy habits, so I wrote Kay's quote on the whiteboard.  Instead of writing out the word "discipline" I wrote D_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. The students counted out the number of letters and started guessing.

"Depression?"
"Daring?"
"Dignity?"

Guessing got us nowhere so we played hangman. And when we finally filled in all the letters, this is what I heard:

"Discipline? That's mean!"
"What?"
"You're joking, right?"

So my lesson ended up being a vocabulary lesson on the meaning of the word discipline. They immediately thought punishment, while I was thinking setting goals and sticking to them.

Tomorrow's lesson might have to be paradigm shift.

First Week Highlights

L is for Love.
One of my quietest 1st graders walked up behind me and slipped her hand into mine. A sign of love that I will not forget.

A is for Achievement.
Introduced and implemented a classroom management system. So far, first grade R.O.C.K.S.! (respect, on task, cooperation, kindness, shine).

F is for Freedom.
When a student wanted to draw, we dropped the plans and grabbed the crayons.

First Day of School 2013

F is for Fun.
Rode my bike to school 2/4 days this week. Love waving to students as I ride home.

LAFF

L is for Love.
7th grader, in response to the oatmeal almond bar snack today:
"I love you Mrs. Ahnert! Can I have the recipe?"

A is for Achievement.
Thanks to Tanya, I made an email group today.

F is for Fun.
What could be better than football on a beautiful summer's end day?

F is for Freedom.
I got to be Minnie in Mickey Mouse Yahtzee.

How do you like the new acronym?

Lunch Buddies

Thanks to Robin, we discovered a great way to teach nutrition to middle school students and solve the problem of lunchroom choas... LUNCH BUDDIES!
Mostly it was a success. However, one seventh grader was appalled: "I told him NOT to eat grapes off the floor and he did it anyways!"

A Riddle

Who Am I?
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest asset or heaviest burden.
I will push you up to success or down to disappointment.
I am at your command.
Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me.
For I can do them quickly, correctly, and profitably.
I am easily managed; just be firm with me.
Those you are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine and the intelligence of a person.
You can run me for profit, or you can run me for ruin.
Show me how you want it done. Educate me. Train me.
Lead me. Reward me.
And I will then...do it automatically.
I am your servant.
Who am I?
I am habit.

(anonymous)

First Day of School

How do you illustrate the power of cooperation to nearly 200 middle school students? Make a fire and have them put it out with water balloons of course. How do you teach the same concept to elementary students? Fill hundreds of balloons with helium, attach them to a viking ship,and watch as the balloons lift the ship to the gym ceiling. What a joyful way to celebrate the start of a new school year!

New School Year, New Attitude

Achievement: clean up the house
Respect: helped lead a successful meeting
Freedom: made a skirt!
Fun: cheered for my mom as she ran 13.1 miles!

Here's to a wonderful and ARFF-filled school year :)

CPR

Today Robin Sticka taught infant CPR to my two health classes. It was interesting to watch the level of engagement in each of the classes. One class was very engaged, and one mostly wasn't. I'm curious if it is a difference in grade level, and if so, what's different between 7th and 8th graders developmentally, and how should we adapt our teaching to account for those differences? Robin taught them how to breathe into the mannequins and gave them the opportunity to practice. One 8th grader attempted the breathing while eight 7th graders did. There were some giggles, and some discomfort, but when I saw how committed the 7th graders were to "saving" the mannequin babies, I thought I would feel pretty comfortable leaving a child in their care. Robin did a great job teaching both classes adult, child, and infant CPR and now we have 25 more students with the skills to potentially save the life of someone in our community.

