Tag Archives: students

The gifts just keep coming!

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Okay, I know that I wrote that the next entry was going to be about day-to-day life at FLO (I even started writing it on the bus today en route to the beach), but a news-breaking story has risen up saying, “Write about me! Write about me!”
And so I shall.
This morning around 5:45 a.m. we all gathered in the courtyard area at FLO to board the busses to the beach. But before we could get on the bus, a monsoon level rain began to fall. We waited it out and in their practical way, they managed to move a few groups of students from the “dance” area to a bus by simply having 4-young men tightly hold a tarp at the four corners over the Ss heads. This group carefully moved from point A to point B in a spontaneously choreographed dance.
The rain lessened, the breakfast baguettes were passed out, and we were on our way. Four fully packed busses with 220 ebullient and euphoric children (and a healthy dose of adults—the teachers, administrators, and volunteers) made their way to Ochheuteal beach, a beach that reminded me of Waimanalo some.
We made a stop at a park area where in years past the children were able to go swimming. Today that was not to be; the river was simply flowing too swiftly for any chance for a dip. It didn’t seem to dampen their mood at all. We lounged under the raised covered cabanas (complete with hammocks), walked out onto the flat table-top-rock adjacent to the stream, took picture after picture of this and that (the Ss LOVE having their picture taken), and generally just had a fun, festive time.
Afterwards, the drive continued for about another 2-hours. On bus number 2 (aka “the party bus” !) the microphone came out of hiding and several Ss came to the front (where I luckily was sitting) for an impromptu singing performance. I recorded some video of one lovely lass (yes, one of my Ss : ), and I’ll see if I can’t post it for you. I did capture some photos, but I’m just a little too tired at the moment to do the necessary this and that to post them with this entry. They’ll follow when the time is right . . .
We arrived at our hotel, changed into our suits (albeit covered with t-shirts and shorts, they’re quite concerned that the Ss not be exposed to bare shoulders and legs, a protocol which has worked well for them apparently), and headed off for the beach (via the bus) which was only minutes away. After a debriefing, the Ss were set loose to go swimming, play ball, do whatever it is that kids like to do at the beach.
And that’s when I received yet another precious gift on this most magical afternoon.
“Auntie! Auntie!” called out one of my many Ss. “Auntie! Auntie!”
I trudged over to him in the water; he grabbed both of my hands and started jumping up and down. So what does a person do? Start jumping up and down with him!
This little guy is absolutely adorable. For the next 2-hours (or so, I wasn’t wearing a watch, all I know is that we were literally in the water non-stop for the entire time allotted to the students) we jumped over waves, dove under waves, hopped onto passing inter-tubes, climbed onto shoulders (him, not me : ) and the only shoulders climbed upon were mine : ), flipped back into the water, climbed up onto inter-tubes, jumped off with a big splash, and laughed, and laughed and laughed. I don’t know when I last had that much fun in the water.
He never let me out of his sight, and neither did I (lose sight of him, I even watched the bubbles rise when he was under for what seemed like a little too long).
Ends up this was his FIRST time ever in the ocean! Wow, I feel so fortunate to have been the person he chose to be with him and PLAY with him during his first ocean experience (ever!). He yelled out at least 5-times, “I’m so happy!!!!!”, “I’m so happy!!!!!”, “I’m so happy!!!!!”, and simply, “Happy!!!!! Happy!!!! Happy!!!!” I don’t think I’ve ever heard an American kid do the same (or a European one, for that matter).
What an absolute gift.
And he was in pure bliss, living completely and utterly in the moment.
Hmm . . . so many things to take away from this . . . I know what mine are; what are yours?
And here’s a shot of him . . .
Yeah, what a cutie!
Peace, love to you all,
sj

