Aptitude Test = 1, Danica = 0

Yesterday my kids took the EXPLORE test, which is basically a pre-ACT with an aptitude section. When they get the results next week they'll get an overall score, individual test scores (science, math, English and reading) and they'll also get a chart showing which career sets they are most interested in and how their scores should line up with that.

The idea is to get them thinking about the future and preparing to make educational adjustments. For example: a kid may realize through the aptitude test that he fell into the science category ("I'd like to go to a science museum." "I like seeing how things work." "I'm interested in nature." etc.), and then it will show him that A. His scores are looking good and to keep it up, or B. His scores are a little low for someone who wants to be in a field of science and to kick it into gear. It's a pretty cool test, despite the fact that it takes away two days of instruction.

It got me thinking about the aptitude tests I took in middle school and the jobs that they indicated for me:

• Lawyer
• Gryffindor House (zing!) jk I'm totes Ravenclaw :(
• Public/Government Service
• Writer or Editor
• Teacher (no surprise there)
• Research Assistant
• Psychology
• Manager

Those tests did a pretty good job and there's no question that teaching is for me. I love it. I know I complained and doubted quite a bit last year - but this year its so much better and I LOVE being here. I LOVE these kids. I LOVE the school environment, the fast pace, the constant change. 

But what if I wasn't a teacher? What would I be when I grow up? What are my ideal jobs? None of THESE showed up on my aptitude test results!

• Pinterest Pro. I don't know what that is but I want to be it. 
• Personal Shopper. My cousin Sally commissioned me two weeks ago to find her a modest, cute dress and it was the most fun ever. She got a super cute lace number from ASOS that I suggested!
• Writer - books, blogs, news column. I just love to write. As long as it's something I care about.
• Personal Trainer - I actually looked into this over the summer because I knew The Beard would be starting school and if I was gonna take a second job, it would be this. 
• Playlist-Maker. The Beard made so much fun of me when he saw how many playlists I have. Happy, Sad, Rainy, Morning, Summer, Nighttime, Anger, Sleepy, Yoga, Singalong, Love, Workout, + 20 more. I get a little ridiculous. I maybe had a makeout playlist in college. MAYBE.
• Coach. I'm not terribly awesome at sports, but I love sports, I love learning and strategizing with sports and I love working with kids. 
• Makeup Artist/Esthetician. I love all things makeup and beauty, and I love giving tips and recommendations. 
• Therapist/Life Coach. I've always loved helping people talk through their problems and find solutions. 
• TV & Movie Critic. I absolutely love watching TV and movies, and I LOVE analyzing and talking about them.

If you want to make any of these dreams come true and could use my help with Pinterest/Shopping/Closet Editing/Writing/Working Out/Music/Sports/Makeup/Life/TV you just let me know. I'll take care of you.

What did your aptitude tests say? Is that where you're headed? What is your ideal job?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who wants Pinterest to be a full-time gig. 

See ya Later, Cuddle Time

The Beard has a myriad of skills. I've documented some of them here. Some he's acquired in the Boy Scouts. Some on his mission. Some from varied education and vocational experiences.

First he was going to be a pilot.

Then he was going to be a professor of religion or seminary teacher.

Then he was going to open a Rita's Italian Ice in St. George with his favorite mission companion. {Fun Fact: their mission president beat them to the punch and opened the first Utah Rita's in Midvale a few weeks ago! This is an old photo from when we went to the Grand Opening. Go try it. It will change your life.}

Then he was working on a history degree, planning on going to law school afterwards.

Then he did BYU's Media Music program for a while.

But none of these were his THING. 

Thankfully it wasn't that he was lazy or stupid - he's so smart and could do ANYTHING, and has tried tons of options. It was just that he honestly didn't know what to do. Did that make us feel better? NOOOOOOOO! Just kidding. It did. A little.

But now we can laugh and laugh because HE FIGURED IT OUT. The Beard's favorite thing to say is "I'm realllllllly good at the internet." And he super is. He's always been so interested in all things technology, and he's thought about doing that for a long, long time. His last two jobs have been SEO and he liked it, but knew he wanted to do something more challenging.

Finally, this last spring he came across these boot camps that teach developers how to code in Ruby (don't ask me what it is or what it does, all I know is it's a coding language that Twitter and other cool, modern websites are built with). They are intensive 3-4 month programs for 8+ hours a day, and the closest one was in San Francisco. He started preparing and we started planning for it, thinking he'd apply this fall and who knows after that. I didn't love the idea of sending my husband to San Fran for months with a bunch of computer nerds.

