Teaching – Zenaida Arroyo

Category: Teaching

26
Aug
2017

Under Armour Horizon RTT shoes, back to work, and a giveaway!

categories: Ambassador, BibRave Pro, Product Review, Running, Running Gear, Teaching, Weekly Recap

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Under Armour Horizon RTT Trail Running Shoes to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

I don’t normally run on the trail. However, when I was training for the Lake Michigan Marathon, I would do my long runs on the trail. I wanted a different place than running along the lakefront. Also, I realized that I would recover much faster when running on the trail. Plus, there is a certain smell (dirt) that comes with it. It may sound weird but it is true and I actually enjoyed it.

Last month I received a pair of Under Armour Horizon RTT trail running shoes. Under Armour reminds me of Michael Phelps (and his cool video) and running clothes. Definitely not running shoes nor trail shoes. I was still very interested to check them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9jAD1ofm4

The Horizon RTT comes in 5 colors. I picked marlin blue/neptune and I love the color .

Product DNA (from the UA website)

Durable PU & textile upper for breathability & reliable protection
Reinforced welded synthetic material in critical areas for increased durability
Mesh heel with dual protective welds
Molded collar foam package for added comfort
Charged Cushioning® foam puck placed under the heel for responsive comfort
Lightweight, full-length EVA midsole for optimal cushioning
High traction rubber lug outsole for dependable traction on a variety of conditions
Offset: 7mm
Weight: 9.2 oz.
Imported

While they weren’t heavy, they felt more stiff than my regular running shoes. My first run in them hurt my right foot.

A few more runs in them and the shoes feel a little bit more comfortable.

While they’re primarily trail shoes, they also did well on the road.

I also wore them to work (in my skirt). 🙂 I like that they’re wide enough for my feet.

Check out these lugs! I have a feeling these will be great to run in the snow.

Overall, I am pleased with my shoes. My only regret is not sizing up. I wear a 9.5 and remember reading some people suggesting to size up. I don’t know why I didn’t. I have been wearing thin socks and no longer run more than 5 miles in them.

Monday was my first day back at work. In the morning I worked in my room and then parents dropped off school supplies from 9-10 am. Then meetings, lunch, and another meeting in another building. Long day. Thankfully we had a break to see the eclipse. It was cloudy but did manage to see a bit of it.

Tuesday was more meetings. It went by fast. I couldn’t stay late because I had a doctor appointment for my yearly checkup. I had to step on the scale and was very surprised at the number. No, it didn’t go down but instead went down. I was tired so I didn’t really care. But now I do.

My first day with the kids was Wednesday. Some of the teachers used chalk to write messages for them. Pretty cool!

I have 24 students in my room. Wow! At the end of the day I wanted to cry. I was exhausted. My back, feet, and legs hurt. I have a rough group of kids. I remember my first year and it wasn’t that bad. These kids talk a lot and don’t know when to stop talking. They’re also distracted and looking elsewhere but me.

The next two days were rough too. Something new this year is that the kids eat breakfast in the lunchroom. They come in at 8:30am, grab breakfast (if they want), and go to the classroom. They have 15 minutes to put stuff in their locker and eat. It isn’t enough time because they like to talk which in the morning is fine but they also need to eat. In the meantime I take attendance and track who ate breakfast and who brought a lunch. The kids need to stop eating at 8:45, throw away the garbage, and clean up because at 8:50 they have a special (gym, media, art, gym, or computers).

I know the first couple of days/weeks are rough. I am ready for that. I need to remember those moments that make teaching so worth it.

Now time for a giveaway! The winner will receive a Momentum Jewelry inspire-ring. I have one and love it.

Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. This giveaway will run until September 2 at 11:59 pm. The giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Rafflecopter account and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so please be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you prefer road or trail running? Or both?

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap. This week’s host is Teresa @ Finding Fabulous at Fifty . Please stop by her blog and show her some love!

Hoping everyone had a good week!

06
Nov
2016

Day in the Life of a Teacher

categories: Teaching

Marathon training is over but I’ve been running here and there. I was supposed to run the RnR Las Vegas Half Marathon but decided not to go. I’ve run this race in the past and honestly I did not want to go alone. There is nothing wrong with it (I’ve done it many, many times before) but I had no desire to go alone. I know I would meet people but it would be different. Plus, I would be saving money.

I enjoy reading “Day in the Life” posts. I have thought about writing one but never got around to it. Well, I finally sat down and wrote one.

Work has been keeping me busy and it is pretty much the same everyday. Not very exciting but I do have my moments/days when my kids crack me up and/or make me scratch my head numerous times.

