Pleasing the Teacher.

Many times, I've received papers full of the professor's correction. By the time I had in my final draft, the paper looks exactly as if the professor has written in himself. Student's are often in conflict with themselves. Do I write what I really think or do I write what my teacher wants to read? Because my grade depends on it, of course I choose the latter. I mean, who wouldn't? I had one professor who asked her students to critique a book. When my critique questioned the credibility of the author, she returned my paper with soooooooooooo many red marks, I thought the paper had gotten shot! My second draft was much different of course. I wrote it praising book. When your at the mercy of a professor, what else can you do?

Who are these people??

Define the term ESL. What exactly makes a person qualified to be branded this term that carries a negative connotation? When some people hear ESL, the words immigrant, right-off-the-boat come to mind. The image of an uneducated person seems to be the poster example for ESL students. This makes me feel very enraged because what people don't know is that many of these students are in fact, professional's back in their own countries. These men and women should be praised for their bravery and for their determination to learn a new language. They have difficulty adjusting to the educational system in America but they recognize that they must get an education in order to have a better life. I commend these people because I know that it would be very difficult for ME to do this.

Spanish.

I am the Spanish teacher whose kid can barely speak Spanish. How weird, right? Each and everyday, my husband and I struggle to teach this girl the language and it can be sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo frustrating! Of course, I do my best to speak and read to her, but she doesnt show much interest in it. When she was little, we alternated between the two languages, the very same way we alternate when we speak "Spanglish". However over the years, English has become the more dominant. My husband and I discuss sending her to DR for a whole summer, but I'm way too attached for to her and there is no way I can send her there for so long. I feel like we are loosing a our culture and a bit of who we are. I imagine that our grandchildren will have no relation to Dominican culture by the time they are grown. This makes me very sad.

wedding stuff

planning a wedding in the midst of teaching kindergarten, going to school and having a child, is asking for a nervous breakdown. Yesterday, I woke up at 4am and my mind was running WILD. I kept making mental notes of everything I had to do during the week, regarding school, my daughter, work, and the wedding. I felt so overwhelmed and anxious. Finally, by 7am I decided that I couldnt take it anymore. I got up from bed and started doing the things I had to do. I just cant wait for it to be all over.

...

Having nothing else to read on the train every morning, I figured ehh... why not keep on reading Peter Elbow. And it started to like some of the things he wrote, even its first few pages on free writing. He makes good points about keeping a free writing diary. This could get a person writing and could be theruputic. And what better way to master a skill than to practice it over and over again. He hasnt fully convinced me yet but I have to admist that many of his strategies could really allow a person to brainstorm their ideas before they begin writing a paper. He says there will be alot times when you'll have to edit, maybe cross out and add pointers, but you'll be working on all the ideas you have about a topic. You've done that by putting them down on paper without inhibition. Usually, when I write a paper, I go straight to it. But after reading Elbow, I realized how much time I spend on one specific sentence, making sure that it is perfectly written. With all that time, I'm sure there were valuable ideas that I forgot about.

Free Writing = Free Junk??

I have a love-hate relationship with free-writing. I love when I get to express my thoughts without fear of interruption, judgmental opinion or grammatical errors. The problem is, sometimes this free writing can turn into a complete piece of garbage. Peter Elbow says that's okay, as long as your been exercising your handwriting. But I don't know.... as a teacher, I would say I worry when students take a prompt and run with it so far as to end with writing their super market shopping list. I would know, I've done it plenty of times.

a Caribbean way of life

After class, I couldn't stop thinking about what Charlene and Lisa had said in class. Lisa had made a comment regarding the way people are brought up in education in the Caribbean. She said that there was no such thing as working with groups. In school, you kept to yourself and did your work on your own. To this, Charlene quickly jumped in to agree with her. After giving it much thought, I have to say that I too, would like to jump on the bandwagon. Having been raised in New York, by very traditional Caribbean people, I have to say that it has been my experience that these people have no concept of what it means to "work in group". Their school experience never provided them with one. I don't want to say that they advocate team work or unity. I want to say that working in groups calls for many other aspects that Caribbean people are not accustomed to, which is why 'group work' does not exist. For instance, collaborative learning opens the door to critique. It something that is not looked upon negatively. In fact, when in groups, students are encouraged to critique and analyze a published piece. This would be considered outlandish for a even a working-class Caribbean person to do. I have to say that this topic could really be a source of interest for me. I think I would like to pursue it in the future.