Tag: learning

How to light stove/oven in an RV with Propane

Living in the RV does not mean you lose all the creature comforts of home. Reality, the RV is home. Breads, baked goods, baked pastas, and dehydrated foods are all things we love to have for meals or snacks. To get this we do have to bake in the RV. One issue we see is added heat coming in the RV, but that is a necessary evil to deal with.

Our Keystone Sprinter 32BH comes with 2 30# propane tanks. They are linked together at the regulator with a switch and an indicator.

Make sure your tank is turned on, turn the handle counter clockwise until it stops, and if you have a selector switch, have it pointed to the tank you just turned on.

Our stove has 3 burners and an oven. This is why we have 4 knobs controlling the flow of gas into the stove. The 5th knob is an ignitor. Twisting this produces the spark that lights the gas!

Let’s go over how to light the stove. LP gas has to flow from the valves at the knobs down to where the fire will be lit. The burners will light quickly because the travel is short. Turn the burner knob to a medium spot and strike the ignitor. This should give you a nice flame on top. If you are coming from an electric stove to a gas stove, it may cook hotter than you expect, therefore experiment some.

Seems simple enough, right? But with the oven, don’t get in a hurry. Hold the pilot on, count to 5 strike the igniter. Probably wont light the first time, count to 5 again, and strike. Our oven usually takes about 20 seconds for gas to get to the pilot light. Once the pilot is lit, hold the knob long enough for the heat coupler to get hot. This tells the stove it’s ok for the pilot light to get gas, because there is a flame. Then set your oven to the desired temperature.

Turn on the exhaust fan! This moves gasses and exhaust out of the rig. If something smells rotten, turn off the knobs, open some windows, let it air out and then try again!

Happy cooking! Comment below on your favorite dishes to cook or bake!

Learning To Look Forward

July 19, 2022

I think the only thing I see my students dread more than school is getting negative feedback or in trouble for mistakes. And I can’t blame them.

I’ve been that teacher and parent that harped on the mistakes, ranting and making a big deal of it. It made them afraid to talk to me and afraid to take a chance on new things for fear of failure.

I do this to myself, too. And that negativity doesn’t do me any good as an adult, either.

I endured this negativity growing up and it taught me to take the easy road to a guaranteed success. It took me a long time in life to be willing to take risks and learn from failure.

Mistakes will happen, errors will be made, wrong answers will be given–the world will go on.

And, in true Thomas Edison fashion, that lesson is learning a way NOT to do something, and that knowledge is gold.

So, how can we use mistakes and wrong answers to help with growth and remove fear of failure or talking about it? By changing the dialogue we have with them, and with ourselves.

Whenever I talk to students that fail an assignment or go too long without working, I reassure them. I remind them that neither of us has a time machine, so let’s focus on what we should be doing now, and next to keep it from repeating, and learn from the mistake. Then we have a conversation about what that looks like. It could be helping them make a schedule, plan out steps, or talk about why an answer was wrong.

I start by asking questions of their plan or their ideas and don’t immediately try to solve the problem for them. They need to think and strategize. But if it’s an I don’t know or their plan isn’t clear and specific, or may not lead to success, I give feedback. But it is a conversation focused on the positive and helping them grow. Then I repeat it and TEXT IT TO THEM so they have it written down. We then schedule follow up time to check in within a week or two.

THAT is what we need to do for our children, as both parents and teachers.

This is also what we need to do for ourselves as successful adults.

How can you change the dialogue of conversations you are having to turn negatives into positives?

Like or comment below and share with others to support the blog. I post twice a week about teaching, traveling and family. Until next time, you can find me on Twitter @AddictedtoTeac1 or on Tiktok: @sonya.BOMSquadleader. You can find more about our adventures on our our website at BarnesOnMove.com, Facebook, TikTok & Twitter: @BarnesOnMove . Support us and get more in depth and personal interactions at Patreon: Barnes On Move

Strategies to Avoid the ‘Summer Slide’ with our Kids

July 1, 2022

I won’t bore you with a bunch of science and data, but I will tell you that there is a lot that exists to support the summer slide theory. If you aren’t familiar with what that is, it is scientific evidence that kids that take the summer off without doing any kind of work not only lose many skills they had already learned, but can fall further behind than when they started the prior school year.

