Skip to main content

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant" -Robert Louis Stevenson

 The past couple of weeks have both flown and crept by.  I've been working on focusing on the "long game"--what impacts I can have in the longer term as well as savoring the small victories that I have along the way.  So what's been happening recently?  

I started my lunchtime literacy at school.  We've had a couple of good meetings, but then room accessibility became an issue and so they stopped for a bit.  Hopefully, I will start again tomorrow.  I had one of those great teacher moments this week when we were doing a whole-class lesson on marking short and long vowels (using the breve and macron).  My counterpart would say a word and students would write it on their whiteboard and then add in the symbols.  One of my lunchtime students proudly called me over and said "Miss, Miss!  I made the dots!"  The dots are used when we practice aural segmenting--I say a word then students write a dot for every sound they hear in the word, then they add the letters that are making each of those sounds in order to spell the word.  So here was Lucas, listening to the word, writing the dots, and then adding the letters.  I was so damn proud of him.  😊 

I often find myself having these moments where I realize ALL of the knowledge that I take for granted as an adult.  Like how to read--especially how to decode and code words.  And math!  I was in grade 6 maths and we were working on fractions and multiplying multi-digit numbers and realizing that I take for granted how all those times tables are just stuck in my brain now.  I'm also learning "new math"--any of you with kids know what I'm talking about.  Multiplication and division aren't taught the way that we learned them; so I find myself quickly figuring out how they are supposed to do problems before I help them.  During a grade 2 lesson on regrouping this week, a student simply declared "there are so many things in my mind right now!"  You said it all, kiddo.  😆

I finished up an online class on the systematic and explicit instruction of phonics.  This was not a required class, but I think any of you who know me will appreciate that I really wanted to feel better equipped to teach my students.  So while I am still very, very, very far from being somewhat trained in literacy education, I do feel a little more confident in my abilities and the tools I can pull from my teaching toolkit.  I also had to take 2 trips to the Peace Corps office in the last two weeks for vaccinations (my 2nd rabies vaccination and my COVID vax).  Those trips are exhausting--it's so much time on the bus and the trip from home to the capitol always gets me really car sick.  So this week when I was there, I treated myself to a delicious coffee milkshake.  It might have been the best shake I've ever had in my life (I took a picture of it, for goodness sake!).  Honestly, it was such a TREAT.  

There's still a lot of things that are challenging to deal with; while I remain committed to keeping this blog honest and real, please appreciate that there things that just aren't appropriate for me to share in a public space.  I continue to find ways to cope (including recharging in the ocean) and I send out many thanks and so much love to all of you from far away who support me in the most amazing ways.  I appreciate you so very much.  💓💓




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver

Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog.  I am excited to share my Peace Corps journey with you all!   When I tell people that I'm going to serve in the Peace Corps, there is usually an initial reaction of "that's really great" followed by something along the lines of "and at your age!"  It's true--I am in definitely in the minority in terms of age when it comes to volunteers--only about 7% of volunteers are over 50.  Serving was something that I wanted to do after college, but for several reasons, the time wasn't right.  Fast forward a couple decades and I find myself called to service and in a place personally and professionally where I am able to answer the call.   So in just a couple months, I'll pack everything into a storage unit and move to the Eastern Caribbean for twenty-seven months.  I'll be serving as an English literacy resource volunteer in a primary school.   Watch this space--my goal is to share my experiences...
5 comments
Read more

“The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.” ― May Sarton

 I’m writing this on the last day of our spring break.  We had two weeks off, and for reasons that are a whole story in and of themselves, I couldn’t travel off island.  So here I’ve been—all too aware of the last time I had so much time off of work and how I ended up in a not-so-awesome mental space.  But this time was different—I made a very deliberate choice to engage in “conscious escapism”.  Usually, escapism is a mechanism to avoid dealing with reality and the feelings associated with reality.  Conscious escapism, in contrast, recognizes the feelings and emotions followed by temporary solace in your activities of choice.   For me, that has meant that every day I’m still practicing mindfulness and meditation, but then I just sort of “checked out” for the majority of the day by watching telly or reading.  I did spend some time working on projects for my return to PLU because I’ve missed that work and it nourishes me in a way that nothing here ...
2 comments
Read more

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience" Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I decided to apply to serve in the Peace Corps (PC), I knew that it was going to be a lengthy process.  It was late in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic surged ahead, and I was still doing my job from my living room.  There were a lot of uncertainties--not only in my life, but for everyone, everywhere.   One of the positive outcomes of the pandemic was that Peace Corps had a lot of online panels, workshops, and meeting opportunities.  I took full advantage of these!  In addition to attending panels with returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), I also went to online office hours with my local PC recruiter from Seattle.  PC provided a fantastic resume and personal statement workshop; and the local recruiter read over both and gave me feedback.  I also got feedback from colleagues; for anyone thinking about applying, I  strongly encourage  you to solicit impact from multiple folks on your application materials.  I finally submitted my...
5 comments
Read more