teachers

Leftovers for Lunch

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baja chicken salad

Now that school has started for the year, I am packing lunches again. I pack lunches for my two children and me almost every day. I dread this chore. It probably seems a little out of character for me to dislike packing school lunches since I love snacky food. I think part of the problem is packing the lunch at 6 am. The food seems so unappetizing at that time. I don’t like to pack the lunch the night before because then the food has a “soggy” quality to it the next day.

One solution I have for my adult school lunch is to cook something for dinner that becomes a good leftover. I can pack a single serving in a tupperware, pull it out of the refrigerator in the morning without having to see it or smell it, and it is ready to reheat or serve at lunchtime at school.

The Pasta, Pesto, and Peas and Orzo with Roasted Vegetables are two of my favorite leftovers for lunch choices. I just discovered this Baja Chicken Salad recipe after taking it to a group event, and it is a new leftover lunch that I will be bringing to school this year.

baja chicken salad closeSalad Ingredients

  • 4 (16-oz) cans black beans
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/3 c. chopped green onions
  • 1 package (10-oz) frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro (plus a small handful more for garnish)
  • 8 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, grilled (could also buy a whole roasted chicken)
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 c. salsa

baja chicken salad green pepperDressing Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. fresh lime juice
  • 1 T. Dijon mustard
  • 2 T. ground cumin
  • 1 t. minced fresh garlic
  • 1 t. pepper
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 3/4 c. olive oil (I like less)
  • 3/4 c. vegetable oil (I like less)

baja chicken salad mixing ingredientsDirections

  • Combine dressing ingredients, mixing well, and let stand at least one hour. (Can be done 1 day ahead.)
  • Drain and rinse black beans. Mix black beans in a large bowl with peppers, onion, corn, and cilantro. Toss with dressing.

baja chicken salad ingredients

  • Cut chicken into strips.
  • Place vegetables with dressing on a large platter or large shallow serving dish. Arrange chicken strips and avocado slices on top.
  • Drizzle with salsa and scatter cilantro over all.

Notes

  • Because of the black beans and cilantro, do a teeth check after eating.
  • This recipe serves 8. The recipe can be halved.
  • Toss the avocado slices in lime juice to keep from browning.

cutting avocado

  • I like to roast chicken breasts with skin on and bone in rather than grilling boneless chicken breasts. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put chicken breasts on a roasting pan. Rub skin with olive oil and season generously with Kosher salt and black pepper. Cook chicken for about 40 minutes until golden on the top and cooked through. Remove from oven and tent with foil. Let rest until cool enough to handle. When cooled, remove skin and pull chicken off the bone; cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.

roasted chicken breastsThis is a great recipe for a big group, for picnics, for potluck dinners, and for lunch. I love that it is a meal in one dish. Anybody else have suggestions for good meals that hold up well in the refrigerator overnight?

Carpool Rules

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carpool sign on dashboard

Last spring, around the time parents stop placing the signs with last names in car windshields at carpool, I posted some important etiquette rules for afternoon pick up at school (see original post here). Since most parents of school aged children are in the middle of back to school, I thought it was worth re-posting my carpool etiquette list.

For those of you who missed the first post, I would like to remind you that I am a carpool caller at my school. I have a Madonna microphone and everything. I was not originally selected for this job. My teammate had been tapped for the position and cried when she found out, so I volunteered to take her place. It got me out of the commons area duty which is where the students sit while waiting to be called. I thought the caller job was better. I may have been wrong.

Rule 1: Most schools give signs with the family’s last name, children’s names, or carpool group information clearly written. The sign is supposed to sit on your dashboard somewhere. Keep your sign in the window of your car ALL year round. When your child is not standing next to you, and you are wearing sunglasses, the carpool caller does not know your name or who you are.

Rule 2: Tip the sign up a little when you get within range of the carpool announcer. If it is sunny, and the light is reflecting off the windshield, we can’t read the sign resting on your dashboard. If it is raining, and the windshield is wet, we can’t read the sign resting on your dashboard.

Basically, anything resting flat on the dashboard is hard to read. Tags that hang from the rearview mirror are easy to read. Parents can hang their tag from a clippy hanger and hook it onto the rearview mirror during carpool or write the last name on a door hanger (like the kind hotels have), and it will improve visibility quite a bit.

carpool sign hanging

Rule 3: No extraneous conversation of any kind. The only time you need to talk is to let the caller know who is riding in your car if you don’t have the sign in the windshield (refer back to Rule 1 and please put the sign back in your windshield). Don’t try to ask questions about homework or have a parent/teacher conference with the carpool caller or the loaders. The caller is counting cars. She/he can’t have a parent teacher conference and announce names at the same time. The loaders are trying to get children in seats as quickly as possible to move the whole line forward.