The DevPoint Labs Development Bootcamp just fell right into his lap. And by that I mean we'd been praying for insight and guidance and Heavenly Father answers prayers and has a plan for us. Several big companies in Utah teamed up to start a bootcamp just like the ones in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and other big cities, aimed at training developers in the new coding languages that tech companies DESPERATELY need.They have multiple companies lined up to hire people right out of this program, including Zappos. Which would mean discounted shopping for me. Obvs I'm excited about that. He's excited too - spending lots of time looking at jobs in St. George and Phoenix, practicing coding nonstop and networking with his program peeps. You can read The Beard's Student Spotlight for the program here.

I could bore you with the details of how every tiny thing fell into place - the meetings, the random connections he had in the industry, paying for the program, getting the hours off at work he needs to go to this program (afternoons/evenings until 8 pm EVERY NIGHT. Yikes.), even the people who are already lining up interviews with him for when he completes the program in December. Suffice it to say that I've never seen him more sure of and excited about anything in his life, except maybe the release of The Hobbit last winter.  This is IT, you guys.

He starts today, and I couldn't be more proud of him. He's going to work almost full time at his job, go to class until 8 each night and most of the day on Saturdays, AND deal with crazy little me on his off hours. Here comes 2.5 months of super intensity! That means a lot less of this:

So anyone who wants to be my gym/cupcake/library/Netflix/girls night buddy to fill those now husbandless hours - I'm taking applications at dholdy{at}gmail{dot}com. I won't make you cuddle with me and Glen Coco unless you want to.

School is 4 Fools Look at Meeeeeeee

Not only am I going back to school, but I'm also going back to school. If you're confused, you're not alone. I don't really refer to my job as "work" but usually as "school" since I'm a teacher. So I'm going back to "work" school, but I'm also going back to "school" school.

**Also don't forget about the Back to School Giveaway! Ends today!**

I found out on Friday that I've been officially accepted and enrolled at Western Governor's University for my Masters of Education starting September 1st! It was touch and go there for a while because I definitely said

"Ok thanks! Love you byeeeee!"

at the end of my phone interview, but they were cool with it anyway. For the record, I say that to everyone on the phone when I hang up. It was not intended to be brown-nosing. Sorry, Clover.

Yeah, my admissions adviser's name is Clover. Haven't heard that one before. I like to picture a little jolly leprechaun helping me improve my future, hiding a pot of gold under her desk in a bright green cubicle.

This guy surprised me with dinner and a movie (always my favorite) to celebrate!

Ultra Quick Movie Review: The Way Way Back is worth a redbox for sure. But I hate seeing my idol - Steve Carrell - as a doosh. :(

So Wednesday I go back to "work" school for teacher meetings, a week from today all my new kids show up for the first day back, September 1st I go back to "school" school to start my Masters program and September 16 The Beard starts his web development program downtown and I'll basically never see him again until Christmas (more coming on this - he's making me be secretive).

We're loading up on string cheese, gushers, office supplies and spiral bound notebooks over here. I love back to school shopping. I think I have 4 planners now.

I don't think my blog will suffer. In fact, my blog posts will probably increase because I'll be on my computer even more and looking for stuff to distract me/procrastinate my homework with. Good news, right?

Who Wears Short Shorts? Not me. Gross.

I'm having a love affair with these shorts. Praise you, St. George Gap outlet. I got them for less than $20 and I should have bought every single color.

Awkward photo brought to you by SnapClap - the app I'm still trying to figure out since The Beard HATES taking outfit photos more than losing to the Yankees. I'm serious. And that's a lot. 

I wanted to wear them the first possible day that I'd have a chance to sit in the sun - and I planned on going to Mitch's Senior Day game today. (Unfortunately didn't happen as the game wasn't at 3:30 as planned. booooo)

However, shorts on the job is generally frowned upon if you are a professional of any kind. Here's my take on dressing them up so you CAN wear them to work and still look semi-serious about your job. Even though we all know you're daydreaming about summer and looking up the beaches of Kauai on your breaks. Just me? Oh. Welllllll

Fancy up your shirt. A classic button down is the way to go. Black was my option because... it's in the name of my blog. I love black. Dressy chiffon blouses or shells work well too.

