My issue with my advisor... though at least this professor responds... and I am not quite as wimpy!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Part of the Forest that was Left Out by Mistake
That's where I've stumbled, I think. In a weird space that may or may not exist, and a place from which I may or may not be able to remove myself. Don't be fooled... I think I really just want to complain again. Do you know that I get tired of hearing myself, even just hearing myself in my head? I certainly get tired of hearing others. Can I tell you again how LOUD one of my partner teachers is? LOUD. I love her, but I was raised to be quiet. Everything about her is loud. Her voice, her walk, her sneezes (you would NOT believe how loud she sneezes, and then screams "excuse me," so that in a room of 40 people everyone turns to stare), everything. But maybe it pays to be loud. I get so annoyed when I try to participate in a conversation and people don't hear me. Most people just don't listen I guess, especially loud people, and especially not to quiet people who try to be polite. Or maybe it's just the classic, stereotypical difference between north and south. She's a loud Yankee and I'm a softspoken Southern girl. Maybe. Only I've never thought of myself that way before. And come to think of it, some Southern girls are pretty loud too. Maybe it's just a different kind of loud. Here it's an in-your-face sort of loudness that I really have trouble with sometimes.
My students have been my saving grace this week, cash cows or not. They are super-nice, and they responded well to my criticism about their writing. I think they are realizing that once they start school they won't have such a nice and helpful aid. Most of my group seem to really want to improve, and I think I didn't realize how much they didn't know when they started. I need to help them learn (of course that's what I've been trying to do for 5.5 weeks). Some students take longer than others and others don't care. That's just the way of the world. Most of mine care, though, at least a little. I think the scary director will be visiting my class soon. I was annoyed because she already went to my partner's classes, and she didn't go to mine because my room is also in a part of the forest that was left out by mistake. (Remember when I couldn't even get in on the first day of class?) Even the director couldn't find us. Unfortunately, she asked me how to get there and I decided to be honest. So I guess maybe now she'll come? Ugh. She always comes at the absolute worst moment.
The rest of my issues are about my stress about fall, my relationship and my life in general. To be specific, that is. I am not very happy to be where I am 5.5 weeks into the summer. I know I should just try to make the most of the next 2.5 weeks, but that's hard. I had expectations for the summer that have not and will not be met, across the board of issues. Of course we all know that I had ambitious (aka unrealistic) expectations, though I did not think they were unrealistic on all fronts. I suppose I should have predicted all this, and if I look back at posts from May, in a way I did. Sort of like a chronicle of a death foretold, if you will.
I am tired. Tired tired, and tired of feeling the way I feel at the moment. I am not happy about what I see when I look ahead to the fall. I am just not happy. To make matters even more complicated, I am not happy to think that I am wasting my time not being happy. LOL. There's a paradox for you. My students spent a long time today talking about paradoxes. I know I just have to get happy.... or decide how to proceed. But we can't be happy all the time, you know, and I think everyone could agree that my life is currently a bit stressful.
So, I know I'll get through. Don't worry. I am not ready to jump off a bridge just yet. Maybe I'll just try to hide in a friendly part of the forest that's been left out (by mistake?). Just let me find a friendly part.
You'll at least make me smile if you can name the inspiration for this post.
My students have been my saving grace this week, cash cows or not. They are super-nice, and they responded well to my criticism about their writing. I think they are realizing that once they start school they won't have such a nice and helpful aid. Most of my group seem to really want to improve, and I think I didn't realize how much they didn't know when they started. I need to help them learn (of course that's what I've been trying to do for 5.5 weeks). Some students take longer than others and others don't care. That's just the way of the world. Most of mine care, though, at least a little. I think the scary director will be visiting my class soon. I was annoyed because she already went to my partner's classes, and she didn't go to mine because my room is also in a part of the forest that was left out by mistake. (Remember when I couldn't even get in on the first day of class?) Even the director couldn't find us. Unfortunately, she asked me how to get there and I decided to be honest. So I guess maybe now she'll come? Ugh. She always comes at the absolute worst moment.
