Best Nine 2016

Apparently there is something called "Best Nine 2016" for Instagram users going on right now. As I do not have Instagram, I figured I'd give a nod on this blog by posting my "Best Nine" blog posts of 2016.

 Note, these are not in a particular order, nor were they chosen based on views/popularity/etc. I chose them because I think they best reflect my 2016 calendar year.

1. It Only Took a Moment (January 25, 2016)
2. You Never Know (February 7, 2016)
3. Growing in God's Mercy (February 28, 2016)
4. What's With the Paper Clips? (April 28, 2016)
5. Calling All Catholic School Teachers and Youth Ministers (May 8, 2016)
6. Let Them Go (June 5, 2016)
7. Five Lessons from Summer Studies (July 25, 2016)
8. A Simple Poem for My Ninth Year (August 18, 2016)
9. The Art of Pumpkin Carving (October 22, 2016)

And there you have it. (The fact that I had a significantly small total of blog posts this year did help me narrow down my "top" ones quite nicely. What can I say? Maybe I just don't have that much to say these days...or maybe I'm saying it in other ways.)

Happy New Year - Cheers to 2017!

Break In versus Bakin'

"Break In" versus "Bakin'"? I'd rather have the latter, thank you very much...

Marisa put our South Bend Sunday predicament in a thoughtful, hopeful light - there's really nothing to add, so I invite you to wander over to her blog today (in terms of familiarizing yourself with what happened).

Here are some pictures, though, from the car break-in (& patch up):

What can I say? We have some pretty amazing family and friends we can count on at all times. (And my car window is scheduled to be fixed on Wednesday - not too bad...)

On a lighter note, though, sometimes you just have to throw yourself into something else to get out of the funk of an event like this...something like baking! (Well, these are technically "no bake" cookies, but this totally counts in that category.)

So much sugar...

...and butter...

and cookie butter...

before forming the cookies - just add oats!

clean up was DELICIOUS

Who will help me eat the cookies? (Hopefully my co-workers...)

Well, I'm back at it, folks. It's time to finalize that 6th grade Religion quiz and this week's class slides. Hope you're enjoying a restful Labor Day!

MSU...4 Ever

Student: Miss Foyle, you didn't even go to Michigan State.
Me: I know.
Student: Why do you love MSU basketball so much?
Me: Well...

It's actually a pretty simple answer that dates back to 6th grade. This blog post from awhile back pretty much sums it up, so no need to reiterate it.

Final Four 2015, here come the Spartans! (Way to be the bracket busters, MSU...)

#Ashtag, You're It...

Obligatory #Ashtag selfie

I went all out today - purple sweater, necklace, and all. The Lenten season has begun...

In all seriousness, there are lots of great apps and ideas out there to start the season off right. Here is a list I sent to the teachers at my school:

1) Lenten "The Religion Teacher" Webinar - 10 Ways to Guide Students on an Extraordinary 40-day Journey - Don't be afraid to talk to your students about what you're planning to give up or how you're planning to pray/spend time with God this Lent...

2) CRS Rice Bowl App and/or Focus's Lentsanity App

3) Lent foldable (from Look to Him and Be Radiant blog)

4) Loyola's Lenten resources (Arts & Faith, Living Lent Daily, etc.)

5) 40 Ideas for 40 Days (from Catechist's Journey)

6) Lent lapbook ideas

7) Printable Stations of the Cross

8) Purple Rain (music, readings, and reflections for each week of the Lenten season)

9) Printable Lenten calendar for kids

10) Who doesn't love Pinterest?

There was also a great post recently over at Catholic APPtitude with iPhone/iPad suggestions (free or cheap!) for Lent - check it out!

I hope you have a blessed Lenten season!

Remembering What Matters Most

For my fellow teachers, here's a good reflection on what students remember most about teachers.

Happy *almost* Friday!

2014 Goals

Yes, the countdown came and went...it is now 2014. 2 0 1 4! Holy cow. Reminiscing with some long-time friends last night, we realized we graduated from high school 10 years ago this May. (Let's say that we all felt a little old.)

But, yes, here it is - 2014. Now, having been on vacation this past week and a half, I oftentimes found myself on Pinterest (in between all the visiting, trips to Publix, reading, and other things). While on the site, I found this idea for using with students in the new year -

from http://messyjofu.blogspot.com/2013/12/here-comes-2014.html

But I figured, why not use it for me too? So, here goes:

2 - Two new goals I have for this year:

     1) Spend more time doing things for self-improvement (cooking healthy, running more, reading more, trying new things, praying more, spending more time at Church-related events & in prayer groups) and less time making excuses/wasting time.

     2) Be a better friend and listener by keeping in touch via letters, emails, and phone calls. 

     (Bonus Goal = Go to the Holy Land - woo hoo! Thanks to my Church, this is going to be a reality this summer!)

0 - Something I'd like to stop doing: There are a lot of things I should stop doing, but the one I want to concentrate on is to stop spending so much wasted time on Facebook. (In addition, I'd like to stop eating quite so many sweets - all in moderation, I say.)

1 - One new book I want to read: Scratch that - there are at least 10 titles I already have lined up. (And heck, we're in the tens place, mathematically speaking.) Here are some of them: 

     - The First Phone Call From Heaven (Mitch Albom)

     - An Abundance of Katherines (John Greene - YA)

     - The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)

     - Divergent series (Veronica Roth - YA)

     - Jesus of Nazareth (Pope Benedict XVI)

     - Bell Canto (Anne Patchett)

     - The Heroes of Olympus series (Rick Riordan) - I left off after finishing The Lost Hero...

You know me...the list goes on...Any recommendations or must-reads I'm missing? Please let me know!

