:: Friday, September 29, 2006 ::

"I'm a hundred kinds of crazy..." (John Mayer)

More conversations with first grade ESL students, yahoo!

Me: "Who can think of a word that begins with the letter 'A'?"
Class: "Aporn!" (Apron) "Ant-horn!" (Author) "Afweel!" (Not sure... maybe Waffle?) "Elephant!" "Crocodillo!" (My favorite) "Ate!" "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher! Teacher! I am going to tell you somefing! I know a number, and it's eight!"

And my personal favorite:
Me: "We missed you at our last class, Simeon. Where were you?"
Silas: "At home. I had the throwing-ups."

These kids make me smile.

Labels: Pedagogy

:: Bethany Bassett - 7:20 PM :: + ::

"I want to turn the whole thing upside-down..." (Jack Johnson)

Brief synopsis of 1st grade ESL class yesterday:

Me (reading): "Would you rather be a bullfrog or a butterfly?"
Class: "Billflog!" "Bluffry!"
Me: "All right, let's try saying, 'I would rather be a bullfrog.'"
Class: "I a word rabbit to be a burflog."
Me: "Let's try again. 'I would.'"
Class: "I wourld."
Me: "Rather."
Class: "Rabbit."
Me: "Be a bullfrog."
Class: "To be a blifrog."
Me: "Now all together. 'I would rather be a bullfrog.'"
Class: "I... blog."

Ah, the joys of teaching.

Labels: Pedagogy

:: Bethany Bassett - 10:36 AM :: + ::

"It's all about the Pentiums, baby!" (Weird Al Yankovic)

Why does this remind me of my husband?

Labels: Christmas Newsletter

:: Bethany Bassett - 5:48 PM :: + ::

"Chord shapes in air, press that dissonance if you dare..." (Frou Frou)

Changes are whirling in faster than time now, and I'm beginning to realize just how rusty I've become.

1) We're 99% definitely moving to Italy in January. ::Cheer/hyperventilate::

2) I start a new job on Monday (what ironic timing) in which I will be teaching six elementary, middle school, and high school classes without curriculums. Oh, and this is in addition to my four one-on-one students, the book I'm editing, and the weekly newsletters I put together. ::Hyperventilate/hyperventilate::

3) As a result of aforementioned job insanity, Natalie starts daycare on Monday. I know she will have fun and get much better attention than I could give her now, but I feel a little like someone's raking over my heart. If part of being a good mother is giving my daughter independence, why do I feel like a terrible mother?

It's 2:05 a.m., and I'm hoping sanity is just around the corner...

Labels: Christmas Newsletter

:: Bethany Bassett - 1:05 AM :: + ::