7% nerd
5% reader 3% heard 4% people-pleaser 5% tough 2% prudent 6% film-buff 10% student 2% writer 12% thoughtful 10% teacher 9% hopeful 6% foodie 9% smart 7% lazy 3% art What's the total? Can you see? It all adds up to, 100% me! I got the idea for this format from aggiekester. I had to use my problem solving skills to get it to add up to 100% and to make it rhyme too! If you're doing percentages with your class, this is a nice link to literacy.
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I've never been in a book club before. Yesterday was a first for me, and now I'm thinking 'why have I waited this long?'.
We met up at Miriam's place. The three of us sat around Miriam's coffee table - the book sitting in the middle of us all. I could see that Miriam had dog eared some pages. This intrigued me...What was her take on those parts? Liz was able to remember the Nigerian-Biafran war which the book was based on. "I was six years old and I went to London with Dad and I remember seeing the posters of the children in the refugee camps." She remembers asking her father why the children in the poster didn't have any food and not understanding why they couldn't just send some over. A unique insight for Miriam and me. Miriam read aloud a passage from one of her dog eared pages, "there are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable." She shares her interpretation of this passage, "For me this means that Kainene could forgive her sister because on the grand scale of things, it didn't seem so important." I similarly could forgive Kainene's sister, but I differed on the matter of forgiveness when it came to Odenigbo, "he betrayed her, and he never truly apologised because he expected to be forgiven!" Liz had another take, "they didn't take it all that seriously in those days. Is it really such a big deal?" Our conversation carried on like that all night only with brief interruptions from the delivery guy and Steve, Miriam's husband, popping in and out of the conversation. After each interruption I was excited to get back to those dog eared pages so that we could all share our thoughts. What I loved about my first book club experience was that I got to hear what other people are thinking. I'm curious to know what's going on inside other people's minds. As a child, I used to dream of existing inside the minds of others to know what they were thinking, or I used to imagine what it would be like to live a day in the life of a stranger I saw on the bus. This book club meeting showed me a window into minds of others. We have a shared experience of reading the same text, but we all have our different perspectives based on our distinct prior experiences. One single passage from the book can produce three varying interpretations - and I get to hear the inner thoughts of others voiced aloud. It's fascinating. Tirelessly balancing jenga blocks of life!
It's my birthday today. So I've decided to do a Year in Review with photos to reflect on what I've gotten up to since my last rotation around the sun! Celebrating my birthday in March 2017 Dhani's birthday Introducing new friends to old friends in Dublin The big move to upper primary in August Making new friends in Jakarta Travelling to Raja Ampat and Tana Toraja in December Celebrating my birthday last weekend at the St. Pat's ball
I used to think that I would never change,
Now I know that change is positive. I used to think that growing up meant settling down, Now I know that real growth happens when you step out of your comfort zone. I used to think that 32 was old, Now I know I'm 32 years young. I used to think I had enough friends, Now I know the more the merrier. I used to think that I couldn't travel alone, Now I know it's an exciting and rewarding way to see the world. I used to think that I should compromise myself, Now I know that compromising doesn't mean slighting my true self. I used to think that I should have everything figured out, Now I know that I can figure things out along the way. I got this idea from the inquisitive teacher. Measuring up
to that standard of beauty doesn't cut it anymore Senryu is a three line Japanese poem that is structurally similar to haiku poetry. 17 syllables or less. For more info about how it differs from haiku click here. I've been rummaging around the school library trying to find titles that could help me put together a creative book spine poem. I think my class would really enjoy this activity. Here's what I came up with: Some analysis of the poem: I'm the girl who could fly (my preferred super power if I could choose), and this is the poem that I selected in the nick of time for day 8 of the slice of life challenge!
As optimistic as a new born
As kind as your favourite auntie As attentive as a child listening a sad story As deep as the Atlantic As thoughtful as a handwritten letter As forgetful as a gold fish As directionally challenged as a pin ball As melodic as a song bird in the Summer time As observant as a Meer cat As hard-working as a honey bee It's been snowing back home. I'm not there to benefit from a snow day, but my facebook feed has been filling up with all of the chaos that has incurred back home! Irish people are not prepared for the snow. It probably only snows for one week every two or three years. So when it does snow, the whole country shuts down. We don't have snow tires, there are no snowplows and we don't have whatever else people who are prepared for snow have. Funnily enough, we're not all that prepared for rain either - that one baffles me - why don't Irish people have rain coats? This is a photo of my dad enjoying an Irish coffee in the garden. I showed this photo to work colleagues and students today, and everyone says I look like my dad....I don't know what to make of that.... As you can see, the snow is not all that deep, but it's enough to shut down our small rock in the middle of the Atlantic. Here's another photo of Auntie Claire's place. She's much higher up in the Wicklow Mountains so more snow. Cars completely covered. But there won't be any shoveling of snow - no effort to move it out of the way so that we can get on with our lives. Nope. We surrender. We stay home. Wait for it to melt. And then we get cabin fever and make our way down to the pub on foot (that sounds so stereotypically Irish....but it's true). Since we're being stereotypical, here's a picture of sheep in a field.
Someone shared a funny video of the scene in a local supermarket. You can click here to view. We only come out of the house for the pub and bread! I suppose you can infer from this video that Irish people really like toast. It's true! We do! Tea and toast - perfect! Well I'm here in Jakarta - no sign of snow. Everyday it's about 30 degrees Celsius. Seasons vary from wet to dry. Nice to see a bit of excitement happening back home. |
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