Teaching Kids About Caring

I appreciate these thoughts from Julie Bonner. She has been taking time to teach our monthly character traits, and this reflection on her class discussion has made me think about how adults show we care.Do we do so in healthy ways? "I put the word CARING up the other day and asked my students what they thought it meant. I got the usual responses of someone who is nice, looks out for others, etc. I decided we should look it up and we were all kinda surprised to see things like: Watchful attention to, Charge or supervision of, A person or thing that is an object of attention or anxiety, Fearful concern for. The last two led to a great discussion of our parents and teachers and what caring really is. They care so much they stress out over us. I told them I didn't need a class room of stressed out 5th graders but did want them to understand what caring looks like. I just wanted to pass on that it is good to really understand the meaning of each word (of the month). I think sometimes my students think...huh wonder why Mrs. Bonner didn't choose me for the character trait...I'm a nice kid, do what I'm told. I tell them it is hard to pick one, but I really try to consider the meaning of the word, not just who does what is expected, which of course is also awesome. Reward for doing homework is knowledge and I suppose good scores or grades. Reward for behaving at school can come in the form of responsibilities or being asked to help in special ways. The whole Peach Prize word is about your character. Do you care? Do you show concern for other humans? Do you watch out for others, think of them more than yourself? That's a bit different. Being rewarded for that shows caring has become part of who you are so much that others notice." It might be good for all of us to consider how we model caring. Just like Julie doesn't want a class of stressed out 5th graders, our homes and classrooms will be happier places if they aren't filled with stressed out adults. Can we care without stressing? What does healthy caring look like?

Achieve your ARFF by setting goals

It seems like there's often not enough time in the day to fit in Achievement, Respect, Fun, and Freedom. I've found that setting long and short term goals is a good way to make it all happen.

I once heard someone say that setting goals is like going on a safari in search of elephants; along the way, you will see lots of rabbits or other small creatures that will try to distract you, but don't let them! If you know that you are searching for elephants, then you can confidently ignore (or postpone) other distractions that pop up.

What's your elephant today?

Fun

Freedom

The 2nd grade boys group meets every Thursday afternoon. We practice listening and cooperating, talk about things that are important to us, and play. Today we graphed our ARFF. Each boy moved his magnet to a number between I and 10 to indicate how they are doing with achievement, respect, fun, and freedom. I explained that freedom is having some time in your day when you get to make a healthy choice. We talked about how important it is to have activity choices that don't involve screen time. We looked at our ARFF graph and realized we could all use a little more freedom in our day. So with 5 minutes left, our little group headed out the door for a free recess. We had the whole playground to ourselves! One boy ran to the swings and spent the entire 5 minutes swinging and proclaiming "I love freedom! This is my best day ever!" His joy was contagious. I've brought it home with me today. And that's why I like blogging my teaching/counseling stories. Remembering and writing prolongs the joy.

Parenting Workshop

Andrea and I hosted the first parenting workshop of the year today. We were thrilled with the participation. Twenty parents showed up to learn about Search Institutes's 40 Developmental Assets. If you missed it, here's a summary of what we covered. We started by brainstorming a list of things that kids need to grow into healthy individuals. The participants came up with a pretty good list that included positive communication, support, rest, nutrition, and physical exercise. Then we looked at Search Institutes's list. The list SI came up with is a result of research that started back in 1989. SI studied over two million kids all over America to find out what causes some kids to thrive while others struggle with substance abuse and other risky behaviors. The research identified 40 assets that improve a child's chance of maturing into a healthy adult. The best part of today's workshop was that each participant was able to look over the list and identify at least one asset that they are providing for their children. Here are a few that were mentioned: extended family, supportive neighbors, church activities, lessons, and positive family communication. If you would like more information about the 40 Assets you can go to www.search-institute.org. You can download a list of the assets free of charge.

Weekend ARFF

Achievement: a little home improvement. Respect: watched Axl's christening on Apple TV. Fun: baking with Ana and Lauren. Freedom: x-country skiing.

Achievement: Andrea, Christina, Jen and I audited our counseling program today. Great solution-focused discussion with clear goals for making an effective program even better. Respect: Reconnected with Ryan Nollan, an ARFF-filled colleague, who recently moved back to the valley. There are a lot of people happy his family has returned. Fun: Lunch with "littles". Freedom: Instead of getting mad about having a broken washing machine, I packed up the dirty clothes and headed to the laundromat where I enjoyed an hour-long magazine fix. I love magazines. Love love love them.

ARFF - filled

I have been so full of ARFF this year that I haven't taken time to blog about it! With Denny's ( the creator of ARFF and High Trust Teaching)workshop coming up, I am more mindful of my ARFF so I am going to commit to posting daily until the workshop. Achievement: had our first meeting to plan our new school paper "The Little Fork News". Respect: dana surprised me with a Buzz n Bagel latte :) Fun: made paper flowers with my new friend, Abbie. Freedom: changed my schedule so I could lunch with kindergarten friends.