Bangkok, 2:46 pm
Tokyo, 4:46 pm
Chicago, 1:46 am
Last layover in Tokyo, one more flight, and I'm home!
My last few days in Bangkok were good, despite being sick. This is right when I caught a cold last year, boo. So I spent part of Monday in bed. Tuesday I hung out with Kraig, saw his house (MAJOR fixer-upper), met his puppies (OMG CUTE PUPPIES), bought a 250 gig external hard drive for 3,000 baht, and ate pizza with him and Anne. I was kinda sneezy and falling apart by the end of the night, which was no fun.
Wednesday, I stayed in bed most of the day. I managed to get showered and dressed, but then I slept all afternoon. And then Amir took me out- ostensibly for dinner. This actually meant copious drinks beforehand and after. It was a fun night, though. And I haven't had that much to drink since Pub Crawl. Miraculously, it made me better. I can't explain that- maybe the alcohol killed the little buggers?
Thursday I packed. Nat and Lea came over, and it was like Christmas day- I gave them all the stuff I couldn't or didn't need to bring back. My fan, my pans, hangers, laundry baskets, most of the books I bought, my speakers, curling iron, towels, all the pepto and imodium pills, the backpack I bought . . . Nat was estatic, it was rather hysterical. :D Then we took that stuff to school, and went to the Esplanade. Had dinner, went to see the new National Treasure movie. Which cracks me up, last night in Thailand I go see a movie that's all about American history. Though the part in England, Nat said it looked like home. Not a bad movie.
I got home at 10:30, finished packing. Couldn't fall asleep at all. And then I woke up BEFORE my alarm at 3am. Was downstairs checking out at 4. Lea came with me to the airport because she had a friend getting in at 7am.
My one suitcase was 37 kilos. OUCH. And I had to pay for it. 12,600 baht. 400-something dollars. On the upside, they let me take my guitar on as a carryon and I didn't have to pay for that, so that's something. But really, I didn't think I bought THAT much stuff!
Now, for the 10.5 hour flight, and I'll be HOME. The sun just set here in Japan, and we're going to chase the sunlight back to the afternoon back home. I'm listening to christmas music as I type this . . .
Boarding in ten minutes. I should get over there.
Hey, I get to be in the same timezone as most of my friends now! What a revolutionary concept!!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Today is the last day of school. We had a class and a half, and now it's break, and then we have assembly, and that's it. And then I come home in a week.
It's strange, saying goodbye to students and friends. It's not like people from back home, where I can drive four hours and see them, or at the worst drive across the country. Estonia, Romania, Germany, New Zealand, UK. Being here makes the world feel very small, like anything is possible. And now it feels so very big and vast and insurmountable.
Christ on a bike, I just signed withdrawl forms for two students. And there were two more yesterday. Dave is going to New Zealand, Olivia is going back to Korea, Sachiko back to Japan, and I forget where the other boy was going. I never moved as a child; there were a couple kids I went to kindergarten with that I graduated high school with. It's not like I was in a small town and there were only 200 kids. But I can't fathom moving a lot. A kid needs a home, a rock, a place to belong to. I suppose it's possible to move a lot and still have that family stability. But on the other hand, you're never somewhere long enough to forge deep relationships, to learn the way and move up in ranks to become a leader in your community.
-It's almost noon, we just had assembly. Heath dressed up as Santa Claus, only the pillow padding was a little iffy- looked like Santa had rather perky double Ds.
Sigh. I can't even articulate how I'm feeling right now. Maybe I'll try later.
It's strange, saying goodbye to students and friends. It's not like people from back home, where I can drive four hours and see them, or at the worst drive across the country. Estonia, Romania, Germany, New Zealand, UK. Being here makes the world feel very small, like anything is possible. And now it feels so very big and vast and insurmountable.
Christ on a bike, I just signed withdrawl forms for two students. And there were two more yesterday. Dave is going to New Zealand, Olivia is going back to Korea, Sachiko back to Japan, and I forget where the other boy was going. I never moved as a child; there were a couple kids I went to kindergarten with that I graduated high school with. It's not like I was in a small town and there were only 200 kids. But I can't fathom moving a lot. A kid needs a home, a rock, a place to belong to. I suppose it's possible to move a lot and still have that family stability. But on the other hand, you're never somewhere long enough to forge deep relationships, to learn the way and move up in ranks to become a leader in your community.
-It's almost noon, we just had assembly. Heath dressed up as Santa Claus, only the pillow padding was a little iffy- looked like Santa had rather perky double Ds.
Sigh. I can't even articulate how I'm feeling right now. Maybe I'll try later.
Monday, December 3, 2007
6 1/2 days of school left . . .
We've got Wednesday off for the King's Birthday, and then the following Monday is Constitution day, I believe. We haven't had a single days off save for half-term, and now they're at the most inconvenient time. Alas. I'm going to SLEEP on Wednesday, for I am EXHAUSTED after the week I just had. And I now get to tell you all about it.
Wait a second, first I need to show you what a Thanksgiving dinner in a British brewpub in Thailand is like. :D
First plate- salad, bread & butter, candied yams, twice-baked sweet potatoes, and pumpkin soup. You don't understand, honest-to-god real bread is SO hard to find, or expensive, here. It was SOOO good.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli in cheese sauce, wild rice with mushrooms. The mashed potatoes were kinda . . . gluey. Like when you melt cheese in mashed potatoes, only there was no cheese. And I was disappointed in the wild rice. The turkey, however, was to DIE FOR.
More Turkey, more salad, more bread. Mmmmmm.
Dessert. Cinnamon cranberry cake of some kind: meh. Apple pie: decent, but not what I would call apple pie. Pecan Pie: It was abundantly clear it wasn't my recipe, which is a pecan RUM pie. Needed rum. And a pumpkin cheesecake, which was lovely. Also, fancy cheese and apples.
Lea, after having entirely too much to eat.
And then we couldn't go home and be sluggish and maybe go shopping on Black Friday, nooo, we had school! :P
Monday was a lovely start to my week. I had the year 10 drama students in a rehearsal for the songs for their Christmas Carol production. Gareth was in the other room, and I was about to warm them up. A student leaned over, and something fell out of his pocket. It was a cigarette case, which then broke open on the floor and spilled.
Yes, I busted a kid with marijuana on Monday. Honestly, it was a bit surreal- you talk about drug policies and DARE and yadda yadda- but then to have it quite literally fall on the floor in front of you . . . My cooperating teacher took him to the headmaster, and the student was expelled. There's a rather strict drug policy here, and quite rightly too. He was a smart kid, and I think they're trying to find him a spot at another school. But what a mess; and to top it off, June no longer has a Scrooge.
Tuesday, the year 13 drama students did their performance, which got taped and sent off to England to be adjudicated, etc. They took a Thai myth called Maenak, and rewrote it into a piece. It was performed entirely without dialogue, they used their movements and the music they chose to tell the story. And a bit of screaming and laughing as well. It was about a half an hour, and it was just lovely. It's so difficult when you don't have words to tell the story for you, and they did such a wonderful job.
Wednesday I came home exhausted. I had a lot of paperwork to do in preparation for the rest of the week. About ten minutes after I'd gotten to my apartment, the phone rang. It was Davy Jones; Mr. Cooper had gotten into Bangkok early, was here, and would like to come talk to me. Cue me going 'AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!' Mike Cooper was the previous secondary head here, and he started working for GST back in England. It was very nice to meet him in person, after the phone call mishaps of last summer. :D But I was not really prepared to see him until Friday. He asked about my portfolio, and I said half of it was at school- which was the truth!
