Teacher Terms

I realized the other day when Jolie commented, that I do throw around a lot of educational terms and lingo on this blog. And when she said it was unfamiliar (but also fascinating...thanks!), I realized that even teachers outside of California might not know what I'm talking about, much less you non-education people. So, here's a glossary of terms I talk about most.

Salary Point: Basically I can get a raise when I take continuing education classes. Most of them are college classes where one unit=one point. But there are other classes through the district or other places that are not measured by units. Those are worth salary points as well. In LA you max out on units at 96, and you have ten years to get to the top of the salary table. Raises are given in increments of 14 points.

National Boards: This is something across the whole US for teachers. It's completely optional, but many districts do give a raise if you certify. LAUSD gives 7.5% automatically and another 7.5% if you complete hours mentoring other teachers, providing PD, etc. The process involves four portfolios (2 of which involve videotaping your lessons) and six assessments. Only 40% of people pass the first try. You have three years during which they bank you scores so you can keep trying. I'm in year three. Also, you are credentialed in any state in the US. It's a really reflective process, and as frustrating as it is not to pass the first (or second) time, I've really learned a lot from the process.

Furlough Days: California has no money. Therefore my giant school district (2nd biggest in the nation) also has no money. Basically, furlough days are a pay cut. We get extra days off throughout the year (eight of them), but don't get paid for those days off. They space out the pay cut throughout the year even when the days are clustered in one month (like the three days of Thanksgiving week). I have a love/hate with furlough days.

Stipends: Stipends are a semesterly token amount teachers may be given for various above and beyond type tasks. I get a stipend for being the yearbook adviser. It's taxed as a bonus, which means I lose about half of it.

Coverage: As a middle school teacher I get a conference period everyday. When for whatever reason another teacher needs a sub for just a few periods, they ask one of us to cover during our conference. We get an hourly rate for doing this, which works out to over $40 a pop for me. And since my conference is at the end of the day I get asked more than others, which is nice.

Any other edu-speak I use that people don't know? :)

Class This Week

I may or may not have mentioned that I took at class this week, my last week of vacation. It met everyday this week, earning me two salary points and it was FREE. It was a technology class and it was pretty awesome. One new resource was weebly.com, where you can make free webpages that look awesome! I thought I would share mine and encourage my teacher readers to check this out. I'm really excited about my page. Check out the podcast/video tab to see what else I made this week. :) Enjoy!

Kerri's Cottage Cheese Dip

I got this recipe from my roommate, and I LOVE it. It's actually a pretty healthy dip. I serve it with tortilla chips. I took a picture, but it does not accurately represent it's deliciousness, so you're just going to have to trust me on this one. Make it. I brought it to my book swap last night (pictures to follow) and it was a hit.

Ingredients:
1 large container of low-fat cottage cheese
3 chopped roma tomatoes
2 bunches green onion, chopped
1 medium can of whole green chiles (but then chop them yourself. The diced ones are too juicy and small.)
pepper, to taste
garlic salt, to taste

Combine everything. It's a really easy recipe. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to get more flavorful and then dig in. It's addicting, and it's the healthiest dip I know how to make.

Change to my 2011 Goals...

Yes, already. An anonymous commenter made a suggestion that I track the amount I spend on gas for the year rather than miles. City driving uses more gas, but a long trip can be a worthwhile experience and gets better mileage since it's highway miles. I like that idea.

Also, I forgot to check my mileage on the 1st, so I'm already off. Whoops.

So, I am going to make a goal to spend no more than $1300 on gas this year. And I'll track it on my sidebar. Over and out!

Cilantro Chicken Pasta Recipe

I got this recipe from The Frugal Girl's blog. She's somewhat of a domestic goddess, so I haven't tried too many of her recipes. This is an easy one, so I tried it. She adjusted the recipe, and then I adjusted it further. :) I just finished having it for dinner and it was great! It makes a ton as well, so there is plenty of leftovers.

