18 posts tagged “school”

Last autumn, I started a distance learning program for my master's in children's literature.  The first classes I took were Critical and Theoretical Perspectives and Research Methods.  CTP made my brain hurt but in a good way.  I was always felt a little off, like I had missed a major memo and was constantly playing catch-up.  The papers made me incredibly anxious and a lot of the time I wondered how on earth I had been accepted to this program when it was so obviously over my head.  Nevermind that the professor who was my course tutor (it's a British programme, so the culture shock nearly killed me, talk about divided by a common language) was absolutely fantastic and gave incredibly useful feedback. 
When it came time to write the final paper, I actually got my collective self together enough to submit a draft.  That's probably a first for me since my junior year of college and it was a required part of hmmm, interestingly enough, that course was Research Methods. Anyways, I submitted a draft about two weeks before the due date and the feedback was essentially (but phrased much more diplomatically), "I'm so glad you submitted this with enough time to rewrite it".  It ended up that I was road-tripping through California with a very good friend of mine who was a lit major in college.  So, the day the paper was due (and I was going with a nine hour time difference NOT in my favor), we sat at our friend's gorgeous house in Napa (I was the world's worst houseguest that visit and made my travelling friend also be a lousy houseguest that day) and spent the day writing my paper.  I had thought enough about it, but I still needed TLA to help me focus and write and re-write. The paper got written, but oh boy, I do not want to go through that again.  We printed it out at our hostess' husband's office. I e-mailed it in by the deadline and posted the requisite two copies off in San Francisco the next morning.  Talk about a team effort! I got my results this past October.  I found this a touch annoying that I didn't get my results until after I had paid for and started my next courses.  Research Methods had a paper as well and that was due back in June and those results also arrived in October.  So, on a sunny day in early October (after re-routing to my school address) DHL delivered an envelope from my grad school. I was so nervous that I had one of my friends open the envelope.  She read the letter and let me know that I had passed both my classes.  I just about threw up I was so excited. And relieved. 
So, now I'm taking another class with this programme.  This one is Poetry for Children.  And I have been much more careful with deadlines.  I submitted my first assignment on the due date and got the feedback later that week.  The way the classes are set up is that you have three to four assignments that are ungraded and then one or two major papers that are.  Even though the assignments aren't graded, the feedback is really important because you are setting benchmarks for your work and letting the tutor know that you are keeping up with the readings or just have a clue in general as to what's going on.  I am still incredibly anxious about the papers, graded or not, so it took me (can I just say that the Classic Rock station I am listening to through iTunes rocks!?!?! It's one of those live365.com stations) until this morning to open the comments that the professor sent me on the 29th.  I have to get over the anxiety because the feedback was awesome!  At this point, I think the professors have more faith in my ability to this work than I do.  But, obviously, children's literature is my thing.  I know that I've got to do better on my next assignments because I wasn't proud of the work I submitted this go around, I was just happy to submit it on time, but hot damn, I do know what I'm doing.  Part of it is that this is what I do.  I am immersed in children's literature through my work and my own interest in it and have been for well over ten years at this point, so I should be good at this.  But, wow, I'm actually starting to have confidence in my opinions and views. And it's showing in my work at school (my job school, not my academic school), I'm doing more with my students and I'm excited about sharing with my students.  I'm bringing more poetry in and next week, I'm going to start introducing the reception children to French nursery rhymes. A lot of our reception age students are Francophone and sometimes I lose them a bit with the English language picture books, so I've been wanting to do more French with them. 
The other classes that I'm taking are First Steps Writing (required for all our teachers) and EAL (English as an Additional Language) for Young Learners.  I've already taken the generic version of this class, but this one is geared towards my students, so it will be more useful.  I like stretching my brain. And I hear it burns calories.  But it does mean that I am pretty absorbed by work and classes right now.  Good thing I like to read.

edited for paragraph breaks. hope it's easier to read. :)  

I really just don't have much to say, not that that has ever stopped me from typing drivel before.  I was off Twitter for a while, too.  Then I checked and the number of people following me had jumped by fifty percent.  Not because I was tweeting (because I wasn't) nor based on the quality of my tweets before I stopped (because most of them have to do with being tired or procrastination).  No, it was just a whole bunch of people I know joined twitter.  So, now I'm following them, too.  But not if they tweet too often.  If you crowd out everyone else I'm following with too many tweets, you will not make it through to the next round of Twitter Survivor (played exactly like Facebook Survivor and MySpace Survivor). 

