Two Weddings & My Family

Weddings are the best! Over the past 8 months, our crew has been to 2 wonderful weddings. There is just something so wonderful in having family together to celebrate love. And I've especially enjoyed the fact that my kids have been able to go and be a part of the magic.

Wedding Cake!!

That said, nothing is ever "easy" when it comes to getting a family of 7 ready for a wedding! The first wedding required a weekend trip with a dad (me!), 4 kids, and a prego wife at home. Nothing spells fun like airline travel with 4 kiddos! Thankfully, I had some help from a wonderful sister-in-law, and her boyfriend (the newliest-wedded couple!). The trip was a whirlwind with late nights, treats, food, treats, dancing, treats, swimming, and did I mention treats? The kids were so strung out on lack of sleep, sugar, and jet-lag that it took a good week just to get them back into the groove at home. And then all I heard was, "Do we leave for Auntie's wedding today?" And, "I liked the cake at Auntie's wedding!"

NO! Walk together!..Slow down! :)

Last weekend was wedding number 2! And unlike the first wedding, 6 of the 7 of us were IN the wedding. Ring bearers, flower girls, and a bride's maid! I was support cast in getting everyone where they needed to be - dressed and ready to go! Nothing spells wedding fun like organizing 4 year old twins to walk side-by-side down the aisle holding a sign for everyone to see! Or how about 4 of the 5 kids needing to use the bathroom during the ceremony! One of which was a near baby blow-out!

But through it all, the kids got to spend time with family. We spent nearly 2 weeks living in a house with my wife's parents, her sisters, their husbands, and all of the cousins. We swam, cooked, watched movies, played outside, and did family things. We created memories that will be everlasting for the kids... And of course they loved the wedding cake!

Much like the the first wedding, the transition back into "normal" life was tough. Tough is actually putting it nicely! And it wasn't just the kids! My wife and I still are spent from the festivities! It didn't help transitioning right back into work teaching summer school.

But now, after being home for just about a week, things are getting back to normal. So, what I've learned through this all is that the memories are priceless.. that is, if you can handle the transition back to the normal. For us it takes about a week. I wish that I had planned to not work the week after the wedding. Or it would have been great for the kids to have had a camp or more playdates set for when we returned, so we could have helped to smooth out the transition period. That said, no regrets! We all had so much fun at both weddings, and are so happy to have been there for our kids' beautiful Aunties!! 

Tell me about a wedding experience you had with your kids in the comments below. How was the transition back to normal life? What advice/tips would you give? 

Green Smoothie Family

About 5 years ago, my wife and I were pretty unhappy with our weight. We're not big people, but we just didn't feel we were the healthiest. I had made a goal to never be over 200 pounds, and I was sitting at 210... OK! 215... eek!

So my wife did some research into healthy eating habits, and started reading up on green smoothies from the Simple Green Smoothies site. If you're not familiar with green smoothies, they are smoothies that are typically made with organic fruits and veggies (use what's in season). They contain no dairy, and are blended up with just ice and water (coconut water, coconut milk, or almond milk work too!). At first I have to admit that I was totally skeptical, and we didn't even have a blender! But, as the high quality husband that I am, I decided to jump aboard and give them a try.

We did our research into blenders, and decided to get a Ninja brand blender. I will admit, that we totally wanted a Vitamix, but did I mention that I'm a teacher?.. :) We were excited to get started with the blending, and the Ninja did a great job. We quickly fell in love with our smoothies, and that "we" includes our kids! 

Our kids loved having a smoothie every morning, and then with dinner too. My wife and I loved the fact that they were getting veggies multiple times a day, and were begging to have a smoothie with each meal! (I've included our favorite recipe below).

Naturally, when you are trying to lose some weight, simply doing one thing doesn't magically make the pounds slip away. We are both former athletes, and we knew that exercise was going to have to be included in our plan in combination with some calorie counting. We decided to just do a smoothie and sandwich diet. We'd have a smoothie for breakfast, and then a sandwich & smoothie for lunch and dinner. We'd throw in different breads, cheeses, meats, and other "toppings" to spice up the sandwich, as well as guacamole and chips as a side.

With exercise, we both managed to lose the weight we wanted. It was great. Of course, over time and the addition of more kiddos, we lost some of the routine, and one can only eat so many sandwiches! But the one thing that has remained and is a staple to our daily lives is our morning smoothies!

