Hello fellow teachers! I just thought I'd share a flashcard deck that you can use for your students! We are currently studying the water cycle, and this is a great review that you students can do during this time of distant learning.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Friday, September 15, 2017
Why I'm Always Reppin
Happy Rep the Y Friday! Hope all of y'all are appropriately clad in navy or royal BYU Blue and revving up for the game tomorrow!
Speaking of reppin', I really love the 2016 and 2017 Game Day t-shirts. For those of you who haven't seen them, the 2016 ones say "Reppin the Y" and the newer ones say "Always Reppin".
When I was first introduced to the word "reppin" in 2016, the blonde part of me thought it was pronounced "Re-pin"... as in, like, a Relief Society Pinterest page gone rabid? I was really confused.
Eventually, after I figured out how to actually pronounce the word, the idea of Reppin' the Y grew on me. It's a catchy, simple phrase that effectively captures all the emotions that BYU fans feel during the heat of a game.
I've also thought about the phrase, "Always Reppin". The slogan implies that true fans don't have to be clad in BYU gear to represent their school; their very way of life is representation enough.
So, how can a Cougar be "Always Reppin?"
It's hard to give an answer to that question without thinking of examples of students and alumni who are always Reppin'. So, over the next little while, I'll use Rep the Y Friday as an opportunity to highlight people who have defined what Always Reppin means for a BYU Cougar.
In the meantime, dear BYU Cougars, don't just wear blue; bleed it.
Speaking of reppin', I really love the 2016 and 2017 Game Day t-shirts. For those of you who haven't seen them, the 2016 ones say "Reppin the Y" and the newer ones say "Always Reppin".
Eventually, after I figured out how to actually pronounce the word, the idea of Reppin' the Y grew on me. It's a catchy, simple phrase that effectively captures all the emotions that BYU fans feel during the heat of a game.
I've also thought about the phrase, "Always Reppin". The slogan implies that true fans don't have to be clad in BYU gear to represent their school; their very way of life is representation enough.
So, how can a Cougar be "Always Reppin?"
It's hard to give an answer to that question without thinking of examples of students and alumni who are always Reppin'. So, over the next little while, I'll use Rep the Y Friday as an opportunity to highlight people who have defined what Always Reppin means for a BYU Cougar.
In the meantime, dear BYU Cougars, don't just wear blue; bleed it.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Why I Love Football (now)
So BYU football season is practically upon us... and boy, am I excited!
Before I explain why, I need to give you a vision of the kind of sports enthusiast before BYU.
...the kind who says, oh, I played basketball once. It was nice. I think I shot a touchd- err, basket.
Sports just wasn't my thing. I was terrible at pretty much every sport I tried, and frankly, I didn't enjoy competitive sports. I cared more about making sure everyone stayed happy than winning. Which is fine, unless you're supposed to be playing offense in basically any sport.
I wasn't a big sports watcher either. I loved watching volleyball and went to many BYU and high school volleyball games, but other than that, sports never interested me. I got mildly into football my senior year, but I went mostly to support one of my best friends in marching band than to actually watch the players. I would literally bring homework or a book and sit alone on the top bleachers of the stadium until the marching band would perform at half-time.
And yet... college changed me (You're probably thinking that's clique. Thank you, I try)
I LOVE BYU SPORTS!!!
My freshman year, I bought a ROC student card and went to almost every BYU football game. The scene was similar to my high school football years: I usually went by myself and brought homework; however, I took time to watch the players and the marching band. Somehow, along the way, BYU Football stole my heart.
There's just something about the energy that pulses through LaVell Edwards stadium right before a game. Students, clad in identical royal blue "Always Reppin" t-shirts. Greasy, expensive popcorn, pizza, and Cougartails from concessions. The BYU marching band playing "Popcorn Popping" and The Imperial Death March and the Fight Song. Apostles in the crowd with cheering crowds in the audience. T-shirt guns. Mountain sunsets. Frozen fingers. Painted faces. Flipping Cougarettes.
And the BYU football players, full of enough talent, determination, and heart and soul to fill a stadium.
Sure, BYU doesn't always win, but football games are always a win for me.
So please, go to at LEAST one BYU Football game during your time at BYU. You won't regret it, and your fellow BYU Cougs will be happy for the support.
P.S.: Here was my first football game! It was an away game at University of Utah, so we watched the game in the lobby of the boy's dorm. I provided the Cheez-its and my friends provided the cheers.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Breakfast for Slightly Less Lazy People
Since I posted one of my mom's recipes, I now feel obligated to post one of my dad's, considering my parents make up like 50% of my readership. This recipe requires slightly more effort than mom's, but requires much less brain power, so I assume that means it evens out to be quite doable for a college student.
