Please admire my self-created Halloween nails (made from $1.99 glitter from Michaels)!
Also, I just noticed this is post #1,001 on this blog. Crazy, right?
Monday, October 31, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Irrational Fear #436:
That the sun won't come up one morning.
Thanks to reading this book when I was about seven years old.
Thanks to reading this book when I was about seven years old.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
A little "Awwww" for your Sunday night
“I was born in Venezuela. I moved here two years ago. I want to be President of Venezuela to change things and make better the world. Did you know that sometimes in Venezuela people shoot each other on purpose? I will change that. Also there will be rules against pushing people or thinking bad thoughts about people. I will make a rule so that there will not be too much cutting or killing of trees. And there will be a rule against killing too many animals because animals eat insects, and we can’t have too many insects. I will also make sure that we don’t waste water or food. Or if there is food left over, we have to be sure to put it in the trash. I can’t be president now because I’m only eight. But I did skip first grade.”
Taken from Humans of New York. I just had to copy this exactly because it warmed my heart on a rainy Sunday evening.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Every teacher's worst nightmare
OK, I phrased that title dramatically, but today I experienced a less intense version of every teacher's nightmare - a health emergency during class.
I've been teaching at the USC International Academy for five weeks now, and it's been going pretty well. I'm teaching the master's prep program, which is pretty intense (the students are all conditionally admitted to master's programs at USC, they just need to get their English skills up to snuff by taking this one semester of classes and passing it with a B average), but the students are so motivated and generally so easy to work with, it makes the job pretty enjoyable.
Today, we had a grammar quiz at the beginning of class, and one of the women (girls, really - I'd guess she's in her early 20s) didn't look so good. She took the quiz really fast and then asked if she could go to the restroom. When she came back about 5 minutes later, she literally walked in the door to the classroom and then fainted onto the floor. It was very dramatic! All the students gasped and I immediately ran outside the room to tell someone at the front desk, who then called the campus equivalent of 911. I wouldn't have been that stressed, to be honest, because it didn't seem that serious overall, except that she was pretty unresponsive to anyone talking to her while she lay on the floor. She was breathing, but not communicating at all.
So a tense 5 - 10 minutes passed (I think? It felt like forever.) while we waited on the paramedics to come. They finally arrived and asked everyone to leave the classroom so she could have some privacy, so we all walked awkwardly into an empty classroom, where I wondered if I should try to have the students do work while we waited. I ended up giving them a handout on APA citations to read and work on if they wanted to. Most of them opted to stare into space or go on their phones.
The girl seemed to be OK after a few minutes with the medics - they were able to get her to sit up and respond to questions, and I honestly suspect she just hadn't eaten in a while. So we all filed back into the room (after she had been wheeled out in a wheelchair) and I tried to continue the lesson as usual. It's such a difficult balance, trying to show concern for the student who just left in a wheelchair, and check that everyone else in the class isn't freaking out, AND try to make sure that we don't "waste" class time!
In the end, I think the whole process went OK. We did manage to continue the lesson, and I got a text from the girl's friend later in the day saying that she was doing well. Phew. Thinking it would probably be a good idea to take a CPR class though, just in case.
I've been teaching at the USC International Academy for five weeks now, and it's been going pretty well. I'm teaching the master's prep program, which is pretty intense (the students are all conditionally admitted to master's programs at USC, they just need to get their English skills up to snuff by taking this one semester of classes and passing it with a B average), but the students are so motivated and generally so easy to work with, it makes the job pretty enjoyable.
Today, we had a grammar quiz at the beginning of class, and one of the women (girls, really - I'd guess she's in her early 20s) didn't look so good. She took the quiz really fast and then asked if she could go to the restroom. When she came back about 5 minutes later, she literally walked in the door to the classroom and then fainted onto the floor. It was very dramatic! All the students gasped and I immediately ran outside the room to tell someone at the front desk, who then called the campus equivalent of 911. I wouldn't have been that stressed, to be honest, because it didn't seem that serious overall, except that she was pretty unresponsive to anyone talking to her while she lay on the floor. She was breathing, but not communicating at all.
So a tense 5 - 10 minutes passed (I think? It felt like forever.) while we waited on the paramedics to come. They finally arrived and asked everyone to leave the classroom so she could have some privacy, so we all walked awkwardly into an empty classroom, where I wondered if I should try to have the students do work while we waited. I ended up giving them a handout on APA citations to read and work on if they wanted to. Most of them opted to stare into space or go on their phones.
The girl seemed to be OK after a few minutes with the medics - they were able to get her to sit up and respond to questions, and I honestly suspect she just hadn't eaten in a while. So we all filed back into the room (after she had been wheeled out in a wheelchair) and I tried to continue the lesson as usual. It's such a difficult balance, trying to show concern for the student who just left in a wheelchair, and check that everyone else in the class isn't freaking out, AND try to make sure that we don't "waste" class time!
In the end, I think the whole process went OK. We did manage to continue the lesson, and I got a text from the girl's friend later in the day saying that she was doing well. Phew. Thinking it would probably be a good idea to take a CPR class though, just in case.
Monday, October 03, 2016
Sad but good
I just bought this CD (a real I can play in my car). I love Nick Cave's music no matter what, but this album was created partly as a way of dealing with the unexpected death of his 15-year-old son. When I heard the news about his son, it really hit me in the gut. I almost felt like a friend of mine had lost a child.
I was afraid of buying his album at first because I thought it would be too heart wrenching, but it's okay. It's dark and angry but also melodic and hopeful. Looking forward to many listens on my future commutes.
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