The rest of my issues are about my stress about fall, my relationship and my life in general. To be specific, that is. I am not very happy to be where I am 5.5 weeks into the summer. I know I should just try to make the most of the next 2.5 weeks, but that's hard. I had expectations for the summer that have not and will not be met, across the board of issues. Of course we all know that I had ambitious (aka unrealistic) expectations, though I did not think they were unrealistic on all fronts. I suppose I should have predicted all this, and if I look back at posts from May, in a way I did. Sort of like a chronicle of a death foretold, if you will.
I am tired. Tired tired, and tired of feeling the way I feel at the moment. I am not happy about what I see when I look ahead to the fall. I am just not happy. To make matters even more complicated, I am not happy to think that I am wasting my time not being happy. LOL. There's a paradox for you. My students spent a long time today talking about paradoxes. I know I just have to get happy.... or decide how to proceed. But we can't be happy all the time, you know, and I think everyone could agree that my life is currently a bit stressful.
So, I know I'll get through. Don't worry. I am not ready to jump off a bridge just yet. Maybe I'll just try to hide in a friendly part of the forest that's been left out (by mistake?). Just let me find a friendly part.
You'll at least make me smile if you can name the inspiration for this post.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Grumpy butt
Yep, that's me. Grumpy and whiney and cynical and in other ways feeling pretty unpleasant, which makes TMH's sort-of term of endearment particularly appropriate today.
Just what you were looking for, right? Complaints from PMP. Oh well. Sometimes it can't be helped. Look at me using passive voice. If I were teaching myself I would say "who can't help it?" Oh, ok, ok, sometimes I can't help it. How hard is it to just decide to be in a good mood, and be in a good mood? Well, sometimes it's hard.
I actually wrote the title of this post many hours ago. I have spent all afternoon working, on my teacher work and my student work, and I feel a little better than I did when I started. Except that I have been working ALL DAY LONG and have so much more to do. Why am I grumpy, though?
1. My students' papers are frustrating. Some don't make any sense still, after five weeks. Ugh. Some are just annoying because they are careless and lazy. Use spell check, or I won't read your paper. Really. Some don't listen or know how to follow directions. No, you can't just choose any random topic and go on at length about it without following any specific format. You just can't. ARGH. I just wrote out the guidelines of the assignment for my own benefit; don't bother to read them. My students are supposed to be ADVANCED, as they are soon to become full-fledged students in a very prestigious program. They will probably all graduate and make way more money than I do and wonder why I got so worked up about how to write a proper introduction to an academic essay. What I am teaching them probably won't matter at all. They'll get through, regardless. Why? Because they're cash cows for the university. I hate to say it, but it's true. Just let them come and let them pay and let them slide through without mastering basic skills that "good" students learned in high school. Why not? Who cares? I am one of a small handfull, I think. Of course, some students do care and they do learn a lot and they are eternally grateful. Some. I met up with a few of my former students the other night, and was saddened to see that one of them was WAY worse at communicating in English than he was last year. After a year here in the U.S., he is worse than he was at the end of an 8-week summer program. How is that possible? (And he's talking to ME, mind you. At this point I can understand almost anything that even barely approaches something like English). He spoke Korean all year. His company is sponsoring him (hello, cash cow... completely free money for the university) and he has to go back to Korea when he's done. He seems to have no incentive to improve, and apparently his incomprehensibility has had no effect on his grades, and he has not been asked to do anything about it. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. WTF? At least you can see I am getting some good fuel for my research.
2. I am currently tired of my role as a peacemaker. I do it in almost every aspect of my life. With friends, with family, with partner teachers and coworkers, with TMH. Don't let anyone ELSE get mad. Don't worry, PMP won't mind. PMP doesn't mind anything. Nope, I don't mind at all. I'm soooooooooooooo accomodating. Don't push me too far, though, or it'll be no more Ms. Nice PMP, which will be unpleasant for everyone. The trouble is, that would be super unpleasant for ME, too. So you see, I can't win.