I am getting ready for Morocco.  Eight nights at the SurfMaroc villa and lessons.  I hope it goes well.  This whole doing stuff by myself thing really blows, but it's still better than staying home with the cat.  Not that I mind being at home with the cat, but there's just this huge, amazing world out there and I want to see it.  The cat doesn't.  So, she stays home, and I pack my bags.  I need to e-mail the villa and find out exactly what I need to bring.  Towels?  Deffo sunscreen and good conditioner.  I know it's still two weeks away, but the only way I (and everyone else at my school) will make it through the next week, is if I keep moving forward to coming back from Tagazhout in one piece.  (yeah, at this point, I'm anxious enough about the experience that I'm looking forward to my return from there when it all be a happy(?) memory, preferably sans sunburn).  So, roll on mid-April!

It's another happy day at my school.  We're all watching the parking lot and street, though.  Those wacky Tamils have planned dueling protests.  One here and one in Brussels.  It means that they're only expecting 10,000 people instead of 20,000 like last time, so here we are. 
As I took the bus up the hill this morning, they were putting their posters up.  They're looking pretty professional. 
It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Geneva.  Just brisk enough that the walk up from the Quai Wilson will feel good.  Gorgeous day for a protest, all in all. 

A little more than two weeks after jokingly bemoaning the lack of a good protest or riot so I could have a day off from school, I got one.  My school is closed tomorrow because they are expecting 20,000 people at the Place des Nations.  Two weeks ago, protesters began gathering on the plaza in front of the United Nations where they keep the broken chair (something to do with land mine victims).  The protesters waved signs, held banners and used a megaphone in protest of purported genocide of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan government.  The protesters were calling for UN intervention and an investigation.  (This is my understanding based on taking the bus past the square each morning and evening)  Each day as we neared the break, the protest seemed to be gathering steam.  More and more people seemed to be joining.  And then I went on holiday and didn't cross to this side of the lake for a week.  At the end of that week, a young man, as part of the protests against the killing of his people, set himself on fire and burned to death.  I have very conflicting opinions on the wisdom of immolating oneself in protest of murder, but as there are TWENTY THOUSAND people expected in Geneva tomorrow to march in his memory, it certainly was an effective way of getting his message out to a wider audience.  One of the churches is having a memorial service for him with a march to the Place des Nations afterwards.  (I think.  I am getting this information from people who heard it from someone's husband who got an e-mail forwarded from...)  I feel the most sorry for the people who were there who couldn't help him, couldn't put out the fire in time.  I can't imagine being a witness to that.  I can't imagine wanting to see anything again after that. 
I don't like having a day off school because of protests, as much as I kid about it.  Days off for these events always make me feel anxious.  My stomach hurts, I totally lose my appetite and all I want to do is sleep until it is over.  Instead, I will do the mundane tasks that fall to the living, like going to the Hotel des Finances with my Swiss tax stuff and taking out the recycling.  Just keep breathing, just keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Thanksgiving is my very favorite government mandated holiday.  It really distills the joy and spirit of America.  I am so proud of my country and so thankful for my family and friends.  The presidential election really refreshed the optimism and idealism that not only can we do better for our countrymen, but we will.

I always get homesick on Thanksgiving Day because more years than not, my extended family gets together and it seems that everyone is there except me.  This year, I took matters into my own hands.  I suggested a Thanksgiving lunch with my colleagues to one of my American co-workers.  She embraced the idea and sprinted with it.  She took care of the turkey, gravy and two kinds of stuffing.  I stuck up a sign-up sheet and sent out an e-mail.  The tables in the staff room groaned under the platters and dishes and bottles.  Desserts were moved to the low tables by the couches because there was no room on dining tables  The adults at my school are just so lovely and we really do like each other.  I was looking around while we were eating at the clusters of friends chatting.  We've done potlucks before for birthdays and babies, but there's something special about taking a deliberate moment to appreciate one another and be thankful for each other. 

