WHY I LOVE MY JOB

No it`s just because of the weeks off in the summer. Actually, my husband and I call those two months off : CONVALESCENCE. But that`s a different blog subject altogether.

No, in truth, it`s certainly when the students are there that it is worthwhile.
Let me explain :

Every year, around August 9-10th, I get the blues and fidgety. It`s not because of lack of housework, activities or social life but something`s missing.
I finally put my finger on it this week. I was thinking about it while brushing my teeth one morning when it dawned on me.
I like helping people.
Don`t get me wrong, I don`t go hunting for other people`s problem to solve. I`m more talking about assistance, the extra push in the right way, guidance , advice or downright problem solving. It`s not always exclusive to teaching English either.

I often find that teaching and mothering are somehow closely related. It`s even hard to draw the line sometimes. I KNOW I am not a mother at school but at times when students come to me for : a facial tissue, a stain on the seat of a pair of pants....( " Annie help, I can`t spend the rest of the day like this , the others are gonna tease me...." ), a bunch of Bristol boards and markers for a project, an opinion on whatever subject, a bad break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend I Do feel I need to mother a little bit.
And I also feel privileged . You always ask someone for help because you trust him or her. You know they won`t make fun of you no matter what . I try to give them as much help as they have trust in me. It`s not an easy task to ask for help . I`m thirty-something and I still have trouble asking for help. But seeking help is the key to a happy ending or at least a resolution.
We don`t always need assistance. Afterall,we learn from past experiences .

Proverb on the subject :
“The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right."
-Hannah Whitall Smith
AMEN.

Another reason I love my job is : gratification .
I had a very humbling experience this week.
I`ve been imposing certain novels to my sec.4 students for the last 9 years now.
I usually allow them one and a half week to read two chapters before testing them on the chapters in question. Let me inform you that these novels are for anglophone readers and NOT for students learning English second language. So it usually takes more time to read because of the slang , vocabulary and sentence structures in general.
Well, one morning this week I asked the students after their first test on chapters 1 and 2 if they were enjoying the novel and where they were at in their reading chapter-wise.
Thank God I was seated. A lot of them were halfway through the novel already and some even were about to finsh the novel.
Now I was really looking forward to correcting an exam for once to see if they were both quick and good readers or just quick to get rid of it and not understanding a thing. They nailed it. They ARE quick and excellent readers. And this is not an easy feat. This is Cégep level and they are just in Sec. 4 !! Wow, no- double Wow.
Some went to get the second novel from S.E Hinton at the library. They are reading , understanding and loving it. How gratifying ! Is my job fantastic or what ?
You really have to love reading to enjoy seeing others read and loving it.

The way I see it, students and teachers teach each other. It`s an unofficial cooperation : I help you progress and evolve and you help ME improve my ways of helping other students in the future( experience ).
I met an ex-student of mine two weeks ago. He was a student o in my FIRST year of teaching. He recognized me and so did I , even his name ! Well I just had to apologize and inform him I was a much better teacher now ! Fourteen years of experience can make a difference !
He laughed .
I don`t have the pretention of changing lives or saving lives like nurses and doctors do. I do though have an opportunity to both touch other people`s minds and hearts. And I let them touch mine.
Giving is really receiving. It energizes. It gratifies. It nourishes and I truly feed on it.
To boost an ego ? Certaianly not. To give meaning to life.

Speaking of helping : this is for Kathleen .




"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.

I had a total blank this morning when it came to the name of this wonderful poet. I fell in love with Ms. Barrett Browning when I was in Sec.3. She writes beautifully.
Enjoy.
If you need help with it come and see me.

Now, on with the weekend !
Family time, relatives visiting are on the agenda and I can`t wait !!

PS : Félix-Antoine`s question and discussion of the week :
I ( HIS MOTHER ) am so mean and nasty to kidnap eggs from hens so I can buy tham at the supermarket !
How can I live with that he asked me at the supermarket Friday night? I tried very hard to explain that once you TAKE not KIDNAP an egg from a hen, it is no longer a potential baby chicken ( a chick ) . Didn`t work . He still views me as baby chicken KILLER every time I buy a dozen at Métro or IGA.
Now this discussion has been going on for one year . He still doesn`t believe it is not cruel to buy eggs. From now on I`m hiding the eggs somewhere in the refrigerator. Case closed !

TAtA,
Annie c;

All Roads Lead To Room 219 !

Yes it`s true. I don`t know if it`s because our classroom is near the stairway, the ladies`room , my door is always open or all of the above but let me tell you now, it`s never boring. It`ll be like this all year.
Almost everyday someone drops by to say " hello ".
We had two visitors today : Marie-Pier Comeau and Dany Jutras.
Marie-Pier graduated from the Intensive English Program about three years ago. She now lives in Toronto studying at Queen`s University . She`s studying in French Literature and doing a minor in English. Wow. She seems so happy. She is in Nicolet to visit her family and came by to visit us.
It`s always a pleasure to meet graduates.
Then came Dany Jutras. Dany, Dany, Dany. I like to call him Flea or Dany California because he is a huge fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So am I ! Dany came to retrieve his English dictionary he forgot in class last June. I like to think it`s his way of dropping by to say " Hi ". Be warned , he`ll be back. He never did find the dictionary in question... I miss that group so much. I call it separation anxiety. Students move along to new teachers, different classrooms but I stay. BUT I get visitors ...
You`ll also notice that no matter who steps in the classroom : the principal, janitor , a French/Math teacher-everybody speaks English. It`s automatic. I don`t even have to say it. It`s like magic.
Paul Lachance likes to drop by often. Usually he brings me a latté or a capuccino with a croissant.
For years students thought he was my husband. Many students know my husband teaches at school and all assume it is him because of the free coffee. Actually Pierre Bergeron is the husband who serves me my coffee every morning in the bathroom while I try to put on my morning face. Paul is a generous and great friend.

