Yesterday was ok, only one student showed up to class. I am really disappointed. The student that showed up need some help with the "buying a house" process. How overwhelming for someone who's native language is not English. It's difficult for native English speakers, add another language and it can be overwhelming.
Well, off to work, maybe I will have a lot of students...well I can wish, can't I?
tommiann

ESL classes went well today. My morning class is so incredibly enthusiastic about learning. It's a pleasure to teach this class; my night class was wonderful too. My students were able to make the connections between percents, decimals and fractions. I almost cried with joy; it has been difficult to teach this class in English and for the students to understand it in English. However, I think we made a breakthrough!

I didn't run today, work was hectic so I wasn't able to get it in. I'm worried because I'm not trained for the 1/2 marathon this coming up weekend. I'm truly not trained for it, so why am I running it? I must be out of my mind. I don't want to get injured. I've read some other blogs and found some interesting insights into running. Someone suggested the 123 approach to running to keep your gait even. For example, count 1 2 3..2 2 3...3 2 3..and this helps with running evenly. I'm going to try this when I run.
Well, off for tonight,
tommiann

Ran trails today; it was wonderful! It rained most of the time, but it was very warm. I took Tucker with me; he loved jumping in the lake. The trails were muddy and slick, but it wasn't too bad. I hope I can go back tomorrow and run it again, if the weather cooperates. I don't want to run in wet and cold weather. I like to run, but I'm not going to kill myself:).

I didn't get selected for the Nike Women's marthon..I was really disappointed; it my dream to run in this marathon. The irony of all of this is, I had my mother sign up for it and a friend at work (she's not a runner). It would give her something to strive for..they both got selected and I didn't. It actually depressed me, I'm still depressed thinking about it. It truly wanted to run in this marathon. It would have given me the chance to fly home and run a marthon with my mom again. I've got to stop thinking about it because it's really upsetting me. Now my friend doesn't want to run the Nike marathon because I'm not..which upsets me even more because I really want to run it! Oh well, if there were 20 people in a room and 19 are selected for a prize, I wouldn't be one of them. I have bad luck; I just don't ever get picked or win anything. See, I need to stop OBSESSING about it!
tommiann

Wow, what a week in ESL land. I taught a computer class last night, and my students loved it. However, one of my students did not speak any English, and he had a difficult time trying to stay connected. I spent a lot of one on one, but he didn't seem too receptive to help. However, at the end of class, he was all smiles.
Thursday morning's class was an eye opener too...a student was applying for a job but had some difficulties filling out the application. It was her first day in class and brought her job application with her. I hope she comes back to class............
My mileage has been down for awhile, with work overload and weather difficulties (rained almost all week)..I haven't been able to run. I have a 1/2 marathon to run next weekend, and I am not ready to run it. I have to make some decisions. I don't want to get hurt trying to run the race or bomb out. I'll try to run a long run tomorrow and see how I feel.
I'm really tired this week; it has been tough. I'm glad it's the weekend.
tommiann

Today was a little tiring...I taught English to students who knew little English but willing and eager learners. It took some time to get them to feel comfortable with me. Starting a new class is challenging, not because of getting to know students, but to help facilitate a safe and secure learning environment. Adults come in with fears, baggage from previous learning experiences and then put that with cultural and language differences, it could be disasterous. So it takes a lot from me, emotionally and mentally, to make sure the students want to come back and learn.

In tonight's class, it was a very good class. It was really hot, because we are upstairs and the day was rather warm. It's too early for the college to turn on the air, so it was really warm. The students were good sports about it.

I'm really tired, so off to sleep.
tommiann

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

I ran 6 miles today; it was a beautiful WARM overcast day. Not used to running in humidity, but it's better than the cold. 68 was the high, but tomorrow the high is suppose to be 41, YUCK. I HATE spring. I start to get spoiled with the warmth and BAM the cold hits.

Classes went ok today, discussed phrasal verbs. One of the students wants to call others to invite them to class because she enjoys it so much. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they are afraid of driving. Teaching English is rewarding, and I have the perfect Utopian teaching experience. I have students that want to be in class and want to learn; sometimes I think we can learn more from other cultures. I think it's an oxymoron at times that I teach English, because I learn more from them than they learn from me.
tommiann