with no alarms and no surprises

Here we are at the beginning of another month. It's hard to think where time goes. Perhaps I'll just start contemplating it in a Slaughterhouse Five cyclical kind of way and then nothing will seem to pass quickly but to go and come as moments might or should.

Where should I begin. My Regional Manager came and visited last Thursday. The visit went well. By all accounts my seventh form acted quite well in front of him. There were some outbursts and I know that they were putting on a brave face and liking what we were doing for the sake of getting it done because he was there. But despite my discipline issues with them it was a good visit. My Manager gave me some hints as to how to improve my teaching and what I could do to help with discipline and varied skill levels in the classroom. And then we talked with my director which was a really great talk. She expressed her thankfulness not only at having a full time volunteer but also at having me as their volunteer which was really great. I was finally able to thank them for all that they have done for me thus far. So, mission accomplished visit finished for the time being and thus happy Kari and happy school.

The weekend was quiet, finally, I finished the book my mom sent and am down to my last english language book, though we'll see how that pans out in the next couple weeks. Another volunteer says she's going to give me some so that could be great. The highlight was getting to talk to my family. As my parents are in Detroit this weekend I got passed around the breakfast table and loved hearing from everyone in teh room. Beyond that, let's see, had another meeting with my director and vice-director today. They asked me about teaching English to someone in teh community one or two hours per week. I, of course, said yes. And I'll be doing one hour of English teaching with my director as well per week. All of this is good, a nice and varied schedule will keep me going and moving. I do best when I'm working a lot, well maybe not too much. But I do need things to keep me busy so I don't fall into a rut. The best thing for me is to have to work my hours right in a row. nevertheless, they also let me know that the cleaning lady is going to be coming into my place once a week to clean everything for me, vacuum, wash the bathroom etc. More reason for me to keep a tidy household instead of waiting til I have the time to actually get the cleaning done. I feel so spoiled, they often cook for me and now the cleaning. I told them that I did it on my own, they lured me in with the prospect of having it vacuumed once per week and then added that she'd also be cleaning other things as well. I'm trying to accept their graciousness by paying them back by working for them as much as possible in many domains.

Let's see what else. . . the discipline is still an issue and it makes me feel like a bad teacher. I'm trying not to let it get me down and help my students with something that only I can do with them. And so this month in 7th form is pronunciation month. I'm coming up with different pronunciation games and activities to try and help the accent. Unfortunately, i feel like I'm going to be met with some resistance. Each week this month, I'm going to be giving them a tongue twister to memorize. They will be able to read it on Monday/Tuesday with me and then will present it to the class on Friday, my hope is to have them turn into teachers. So that when they present the tongue twister on Friday they will have the class repeat it after them and then they will be able to help the class with their pronunciation as I have helped them. In between the time when I am helping each student I'm going to try and get different listening activities or something like this that the students can do. . . . we'll see it's still in the nest of my thinking.

A big long journal entry about pedagogical things, what can I say. The snow is melting and I'm crossing my fingers that this is it, this is spring. I can see pavement and ground, but there are still plenty of snow mounds. The school dog has taken to sleeping outside my room/apartment, I'm going to buy him some dog treats this week. He scratches the outside mat and groans when he wants me to come out and pet him.

Well, love and hugs to all.