My dad has always LOVED cereal. He cannot live without his bowl of Grape Nuts or Granola in the morning. Recently, however, my mom's been trying to phase cereal out of our diet. It's apparently expensive, full of sugar, and has too many preservatives. Honestly, I can't complain about this latest development because now my mom COOKS homemade breakfast. Mmmmm
But my dad's usually out of the house early, and he prefers to eat cereal for breakfast. Since my mom has stopped buying as much cereal, his solution is homemade granola!
The recipe is simple: just a 1-1-1 ratio of three ingredients.
Homemade Granola
1 cup of oats
1 tablespoon of oil (We use coconut oil because it adds flavor and is healthy and there's nothing else in the house, but you can use other oils)
1 tablespoon of some sort of sugar (We used Very Dark Maple syrup, which was DELICIOUS! Honey also works, or just any generic syrup you'd put on top of pancakes)
1.) Preheat oven to 350
2.) Combine ingredients
3.) Spread on to a baking sheet, preferably one with a lip so you don't make a mess all over the kitchen
4.) Cook for 12 minutes
5.) Take out of oven.
There you have it! Oats are cheap and filling, thus a great addition to any college breakfast. Go ahead and try it out!
My dad has always LOVED cereal. He cannot live without his bowl of Grape Nuts or Granola in the morning. Recently, however, my mom's been trying to phase cereal out of our diet. It's apparently expensive, full of sugar, and has too many preservatives. Honestly, I can't complain about this latest development because now my mom COOKS homemade breakfast. Mmmmm
But my dad's usually out of the house early, and he prefers to eat cereal for breakfast. Since my mom has stopped buying as much cereal, his solution is homemade granola!
The recipe is simple: just a 1-1-1 ratio of three ingredients.
Homemade Granola
1 cup of oats
1 tablespoon of oil (We use coconut oil because it adds flavor and is healthy and there's nothing else in the house, but you can use other oils)
1 tablespoon of some sort of sugar (We used Very Dark Maple syrup, which was DELICIOUS! Honey also works, or just any generic syrup you'd put on top of pancakes)
1.) Preheat oven to 350
2.) Combine ingredients
3.) Spread on to a baking sheet, preferably one with a lip so you don't make a mess all over the kitchen
4.) Cook for 12 minutes
5.) Take out of oven.
There you have it! Oats are cheap and filling, thus a great addition to any college breakfast. Go ahead and try it out!
Breakfast for Lazy People
Did somebody say breakfast?
Breakfast has always been an important part of my day. My family is the kind of family that CANNOT live without breakfast. My childhood mornings consisted of Frosted Mini-Wheats, Cheerios, and Life, and in my high school years, I graduated to Multi-Grain Cheerios and Grape Nuts. Regardless of where we are, what time it is when we wake up, or how much we ate for dinner the day previously, my family ALWAYS eats breakfast. So when college came around and most of my friends started skipping breakfast in favor of ten extra minutes of sleep, I rebelled. I would rather sacrifice some extra snoozes for a hearty bowl of Grape Nuts, thank you very much.
Since breakfast is such an important part of my day, I've been working on learning some breakfast recipes that are quick, easy, and fairly healthy. One of my new favorites is my mom's Oatmeal in a Jar recipe (my mom probably got it off the Internet somewhere, but whatever. I don't think the Internet Police will prosecute me). The nice thing about this recipe is that it's so versatile. It's one of those recipes you absolutely, positively cannot mess up (thank goodness. I have enough cooking issues as it is). It requires no cooking, no baking, no mincing, and even no toasting! It's almost as easy as the "just as water" Top Ramen you were probably previously eating for breakfast.
You could also try adding chopped nuts, sliced apples, chocolate chips, brown sugar, strawberries, raspberries, or whatever else your heart desires. Get crazy.
Blueberry Banana Oatmeal
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup blueberries
1/3 cup sliced bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp chia seeds (if you're feeling hippie. You can drop it if you want)
A mason jar, or maybe just an empty spaghetti sauce jar. Or even a Styrofoam cup, that works too
1.) Put all that stuff in a jar.
2.) Put jar in Fridge overnight
3.) Eat
OR
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup sliced bananas
14 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp chia seeds
A mason jar, or maybe just an empty spaghetti sauce jar. Or even a Styrofoam cup, that works too
1.) Insert into jar
2.) Put jar in Fridge overnight
3.) Eat
I was going to add a picture of my creation, but the pic made my oatmeal look like so disgusting I decided against it.
