I love languages!
I love being able to speak more than one! I wish I could speak more than 2 :) I want to learn more.
I speak English and Spanish, I have very very rusty French.
To my languages, I would like to add: Italian, Portuguese and German! Also, I would like to improve my French so I can actually have a conversation. But how does one go about this in such a monolingual country??
Anyone wanna shout me a 5 year travel the world ticket? hehehe That way I could live in Italy, Germany, France and Brazil for a year each and then travel up through the rest of Latin America!! Oh that would be amazing!! :)
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
The price I gladly pay...
"You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."
When I first read this quote, I finally felt 'at home.' Or at least it gave me some peace. Knowing that I'll never feel 'at home' again, and that it is actually ok, is somewhat comforting.
After living overseas, and living on both islands here, I have really struggled with what and where exactly 'home' is. I feel at home in so many different places. When I think about where I want to live in the future, I can't make a decision, so many places have a claim on my affections. I could be happy anywhere. It's hard having friends in lots of places and not being able to see them regularly, but I guess that just gives me a better reason to go traveling!!
I do love and know people in many places, therefore my heart will always be somewhere else. At the moment, I'm feeling bold enough to say that I'm glad to pay that price. I may change my mind at a later date, but to have lived my life, and to love so many people, I am truly grateful.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
My observation of reading and academic ability... (not scientifically proven that I know of, just my observations)
I love reading, I want other people to love reading too!! Reading is so amazing for you.
At school, I teach 2 English classes, one upper stream, one lower stream - both are the same year level. The upper stream class all read, they seem to enjoy reading; they often have what I would consider more 'adult' books with them. Some of them are prolific readers and have a new book every week. As learners, they are motivated, they grasp most concepts quite quickly, they ask loads of relevant questions and they want to be there.
The lower stream class is the complete opposite. Oh my goodness!! It can be such a struggle to get them to read!! I try and find interesting material, easier-to-read material, short stories, song lyrics. They hate reading. They often get no 'success' and it takes them ages to read the story, then they lose interest. They're not strong readers at all. I fight an uphill battle with them every class. I try to get little snippets of written text into class so they do have to read something, eg, written instructions for a task, etc, but even this is abandoned by many. As learners, they are often all over the place. They are generally not as motivated to be there, they take a while to grasp new concepts and they ask loads of questions - in their favour, some of these questions are awesome and really insightful, but so many are unrelated questions. It can be quite difficult!
My observation basically has a lot to do with reading: Reading and academic ability, to some degree, go hand in hand. Obviously reading is NOT the only factor, not by a long way. But I think it is huge. Somewhere along the way, some students have 'slipped through the cracks' with their reading, they haven't 'kept up' with their peers. It makes me wonder: would these students still be in the lower stream class if they enjoyed reading? How much does reading affect their work? their concentration? their overall level of achievement? And finally, what can I do to make reading less strenuous and more enjoyable? What would it take to get these kids to that place where they actually want to read in their own time??
...I guess this is where I get to do some more work, some more professional reading to get more ideas to try and help my class.
At school, I teach 2 English classes, one upper stream, one lower stream - both are the same year level. The upper stream class all read, they seem to enjoy reading; they often have what I would consider more 'adult' books with them. Some of them are prolific readers and have a new book every week. As learners, they are motivated, they grasp most concepts quite quickly, they ask loads of relevant questions and they want to be there.
The lower stream class is the complete opposite. Oh my goodness!! It can be such a struggle to get them to read!! I try and find interesting material, easier-to-read material, short stories, song lyrics. They hate reading. They often get no 'success' and it takes them ages to read the story, then they lose interest. They're not strong readers at all. I fight an uphill battle with them every class. I try to get little snippets of written text into class so they do have to read something, eg, written instructions for a task, etc, but even this is abandoned by many. As learners, they are often all over the place. They are generally not as motivated to be there, they take a while to grasp new concepts and they ask loads of questions - in their favour, some of these questions are awesome and really insightful, but so many are unrelated questions. It can be quite difficult!
My observation basically has a lot to do with reading: Reading and academic ability, to some degree, go hand in hand. Obviously reading is NOT the only factor, not by a long way. But I think it is huge. Somewhere along the way, some students have 'slipped through the cracks' with their reading, they haven't 'kept up' with their peers. It makes me wonder: would these students still be in the lower stream class if they enjoyed reading? How much does reading affect their work? their concentration? their overall level of achievement? And finally, what can I do to make reading less strenuous and more enjoyable? What would it take to get these kids to that place where they actually want to read in their own time??
...I guess this is where I get to do some more work, some more professional reading to get more ideas to try and help my class.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Stuff
I have a love/hate relationship with 'stuff'.
I want to accumulate it all and surround myself with heaps of stuff so that I'll never need anything ever again.
Yet at the same time, I want to get rid of it all and become a minimalist. I enjoy going overseas where I don't have all my stuff, and just get by with what I've got.
I'm thinking these thoughts as my impending migration north draws closer. I have less than 2 months to sort out my stuff, decide what to keep and what to chuck. I want to keep it all, but I know I could live just as easily without it all! (On a side note... Christmas is in 2 months, yay!!)
