School: Testing & Grading

Again, stepping away from my blog theme, I recently wrote an article describing the challenges we are facing in my school district. I shared this on Facebook, and while it went viral locally, I wanted to share it here and on twitter because it needs to be said and heard again and again.

To be clear, I LOVE teaching. I LOVE my students. I LOVE my school. I {usually} LOVE my school district. I am passionate about public education and believe strongly in public school.

My girls will go to public school because I know they will get a quality and diverse education there.  

What needs to change is the amount of testing, corporations trying to make money off of the backs of the kids, and politicians who think that because they went to school years ago, they suddenly know how schools should run.

This year has been a challenge. Please read below.

"My local teacher friends, you may or may not see this in the News Press this weekend, but if so, I want to provide my words in their entirety. As a union rep, I work for you and many times this means stepping out of my comfort zone. Standing strong together.

Currently our district is in a testing and grading debacle. This quarter has been a complete mess at the elementary level. We have been charged with implementing the new Common Core standards, along with adopting TWO new curriculum programs, all within the same year. We were given no training on the CCSS. The curriculum materials arrived late, and in many cases, were still arriving as of last week. We had no opportunity to take the time over the summer to delve into the curriculum to adequately prepare ourselves.

In addition, the district decided to create tests in the interest of having common assessments within our curriculum across the district. While this might have been well-intentioned, these assessments have been delivered late, riddled with errors, aren't reliable or valid measures of ability, and have only served to increase the amount of testing we have done in our classrooms. We are having to proofread the tests after they are sent to our classroom because they don't match the standards, they don't match the academic plan, and they have questions that show bias.

One of our teachers estimated that general education students will spend 68 hours on these district created tests this year. Students with accommodations spend even longer on these assessments. Previously our district had started stepping away from testing, even signing a resolution against high-stakes testing. We are spending more time testing than teaching. We have to pray that kids are quick to "get it" so we can get these tests in.

The current administration is now having to fix what the previous administrative group had put in place which has created chaos. We had so many issues that we were directed to not send home interims. We, instead, sent a letter home from one of our assistant superintendents describing what was happening. They had hoped that after changing the categories, placing less weight on the district tests, the problem would be solved.

However that has not been the case. This past week has been the biggest mess yet. Report cards for quarter 1 are due today. Many of us have parent-teacher conferences today. On Wednesday, we were instructed to add points to our district tests. In my grade level, we had to add 10 percentage points to each reading test. That was mild to what intermediate had to do. Fourth grade had to add upwards of 30 percentage points to 2 of their math tests. While scaling has been going on for years from the state level with how they make adjustments to our school grades on down, we were all appalled, but dutifully complied with the directive. We fixed our report cards that had been ready for our conferences.

Then late Thursday the district contacted the schools to inform them that they had incorrectly scaled the math tests and we needed to remove the scaled scores for them to rescale them and then re-add the new scales.

As of right now, teachers are holding conferences, but unable to give parents grades. We will be unable to prove if a child needs assistance in their learning because now everyone is passing. While we as teachers know the abilities of our children, our anecdotal knowledge is not enough to prove if a child needs more support. We need accurate grades & accurate assessments to identify where we need intervene, reteach, carry on, or enrich. With our current mess, we cannot do this effectively.

We teachers carry on, trying to meet the demands of the district, while trying to do what we are trained to do: teach and care for our students. We are trying to shield them from over testing, but the tests are required. We are in a catch-22. We don't feel comfortable changing grades. We don't like over-testing our students. We want to teach."

Part 2: Our whole foods lifestyle: Feeding My Family Right {Yum, food! With pictures!}

So after the marathon post on WHY we eat the way we do, this post will discuss what we do eat, recipes, and reference my marathon cooking day.

Based on fruits & veg, the staples of our lifestyle.