That's enough of my grumpy butt. I am clearly just feeling unappreciated on all fronts. I'll try to turn it around. I am happy that I am getting fired up about my research. I am happy that I finally got approval to do it! Official, honest-to-goodness approval with a real certicate and everything, from this university and my home university. It's looking like it's going to be a comparative study. At least I care about it. It's not a good idea to start a project that you're not passionate about... so I have that part covered.
In terms of issue #2 I don't know what to say. I don't want to worry about it right now. Someone has to be the one that gets along. As my partner teacher said on Friday, "we couldn't all be like me." Um, no, that wouldn't work. It's just frustrating that I am always the one who has to get along. I guess that's why I am such an asset, right? It's a GOOD thing about me. Just an under-appreciated thing.
I know a lot of my grumpiness is also related to my general stress level about life and the uncertainty that lies ahead. I have A LOT of uncertainty ahead, and times of change, and stress and such things just lurking around the corner called summer school. And I'll just have to deal with it. And I will. And it will all be fine, one way or another, though for sure it is going to be painful at times. I know it will. Ugh. And it will be a popular topic on this blog for many months to come, I fear. I apologize in advance.
For now, let me pat myself on the back for getting research approval, and for being a good teacher, a good listener, and someone who cares. And for getting through five weeks of summer school! Time to put away the computer and try to enjoy my Sunday evening (the Sox better do better tonight. Really!)
Just what you were looking for, right? Complaints from PMP. Oh well. Sometimes it can't be helped. Look at me using passive voice. If I were teaching myself I would say "who can't help it?" Oh, ok, ok, sometimes I can't help it. How hard is it to just decide to be in a good mood, and be in a good mood? Well, sometimes it's hard.
I actually wrote the title of this post many hours ago. I have spent all afternoon working, on my teacher work and my student work, and I feel a little better than I did when I started. Except that I have been working ALL DAY LONG and have so much more to do. Why am I grumpy, though?
1. My students' papers are frustrating. Some don't make any sense still, after five weeks. Ugh. Some are just annoying because they are careless and lazy. Use spell check, or I won't read your paper. Really. Some don't listen or know how to follow directions. No, you can't just choose any random topic and go on at length about it without following any specific format. You just can't. ARGH. I just wrote out the guidelines of the assignment for my own benefit; don't bother to read them. My students are supposed to be ADVANCED, as they are soon to become full-fledged students in a very prestigious program. They will probably all graduate and make way more money than I do and wonder why I got so worked up about how to write a proper introduction to an academic essay. What I am teaching them probably won't matter at all. They'll get through, regardless. Why? Because they're cash cows for the university. I hate to say it, but it's true. Just let them come and let them pay and let them slide through without mastering basic skills that "good" students learned in high school. Why not? Who cares? I am one of a small handfull, I think. Of course, some students do care and they do learn a lot and they are eternally grateful. Some. I met up with a few of my former students the other night, and was saddened to see that one of them was WAY worse at communicating in English than he was last year. After a year here in the U.S., he is worse than he was at the end of an 8-week summer program. How is that possible? (And he's talking to ME, mind you. At this point I can understand almost anything that even barely approaches something like English). He spoke Korean all year. His company is sponsoring him (hello, cash cow... completely free money for the university) and he has to go back to Korea when he's done. He seems to have no incentive to improve, and apparently his incomprehensibility has had no effect on his grades, and he has not been asked to do anything about it. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. WTF? At least you can see I am getting some good fuel for my research.
2. I am currently tired of my role as a peacemaker. I do it in almost every aspect of my life. With friends, with family, with partner teachers and coworkers, with TMH. Don't let anyone ELSE get mad. Don't worry, PMP won't mind. PMP doesn't mind anything. Nope, I don't mind at all. I'm soooooooooooooo accomodating. Don't push me too far, though, or it'll be no more Ms. Nice PMP, which will be unpleasant for everyone. The trouble is, that would be super unpleasant for ME, too. So you see, I can't win.
