Prime City

Today I'm taking you out of my running world and back into my school world.  If you have children in your household who are currently in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade in Massachusetts, you may be interested in this.  For those of you who don't, you might not be as on top of the current educational goings-on in this state, so you might not be too interested in this first part, but I promise I'll make the end more exciting.  So you can always scroll down to the photos and reverse read your way up if you want.  I know that's an awful writing technique but I've already committed to it, so here we are.
This year in my city, we've decided to forgo the MCAS test in favor of the PARCC test.  There's a million reasons behind that decision, none of which I'm going to talk about right now.  But for those of you who are in a city/town who is opting into PARCC for the year, you may have realized that this test is HARD.  Believe me when I tell you I don't say that lightly.  The other day, I got a practice test that PARCC has released to the public, and brought it home to try out.  I figured if we were going to require these students to take this test in 90 minutes or less and solve every problem, I should find out if that was realistic.  As a highly-educated, well-informed, licensed elementary school teacher, the 17 questions on Unit 1 took me a total of 74 minutes to complete.  Think about this for just one second.  I know how to read in English, I can decipher questions and understand what problems are asking for even if there's more than one step, or the steps aren't explicit in the problem.  I also know how to do regular old multi-digit multiplication and long division.  Keep in mind that many of my students are not FLUENTLY SPEAKING English yet, do not necessarily read on a 4th grade level yet, and have never learned how to do long division.  (That's because it's a standard not taught in 4th grade, and it's not really a key point, but I figured I'd add it in.) To ask these poor children to take a test in 90 minutes, I feel, is setting unrealistic expectations on these students and asking them to fail from the beginning.  Look at it this way.  The MTEL has a 4 hour time limit for 100 multiple choice questions and two open-response questions.  Yet, I know plenty of adults who have caved under the pressure, not finished in time, or completely blown the test because they were too worried about the time limits.  If adults have a hard time with it, why are we putting a 90 minute time limit on a test for a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds?  It just doesn't seem fair to me.  I'm fine with the actual test, and I do think many of my students could do the actual math part, it's the reading and the time limit that are going to get in the way.  Imagine you moved to Russia and two years after being there, someone handed you a math test in Russian and told you that you had 90 minutes to take and pass the whole thing.  If that sounds crazy, just remember that many times, this is what we're being forced to ask our students to do.  Just so you can get a feel for it, here's a released PARCC test question from a previous test.

Use the information provided to answer Part A and Part B for question 3. The number of science fair projects entered for each grade in a city-wide science fair is shown. 
 City-Wide Science Fair 

   Grade    Number of Science Fair Projects
           3    462
           4    759
           5    891
Part A
The science fair projects are set up on tables. There are 99 long tables used. Each long table holds 7 projects. The rest of the projects are set up on short tables. Each short table can hold 4 projects. What is the fewest number of short tables that will be needed for the rest of the projects?
        A) 202
        B) 203
        C) 354
        D) 355

Part B
The science fair judges will be science teachers and volunteers. Each judge will only have time to view 5 science fair projects. There are 133 science teachers. What is the fewest number of volunteers needed to have enough judges for all of the projects?
       A) 290
       B) 396
       C) 422
       D) 423

Please take a moment and actually read that test question.  It's a hard question to break down, and while I'm sure my students COULD do it, I don't think they could do it in the time allotted, which I think is the real problem.  We keep talking about getting these kids college ready, but at this point, I don't even know if ANY of my students will be able to afford college when the time comes. So I'm glad we're working on improving our countries skills in STEM subjects, but I truly feel that this 90 minute time window is unfair and needs to be removed if we want these students to REALLY succeed.

Moving on from PARCC though, in a brighter spot, I've been reviewing some topics with a very small group of fourth graders at the end of the day.  These are the students that are currently not passing, but could be, if they had that extra help, so I'm revisiting some former standards to really help drive the concepts home.  The first standard we revisited was prime and composite numbers. I noticed that these students could list factors and multiples, but couldn't tell the difference between prime and composite numbers.  So for the past two days, we've focused solely on prime numbers.  Yesterday we built Prime City, an idea I came up with in the shower one morning.  Each student got a few pieces of long construction paper and bunch of small squares.  I wrote this note on the board and we got right to work.  If you can't read it, it says: Prime City.  Prime City is under construction. The construction workers are putting windows on the buildings today.  Each building can only have a prime number for the number of windows.  Help finish Prime City by putting windows on the buildings.  
The students got their construction paper and a glue stick and worked on putting windows on their buildings. They had to tell me what number each building represented and why it was a prime number.  If they couldn't tell me, they couldn't use that number. The group had a lot of fun doing this, and the cities came out awesome.  Today, to reinforce the concept, they played Prime Number Match.  This is something I came up with a lunch today and figured I might as well go with it.  It's similar to Memory, but they only keep the match if both numbers are prime.  In order to prove that their match was prime, they had to list all the factors of both numbers on a separate sheet of paper and label prime or composite.  By the end, only one student had managed to match two prime numbers, but they were having fun playing and were doing a great job of listing the factors.  I'm very interested to see how their homework comes back tomorrow, to see who really did learn the concept of prime numbers after all of this.
 Here are the pictures of Prime City and the rules for Prime Number Match, if you're interested in that.