Belt it! A coordinating belt ties it together and makes it look intentional. Also I had to buy these shorts a size too big so they'd cover up my testimony, so I have to wear the belt or I look like I'm a gansta.

Class it up on the ground level. Shoes, I mean. Pointy stilettos and shorts is such a cool look (see below. Drool. Repeat). A little much for school though, so I wore my trusty black sandal wedges.

"Mrs. Holdaway! You're so tall!!!" Now they can see me coming when I try to sneak up and steal their cell phones. :(

Day to Night

Yesterday I wore one of my new high-low dresses to school (my latest obsession. Bought 2 on my last shopping trip. Yikes.), and we had dinner with the Holdaways planned for that evening. I thought all day about my outfit change for dinner so I figured - Hey. Why not make this an outfit blog post? Voila. Here goes.

I'm 100% for changing your outfit multiple times a day. But ain't nobody got time for that. Usually when I do, it's around a staple piece - a pair of jeans, a shirt or in this case - a dress. It took me less than 15 minutes to completely change my look for a little family dinner date. 

For school I paired this coral-y high low dress with a navy blazer and navy flats to ground it a little (this dress can easily scream "Long Hair Don't Care Also I'm Obsessed With Mermaids") and to look professional. Normally heels would be a good option, but it was a project day where I was running around and Thursdays are always my toughest schedule days - therefore, comfy flats.

You ALWAYS need a belt with a plain column (uncinched/ungathered/otherwise plain-fronted) dress. So I added a thin gold one to complement the warm coral undertones. Throw on a blue necklace and throw a quick bend in my ends and that's a pretty standard school outfit for me.

 

Dress: F21, Flats: Famous Footwear, Blazer: Cotton On, Belt: Gap, Necklace: F21

For dinner (or any other evening activity) you want to have a little more fun with it. I swapped the blue blazer for a cheetah cropped cardigan. I swapped the flats for a dark heeled bootie. And obviously I swapped the gold belt for a black one.



















I touched up my makeup with a bit more powder, undereye concealer (thank you blue circles under my eyes for making me look like I work harder than I do), hot pink creme blush and a swipe of mascara. A blast of dry shampoo, a few turns of the curling iron and Danica went from a classic but boring school day look to fun night out look.

Dress: F21, Boots: Famous Footwear, Sweater: H&M, Belt: Gap

I like the flats look better. It wasn't until I looked at these pictures today that I realized how short the boots and sweater make me look by hitting at unflattering points. Curse you, curves. Just kidding. Love you lots.

I don't take it back. It was a fun outfit to wear anyway. 

YOLO.

Bribing Teachers Works and Other Confessions

Sorry for another teacher-y post in a row. I'm very pensive and introspective about teaching right now (they call this our "reflection" period after we get out of our "burnout" period which is from about January-March).

I'm including an outfit pic at least (blurry and crappy - taken by my ipad and an app that takes pictures when you clap! haha I'm pathetic) to at least make it slightly less boring to those of you who don't care about junior high stuff. I don't blame you.

I've worn 3 maxis this week. Yikes. They are pretty much sweats so it means I've given up until this cold leaves me alone.

 

Only a free Diet Coke can give me that goofy grin

 

Today, a kid came in with our latest map - Asia - and asked if I could put it in our online gradebook before lunch even though it was due last week and was really late. See, he had a REALLY IMPORTANT soccer game after school and his grades weren't good enough to play.

Once again, awesome teaching moment where consequences can and should be used. Praise be to this soccer coach for holding his players accountable. I could kiss him on the cheek.

So I tell this kid that I'll TRYYYYYY but that he shouldn't leave things to the last minute and should never turn in things late and that he owes me big time. I saw the fear in his eyes and I know it worked. This kid will be an A student for me forever.

A couple hours later he was back with an ice cold Diet Coke and a big thanks. Yahtzee.

Moral of the Story: Kids don't realize how little things they do can seriously help them out in the classroom. Bribery, favorites, it's all true and it all works.