I know that schools run into controversy because students are taught the incorrect history of the holiday.  I think that if we taught the true history of Thanksgiving, we would all be better off.  Celebrating the harvest and days of plenty is wonderful, but even better is that our Thanksgiving holiday in its current manifestation came out of the Civil War as a way to come together as a whole nation to celebrate our good fortune in being American.

I got back from Australia in one piece with all my baggage (it was looking a little dicey there for a while, but thanks to Helen, it all worked out!).  Was kindly met at the airport by TLA, went home, said hi to the cat and died.  I got up Friday and ran errands and the rest of the weekend is a bit of a blur.  Monday, it was in to work.  By Thursday, it was the Open House when students could come and meet their teachers.  We had a Ped Day (in-service day) on Friday and I started planning with some teachers.  Ran a ton of errands yesterday, went in to work and then out to dinner and drinks with TLA, her mom and another friend to celebrate TLA's birthday.  She and her mom are off to northern France today on a road trip.  I should have gotten up and gotten more stuff done, but somehow, it was around ten thirty, all I did was move to the futon and watch episodes of Bones season 1 all day.  Now at least, I am dressed and ready for Mass with a friend and then we will have dinner.
Tomorrow, September first begins a 90 day no buy attempt.  I have paid for grad school, I have bought everything I should possibly need for the rest of my lifetime.  Exceptions to this attempt are, of course, groceries, my bus pass, my swim pass and twenty francs per week for coffee/drinks with friends.  In addition, alcohol is off the grocery list.  I can drink the stuff I already have, but I'm not buying any more for the next ninety days. I will try to be social, but I'm  not really feeling it at the moment.  I'm dog tired and I ache. 
I'm really excited to start school again with my students.  I can't wait to see how they've grown and hear about their summers. 
I have a quite a few catch-up posts and will add some photos as well.  Eventually.

Here I am in Berlin.  Every three years, librarians from International schools (and some public schools, usually with former international school librarians or running one of the IB programs) get together in some frigid city (Budapest, Prague, Berlin) and catch up, meet with authors/storytellers, and hear excellent speakers.  As with any conference for and by educators, there is a lot of edu-speak.  My latest most hated word? Unpack.  Let me unpack that concept for you; later, we're going to unpack this theory...  I've decided that if you didn't want to actually learn something or just didn't in general give a shit, you could totally drink your way through an educational conference; of course, even with just this one word, you'd be passed out by morning coffee/croissant break.  So, uh, no, I would not be playing. 

I am in Berlin, as I was in Vienna last February (PYP librarians' training) with my laptop.  This is an old Compaq I bought secondhand.  It has a Swiss keyboard and a Swiss plug.  This would be the second conference in a row that I have forgotten that most countries do not cater to Swiss plugs or have adaptors for them.  I also forgot the cable for my iPod, but I did bring the cable for my camera (and yes, I did bring the camera, too, but it was totally by accident). I was able to find an electronics store and bought a whole new cable, so I am set for either Germany or Holland now with this laptop.  Also, I walked out of my apartment without my passport, remembered before I got on the bus, but a friend of mine is feeding the cat, so at least I don't have to worry about that.  Right, G? Right?

A colleague of mine and I have almost booked a fabulous storyteller for next Spring which should be lots of fun.  Margaret Read MacDonald is wonderful and until I saw the book on her display, I didn't make the connection between this woman and the MRM who re-told Fat Cat, which is a Danish folktale and so much fun to read with the my students. 

In other conference news, I get to hear the magnificent Theresa Breslin speak again.  And there's some guy who won a lifetime achievement award from both ALA and the Catholic Library Association, but from the blurry press-pack photo, he looks like he's my age.  If 30-somethings are receiving lifetime achievement awards, we've got a real problem.  So, it should be as good a conference as I expected.

