Jazz Hands
I love Oasis. And I love Champagne Supernova, a song which makes perfect sense until I try to explain it in words.
I have finished my first semester of graduate school. Three classes, three As, and all of about 3 days to relax before the summer semester began. Right now I'm learning about teaching Reading. Sometimes this is boring, but it's also a treat to discuss Children's Lit. When will I ever get the chance to discuss dragons and pirates in a university again?
Our professor says that people who enjoy reading visualize what they read into little mind-movies as they read. People who read poorly, or who don't enjoy reading, don't have that skill. It never even occurred to me that people don't do this. How can you understand a story, or a reading about bass fishing, or a manual about Linux if you can't see it in your head?
So in this class filled with Reading Specialists and English teachers and others, nobody actually reads kid books. Nobody has bothered to read Harry Potter, or Bartimaeus, or Percy Jackson, or Sideways Stories, or the other favorites. How can you motivate your students to be good readers if you don't know about stories that might interest them?
My other new professor looks and sounds like Colonel Sanders.
Business is still excellent. I have a lot of fantastic real estate clients now, and a lot of lovely families I pet-sit for. Between these and school, my little Google Calendar has something for every day of the week. July and August are almost completely booked with dog-sitting. It's frazzling, but I like it. It's been a long time since I had the peace of mind of a satisfied bank account.
Had tea with Mom and Wini today. Cookout this weekend, followed by dog-sitting, Trav's birthday fun, possible beach-house with Flo, and Patriotic Festival concert in the next two weeks. I'm going to Atlantic City for the first time in July!
There are still Williamsburg adventures to post about!
I have finished my first semester of graduate school. Three classes, three As, and all of about 3 days to relax before the summer semester began. Right now I'm learning about teaching Reading. Sometimes this is boring, but it's also a treat to discuss Children's Lit. When will I ever get the chance to discuss dragons and pirates in a university again?
Our professor says that people who enjoy reading visualize what they read into little mind-movies as they read. People who read poorly, or who don't enjoy reading, don't have that skill. It never even occurred to me that people don't do this. How can you understand a story, or a reading about bass fishing, or a manual about Linux if you can't see it in your head?
So in this class filled with Reading Specialists and English teachers and others, nobody actually reads kid books. Nobody has bothered to read Harry Potter, or Bartimaeus, or Percy Jackson, or Sideways Stories, or the other favorites. How can you motivate your students to be good readers if you don't know about stories that might interest them?
My other new professor looks and sounds like Colonel Sanders.
Business is still excellent. I have a lot of fantastic real estate clients now, and a lot of lovely families I pet-sit for. Between these and school, my little Google Calendar has something for every day of the week. July and August are almost completely booked with dog-sitting. It's frazzling, but I like it. It's been a long time since I had the peace of mind of a satisfied bank account.
Had tea with Mom and Wini today. Cookout this weekend, followed by dog-sitting, Trav's birthday fun, possible beach-house with Flo, and Patriotic Festival concert in the next two weeks. I'm going to Atlantic City for the first time in July!
There are still Williamsburg adventures to post about!