Top 5 Teacher Confessions that will Amaze and Help You

1. If a student is quiet and nice, I subconsciously grade their work easier, because they make my life easier. They can get away with so much more. Sometimes I see really really really good kids texting and I don't bust them on it. I know I should, but I don't want to because I trust them and have a good relationship with them
2. If a student usually works crazy hard and is perfect, I stop grading their work eventually and just give them 100% on everything to save myself time.
3. When current work comes in, I have 200+ to grade so I spend about 2 seconds on each one (meaning if it looks good at first glance I usually give it points). When late work comes in I only have like 2 or 3 to look at at a time (meaning I tear it apart and grade hard). 
4. When you come talk to me about your grade, I'm 436x more likely to help you out and get your stuff in. When your mom emails me, especially in a rude way (see earlier post) it makes me want to grade your work so hard and let it sit on my desk for a week. I know that sounds bad. But it's fact. 
5. Kids that bring me Diet Cokes, food, cute notes, compliment me, etc. - well. It's hard not to love them. Emotional bank account, people. 

The main idea here is that forming a relationship with a teacher is worthwhile. These are actually universal principles and you should just work hard to make people like you and think you're a good person and your life will automatically get easier. Promise.

More #jrhighprobs for Your Reading Pleasure

A few weeks ago my bestie Katie suggested that I write more about the funny things that happen at school. I'll oblige.

I think a lot of people still view school, and history classes in particular as super ineffective, useless and boring. Textbooks and movies and date memorization. In reality, education has come a long way. We focus on small-group collaboration, DOING rather than TELLING, and focusing on big themes and concepts rather than date/fact memorization. The new "big thing" is standards-based grading - meaning we ONLY grade whether they meet the standard or not - no behavior, homework, effort,

Last week we were studying the theme of Movement as we did our Europe unit, so we had a lesson about things that originated in Europe and are now seen as "American" and are important to our lives. The list included things like blue jeans, hamburgers and hot dogs, the music of the Beatles, Adele, One Direction, Led Zeppelin, etc, and principles of government like democracy and republics.

We mapped these at their origins and then the assignment was to write one page on something that came from Europe that they think is important to America today.

Here are a few funny exerpts from their papers (I did not correct their original spelling or grammar, fyi)

• France is a very "legit" place.
• Your not American if you don't at least know what a hamburger is.
• The hamburger is the ultimate sandwich it is no ordinary sandwich, it has a big slab of beef that is so good that it will tickle your tastebuds.
• Hamburgers are so jucie and meaty, and just really good and talking about this is makeing me really hungry.
• Cheeseburgers are one of the main reasons in the US for Obesity. Cheeseburgers in my opinion are amazing.
• One Diretion sings like angles.
• One Direction is probably the second best thing that has happened to American girls. Justin Bieber is probably the best thing thats happen to us. 
• Adele also came from England. She writes songs that make people want to cry.
• Adele has perfect skin she has no acne.
• The Sex Pistols music is crap, I won't sugar-coat it. They sound like an infint walrus being thrown into a blender while still consious and I love them for it.
• Music has saved many lives throughout the years. Yes, it may also lead other to a more worse depression, but overall, most lives are saved from it. 
• Girls wouldn't have their cute diamond butt jeans and guys wouldn't have their silly saggy jeans.
• Fences make it so you don't need to look or talk to them if you don't like them. 
• With a fence you can keep the neighbors dog of your lawn and poop free.
• If your yard looks uglie you should protect and block with a fence.
• Democracy is one of the greatest things America has, and I hope we never lose it.
• Democracy made our lives so much better because we would have a king and we would have a good chans that he would be mean. 
• Republics are important to our government. We need both (meaning democracy) to balance it out so we don't go crazy and start shooting.  

So many days I wonder what I'm doing. If I'm having a positive effect on their lives. If they are even learning. If I can overcome the overwhelming circumstances in their lives that inhibit education.

Then I read stuff like this and realize that I couldn't pay for better entertainment. And for the most part, despite the spelling and grammar, they understood the assignment and will remember the theme of movement and globalization every time they listen to One Direction. Maybe even Democracy. :)

Then I feel better and love my kids for a few more days. Until another penis is drawn on my desks. 

BYU's Best/Worst Classes

I've been reflecting on my BYU career and the classes I've taken. Some were more helpful than others. Some were absolutely useless (I'm looking at you, Calculus) and some I still use every day. For my BYU and prospective BYU friends, I thought I'd do a review of some of the best/worst classes I took. As always you should check out Rate My Professor before signing up for any class.

What I wished I would have taken:

• More religion classes. They are the best.
• A raquetball or other fun sports/fitness class.
• More specialized history classes like The American South or World War II.
• School of Family Life (not religion) classes on marriage and kids and stuff. I learn it secondhand from Eliesa.
• Gone to more Devotionals. I always really enjoyed it when I went or watched Devotional, but usually used it as homework time.