Here is a typical day for me (I chose Thursday):

6:00-6:30 AM
My alarm goes off, I shower, get ready, make coffee, gather my lunch and work bag and I am out the door. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to get ready. Some days I do not want to get up (usually Fridays because by then I am exhausted). Sometimes I stop at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donut for a coffee. Every two weeks on payday we have “Breakfast Club” where staff members bring in breakfast for us to eat. I love it!

7:00-8:30 AM
I arrive at school around 7. I live 6 miles from my school and there is minimal traffic in the morning which makes it for an easy commute.

During this time I eat breakfast, drink coffee, check work email, make copies, talk to colleagues, go to bathroom, and get ready for the day. I also listen to Amazon Prime Music to get pumped up.

8:30-8:40 AM
The bell rings at 8:30 to let the kids in the school. Every 3 weeks I have hallway duty and I have to be monitoring the hallway. If I am not on duty, then I make a last minute attempt to use the bathroom and make copies.

8:40-11:05 AM
Kids come in at 8:40 and they read or do some other assigned work while I take attendance, do lunch count, and collect homework. My kids have reading in the morning till 10:20. We have whole group instruction for the 1st period (each one is 45 minutes) and then small group instruction for the 2nd period. Then we have writing till 11:00.

At 11:00 they line up in alphabetical order, grab there sweater or a jacket, and their lunch (if necessary) and we head downstairs to the gym/cafeteria for lunch.

11:05-11:35 AM
Lunch time! I go back to my room and eat my sandwich while I prepare things for Math and Science. I also quickly check Facebook and email. At 11:30 the bell rings which means I have 5 more minutes till the next bell rings. I use the bathroom, stop at the office to check my mailbox, and head to the door to pick up the students.

11:40 AM-12:45 PM
Math. My favorite subject. Right now they’re working on fractions. We are supposed to only teach 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 but I am expanding a little more and teaching 5/8, 1/6, 2/7, etc, etc. They’re getting pretty good at identifying and figuring out fractions. Personally I find this unit boring. This unit also covers figures and shapes and to me it is still BORING. Thank goodness the next unit will cover addition, subtraction and solving word problems.

12:45-1:15 PM
Power 1/2 Hour. We use our Surface Pro tablets to log into Imagine Learning (a tool to teach language and literacy through engaging, interactive instruction). We do this twice a week. On the other 3 days we log into Khan Academy. The concept is the same as Imagine Learning but it gears towards Math.

1:15-2:00 PM
In Science we are learning about the Water Cycle. Very interesting conversations with 2nd graders about where water comes from and where it goes. Luckily they like it and are ready to learn more about it. We also review a few vocabulary words. They’re written the words on index cards so now we talk about each word and use it in a sentence.

At 1:50 or 1:55 they stop working to gather homework, color their triangle in their behavior calendar, get book bag and sweater/jacket and leave their stuff ready before their Special. Every day is different for them (Monday-PE; Tuesday-Music; Wednesday-Art; Thursday and Friday-Computers).

I leave the classroom so that the teacher can teach (except for Monday because they go to the gym and my room is available). I usually go to the teacher’s lounge to work except on Wednesdays (2nd grade bilingual teachers collaboration) and Thursday (meeting with all 1st and 2nd grade teachers on various topics such as math, reading, technology, or RtI).

2:45 PM
Bell rings and it is time to head back to classroom and get ready to leave. Kids put chair up on desk, put on jacket and book bag, and line up.

2:50 PM
Bell rings again and I head downstairs to dismiss students. They line up again and I make sure they leave with someone I know that is authorized to pick them up. I stay there till every student is picked up. Sometimes if it is too cold or raining I head to an indoor area in the school to stay warm/dry.

I go back to my room to work. I work on substitute lesson plans since I have a training the next morning and will not be at work. At 6:30 I am supposed meet my running group, Chi City Running Club, for a run. However, I am not feeling well and I am starving. I leave hoping to get home and eat something before heading out to run. Unfortunately, I eat but then have no desire to run. Sometimes I stop at Walmart or Target to pick up things I need for school/home. Once home, I say “Hi” to Lola and catch up with her. When my mother was here she would make dinner almost almost every day and I would go downstairs to get something to eat.

After dinner I do more grading or watch TV.

9:00-10:00 PM
I go to bed to catch up on reading my magazines and watch TV. I read for a little but am too tired so I turn off the lights and go to sleep.

