By the end of this month, I will have completed by allergy shot regimen. I am supposed to return to the doctor and confer with him and the allergist to determine how well it has worked and if I should continue or not. I am of the opinion that the shots HAVE made a difference. My best example is this spring. I am not sneezing or coughing nearly as badly as my children. Usually, I have them beat and I'm full-blown sick for a week or so. I've had little bouts of sinus and chest congestion, but they aren't long-lived. I wasn't sure about a month ago that the shots had done much of anything. After the last few weeks of wind and spring pollen, I am pretty confident that they have!
It's a good thing, too, because I just LOVE Spring. The flowers, the cool sunshine, the leafing trees, the increase of animal activity. I just go gaga for any new flowering thing I see, which disturbs my children...if I'm driving. There are redbud and dogwood and Japanese magnolias and forsythia. Even Jonathan has commented on the riot of color - which for a colorblind person, is saying something!
Saturday morning, a local nursery had their annual garden sale. Ken & I got there as soon as we could (after my morning lessons) and found the place packed! We lucked out and got a parking spot fairly close, but the lines to look and check out were enormous! I stood in line to check out for forty-five minutes! (Analiese, who had to be at work by 11 a.m., was in a small panic) Just as we were leaving, it started to rain and got pretty hard pretty fast. I wonder what happened at the sale?
What did I get? Some herbs, some peppers, some tomatoes, and a few flowers. Oh, plus a mosquito deterrent we used last year in our yard effectively. I left my new baby plants on the back steps to enjoy the spring rain!
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| Going into the garden sale, I encountered this bunch! Crowded much? |
Growing with VIPKid
I'm sure this is getting tedious now: my constant talking about my experiences with this company. But there have been so many changes and new things to discover and fun kids to meet (and some not-so-fun). I'm trying to paint a developing picture here.
Monday evening I was a "substitute" teacher. I signed up and they assigned me a time at 8:00 p.m. Now, they didn't need me after all, but I did get paid! I would have got $2 more if I had taught. It would be spur-of-the-moment, but I have some plans in place.
I had planned to start trying to certify for level 4 this week, but then they invited me to certify for level 1 instead, throwing in an incentive if I did it by the end of April. This company is all about the incentives...there are constant new "carrots" to try and hook us into booking or doing more. It's not bad...it always means more money! Level one is from age 3 y/10 m to 5 y/10 mo. This is the only level they do by age. Everyone else is doing by assessment. This level is more about making them comfortable with interacting and learning online with this foreign teacher. Less is expected of them: no full sentences and maybe not even much speaking. At their ages, they learn a lot more by observation and listening. My job is to get them moving and happy and prep them to go farther and do better than kids that come in later. The advantage is that their brains are still so malleable that the Chinese doesn't interfere with the English. Also, there is a lot of parent involvement at this stage. The whole first unit is supposed to be done with the parent at the child's side. Also, there is a prep video and activity for the parents to do with their child before class and the first slide of each lesson is in Chinese with instructions for the parents. Then comes...me! I passed this level off on Saturday evening. I am being "fast-passed" through it, which means I do not have to do a mock demo with a live person. I told Ken that they've seen my antics online (they record all of the classes) and figured I was a clown kids could enjoy.
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| Didn't want that bright red lipstick go to waste after my lessons! |
Worst lesson of the week: I had some toughies...I don't really like doing assessments and I had two this week with kids who really need holding back. Parents push, but it doesn't help if a kid just isn't getting it. One student had parent instructions: Be patient. I was, but this kid needs to go back a few lessons to restudy. But the absolute worst was on Friday night with a little girl who was just parroting back everything I said. She was more interested in picking her nose and stringing out boogers than listening to me. And I put in a lot of energy to try and draw her out!
Best lesson of the week: There are two: I can't really choose between them. They were both Saturday morning and repeat students. The first one came in with a playful attitude. I'm afraid we goofed a bit. He was laughing so hard, he fell off of his chair! It was pure joy to teach him. He does very well (he was the polite "thank you" student) and I look forward to another chance to teach him. The second was a girl I knew was having a birthday; she's turning 12. So, my reward included birthday things (revealing cake, presents, candles, balloons behind squares) and I sang Happy Birthday to her. She was so pleased! It was a struggle of a lesson for her, poor thing, because she was studying Britain and had to say "Elizabeth," "double-decker," and "Buckingham." Other than that, she was great. And, she's already rebooked!
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| Pom explores my "classroom." The Lit book is to prop up my laptop so I am not too low to see! |
Droverstock
USAO, home of the Drovers (look it up), holds an annual event the first Thursday of April called Droverstock. You might remember the chalk art I posted last year. Apparently, that's only PART of the festival. There's also music, food trucks, vendors, and a scholastic competition.
Analiese and her friend from church decided they wanted to participate in the chalk art competition this year. They had to meet at the college at 8 a.m. to register, so no time for our walk. There was people everywhere! School buses swarmed from all over the state (yes, Altus was there, too!) and the line to register was LONG. Her friend's father is a professor on campus, so he was there to help keep an eye on them (I couldn't stay, too much to do!) as well as his wife, who is a high school teacher and was there with her students for the scholastic event. Two of my Seminary students participated in that.
The biggest concern was the huge thunderstorm the night before that dumped a bunch of rain. Analiese was stressed about that until she found out that the rain helped smooth the chalk over the bumpy asphalt. She and her friend bought ($5) "squares" next to each other and were moral support.
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| Analiese in action |
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| Busy friend. |
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| Favorite #1 |
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| Favorite #2 |
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| I liked getting photos of artists in action! |
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| High school art class entry - cute! |
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| Inspired, the next day at Seminary, I did my own chalk art! |
GENERAL CONFERENCE!
Saturday was SO busy. I had two classes in the morning, then went to the garden sale. After that I had to prep the crockpot for dinner, get a shot, take a shower and get ready for the first session of Conference!
It started out beautifully. Sister Craven's talk really set the tone for me and I found myself pondering if I was being "casual" or "careful" with the other subjects in both sessions! (Especially Elder Holland's talk on the sacrament!)
The music was awesome, too! Every song was so appropriate and the Spirit was so strong! The afternoon choir's arrangement of "I Stand All Amazed" was particularly moving. I really appreciated the reverence all the music set.
Sunday was gray, but glorious. I know the speakers' talks aren't assigned, and I'm pretty sure they don't coordinate with Mack Wilbur and the Choir. But the Spirit does! It seemed like many speakers' talks were directly connected to the message in the hymn before it!
Our prophet, Russell M. Nelson, is just so amazing! His desires for our welfare is apparent in his pleas for our continued obedience and improvement. He sees what's on the horizon and is trying to shepherd us to a safe (read: covenant) path forward. Also, I have noticed an increasing emphasis on our return to reverencing sacred things. We are closer to God when we respect and reverence His goodness. As a joyful, jolly, happy people, we can get a little carried away. We need to remember what we need to keep in sacred bounds.
Yep, conference was worth every single minute!
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