Thursday, I had a choir rehearsal. I realized when I went to Singapore that I miss singing in church, back in Ripon. I knew I wouldn't find a place like First Congregational here, but I did manage to find an Anglican church that seemed ok, at least for a temporary basis. They're doing a lessons and carols service on the 16th, and since I'll be here then, why not? It's glaringly obvious that I haven't sung in ages, nevermind singing with my students and to demonstrate stuff. One of my goals has always been to find a choir or a theatre group, something, in order to keep my singing skills in shape. Here, not so easy to do as back home. But I'm excited, simply because I get to sing the nasty high descants Sir David Willcocks wrote for some of the carols . . . . I don't quite get the Anglican church, they use those nasty communion wafers, and I'm not sure I agree with bits of their doctrine, but I met a few nice people, and it will be nice for a couple weeks.
Friday I was a bit on the looney side. I knew I had no reason to freak, but it was still there. The one thing that was different was when Norman was here, he ate lunch with me, we talked a lot, and he saw me in the context of the entire school. Mike Cooper, on the other hand, knows everyone here already, so he spent a lot of time visiting in general and not with me, besides lessons. The first lesson went pretty good- the year 11s. I had worked up for them some questions with listening. If this test is the thing they're focusing on, and they need to improve their listening skills, why not do that? I had them research a musical each, give us a brief background. I think next time I'd give them more specific instructions on what to bring. Then we listened to 2 or 3 songs from that show, and they had 2 or three questions each- some on musical things, other questions asking about the plot, or what the character thought, etc. Les Mis (which, I have to say, was horrible of me because poor Tuang had no clue how to pronounce Jean Valjean or Javert or Cossette), West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, and Sound of Music. The one thing he had for me to improve was that he thought I was asking too specific of questions, he wanted more open-ended things. My response to that was that I'd tried open-ended questions (I had!) and gotten nowhere; and also, the questions on the GCSE are rather specific as well. Richard (who's class it really is) said he would have said the same thing.
The afternoon, I had the year 7s, second day of musical theatre for them. The goal by the end of the class was to have them able to perform- singing and dancing- Comedy Tonight from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. The one choreography bit where they do a criscross was a bit funky, but on the whole it went really well. My goal was to get them to connect what we were doing to theatre as a whole- why does an actor do tongue twisters? Why are movements big? What happens when the audience can't understand you? (well, they can't get the story, and that's really the point, isn't it?)
Before I dismissed the class- and they were raring to go, as it was the last class on a Friday- Mr. Cooper actually complimented them on how well they performed, how well they worked as a class, etc. And then he told me he couldn't think of a single thing that I needed to improve upon in that lesson. "Excellent competence in all aspects of the instruction", quoting from the write-up there.
*THUD* That's the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.
I mean, I thought it was good, but I wasn't expecting that!
And then I went home, and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at 6:30, intending to get up at 9 and eat something and watch a movie. I woke up at 1am. Then I couldn't get to sleep until 4am. Then I was up at 7, because I went to the Ploenchit fair with Heike. :D Zzzzooommbie!!
The Ploenchit fair is a chairity thing organized by the British Council on something-or-other, and it's a big thing. A lot of the British schools have booths, like we did, and all the money goes to charity. I believe our booth raised over 33,000 baht, beating last year's record. I got a couple small things, and had some nice fish and chips and coconut ice cream. I went home, napped a bit, and then went back to school. Saturday was the staff christmas party, and to be honest I didn't really feel like going. I'd had my big dressy thing already, and I'm tired and broke. And Patsy, who runs the boarding house, likes to go with her daughter Charlie, because it's the one time they get to go to something together. So I volunteered for 'babysitting'. It was lovely, actually; I had internet and munchies, and the girls were no trouble. Marina was looking up the top 10 christmas songs, and I'd hear one I haven't heard in awhile and go running out to see. Some of them they didn't know, being teenagers from Estonia and Armenia. The Chipmunk song, for example. I think that's both an American, and growing up in the eighties thing. And then the Royal Guardsmen Snoopy and the Red Baron album, which I only know because my mom bought it for me as a kid and it's AWESOME. :D
Sunday was church again, and then home for another nap. Then I steeled myself for the torture to come . . . just kidding. :D The Bangkok Opera was doing Die Valkyrie, and we had two students playing plus our violin teacher, and comp tickets . . . It was lovely, it really was. But I don't think I need to sit through any of the Ring Cycle ever again. I hadn't realized it, but 90% of it was recitative. And there's only so much recitative I can take. It was supposed to start at 6. They played the King's Anthem and turned down the lights at about 6:12. Then Somtow Sucharitkul, the conductor, comes out on stage and apologizes for another delay. One of the violinists had dropped her bow underneath the pit, and they had to raise the pit to find it. So up on hydraulics the entire orchestra comes. Then they start going down again, only to stop when someone shouts from underneath . . . . They finally started at about 6:23. There were two intermissions, where we'd go out and warm up, because the hall was FREEZING. Literally, us women were huddled in balls with our pashmina shawls wrapped twice around us. And the seats in the Thailand Cultural centre are just horrid seats. I think the best part was seeing Mr. Kneath's eyes go buggy when, during the second intermission, he learned there was still an hour and a half left. The final curtain fell at 11pm.
Boon and Ruaychai, during an intermission.
Your humble author, and Amir, our violin teacher.
The fire curtain at the Cultural Centre, just 'cause it's pretty.
And then today was the school's celebration of the King's Birthday.
The stage set up on one side of the field.
A veritable sea of yellow. Thais have colors corresponding to days of the week. Monday is yellow, and the King was born on a Monday, so thus his color is yellow. Thus most Thais wear yellow on Mondays. The King turns 80 on Wednesday, and here's for many more. He's done a lot for Thailand, and is deserving of the respect and love the Thai people have for him- unlike many leaders in the world today.
Tonight's goal: find a salad dressing. I've tried four kinds in as many days, and the one kind I know I like I can't find anywhere. They have really bad salad dressing in this country.
Also, curses. I have to figure out Christmas presents and the like.
Wait a second, first I need to show you what a Thanksgiving dinner in a British brewpub in Thailand is like. :D
First plate- salad, bread & butter, candied yams, twice-baked sweet potatoes, and pumpkin soup. You don't understand, honest-to-god real bread is SO hard to find, or expensive, here. It was SOOO good.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli in cheese sauce, wild rice with mushrooms. The mashed potatoes were kinda . . . gluey. Like when you melt cheese in mashed potatoes, only there was no cheese. And I was disappointed in the wild rice. The turkey, however, was to DIE FOR.
More Turkey, more salad, more bread. Mmmmmm.
Dessert. Cinnamon cranberry cake of some kind: meh. Apple pie: decent, but not what I would call apple pie. Pecan Pie: It was abundantly clear it wasn't my recipe, which is a pecan RUM pie. Needed rum. And a pumpkin cheesecake, which was lovely. Also, fancy cheese and apples.
Lea, after having entirely too much to eat.
And then we couldn't go home and be sluggish and maybe go shopping on Black Friday, nooo, we had school! :P
Monday was a lovely start to my week. I had the year 10 drama students in a rehearsal for the songs for their Christmas Carol production. Gareth was in the other room, and I was about to warm them up. A student leaned over, and something fell out of his pocket. It was a cigarette case, which then broke open on the floor and spilled.