Ok, now that we're done with that educational stuff, here's the running stuff for everyone who reads this for that.  Sorry I left it for the end, I just had to get that PARCC stuff out of the way.  Here we go.  Yesterday I did 3 miles of sprints and hill repeats on the treadmill and then did a 10 minute ab workout at home, followed by stretching.  Today I did another 3 regular miles on the treadmill, 2 flat and one at 2.0 incline.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but man, running on that treadmill at my typical outdoor pace is really a struggle.  I made it through the first mile at an 8:34 no problem and by 1.2 it was a real struggle to continue. It's just so easy to stop and jump off, since I'm not going anywhere.  I think the biggest difference is that when I'm outside, even if I stop, I still have to get back to where I started from, so eventually I have to keep moving.  Inside, I'm not actually going anywhere, so I end up stopping all the time, because, you know, whatever.  Bad habit? Definitely.  Fixable? Who knows, I've tried many times, it probably is, I'm just real bad at actually fixing it.  So, that's my running for the week so far.  I'm going to try and get 5 or 6 in tomorrow since it's supposed to be warm/rainy.  Friday I have the Disney in Concert show with my mom at night, so I'll probably skip the running and just do a regular workout instead.  But, I do need some help deciding which shoes to wear on Friday night, so leave your opinion below, after you check out both options.

Planking in the bedroom.  I never realize how much harder it is to plank in bare-feet until I do it in shoes.  (I always do my boxing workout barefoot, which includes the ab session at the end.) Hip raises/bridges are also much easier with shoes on, for the record.

OK: Shoe Choice Time

A: Mickey and Minnie Themed shoes

B: Little Mermaid Themed Shoes

I patiently await your answers.  If you made it this far, thanks for reading, even if you did scroll down and work your way backwards!

You can find me in the club

Hanging posters for my fundraising.

 Bam! Surprise pictures right at the start.  Sometimes I just like to switch it up.  Plus, that opening line wouldn't have made sense without the picture evidence to back it up, so there you have it.  But, yup, that's my fundraising poster.  As you can see (or maybe not?), I made it extra easy for people to donate by adding a QR code, so that I wasn't relying on my cash jar at the front.  Of course, it hasn't made a difference at all yet, but, hey, you never know.  At least the poster ties me to the club and the marathon team, whereas before it was a picture of me, Ryan, and Morty, on wedding day.  That seemed to confuse people, so I made it real clear and simple.
Aside from my poster, I've contacted a paint bar and a cinema bar about fundraising nights.  We'll see how that plays out, but hopefully it will attract a crowd.  Really I'm not that far away, so if I did the cinema comedy night, I get $10 for each person, 100 people show up, that's $1000 right there.  Do I know 100 people? Maybe.  Do I think that many would show up? Probably not, but I like to dream big.
While we're on the topic, I actually got some running done this week too, which is impressive, I know.  I ran 6 on Tuesday and then 6 more last night.  Tuesday was a nice 50 degrees, so I had to get outside, even though I spent most of it dodging puddles and trying to ignore my soaking wet feet.  It's hard to dodge puddles when they take up the entire sidewalk.  Last night I joined Cynthia and Murdock for a lap around Wakefield and then did a second lap with them and the Mystic Running Club.  It was a bit colder than I expected it to be, but overall a good night for running.  Today I'm taking an off day and then tomorrow I might see if I can make it up into the double digits.  For a hot second I thought about driving down to Hyannis this weekend and hoping into the half, but that doesn't really seem like a good plan after all.
Alright, now that we've covered everything running related, we can move onto school vacation.  Sure it's almost over, and sure I'm extra bored today, but overall it is so nice to be able to have this week off.  I organized a closet, changed the shower curtain, cleaned the bathrooms and the kitchen properly, dusted the blinds, and finished my book.  Of course I also wrote lesson plans and got stuff together for next week, but that part isn't nearly as exciting.  I might even make it to L.L. Bean today and exchange my worn out boots for a pair that isn't all cracked and leaking.  While I'm on the topic of vacation, I guess I should start thinking about what to do this summer.  I'm not sure not working/not getting paid all summer again is a viable option.  I'd love it if I could just do the Title chalkboard once a month and get paid for that, but even if that was an option, it wouldn't be enough to live off of.  I wish there was a museum around here that I could work in. Not that there aren't museums around here, I just don't think I'd get a job at any of them.  Most places like that want a full time staffer, not a teacher who works part time for the summer.  Maybe I'll open my own museum.  I've read enough history books, I'm sure I could whip something up.  Ok, ok, that's obviously a joke, but seriously, let's start brainstorming here, what do I want to do this summer?
While you try to figure out my life for me, I'll make it a bit easier by adding the rest of the pictures to the end of this post, where they belong.

