Coulda Woulda Shoulda

I've been working on writing and editing projects all day today and my brain is slightly fried, although quite happy to be busy. In light of that, I've decided to share this video, as my attempt to try and write something right now would probably come out AS IF NOT LESS coherent than this and plus, I'm not cute and small nor to I have beautiful doe eyes, black curly hair and a girlie bandana ta boot. Enjoy

I did not realise until I began teaching what an AMAZING gift I have. Did you realise I can cure any and all 'boo boos' with a simple kiss-hand-touch-ailment trick? If I had known I had such a powerful gift, I most CERTAINLY would have exploited it earlier. It seems to be children who are alway more perceptive to those with special abilities. I mean, they're the ones that see ghosts and 'dead people'. They certainly have a way of exposing us. I'll never forget the first time I discovered what I was capable of. It was in a classroom, probably within the first month of me being here, and a small little kindy came up to me. She had a tortured look on her face, one that made me second guess whether or not I should have asked them one more time to 'REPEAT AFTER ME'. Then, she stuck her forefinger right in my face. To show me *gasp* what most people would say was the tiniest cut known to man. But not me. Not the super healer. I suddenly realised SOMETHING must...

One of the boys in my 10-year-old class brought in some noodles for everyone to share. He brought in two packages, dried, that conveniently can come to life after some hot water. I had met him in the market about 2 minutes before class where he informed me he was going to purchase 1 ADULT PORTION for each child in the class. I managed to convince him that ALL NINE CHILDREN did not need their own portion. He looked up at me, a bit conflicted and said: "My mother said if I can only have if I get for everyone." And so, we compromised, purchased two smaller packages and I promised to bring small Dixie cups to class so we could distribute. I was touched by his generosity, even if it was selfishly fuelled. When we reached class, with the noodles and Dixie cups in hand, he carefully distributed sections of the noodles into the cups. The most sought after bit was the flavoring. Once everyone was appeased with the amount of spicyness they would be consuming, it was off the to water co...

When we first arrived in Korea, my mom asked what I needed in a care package. Besides oatmeal and medicine and EVERY OTHER WESTERN FOOD YOU CAN THINK OF, I also requested something for the kiddies. I wanted to have a CD with kids songs to teach the little ones. Little did I know that in the end, I would be the one who was enjoying them as well. She sent me a couple but my favourite is the Raffi CD. Being a good Canadian, I grew up on the stuff. And if playing with little kids all day doesn't actually make you feel like a kid again, listening to the songs of your youth will do the trick. And so, I often have the Raffi CD on in the background when the kids are doing writing or coloring, just to have ENGLISH IN THE FACE for the duration of the class. It also allows me to sing along. And it was only today when I realised that maybe that wasn't such a good thing. Because there I was, sitting at the front of the class, quietly singing along, putting in some actions to one of the funn...

Alice the Camel has 5 humps.... (all the way to) Alice the camel has NO humps now Alice is a HORSE! NEIGHHHHHHHHHHH! Every day I end my kindergarten classes with this classic and it goes down like a house on fire. After 7 days of kindergarten, the other thing that is going down quickly is my little voice. YES people who know me MY VOICE IS NOW LITTLE! I can hardly speak anymore and as I write, can actually feel my vocal chords BEGGING me not to say one...more...word. I can just imagine the number of people I know across the planet letting out a huge guffaw and a sigh of relief, to think that FOR ONCE I have no choice but to JUST..SHUT..UP. I suppose I can also take solace in the fact that my fingers aren't broken, as my Uncle D has often accused me of having when I haven't written in awhile and so, I can continue to blather on in writing and simply hope that this will sustain me until my BIG voice comes back. I've been reading some things about kindergarten teaching, as man...

When D and I had a roomate P, I remember one of the running jokes was 'I didn't have any toys. Books were my toys.' They used to say it in this voice that made it sound much funnier than it now looks on screen and I'm sure it was passed down from many a night with his O-dot friends but as with many of their jokes, I can never really remember who started what. I'm sure neither can they. But the phrase struck me today, as I was observing one of my classes in what we call the Block Room - essentially a room full of oversized Legos and a great place to give the kids a 10 minute break from the insanity. Yes, because it's the kids who need the break from the insanity. Uh huh. So, on this much needed break I happened to observe one of my bright young ones, Little B, kinda looking around at the other kids, nose scrunched, mouth curled, as if someone had just offered her the most disgusting thing to eat. Me: Little B, what are you doing? Little B: Teacher, no block room....