Yes, I busted a kid with marijuana on Monday. Honestly, it was a bit surreal- you talk about drug policies and DARE and yadda yadda- but then to have it quite literally fall on the floor in front of you . . . My cooperating teacher took him to the headmaster, and the student was expelled. There's a rather strict drug policy here, and quite rightly too. He was a smart kid, and I think they're trying to find him a spot at another school. But what a mess; and to top it off, June no longer has a Scrooge.
Tuesday, the year 13 drama students did their performance, which got taped and sent off to England to be adjudicated, etc. They took a Thai myth called Maenak, and rewrote it into a piece. It was performed entirely without dialogue, they used their movements and the music they chose to tell the story. And a bit of screaming and laughing as well. It was about a half an hour, and it was just lovely. It's so difficult when you don't have words to tell the story for you, and they did such a wonderful job.
Wednesday I came home exhausted. I had a lot of paperwork to do in preparation for the rest of the week. About ten minutes after I'd gotten to my apartment, the phone rang. It was Davy Jones; Mr. Cooper had gotten into Bangkok early, was here, and would like to come talk to me. Cue me going 'AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!' Mike Cooper was the previous secondary head here, and he started working for GST back in England. It was very nice to meet him in person, after the phone call mishaps of last summer. :D But I was not really prepared to see him until Friday. He asked about my portfolio, and I said half of it was at school- which was the truth!
Thursday, I had a choir rehearsal. I realized when I went to Singapore that I miss singing in church, back in Ripon. I knew I wouldn't find a place like First Congregational here, but I did manage to find an Anglican church that seemed ok, at least for a temporary basis. They're doing a lessons and carols service on the 16th, and since I'll be here then, why not? It's glaringly obvious that I haven't sung in ages, nevermind singing with my students and to demonstrate stuff. One of my goals has always been to find a choir or a theatre group, something, in order to keep my singing skills in shape. Here, not so easy to do as back home. But I'm excited, simply because I get to sing the nasty high descants Sir David Willcocks wrote for some of the carols . . . . I don't quite get the Anglican church, they use those nasty communion wafers, and I'm not sure I agree with bits of their doctrine, but I met a few nice people, and it will be nice for a couple weeks.
Friday I was a bit on the looney side. I knew I had no reason to freak, but it was still there. The one thing that was different was when Norman was here, he ate lunch with me, we talked a lot, and he saw me in the context of the entire school. Mike Cooper, on the other hand, knows everyone here already, so he spent a lot of time visiting in general and not with me, besides lessons. The first lesson went pretty good- the year 11s. I had worked up for them some questions with listening. If this test is the thing they're focusing on, and they need to improve their listening skills, why not do that? I had them research a musical each, give us a brief background. I think next time I'd give them more specific instructions on what to bring. Then we listened to 2 or 3 songs from that show, and they had 2 or three questions each- some on musical things, other questions asking about the plot, or what the character thought, etc. Les Mis (which, I have to say, was horrible of me because poor Tuang had no clue how to pronounce Jean Valjean or Javert or Cossette), West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, and Sound of Music. The one thing he had for me to improve was that he thought I was asking too specific of questions, he wanted more open-ended things. My response to that was that I'd tried open-ended questions (I had!) and gotten nowhere; and also, the questions on the GCSE are rather specific as well. Richard (who's class it really is) said he would have said the same thing.
The afternoon, I had the year 7s, second day of musical theatre for them. The goal by the end of the class was to have them able to perform- singing and dancing- Comedy Tonight from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. The one choreography bit where they do a criscross was a bit funky, but on the whole it went really well. My goal was to get them to connect what we were doing to theatre as a whole- why does an actor do tongue twisters? Why are movements big? What happens when the audience can't understand you? (well, they can't get the story, and that's really the point, isn't it?)
Before I dismissed the class- and they were raring to go, as it was the last class on a Friday- Mr. Cooper actually complimented them on how well they performed, how well they worked as a class, etc. And then he told me he couldn't think of a single thing that I needed to improve upon in that lesson. "Excellent competence in all aspects of the instruction", quoting from the write-up there.
*THUD* That's the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.
I mean, I thought it was good, but I wasn't expecting that!
And then I went home, and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at 6:30, intending to get up at 9 and eat something and watch a movie. I woke up at 1am. Then I couldn't get to sleep until 4am. Then I was up at 7, because I went to the Ploenchit fair with Heike. :D Zzzzooommbie!!
The Ploenchit fair is a chairity thing organized by the British Council on something-or-other, and it's a big thing. A lot of the British schools have booths, like we did, and all the money goes to charity. I believe our booth raised over 33,000 baht, beating last year's record. I got a couple small things, and had some nice fish and chips and coconut ice cream. I went home, napped a bit, and then went back to school. Saturday was the staff christmas party, and to be honest I didn't really feel like going. I'd had my big dressy thing already, and I'm tired and broke. And Patsy, who runs the boarding house, likes to go with her daughter Charlie, because it's the one time they get to go to something together. So I volunteered for 'babysitting'. It was lovely, actually; I had internet and munchies, and the girls were no trouble. Marina was looking up the top 10 christmas songs, and I'd hear one I haven't heard in awhile and go running out to see. Some of them they didn't know, being teenagers from Estonia and Armenia. The Chipmunk song, for example. I think that's both an American, and growing up in the eighties thing. And then the Royal Guardsmen Snoopy and the Red Baron album, which I only know because my mom bought it for me as a kid and it's AWESOME. :D
Sunday was church again, and then home for another nap. Then I steeled myself for the torture to come . . . just kidding. :D The Bangkok Opera was doing Die Valkyrie, and we had two students playing plus our violin teacher, and comp tickets . . . It was lovely, it really was. But I don't think I need to sit through any of the Ring Cycle ever again. I hadn't realized it, but 90% of it was recitative. And there's only so much recitative I can take. It was supposed to start at 6. They played the King's Anthem and turned down the lights at about 6:12. Then Somtow Sucharitkul, the conductor, comes out on stage and apologizes for another delay. One of the violinists had dropped her bow underneath the pit, and they had to raise the pit to find it. So up on hydraulics the entire orchestra comes. Then they start going down again, only to stop when someone shouts from underneath . . . . They finally started at about 6:23. There were two intermissions, where we'd go out and warm up, because the hall was FREEZING. Literally, us women were huddled in balls with our pashmina shawls wrapped twice around us. And the seats in the Thailand Cultural centre are just horrid seats. I think the best part was seeing Mr. Kneath's eyes go buggy when, during the second intermission, he learned there was still an hour and a half left. The final curtain fell at 11pm.
Boon and Ruaychai, during an intermission.
Your humble author, and Amir, our violin teacher.
The fire curtain at the Cultural Centre, just 'cause it's pretty.
And then today was the school's celebration of the King's Birthday.
The stage set up on one side of the field.
A veritable sea of yellow. Thais have colors corresponding to days of the week. Monday is yellow, and the King was born on a Monday, so thus his color is yellow. Thus most Thais wear yellow on Mondays. The King turns 80 on Wednesday, and here's for many more. He's done a lot for Thailand, and is deserving of the respect and love the Thai people have for him- unlike many leaders in the world today.
Tonight's goal: find a salad dressing. I've tried four kinds in as many days, and the one kind I know I like I can't find anywhere. They have really bad salad dressing in this country.
