My nook

Nook noun \ˈnu̇k\

1. chiefly Scottish : a right-angled corner

2. a : an interior angle formed by two meeting walls

b : a secluded or sheltered place or part nook and cranny>c : a small often recessed section of a larger room breakfast nook>

I'd say that all of these components of the definition more or less describe my room at school. It is, in fact, located in a right-angled corner of the kindergarten hallway, and it most certainly consists of an interior angle formed by two meeting walls. I would say that for the most part, it's a secluded or sheltered part of the school (it's shaped such that a good part of the room is not really visible to people outside the room), and at times, I'd describe it as a recessed section of the kindergarten hallway/room.

I spent a couple of solid hours making this described nook as homey as possible, and I'd say at this point, I'm mostly lacking a couple of things hanging from the ceiling to brighten up the room (I'm thinking some lanterns??).

Pretty much the entire length of the room

Double duty

As of yesterday, I have assumed a new title (drumroll please...) Chinese school teacher!! This may come as a surprise, since I've pretty much got my hands full with my normal duties as a special education teacher and a student of special education pedagogy, and my Chinese really isn't all that awesome; am I a fluent speaker? Yes. Do I have experience in the classroom? Yes. Am I a fluent reader? Not so much...but I get by! Do I enunciate "properly/roll my tongue at appropriate times (not the Beijing style! more like, su vs. shu)? Not so much. Do I really distinguish between the second and third tones? Nope! And yet, here I am, a teacher in the field, at none other than my Chinese school alma mater, if you will. Which means that the stakes are higher in more than one way:1) As someone educated in the system, I feel as though I have something to prove to the parents of my students; 2) My mom is apparently an awesome teacher of the advanced class and as the daughter of said awesome teacher, in theory, I should be nothing short of an awesome teacher myself; 3) I'm returning as someone who has gone through some education training, and so the expectation (and why I was hired in the first place) is that I can apply what I've learned in the field to my Chinese training. Which is why, apparently, it's acceptable that I'm a bit lacking in some Chinese skills. To further throw a wrench in my abilities to educate these kiddos, I'm teaching a pinyin class. For those of you don't know, I am a devout ㄅㄆㄇㄈbeliever.

In retrospect, I really put much thought when I first accepted the position (first as an alternate, if the first P2 class exceeded 20 students...which it has). I just thought it'd be cool to teach at a place in which I was familiar, and it was an additional teaching experience that wasn't necessarily tied to special education (plus, there was an added source of salary!). But, as the first day of school (yesterday) drew nearer, I started getting cold feet-circumstances had changed since I first accepted, since I now attend Fordham, my faith in my Chinese skills wavered, and this meant that I wouldn't have Sundays free to go places and really enjoy my free time.

Yet, the first day of school came and went, and although I was co-teaching (acting as an assistance for the first 2 hours, then taking over the last hour), teaching didn't seem all that bad! I'm sure that it'll take me a while to get the hang of things (so many questions still unanswered, such as, just how much English is appropriate? I am teaching a class of students who don't really have a Mandarin background/foundation, after all), but this is the kind of challenge that I thrive on. And as long as I make the lesson plans on Sunday after school, it really only takes me an hour and a half or so to hammer it out (if I'm really focused). As an added bonus, my classroom has a document camera that I have access to! There's a smart board too, but unfortunately, no access to that.

Will this additional experience, as I hope, serve as an opportunity to sharpen my teaching ability, or will it prove to be a frustrating and unwise choice on my part? Dun, dun, duuuun! Only time will tell. ;)

First day of school, 2011-second edition

September 7th, 2011. The mark of another "important" landmark in my life-my first day of school as a graduate student. As I sat in my first class as a graduate student, it felt unlike any other "first days" I've had. For one, I hadn't been stressing the night before about what I'd be wearing (it didn't help that I had gotten home from orientation at 9:30, which, on any other day, is my bedtime). I also didn't feel any sense of urgency. The fact that I hadn't officially received my acceptance letter until 3 hours before my first class probably didn't help matters either. To be frank, this really just increased my frustration with the whole situation (my education at TC has been denied to deal with all of these logistical uh-ohs? Again, had I known, I probably would've made different post-graduation plans). I was late-or so I thought-to my first class because I thought I'd cleverly take the orange line instead because it has less stops, only to find that the train itself moved at half the pace of the red lines. In short, my first day of school as a graduate student was incredibly anticlimactic.

**at this point, my computer ran out of batteries, and I lacked the energy to walk all the way downstairs to get a charger, hence the day-late upload.

I will say, however, that I am excited for my education. Although I really appreciate everything that my undergraduate program provided, I always felt like I was lacking the fundamental content knowledge that would improve my teaching. My struggles at institute this summer were a testament to my severely limited content knowledge (and yet I still passed the teaching exam with flying colors-such high standards...). Obviously, most adult know how to add two digit numbers with regrouping. But I challenge you to try explaining what REALLY happens (what, exactly, does carrying mean?) to a group of second graders, or even other adults, and see how successful you are. And I'm definitely struggling to think of ways to best support my students, and so I'm optimistic that this opportunity will really inform my classroom teaching.

I've made it a priority to consolidate my two classes (a math and a literacy course) into one night, so that I don't have to go to school twice a week, from 7-9, which means that I have two back to back classes every Wednesday, which means that my day starts at 5 AM, and ends at approximately 12 PM (after I've showered, gotten ready for bed and all). I anticipated an unproductive next-day, but was pleasantly surprised by my sustained energy throughout the day. We'll see how long that lasts for.

Still, I've begun to consider living in the city-waking up at dawn, only to be in a windowless room for 9 hours and return home just in time to eat and sleep at late hours, the stresses of a commute (e.g. today we were delayed 30 min., with delays at all 3 transfer points I must take) have been enough to make me second guess my living situation.

In short, along with my general sentiments regarding my placement in this program, my first day of grad school was lackluster. But hopefully, from here on out, it can only get better!