Wednesday, 12 December
I observed Katie’s lesson at the Beauty Salon this morning and she did a good job. Afterwards I went to school and started working on my lesson plan for Friday – specific food experience using simple past. I had to ask Matt what it meant to have a specific food experience just to clarify and he said that it is like I had rice and beans for dinner last night. This lesson is for the intermediate students which I have not taught yet so I was struggling with what they may or may not know already. I have been teaching the beginners and I know that they have very little to no prior knowledge which made it easy. I eventually was able to get a lesson together – the context is trying to choose what dessert to eat. I figure that they are familiar with regular meals but maybe not desserts. I am contemplating using rhubarb pie just for my dad although when the students ask what it is, I will have a hard time explaining to them that it is a red and green weed that the post office has marked as hazardous material. Background – my grandma’s sister lives in Sturgis, SD and sends rhubarb to her sister (my grandma) via mail. Apparently one time the box opened during delivery and then got marked as hazardous material. I think it is an appropriate distinction.
I found that the right music was important for helping me focus and process the lesson plan. I was trying new agey stuff and it just wasn’t working and after a few more tries I ended up listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Muppet’s Christmas. Apparently this was the right music for I started pumping out the activities when they were on.
I even started working on my lesson plan for monday for it is similar and with the same students – reading a recipe. I have to teach them about baking, frying, bbq, etc and also cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. I think I am going to do a cookie recipe so I can give them cookies at the end of class. I will finish this lesson tomorrow.
I wasted some time looking for itunes visualizations. The ones that itunes comes with are ok but I decided to look online for some more. I found one called magnetosphere that I like a lot. I have the visualization on full screen while I am writing my lesson plan on paper and I found myself just staring at it instead of writing. I guess that is the point of it.
Afterwards, Beth and I headed home and went to the cafe to relax for a little bit before heading home. Tomorrow is her third lesson in three days and she was totally wiped out after the first two so I thought it would be good for her to relax for a little bit. We talked about what I was going to do after class (no idea) and her starting nursing school when she gets back. We talked about other stuff but I just cannot remember it. After dinner, I finished my book and then went to the internet cafe to call my mom and dad. My mom wasn’t home so I talked to Dan and he asked a lot of questions about how its been, the beach, Boruca, and what I am going to do when it is over. My dad and I talked about the same stuff in addition to the house, bills and other fun stuff like that. I was hoping to call Judy and the Wednesday night group but I got tired so I went home and went to sleep. I am starting to feel a little sick in my throat so I thought that I should get some sleep.