We try to follow a semi-vegetarian diet, but the goal is always a whole foods diet.  I DO NOT mean the store when I say "whole foods". A whole foods diet is basically removing the processed junk out of your diet & cupboards and replacing it with fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, legumes, etc.  Anything that is shelf-stable, canned, etc would not be included into a whole foods diet.

I say the diet, or lifestyle really, is a goal.  Are we always successful? No, and there are some things I will buy canned, although I try to buy the food that is packaged in tetra packs, recyclable BPA-free plastic, cardboard/paper, or canned in glass. Pasta sauce, crackers, breads, and cereals tend to be the most frequently purchased pre-made things. I also occasionally do beans. I can make beans, but it's such a long process that you need to be home for that sometimes I just need easy.

We start by buying our fruits and veggies organically through our co-op, Annie's Organic Buying Club. I then make my list of staples like organic milk, eggs, cheese, chicken, organic peanut butter & jelly, and 2 kinds of fish (usually salmon & tilapia). If our veggie box doesn't come with apples, carrots, cucumbers, grapes & bananas, then I'll add those to our list to because they are easy on-the-go snacks. We also have replaced canola or vegetable oil {which are often made with soybeans which is the worst offender for GMO aside from anything with corn} with olive oil, real butter, or organic, cold-pressed extra virgin coconut oil.

Freezer meals prepped and ready to be frozen!

Then I look to Onceamonthmom.com. They have become my go-to resource for whole foods recipes. They post new sets of recipes every month. While it is a subscription site, you don't need the subscription to access the recipes. This year I opted for the subscription because I do actually do the once a month freezer cooking method and have for awhile.   The reason is that during the school year, I found that we were eating out far too often because it was either too late to put together a proper meal or I was too tired to do it. Hubby is a basketball coach and during the season, I often feel like a single mom with two littles. I love the fact that I can come home to a crockpot meal or something I've defrosted and just need to nuke that is healthy. Add a salad and some fruit and bam! Instant well-balanced meal. If I were a stay-at-home mom, I'd take these recipes and prepare them fresh for that day.

Back to OAMC, I have found through trial and error that their site is the best all-inclusive site for tips and recipes. {Annie's Organic Buying Club also has a pretty good pinterest site for recipes using their foods, but I haven't had great success with the recipes.} Plus the OAMC moms respond quickly if you have questions or suggestions. I haven't been as thrilled with their vegetarian recipes, but I have less experience with those recipes. And, I can make any of the whole foods recipes vegetarian by subbing quinoa for rice and cutting the meat or subbing beans for the meat.  Any recipe that calls for beef is replaced with chicken or fish or one of the vegetarian options.

We try to do a couple of meatless days during the week and then when eating meat, we try to go light on the meat and heavy on the veg. Our goal is to set a table full of color where fruit AND veggies take the predominate place.

Again, note the word GOAL. Do we always succeed? No. But I feel as long as I'm actively trying to feed them right, the sum is equal to the parts.  6 bad meals this month + 24 whole foods meals = success in my book.

#2's lunch: Salmon, quinoa, avocado, and roasted broccoli.
Almost all are leftovers from the night before.

We then send the leftovers from dinner as lunch for #2. #1 actually loves the school lunch (yuck!), but I am refusing to let #2 eat the school lunch until at least 18 months old. Sometimes we send lunch meat, but I'm super particular that we buy specific organic brands that I have researched. Deli meat often has a lot of processed junk in it and even has gluten. Why meat needs gluten, I'm not sure. Why it needs to be combined with parts of the animal I would never eat, I'm not sure either. Lunch meat in general is one thing that I'm on the fence about, but we have it and we eat it, just not frequently.



I've had several people ask how we get our kids to eat so well.  My response? It's two-fold. First, we are not a restaurant so I don't offer to make a pb&j when #1 refuses to eat like 3 year olds do. Second, we are all eating the same foods, so we are modeling what we expect. My kids eat salad. My kids eat salmon. My kids eat real food. They are required to take 2 bites.  If they get hungry later and they didn't finish dinner, guess what is offered? Dinner.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm a better mom than anyone out there. I do this because I'm freaked out about our food supply and how I can best feed my children for their short & long term health.