The kids at FLO are beautiful! Or, week one at FLO

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Dear Friends,

The first school week at FLO has just passed. Wow, what an experience it’s been already. I’ve been keeping notes of my observations while teaching–things that have worked, things that haven’t worked, how I’ve adapted when they didn’t, what the differences are between the two classes I teach *on my own (1. Elementary level and 2. Pre-Intermediate & Intermediate levels combined), etc. When I sat down on my bed last night to review what I’d written and add the last bit from yesterday’s classes, it felt as if it’d been a month already since my first entries! Yes, I’m so glad I’m keeping that log because I can see how I would forget so many details otherwise.
Where to start in telling you about FLO?
Well, let’s start with FLO itself.
This is definitely where I’m “meant” to be. Why do I say that? Well, the Hawaii connection for one. It was so very welcoming to arrive at the canteen for my first dinner last Sunday night and see an “Aloha” sign on the wall. In the gift shop area where I stayed the first 2-nights, I saw another sign of Hawaii, King Kamehameha on the Honolulu Rotary Club’s sign. In the library, there are stacks and stacks of books about Hawaii. When opening one of many boxes of things donated to FLO searching for games for the students, I read “donated by Tutu Betty”**. I was opening a box that had come from Hawaii. How many times have I donated things to organizations (many)? And now, here I was on the receiving end. I can tell you as a person looking for any and every resource available for helping these students, I was very appreciative!
Then, on Wednesday evening, a tall, lanky bloke from Australia came sauntering up to the canteen at meal-time. “Is there where we eat, mate?” he asked. Yes, I replied and then asked. Aussie? “G’day mate!” he said simply. (i.e. Yes. : )
Are you here to volunteer teach? “Nope, I’m the cameraman for a crew from Hawaii.”
Yes, from Hawaii.
“Pamela Young’s arriving tomorrow to do a story about FLO.”
Well, whadayouknow?
“I moved back to Australia in February, but my wife and I lived in Hawaii for 15-years. I was a cameraman at KGMB.”
Any chance you knew cameraman Bill?
“Well, of course, mate. I taped his wife when she was an anchor on TV.” (Bill is someone my husband and I’ve worked with many times. Go figure.)
In April 2010, I already had an inkling that I was going to take a sabbatical of sorts. Doing what? I had no idea. Going where? I had no idea. But that I wanted to go, I knew. So one Friday afternoon, ***Rocket Girl and I hiked out to the end of Awa‘awapuhi Trail on Kaua‘i. We’d completed our work for the week (yes, we, dogs play very important roles in getting work done!~) and decided to head up to Koke‘e. After we hiked down the trail to the end where it overlooks Na Pali coast, we sat quietly, taking in the breathtaking views. This would be a good time to meditate, I thought, so I did. I’d just recently checked out my friend Glenn’s meditation called “Basic Activation of the Divine Light Meditation” (see the glob link on the right under the susansbackwardsglob.com link) and had put it on my iPod. It’s an about 10-minute guided meditation, which just clicked with me. At the end, I calmly sat there and just enjoyed feeling peaceful and quiet. And then what seemed the most far out idea at the time just came to me, “Text message all the Divine Souls on the planet that you connect with, who have similar dreams as you.” And I did. Not sure what the message contained; I just trusted that our souls knew what was important. I even mentioned this in an entry in susansbackwardsglob.com in August 2010. Here’s an excerpt:
And I thought of the people in my life who live in Light,
and I thought of the people I don’t yet know who received my text message back in April.
and I thought of how I’m going to meet them and others as one thing leads to another,
one heart leads to another.
Doors will be opened.
Introductions will be made.
And I will find my way around this planet
on the voyage
which will open up
to me.
So here I am at FLO where there’s this wonderful Hawaii connection. And then comes along a cameraman who lived in Hawaii for 15-years (my husband and I have had a video production company on Kaua‘i since 1989; we started in Waikiki in 1986). And I think of the people I’ve met who’ve helped guide me in this direction. And I think of how I’ve taken the time to be still and listen . . . when “deciding” where to go next.
Okay, so back to the main point: FLO.
Rob Hail of Honolulu who’s done incredible work creating eGlobal Family, http://www.eglobalfamily.org/, arrived yesterday. It seems that each year volunteers from Hawaii come to take the children on different excursions. This year it’s a 3-day trip to the beach visiting one waterfall en route and another on the return (Yes, I’m lucky enough to get to go too! There will be 220 children; I think they’ll be happy to have two extra arms and ears.). It just so happened that Rob arrived yesterday. I asked him, “Why FLO?” (for his e-Foster Parent program). He proceeded to tell me how in 2000 he visited many different organizations in SE Asia and found FLO to be a very well organized and focused school (and home) for children.
The founder, Ms. Nuon Phaly, is a most extraordinary woman. On FLO’s site she wrote, “I am being a Cambodian (Khmer National) who loves this country, people, culture and civilization. I wanted to contribute to the recovery and development of the people’s health and knowledge, especially the vulnerable women and their children; I took an initiative to establish a center for helping them out.”
Not only is there a wonderful Hawaii connection at FLO, but FLO itself is a most caring, safe and productive place for children to live and learn. Their education program shows great depth in its variety (Largely due to volunteers who come and donate their time and knowledge to the children; sound interesting to you? Consider volunteering!).
So, in a nutshell, I feel very fortunate to be volunteering at FLO. Having 8-weeks here to teach, I feel that I have enough time to assist the students’ learning and actually make a difference in their lives. Yes, I realize that 2-months is a very short time in the scheme of things, but it is my hope that by using CELTA’s methodology, I will be able to give them some learning skills which will aid them as they continue their studies.
“But what the heck happened this week, Susan Jane????”
A lot.
“Like what?”
Well, how about I show you in pictures?
Coming soon at this very same bat channel . . .
-out,
sj

I made it!