Good luck putting your ingredients in your jars! <3
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Ultimate Friends
So I watched my sixth grade end-of-the-year elementary ensemble video today with my little sister. WOW. Talk about throwback! I forgot how incredibly high my voice was back then. It's a little scary. I'm surprised I never broke any glass with my squeals.
Yeah...Wow. Baby me was pretty adorable.
I'll admit, I got pretty involved in watching the video. I might've sang along. I might've yelled at the TV screen. I might've cringed at the "oohs" we were singing. And I also might've cried...
My favorite part, however, was listening to my final speech. I was chosen to give a little speech on "what ensemble means to me" during the awards ceremony of the concert (yes, I even watched that part. So sue me). I was captivated by my little whiny voice proclaiming how much an elementary singing group had meant to me. I loved recognizing the definitive Kaila flavor my writing had even then. My favorite line could've been pulled off of a page of my blog: "I met so many new friends when I went to Ensemble. Of course, Mr. Dennis is the ultimate friend, always ready to crack a joke or make us all smile."
The phrase "ultimate friend" really got me thinking about how much my teachers have meant in my life. I can still remember every single teacher I've had since Kindergarten, and I can point to where certain habits, interests, jokes, and sayings have come from.
Seriously. My teacher's voices still haunt me.
When I'm running, literally running, late for 8 am class, and I'm running past weird looks and stares, I hear Mr. Dennis's voice in my head: "Better to be thirty minutes early than one minute late".
When I'm curled up in a ball on my bed, one sentence away from giving up, and I yell at the world "I can't do this anymore!" I get slapped back into action by Mrs. Holcomb's voice telling me, "Can't is not an option". So I get up and write one more sentence, then one more paragraph, then on and on until the essay's done.
When my friends ask me, "Where's it at?", I reflexively respond with "10 cents. Don't end a sentence with a preposition", and I answer their confused looks with "it's alright, Mrs. Sweick will buy us a pizza party with the money." Sure, no one gets it, but I do.
When I hear someone mispronounce the word "potable", I smile and remember Mrs. Smith's inside joke with us about how even news casters screw up the word, but we never would.
Over and over again, I hear their voices in my head.
That's why I think my little sixth grade self was spot-on when she called Mr. D an "ultimate friend". My teachers have truly proven to be friends through the thick and thin. They have seen students instead of statistics, seen potentials instead of points, seen futures instead of failures. They are the people that make my #collegeprobs possible, for are they are the people that helped me get into college in the first place. They got me into BYU, and their voices in my head will help keep me there.
So pro tip high schoolers: be thankful for your teachers. They do more than any of us will ever know.
Yeah...Wow. Baby me was pretty adorable.
I'll admit, I got pretty involved in watching the video. I might've sang along. I might've yelled at the TV screen. I might've cringed at the "oohs" we were singing. And I also might've cried...
My favorite part, however, was listening to my final speech. I was chosen to give a little speech on "what ensemble means to me" during the awards ceremony of the concert (yes, I even watched that part. So sue me). I was captivated by my little whiny voice proclaiming how much an elementary singing group had meant to me. I loved recognizing the definitive Kaila flavor my writing had even then. My favorite line could've been pulled off of a page of my blog: "I met so many new friends when I went to Ensemble. Of course, Mr. Dennis is the ultimate friend, always ready to crack a joke or make us all smile."
The phrase "ultimate friend" really got me thinking about how much my teachers have meant in my life. I can still remember every single teacher I've had since Kindergarten, and I can point to where certain habits, interests, jokes, and sayings have come from.
Seriously. My teacher's voices still haunt me.
When I'm running, literally running, late for 8 am class, and I'm running past weird looks and stares, I hear Mr. Dennis's voice in my head: "Better to be thirty minutes early than one minute late".
When I'm curled up in a ball on my bed, one sentence away from giving up, and I yell at the world "I can't do this anymore!" I get slapped back into action by Mrs. Holcomb's voice telling me, "Can't is not an option". So I get up and write one more sentence, then one more paragraph, then on and on until the essay's done.
When my friends ask me, "Where's it at?", I reflexively respond with "10 cents. Don't end a sentence with a preposition", and I answer their confused looks with "it's alright, Mrs. Sweick will buy us a pizza party with the money." Sure, no one gets it, but I do.
When I hear someone mispronounce the word "potable", I smile and remember Mrs. Smith's inside joke with us about how even news casters screw up the word, but we never would.
Over and over again, I hear their voices in my head.
That's why I think my little sixth grade self was spot-on when she called Mr. D an "ultimate friend". My teachers have truly proven to be friends through the thick and thin. They have seen students instead of statistics, seen potentials instead of points, seen futures instead of failures. They are the people that make my #collegeprobs possible, for are they are the people that helped me get into college in the first place. They got me into BYU, and their voices in my head will help keep me there.