We do love our cookies though! Recently, instead of buying shelf-stable ones stocked with preservatives and GMOs and other chemically-laden items, we have been making our cookies. Yes, they are sweet, but I know WHAT they are made with and that there are no preservatives in them. I also make a mean homemade granola.

So, is this work?  Absolutely. Unfortunately, our American lifestyle is about ease & convenience, not health. I sometimes hit up 4 places in a week/weekend between our veggie co-op, Target, Publix, and Whole Foods (the store). I spend one day a month cooking ALL.DAY.LONG. I do a ton of research into things as well, but sites like OAMC & EWG.org make the research process shorter.

But it's worth it to be able to feed my family.

What do you working mamas do to feed your families? How about you SAHMs? Recipes? Links?

P.S. A very special shout-out to my SIL who inspired me to write these two posts. I do a lot of Foodbooking and have had several questions about our eating habits and my cooking process. I hope these posts address the why and how. Nothing excites me more to see people making positive life change!

Part 1: Why do we eat a mostly organic whole food diet?

Today, I'm going to deviate from the normal topics of PPD & running to talk about eating. And nutrition. But mostly eating. This will be a two part series.  The first part is about why my family has embarked on a mostly organic, whole foods diet.

Four years ago, when I found I was pregnant with #1, I started to embark on a journey of healthy eating.  We had been eating a typical American diet of processed foods that were easy to prepare as both of us work full time. By the time we would get home from chasing students all day, we were often too exhausted to do much more than pop a frozen meal in the microwave or warm something up on the stove.

It all started with some research I had been doing. I came across some information about Monsanto.  Monsanto is a huge company with questionable ethics. They are one of the biggest producers of GMOs. GMOs are genetically modified organisms, but it typically refers to grains.  Soy, corn, and wheat are some of the most commonly GMO-crops grown right now. These grains are crossbred with pesticides and other chemicals built into them to increase production and reduce crop loss. While the reasoning behind why they are crossbred is great, what is put into the grains isn't. I personally don't want to be eating pesticides. Monsanto claims that their GMOs are safe. The FDA has taken Monsanto-paid scientists' data at their word and approved it for safety here.

However, the EU and Japan refuse to buy our GMO crops. Their take basically comes down to this: pesticides do harm to organisms, so they do harm to us as organisms.

(As a side note, Monsanto also sues conventional farmers for stealing their crops whose fields have been cross-pollinated accidentally due to those pesky bees, birds, and other animals who know no boundaries like fences.)

I wouldn't spoon feed my children or my husband or myself bug spray, so why would I feed them food that was specifically injected with it. Why would I feed them food that was even sprayed with it?

Furthermore, once I realized I was having a daughter (and now we have 2 girls), I started thinking about all of the little girls I've taught who at the age of 8 started getting their menstrual cycle.  I'm not ok with that.  Little girls should be able to be little girls.  They should be able to play legos, climb trees, play tag, and play dolls without having to worry about changing their tampon.  I don't want my little girls to have boys lusting over their bodies at age 8 because they already have a figure. (I don't really want boys lusting over my girls period, but let's be real here.) Girls shouldn't have to be fighting off boys when they are in elementary school.

After more research, I determined that feeding conventional meat was also a concern. Growth hormones are injected into these animals to encourage abnormal size which means more meat for the market which then generates more money for the farmer. Also, they pump these animals full antibiotics whether they need them or not so the prevent sickness.

Studies show that growth hormones have contributed to early onset of puberty and a multitude of many types of cancers.

And it's no secret that antibiotics aren't as effective as they used to be. That's because we are consuming a low level of them almost daily.

(And here's the deal, when I talk about the farmers here, I'm not talking about the small town farmer that you might be envisioning.  Those farms are fast going by the way-side. I know. I grew up in a small farming community. I remember the outrage when the first factory farm installed itself there. I'm talking about the huge factory farms where animals are shoved in every nook and cranny.  Where the whole intention is about making as much money as possible with whatever possible, regardless of how good it is for the consumer.)