That's enough of my grumpy butt. I am clearly just feeling unappreciated on all fronts. I'll try to turn it around. I am happy that I am getting fired up about my research. I am happy that I finally got approval to do it! Official, honest-to-goodness approval with a real certicate and everything, from this university and my home university. It's looking like it's going to be a comparative study. At least I care about it. It's not a good idea to start a project that you're not passionate about... so I have that part covered.
In terms of issue #2 I don't know what to say. I don't want to worry about it right now. Someone has to be the one that gets along. As my partner teacher said on Friday, "we couldn't all be like me." Um, no, that wouldn't work. It's just frustrating that I am always the one who has to get along. I guess that's why I am such an asset, right? It's a GOOD thing about me. Just an under-appreciated thing.
I know a lot of my grumpiness is also related to my general stress level about life and the uncertainty that lies ahead. I have A LOT of uncertainty ahead, and times of change, and stress and such things just lurking around the corner called summer school. And I'll just have to deal with it. And I will. And it will all be fine, one way or another, though for sure it is going to be painful at times. I know it will. Ugh. And it will be a popular topic on this blog for many months to come, I fear. I apologize in advance.
For now, let me pat myself on the back for getting research approval, and for being a good teacher, a good listener, and someone who cares. And for getting through five weeks of summer school! Time to put away the computer and try to enjoy my Sunday evening (the Sox better do better tonight. Really!)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Bubble
I know it's been a while. I'm still alive, just alternately busy and exhausted. It's hard to believe that summer school is at midterm already! 4 weeks down, and 4 to go. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. In a way it's nice to be making progress. On the other hand, that means there's only one month left of summer! One month until I have to really start thinking about exams. One month until I have to go back to my "real" life and the bubble world of summer bursts. I know that no matter what I do I will freak out in the fall: there is just too much uncertainty headed my way. What will happen in the spring? Will I finish and pass my exams? What about funding? What about moving? Why don't I have official permission to do my research, YET? All of these questions are looming in the back of my mind as my days are overwhelmed by the minutiae of summer school. I know it's minutiae, but it's still my life right now. A little bubble of my life.
TMH said something about his pillows last night, and it totally put my over the edge. Why? He's right, they are his pillows. They aren't mine. I can live here for 8 weeks and sleep on the pillows, and wash the sheets, and clean the apartment, but they're still his pillows. It's like when I was little, I could stay with my dad for three months and live in a room, but it wasn't my room. OK. Why does it bother me so much? I am not sure. I just wonder why he has to say they are his pillows. Couldn't he use a more neutral modifier? The pillows, for example?
So you see I'm in a bit of a spot at the moment. But I need to enjoy the rest of my bubble life. It's the rest of summer, after all. And mostly, life is good. The big unanswerable questions will have their time. Soon enough I'll be back to all my stuff. My pillows. My cat. My apartment. My own personal anxiety. And then I'll wonder when I can get back here, and when and how my stuff and his stuff might become ours. For now, I just have to keep trying to move forward and try not to be too affected by the transient nature of my life.
TMH said something about his pillows last night, and it totally put my over the edge. Why? He's right, they are his pillows. They aren't mine. I can live here for 8 weeks and sleep on the pillows, and wash the sheets, and clean the apartment, but they're still his pillows. It's like when I was little, I could stay with my dad for three months and live in a room, but it wasn't my room. OK. Why does it bother me so much? I am not sure. I just wonder why he has to say they are his pillows. Couldn't he use a more neutral modifier? The pillows, for example?
So you see I'm in a bit of a spot at the moment. But I need to enjoy the rest of my bubble life. It's the rest of summer, after all. And mostly, life is good. The big unanswerable questions will have their time. Soon enough I'll be back to all my stuff. My pillows. My cat. My apartment. My own personal anxiety. And then I'll wonder when I can get back here, and when and how my stuff and his stuff might become ours. For now, I just have to keep trying to move forward and try not to be too affected by the transient nature of my life.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Cool it down
Yep, I'm in an 80s mood again.
