I'm still alive.
I've just abandoned my little blog for about a month, thats all!
Basically, the moment my plane touched down in Moscow from the holiday break, I got to work. Airplane to classroom.
Not really. That's just a small exaggeration to make you think I am superhuman.
Really though, I got back to Moscow on a Tuesday, napped from 3pm-11pm, fell back asleep at 5am (on Wednesday now), and ever so cheerfully woke up at 6am to get ready for work. Add the fact that Moscow is 9 hours ahead of the land I was coming from and I was mending the flu...and well at least I still think I am superhuman.
I've decided to blame every mistake for the next month or so on jet lag.
Being welcomed back to school with a slew of gifts at my desk from students/parents from New Year's, made my first day back to work in the state I was in seem OK.
Since I've started teaching here, I've constantly been tweaking my teaching style and classroom management plan to benefit my sanity. (I've said it before, I'll say it again to remind you: teaching ESL to a bunch of unruly children who are not very familiar with the word "no", is more challenging than you'll ever think). I don't mean this in a negative way when I say: I feel like I'm training a bunch of puppies. They don't understand everything I say (like puppies), they pee in the house (like puppies) they are small (like puppies), they are adorable (like puppies), they are annoying (like puppies), so you must train them with repeated commands and routine (like puppies), and over time they will get used to that structure and those commands, and become less annoying as they respond to said structure and commands (just like puppies....get my comparison?) Needless to say, by Friday evenings my energy level is practically on empty.
Here is a change my roommate and I have decided to do upon our return in January: co-teach! Two is better than one. She teaches kindergarten and preschool. We've decided that I will co-teach her kindergarten classes with her, and she will co-teach my craft classes with me. In Russia, kindergarten is really like American preschool, and Russian preschool is like American kindergarten. The two are flip flopped. So along with teaching conversation and craft classes to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, I am now also teaching little 3 and 4 year olds!
The tiny ones can be a handful if you teach them by yourself, so Ashley is relieved to have another set of hands in the kindergarten. As Ashely studied Art Education, I am more than relieved to have her in my craft classes. There is nothing more annoying than giving non-fluent in English 6 year olds scissors and glue all by yourself...as they sing "Jingle Bells" and "Gangnam Style" all year round.
I'm enjoying teaching the babies (3 and 4 year olds). They barely know Russian yet, let alone English...but most are super sweet and cute. I don't think most of them grasp the concept of other languages. They will just "blah blah blah" at us in Russian....and must thing I'm some kind of alien when I respond in English. Since they are 3 and 4 years old, most Russian they speak is super simple...so I find myself understanding much of what they say! I've been understanding phrases such as "I'm a little girl", "I want___", "I don't want___", "more", "what's that?", and my favorite, "leave".
I can understand some small things my older students say as well. For example, I understood when I heard a 1st grader using the Russian "b word" in the locker room after gym one day. Boy was she shocked that I caught her.
Many of my 1st graders have younger siblings in the kindergarten. The girl in the previous story is an older sibling to the boy in kindergarten who uses the Russian word for "leave" often.
Check out these icicles outside my 1st grade window.
I've decided to come to Moscow for at least one more school year. Why you ask? Because the yogurt and sour cream are phenomenal here.
Other reasons include: I'm not done traveling. What is the point of learning the bit of the Russian language and culture I've learned...then leaving. Where else will I go for a long period of time where they speak Russian? Also, call me crazy (I know I am), but I like winter weather. Snow is pretty and ice skating is my new happy place.
Here's a laugh for anyone who really knows me. I joined a sport. It's called broom ball. I think its kind of like ice hockey. No skates, but on an ice rink. I fall a lot...which is part of the fun. It doesn't hurt as I'm all suited up like the mighty ducks.
Yes, it is true that I wore a helmet in my high school gym class playing basketball, and yes, it is true that when I played soccer when I was 5 and my dad was my coach I chased him around the field shouting "Daddy pick me up! Daddy pick me up!"...then played Barbies on the sidelines. But that was the old Gina, and is in the past. So we'll just let that go.
View from my balcony Friday evening. Nice and clear sky! :)
Bad news. I turned 23 on Thursday. According to Blink 182, "nobody likes you when you're 23". ("Whats My Age Again?" by Blink) Its going to be a rough 361 or so more days.
I woke up prematurely on this morning...to this view from my bed of the big ole moon out my window.
I had to run an errand today near Red Square. Thought I'd snap a photo on this clear day. Minus that pollution to the left, I think it is a lovely photo.
-Gina
P.S. I remember in my last post (the one about Berlin), I said I was going to look for good books to read about the Berlin Wall. I said to inquire if you were interested in what I find. I believe everyone is interested in what I've discovered, but no one inquired. Maybe because you're all shy. So I'll just tell you the book I found...take the pressure of asking me off your shoulders. The book I'm reading is called "Stasiland" by Anna Funder. I am reading it on my beautiful new iPad mini. Its true story about a journalist in I believe the late 90s. She is from Australia but living in Berlin, and she tells stories of Germans she has spoken to about their lives while the wall was up. Interesting read, I'm enjoying it.