Also, curses. I have to figure out Christmas presents and the like.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
ok, I just had to stop and post this
Because I'm kinda flabbergasted.
I taught a lesson yesterday, and just got the feedback. Gareth, the one Brit in our department, talked things over with me. My content was good, my homework was awesome, but he didn't like my in-class activities.
Now, I was doing a basic outline of the subject, the history, on the board before we went into depth on the actual music. I told them to take notes on what was on the board, for about 15 minutes of class. And he said I can't do that. I have to give them a worksheet or tell them exactly what to write.
Because students aren't taught to take notes. At least, not until they get into A-level material. When they're 16 or 17!
I remember learning how to take basic notes when I was ten, and then going on from there. You read the text, you take notes. They teach you how to do it. By the time you hit high school, you should know how to take notes in class, and take notes from reading. These kids can't do that at all. They won't even copy down the bullet points from the board unless you specifically tell them, write this like this.
I need to stop assuming things. Assuming they have the same basic skills. Assuming they have any basic knowledge about anything. Because assume makes an ass out of you and me.
EDIT: I caught the deputy heads, curriculum and pastoral, at lunch. They confimed what Gareth said- it's not taught, unless the teacher decides to take it on themselves. And teachers don't. They go, you can teach a lesson on note-taking if you want! No, I do not want! I want to be teaching them the content I want them to take notes on!
I guess I'm making worksheets. Fun.
I had the MOST AWESOME lesson with Richard's year 8s today. SO AWESOME. And then Martyn sees me at lunch, says that he was going to come observe me at 11:30 but something came up. Nooooo!!! It was such a good lesson!! He has to observe me before Cooper gets here, and now he's going to come to see a class that won't be nearly that awesome. Arg.
I taught a lesson yesterday, and just got the feedback. Gareth, the one Brit in our department, talked things over with me. My content was good, my homework was awesome, but he didn't like my in-class activities.
Now, I was doing a basic outline of the subject, the history, on the board before we went into depth on the actual music. I told them to take notes on what was on the board, for about 15 minutes of class. And he said I can't do that. I have to give them a worksheet or tell them exactly what to write.
Because students aren't taught to take notes. At least, not until they get into A-level material. When they're 16 or 17!
I remember learning how to take basic notes when I was ten, and then going on from there. You read the text, you take notes. They teach you how to do it. By the time you hit high school, you should know how to take notes in class, and take notes from reading. These kids can't do that at all. They won't even copy down the bullet points from the board unless you specifically tell them, write this like this.
I need to stop assuming things. Assuming they have the same basic skills. Assuming they have any basic knowledge about anything. Because assume makes an ass out of you and me.
EDIT: I caught the deputy heads, curriculum and pastoral, at lunch. They confimed what Gareth said- it's not taught, unless the teacher decides to take it on themselves. And teachers don't. They go, you can teach a lesson on note-taking if you want! No, I do not want! I want to be teaching them the content I want them to take notes on!
I guess I'm making worksheets. Fun.
I had the MOST AWESOME lesson with Richard's year 8s today. SO AWESOME. And then Martyn sees me at lunch, says that he was going to come observe me at 11:30 but something came up. Nooooo!!! It was such a good lesson!! He has to observe me before Cooper gets here, and now he's going to come to see a class that won't be nearly that awesome. Arg.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Long, with lots of pictures.
The year 11s are taking a test right now, and they're listening to this HORRID piece of 20th century music that sounds like sound effects from a bad sci-fi movie.
I am so utterly exhausted; after wednesday, then I stayed at school fairly late last night, and slept badly, and now I want a new neck. Mine is completely stiff on one side. And even if I'm not moving it, stretching it, it just has this dull ache. I forsee a bath with painkillers tonight, if it doesn't improve.
So, Wednesday was the World Consular Fair Gala Dinner. This is the first conference they've had in Southeast Asia, for all the honorary consuls. Dimplomats, basically. There were 70-odd diplomats there, from 60+ countries. We were there because the Chairman of the school, Dr. Virachai, is a member of the group, is hosting parts of it, etc etc. I'm not entirely sure all, but that's the gist. So, naturally, he brings his students in. It's also been a thing that's been weighing on our minds for awhile, simply because it is high-profile.
We left school at 1- I had to leave the test and work for the last hour class on Wednesday, which annoyed me as they're the group that will act up. Consequently, I think some of them cheated on the test. I can't confirm, and they didn't do so well anyways. I'm not pleased with them. I'm not pleased with the test results in general, but that's another story. We got there around 1:30, and Kraig got the music students on stage first to rehearse. The boarding girls were there to do some Thai Dancing, and they didn't have to do much of anything for about an hour, so I stayed with them, as they ate desserts from the fancy luncheon that had just gotten out. I made an observation that a Thai sweet tasted like an air freshener. It did! Flowery tasting, almost artificial.
The first section was playing during the cocktail hour, where people were arriving. The students and Kraig played wonderfully, and I did my part well. I had to look pretty and take pictures, and play the guiro on 'Girl from Impanema'. Not difficult. I was wearing my new black dress from Singapore, and a salmon-pink shawl my mom bought me when she was here. Kraig was playing with them on his Bari Sax, because there's not a single cello in the entire school. We can't fill out a string quartet with just students.
Best thing- I'm there taking pictures, for myself and for the bulletin board in the music department. Khun Miki and Khun Ice are whispering to each other, and then Miki asks me if I have a lot of memory on my camera. Umm . . . enough. Not a whole lot, but a decent amount. (256 mb, not a lot!). Apparently Josh, the guy who normally takes photos for Regent's, couldn't make it, and could I take pictures of everything, and Dr. Virachai and Khun Tip? So I was abruptly turned into the official Regent's photographer for the night. That was interesting. The lighting was HORRID in the lobby, and the quartet was playing in front of windows. I had to use the flash, and when it did it would reflect off everything. There were a lot of video cameras, and fancy cameras with gigantic lenses and flashes- and here I am, trying to but in with my little Nikon P2, which is not at all advanced anymore.
After playing an hour's worth of cocktail music (and I have to protest the definetion of cocktail. There were no cocktails at this cocktail hour. Lynn Smith expressed her observation of it being the driest cocktail hour she'd ever seen), it was dinnertime. Everyone went in the ballroom, and started on dinner. Kraig and I had tickets- it was a fundraiser, tickets from 3,000 baht to 20,000 baht. (from $95 to $645), but we didn't pay for them. First, the boarding girls did their Thai dance, and did very well. They were dolled up A LOT. Kaia was not happy with her makeup- rather thick, she looked like blonde Madonna from the 80's. They don't realize that once you get on stage, the lights bleach everything out, and especially from a distance you need a lot of makeup to even look like you have features. I was proud of them!
Martin Kneath, the headmaster here, was somehow appointed to be master of ceremonies for the evening. They handed out awards at the beginning, and the poor man had to pronounce all sorts of bad things. He speaks in very proper gentlemanly British English, and he had African, Thai, Indian names . . . it was horrid. He did a very good job, but it was still rather mangled. Each person had about 5 diffrent titles as well . . . Our students performed about an hour into the dinner, and they did so well. They got a lot of applause, and the board & Dr. Virachai were impressed. A couple students had never performed in front of a large group like that, and I think it will be easier for them from now on. Once you cross that hurdle, go into the fire and come out on the other side, it doesn't seem as bad.
