Let the Fun Begin

Soon, I will be bombarded with 54 paragraphs written by high school freshmen answering one of the following questions.

1) Do you believe in true love at first sight?

2) Can a person who is 14 or 15 years old know for sure whom he or she is supposed to spend the rest of his or her life with?

I happen to be teaching a passel of highly opinionated adolescents. The grading of these paragraphs should in no way be uninteresting.

Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Please.

If you or someone you know is struggling, ask for help.

Please.

1.800.SUICIDE

http://www.hopeline.com/

Neglect

ne·glect

to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight

I've been neglecting my blog.

I'm sorry for that.

I'll be back soon; I think I will, anyway.

I hope I will.

I know I will.

I know I'll be back when I can breathe again.

In order to breath again, I need to:

--Clean my room

--Respond to Mama's emails

--Deposit pay checks

Yes, once I do those things, surely I'll be able to breathe again.

Once I've done those things, those simple things, surely I can start the bigger tasks at hand and successfully complete them, breathing all the while.

Hopefully.

"he infested the societal with footpads"

Spring Break has come and gone, once again.

My last spring break of my undergraduate career was spent doing nothing more than checking (someofthe) items off my to do list, hanging out with friends and family, and making lesson plans. Sounds boring, huh? I thought you might think so.

In all actuality, I enjoyed my time off from school. While I'm certain that my break could have been a little more exciting, I was quite pleased to fulfill the necessary duties of the week and enjoy myself.

Now, I know you've got to be wondering about the title of this post...

"he infested the societal with footpads"? What could that mean?

Your question matches mine exactly!

My freshmen are finishing up writing their research papers, and this peculiar sentence showed up in a paper from one of my English language learners. This particular student works quite hard and is such a joy to be around and to work with. When he showed me his sentence he said, "you know what I'm meaning, right?"

It nearly killed me to crush his dream of writing a clever sentence to perfection, but it also took every ounce of energy I had not to laugh uncontrollably. Most of the time, when he says or writes something that's incorrect, I can translate his not-so-great English and figure out what he means. When I read, "he infested the societal with footpads," however, I was at a complete loss.

It turns out, his translator was leading him astray because he was choosing words from the translator " that sounded like the bester option. You know, Ms. Maris, it is cool words."

I have to admire this kid. He's in a school, in a culture, that relies solely on English, but he isn't fluent. Me, I'd probably give up. This kid, he's sticking it out for the long haul.

In case you're still curious, he was trying to say that one of the jobs of knights was to keep thieves out of the communities. So close, yet so far, huh?

:)

RoomOne: LessonOne

My first lesson was fun; it was glorious.

I taught on block day, so class was an hour-and-a-half long. I don't know if you remember being 14, but that's a long time for any high school freshmen to sit still. So, I divided class into two sections. For the first 45 minutes or so we talked about how to write introductions and conclusions. This was to prepare them for writing their research papers. After we finished the lesson, they all began writing their introductions.

It was a beautiful class period. Mrs. S and I tag teamed it and helped students as questions arose. In case you're wondering, many questions arose. The classroom was a constant chorus of "Miss Maris, Mrs. S, Miss Maris, Mrs. S." It was a beautiful chorus.

The thing I remember most about the two times I gave this lesson was the great amount of joy and satisfaction I received when the students applied the knowledge I had just given them to their work. Those special moments when their eyes would light up with the great realization that they had gotten it.

I knew then that my suspicions were correct. I was, indeed, supposed to be a teacher.

The more time I spend in RoomOne, the more clear it all becomes. The task laid before me may be a difficult one, but I intend to be the best teacher I can be, and I'm super excited about that! :)

My prayer for all of you is that you find something to do in your lives that gives you the joy and satisfaction that I find in teaching.