Wait! Don’t panic and put them into tutoring programs all summer just yet!

I’ve got a few tips to share that can help keep this from happening with about an hour a day 5 days a week.

Now, if they are behind or have a true disability, a tutoring program may be a good idea, but think about it and research carefully–you want to choose something that won’t make learning harder. Find one that helps them learn how to learn and makes it as fun, or at least stress-free, as possible.

BRIDGE WORKBOOKS These are books that have skills broken down and help review what they learned the grade prior and transition into skills they will learn in the upcoming grade. Most are only about 15 minutes a day and focus on a couple subjects at a time, rotating the core subjects. I prefer the Summer Bridge series since it has tracking sheets and stickers (for your external reward kiddos) and crafts and projects to you, as well as flash cards. They are sold in lots of places, but we find ours on Amazon.

We’ve done these since preschool and now going into 6th with my youngest; we also did these for my oldest who is now a college graduate and working full time. I’ll never forget after the first week of his freshman year of high school and first summer without the workbooks (they stop going into high school), he said he actually missed them and felt behind. He’s very supportive of his younger brother doing them and raves about how much they helped.

FLASHCARDS AND GAMES These can be found in lots of locations and can be a great way to go through items quickly and choose what skill you are covering. I like this method for a variety of ages and skill levels since everyone gets a chance to work together.

WEBSITES You can find a variety of both free and subscription websites that can fit your child’s needs. Most are self-guided and have a tracking system. Many school districts have some they prefer that fit their programs or are part of the curriculum they use at school, so a subscription is included. I would suggest starting there.

TUTORING There are a variety of tutoring companies, as well as private tutors or college students you can find to have that one on one aspect for your child to learn best if this isn’t your area. This may be the most expensive option, but helping a college student home for the summer means you can help each other out.

STUDY GROUP If your child has friends from class, or if your circle of friends has children, this could be a great way to get time together to build skills and get some social time. Rotating houses once a week can share the load, especially by incorporating learning time with fun activities like crafts, water play, movie days, baking.

SUMMER PROGRAMS For many families that don’t have a parent or family member to be home with them all summer, or that choose camps for socializing, you can also make sure they are including academics in their day, too. If your main camp doesn’t, don’t be afraid to find a week long experience or immersion camp to rotate in and that focuses on your child’s interests. Local zoos, gardens, museums and parks often have programs available.

VIRTUAL SCHOOL Most states have a virtual school district that offers classes to students that go to other schools during the year, and if you are a resident of the state, it is often free! I know here in Florida, FLVS offers a Flex program and students can take core or elective classes and work at their pace, work a summer pace, or finish in as little as 14 days. The best part is they offer a variety of classes that may not be available at your school.

EXTEND HOME SCHOOL If you are already doing home school, you can choose to slow your prior year curriculum or start your next year curriculum early, and just work at a slower pace.

DAILY READING We incorporate additional leisure reading into our routine, with a minimum of 20 minutes daily. A summer reading list is often available at your school or local library. You can plan weekly trips to the library to swap books or visit a Little Free Library near you. In addition to the libraries, we also like to give ours a budget and go to the local secondhand bookstores or a big boxstore bookstore and let them go shopping, with the idea of choosing things they will enjoy reading more than once. We have found many a great series this way! A money saving tip for this is to go in with friends so they can rotate the books and maybe even have a book club to talk about them. If the book happens to be a movie, plan a movie night. If they are a struggling reader, watch the movie first to help with grasping the theme, names and imagery that will strengthen their skills when they read it–challenge them to find the differences between the two.

LIFE SKILLS Never underestimate the power of learning from life. Include them in grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking, budgeting, paying bills, scheduling appointments, car maintenance, home maintenance, vacation planning, purchasing back to school supplies. Letting them see how they will use what they are learning in a real life setting can be the best teacher and connect skills, reinforcing them and placing into long term memory. And it can be a fun way to bond.

