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Author Archives: Claire Ziamandanis

TRANSFORM MY WORLD

classroom

Each and every time I attend the national convention for foreign language teachers, or ACTFL, I go into it saying “This is my last year… this is such an expensive event.”  Grumble, grumble. Each and every time I leave that same ACTFL convention, I am energized and motivated, filled with exciting new ideas to bring to my classrooms, my department ... Read More »

OHHHH, DISTRACTIONS

So this is what is distracting me lately – Digital Storytelling.  It’s like taking blogging, and then adding visuals and audio files, and BAM! You have a Digital Story that should make the listener/viewer feel.  It is a lesson in editing.  Most Digital Stories are 200 words or less.  Ask my mom how hard that is – editing supreme! Here ... Read More »

RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW.

saying 3

Carpe Diem.  (Not to be confused with the YOLO, as documented here in Urban Dictionary.)  Seize the day. Live in – and thoroughly enjoy – the present moment. We hear these prophetic sayings regularly, and most of us understand them logically. Are you on Pinterest?  There are more inspirational sayings there than you could ever imagine, each one making you shake ... Read More »

CAUGHT IN ITS GRIPPE

flu shot

The price you pay for being organized and caught up at work. The email popped up and jingled at me, Tuesday or Wednesday morning: “Look at your Inbox!” Oooh!  Employee Wellness Day!  Free flu shots!  Hmmm.  I actually had the time to run over and get my flu shot, even if there was a long line.  Two days of lesson ... Read More »

THE HOUSE THAT ANNA BUILT

anna built

Once again I find myself posting in response to a funeral. Positive message of the post:  live each day as if there were no other, gather around you the people that mean most to you, create community in your life. My mother in law died several weeks back.  I never expected that would move heaven and earth.  You are where ... Read More »

MINDFUL OF MY MINDSET

MINDSET1

My mantra of the summer:  let’s look at that through a “growth mindset”. I have to thank my sister for recommending Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck.  As a parent and a teacher, I wish I had come across this book 25 years ago!  Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.  This is definitely my WOW book ... Read More »

LESSONS LEARNED, AND UN-LEARNED

band aid

How many times do I tell my kids they should learn from their mistakes the first time?  A mistake is no big deal if you learn from it.  Take Dennis, for example.  At 3 years old, he needed to stick his finger in the VCR, then push “eject” a full THREE times before the lesson was learned.   Thankfully, no one ... Read More »

“I’M TRYING TO GET MY SEXY BACK!”

back nine

No, not me. That was the response from my brother-in-law last month.  We are in a Fitbit family group, and this guy is seriously kicking our butts every day and every week!  I cheered him, and when I asked what he was doing, that was his response: “I’m trying to get my sexy back!” My son happened onto the conversation, ... Read More »

THE MEASURE OF A MAN

measure

At the end of the day, or at the end of our days, what matters most?  What are the sensations that most count in life, that most give pleasure?  Why do we forget, on a daily basis, that worries and stresses from the job and from people around us actually keep us from what matters most? As a very good ... Read More »

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