How many vapid words I read today?
So much written with nothing to say
Some thought many were written by me
It’s true, I accept responsibility

“All the flowers shine bright in glory”
The charming prince wins every story
Look out everyone, it’s yet another verse
Praised by all yet poetically worse!

How many more vapid words will I read?

60 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Vapid

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Today I’m feeling:

Upbeat though could have done with a couple more hours of sleep. Still, here we are, up and about.

Today I’m grateful for:

This soda water I’m drinking right now.  The third of the evening.  The temperature is starting to rise a little as the mild winter fades.  I’m thirsty and probably going to suffer later having to get up to pee during the night.  Never mind.  I’m a human being and this is how my body works.

The best thing about today was:

In my first class with grade 10s I was teaching about a topic one of them had chosen – European History.  It’s nothing to do with what they are supposed to be learning about but I wanted them to suggest ideas for topics so that I knew it might hold their interest.  I found a Middle Ages in 5 Minutes video and used AI to pull out ten questions from it.  I grabbed the transcript to print out for the students and as I was expecting, they were quite shocked to see so much text and many words they’d never come across before.

I started the lesson by telling them that the topic is European History and to not be scared of what they are seeing and hearing.  What I will be teaching them in the class is English and not history.  I advised them that they didn’t have to understand everything and not to stress themselves about it.

First, we watched the video at three-quarter speed and at the end of it, the best English speaker in the class looked at me exasperated saying that she didn’t understand anything!  I told her that that was fine and not to give up.

I had drawn up a list of words for them to translate into Thai to help them a little and we talked around those a little to make sure that they had found and understood the correct meanings.  Then I had them do a word race, trying to find the word that I said in the text and they all got into that as it was competitive.

Then we watched the video again and, again, the students looked a little confused and lacking confidence.  I told them that they are feeling like this because they are expecting to fully understand something before attempting something connected to it.  I told them that that is often a luxury we can’t afford when learning something.  I said that when we are young children we might watch TV, something that we don’t understand and can’t explain but the words and pictures are making connections in our brains.  This is what they have been doing today.  They seemed dubious.

Finally, we attempted the quiz which was ten multiple-choice questions.  They needed a good understanding of English for them so I guided them with ideas of what to search for in the text, asking them questions, prompting and testing.  They all struggled through the first few questions but slowly they started being able to answer them more swiftly and I stopped them at one point praising them and reminding them of how they had arrived at this point.

Usually, these students are itching to go and eat as the class is before lunch but today we ran over time as they were all quite pleased at what they had done today.  Maybe they will remember little of the details of today but next time they are faced with what seems an ominous task they will feel more confident.  Perhaps some will be reminded of some of the information when they see pictures of old cathedrals or hear the names of some English and French kings.

That was a great lesson for all of us today!

And then….for my second class, I split my grade 7’s into random groups of 5 or 6 and had them come read together and answer questions with spoken English, rather than writing, where it is easy to copy each other’s answers.

This really tested some of the students who think they can cruise through by copying.  This is not the best method of teaching but compared with what I see going on in some other classrooms I’m hoping it is a little more effective and encouraging for the students.

I was happy with the way this class went too.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Last night Amy was in a tipsy playful mood and while I was already in bed, settled into a book, she came in looking serious.  She said she wanted to talk to me seriously about something.  This was a bit surprising to me as she had been happy with her wine most of the evening.  I said ‘ok’, not really knowing what to expect.

Her face was serious and she looked teary and struggled to say words, hiding her face in a shameful manner.  I was still slightly bemused but also on my guard.  What is she going to tell me?  What is so difficult to say?  What happened?  I was mentally and physically preparing for a confession of infidelity.

Finally, after a few minutes of this acting, she proffered ‘Do you think I should get my nose heightened?  I know you like it small but I want it to be bigger.’  She laughed and cackled at this and I reminded her (as we have talked about this before) that I love her little nose but if she’s not happy with it then she can do what she wants.

She asked me ‘What would you do if I told you I had cheated on you?’  I stoically said ‘If that happened, we’d have to talk it out and decide what to do.’  Ultimately that is all that gets done in that situation whether it’s amicable or not.

Amy went off back to her wine and movie and I congratulated myself on my calm in such a situation.  It was good to practice going through an emotional test like this.  Occasionally, I will walk through situations in my head to see how I might react, mentally preparing.  It’s not always effective but it’s better than being knocked off your feet by things.

Something I learned today?

Over the last few days, I’ve been watching more Little Chinese Everywhere videos as Yan was travelling through Iran.  I learned a lot about their local crafts and was reminded of how wonderful and welcoming the people there are.  I would have loved to have gone there when I was younger but I have lost the travel bug a little recently.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

With it being Valentine’s Day, as is tradition here, students were giving out heart stickers to each other and to me too.  I also had some extra candies.  When I ran out of those I peeled off the stickers from my shirt and passed them on to students, hoping to be sticker-free by the time I got home.  

I remember last year finding these stickers in the washing machine, even weeks later because there were still some stuck on my shirt when I put it in the wash.

25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO –  17. Think About Others. Just be mindful, that’s all. We all have families, bills to pay, and our own issues. Don’t always make everything about yourself.

I believe that I am quite good at this but I would say that I do not involve myself with others lives unless invited.  

I’m not a chatterbox or the type of person who charms up banal conversation to form connections.  

Perhaps that makes me a little standoffish, maybe even self-centred but actually I care very much about people and what is going on with them and I will help when I can and forgive when they have their own things going on.