Recently, hubby and I watched Forks Over Knives.  This isn't a documentary to scare you away from eating everything, but it was extremely eye opening. They reference the China Study frequently. Reading & watching that research sealed the deal for our food journey.

We had already been purchasing organic milk, eggs, and most of what was on the Dirty Dozen list. We had used our organic co-op for fruits and veg off and on. Forks Over Knives really hit it home to eliminate much of our meat, or greatly reduce the portion size, and up the amount of fresh fruit and veg we were eating. We try to have at least one or two meatless nights and eat quinoa or beans as our protein.

We aren't perfect.  Eating this way can be EXPENSIVE. We do enjoy the occasional burger. We do like bacon. We eat out and I know that isn't organic. We do have McDonald's or Chickfila. We do eat cookies, but usually we make them ourselves with our organic flour, sugar and eggs. We do eat cereal, but it's organic (most of the time, except for those Corn Pops hubby snuck in the other day...) or I make homemade granola. We eat chips.  

We are real people, after all.

Here's the deal though, when I look at what we are MOSTLY eating, what our diet is MOSTLY comprised of, we are eating fresh fruits, legumes, and vegetables with fish and chicken. When I look in my fridge and see it packed with color and then look in my cupboards and see them almost bare without the shelf-stable foods, I rejoice. 

Are we perfect?  No.

But I can go to sleep at night knowing that I'm trying to prevent cancer in all of us and early on-set of puberty for my girls.

What do you do to feed your families? What changes have you made to make sure everyone is eating right?

Here's another nice link that I couldn't find a place to insert about GMOs.

I have "issues" {who doesn't?}

SO, this post started in my head today while running mid-day during nap time. Something I never do, but I didn't get my lazy butt out of bed this morning like every morning the past several days {months}.

I was about three quarters of a mile into my run, the point where the stiffness subsides, your breathing is regulated, and you stop thinking that running in 90,000 degree weather during mid-day in FL was the dumbest idea you've ever had, and it hit me that I hadn't blogged in forever either.

School starting is my biggest excuse.  Juggling everything at the beginning of the year is always difficult and this year there have been several big changes and I have taken on more responsibilities than I have in the past. My second biggest excuse is my running buddy from last year and I "broke up". It was both of our faults, but it didn't end well.  But yeah, excuses nonetheless.

The same excuses that have led me to the point in running that I'm at now.  The point where I'm wondering how the heck I managed to run a minimum of 40 miles a month WHILE exclusively pumping and why I can't seem to get out of bed a full hour later to accomplish a morning run.

I do the all the tricks - I have clothes set out ready to go, I set multiple alarms, I have my running bag ready to grab, my shoes are easy to find (unless a certain 3 year old makes off with them to go running herself).

I just don't get up! 

I silence the alarms and will wake up enough to silently berate myself as I set the alarm I need to wake up to shower.

How pathetic is that?!

I've said before that running was my saving grace last year to help me combat my post-partum anxiety.  I was able to be drug free until I weaned. I wasn't perfect. Meds certainly would have helped in many instances, but I made it.

And I made it because I ran. A lot.

And now, I'm not making it. Too often, I'm having to pop my little chill pills to relax. To not have a panic attack while grading papers.

And I've been cutting out that one thing that naturally helps me make it. The one thing that saves me from my body issues.

So here's to running.  The one thing that saves me from my mind & keeps me sane.

Any other mamas out there with PPD or anxiety issues? How do you deal???

Running Confessions & Suggestions

I have a confession to make...

I've totally slacked on my running this summer. 

FL summers are too hot, and since I'm a teacher, I'm totally out of routine.  I'm staying up too late so I don't want to run in the morning when it's cooler and by the end of the day, I'm too exhausted and hate running at night.

A lot of excuses, I know.