So here they are, my most memorable classes - best to worst:

Intro to Social Psychology (PSYCH 350) - Amazing! The best class ever. We talked about cognitive dissonance, conditioning, social norms, and my favorite assignment was to break a social norm and write about it. I invaded people's personal space. It was awkward and hilarious. I loved reading the textbook and class time flew by even though it was like 2 hours each time. Take this class if you can.

Classroom Management with Burr (SC ED 379) - The most useful class of all time, and only 1 credit hour! I wish it had been 3 or 4 credit hours. I use it every day and I learned so much from Sister Burr. She's awesome. You'd only take this if you were an Education major obviously, but if you are make sure you take it from Burr if she still teaches now that she's a principal.

Book of Mormon (REL A 121+122) with Merrill - The Best! He ended up being my favorite religion teacher and I took Book of Mormon pt. 2 and New Testament pt. 1 (REL A 211) with him. He's very frank and really helps apply scripture to your life. But, as any BYU student will tell you, you can't go into BOM thinking it will be easy because you've read it 50 times already. Take it seriously.

Econ 110 - Loved it! Most people hate it. I didn't take it from the famous Kearl guy though, so that may be part of it. It was really hard, but so interesting to me. If you dedicate yourself, it's actually rewarding.

Mission Prep with Goodman (REL C 130) - Awesome! I took it because all my friends were in Mission Prep classes because they were actually going on missions and I felt left out. Turns out I loved this class. I learned teaching basics and more importantly, how to teach with the Spirit. I also had to wear a fake engagement ring to avoid a weirdy. But that's a story for another time.

World Religions with Choi (REL C 351) - Incredible! Sort of. Choi is this little Korean dude who is super hard to understand at first (Sa, right?) but knows his shiz. The only trouble is that he tells you super cool stories all class period and then the test is all out of the book. Out of class intensive study is necessary. But it's amazing and testimony building.

Political Geography (GEOG 341) - So good! I'm a geography nerd. But we talked about Israel/Palestine, Kurds, Quebecois and tons of other interesting, relevant stuff. Again, he'd get off on a tangent of personal experience and you had to study a lot. He has a really cool interactive project, but I worked with two less-than-bright BYU football players so I did all the work. Worth it, though.

Comparative Government & Politics (PLSC 150) - Hard but super interesting. I still remember and apply the stuff we learned as I teach and when I read current events. I can't remember the professors name but he reminded me of Steven Colbert so I really liked it. Try to get in a cool TA group, because mean ones screw you over.

D&C (REL C 324) - hated it. Never went. Got like a B-. Don't take religion classes at 9 am. Just don't.

Political Inquiry (PLSC 200) - Shoot me in the face. Hated it. So bad. Also I'm pretty sure I was the only freshman. Because I already had so many UVU credits, I didn't need to take generals, but I got last pick of real big kid classes because I was on paper a freshman. I hated this class. I have no background in stats. Shoot me in the face.

Calculus (MATH 112) - enough said.

[Note that I somehow got out of American Heritage even though it's sort of right along with my major... lolz]

What about y'all? Favorite/least favorite classes? Classes you wish you would have taken?

Confucius Say...

On Monday we learned about Confucianism, so I had the kids read some Confucian sayings and then write their own. This was the best idea I ever had because they wrote some great and hilarious stuff.

Actual Confucian Sayings:

• Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

• The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterward speaks according to his actions.

• Choose a job you love and you will never work a single day in your life.

• A lion chased me up a tree, and I greatly enjoyed the view from the top.

My kids' Confucian Sayings:

• Girls are like war, dangerous and unpredictable.
• Nature is beautiful because it chose to be.
• Boys are like Pop-Tarts-- They're better when they're hot! (LOL LOL)
• If you look at the ground you'll never see a rainbow.
• Seek to express, not impress.
• Chocolate makes a moment perfect.
• Don't wait for a miracle - become one.
• If you have haters, then you're doing something right.
• No matter how good you are at something, there's always an Asian better than you.

I think the mix of hilarious and poignant is a great snapshot of what life is like here at the junior high. :)

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I know I can't compete with this gem for student-answer entertainment. But I had a good one today.

When explaining the importance of a certain news article, my student wrote:

"People get pissed off at rapists."

In his defense, they do. They totally do.