Dinner was utterly divine. I felt decadent sitting there eating this lovely food, when my dinner normally consists of a tv dinner, or fruit and popcorn, or something else simple. The rolls at the beginning were SO GOOD. I will never take good bread for granted again. Then we had a seafood salad- shrimp and scallops in some sort of creamy sauce with lettuce on top, with pesto around the edge. I even ate the dill garnish because it was DILL and FRESH and so good!! And the pesto! Real basil!! Then there was a soup that was fairly mediocre- only thing that night that was. The main course was a salmon fillet and two dory fillets, on top of some ratatouille, with herbed little potatoes that looked like seashells, and a ring of mustard around the edge. The potatoes were meh, but oh the salmon was divine. I really haven't eaten any salmon here yet- which is strange because it's SO cheap. I'll have to get some at the grocery store this weekend.
Dessert was a bit of vanilla ice cream, a shot glass with pureed strawberry stuff, and Tiramisu. TIRAMISU. It was real tiramisu and SO GOOD. Martyn Smith was like, I'll bet this isn't what you were planning on doing your teaching practice. :D Really, it wasn't- but on the other hand, I was prepared. That's one thing in music that you learn, how to present yourself, how to dress up for things and be prepared. I know kids in college who didn't have any dressy clothes with them freshman or sophmore year! I'm generally always prepared to dress up for something, it's a fact of life as a performer. It's no mistake I brought a set of flashy jewelry. And I can get beautified quicky, too!!
At our table, it was myself and Kraig, Martyn & Lynn Smith, Mrs. Kneath (Martin was up at from emceeing the entire time), Miki and Ice, and Dr. Virachai's daughter. I got to speak with her a bit, and she's a nice girl. Either my age or a year older, she went to school in London and is now working for the Regent's campus in Pattaya. She's going to Chicago soon, so I told her all the neat Christmas things in Chicago to go see, like the market in Daly Plaza, and the windows in Field's. She'd never seen twisty jewels for hair like mine, but they do apparently have Claire's shops in London! I think she was glad I talked to her- she's the boss' daughter, people don't talk to the boss' daughter!!
I got home around ten, and just about collapsed.
Now, for some pictures!!
Rehearsing in the afternoon.
Dessert!
Boon & Ruaychai- the boys never stop playing.
The quartet in front of those stupid windows. Ruaychai, Bay, Boon, Kraig, with Carlie, Kiara, Poon, and Boat in the back.
Martin Kneath, Headmaster, refining his remarks backstage before the gala.
PINK!!
Mrs. Kneath & Mrs. Smith, dressed for the occasion.
Khun Miki, Knun Ice, and Martyn Smith, secondary Head.
Here's my efforts as official photographer . . . Dr. Virachai is the man third from the left, looking at the camera. His wife is two over, in the striking blue dress.
This is the ballroom we were in . . . fancy!!
The boarding girls after their performance, with their teachers- members of the Thai staff.
This is Bay, on violin, accompanied by her brother, Boat, on piano. She was playing Meditation from Thais.
This is Kiara on flute; she was playing Handel, I believe. They had TV cameras filming and putting the images on big screens on either side of the stage. There were some really neat pans and zooms . . .
Great minds think alike . . . at least in terms of dress!!
Now, to give an exam to the last class of the week. Sigh. It's just not sinking in. Kraig left it up to me to assess their progress and make up the test. He thought it was too easy. I thought it was easy, but challenging enough to get a good grasp of where they were. I've had two students out of about 100 get As, maybe three Bs, and the rest are in the area around 50%. Nothing on the test was brand new, nothing we didn't go over ad nauseum in class . . . . I've got to come up with new strategies to teach note names & rhythms. And what makes a brass instrument not a woodwind instrument. The one class seemed convinced a tuba is a woodwind instrument. *facepalm*
I've FINALLY got a good resource on the IGCSE curriculum- including a rubric. Thank God for rubrics . . . .
I am so utterly exhausted; after wednesday, then I stayed at school fairly late last night, and slept badly, and now I want a new neck. Mine is completely stiff on one side. And even if I'm not moving it, stretching it, it just has this dull ache. I forsee a bath with painkillers tonight, if it doesn't improve.
So, Wednesday was the World Consular Fair Gala Dinner. This is the first conference they've had in Southeast Asia, for all the honorary consuls. Dimplomats, basically. There were 70-odd diplomats there, from 60+ countries. We were there because the Chairman of the school, Dr. Virachai, is a member of the group, is hosting parts of it, etc etc. I'm not entirely sure all, but that's the gist. So, naturally, he brings his students in. It's also been a thing that's been weighing on our minds for awhile, simply because it is high-profile.
We left school at 1- I had to leave the test and work for the last hour class on Wednesday, which annoyed me as they're the group that will act up. Consequently, I think some of them cheated on the test. I can't confirm, and they didn't do so well anyways. I'm not pleased with them. I'm not pleased with the test results in general, but that's another story. We got there around 1:30, and Kraig got the music students on stage first to rehearse. The boarding girls were there to do some Thai Dancing, and they didn't have to do much of anything for about an hour, so I stayed with them, as they ate desserts from the fancy luncheon that had just gotten out. I made an observation that a Thai sweet tasted like an air freshener. It did! Flowery tasting, almost artificial.
The first section was playing during the cocktail hour, where people were arriving. The students and Kraig played wonderfully, and I did my part well. I had to look pretty and take pictures, and play the guiro on 'Girl from Impanema'. Not difficult. I was wearing my new black dress from Singapore, and a salmon-pink shawl my mom bought me when she was here. Kraig was playing with them on his Bari Sax, because there's not a single cello in the entire school. We can't fill out a string quartet with just students.
Best thing- I'm there taking pictures, for myself and for the bulletin board in the music department. Khun Miki and Khun Ice are whispering to each other, and then Miki asks me if I have a lot of memory on my camera. Umm . . . enough. Not a whole lot, but a decent amount. (256 mb, not a lot!). Apparently Josh, the guy who normally takes photos for Regent's, couldn't make it, and could I take pictures of everything, and Dr. Virachai and Khun Tip? So I was abruptly turned into the official Regent's photographer for the night. That was interesting. The lighting was HORRID in the lobby, and the quartet was playing in front of windows. I had to use the flash, and when it did it would reflect off everything. There were a lot of video cameras, and fancy cameras with gigantic lenses and flashes- and here I am, trying to but in with my little Nikon P2, which is not at all advanced anymore.
After playing an hour's worth of cocktail music (and I have to protest the definetion of cocktail. There were no cocktails at this cocktail hour. Lynn Smith expressed her observation of it being the driest cocktail hour she'd ever seen), it was dinnertime. Everyone went in the ballroom, and started on dinner. Kraig and I had tickets- it was a fundraiser, tickets from 3,000 baht to 20,000 baht. (from $95 to $645), but we didn't pay for them. First, the boarding girls did their Thai dance, and did very well. They were dolled up A LOT. Kaia was not happy with her makeup- rather thick, she looked like blonde Madonna from the 80's. They don't realize that once you get on stage, the lights bleach everything out, and especially from a distance you need a lot of makeup to even look like you have features. I was proud of them!