So that's it.  I know it's a slump & pre-school week starts up in exactly 1 week.  I'll get back into the swing of things this next week for sure.

How do you handle your slumps?

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In other news, I've had several friends ask how to get started.

First thought that comes to mind, "YAY!! You will love it and do so great!"

Second thought, "INTERVALS!"

After coming back to running after a many year hiatus & two pregnancies, my standby routine is to do intervals of walking and running.  I bought the book Complete Book of Women's Running and used their starter plan either verbatim or my own slightly modified version each time.

The intervals look like this, (taken from Running 101 on Runner's World's Website):

"If you're starting from a low fitness level, we recommend you begin with several weeks of walking for 20 to 30 minutes at a time before attempting Week 1. Also, if you have not exercised for a long time, are overweight, or have existing or family health problems, see your physician before you begin this program.

Week	Run	Walk	Repeat	Total Time
1	1 min	2 min	7x	21 min
2	1 min	1 min	10x	20 min
3	2 min	1 min	7x	21 min
4	3 min	1 min	5x	20 min
5	4 min	1 min	4x	20 min
6	6 min	1 min	3x	21 min
7	9 min	1 min	2x	20 min
8	12 min	1 min	Then run 7 min	20 min
9	15 min	1 min	Then run 4 min	20 min
10	20 min	Leap for joy		20 min

Note: Always warm up for your workout with a couple minutes of walking and/or slow jogging, and cool down afterward with the same. If you cannot reach 20 minutes of continuous running, try to run 8 or 9 minutes, walk 1 or 2 minutes, and repeat. When you succeed at reaching the 20-minute goal-and you will-gradually increase your distance to whatever level you choose."

And that's it! 

It produces great results.  I loved it because I didn't feel like a failure when walking because I was SUPPOSED to walk.

As a former runner coming back to the sport, that was a big deal. I had this idea in my head of how I used to run and of my old fitness ability, so when I would go out and run and have to walk because I was dying, I felt defeated and wouldn't run again for months.

The interval training changed that! I'm going on 4 years of consistent running now (albeit with a couple of slumps, mostly due to post-half marathon blues ~ stopping because pregnancy doesn't count in my opinion) and it's because I've been able to give myself a little grace.

What did you do when you started running or came back to running?

On being a runner and breastfeeding mom...

A couple weeks back I wrote a post dedicated to the breakup with my breast pump.  It was partially tongue-in-cheek, but it has really been liberating to not be tied to the pump Every.Waking.Moment of my life.  However, to be very clear, I do not regret a single second I spent or a single ounce of milk that I got.  The whole year was time (& breast milk) well spent. I would do it all over again in a second. But, if you read that post, you know this.

That is not what I want to address today.

What I want to address I so, so, SO often hear:

You can't exercise and breastfeed.
You can't run and breastfeed.
Running/exercise with cause your supply to dry up.
Running/exercise will put lactic acid in your milk and the baby won't take it/it will turn sour.

Can I just say,
MYTH
LIE
MYTH
LIE

I'm not a lactation consultant.

Buuuuut I've been through this breastfeeding rodeo twice now.
Each time I ran. 
Each time I ran long distances.
Each time I had MORE than enough of a supply, never had the milk be "sour", or have the baby refuse.


I want to give a few of my stand-by tips that got me through 18 combined months of exclusively pumping and 2 months of breastfeeding while running.

Tips for Running and Breastfeeding or Pumping

1. HYDRATE.  Yes, this does mean drinking plenty of fluids like water, but it also means electrolyte replacement.  Too much water can actually decrease supply, so the recommendation is to drink to thirst. I added in NUUN electrolyte replacement tablets into my water.  Gatorade & Powerade work too, but they have some nasty ingredients like flame retardant.  Coconut water is another good option, but I just couldn't get over the taste.