Bought this book to read on the flight to/from Louisiana last month. Didn't actually read it until now, but it was worth it.  A lot of old music suddenly has a new meaning that you may not have connected with before. 

Post run dinner.  Don't mind the dog, this is how every meal in the house goes.  If you're wondering what that is, it's turkey rolled up with a bit of mayo on the inside (we were out of bread) and homemade mac and cheese.  Usually I use milk, butter, and deli cheese singles, ripped up and melted together after the pasta is boiled. For this, I replaced the milk with Greek salad dressing to give it a bit of flavor and it was delicious.  If you make mac and cheese like this, you'll never go back to the boxed stuff, I promise.

V-A-C-A-TION

In the winter time.  Which means it's cold. But not that cold.  Yesterday was colder.  Tomorrow will be warmer.  (You really have to sing/chant that part for it to make sense, otherwise it's just a bunch of short sentences.)  But the temperature has improved from -10 to at least 20 something, so it's really not that cold today.  Then tomorrow the temp is supposed to get up to 50 with rain, so hopefully some of the snow will melt and there will be open sidewalks again.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, if that matters to anyone reading this.  We're not really into celebrating those kinds of holidays, so we didn't do anything overly exciting.  On Saturday we went to RunBase in Boston and then at lunch/dinner at 5 Napkin Burgers.   Yesterday we went to Kohls and bought a self-timing crockpot and some pants.  We're so romantic, you can't even handle it.  

I swear when I jumped on here I had a lot more to say, but I've either forgotten it, or it wasn't important, because now I'm mostly fresh out of updates.  I am still looking for donations and working on a fundraising night.  I'm only about $1750 away from my goal, so if you want to take pity on me and provide some extra money, you can donate that right here. Boston Marathon 2016 Donation Page

Since I can't remember anything else that I wanted to write about, here are the end of post pictures. In recognition of Valentine's day, it's the before and after of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in their boat during the floating lanterns.  If you really like the after picture, I'll send it to you in exchange for a $50 donation. How's that for incentive.
*UPDATE*
I just remembered what else I wanted to share.  Two things actually.  One is running related, one is not.  So, first, the running thing.  Today I got an email from Green Strides, a fairly well-known race host around these parts.  They've been putting on the Earth Rock and Run half-marathon for a few years now, at least.  BLet me back up. Back in 2014 I ran that race with my running partners, one of which was pregnant at the time.  There's a lot I remember about this race, but specifically, the giant hill towards the end.  I'm not kidding when I say giant, but you better believe that two of the three of us ran up that hill and took it like it was our own.  (The third was pregnant and gets a pass for not making it that far).  I'm sure there's a post back in here about that race actually.  But the point is, even without training for this half, we ran it, hill and all.  Jump forward to today again and here you'll see this lovely email that I received.

Lest you not want to open that up or can't read it clearly let me share the main idea with you.  A bunch of people complained that the race was too hilly, so Green Strides changed the entire course to eliminate most of the hills.  Say it with me now running friends.....WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!? Is it just me, or is that absurd? Never have I ever heard of a race group bowing to pressure to drop hills out of their course. As far as I'm concerned, you check the elevation map before you run if you're that concerned about hills. Then you decide not to run this race.  Or, you just suck it up and run up the hill because you're already there. Running is not about finding flat roads to run on, it's about taking the challenge and finding out what you're made of.  Before you accuse me of being too into this though, I know that not everyone runs for the same reasons I do, but I still don't think hills should be removed because people complained. We live in a hilly area and it's just part of the run.  In the words of  Miley Cyrus, there's always going to be another mountain....

Now that we're over that, let's move onto the second item that I wanted to share.  This is not related to running, but it is related to country music.  You see, I had tickets for the Lee Brice/Tyler Farr show in Lowell on March 17, mostly because I really wanted to see Tyler Farr in person.  I just like his music, I can't help it.  Sadly, he backed out of the tour after getting vocal chord surgery, which was disappointing, but I was still going to go to the show, because I guess I like Lee Brice enough too.  But then I got our elementary school basketball tournament schedule, and wouldn't you know it, my boys team is playing on Thursdsay, March 17, at 5:45 p.m.  Obviously I can't abandon these boys in the one big game that matters to go see a country concert instead, but it was a little disappointing.  Being there for my team is far more important to me than making it out to Lowell to see Lee Brice perform, but it seems like this concert was doomed anyways.  Hopefully Tyler heads out on the road again next year and I'll get the chance to see him then.  