Martin Kneath, the headmaster here, was somehow appointed to be master of ceremonies for the evening. They handed out awards at the beginning, and the poor man had to pronounce all sorts of bad things. He speaks in very proper gentlemanly British English, and he had African, Thai, Indian names . . . it was horrid. He did a very good job, but it was still rather mangled. Each person had about 5 diffrent titles as well . . . Our students performed about an hour into the dinner, and they did so well. They got a lot of applause, and the board & Dr. Virachai were impressed. A couple students had never performed in front of a large group like that, and I think it will be easier for them from now on. Once you cross that hurdle, go into the fire and come out on the other side, it doesn't seem as bad.
Dinner was utterly divine. I felt decadent sitting there eating this lovely food, when my dinner normally consists of a tv dinner, or fruit and popcorn, or something else simple. The rolls at the beginning were SO GOOD. I will never take good bread for granted again. Then we had a seafood salad- shrimp and scallops in some sort of creamy sauce with lettuce on top, with pesto around the edge. I even ate the dill garnish because it was DILL and FRESH and so good!! And the pesto! Real basil!! Then there was a soup that was fairly mediocre- only thing that night that was. The main course was a salmon fillet and two dory fillets, on top of some ratatouille, with herbed little potatoes that looked like seashells, and a ring of mustard around the edge. The potatoes were meh, but oh the salmon was divine. I really haven't eaten any salmon here yet- which is strange because it's SO cheap. I'll have to get some at the grocery store this weekend.
Dessert was a bit of vanilla ice cream, a shot glass with pureed strawberry stuff, and Tiramisu. TIRAMISU. It was real tiramisu and SO GOOD. Martyn Smith was like, I'll bet this isn't what you were planning on doing your teaching practice. :D Really, it wasn't- but on the other hand, I was prepared. That's one thing in music that you learn, how to present yourself, how to dress up for things and be prepared. I know kids in college who didn't have any dressy clothes with them freshman or sophmore year! I'm generally always prepared to dress up for something, it's a fact of life as a performer. It's no mistake I brought a set of flashy jewelry. And I can get beautified quicky, too!!
At our table, it was myself and Kraig, Martyn & Lynn Smith, Mrs. Kneath (Martin was up at from emceeing the entire time), Miki and Ice, and Dr. Virachai's daughter. I got to speak with her a bit, and she's a nice girl. Either my age or a year older, she went to school in London and is now working for the Regent's campus in Pattaya. She's going to Chicago soon, so I told her all the neat Christmas things in Chicago to go see, like the market in Daly Plaza, and the windows in Field's. She'd never seen twisty jewels for hair like mine, but they do apparently have Claire's shops in London! I think she was glad I talked to her- she's the boss' daughter, people don't talk to the boss' daughter!!
I got home around ten, and just about collapsed.
Now, for some pictures!!
Rehearsing in the afternoon.
Dessert!
Boon & Ruaychai- the boys never stop playing.
The quartet in front of those stupid windows. Ruaychai, Bay, Boon, Kraig, with Carlie, Kiara, Poon, and Boat in the back.
Martin Kneath, Headmaster, refining his remarks backstage before the gala.
PINK!!
Mrs. Kneath & Mrs. Smith, dressed for the occasion.
Khun Miki, Knun Ice, and Martyn Smith, secondary Head.
Here's my efforts as official photographer . . . Dr. Virachai is the man third from the left, looking at the camera. His wife is two over, in the striking blue dress.
This is the ballroom we were in . . . fancy!!
The boarding girls after their performance, with their teachers- members of the Thai staff.
This is Bay, on violin, accompanied by her brother, Boat, on piano. She was playing Meditation from Thais.
This is Kiara on flute; she was playing Handel, I believe. They had TV cameras filming and putting the images on big screens on either side of the stage. There were some really neat pans and zooms . . .
Great minds think alike . . . at least in terms of dress!!
Now, to give an exam to the last class of the week. Sigh. It's just not sinking in. Kraig left it up to me to assess their progress and make up the test. He thought it was too easy. I thought it was easy, but challenging enough to get a good grasp of where they were. I've had two students out of about 100 get As, maybe three Bs, and the rest are in the area around 50%. Nothing on the test was brand new, nothing we didn't go over ad nauseum in class . . . . I've got to come up with new strategies to teach note names & rhythms. And what makes a brass instrument not a woodwind instrument. The one class seemed convinced a tuba is a woodwind instrument. *facepalm*
I've FINALLY got a good resource on the IGCSE curriculum- including a rubric. Thank God for rubrics . . . .
Monday, November 12, 2007
This is intended as a response to Josh's
Top Ten Things You Never Think You Would Need to Translate (or shouldn't attempt).
Shall we attempt a Thai equivalent?
Mai dat kluay pom le hai phet prawat pom mai chai jow choo!!
Don't cut my penis off and give it to the ducks, I'm not a playboy!!
(When men cheat, the Thai women cut it off and give it to the ducks. Kinda like a whole country full of Lorena Bobbits.)
Ok, that's the best one. But here's some others that just sound bad.
Tuk long, khrap = Okay!
Mai mai mai mai mai = New wood doesn't burn well, does it?
Cow cow leaw cow cow cow = He entered the mountain with white rice.
Moo = pig
Gai = chicken
Kai = egg
Fuktong = pumpkin
Child:"Mea doo falang!"
Falang: "Mai chai pon la mai! Pom phen khon! (pom phen ma kuatet)"
Falang = guava and a foreigner.
Child: Ma, look, a foreigner!
Foreigner: I'm not a fruit! I'm a human!! (I'm a tomato)
Heeee!!
My birthday was lovely, I had a couple people over for dinner and ice cream cake. And there's still leftover ice cream cake in the freezer . . .mmmm . . . so worth the 350 baht.
I also got all my hairs cut, and was a bum. I'm going to slowly rewatch Heroes season 1, because I can't get the new eps fast enough. Then I'm going to lend them to Heike, so we can be nerds together. :D She apparently watches Atlantis, or did back in Germany, so I've got to get her caught up on that. If I come back, I'm bringing a lot of my DVDs, or rather ripping them to an external hard drive. :D
Wednesday is the thing at the ballroom, where we have to play dinner music for two hours. Or rather, Kraig and the students have to provide two hours worth of music. I just have to look pretty, turn pages for Boat, and play the guiro on Girl from Ipanema. :D I suppose I'm a pinch hitter if something happens, but eh. :D I have a pretty new black dress to wear, with a pretty pink pashmina. And I even bought a curling iron. *sings* I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright! . . .
Yes, I'm in a silly mood.
I miss home a lot. And it's nice to know I'm missed, judging from the 60 emails that showed up in my inbox over the weekend. But I also realized that there are people here that are glad I'm here. It's tough- there are things I miss about home that just drive me INSANE.
Let's see if this posts . . .
Top Ten Things You Never Think You Would Need to Translate (or shouldn't attempt).
Shall we attempt a Thai equivalent?
Mai dat kluay pom le hai phet prawat pom mai chai jow choo!!
Don't cut my penis off and give it to the ducks, I'm not a playboy!!
(When men cheat, the Thai women cut it off and give it to the ducks. Kinda like a whole country full of Lorena Bobbits.)
Ok, that's the best one. But here's some others that just sound bad.
Tuk long, khrap = Okay!
Mai mai mai mai mai = New wood doesn't burn well, does it?
Cow cow leaw cow cow cow = He entered the mountain with white rice.
Moo = pig
Gai = chicken
Kai = egg
Fuktong = pumpkin
Child:"Mea doo falang!"
Falang: "Mai chai pon la mai! Pom phen khon! (pom phen ma kuatet)"
Falang = guava and a foreigner.