So pro tip high schoolers: be thankful for your teachers. They do more than any of us will ever know.
Monday, May 29, 2017
The Power of Positivity
If I was rich, I'd hire some upstart grad student to fill my posts with scientific evidence so I could actually prove that every once in a while, I'm spot on with my life advice.
But I'm not rich, and I'm fresh out of upstart grad students anyway... sooooo this is my "no sources, no in-text citations, and no expert advice" blog post. Proceed with caution You have been warned.
From my own personal experience, I believe that I have learned a lot about the power of positivity in life. I've always been a perpetual optimist, and over the years, my optimism has morphed from a juvenile refusal to acknowledge evil in the world to a more mature (but probably still stupid) belief that despite the evil in the world, there are still so many reasons to be happy and hopeful. This semester, however, has stretched my optimism to the limit.
It's easy to be optimistic about the futures of gas prices when you don't have a car or a license. It's easy to tell a friend to cheer up when you don't have to deal with what she's going through. Basically, it's easy to be optimistic when you are detached from a situation. But when your challenges get upfront and personal, that's when things get difficult. Suddenly, your optimism and happiness becomes a daily fight instead of a reflex. Doubt, despair, and just plain complaints threaten to overtake all of your bright hopes and dreams. This is when positive thinking gets hard, but this is also when it gets important.
When life gets hard, I've found that I need optimism in my life. Often, my challenges are unchangeable. I can't get rid of term papers, I can't force people to do what I want them to do, and I can't make the Cannon Center serve Mahi Mahi tacos on days when I'm not working. The more I complain about these types of things, the more miserable I get. As President Holland says,
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."
Even though we all know this in our heads, the application of said knowledge isn't always smooth sailing. For example, sometimes, I justify negative thinking by saying that it's pushing me to achieve more, that somehow by thinking "gosh Kai, you're a disaster" I'll become better. The opposite is actually true. Negative thinking is discouraging: it robs me of my motivation and effectiveness. Although it seems obvious, we so often forget that there is nothing positive about negative thinking.
Now that doesn't mean you can't have bad days. That's stupid. Everyone has bad days, bad weeks, and bad months. And sometimes complaining to someone about our problems can actually help cleanse negativity out of our systems. But letting negative thoughts stick around in our brains can only amount to heaps of discouragement, distress, and depression.
So today, start small. Counter your fears with some faith, replace your discouragement with determination. Your circumstances won't change, but your life will.
But I'm not rich, and I'm fresh out of upstart grad students anyway... sooooo this is my "no sources, no in-text citations, and no expert advice" blog post. Proceed with caution You have been warned.
From my own personal experience, I believe that I have learned a lot about the power of positivity in life. I've always been a perpetual optimist, and over the years, my optimism has morphed from a juvenile refusal to acknowledge evil in the world to a more mature (but probably still stupid) belief that despite the evil in the world, there are still so many reasons to be happy and hopeful. This semester, however, has stretched my optimism to the limit.
It's easy to be optimistic about the futures of gas prices when you don't have a car or a license. It's easy to tell a friend to cheer up when you don't have to deal with what she's going through. Basically, it's easy to be optimistic when you are detached from a situation. But when your challenges get upfront and personal, that's when things get difficult. Suddenly, your optimism and happiness becomes a daily fight instead of a reflex. Doubt, despair, and just plain complaints threaten to overtake all of your bright hopes and dreams. This is when positive thinking gets hard, but this is also when it gets important.
When life gets hard, I've found that I need optimism in my life. Often, my challenges are unchangeable. I can't get rid of term papers, I can't force people to do what I want them to do, and I can't make the Cannon Center serve Mahi Mahi tacos on days when I'm not working. The more I complain about these types of things, the more miserable I get. As President Holland says,
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."
Even though we all know this in our heads, the application of said knowledge isn't always smooth sailing. For example, sometimes, I justify negative thinking by saying that it's pushing me to achieve more, that somehow by thinking "gosh Kai, you're a disaster" I'll become better. The opposite is actually true. Negative thinking is discouraging: it robs me of my motivation and effectiveness. Although it seems obvious, we so often forget that there is nothing positive about negative thinking.
Now that doesn't mean you can't have bad days. That's stupid. Everyone has bad days, bad weeks, and bad months. And sometimes complaining to someone about our problems can actually help cleanse negativity out of our systems. But letting negative thoughts stick around in our brains can only amount to heaps of discouragement, distress, and depression.
So today, start small. Counter your fears with some faith, replace your discouragement with determination. Your circumstances won't change, but your life will.
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