4 - Four things I want to learn:

     a) How to play the guitar

     b) How to more effectively use Twitter for professional development & edchats

     c) How to be more creative with my cooking (recipes or not)

     d) How to implement new assessment and classroom activities for my middle school students

Well, that just about does it. Have you thought about your goals and resolutions yet?

If you're still thinking, here are a few good reads:

- New Years Resolutions for Catholics

- How to Make Your Life Easier in 2014

- Social Media Resolutions (Fr. James Martin, SJ)

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! May the year ahead be a blessed one!

New Years

New Years is just around the corner - here is a post from the Da Mihi Animas (Salesian) blog about suggestions for meaningful resolutions: http://salesianity.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-new-year-new-beginnings-and.html

(It's worth the read.)

Also, a personal resolution is to start making some of these words a more regular part of my vocabulary - http://oscarlearnoscarteach.tumblr.com/post/71516712434

(That's more just for fun, though. My favorites are discombobulate, gumption, fetching, and audacity. There is also a special place in my heart for 'skedaddle', as that word comes into play in the novel The Tale of Despereaux, and it reminds me of how my students in AZ went down to recess and screamed skedaddle before running out to play.)

Here's wishing you and yours a lovely new year!

New Year = New Look

New (upcoming) Year = New Look

(It's not a radical change, but it mixes things up a bit.)

Next goal = start thinking about those resolutions...

Revisiting old favorites (with purpose)

There is a phrase that goes something along the lines of "Don't dwell on the past..." but, honestly, it doesn't hurt to look back every once in awhile - it helps you remember where you've been and why you're going the way you're going.

So, this morning, I browsed over some old blog entries from the good ol' Arizona days (always good for a chuckle or even some ahas). Many of the posts included quotes that I want to re-post (with the link to my original blog posts) - and explain - here:


“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey." ~Wendell Berry

Why this quote still hits home: It's hard not to freak out or worry about where life is headed, especially when others around you seem to have their lives all in order (some of which seem to be tied up neatly with a ribbon!), but this quote reminds me that I don't necessarily have to (or need to) know which way I'm going. The quote that rests on my blog's homepage says more or less the same thing but more focused on putting trust in God: "I may not know where I am going...you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always..." (Thomas Merton) I gotta remember to trust - that's the biggie.

~ ~ ~

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these." ~Susan B. Anthony

Why this quote still hits home: It's essential to take time to treasure the small things. I think this quote comes to light especially surrounding the death of a loved one because it reminds us that we oftentimes let these little moments pass by without acknowledging the impact something or someone has made on us...sometimes before it is too late. And yet, it is impossible to forget these moments in time - the feelings, the people, the effects on us. Life truly is all about the little things - are we responding to them in the manner God calls us to?

~ ~ ~

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." ~Pedro Arrupe

Why this quote still hits home: I could read this quote over and over without tiring of it - such powerful words and thoughts. Do what you love, love what you do. Remember, that affects everything.

~ ~ ~

"When you leave here, don't forget why you came." ~Adlai Stevenson

Why this quote still hits home: This quote still makes me think of ACE - ACE seems to be the thread that keeps stringing me along, leading me (literally) across the United States. And it's important in any time of change to remember why we started in the first place.

~ ~ ~

And here is just one more post - though not my own, I still love the image it conjures up whenever I re-read this reflection: "...God spreads his love like a 3-year old spreads peanut butter..."

To close, I'd like to include a BRAND NEW post (as in, one I haven't included the link to before) - I read it today on The Jesuit Post, and I thought it was pretty darn good: http://thejesuitpost.org/site/2012/07/but-what-does-it-even-mean-to-experience-god/

Non multa sed multum

"Not Many Things But Much" (see recent Jesuit blog post on this topic here)

Or, in the words oft repeated by me to my students: "We want quality over quantity!"

How many times can one emphasize this point?

Ok, maybe that's rhetorical. But seriously...

What good is it to rush through something just for the sake of having more of something (or for having more time to do something else) if the quality of the task at hand isn't there.

I think we all may be guilty of focusing on the multa (many) rather than the multum (much), at least once in awhile. (As God is my witness, I know I am, especially in trying to finish up test grades to send home with students on Fridays.) And it's easy to get swept up in such mentality. But God's gentle, constant reminder is to change our approach. He's trying to show us that less is more when it comes to doing things with effort and care.

In the words of Oscar Romero (and also mentioned in the Jesuit blog - see link above), “We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something and do it very well.”

This week, let us challenge ourselves to focus on the much - to ensure quality over quantity. I think we might just surprise ourselves with the results...

There's something to be said for moccasins...

I've had quite a few firsthand lessons recently about not judging someone until we've walked two moons in his moccasins (or something like that)...

After some frustration of unreturned emails requiring feedback for upcoming religion lessons, I learned that one of my co-workers had her wallet stolen at a drugstore the previous afternoon on her way home from school...

Waiting to hear back from a friend about her plans for moving to Chicago next year, I was wondering why she seemed to be ignoring me. Later, a school parent at my previous school in AZ informed me that my friend's grandfather had passed away...

There were some other "lessons" too - I could probably go on for awhile - but the main take-away from these experiences for me has been that it's not all about me, nor does it always have to do with me. On any given day, someone could be so high, so low, or rocking the in-between based on factors that the rest of us may not even know about.

So, instead of jumping to conclusions or making judgments about a person's actions (even if that person is a complete stranger), it's so important to take a step back and just breathe - it's nothing to get worked up over. The best things we can probably do are be open about ourselves and the things going on in our lives as well as be observant and open to the things going on in the lives of others around us.

After all, there's something to be said for moccasins...

P.S. - My sister showed me how to make pages on my blog, so check out the tabs at the top - I added a page of classroom organization/idea photos as well as a reading resources page...