I've just abandoned my little blog for about a month, thats all!
Basically, the moment my plane touched down in Moscow from the holiday break, I got to work. Airplane to classroom.
Not really. That's just a small exaggeration to make you think I am superhuman.
Really though, I got back to Moscow on a Tuesday, napped from 3pm-11pm, fell back asleep at 5am (on Wednesday now), and ever so cheerfully woke up at 6am to get ready for work. Add the fact that Moscow is 9 hours ahead of the land I was coming from and I was mending the flu...and well at least I still think I am superhuman.
I've decided to blame every mistake for the next month or so on jet lag.
Being welcomed back to school with a slew of gifts at my desk from students/parents from New Year's, made my first day back to work in the state I was in seem OK.
Since I've started teaching here, I've constantly been tweaking my teaching style and classroom management plan to benefit my sanity. (I've said it before, I'll say it again to remind you: teaching ESL to a bunch of unruly children who are not very familiar with the word "no", is more challenging than you'll ever think). I don't mean this in a negative way when I say: I feel like I'm training a bunch of puppies. They don't understand everything I say (like puppies), they pee in the house (like puppies) they are small (like puppies), they are adorable (like puppies), they are annoying (like puppies), so you must train them with repeated commands and routine (like puppies), and over time they will get used to that structure and those commands, and become less annoying as they respond to said structure and commands (just like puppies....get my comparison?) Needless to say, by Friday evenings my energy level is practically on empty.
Here is a change my roommate and I have decided to do upon our return in January: co-teach! Two is better than one. She teaches kindergarten and preschool. We've decided that I will co-teach her kindergarten classes with her, and she will co-teach my craft classes with me. In Russia, kindergarten is really like American preschool, and Russian preschool is like American kindergarten. The two are flip flopped. So along with teaching conversation and craft classes to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, I am now also teaching little 3 and 4 year olds!
The tiny ones can be a handful if you teach them by yourself, so Ashley is relieved to have another set of hands in the kindergarten. As Ashely studied Art Education, I am more than relieved to have her in my craft classes. There is nothing more annoying than giving non-fluent in English 6 year olds scissors and glue all by yourself...as they sing "Jingle Bells" and "Gangnam Style" all year round.
I'm enjoying teaching the babies (3 and 4 year olds). They barely know Russian yet, let alone English...but most are super sweet and cute. I don't think most of them grasp the concept of other languages. They will just "blah blah blah" at us in Russian....and must thing I'm some kind of alien when I respond in English. Since they are 3 and 4 years old, most Russian they speak is super simple...so I find myself understanding much of what they say! I've been understanding phrases such as "I'm a little girl", "I want___", "I don't want___", "more", "what's that?", and my favorite, "leave".
I can understand some small things my older students say as well. For example, I understood when I heard a 1st grader using the Russian "b word" in the locker room after gym one day. Boy was she shocked that I caught her.
Many of my 1st graders have younger siblings in the kindergarten. The girl in the previous story is an older sibling to the boy in kindergarten who uses the Russian word for "leave" often.
I've decided to come to Moscow for at least one more school year. Why you ask? Because the yogurt and sour cream are phenomenal here.
Other reasons include: I'm not done traveling. What is the point of learning the bit of the Russian language and culture I've learned...then leaving. Where else will I go for a long period of time where they speak Russian? Also, call me crazy (I know I am), but I like winter weather. Snow is pretty and ice skating is my new happy place.
Here's a laugh for anyone who really knows me. I joined a sport. It's called broom ball. I think its kind of like ice hockey. No skates, but on an ice rink. I fall a lot...which is part of the fun. It doesn't hurt as I'm all suited up like the mighty ducks.
Yes, it is true that I wore a helmet in my high school gym class playing basketball, and yes, it is true that when I played soccer when I was 5 and my dad was my coach I chased him around the field shouting "Daddy pick me up! Daddy pick me up!"...then played Barbies on the sidelines. But that was the old Gina, and is in the past. So we'll just let that go.
Bad news. I turned 23 on Thursday. According to Blink 182, "nobody likes you when you're 23". ("Whats My Age Again?" by Blink) Its going to be a rough 361 or so more days.
-Gina
P.S. I remember in my last post (the one about Berlin), I said I was going to look for good books to read about the Berlin Wall. I said to inquire if you were interested in what I find. I believe everyone is interested in what I've discovered, but no one inquired. Maybe because you're all shy. So I'll just tell you the book I found...take the pressure of asking me off your shoulders. The book I'm reading is called "Stasiland" by Anna Funder. I am reading it on my beautiful new iPad mini. Its true story about a journalist in I believe the late 90s. She is from Australia but living in Berlin, and she tells stories of Germans she has spoken to about their lives while the wall was up. Interesting read, I'm enjoying it.