Rule 4: Stay in your assigned slot unless asked to move forward by a faculty member. If you hear the caller announce your child’s name at position 3, or the green cone, or whatever it is at your school, go to that position and wait. If the cars in positions 1 and 2 load and pull away, continue to wait at station 3 unless a teacher waves you forward. If you pull forward thinking you are making room for more cars, you reshuffle all of the students. I am The caller is still down the block calling numbers based on your number 3 position. Once students are lining up at the wrong carpool stations, it slows down the whole system.

Rule 5: Order Remind your child to listen for his/her name while in the “holding” area.

Rule 6: Teach your child to clip a seatbelt. This rule does not apply to nursery school aged children.

Rule 7: Have children practice getting in the car with their belongings a few times.

P.S. Little kids are not ready for giant wheelie backpacks.

If you need help with morning drop off tips, you can read a totally hilarious (not PG) carpool blog post from the Hot Mess Mom’s perspective by clicking here.

What are your carpool pet peeves? Everyone with school aged children has them.

Teacher Gift Giveaway

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teacher emergency kit filled and gift tags

Have you entered to win a fabulous Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit? The giveaway ends Sunday, August 4 at 7 pm (EST). Two winners will be selected.

  • Click on this Entry-Form link to enter the giveaway!
  • Kit contains travel toothbrush and paste, Tampax, chapstick, Advil, Tums, mints, Bandaids, and hair elastics.
  • But wait, there’s more. Not only will each winner receive one filled Back to School Kit, he/she will also receive not ONE but TWO oven mitts because I had to buy oven mitt SETS to get the potholder I wanted, and I now own about 10 mitts!

Entry Form Information

  • The entry form links to TheRoomMom on Bloglovin, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest where you complete the regular “like” or “follow” procedures on the social media sites directly then submit the entry form after you complete the like or follow. Just hitting submit does not create a follow or like.
  • Already follow TheRoomMom? You can leave a comment below and enter the name you used to comment in the entry form. You can enter a new comment every 24 hours and submit another entry form creating more chances for you to win.
  • All likes, follows, and comments are “verified” at the end of the contest, and the two winners will be randomly selected. The entry form is not as user friendly as I would like, but I am testing the waters with my first giveaway tool.

Worried you might not win but want an Emergency Kit anyway? Click here or here for directions to make one yourself.

teacher emergency kit gift tags

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit

Deal Me In

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a hand of cards

I know it may seem like I am not getting much accomplished now that I am on summer vacation, but I must be doing something because I am exhausted at the end of the day. Aside from the Cocktail Testing, my kids and I figured out that Cups Trick Thing, we go to swim practice in the mornings, and I unloaded the dishwasher and folded a load of laundry.

I have also been playing a lot of cards with my kids. My parents visited and kicked off this latest activity. We mainly play Crazy 8s, Solitaire, and War. I was “over listening” to Mr. Star Wars talk to himself during a recent game of solitaire, and it dawned on me how many skills are wrapped up in a card game.

** If you are unfamiliar with the rules of play, click here for Crazy 8s, Solitaire, and War.

solitaire with kids

Grouping, Sorting, and Matching

  • In order to play card games, the player has to be able to identify and/or separate the suits and the numbers. In Crazy 8s, the player can switch between the suit and the number at each turn. Deciding if you want to use a matching suit or a matching number requires a little bit of strategy (see predicting and strategy below). Kids have to be able to group and sort like items. When a kid plays cards, he is practicing basic math skills and symbol recognition that is helpful for early readers.
  • The cards that the player holds in his hand can be grouped by like numbers and like suits (and then sub-grouped by numerical order). This reinforces organization and sorting.  

Counting, Ascending and Descending Order

  • The goal of many card games is to gather cards in numerical order. In Solitaire, the whole point is to create a stack of cards that count down and also move them to the ace piles and count up. In the descending order piles, you have the added skill of a red/black alternating pattern. The player also needs to know which number is next and anticipate that card appearing. If your child’s teacher mentioned extra practice with ordering numbers, play a few games of solitaire with him/her.
  • Players have to remember that a jack is lower than a queen, which is lower than the king. Depending on the game, the ace can change from less than the 2 to greater than the king. Kids translate the value of the face cards into a number value for ordering. Mentally renaming the card’s worth requires a multi-step thought process (i.e. critical thinking).
  • In the game of War, you have to know the difference between greater than, less than, and equal in order to play. How many homework assignments have you seen that practice this skill?