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C’est moi! Fini!

Hi Everyone,

The CELTA course is officially over, and I made it! Fortunately, I ended on a high note with my best practice teaching session ever. I decided that I really wanted to have fun, and I did. I still prepared a lesson plan, still had an idea of what I was going to do and what I needed to cover in order to help the students clearly distinguish the difference between present simple and present continuous (I jump every day. Is this a habit? Yes. So it’s . . . present simple. I am jumping. Am I doing this now? Yes. So it’s . . . present continuous), and still met my aim . . . but THIS time, I had fun!

And I think they did too.

One of my fellow trainees told me, “You had me too; I had to watch to see what was going to happen next.” : )

Now that makes me smile.

“So what’s next?” you ask.

I’m not sure exactly.

I have 4-weeks “free” in Thailand before I report to an orphanage in Cambodia where I’m going to volunteer teach for 8-weeks. They’ve asked me to teach two classes a day: one with Elementary level students and one with Pre-Intermediate students. “The ages of the students?” I’ve been told that the ages will range from 11 to 17. “The class size?” I’ve been told that it might be with 15-20 students or 35 and more. So . . . your guess is as good as mine.

I’m to supplement their regular classes with a curriculum focusing on speaking and writing. My rough sketch is to have a theme for each week, a collection of practical things that they can really use. I’ll take what I learned this last week at CELTA and put it into action. “What are those things?” you ask. Well, for starters, I’ve been told that the students like a rhythm, a pattern, so that they know Wednesday is “story” day and Tuesday is “games” day, etc. Friday will be the “review” day. I think I can use the same theme for each class; I’ll just grade my language (do my best to make it match their level) and adapt the activities for the two different levels.

So, this is where YOU come in! I have already made a very, very rough sketch of what those 8 themes will be, BUT I’d love to hear from you. Get your opinions on what YOU think they should be. I’ll keep you posted on what comes in and what I decide to do.

I’ve got a collection of shots from yesterday’s party. Have fun checking out who I’ve been hanging out with for these past 4-weeks. And you’ll notice me with two other students holding official-looking certificates. The fun gal-pal–fellow-trainee who hosted the barbeque two weeks ago surprised us at the “unofficial” but “real” party after at a Mexican restaurant called “Coyote.” (“Mexican?” Yes, I know. There’s e v e r y t h i n g here! “The food?” It was good, but of course it doesn’t even come close to Marcie’s! No place or person could!) The “winners” of the certificates were selected in a fun happenstance kind of way immediately after she pulled them out of her bag. When you read the label on mine, you’ll see that it essentially says, “Biggest Nerd.” : ) Yep, that’s me. And happily so.

Okay then, time to sign off and enjoy the day as a carefree student who’s just “graduated.” What will I do? Not sure. I may go to that HUGE market at the end of the BTS line that a friend on Kaua‘i told me about just a couple of nights before I left, just a few weeks ago really . . . that seems like ages ago!

And, I’m lucky enough to have been invited to a “Bangkok Vice” party tonight to celebrate the 50th birthday of a new friend’s husband. I’m supposed to “dress to impress—Miami Vice style!” Fortunately, I already have one cool top . . . I’m wearing it in the shot at the top of the page. : ) Thanks to my buddies from the retreat I attended back in February on Kaua‘i, I stepped out of my normal realm of dressing and tried on a “different” looking top from the sales rack at Roots. And this is what I found; I love it!

And I love you too.

Thanks dear friends for coming along with me on this journey. I have a feeling that it’s just getting started.

With warm aloha,

SJ

It just so “happens” that a group from the Honolulu rotary club will be there for part of the time that I’m also there! Ends up they sponsor or help out this orphanage. Yes, small, small world.

Shots from the closing day . . .
International House staff
iH Teachers
Ditto
The “official” party
Party group shot
New friends . . .
More new friends . . .
And more new friends!
Moi and a new student friend
Trainees and students
CELTA pod THREE plus one
Party grinds. Notice the mangosteen and rambutan?
Class “action” shot 1
Class “action” shot 2
(I was acting out what it is to be a detective . . . it made sense at the time : )
Can you tell that we’re having fun?!?!?
Da certificate close-up . . . I think my smiley face was contagious . . . : )

The Bangkok CELTA gang – June 2011

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: )

I fell on my face yesterday . . .

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Teaching practice 7 was a complete disaster.