Child: Ma, look, a foreigner!
Foreigner: I'm not a fruit! I'm a human!! (I'm a tomato)
Heeee!!
My birthday was lovely, I had a couple people over for dinner and ice cream cake. And there's still leftover ice cream cake in the freezer . . .mmmm . . . so worth the 350 baht.
I also got all my hairs cut, and was a bum. I'm going to slowly rewatch Heroes season 1, because I can't get the new eps fast enough. Then I'm going to lend them to Heike, so we can be nerds together. :D She apparently watches Atlantis, or did back in Germany, so I've got to get her caught up on that. If I come back, I'm bringing a lot of my DVDs, or rather ripping them to an external hard drive. :D
Wednesday is the thing at the ballroom, where we have to play dinner music for two hours. Or rather, Kraig and the students have to provide two hours worth of music. I just have to look pretty, turn pages for Boat, and play the guiro on Girl from Ipanema. :D I suppose I'm a pinch hitter if something happens, but eh. :D I have a pretty new black dress to wear, with a pretty pink pashmina. And I even bought a curling iron. *sings* I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright! . . .
Yes, I'm in a silly mood.
I miss home a lot. And it's nice to know I'm missed, judging from the 60 emails that showed up in my inbox over the weekend. But I also realized that there are people here that are glad I'm here. It's tough- there are things I miss about home that just drive me INSANE.
Let's see if this posts . . .
Friday, November 2, 2007
Clearly, you've never been to Singapore.
. . . wait a minute, that doesn't apply anymore!
Yes, I'm in Singapore.
I'd been attempting all week to get some help from the school's staff with my visa issues. There's a person on staff who's sole job is to deal with visas for the foreigners. After repeated emails, missing her, and then finally learning that she'd be in Pattaya the rest of the week . . . . I lost it, just a little. Thank god for Amir, our violin teacher. Currently my favorite person in the world. He knew a place to stay in Singapore, and helped me research things. I had to leave school right after 3 yesterday (thursday), run home and pack fast, and sprint off to the airport so I could buy the airplane tickets. I do like Asia Air these days. I got into Singapore at 10pm, and made my way to the hostel. It's pretty nice, all sorts of travellers, and there's a basic free breakfast of eggs and bread :D And free internet- in fact, the best signal I've gotten on this side of the world.
I went to the embassy this morning, handed over my passport, photo, application, and 50 Singapore dollars. I go back on Monday at 2, hopefully with a 60-day visa that I won't have to deal with again. I fly back to Bangkok at 8pm on Monday. Between now and then, I've no clue what to do with myself. I want to do a little shopping- I already did some this morning. There was a BORDERS, a big beautiful Borders with lots of beautiful books. I restrained myself and only got the lastest Clive Cussler paperback. There was a new one, about ten dollars more, but I didn't need it. Also bought a couple little accessories at the 'apple store' here. There was a guy in there who had moved here recently from America. I was hedging over buying an adaptor cable- and he told me to go for it. He said it's so much cheaper here, that it's worth buying things here. I want to look for clothes, a couple dresses I can wear to these fancy concerts we have coming up. I think I'll have better luck here than Bangkok, because the women here AREN'T all as skinny as toothpicks. :D
That's the other thing that's nice about Singapore- everything's in English, most people speak English. It feels almost indulgent to be able to go anywhere and talk to anyone, to be able to read all the signs. What a luxury!! It's almost like being back home, except for the heat and humidity, and funny taxis. The Burger King here is just as bad as the Burger King at home. I'd forgotten how much I hate Burger King, having not eaten there in probably 4 years. Whoops, now I remember. Dinner should be better- the hostel's in Little India- there's a mosque down the street- and there's lots of indian food around. Yum!
I'm gonna find a grocery store, and anything else I can see. But hoo boy am I tired!!
Yes, I'm in Singapore.
I'd been attempting all week to get some help from the school's staff with my visa issues. There's a person on staff who's sole job is to deal with visas for the foreigners. After repeated emails, missing her, and then finally learning that she'd be in Pattaya the rest of the week . . . . I lost it, just a little. Thank god for Amir, our violin teacher. Currently my favorite person in the world. He knew a place to stay in Singapore, and helped me research things. I had to leave school right after 3 yesterday (thursday), run home and pack fast, and sprint off to the airport so I could buy the airplane tickets. I do like Asia Air these days. I got into Singapore at 10pm, and made my way to the hostel. It's pretty nice, all sorts of travellers, and there's a basic free breakfast of eggs and bread :D And free internet- in fact, the best signal I've gotten on this side of the world.
I went to the embassy this morning, handed over my passport, photo, application, and 50 Singapore dollars. I go back on Monday at 2, hopefully with a 60-day visa that I won't have to deal with again. I fly back to Bangkok at 8pm on Monday. Between now and then, I've no clue what to do with myself. I want to do a little shopping- I already did some this morning. There was a BORDERS, a big beautiful Borders with lots of beautiful books. I restrained myself and only got the lastest Clive Cussler paperback. There was a new one, about ten dollars more, but I didn't need it. Also bought a couple little accessories at the 'apple store' here. There was a guy in there who had moved here recently from America. I was hedging over buying an adaptor cable- and he told me to go for it. He said it's so much cheaper here, that it's worth buying things here. I want to look for clothes, a couple dresses I can wear to these fancy concerts we have coming up. I think I'll have better luck here than Bangkok, because the women here AREN'T all as skinny as toothpicks. :D
That's the other thing that's nice about Singapore- everything's in English, most people speak English. It feels almost indulgent to be able to go anywhere and talk to anyone, to be able to read all the signs. What a luxury!! It's almost like being back home, except for the heat and humidity, and funny taxis. The Burger King here is just as bad as the Burger King at home. I'd forgotten how much I hate Burger King, having not eaten there in probably 4 years. Whoops, now I remember. Dinner should be better- the hostel's in Little India- there's a mosque down the street- and there's lots of indian food around. Yum!
I'm gonna find a grocery store, and anything else I can see. But hoo boy am I tired!!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Yes, it's been ages since I've updated. My mom was here for two weeks, and the second of those two weeks was our half-term break.
Things are going ok. I keep finding little things about the British system and curriculum that just make me scratch my head and go, huh? But the kids are pretty awesome, and I'm having a ball when I'm working with them. I've had mostly success with everything I'm doing. I need to work a bit in one area, making my lesson a bit more structured. But I think I'm getting through to that group well. :D
One thing I'm really proud of is a lesson I did. My lesson, entirely. But my cooperating teacher was being observed, because it's his first year here. We were doing my lesson that week, but since the secondary head was coming in specifically to see him, he had to do the teaching that day. That day rolls around, and Kraig's sick. Voice is almost gone, fever, sweating, the works. But he still had to teach it, though I ended up doing more than we had originally intended. Not the ideal situation at all. But he got a really good review- as did the lesson in general. And he wrote some good comments for me in there as well. I'm pleased!
I got the new Battlestar CD- LOVE LOVE LOVE. Peeved about this April thing- I'd really like to know what is going on in the brains of The Powers That Be over at SciFi and NBC Universal. A 14-month hiatus? Are they high, or insane or something?
I somehow have to go to Laos or Singapore or someplace NOT Cambodia this weekend. I really dislike that part of my experience here.