Cilantro Chicken Pasta Salad

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (I used way more...like half a bunch. Because I like cilantro)
1 tablespoon chopped thyme (FG used 1 teaspoon dried, I didn't have any, so I left it out)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 tablespoon dry white wine (or a splash of the white wine that was in my fridge)
2 tablespoons white whine vinegar (I used red because it's what I had)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil plus 3 tablespoons (divided use)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

9 ounces dried pasta, such as penne (I used large shells that were sitting in my cupboard)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips (I used a whole red bell pepper)
1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips (Used a whole one of these too)
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped (I skipped this)
5 tomatillos, husked, rinsed, cored, and diced (FG skipped these and added avocado instead...me too!)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I used dried)
8 ounces cooked chicken breast, preferably smoked, diced (I used the last of my Thanksgiving turkey that I had frozen. However, I actually think this would be better as a vegetarian dish.)
1 cup oven dried tomatoes (can sub. sun-dried tomatoes, softened in hot water)
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed (I just threw in the whole 10oz bag)

Combine cilantro, thyme, 1 tablespoon of basil, minced garlic, and shallots in a bowl. Whisk in the wine, both vinegars, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain, and place in large serving bowl. Toss with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and set aside to cool.

When the pasta is cool, add the black beans, vegetables, smoked chicken, and basil. Toss with the vinaigrette and season to taste.

Cover the salad and refrigerate to chill for at least twenty minutes. The longer it's in there the more flavorful it becomes.

Payday This and That

I got paid today, thanks to direct deposit. That's the good news. The not so good news is that I can tell they took at least one furlough day out of that check. Maybe two. I won't know for sure until I get my paystub tomorrow. I sort of hope it's two, because that means that in February I will actually get my whole check. How glorious!

I made my regular car payment today. Ho hum. I'm under $6,000 though, so that's an exciting development.

There is another $100 in my e-fund for now, though I'll be taking out at least $300 to cover my pro-rated rent.  Thank goodness for my emergency fund. For reals.

I'm not getting my hair did this month, in order to save money. I'm due for highlights in the next couple of weeks, but I'm going to push it to the first week of February.

That's all for now, dear readers. I'm having a Book Swap tomorrow night, so look forward to pictures of that frugal fun for all!

2011 Goals

I'm actually a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions...I like lists and goals and feeling accomplished. So, here are my goals for 2011.

1. Pay off my car! Barring any crazy emergencies, this one should happen pretty easily. I. can't. wait.

2. Increase amount I am contributing to my retirement accounts to 10% of my income. I am starting my 403(b) in January at about 5%, so once my car is paid off I want to start increasing the amount I contribute.

3. Increase the amount I pay toward my student loans by $100 per month as soon as my car is paid off. My interest on my student loan is crazy low, so I'm okay letting this take a few more years to get completely paid off. I am thinking about leaving the official payment lower and then just contributing extra toward the balance so that none of the extra is going toward interest.

4. Finish and PASS National Boards. This is my last hurrah, and since I'm only six points away I'm going to make it happen!

5. Get a raise via salary points by the end of this school year. This will result in close to $200 extra per month, which would be awesome and would help me with other financial goals.

6. Start a travel fund so that I can begin to save up for a bigger trip in the next couple of years. Ideas include Europe (Germany, Amsterdam, Austria, Poland) or perhaps the Philippines with a friend from work who goes every summer. I've been on big trips before, but I've always at least in part financed them with my credit card, so I want to change my patterns in that way.

7. Put less than 8,000 miles on my car. I did not make my goal of 100 No Drive Days last year, so I am going to switch to making my goal about the miles I drive rather than full days of not driving. I actually don't know how many miles I put on my car last year, but I know I have 70,000 on my car from the last four and a half years. The first two years of that were when I lived 25 miles from work, so that put TONS of miles on my car. Anyway, I really don't know if 8,000 miles is realistic, but I figure it's a place to start.