I will all ask you one thing : when people drop by and speak so-so English : DO NOT laugh. You have no idea of the effort involved. They are trying hard and they know you are better than them. Be polite and instead use it as a motivation to keep working hard on your speaking skills....


EXPRESSION OF THE MONTH :

Try to use this expression whenever possible in class .
" What doesn`t kill you will only make you stronger ." - Martin Luther King
Bonus points for those who use it correctly AND in the right context.

Hi to Sylar and thanks for everything darling. Keep the helpful tips coming.

Tata for now,
Annie c :

WELCOME !

Well it`s official, my kids in Sec. 2 know where to find me. They now have the address.
Hi guys and welcome.

A special welcome to Simon who just joined the group. He moved to Nicolet 3 weeks ago from Montreal. I`m sure you`ll have a great time among us.

Sec.2 : don`t forget your homework in the Skill Sharpener p.5 and study irregular verbs p. 114 upto the verb " feel ". Quiz on Thursday !!

You made quite an impression on me with your oral presentations . Most of you are very comfortable and your sentence structures are very solid. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

See you soon,
leave a comment,
Annie c:

IT`S THE WEEKEND !

After years of teaching experience I can now confirm : TWO MONTHS OF VACATION WILL MAKE YOU STUPID !

Yes ladies and germs , after 8 weeks off , busy doing not much, it can make a pretty YET very intelligent ( ; woman quite slow.
I caught myself saying to my husband very excitedly this Wednesday : " Hey honey we`re off 3 full days this weekend woohoo! " If I were not a teacher and heard someone say that I would have beaten him or her senseless. The truth of the matter is that my brain needs it.
A strange phenomena happens : your brain gets very slow while you`re not doing much . Getting back in the real world IS difficult . Life is just so fast you hardly can keep up.

People who know me very well can tell you I have no short-term memory. I can`t remember what I ate an hour ago and certainly won`t remember what I have to do 2 hours from now even if my life depended on it. Well listing all the things I shouln`t have forgotten which I ended up forgetting anyway would be too time consuming . Do you want the whole list or the top ten ?
Like the Tin Man said in The Wizard Of Oz : " If I only had a brain ! "
Ì can `t wait for October, I`ll be so darn smarter and faster !!

Oh and another thing : my bilingual brain is so screwed up at the beginning of the year . My students ask me the simplest stuff ( a translation ) and my brain goes : which side of my brain is supposed to be working ? The French one or the English one ? Let`s try the Frenglish side . I often end up talking like someone from New Brunswick :" Check la girl l`autre bord d`la street." Thank God I only speak English in class.
So if you ask me how my transition back to school is doing after my holiday , I`ll have to admit it is painful.
This weekend, I promised my brain a RESET with occasional exercises. Not too much input and more output.
I went grocery shopping with the kids, went for a ride with the family in the Mustang, had dinner at the restaurant with my family and in-laws, read, picked up my dog`s poop with the greatest little gadget I like to call : The Pooper Scooper 2000, cover my kids` school books, clean house and finally some laundry. And I suvived ! Takes more time than usual but as they say : slowly but surely. And best of all, no one was harmed or injured in the process !

I must apologize to all of you who wanted to write their comments on this blog. I just totally blocked all of you out without even knowing . Blame my vacation !
Thanks to my pal Pat Bernier who informed me of the problem I could remediate it.
Please send me comments and / or questions. I love them to death.

For those who are wondering what my kids are up to this week in Intensive English, well we are working hard already. There`s no time for the lazy in our class.
Here goes :

Sec.2
One day after setting foot in my classroom I dared to ask my kids to present an oral production . I do this every year and Pierre likes to tell me " Wow that`s quick ! "
Let me explain : my kids are always very nervous before their first oral of the year so why suffer we start with a bang. It doesn`t count on the report card and they have to introduce someone in class which permits me to get to know them better right off the bat.
One group has already presented and they did just great. Let me tell you that the students in Intensive English LOVE oral productions and it shows.

Sec. 4
We went to the library on the second day to pick up our novel so we can start as quickly as possible after I tell them about the author, the characters and the premise of the book. One group is reading The Outsiders while the other group is reading Rumble Fish. Both are from S.E Hinton. They have no idea they are about to read something they will never EVER forget!
Swing by later for the official dates of the chapter quizzes.

Before I go I want to congratulate my sister Nadia for her new job and responsibilities. Go get `em girl -you can do it !
To all my students in Sec.4 : welcome back . You are just as lovely as when I had you in Sec.2. You are interested , interesting and you laugh at ALL my jokes. Bonus points for all of you!

I finally DID learn how to post some pictures. Thanks Pat B. and Pierre. Pictures of my school kids in action will soon be posted.

Tata for now,
Annie