Feel Good Video Thursday

Apparently I got a little busy last week and forgot to post a video.  It has been a busy couple of weeks. But I'm back with yet another video to celebrate today. Which was the last day of teaching! My munchkins still have exams next week, but I'm done with lesson plans, duties, and basically done with grading (1 class to mark!)

So in honour of surviving a year filled with sports, a championship win, 2 bomb threats, hundreds of lesson plans, and so so so much more.  Here's a video I know all my kids would love to be hearing right now. And to make it even better, it's done by some giant muppets :)

Happy Summer!

Feel Good Video Thursday!

I've actually remembered about my weekly blog post. Even though this has been a tiring, exhausting, and exciting week.

I picked this video because while the media pushes so much negativity on us, it's easy to forget that the average person really does want to help others and really wants to be a good person.

With that in mind, I picked a video that highlights a bunch of people going out of their way to help others. It's in Russian, but I'm sure you'll see that kindness doesn't have a language barrier.

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Feel Good Video Thursday

I've decided to start a new weekly post on my blog. Actually, my first weekly post. Let's hope I can keep this up ;)

With Thursdays being the beginning of my weekend, I wanted to pick something that would help kick off my weekend right. Something that would put me in a good mood.

There's so much negativity in the world, and in everyone's everyday life, that I wanted to focus on videos that make me feel good. Things that inspire me and pick me up when all I feel is frustrated.

And without (much) further ado, here is the first video that I chose.

This is a video I go through and watch anytime I get frustrated with teaching.  I love teaching, but sometimes I just need a good reminder as to why. This video always does it for me.

It's Taylor Mali's What Teachers Make

You can find more awesome videos at his website here: http://taylormali.com/

And Finally Back Up

It's been a while. I've been pretty busy with school, coaching, and life and have let my blog fall a bit to the side.

But I'm back.

And I'm back to talk about the post I made two months ago, about getting back up. I'm happy to say that I did it. I got back up. Even more important, I think it was worth it.

So let's backtrack. Two months ago I posted the beginning of my novel on two critique forums. At one place, it was really praised. At the second...well torn to shreds would be a good way to put it.

Saying it was a huge blow to my ego would be an understatement. I do believe there were some tears. And some second guessing about my choice to be a writer.

Kids Say...

A couple of things from teaching today. :)

First!

Today, in class, I was prompting my students to write a scene that showed what their character was like. This was the result.

Me: Tell me the four things I want to see in your scene.

Student 1: Dialogue

Me: Good

Student 2: Action

Me: Yes, what else?

Student 3: Thoughts and Feelings.

Me: And what's the last one?

Them: ...

Me: Starts with a D

Student 4: Dinosaurs!

-_-  Yes.  All of your scenes need to have a dinosaur. At least we're working on historical fiction, so we can almost fit it in.


Second!

I was with my homeroom class for the five minutes before the next class starts. They asked to play silent ball (teachers, if you don't know this game our students are like addicted. It's weird).

I said no (we play hangman on Tuesdays)

Student: Miss, what time did you go to sleep last night?

Me: Why?

Student: You seem tired...and grumpy.

Me:  Bah. Go to class.

Well, at least they feel they can be honest with me.

On Getting Back Up

When I first moved to Kuwait, 6 years ago, I started coaching soccer. In one season, I coached two different teams. Both of those teams went on to the finals. Both lost, but just barely. In one year, I'd established a reputation.

Not only with the other coaches, but with myself. After that first season, I expected to always be successful.

And then year two came around. I went to my first game of the season for my U-14 team. We were playing a weaker team, one we'd easily beaten the year before. I even sat some of my stronger players because I thought it wouldn't be a problem.

It was a problem. We got our butts kicked. Badly.

Quick Video Link Update

It's about time I posted an update. And I have stuff to talk about, I promise. But I've gotten into a bit of a rut with school seriously kicking my butt and needed some time to myself.

So those updates that I planned to write are not written, but should get written soon.

Instead, today I wanted to share another video that I found online. I can only describe it as beautiful. And touching. And truthful.

Ok, so I have a lot of words to describe it.  It is well worth watching, especially if you are a fan of spoken word.

Enjoy and let me know what you thought in the comments!

Bullies Called Him Porkchop