And now back to those pictures as promised above.

Running against the wind

Is what I would be doing if I were out running.  But, I haven't gone running since last Wednesday.  Man, how do people do this indoor running thing?  I mean seriously, as soon as the snow covered the sidewalks, it's like running didn't exist anymore to me.  Even on the treadmill, I'm only getting in 3 or less.  That's completely unacceptable since I have to run Boston in a couple of months.  Unfortunately I keep telling myself it's fine since I ran two marathons over the last 4 months.  But that's not really true, because if I keep up this trend of not running, when April rolls around, I'm going to be in for a sad awakening when I can't finish the marathon or when it takes me 5 hours.  Or just being super sore for days afterwards like I was for Louisiana.  Bottom line here is that I need to get moving again.  The question is how?
If you have any tricks, I'd love to hear them.  I've done the whole watch a movie or show on the treadmill, didn't love that, tried reading and listening to audiobooks, didn't love that, and tried interval training.  Interval training is the most effective in that it makes the miles go by faster, but I also feel like I'm not getting the most out of it by jumping off to make up for the recovery part of my hill repeats.  I don't know.  It just seems like the treadmill is not working for me.  But going outside seems dangerous.  The sidewalks are either not shoveled or iced over and running on the street for long stretches seems like I'm just asking to be hit by a car.  Especially with so many people still not paying attention to the road and looking down at their phones.  You wouldn't even believe the amount of people I see driving to and from work each day that are looking down, instead of forward.  It's actually a bit astounding.  Generally I tend to notice it when I'm sitting in traffic watching other cars go by me in the lanes that are moving, but that's even worse, I think.  Texting while driving really doesn't make any sense to me.   It can wait.  I know that's the AT&T slogan or whatever, but I fully believe that's true.  If whatever you texting is that important, pull over or make a hands-free call.  Anyways, it's reason like this that make me nervous about running on streets for extended periods of time.  I know how distracted everyone seems to be and if you add in ice and snow, it's a recipe for disaster.
I guess I'm going to have to learn to love the treadmill.  Or at least make it a habit to run at least 3 miles on it each day.  I suppose I could do 3 outside and 3 on the tread, but even that seems like a stretch.  I just love running outside.  It's so much nicer.  If only the rail trails in the area were packed down.  Those I'd be more than happy to run and I could just strap on my yaktrax and go.  Unfortunately, I don't think most of them are run-able once the snow surpasses 2 inches.  Maybe tomorrow I'll go check one out.  At this point, it probably couldn't hurt, and if I don't get running soon, I'm going to regret it.
Since I've been talking about snow, and we did have a snow day yesterday, here are some pictures to enjoy. They're clearly not running related, but the puppies in them sure are cute!

Snow day like today

Alright, I know, these puns are the worst.  Plus, it's not even snowing today that was yesterday.  Whatever.  Do you know how hard it is to come up with a title for a post when you really don't even have anything to say? I mean, of course I have things to say, but since nothing really holds this post together to make it flow, I had to choose a broad topic for the title.
But more than 4 sentences about titling a post is way overboard, so let's move on.  Since it did snow yesterday, I think I might actually have to move my running indoors.  If sure was a real unhappy realization, but what can you do?  Hopefully the snow melts in a timely fashion, or at least melts off the sidewalks enough that I can get in a my long runs outside.  Besides, it seems like every time I run on the treadmill, I get a cold the next day.  So if that's going to be a pattern, I'm not going to be able to do much more treadmill running! Speaking of colds, I have one now, since I did run on Wednesday, indoors, and now I can't breathe properly.  Super annoying.  I'll probably give working out a shot tomorrow, since I have to go up that way to drop off my car anyways, but I'm not sure it's going to go great.
Other than my lack of working out, I did another chalkboard drawing for Title Saugus yesterday, for their D-Strong fundraiser today.  I think it's high time I free-lanced my chalkboard drawing skills, so if anyone needs some art done, I'm available for a small fee.  Today I found and watched A Hard Day's Night on Hulu.  Let me just say, that movie does not hold up with what I remember from my childhood days.  As in, it's completely weird and really seems to be lacking a clear plot until halfway through the movie.  It's mostly just a bunch of random shots of The Beatles singing their songs. I mean, I'm a fan of it, and I'll probably watch it again, but it sure is weird. Unrelated to that, I tried Dove Dry Shampoo this week and it worked well, I think I'm a fan, but it needs more testing before I commit fully.
So anyways, that's basically all that happened since the last time we chatted, sorry it's not more exciting.  Here's a pile of pictures to make up for that.

Oh,I bought these amazing peanuts at Target and mixed them with chocolate chips, which was totally worth it.

Dry shampoo hair

Thursday, February 4

Friday, February 5

D-Strong chalk art

Check out that sweater man.  

Working on my chalk art