librarian PJs and eagle eyes

   

Gap dress, $20 after rewards and sale discount

necklace, Macy's

Maybelline Rum Riche ColorSensational lipstick

      Let me say this first: Hey, I'm wearing lipstick! And I even reapplied it post-lunch! And, I got complimented on the color. :)
      We now resume our regularly scheduled post: I am looking forward to wearing this dress belted, too, but for a tired Tuesday I went with the straight shift look (a.k.a. librarian pajamas). I've heard people refer to dresses like this as "pajama dresses," and this dress worn without a belt certainly qualifies. Most knitty things are way too unseemly-looking (read: clingy) in the back for me to wear them to work, but this is a nice substantial knit - so no worries there.
    I went into two fourth-grade classrooms on Tuesday morning to kick off their healthy eating project. I was a little worried that my lesson would be too basic, but I learned otherwise when I gave them a pre-test. Only 1 student from each class could name 5 food groups! We looked at choosemyplate.gov and they completed an "information hunt" worksheet to familiarize themselves with the benefits, nutrients, and recommended serving sizes for each food group.
    While I was circulating to help the students, one student asked me, "Is this site made for kids?" I told him yes, and asked him what he had seen that made him wonder. He pointed out that he had seen a three-letter word that started with "s" on the web page (see the page here). I told him that sometimes that word could be used to talk about whether you're a boy or girl, not other things. It kind of amazes me that of all the words on the web site, he noticed that one. I'm glad he asked, though!
     Every time I teach a lesson, it turns out to be a learning experience for me, as well. For instance, I realized after I worked with both classes that I should have modeled using the web site better and walked them through some of the questions. What looks easy to use to an adult is something else for a student. Not all students are reading on grade level, so I think they had some difficulty reading - which tells me it might be more fruitful to pull easy-reading books that have the same info. More work for me, but a better learning experience for the kids.

    

second day

      For my second day at my practicum site, I had a great outfit planned. However, late-night snacking on salty things derailed this plan ... it seems that this bad habit results in a not-so-skinny-feeling day after. I decided to pair my elastic-waist dress with a non-constricting belt.

 dress, Old Navy

belt, thrifted

opal earrings, gift from EKM

      I have to admit I was snacking on Chicken in a Biskit. It's an odd snack all around: who decided that chicken makes a good cracker flavoring? How do they squeeze the chicken into the cracker? And why couldn't they spell "biscuit" properly?
      As strange as they are, Chicken in a Biskits hold a special place in my heart (er, stomach?) due to my childhood. It seems my childhood was largely comprised of ... reading and snacking. And these were not healthy snacks, but the glory of the processed-food industry: Oreos, cheese balls that came in a can, Icees, Combos, Otter Pops, Chips Ahoy, these strangely mushy microwaveable cakes, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs. (At this point you are either smiling nostalgically ... or feeling nauseated.) I'll stop here.

      I try to eat healthfully most of the time, but on occasion I give in to the temptation to revisit these childhood favorites. I'm not the only one, either ... my cousin shared recently how excited she was to find Biskits on the snack table at a meeting. While one of the attendees declared the Biskits weird, my cousin went back for three servings. Those childhood tastes are hard to shake!