We had to replace our Ninja Blender with the Nutri-Ninja Pro when the motor died, but we're staying true to the Ninja blender family. I happen to love the Nutri-Ninja Pro because I can make individual servings in a ready to go cup. It's hard when I'm making smoothies for everyone since I can't do one big pitcher. But I love the idea of getting each of the kids their own cups, so they can make their own smoothies with the ingredients they choose.

Use the comments below to tell me your favorite smoothie recipes or to talk about your blender of choice. You can also hit me up on twitter at @Ken_teacherdad.

The Teacher Dad Recipe!
(use with the Ninja Pro large cup)
Half an avocado
1 Banana
Large handful of spinach
1 pear
small handful of frozen mixed fruit (peaches, strawberries, grapes, pineapple)
Top off with as many frozen blueberries as you can
add between 1/2 to 1 cup of water for blending.

Project Semicolon #semicolonEDU

Over the last week, I've seen several posts on twitter with the hashtag semicolonEDU. At first, I'll admit, I glossed over the posts having had no prior knowledge of what #semicolonEDU was about. But then I noticed more posts, and these included tattoos of semicolons, and strong messages of support and love for my friends in the twitterverse that were participating. My interest was snatached, and I started clicking the links (Project Semicolon Site and The Nerdy Teacher's site) to learn more.

Through my link clicking, I learned that Project Semicolon is a movement to show love, hope, and support to those that suffer from depression, thoughts of suicide, addiction, and self-harm. As the official website puts it:

A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life. 

Not a Tattoo, but sharpy works!

I love this. The idea of using the semicolon as a sign of hope. A semicolon is a writing tool. A symbol that most connect with English class and school.
School, a place where the teachers are on the front lines of working and connecting with kids of all types.

For me, this project means so much, because I take my role as a teacher seriously. My place in these kids' lives is not solely for teaching math, but to act as a role model, and for some a life coach. My goal each year is to have a positive overall impact on these kids' lives, so that they know in me, they have someone who believes in them.

I know that my time on earth hasn't always been the easiest. My junior high experience was the worst. My self-value was in constant question, because I couldn't handle the verbal bullying, and at times physical bullying I went through. I was made to feel that I was never good enough, and I quickly believed it.

My schooling was negatively impacted. I never felt like I had an ally at school. The teachers never seemed to care, and the kids were mostly just left to fend for themselves. I became an easy target because I was the kid that would easily cry. I never fought; it's not in my nature.

So, to be heard, at home I would say that I would kill myself, or hurt myself. I guess in some ways I actually was considering it, since I remember spending a lot of time thinking about it. I would think about how scary it would be to die. I would wonder if anyone outside of my family would care. And in the end, I never truly attempted anything because I was scared. I was scared to hurting my family, because I knew how much they loved me. It was never about my friends, and I know that it was never about my own story. I just didn't want to let them down.

As a teacher, I try to embody that role for my kiddos. I want them to know that I appreciate them. I try to tell them about my experience, so they can see that I made it. That I continued my story. We all have excellent stories to live, and the idea of a semicolon as a sign to remember that is just perfect for us educators. We're on the front lines, and the relationships that we build with our students strengthen the continuation of their stories.

I want to thank @thenerdyteacher for blogging about Project Semicolon, and sharing it with our wonderful PLN on twitter. Please use the comments section to tell your story or add your thoughts.

Summer School Lessons

When I accepted the position at this high school, I agreed to also teach Geometry over the summer. Apparently, the school hadn't ever had a summer school geometry option before, so I'm blazing a new trail! All I have for guidance is that I have 6 weeks to teach an entire year of geometry. Yes, the kiddos have to take the same tests, and yes, they are expected to do the same amount of work.

Geometry summer school isn't like what you would image it, or at all close to what the movies would suggest it be. I don't have 4 hours a day with the typical "difficult" kiddo. (That's right, 4 hours a day for 6 weeks and an entire year of content--jealous?) Instead, I have 12 kiddos 10 of which are taking the course to get ahead. The reason? These are kiddos that would like to get to Calculus BC before the end of high school. Yes, they are the driven achievers that believe the ivy league is the only league. The kids that over the weekend are anticipating the problems I'm going to assign, and doing them. The same kids that are fighting me for an A+, because the A, or God forbid the A- is just not cutting it for them.