I have books, dvds, clothes (ok, they're kinda important, I need to keep those - but I do have a lot of them!), shoes, more books, bookshelf, drawers, cooking equipment - cake tins, slow cooker, pasta maker, bowls. Some of these things I do use regularly, some not so. I don't want to get rid of them though, only to need to buy them again in 3 months, that's a frivolous waste of money (I'm quite cheap too). Ok, admittedly, none of my stuff is high-tech, it's all cheap, but it's stuff I own nonetheless!
Is this a moral dilemma? Material possessions. What's the point? They're not worth anything.
I can't take them with me when I die.
I want to accumulate it all and surround myself with heaps of stuff so that I'll never need anything ever again.
Yet at the same time, I want to get rid of it all and become a minimalist. I enjoy going overseas where I don't have all my stuff, and just get by with what I've got.
I'm thinking these thoughts as my impending migration north draws closer. I have less than 2 months to sort out my stuff, decide what to keep and what to chuck. I want to keep it all, but I know I could live just as easily without it all! (On a side note... Christmas is in 2 months, yay!!)
I have books, dvds, clothes (ok, they're kinda important, I need to keep those - but I do have a lot of them!), shoes, more books, bookshelf, drawers, cooking equipment - cake tins, slow cooker, pasta maker, bowls. Some of these things I do use regularly, some not so. I don't want to get rid of them though, only to need to buy them again in 3 months, that's a frivolous waste of money (I'm quite cheap too). Ok, admittedly, none of my stuff is high-tech, it's all cheap, but it's stuff I own nonetheless!
Is this a moral dilemma? Material possessions. What's the point? They're not worth anything.
I can't take them with me when I die.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Bad habits
A really bad habit of mine which is kinda leftover from my uni days... is procrastination!
I thought I'd overcome that little evil... but turns out I haven't.
Now, I'm working, I'm a teacher. What I do reflects not only on me but on others. Actually, what I do is for others. So if I procrastinate and don't do my work, it's not myself I'm letting down, but it's those others.
I have so much to do right now, so much marking. This is their future I'm holding onto. I really need to get my marking done. I don't know how urgently it needs to be done, but I feel guilty for every day that goes past that I haven't done it because of my excellent procrastination skills.
Why couldn't I have picked something else to be really skilled at? Like time management, maybe?? hehe :)
I thought I'd overcome that little evil... but turns out I haven't.
Now, I'm working, I'm a teacher. What I do reflects not only on me but on others. Actually, what I do is for others. So if I procrastinate and don't do my work, it's not myself I'm letting down, but it's those others.
I have so much to do right now, so much marking. This is their future I'm holding onto. I really need to get my marking done. I don't know how urgently it needs to be done, but I feel guilty for every day that goes past that I haven't done it because of my excellent procrastination skills.
Why couldn't I have picked something else to be really skilled at? Like time management, maybe?? hehe :)
Saturday, October 20, 2012
An odd desire to blog...
So for some really unknown reason, I decided to look up my old blog and see if it was still there. It was. After not posting for over 4 years, my blog still exists. Crazy!
I then spent way too long reading through all my old posts and the comments from friends. Ah nostalgia!
And wow, life has changed heaps, I've moved on, people have moved on, etc. But so much is still the same.
Reading through posts and comments, seeing glimpses of the friendships that were, reliving some of the ups and downs of my uni days... it made me aware of how much I appreciated my friends, how much I still do appreciate all those people who took time out of their days to talk to me, read my posts, hang out. I really did love calling these people friends.
This has also made me feel a sense of loss. I am not really in contact with all those same people. Some, yes; but most, no. Sad. But life has to move on, it has to change. I'm sad that some things have changed in the ways they have. But mostly, I'm content with life, I can't complain.
The fact that my blog still exists and hasn't been automatically deleted through complete lack of activity has amused me somewhat, and given me an odd desire to start posting again! I still have loads of random thoughts, questions, complaints, 'ponderings' that I can send into the the great abyss that is the internet. On publishing these things to my blog, I don't expect that anyone will read them, but there's some kind of hollow sense of fulfillment just knowing that my thoughts are out there somewhere in the world :)
This could be the start of my re-emergence in the world of blogging! Exciting :)
On a completely unrelated note, there's hardly any exclamation marks in this post. What a good effort on my part! :)
I then spent way too long reading through all my old posts and the comments from friends. Ah nostalgia!
And wow, life has changed heaps, I've moved on, people have moved on, etc. But so much is still the same.
Reading through posts and comments, seeing glimpses of the friendships that were, reliving some of the ups and downs of my uni days... it made me aware of how much I appreciated my friends, how much I still do appreciate all those people who took time out of their days to talk to me, read my posts, hang out. I really did love calling these people friends.
This has also made me feel a sense of loss. I am not really in contact with all those same people. Some, yes; but most, no. Sad. But life has to move on, it has to change. I'm sad that some things have changed in the ways they have. But mostly, I'm content with life, I can't complain.
The fact that my blog still exists and hasn't been automatically deleted through complete lack of activity has amused me somewhat, and given me an odd desire to start posting again! I still have loads of random thoughts, questions, complaints, 'ponderings' that I can send into the the great abyss that is the internet. On publishing these things to my blog, I don't expect that anyone will read them, but there's some kind of hollow sense of fulfillment just knowing that my thoughts are out there somewhere in the world :)
This could be the start of my re-emergence in the world of blogging! Exciting :)
On a completely unrelated note, there's hardly any exclamation marks in this post. What a good effort on my part! :)
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