Set aside a little time each day to work. It can vary from day to day and you can give older or responsible kids control of when they do their work. Even if you start these late in the summer, every little bit helps.

workbooks flashcards groups websites extend home school virtual school classes

Like or comment below and share with others to support the blog. I post twice a week about teaching, traveling and family. Until next time, you can find me on Twitter @AddictedtoTeac1 or on Tiktok: @sonya.BOMSquadleader. You can find more about our adventures on our our website at BarnesOnMove.com, Facebook, TikTok & Twitter: @BarnesOnMove . Support us and get more in depth and personal interactions at Patreon: Barnes On Move

When the Teacher Becomes the Student

#A2TPD – Click the STAR to like this post! Comment below with your favorite professional development topics or strategies.

October 23, 2021

If you’re like me, October is when you finally start settling into your classroom routines and things level out. It’s also when things like Professional Development and Professional Learning Communities start coming up as topics of conversations and in meetings.

For many, the first thought is usually a deep sigh. Something else added to our plate. Something else to do. More documentation. I was just getting the hang of last year’s new stuff and it’s working, why change that?

But I want to challenge you to change your perspective. We need to set an example of what lifelong learning looks like for our students. If we dread learning, they will learn to dread learning. But if we learn to embrace this as an opportunity to improve, well, that changes everything. And since our students, and the world we live in, are different every year, learning to embrace that as a starting point will help you be the kind of teacher you want to be.

Some schools and districts will specify what they want they want the focus to be. A few will allow you to choose your own topics to explore. If your school or district doesn’t, but you have an idea, present it to them, you may be surprised to find they will support you!

Start by looking at your routines, habits and techniques. What’s an area that you dread or takes way too long every time you do it? That may be where you need to focus. What has changed in your subject area? Explore the new discoveries! There’s always new technology coming out, give it a try! One requirement we have to be rated highly effective is finding new things, so this is a great opportunity.

Don’t discount the idea of working with others! We’ve all heard the expression many hands make light work and learning can be no different. Learning new things when you are busy can be daunting, so having others to share the load with, bounce ideas off of, practice with and vent to can be greatly beneficial. For the same reason we have students work in groups, we can benefit from those varied perspectives, too.

Be sure to get word out about what you are researching. There may be others with experience and resources to save you time or they maybe interested in joining the team. either way, it helps you broaden your perspective as you gain new insight.

Keep notes on what your thoughts and ideas are an make yourself a big sign or post it you will see to remind you of your focus and your why. When going down the rabbit hole of research, it is easily to get derailed and go off in the wrong direction, losing valuable time.

Gather data. Ugh, the D word. But it’s beneficial to see if what you are learning and doing is working. Remember, not all data is Quantitative and numbers based, Qualitative data can be helpful and gathered by observation, feedback, surveys, interviews, etc. Just be sure to have some method of measuring. If it can’t be measured, adapt your focus so it can be.

Vary your resources that you draw from. Websites, scholarly articles, book studies, YouTube videos, and personal interviews are all helpful, and the more mediums you bring in, the more well rounded your research can be.

Make sure you have an objective to apply your learning. Every teacher has a formal observation in the second half of the year, so make your objective something you can practice and then apply for that observation. Remember, it doesn’t have to work or get the results you want, so don’t worry about failing. Sometimes, how you handle speedbumps and dead ends in an observation can help your evaluation so much more than a perfectly executed lesson for your supervisor.

I want to take a minute to namelessly praise all the amazing educators, mentors and leaders I have worked with over the years that have helped me grow as an educator. The conversations and feedback I have gained from our conversations and projects have stayed with me. And to all the students I have taught over the years, thanks for being my guinea pigs and going along with some of my crazy lesson ideas, and for your authentic feedback on whether or not that lesson should stay in my repertoire or get trashed.

Be sure to click the STAR to like this post and comment below with your favorite professional development topics or strategies. Also, be sure to share this blog with other teachers using the hashtag above, and subscribe so future blogs come straight to your inbox! I blog about teaching, but also food, family, travel and other inspirations! You can also find me on Twitter (@addictedtoteac1), Facebook (Addicted2Teaching) or even on YouTube to check out some videos before I just focused on blogging (Sonya Barnes – Addicted to Teaching) and join the conversation, get more ideas, share your story or just interact with me.

