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Five Simple Goals for 2013
1. Produce more creative content (writing, pictures, etc.) than I consume. Example: write blog entries and book reviews instead of just reading and commenting on other people's work. Example: create and share more original classroom activities instead of just getting ideas online and from other teachers ( Read more... ) -
Yes, I admit it: exercise has finally had some effect.
As I was looking through old journals, I came across accounts of (re)learning how to swim back in March and April. At that time, I could barely swim one lap (and usually had to stop for breath). Back then my shoulders hurt the day after every swimming class.
This past Friday, after an hour of aqua aerobics, I swam 14 laps. This evening, I swam ( Read more... ) -
Fall Cooking Experiments
Golden ginkgo leaves lie thick on the ground, and the sky is as soft and cloudy as a cat's belly. It's officially cold enough to wear socks every day. The coffee shops are offering sweet-and-salty lattes, ginseng caffe lattes, Belgian chocolate drinks, and persimmon smoothies. Yes, it's late fall, and winter is coming ( Read more... ) -
Someone does not like the new brand of cat litter...
... and that Someone expressed her feelings by pissing on the dirty clothes in the washer. -
Five things make a post
1. This evening, I started learning how to paint lotuses. I subtly let the instructor know that I wanted to work on this by taking a lotus-painting book from the shelf and attempting to replicate what I saw inside ( Read more... ) -
Chasing Butterflies at the Pool
In swim class, we started learning the dolphin kick. The instructor showed us how to bend the knees, then smack the water hard with both feet, while lifting the butt in the air. He explained all this in Korean. Due to my poor listening comprehension, what I heard was, "BlahBlahBlah... knees... blahblah BUTT... BUTT... BUTT goes UP!"
(I ( Read more... ) -
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So last night, I went to a swimming class at the public pool. Maybe people don't forget how to ride a bike, but I seem to have forgotten most of what I learned about swimming as a kid. I ended up in the very beginners' class, where you practice kicking and holding your head underwater (without snorting chlorine). I understood only a fraction of ( Read more... ) -
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Classes started again yesterday. Turns out that my "new" fifth graders are mostly the third graders I taught two years ago, at least at the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday (MTW) school.
Bad Hip does not like standing for forty-minute classes, even with the use of a crutch. I need to consider either sitting down for part or all of the classes ( ( Read more... ) -
Making the familiar strange
Tomorrow, the new school semester starts. I'll be teaching at the same two elementary schools, probably the same grades, and at least mostly the same co-teachers. Now the question is: how do I make things new? I'll probably start off the year with some classroom English before getting into the actual textbook. A self-introduction may or may ( Read more... ) -
medication fail
Took new dose of anti-anxiety med. Had unscheduled four-hour nap, albeit a non-anxious one.
School starts tomorrow. I think I'll skip that particular med. Sleep-teaching is generally frowned-upon.