So why am I telling you this? I guess its more of the light shining on the inequalities of the education system. I wrote about the comparison between this district I'm in now, and my old district before here. The truth is that I feel like I'm an amazing teacher with these kids. The class average is a B+/A- and they have all completed every task, assignment, and challenge that I've given them. A four hour class flies by, and we have a great time. These kids aren't here as punishment. And for the majority of the students summer school isn't necessary for credit recovery purposes. Opportunity to bountiful here in our town, and it reflects even in our summer school.

When I try to figure out how an entire semester of Geometry can be successfully taught in just 3 weeks, I come to 3 main conclusions:

1. I have only 12 students! In a four hour window, I can easily connect with each kid on every topic covered. Individual attention is almost guaranteed, so those 2 students that are re-taking this class are thriving in a super supportive setting. They know they can ask me anything, and it's familiar to them. Technically, this isn't brand new material. They've seen it already. 
2. These 12 students are completely motivated. I have 10 kiddos that are pumped about getting ahead, and spend their time competing with each other on which of them is going to be done and correct first. That energy is pumping through the entire room! So instead of having a room of 32 kids that a mostly just "getting through" the hour of math each day, I'm surrounded by a crew that could be thriving in a classroom led by a monkey. They push each other; even the two re-takers!
3. There are no other distractions. They are not worried about the English paper due, or the 2 other tests they have later that day. Their focus is only on Geometry. There is no lunch room drama, or passing period breakups (I experienced 2 of those... really ruins a day!). Just four hours of Geometry, and the kids love it! They want to do all of their classes this way, and ask me why we couldn't change the entire structure of education! For the two that are succeeding at a higher level than the first time, I can see the excitement in understanding the material in a way they didn't know possible. 

Ultimately, I'm working in the perfect classroom environment. I'm responsible for the educational success of 12 kids in one content area over a 6 week period. And these kids are amped to be here. The only way to make this fail would be if I visibly didn't want to be here. But then why would I be teaching? If I didn't myself get pumped up to be in a classroom with kids that wanted to learn, why would I do this job in the first place?

I'm excited to start the 2nd semester next week. I'm anticipating the addition of a few more students that didn't pass the second semester of geometry this past school year. It'll be interesting to see if they jump on the already rolling summer school bandwagon or if I'll have to drag them a little. Either way, this experience has been eye opening, and well... fun!

Use the comment section below to tell me about your own summer school experience as a teacher or a student. I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

The Teacher Dad: Time for Better Gun Control

I hate guns. They make me totally and completely uncomfortable. I've held a gun only once, and it was some sort of  military grade weapon and scared the you know what out of me. I couldn't for the life of me understand the why. What was the purpose? The answer I got was, "why not?"

That doesn't work for me. I get needing a gun for certain reasons. I married an Alaskan. I lived in the last frontier for 10 years. I understand hunting, or the need for protection in the wild. My father-in-law owns a gun for such reasons. I don't know much about it, but I know it's there. 

And I know plenty of other people who own guns for hunting purposes. Nothing military grade, but enough to take down a moose or a caribou for winter meat. All of this I get. I get the need for families in Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and other states with a great deal of subsistence lifestyles having hunting weapons. It's not for me, but I'm down with hunters being hunters. 

What I don't get is the need for firearms beyond that. I don't know when exactly my dislike of guns started. I was like most other boys growing up. We played "war" throughout the neighborhood using toy weapons. We'd run in and out of the backyards hiding from each other and springing attacks. 

But at some point that changed. Maybe it was the Brown's Chicken murders in my hometown, or the shooting near my junior high that had us on lockdown until a parent could pick us up. It could have been the front row seat to the Persian Gulf War (90's edition), or the unforgettable Columbine Shooting. It definitely hit the highest of moments at the funeral of a kiddo accidently shot by her relative, but the feeling was permanently sealed in a tearful drive home from teaching while listening to the news covering the Sandy Hook tragedy. 

The days following that terrible event I found myself in a Facebook "discussion" questioning the idea that the gunman would have killed those students and teachers even if he didn't have a gun. I pleaded that there would have been no murders that day if he had walked up to that school with steak knives, but my NRA "friend" wouldn't hear it. In my mind it makes sense that if the types of weapons he used that day were never available, those kids and teachers would still be here today. 

