Eye-Opener: Memo

day 1 of spring 08

I'll keep things brief and general because I don't want to cause trouble (can you believe that, "Michael B. Diezmos" causing trouble with his words?). Here in Logan, Utah, the spring semester already began.

I met the new students I'm teaching this spring. I'll apply the things I learned last semester and I'll trust my intuition and the "signs" more (basically being more aware). Even though I already have my lesson plans from last semester, I'm still changing them (revising- re-seeing). The great thing is that I can look at a month's worth of lesson plans and connect them (so they can be more cohesive). Something different I'm doing this semester- I added a supplementary reading: "Wicked..." by Gregory Maguire. The reason why I did this is to make the lessons more cohesive. Every assignment that my students are doing is going to be connected somehow through "Wicked." And I'm actually using one of my old textbooks (from SHU) as another supplementary to further explain different concepts of the writing process and also for writing prompts.

I met my co-workers today and recapped. We shared stories about our holidays and new ideas (what changes they made for their addendum/class). It'll be different this semester because we don't have a common class together. The only times that we'll see each other are during office hours. I do have classes with some of them so I'll see them then. Speaking of classes, I decided to be sane and logical this semester and only take two classes. Even though they're only two, I still have a lot of reading to do. The classes I'm taking are "Fieldwork" and "Folklore and Literature." Some of the books in the fieldwork class include writing ethnographic fieldnotes, people studying people, learning how to ask questions, tales of the field, proper documentation, etc. Some of the Folklore-inspired literature that I'll be reading are Achebe's "Things' fall apart", Toni Morrison's "Beloved", "The Chosen" by ?, Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and many more.

My Thai roommate returned to Thailand. To finalize his departure, some of his Thai friends stopped by the other day to pick up some food supplies he couldn't bring back home. The tv and microwave are gone (I have to buy them soon or I'll get bored and starve if I get "snow-bound"). My new roommate hasn't arrived yet. I'm using the living room area as a drying room for my snow drenched coat, scarf, hat, gloves, and boots.

I'm glad that SHU printed Rick Sebak's speech in the Forward Magazine. Now instead of watching the tape to remember and to get inspired, I just read the article. I'm utilizing more the concept of genuine small talk, reading (something besides my school work) and ordering the special (every new restaurant/cafe I go to I look for the special, and if it's an old hang-out, I try to order something new).

Things that I'm saving up for and planning- trip to Europe (Spain, Italy, France, and England), California (San Diego, Redwood Forest, San Fransisco), and an internship as a teacher's assistant (hopefully in Hawaii). These may not all come true (but I can dream), and as my old teacher used to say "the great thing about plans is that you can change them!"

Wish me luck!