This post is devoted to all things cool and not so cool in my life at the moment. Firstly, I have a cold. I was going to write "cool or cold?" to lead in to my commentary on teaching ESL. It's fun, but challenging. In fact, it has given me a cold. It gave me a cold. F@*%, I don't know. Technically it has given me a cold because the action continues into the present, but it gave me a cold at a specific moment in time on Monday. So, both, really. I have a great class, I forgot how much work this job was, and I have a great class. They are making my English worse. Can you tell? Their papers are making me crazy. Don't tell anyone that I am an ESL teacher without the best grasp of all the intricacies of English grammar. I am much better at it in Spanish (Non-native speaking language teachers do have that advantage. We don't learn grammar as well because it is supposed to just come naturally), and of course I have fewer weaknesses with regard to pronunciation teaching. But when you get into a heated debate over the use of the comma, the colon, and the semi-colon (Not column, as my students are want to say. That final -n and -m are tricky, you know. Pronunciation is way more fun. Sigh) I get a headache. I try so hard to get them to focus on the big picture (like how you can't just keep adding commas and lengthening the sentence, and letting paragraphs go on and on and on and on and ON. I know you shouldn't keep adding in parentheses, either, but humor me. You would be SHOCKED to see how bad some of their papers are. They are going to be grad students at one of the best schools in the country, so they tell me all the time, and they can't write, period. As you see, I digress), and on the way the language is used, but so many of them get caught up in the minute details. I know, I know, it's a personality thing, but if nothing you are trying to say makes sense, who cares about the colon?? In any case, I've nearly lost my voice, I have stacks of papers to grade, and lots to prepare, but at least I have more or less a happy group.
You have to see the funniest sentence from one of my student's papers. I pulled it out in an exercise to work on punctuation (with a bunch of other students' sentences). To put it in context, he was trying to talk about similarities and differences, and the importance of language.
For example, a few days ago I bought a bed and in the shop they asked me if I was looking for a twin bed, the word twin can have different meanings depending on the sentence that it is, it can also be a twin, a baby born in the same day of the same mother or the twin primes related to numbers.
The class died laughing trying to work on this and others. It was too funny, but at least they see how ridiculous they are.
Tomorrow we get to show this video in class, which is super cool:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
I absolutely love it. My boss sent it around and said we had to make our students watch it. In this case I am happy to do as she asks. Our Friday lecture topic is human rights, so we are supposed to make some connections. I think the students will really like it.
I am also cool because TMH and I have an air conditioner now! We are way cooler than we would normally be. If you kept track of what I was doing last summer, you know how happy I am not to be miserably hot right now.
I am even cooler because I went with all the rich kids to the shore last weekend. I have a feeling the trip contributed to my cold, but that's OK. I mostly had a good time, and despite some awkward moments of me questioning my entire future, it turned out fine. I have to remind myself that I need some of my own time sometimes, I have a lot going on, I'm tired, and it's OK to take a break and some time for myself. It's also OK not to like people, and to be turned off by certain behaviors and lifestyles (I just can't chime in on a discussion of housekeepers at the moment. I really just can't. And I don't really want to look at your disgustingly HUGE diamond ring. Really). Why do I care so much? I don't know. I just do. I don't have to justify it. Everyone is entitled to her own opinion, including me. I just have to remember to be true to myself and try not to worry about what others think of me. They don't care what I think, so I don't care what they think. Easy peasy, right? Of course such issues are made more challenging because of their connection with TMH, and what he thinks, but I think he and I have come to an understanding, which is the most important part. He and I see these types of situations differently, but in terms of our general worldview, we are on the same page. Whew.
Did I use the comma correctly there? Sigh again. And smile.