Predicting and Strategy

  • To win a game, there is a little strategy and a little luck involved. In Crazy 8s, you often hold cards in your hand that give you the option of putting down a matching number card OR a matching suit card– or you might even be able to play a crazy 8. Which do you choose? Well, if you are Miss Priss, you announce that you could do either (giving away what is in her hand), and you think through which one is the better choice based on what MIGHT be in the opponent’s hand. This is great processing on her part. She is not throwing down any old thing but is thinking about the alternative scenarios, the pros and cons of choices she makes, and the various outcomes of each choice.
  • The same thinking process occurs in Solitaire. Mr. Star Wars always points out when he has two choices for his next move like if he needs a black 5, and he has one on the top of a stack of unturned cards and one in the group of 3 cards he has in his hand. Which option is better? Being able to anticipate results and seeing ahead down a few paths is a great skill to practice. Children need to see the direct results of choices they make. On a small scale, a game of cards illustrates cause and effect well.

Taking Turns

  • Sometimes you have to wait for your turn especially if the other player is contemplating his move. It might require some patience. Taking turns involves a specific order of back and forth (just like a conversation). One person makes a move, the other person responds, the first person reacts to the second person’s action. It is important to learn how to take a turn, wait, assess, and respond. 

The Suits

  • The red cards are pretty easy to identify. Most kids know the diamond and heart shapes. In order to distinguish the black suits, we say that the spades (another word for a little shovel) look like a shovel. The club looks like a clover and both of those words start with the letter “c”. 

I caught TheRoomDad teaching the kids 5 Card Poker. Miss Priss told me that she doesn’t really know the rules, but she knows if she can get a group of cards in number order, that is good. If she can get a group of cards with the same number, that is good. If she doesn’t know what to do, she just keeps all of her highest cards. I have to say, I am fairly impressed with her strategy and have no doubt she would beat me in a game of poker.

Everything I Know about Discipline I Learned from the Dog Trainer

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Birdie

This spring our vet suggested we escalate our dog training. Our dog is 90% good and 10% unpredictable. The vet didn’t think we had to classify Birdie as a “bad dog” but when she became possessive and growly, we had to fix the issue.

After the trainer’s first visit, it occurred to me that everything he advised applied to discipline in the classroom with my students and at home with my kids.

Replace your child’s name any time the word “dog” appears. Let me know if you see any improvement after following Bark Busters’ advice. According to Bark Busters, you need to practice the desired behavior daily for at least 5 weeks before the appropriate behavior will be automatic and without any hesitation.

The dog needs to recognize the adult as the leader.

  • I have to set clear boundaries, so the dog will accept me as the leader of the pack.
  • The dog will constantly test the boundaries, and I need to be consistent. The dog feels safer when she knows that I will stop her when she hits the limit of what she is allowed to do.
  • If I am trying to get the dog to come to me, and I keep calling her name, but she does not respond, I may NOT give up until the desired behavior is demonstrated. The dog will see that as a weakness and know that she does not have to do what I ask. I can change my tactics by moving closer to the dog, spraying her face with a water bottle, or attaching the leash, but the dog needs to see that ultimately, I am in charge. 

If the dog is adrenalized (hyper) remove the dog from the situation calmly, then give commands.

  • When there is a lot of excitement, and the dog is not responding to my voice, I calmly clip the leash on her and pull her away from the chaotic situation. As soon as I have her in a place where she can focus on my commands, I give her directions. Avoid getting emotional and screaming at the dog.

Routine and retraining is important for the dog.

  • In order for the dog to acquire new skills (like putting on shoes getting in the car crate when I ask), I have to repeat the procedure. If I don’t repeat the procedure multiple times, the new skill will not be successful. I also have to ask the dog to perform the skill the same way each time. If I switch up my directions, it will confuse the dog.
  • If I leave town or the routine is disrupted (like when summer break started), the leader may have to practice basic training again, so the dog remembers what the rules and expectations are.
  • Keep directions and training simple and short. If I give long, complicated requests nothing will happen. 

 

The dog needs vigorous play several days a week, or she will get bored and misbehave.

  • If the dog has nothing to do, she will create an activity for herself that will most likely be something that I do not like. I have to provide opportunities that stimulate the dog to keep her from being destructive in the house. The vigorous play does not have to happen every day. If I provide a few activities each week, the stimulation carries over for a few days.
This is what dog fur looks like after the dog eats an entire red felt tip pen.

This is what dog fur looks like after the dog eats an entire red felt tip pen.