I do like my job. I do get very tired (mentally) but I find it to be very rewarding as well. I do dislike it when I get asked to do some other stuff that isn’t really teaching related (at least I don’t think it is) or to gather data, data, and more data.

Also, don’t forget to enter my Birthday Month Giveaway!

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

08
Jan
2015

Three Things Thursday, January 8, 2015

categories: Half Marathon Training, Running, Teaching, Three Things Thursday

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post below are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.

1. I got back from San Antonio on Friday night and spent the weekend getting ready to go back to work on Monday. Honestly, I was excited to see my kids again. The snow looks so pretty.

Monday and Tuesday went well with my kids but was exhausted at the end of each day. Notes from my principal always make me smile.

On Tuesday I got a call that school would be closed on Wednesday. Yes, I was happy but my math class in the evening was not cancelled.

That evening I found out that school would also be closed on Thursday. Another day at home. It was so cold today and I did not leave my house at all. Instead, I watched the last season of “Veronica Mars”. It will be another cold day tomorrow but it looks like there will be school.

2. I spent these two days at home watching “Veronica Mars” on Amazon. Love, love that show. I cannot remember why I never saw it when it was shown on TV. I am disappointed that there aren’t any more seasons for me to watch but do know that the movie is available on Redbox. Besides Veronica, my other favorite character is Logan. I like his bad boy character and cannot resist his gorgeous smile. This girl is also a big fan and got to see the movie premiere in Los Angeles.

Training for the Fort2Base 10 NM 3. With a new year comes a new training plan. I am not training for anything specific but just planning to run a few half marathons this year. I wrote my new plan using the book “Runner’s World Run Less, Run Faster: Become a Faster, Stronger Runner with the Revolutionary 3-Run-a-Week Training Program“. I already missed today’s workout but don’t want to stress out about missing any of my runs. Now I only need to work on my cross training. I dislike the elliptical and get bored on the bike. A new show on Netflix or Amazon would definitely help.

21
Aug
2014

Three Things Thursday, August 21, 2014

categories: Running, Teaching, Three Things Thursday

1. I haven’t been posting about my marathon training because they’re pretty much the same ones each week. I am even bored with them. Either I make them more interesting or just post them every two or three weeks. Overall my runs are OK. I did not do my easy or tempo runs last week and I did not do them this week. I have no reason but simply just excuses.

On my last two long runs I felt some numbness on my right toes. I didn’t think too much of it but did mention it to my podiatrist on Monday. She touched the area and I told her I felt a little bit of pain. She was concerned because that area that hurts is the bone. She took a couple of x-rays. No broken toes. But apparently two of the bones are so close together that they could be pinching a nerve and thus the numbness. She also mentioned Morton’s Neuroma. According to the Mayo Clinic website:

“Morton’s neuroma is a painful condition that affects the ball of your foot, most commonly the area between your third and fourth toes. Morton’s neuroma may feel as if you are standing on a pebble in your shoe or on a fold in your sock. Morton’s neuroma involves a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. This can cause a sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot. Your toes also may sting, burn or feel numb.”

I don’t feel like I am standing on a pebble nor sharp nor burning pain. The toes do feel numb. I went to see her because I have a bunion and need to get a cortisone shot. Of course the other option is to get surgery but I am holding off as long as I can.

2. Last week I went to set up my classroom. It was overwhelming. I have a new classroom so I had boxes from my old classroom, from the teacher I am replacing, and from the district with new math and science books. I went three days and did enough to at least teach for three days next week. I would have done more if we hadn’t been told to leave the school by 3pm because the custodians still had work to do. It worked out because I was sore and tired after each day. And I refused to go this week. This is my last week of summer break and my plan is to just chill and do nothing.

I took a short video using Flipagram but I don’t know how to add it here so click on the link: http://flipagram.com/f/H4SfyEGoXf

And in case that doesn’t work here are some photos.

3. I am thinking of purchasing a treadmill. I like my gym but hate the shows on the TV screen and sometimes the smell inside is revolting. Plus, I get annoyed when people are just texting and checking Facebook at 1.0 speed on the treadmill. I feel like telling them to just walk faster. I know I am complaining too much and that is why it is best to have one at home. I checked out NordicTrack but while they’re nice, they’re also expensive.

These are the ones I like. Prices range from $1,499 to $2,199. They’re all very similar and offer the same thing but I like the TV on the 2450 and the 2950.

Commercial 2950

Commercial 1750

Commercial 2450

It makes me laugh to see these prices end in “99” because obviously $1,499 is so much cheaper than $1,500.

Thoughts, suggestions on treadmills?