One thing that's not so cool: I still don't have formal approval to do my research, and it's almost the middle of July. I thought getting the letter from the dean was the major hurdle, but it's getting caught up at the end of the process. It's about me talking to secretaries here, there and everywhere to help them all get on the same page. I am still working on it, though I have to say I am getting a little nervous about time, and summer running out. All I can do is keep working on it, though. So that's what I'm doing.... in all the extra time that I have.
Oh, yeah, that's the last thing. I don't know what I was thinking in my last post when I said that I have time. I don't really. I will say that I feel mostly productive, useful, and happy right now, though. That's about all anyone can ask, isn't it?
This post is devoted to all things cool and not so cool in my life at the moment. Firstly, I have a cold. I was going to write "cool or cold?" to lead in to my commentary on teaching ESL. It's fun, but challenging. In fact, it has given me a cold. It gave me a cold. F@*%, I don't know. Technically it has given me a cold because the action continues into the present, but it gave me a cold at a specific moment in time on Monday. So, both, really. I have a great class, I forgot how much work this job was, and I have a great class. They are making my English worse. Can you tell? Their papers are making me crazy. Don't tell anyone that I am an ESL teacher without the best grasp of all the intricacies of English grammar. I am much better at it in Spanish (Non-native speaking language teachers do have that advantage. We don't learn grammar as well because it is supposed to just come naturally), and of course I have fewer weaknesses with regard to pronunciation teaching. But when you get into a heated debate over the use of the comma, the colon, and the semi-colon (Not column, as my students are want to say. That final -n and -m are tricky, you know. Pronunciation is way more fun. Sigh) I get a headache. I try so hard to get them to focus on the big picture (like how you can't just keep adding commas and lengthening the sentence, and letting paragraphs go on and on and on and on and ON. I know you shouldn't keep adding in parentheses, either, but humor me. You would be SHOCKED to see how bad some of their papers are. They are going to be grad students at one of the best schools in the country, so they tell me all the time, and they can't write, period. As you see, I digress), and on the way the language is used, but so many of them get caught up in the minute details. I know, I know, it's a personality thing, but if nothing you are trying to say makes sense, who cares about the colon?? In any case, I've nearly lost my voice, I have stacks of papers to grade, and lots to prepare, but at least I have more or less a happy group.
You have to see the funniest sentence from one of my student's papers. I pulled it out in an exercise to work on punctuation (with a bunch of other students' sentences). To put it in context, he was trying to talk about similarities and differences, and the importance of language.
For example, a few days ago I bought a bed and in the shop they asked me if I was looking for a twin bed, the word twin can have different meanings depending on the sentence that it is, it can also be a twin, a baby born in the same day of the same mother or the twin primes related to numbers.
The class died laughing trying to work on this and others. It was too funny, but at least they see how ridiculous they are.
Tomorrow we get to show this video in class, which is super cool:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
I absolutely love it. My boss sent it around and said we had to make our students watch it. In this case I am happy to do as she asks. Our Friday lecture topic is human rights, so we are supposed to make some connections. I think the students will really like it.
I am also cool because TMH and I have an air conditioner now! We are way cooler than we would normally be. If you kept track of what I was doing last summer, you know how happy I am not to be miserably hot right now.
I am even cooler because I went with all the rich kids to the shore last weekend. I have a feeling the trip contributed to my cold, but that's OK. I mostly had a good time, and despite some awkward moments of me questioning my entire future, it turned out fine. I have to remind myself that I need some of my own time sometimes, I have a lot going on, I'm tired, and it's OK to take a break and some time for myself. It's also OK not to like people, and to be turned off by certain behaviors and lifestyles (I just can't chime in on a discussion of housekeepers at the moment. I really just can't. And I don't really want to look at your disgustingly HUGE diamond ring. Really). Why do I care so much? I don't know. I just do. I don't have to justify it. Everyone is entitled to her own opinion, including me. I just have to remember to be true to myself and try not to worry about what others think of me. They don't care what I think, so I don't care what they think. Easy peasy, right? Of course such issues are made more challenging because of their connection with TMH, and what he thinks, but I think he and I have come to an understanding, which is the most important part. He and I see these types of situations differently, but in terms of our general worldview, we are on the same page. Whew.