Tonight's goals-
1. Make midi files of the accompaniments for choir things
2. Write, or at least start, my unit plan for the 11s- musical theatre.
3. Watch Heroes!
4. Finish paperwork. I hate paperwork.
5. Write a more comprehensive update for this thing!
I'm sorry I'm such a horrible communicator. I'd give my spleen for decent internet access- getting a better signal here, or getting internet at my apartment AT ALL. It's just not time or cost effective to call people, or write emails to everyone I want to write to. And it's driving me INSANE, because I do like communicating with my friends and family, ya know.
Things are going ok. I keep finding little things about the British system and curriculum that just make me scratch my head and go, huh? But the kids are pretty awesome, and I'm having a ball when I'm working with them. I've had mostly success with everything I'm doing. I need to work a bit in one area, making my lesson a bit more structured. But I think I'm getting through to that group well. :D
One thing I'm really proud of is a lesson I did. My lesson, entirely. But my cooperating teacher was being observed, because it's his first year here. We were doing my lesson that week, but since the secondary head was coming in specifically to see him, he had to do the teaching that day. That day rolls around, and Kraig's sick. Voice is almost gone, fever, sweating, the works. But he still had to teach it, though I ended up doing more than we had originally intended. Not the ideal situation at all. But he got a really good review- as did the lesson in general. And he wrote some good comments for me in there as well. I'm pleased!
I got the new Battlestar CD- LOVE LOVE LOVE. Peeved about this April thing- I'd really like to know what is going on in the brains of The Powers That Be over at SciFi and NBC Universal. A 14-month hiatus? Are they high, or insane or something?
I somehow have to go to Laos or Singapore or someplace NOT Cambodia this weekend. I really dislike that part of my experience here.
Tonight's goals-
1. Make midi files of the accompaniments for choir things
2. Write, or at least start, my unit plan for the 11s- musical theatre.
3. Watch Heroes!
4. Finish paperwork. I hate paperwork.
5. Write a more comprehensive update for this thing!
I'm sorry I'm such a horrible communicator. I'd give my spleen for decent internet access- getting a better signal here, or getting internet at my apartment AT ALL. It's just not time or cost effective to call people, or write emails to everyone I want to write to. And it's driving me INSANE, because I do like communicating with my friends and family, ya know.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
*dances, sings*
Oh, I had a generally lovely day!!!
I gave a lovely guitar lesson this morning with my new guitar. My student is not as advanced as I thought she was- I think her previous teacher didn't know what they were doing- but she's an awesome girl and I'm excited to see what we can accomplish. I need to get a beginner guitar book, and fast . . . . but that will be all good.
I then gave a double clarinet lesson to two boys. One had a lesson last week, and the other was just starting today. I miss my clarinet, but it's not logical for my mom to bring it here- it's big and there are other things I'm making her bring me! I got really good sounds out of both of them, and we got to playing and I think they're getting it. They're having a bit of issues with reading the notes, but not too bad.
Again, I do not understand AT ALL the logic in NOT teaching students elementary note reading. They don't have to learn how to read something nasty with 32nd notes and chords, but they need to know the notes on the staff, and what a quarter note is, and what an eighth note is. Whoops, sorry, a minim and a quaver.
Choir was lovely, I'm doing Once Upon A December with them- I may not be in Ripon, but the spirit of the Choraliers is alive and well here! And the girls really like the song, so hooray. And they're getting the harmony!! We got through the entire song today- it took them two days. It's still a long way off from being performance ready, but they're doing great.
I'm also happy because my weekend just got a lot easier. I have to get another visa soon, as mine expires on the 12th. I don't want to miss school again to do it, so that leaves the weekend. I thought I could only go on Saturday. One of the ESL teachers here, her birthday was the other day, and she's having a party on Saturday night. Going to Cambodia all day on a bus, and then going to a party was not my idea of fun. But I can go on Sunday now, so that's perfect! The party has a masquerade theme, so I'm going to do a little shopping. It's hard to come up with a costume without A. the Goodwill and B. my closet. :D
Girls want voice lessons. Hooray- I'm more than happy to give them! I'm really really enjoying the year 13s, and the boarding students in my choir. Some of the younger ones are really awesome as well.
I need to email my mother- and tell her to bring more of my music books! They don't have much here, and I need SOMETHING to have them sing if they're doing voice lessons.
Dinner is calling to me . . . .
I have Heroes to watch tonight, and episode 3 of Sarah Jane . . . it's almost the weekend . . . the kids aren't looking at me like I have two heads anymore . . . well, at least not most of the time. :D Life is good.
I gave a lovely guitar lesson this morning with my new guitar. My student is not as advanced as I thought she was- I think her previous teacher didn't know what they were doing- but she's an awesome girl and I'm excited to see what we can accomplish. I need to get a beginner guitar book, and fast . . . . but that will be all good.
I then gave a double clarinet lesson to two boys. One had a lesson last week, and the other was just starting today. I miss my clarinet, but it's not logical for my mom to bring it here- it's big and there are other things I'm making her bring me! I got really good sounds out of both of them, and we got to playing and I think they're getting it. They're having a bit of issues with reading the notes, but not too bad.
Again, I do not understand AT ALL the logic in NOT teaching students elementary note reading. They don't have to learn how to read something nasty with 32nd notes and chords, but they need to know the notes on the staff, and what a quarter note is, and what an eighth note is. Whoops, sorry, a minim and a quaver.
Choir was lovely, I'm doing Once Upon A December with them- I may not be in Ripon, but the spirit of the Choraliers is alive and well here! And the girls really like the song, so hooray. And they're getting the harmony!! We got through the entire song today- it took them two days. It's still a long way off from being performance ready, but they're doing great.
I'm also happy because my weekend just got a lot easier. I have to get another visa soon, as mine expires on the 12th. I don't want to miss school again to do it, so that leaves the weekend. I thought I could only go on Saturday. One of the ESL teachers here, her birthday was the other day, and she's having a party on Saturday night. Going to Cambodia all day on a bus, and then going to a party was not my idea of fun. But I can go on Sunday now, so that's perfect! The party has a masquerade theme, so I'm going to do a little shopping. It's hard to come up with a costume without A. the Goodwill and B. my closet. :D
Girls want voice lessons. Hooray- I'm more than happy to give them! I'm really really enjoying the year 13s, and the boarding students in my choir. Some of the younger ones are really awesome as well.
I need to email my mother- and tell her to bring more of my music books! They don't have much here, and I need SOMETHING to have them sing if they're doing voice lessons.
Dinner is calling to me . . . .
I have Heroes to watch tonight, and episode 3 of Sarah Jane . . . it's almost the weekend . . . the kids aren't looking at me like I have two heads anymore . . . well, at least not most of the time. :D Life is good.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
*facepalms*
We've been doing elementary notespelling and such with the KS3 kids for the last month. Since school has started.
I gave them a quiz today- note naming "what is this note" and rhythms "how many beats does this note get'. Simple.
I had no less than 5 kids answer a "what is this note" question with 'H'. H! I kid you not!
I'd like to know how one plays an H on a piano. I think you have to be inside the piano with the strings, perhaps. Or maybe in the Twilight Zone. :D
I gave them a quiz today- note naming "what is this note" and rhythms "how many beats does this note get'. Simple.
I had no less than 5 kids answer a "what is this note" question with 'H'. H! I kid you not!
I'd like to know how one plays an H on a piano. I think you have to be inside the piano with the strings, perhaps. Or maybe in the Twilight Zone. :D
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