Month: May 2011

  • Spinning Report Card Comments

    I’m on the outside this term, watching my colleagues grapple with report cards from facebook and twitter sidelines while I play with Jack who is now a little over 4 months old. Look how cute he is :)

    goodmorningsunshine

    One of my colleagues posted this video today and it made me think about those comments we come up with for those students who we sometimes just wish would sit down. keep quiet, make nice, follow the rules already. How much less the world could be if they did.

    Enjoy.

  • Another lesson from baby Jack about trying to do too much

    Remember my post about how much I love tutoring? Well, I do love it. The thing is, I realized that I wasn’t ready to be away from Jack for even a few hours. I quickly began to resent the preparation, not the tutoring prep, that’s fun :) but the having to pump milk, driving him out to my parents, and then the tired drive home in the evening. And all the while just wanting to hang on the couch with my Jacklet because late afternoon is our best nap time :) So I’ve decided to enjoy my time off with Jack until I really have to go back to work.

    Have I told y’all that I love him so very much? Each day he becomes more of who he is. Yesterday he was crying crying crying then noticed his foot and calmed himself down by holding it and looking at it. There’s got to be a lesson from baby Jack in there. Something about stopping to smell the roses and enjoying what we have around us. Hmmm…I can also apply that to deciding not to tutor after all, can’t I?

  • Clear eyes and a full heart go for teaching, too.

    Clear eyes.
    Full heart.
    Can’t lose.

    Trite football cheer from a tv show, perhaps but all the same, I’d say it’s ‘how-to-be-a-good-teacher’ in a cheer.

    Clear eyes – stay focused on what it is you need to do: Teach kids, work towards deeper understandings, create learners.

    Full heart – love what you do and who you teach and work with: Be passionate about what it is you need to do.

    Can’t lose. – living those first two parts of the cheer are what I strive for. If I live that, I win.

  • I love tutoring :)

    **Cross-posted at Camping out with Tracy & Jack**

    Oops! I neglected to write about this! I had forgotten how much I love tutoring. I met Eunice and Eugene (not their real names but if I ever have twins I may just need to torture them with those names – delightful!) on Wednesday and the 2 hours flew by. They are both very excited about their new lives in Canada. Eugene was quick to show me the practice puck he managed to nab when he saw the Canadians win over the Bruins in game 6 (maybe he should have brought his luck along with him and attended game 7…) and said that he couldn’t wait to learn how to play hockey. Eunice was bubbling over with the French words she already knows, though she was always quick to remind me that she doesn’t understand it all that much.

    I’ve been to them now 3 times and they really are a delight to work with. I thought that an hour would be too long for little Eunice who is 6 but actually the time allows me to be generous with the few minutes of downtime she needs between the reinforcing and learning of new concepts.

    Yesterday I was tired and just wanted to lie on the couch with my little Jacky Boy in my arms but once I got to their house I was fine. I guess this is good practice for September when I will be (hopefully) working full time.