Super Teacher and Book Exchange

I spent today at an elementary school in St. Louis Park. I have to do 30 hours of observation for my Reading License so I really wanted to observe another teacher in my same position. The school I went to also has a similar population to Stonebridge and they are an IB school as well. I have always been interested in St. Louis Park schools because they have a fair share of diversity (56%), they are applying to be an IB school, and St. Louis Park is very close to Minneapolis.

I met the two teachers, (who have an actual classroom, by the way) and kids came in seconds later. It was so fun to see someone else teach Reading! I took 10 pages of notes, typed up many resources, and took a TON of pictures!!!!

These are just two of my favorite. I got so many good ideas of how to better our Reading program next year. I feel so fortunate to have observed such Super Teachers!!!

Ladies' Book Exchange...

A few weeks ago, I saw a facebook post from my cousin. She was looking for book recommendations. I posted a few of my favorites, and my mind kept thinking. I made myself a promise before Christmas that I would not buy any new books until I read more of my current collection. I have a TON of books I haven't read yet, and I am running out of room in my small house!!

Because of this, and knowing I had friends/family looking for good books to read, I came up with the idea of a Ladies' Book Exchange. Some of my girlfriends and I have been talking about having a Womens' get-together anyways, and this gave it a purpose and a fun twist!! So I facebook'd (Is this the new verb?) some friends and family and told them my idea. They were excited and were ready to sign up! We set the date, location and members. Here were the rules:

1. Bring 2 of your favorite books.

2. Put an address label inside the book.

3. Show up

We went to Enjoy! in Apple Valley. It was closest to 3 people that were coming so it was a good place have the first meeting. Unfortunately, 2 members were unable to come so it ended up being Shana, Annie and me. I get together with these ladies and talk books as it is, so this was just another dinner out for us!

Two of my favorite ladies!!!!!!

We started off with an appetizer (and I had a glass of wine...special occasion!!). We ordered the Beef Tenderloin Tips: Pan seared, hand-cut tips of tender beef tossed in a bourbon glaze with tomatoes and scallions with creamy horseradish dipping sauce. We weren't crazy about this appetizer, especially since it was $11.

I ordered the Saffron Risotto with Asparagus and Chicken. It was good, but not for the price of $19.

I might go back to this restaurant again for a special occasion, but not for a regular ole' dinner. I did leave with some good books though...actually only 1. It isn't a book I would normally pick up but Shana's description made it sound interesting!

The top book is the book I got from Shana. The bottom two are the books I brought to share.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was romantic and chill. Dimmed lights, cool lighting and huge chairs made you feel like you were in a castle! The wait staff was a little...absent? But very helpful when they were at our table. Our server even brought out the head chef to talk to Shana about a very specific order...