I'm tired of people being hurt out of hate. Guns or no guns. I believe that without the guns less of our brothers and sisters would be dead at the hands of hate. And I can't for the life of me understand how others don't see that. I can't for the life of me understand how a person can see the number of deaths at the hands of gunmen and conclude that to solve this we should have more guns. Let's bring guns into schools and on college campuses to keep people safe, huh? Didn't we progress beyond the "Western" lifestyle shown in a John Wayne movie?

Our country has come a long way since the birth of my first kiddo. Yet, in our present moment we can still have a man walk into a church and kill using a gun given as a gift. It's time to fight for better and frequent background checks. Let's fight to keep the right guns in the hands of those that use them to feed their families. Let's fight to protect kids by being realistic with how people are getting murdered. It's time to press for better representation within our government to help get things on track.  

My 5 kiddos are already living in an America with more freedoms than I grew up in, but I question if it is safer America? And if it's not, does making guns and ammunition more readily available really make anything better? I truly don't think so. And neither does the comedian in the video below. 

Clearly, I'm opening myself up to critics by writing this openly on my blog. I'm not interested in battling over my feelings on this issue, but please feel free to comment. And at least watch the video! Funny and true! 

Accountability

I've recently found myself in a position as a dad that I'm questioning just how I can hold the educators of my own kids accountable for my kids' learning. This is a strange dilemma to be in since I am an educator, and in my opinion... Well, I think I'm great at my job.

So, I'm sitting up late tonight trying to wrap my head around the academic year of one of my kiddos, and where the accountability of the teacher stands. As a teacher I do everything in my power to own the responsibility of my students' learning. If one of them fails, then it was on me. I didn't do my job. I didn't reach them. I didn't bridge the gap to help the student surpass the struggles of home life, learning disadvantages, or content interests. I, me, the teacher didn't get the job done. 

I'm sure you can see that I take this seriously. I expect the educators of my own kids to have the same passion. I want them to own the responsibility of teaching my kids. That these men and women will take the time to understand my children and teach to their strengths. I want them to contact me with more "I" based statements. I want to hear not what my kid isn't doing, but what the teacher is going to do to help. I'm tired of the word intervention. I'm tired of not "meeting standards." I want to hear "your kid is learning at his/her pace and that's great! Here's how I'm helping bridge a couple of gaps I've noticed." 

I want to hear responsibility not blame. Standards aren't teaching my kids or your kids. Educators teach the kids. Not apps on iPads, not Sylvan Learning Centers, not parents for hours after school each night, but teachers. 

The great teachers know this. The great ones or those of us striving to bring this to our classrooms. I'll tell you that it's exhausting, but as a father of 5, it's more exhausting to worry for my own kiddo's learning experience. So, I'm up wondering how this entire year, ending in less than a week, can be positively justified. What was my child's gain? 

And at this point, the positive is that the summer is around the corner, and my kids will be kids again. We can work on things that interest them. Read and write at our leisure. We can do learning the way we think it needs to be done. So that by the start of the next year, we can be ready for the next teacher and hope for the best. 

Happy Fourth Birthday

Four years ago today, my wife and I began an amazing trip across the country to hold our twin boys and start a new chapter in our lives. I'm still not sure exactly how we were able to do it. Everytime I think back, I'm overwhelmed by how it all came together so perfectly.  The late night phone call, the scramble to book tickets, the phone calls for help, the excitement of traveling all night and day. It represents one those times when you know that a bigger universal power must exist. For everything to fall together the way it did, I know that these, now 4 years olds, were meant to be, and are forever my kids.

They have grown so fast, and with each day make our lives better. When my wife and I decided to add to our family through adoption it was because our hearts told us it was the next path. We followed our hearts, and they are forever bigger and better because of these two amazing boys.

We love you both so much for what you each bring to our family. While you are twins, you are so incredibly unique. A with your charming smile, strength, and athletic nature. O with your love of music, kindness, and inquisitive mind. Your friendship and love to each other is so perfect. Thank you for making your mom and I as well as your siblings the luckiest people in the world.

Here is the video we made when we first brought our boys home. Enjoy it, and have the tissue ready!

You can also read more about our story at the following links. 

* And Then There Were Six

* It's So Amazing

* Our Adoption Blog