2. Pump or nurse immediately before you run.  I used to run at 4 am. That means I would get up for a 3.30 AM date with my Medela PISA.  Most pumping sessions should be between 15-25 minutes long, but because I had a TON of milk, it would take 30 minutes, with massage, to get all of the milk out.  If I didn't, I was in for some serious clogged ducts.  I don't have time during the day to deal with clogged ducts since I'm a teacher, so that could be a problem if I didn't pay attention first thing in the morning.

3. Schedule your run when built-in babysitting is available. I ran at 4 am because that's when hubby was at home, albeit asleep. It was the only time I could get a run in during the fall/winter because of his coaching schedule. Does 4 am stink?  ABSOLUTELY.  3:30 stinks even more. But it was either run then or not run at all. It all depends on your schedule. This probably also means being ready for a run at any moment.

4. A good supportive bra.  The typical compression style bras don't work so well when you are sporting porn star sized boobs. Not only don't they support you very well, but they can also lead to clogged ducts.  I really like Under Armor's sports bras, but I have heard good things about Title IX. Word of warning: Only wear your sports bra for as long as you need it. Tight compression for too long does contribute to a decreased supply.

5. I never had a problem with leakage, but honestly, I was so sweaty most of the time after a run that if I did leak it wasn't noticed. If I did, I might have done what this blogger suggests, but probably wouldn't have been overly concerned.

6. Don't be afraid to nurse or pump ANYWHERE. You want to have a little milk as possible in your breasts before you run because otherwise things will only continue to get more uncomfortable. This might mean pumping in the car on your way to a race. With other people in the car.  This might mean pumping in the parking lot as other other runners are milling around. (And if you do pump, don't forget to bring storage bottles and a lunchbox/cooler with some ice packs so you can keep the milk.) If I nursed, I'd definitely do what this momma did.

7. Eat.  Yes, we've all heard that breastfeeding helps you lose weight and that you burn an extra 500 calories, but I'm convinced that because my metabolism was already high since I'm a fit person, I burned more than that.  I was RAVENOUS. I lost a TON of weight & ended up having to incorporate a ton of good fats in my diet like avocados, coconut oil, Orgain nutritional shakes, eggs, and peanut butter. Losing too much weight can absolutely have an effect on your supply.

When I first started running while pumping, there wasn't much information out there. Now, there is a lot more. I referred to these sources:

The Runner's Trials   (This post is also by her on Walk, Jog, Run)
Kellymom (With LOTS of scientific studies linked under the article for more professional reading.  It's pretty informative and will squash anyone who says it's not possible.)
La Leche League


 I hope these tips encourage and help any to-be or current mama who is both nursing/pumping and running.

You totally got this girl.

I know there are other nursing runners out there!  What other tips do you mamas have?

Planning Ahead: Looking at the School Year

So, if you haven't noticed, my life is busy. 

What mother's life isn't? What full time working mom's life isn't? 

Last year, in order to be able to run consistently, I had a crazy schedule I had to adhere to. 

Obviously, there was very little room for error in that schedule. If I hit snooze, I wouldn't make it to my run. Sometimes I had to cut my pump session short to make it out the door which would result in clogged ducts later that day. 

I'm also not a good "at the end of the day runner". After school nights are a rush to get dinner on the table and oftentimes I'm a "single mom" since HS basketball season makes me a widow. Hungry littles don't make good running partners and, quite frankly, I'm beat after a full day of teaching firsties. All that means I probably won't get out the door at night. I know myself too well. 

This year will only be slightly different as I won't have to pump before my run. I'll still have to get up crazy early to get in 4-5 miles before coming home to start our crazy morning routine. 

Last year I tried to not do anything in the morning I didn't have to. Lunch was either purchased at school or made the night before. Bottles and the girls' school bag was packed the night before. I can't do clothes because #1 is so particular. I'll do the same this year to make life that much easier. 

Although I'm not a morning person, my early schedule was the only way to make it work without hiring a sitter 3 nights a week. 

Full-time working mamas, what do you do to alleviate the morning stress? 

How do you fit in your run during the day?