My amazing and talented friend, Carolyn, sat with me yesterday and showed me a thing or two around Blogger. The results are twofold: For you, the dear reader, Labels! Woot! (This is the least I can do to match the quality and generosity of my fellow MTBoS writers).

And the second is fodder for this post.

The set up:

I took a year off from my permanent school for 2012-2013 (mostly because my ride share partner, and Environmental Science teacher extraordinaire, Stefan, took a leave of absence to be the Director of Education at the Sonoma County Water Agency. As it turned out, my daughter's HS (9th and 12th graders) school needed an Algebra teacher. Stars aligned and I had an 80% job for the Fall. And as you all know, WHAT A RIDE! Every teacher should have the opportunity to teach in a different school every couple years. Gives you some awesome prospective. AND if the new school were smart, they would take advantage of your expertise, instead of relegate you to the "low man on the totem pole." To work again with a staff and in particular, an administration, that appreciates the risks you take to learn more, stay fresh, and increase student engagement will be, oh so very, welcoming...

The deal:

About 2/3 of the way through labeling all 58 posts, I decided to try and see if I could get any information out of the labeling process. I was delighted to find that the labels were being counted! Labeling most recent post to oldest here were the most popular titles:
Aha (6) Classroom Management (6) Good Ideas (4), Algebra (13), Community (4) CCSS (10),  Professional Development ( 7) Philosophy (15) and Food (0).

When I finished labeling, the counts looked like this:
Algebra 1 (21), Classroom Management (9), Community (13), Food (3) and MTBoS (8).

When I started with the Math Blogger Initiative, I wrote most about what I love: food and sharing.
As I moved through the year, I got more into educational philosophy and had the opportunity to play with Common Core State Standards. I began to write more for me, and my passion for community. (Being away from the active professional learning community at my old school was eye-opening for me.) The development cracks me up. Maybe I should get back to writing more about food and how to feed a family healthfully and quickly when you are all moving a billion zillion miles per hour during the school year. Yeah, I will leave you with one of our family's FAVORITE of all times meals, AKA "heat it, eat it and beat it." Good for any time of the year! Enjoy!

The goods:

Yum Bowls  

On the table have wide, empty bowls, like these:

•  A heated can of Great White Northern Beans.      
• Shred a Carrot
• Chopped Spring Onion
• Sliced Avocado
• Chopped Tomato
• Grated Cheese
• Chopped Lettuce
• Tin of Sliced Black Olives
• Sliced Mushrooms
• Shred 1/4 of a Cabbage
• Chopped Cilantro
• Toasted Walnuts
• Steamed Broccoli (I do mine in the microwave)
• Pesto Sauce
• Salsa
• Tamari or Soy Sauce