Life and Teaching – Reflecting on 2020

Sonya Barnes                     December 24, 2020

I haven’t written in a while.  So much craziness has happened in my life this year, and most has nothing to do with Covid-19. My oldest son graduated college, transitioned into a new career field, and is looking to move out on his on now with his friends. My mom decided to move out on her own now that her health has improved, and she is retired so she can enjoy life at her pace a bit more.  My dad moved in with us and my stepmom moved with my brother, sis-in-law, and niece as they transition from one duty station to another, but not yet to Florida, like we hoped. Which means our move to be closer to them was pushed back, as well.  Projects around the house ensued.

A shared office with my kiddo
The office managers hard a work

We lost our 15-year-old doxie Angel, and welcomed a new Shih-poo, Luna and have been working on training her and helping our remaining doxie transition from being the little sister and everything buddy to the big sister with an annoying puppy.  And did I mention that my dad brought his rescue, Reba with him?  We also built a chicken coop and are raising 8 backyard chickens that have been a great source of eggs, a consumer of leftovers and scraps, and have brought hours of entertainment for us and the dogs.  Oh, and did I mention the extra-large Guinea pig, Java, that joined our family?

RIP Angel Boo
Java the extra large Guinea pig
The backyard Coop

But we have family meals together daily, go for walks, play games and have family movie nights. We’ve been creative on travel with camping or focusing on outdoor areas. We have learned how much we enjoy being around each other all the time and how much busyness we had in our life that was unnecessary and we didn’t miss when we cut it out.

Around all of this, I have continued to gain more experience as a virtual teacher and my husband has slowly but steadily grown his handyman business and found a balance between work and family time. Add all of that to the pandemic and everyone facing unexplored territories, I didn’t feel I had the knowledge to guide anyone since none of us knew what we were doing or for how long—or the time!  But as time passed,  I realized a few things.

A rainbow right before it grew into a double rainbow just before sunset–a beautiful sight on one of our walks

One, I miss writing immensely. There is something powerful of taking an idea, expanding on it, and sharing it with the world, along with all the vulnerability that comes from that.  Two, it’ a great way to focus my thoughts and get time to myself—events that are very rare in my day. Three, and this is the big one that brought me back, so what if I am not an expert? So what if I don’t have great insight that will change your life? Right now, we need to share ideas, hear ideas, and explore new options, even if that means failing at something and starting over a new way. 

So, here’s the morsel we all need to hear: how is what you are doing in your classroom helping your students? Are they learning skills they will need in future classes or careers? Great! Are they learning techniques for adapting to new ways of doing something? Super! Are they exploring a way of life that could be an option for them in the future by working at home and learning to be self-motivated? Fantastic!  Are they getting a voice and your focused attention because a Zoom or Teams call can minimize distractions by muting people or viewing only the speaker? Gold! Maybe this is the chapter of their life where the lessons come from the relationships being built and learning to handle boredom and self-management, skills that are lacking from our always on lifestyle we live.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the chance to talk to my students, whether it was about what they were learning, how to use it in school, how they may use it someday in life, or what is happening in life right now.  I’ve sent a text just to check in or to remind them of something due. I’ve even spent time just talking to their parents.  They needed someone to talk to that didn’t live under their roof about what they are dealing with or how to help their kids and, sometimes, I was the call at the time that they needed. It created a great bond and helped them through a challenging time, even if it was simply sharing a quick tip on balancing their schedule, answering a question or a weekly video snippet that gave them insight on the work due for the week. Those moments may be brief but can be very powerful.

So, as you enjoy your holidays and start thinking of your return to school and what you can provide that is meaningful to your students, remember to make time to take care of you and to teach them how to take care of them. What they learn from this major life event will shape the rest of their lives—how can you make that meaningful?

From my family to you and yours, whatever and however you celebrate, just celebrate.

Happy Holidays and all that jazz.

We grouped our trees together this year, kept the ornaments in the box to enjoy just the lights, but couldn’t forget my son’s train that he loves so much.

Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: