I belong to a Facebook group for VIPKid teachers in Oklahoma. There hasn't been a lot of talk about teaching techniques or questions about unruly students. Nope, the headlines are all about atmospheric conditions in our mercurial state.
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With no Seminary, Analiese and I are walking around our neighborhood. We time our walks around rainstorms. Though, this is my storm beef: Why at night, when I'm trying to sleep? Why early in the morning, when I need the power on to teach my classes? Because, inevitably....
The storms in the daytime make Analiese unusually grumpy. She wants to swim so badly. Wednesday, the youth were going swimming that evening at a member's home. The day threatened and teased with rain and lightning a good bit of the day. She growled at the sky all day and determinedly stomped out of the house to go to the pool a little before six. It was a little drippy (no lightning, thank goodness, she may still have refused to get out of the pool!), but nothing to keep her back from the water. I think she said she got out only when hunger drove her to it.
Not that Jonathan & I were any better. He had promised to take me to the movies as a belated Mother's Day gift and Monday afternoon was the only time we could both go. Storms threatened, and everyone had their eyes on the skies (BTW, "touchdown" has two meanings here in OK. Yes, Okies love their football, so the common meaning prevails, but this time of year, "touchdown" has an infinitely more ominous meaning. We don't go screaming for them on our TVs in May!) Problem was, our local theater is small and only shows in the evenings. So we had to go somewhere larger like Norman...or Moore.
Yeah, that Moore. The Moore that made the headlines when we first moved to OK. The Moore that seems to have a target drawn on it, screaming, "Twisters, land here!" Moore is on the other side of Norman, not much further from us. It also has a really nice theater, the one Jonathan took his date to a couple of weeks ago. And it shows movies in the early afternoons. So throwing all caution to the wind - apparently literally - we went to Moore. I wasn't nervous, but found a lot of humor in the irony of it. Okay, we weren't entirely stupid, we did keep an eye on the weather and checked to make sure the theater was going to be open (coincidentally, all gov't agencies and elementary schools and USAO in Chickasha closed down).
It was a very swanky theater; the second floor balcony area was adults only with a bar. They had a diner inside and a lounge area by the bathrooms. Nice. We went to see Detective Pikachu, which I enjoyed more than I expected. Ryan Reynolds was clean and funny and I laughed a lot. The CGI on Pikachu was amazing, the depth of emotion they got from an animated creature! Considering neither Jonathan nor I knew much about Pokemon (we really went for Ryan Reynolds and cuz the trailers looked hilarious), we really liked it. Yeah, the wind was blowing heavily when we got out (but no ominous, green swirling clouds) and we drove home safely.
The worst of the storms was Saturday evening.
The point is...we survived. Things have flooded
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| This is the west road into Hobart. I used to drive on it going to the Walmart there when I was working for Hallmark. |
...it's a wonder my garden hasn't drowned completely. There are potholes and puddles everywhere (one day I will have a conversation with the city about the state of roads and drains around here) and two ducks have decided that the huge puddle across the road from our house is a new pond!
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| "Look, Howard, a new waterfront development!" |
By the way...we're not done.
A Different Kind of Flood
By Saturday night, I had taught 25 children this week. Seven were regulars, all the rest were new students. They ranged in ages from 4 to 11, and some of these 4 year olds were amazingly bright!
The Voice of VIPKid (VV), the song lessons, are the hardest on me. They involve a lot of motion and a lot of singing; I end up with no voice by the end. Most of the time, the kids LOVE it, though I did have one boy who was completely disinterested. He would rather eat the microphone (and make loud noises into it). It was a waste of all our time. I have one little four-year old who was playing the piano (better than me!) before class started. When it did, her mother turned her around on the bench to face the computer (me). She was so cute and sweet, singing and moving with me. Then, apparently she needed to do something, because Mom came on and said she needed to do toilet (her words). While the girl was gone the Mom, in broken English, said I was humorous and that the girl really liked me. I "sent" her an e-birthday card this week, because she turned five on Saturday. And I got this note back:
Another VV had a girl with her younger sister who kept interrupting because she wanted to do it, too! Two-for-ones are a no-no with VIPKid, but I let this one slide because the young one wanted so much to be a part of it. They had so much fun! The girl, at the end, could sing and dance to the whole song by herself without the music! Another student had her mother sitting beside her as she learned the song. We were doing actions and the girl was very actively involved (walk, jump, hop, tiptoe). When we got to "skip," I tried to think of a way to explain it. I decided on walking and jumping at the same time. I heard Mom in the background go "Oh!" as in "I get it now!" I had to laugh; we're all learning here. VV is VERY popular with the littles.
I have talkers, who will create huge conversations from the simple vocabulary. One young man last night decided he would show his counting prowess in English. He could say and spell hundred, thousand, billion, and million. To be honest, I think the class was a little too easy for him. I don't assign the levels, I can only recommend. Other students have to think long and hard to answer and some are so serious that I spend a good bit of time clowning just to make them comfortable and smile! As a teacher of a new student, the first few lessons are more about building rapport.
I also gave my first four-star rating this week. Usually, if they are giving their best effort (successful or not), I give them all five stars. But, I have one cutie who thinks class time is play time. She shows me all her paper crafts and her toys, "gives" me stickers (rewards for me) and sings. But, doesn't stay on track or do what I ask. She'll jump and play and say "Teacher, say 'Teddy Bear, where is Shirley?'" I had her twice this week - Mercy, Me! - and both times in my feedback I ask for the parents to be more involved (she's in her room by herself) and that she needs to concentrate better. I am praying for an intervention - Chinese or Divine!
Finding Balance
That is the name of the game. I have a list of many things to do this summer and, after this crazy week, I wasn't sure I could do much. However, I think I have devised a plan of study and preparedness for my classes so I don't go crazy working on it all the time. I need to make sure I have some down times, too. I have been getting up early to teach and, on Friday and Saturday evenings, I am up late teaching. Friday night, I had a 10 pm class - too late! So for now, I schedule classes no later than 9 on weekdays, and 9:30 on Friday and Saturday. Sunday, Ken needed a ride to work and he goes in early (5:45 am). I asked Jonathan to do it since I'd been up at 5:30-6:00 every day this week, including Saturday!
Having said that, I will now tell you that next week will be INSANE. Some of it is blamed on VIPKid, but some is just things scheduled for that week. For example, Analiese has Driver's Class on Thursday and Friday from 11 am - 4 pm in Norman. I have a Dyslexia Training (for my EPIC reading tutoring gig) on Wednesday from 8:30 am - 3 pm. Plus, sometime during that week I have to squeeze in a Seminary Training Session, possibly Thursday evening in OKC. AND...I have to take Ken to work on Wednesday and Thursday so I can have a vehicle to do some of those things. I feel tired already.
I am not thrilled about the Dyslexia training, but recognize it's importance since I'm going to tutor a boy this fall who has it. Still, I have so many other things I could have been doing: I was invited to go with a sister in the Branch with our daughters out to OKC Wednesday to shop, hang out, and have fun. I was also invited by another sister in the Branch to go to our newly reopened temple with her on Wednesday. I am so bummed. All I can say, this training had better be good...and interesting. How else will I stay awake. #DrPepperdripneeded
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