And I didn’t even realize it at the time.

As early as the 1500s (*), people have used the expression “you can’t see the forest for the trees.”

Yesterday, that was me.

Yesterday, all I saw was the lesson plan. I completely lost sight of the students and the reason I was there.

I’d been told this could happen by one of the three tutors (and the one who critiqued me yesterday, btw). Oh no, not to me, I’d thought. I wouldn’t do that! I’d always realize that the students came first.

Ha! I was so very wrong.

Do you see the egg on my face?

Do you see me walking around in a forest bumping into trees and getting egg all over my face in the process? (**)

I was so caught up in using the correct protocol that I lost sight of why I was there.

I had so wanted to try out this brand-new-to-me “test-teach-test” lesson plan that I had tried to force some square pegs into round holes. Despite my pounding, they never fit.

And, one of the most very (***) important concepts that we’d been taught, and which I’d correctly addressed in written assignment two, had completely escaped landing in my heart of comprehension.

“What in the heck do you mean, Susan Jane, by your ‘heart of comprehension’? Can you not talk plain English?” you ask.

Well, intellectually I’d learned this particular concept about needing a context for each MFP (Meaning, Form & Pronunciation) session. In written assignment two (see below), I’d thought up a context for when someone would make the statement, “If only I’d been more romantic with her!” BUT, I hadn’t gotten it that this also applied to our lesson plan, that it wasn’t just some written assignment we needed to turn in: i.e. If you’re going to teach students some new something or other (grammar, lexis, or pronunciation), you have to give them a context of how and when it’s used (and as I type this, I can feel the teachers still correcting me on some point that I’m yet to fully grasp . . . ).

So . . . was it really a complete failure? you ask. Well, thank goodness, not completely. The students did speak and write using new adjectives of opinion, which was my primary aim. And they did also talk and write about free time activities using things like: “go shopping,” “go see a movie,” “go watch a football match,” which was my secondary aim. BUT, I hadn’t made the context clearA report, published in buy levitra online the Psychiatric Times in 2016, said that there is an overlap between eating disorders and mood disorders often overlap. It did not do the job the way it truly is vitally crucial that each individual who seeks generic viagra cialis remedy does so in accordance with their clinical practioner. Quite a large number of individuals saw the magic of bananas over male sexuality. sildenafil super active It boosts energy levels, stamina and power. generic viagra wholesale . They were confused. “Bad teacher, bad teacher, don’t confuse the students,” a chorus of monkeys is somewhere saying. Use ICQs (instruction checking questions) and elicit the meaning first to make sure they understand the concept or vocabulary, i.e. elicit and use CCQs (concept checking questions) before modeling and drilling.

“What the heck?” again you ask. “This is what we’ve been learning,” I reply.

So, here I sit with three more days of “school.” The egg on my face has been carefully washed away. Though humbled, I’m happy to say that I have one more teaching practice to do before the course is finished. “How lucky is that?” you ask. “Very,” I reply. One of the main reasons I decided to take this CELTA course was because of the practice teaching that would be included, and the experienced teachers who would guide and instruct us (in our blindness, I’d like to add : ).

Three more days and one more teaching practice. Sounds perfect to me.

And oh, the following arrived in my email “in” box just before I left school yesterday. (I subscribe to a daily whatchamacallit.)

“Each moment can celebrate the reality of Divine blessing

or can be filled with blame and regret.

The choice is yours, beloved.

At all times you choose the life you wish to live.”

Yep, I thought the timing was perfect too.

And with that, I shall start my day and give thanks for the many Divine blessings that are ever present.

I love you all.

sj : )

(*) according to the wise geek online

(**) This may be a complete misuse of the second saying, but I can see it; I can see myself walking around and bumping into trees with messy dripping egg running down my face.

(***) most very? you ask. You’re going to be teaching English and you’re writing “most very”???? Yep, I am. It seems to fit in this instance of extremes.

a. “If only I’d been more romantic with her!”

Form: If only I ‘d been

If only+Subject+ auxiliary ‘had’ +past participle (V3)

Phonology: /ɪf oʊnliː(GA)/əʊnlɪ(RP) aid ben mɔr(GA)/mɔː(RP) roʊmæntɪk wɪθhər(GA)/hɜːr(RP)/

Meaning:‘If only’ is used to express regret about an action in the past.

Concept Check

Questions: Am I sorry? Yes.

Do I wish things were different? Yes.

Am I thinking about the past? Yes.

Context: Years ago I met the most perfect woman. She was smart, funny, and pretty. I had no idea then how special she was. If only I’d been more romantic with her.

GA = General America

RP = Received Pronunciation