Oh, and guess who got out of bed before seven this morning to use the treadmill upstairs?!  The mirrors in this hotel are terrible.  Really glad I packed my stuff. 

I am officially on holiday.  School got out at 12:15 and we were all counting down the minutes.  Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch.  Many thanks to our PTA who sponsored the lunch for us and thank you to little lizzie for one of the highlight moments of my week. 

I had a raging headache for most of the day, so I took a nap when I got home.  I felt a little better when I got up.  And then I went to Cyril's!  Yes, it was another hair appointment day!  Because he was still working with a client, he had a colleague wash my hair.  It was twenty minutes of shampoo, comfortably hot water and massage.  Wonderful.  Hair cut's great, same old same old and then I met a couple friends for drinks across the street at Bar 16.  I was home by nine, in bed by eleven.  What a great day!

NOW, I have to write my to-do list and shopping list.  Tomorrow, I will clean. 

Can someone call my mom and have her come pick me up from school?  I'm ready to crawl under my desk for a nap.  Yesterday, my friend, whose class is across the hall, started off the day five students down and lost three more by the end of it.  This morning, the one Post article I read over my tea was about the adenovirus that has mutated and is now the killer common cold.  Nevermind, that only marginally fewer people die from vending machines tipping over on them than this adenovirus, but hey, it's a headline. 
This week has actually been great so far.  I've enjoyed the classes thus far, nothing has been overly difficult or strenuous and there's a party to go to Wednesday, tea on Thursday and wine tasting after that.  Not to mention that Friday, we're going to find out if there really is such a thing as a free lunch. 
I managed to get all my secret santa stuff done in a timely fashion, though I don't think the recipient has yet discovered the little stash of gifts for her ON TOP OF THE STAFFROOM MAILBOXES!!!!!  She reads this blog, but I don't think she'll have time to read it before we have our afternoon tea.  The secretary is expecting there to be champagne and caviar, I hope she's not holding her breath.  This could be a disappointing afternoon for a lot of people! 'Tis the season of dashed hopes and lowered expectations, though. 

Oven should be ready for the little apero tarts.  And lest you think that I am epicuring it at school, I am merely sliding them out of the box, onto a tray and into the oven.  I shall wait the appropriate amount of time and then take them out of the oven (turning it off in the process) and put them on a plate, careful to keep the veggie separated from the non-veggie.  Voila! Savories are served!

Yesterday, my school had a ped day.  The students didn't have classes, instead the teachers went to workshops and had meetings.  My morning was spent listening to current research on the Holocaust.  It wasn't quite what I expected in the sense that it was *way* academic and the professor didn't seem to know what his point was.  It was exactly what I expected in that it was a total downer because, like, a workshop on the Holocaust is ever going to be uplifting?  The three boxes that they used to try to put people in; bystander, perpetrator or victim, are too black and white to really work.  As was pointed out, you could be both victim and perpetrator, and the bystanders are guilty as well. 

There's a sociology text called the Altruistic Personality that examines Jew Rescuers and Resistance movements in World War II.  It's hard to ever be truly altruistic, but one must have been in order to sacrifice one's own life so deliberately and willfully for others who were often strangers. Anyways, to contemplate into which box I would fall if I had been alive then is too frightening for me to explore with any amount of depth.  I recommend reading Greater Than Angels and The Book Thief, instead. 

It's a gorgeous day today with a light blue sky, not too pale, but not too blue, either, sort of that Cornflower crayon blue with a little more grey.  I had break duty and thankfully, it wasn't too windy.  I think I will try to muster the energy to walk at least partway home after our staff meeting today.  I feel it's been ages since we had one, but I know it hasn't been so long. 

Things to look forward to this week, umm, after Thursday, there will be one less swimming lesson.  I might get to go to the public library for the first time since living here and hopefully, I will be in bed by nine thirty every night.  Oh and my nieces video skyped with me for the first time on Sunday and aside from all the sugar they were on, they were too taken aback by the technology to appreciate fully that it was me they were talking to. ;)  We did it again Monday and it was much more fun!