Did I use the comma correctly there? Sigh again. And smile.
One thing that's not so cool: I still don't have formal approval to do my research, and it's almost the middle of July. I thought getting the letter from the dean was the major hurdle, but it's getting caught up at the end of the process. It's about me talking to secretaries here, there and everywhere to help them all get on the same page. I am still working on it, though I have to say I am getting a little nervous about time, and summer running out. All I can do is keep working on it, though. So that's what I'm doing.... in all the extra time that I have.
Oh, yeah, that's the last thing. I don't know what I was thinking in my last post when I said that I have time. I don't really. I will say that I feel mostly productive, useful, and happy right now, though. That's about all anyone can ask, isn't it?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Get into the groove...
I'm doing it. I'm getting into the groove.
Part of my groove is still getting up at 6:00 a.m., which is amazing for me, a long-time lover of sleep. What can I say? Summer school makes you an early bird. I love how long the day is after that. The only problem is that the night is really short.
I'm also getting into the groove of teaching. I have some really great students this summer. They are so smart and creative, and laid back, and fun. There is still time for some problem children to surface, but I think I am mostly in the clear for nightmare students (You may remember the thorn in my side last summer. Knock on wood, though. I don't want to jinx myself). So far, so good. I am no longer running around like a crazy person, much of the pandemonium has subsided, and though I am still quite busy, I have a little time to think about my research, my life in general, and of course, to hang out with TMH. Yay for time.
I am loving that on Tuesdays I don't really have to teach, I just get to sit in on the classes and lectures the students attend, monitor their English, and give them feedback. It's nice, I have to say. I am learning at the same time that they are, which is really a great model. Tomorrow I will be back to more responsibility, but I can tell that Tuesdays will provide a nice respite. I am also loving that we have Friday off!
Oh, the party! TMH and I had such a nice time at his parents' anniversary party. We were successful at keeping it a surprise- they were really shocked! It turned out so well. The food was great, people had a good time, and everyone praised TMH and his siblings for their effort. I was happy to be a part of it. Another big highlight was meeting TMH's niece. She is such a cute, happy, social baby. I had a lot of fun hanging out with her. It looks like his sister will be moving back to the East coast so I hope that means we'll get to see more of them.
I better get back to work. I just wanted to share my current groove; it's nice to be feeling so optimistic. I'll try to keep it going...
Part of my groove is still getting up at 6:00 a.m., which is amazing for me, a long-time lover of sleep. What can I say? Summer school makes you an early bird. I love how long the day is after that. The only problem is that the night is really short.
I'm also getting into the groove of teaching. I have some really great students this summer. They are so smart and creative, and laid back, and fun. There is still time for some problem children to surface, but I think I am mostly in the clear for nightmare students (You may remember the thorn in my side last summer. Knock on wood, though. I don't want to jinx myself). So far, so good. I am no longer running around like a crazy person, much of the pandemonium has subsided, and though I am still quite busy, I have a little time to think about my research, my life in general, and of course, to hang out with TMH. Yay for time.
I am loving that on Tuesdays I don't really have to teach, I just get to sit in on the classes and lectures the students attend, monitor their English, and give them feedback. It's nice, I have to say. I am learning at the same time that they are, which is really a great model. Tomorrow I will be back to more responsibility, but I can tell that Tuesdays will provide a nice respite. I am also loving that we have Friday off!
Oh, the party! TMH and I had such a nice time at his parents' anniversary party. We were successful at keeping it a surprise- they were really shocked! It turned out so well. The food was great, people had a good time, and everyone praised TMH and his siblings for their effort. I was happy to be a part of it. Another big highlight was meeting TMH's niece. She is such a cute, happy, social baby. I had a lot of fun hanging out with her. It looks like his sister will be moving back to the East coast so I hope that means we'll get to see more of them.
I better get back to work. I just wanted to share my current groove; it's nice to be feeling so optimistic. I'll try to keep it going...
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