As I'm writing this, I'm actually listening to "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" (see previous long post). The Magnetic Fields, which is mostly just Stephen Meritt, are incredible. 69 Love Songs is a 3-disc set (each with 23 songs, yay math) that is very much worth having. Listen to this song, or "Queen of the Savages" (on disc 3) and think about me. The off-shoot bands of The Magnetic Fields (mostly just Stephin Meritt again, but with tons of guest vocalists) are also quite good and some of my favorites- the 6ths (anyone who has a song called "San Diego Zoo" that talks about driving on Interstate 5 can be my friend) and the Future Bible Heroes (listen to "I'm a Vampire" and think about Eliana, but don't tell her I said so) and maybe even more that I don't know about. Wow, end long music discussion. Oh wait, before I do, everyone go out and buy the Belle and Sebastian DVD Fans Only. Then watch the "Legal Man" video over and over and over. Learn the words! Sing along! Dance along! It's important to me that you do this. Now it's really over
Today it really hit me that I have to start teaching again on Monday. Probably because I was making a lesson plan. Not just any lesson plan- a SUPER lesson plan. Why is it super you ask? Well, faithful reader, that would be because it's THREE TIMES LONGER than my normal lesson plans. And that is because i get to teach for OVER THREE HOURS every single day! For three whole weeks! So yeah, I realize that it's not that bad since it's only for 3 weeks, but let me complain at least once (or ten times, you know) about the length. Eek! I figured I'd open with a tried and true classic like "La Double-Vie d'Eliana." The first-year French supervisor (Hilary, the coolest and best supervisor ever) is out of town, so Eliana and I are in charge. Really in charge. Heehee. It should go fine, and it will also be good experience and good practice.
Also today I finally got official notification from COFLT that I'm presenting at their fall convention. This is the Confederation in Oregon For Language Teaching (if you just followed the link you already know that). Now, faithful reader, you may say "Gina, why are you going to said COFLT convention? Do you belong there? Are they crazy letting you present? What are you going to talk about anyways, your finger puppets?" To answer that final question, yes, I am going to talk about my finger puppets. Ok ok ok, so in relation to my digital camera and how I use them in class. Backtrack- spring quarter I was cornered (and by cornered I mean stopped on the steps of Friendly Hall) by my former Methodology (how-to-be-a-teacher-class) professor Robert Davis, who asked me if I was going to be around in the Fall, and then told me that I should go to COFLT to present on how I use my digital camera and finger puppets to teach class. This is a true story- I really do. I have this collection of finger puppets that I set up in different situations, take pictures of (enter digital camera) and then make into either overheads or power-points for class. We teach with the communicative method, which is where you don't really explain grammar flat-out, the students pick it up (mostly) through seeing it used. So I tell lots of stories (hence the Double-Vie d'Eliana series), and thought the finger puppets, especially my long-time partner-in-crime Pony-on-the-Finger (Holy dashes Batman!) would at least make the class laugh. Turns out it works. And last term, one of my students lent me his collection of 33, taking my collection past the 43 mark. This summer I also found and purchased a finger puppet theatre, in the shape of a castle! With a queen, king, knight and jester puppet! I'm such a medievalist dork! But it's ok. So you may think that I'm just insane, but my students actually learned through these stories. And they laughed a lot. So Robert Davis thought this would be interesting for other teachers, not necessarily the finger puppets, but the using of the digital camera thingie. So I wrote a proposal (veeeeery late, since I didn't know about it), sent it in, heard unofficially forever ago, and got the schedule today. Look out COFLT! They'll never know what hit them!
My god, that was long. Ok, I'll be quiet now. And I'll post some pictures of these finger-puppet thingies.
(Don't forget about the Belle and Sebastian DVD. I'll know if you do)
Today it really hit me that I have to start teaching again on Monday. Probably because I was making a lesson plan. Not just any lesson plan- a SUPER lesson plan. Why is it super you ask? Well, faithful reader, that would be because it's THREE TIMES LONGER than my normal lesson plans. And that is because i get to teach for OVER THREE HOURS every single day! For three whole weeks! So yeah, I realize that it's not that bad since it's only for 3 weeks, but let me complain at least once (or ten times, you know) about the length. Eek! I figured I'd open with a tried and true classic like "La Double-Vie d'Eliana." The first-year French supervisor (Hilary, the coolest and best supervisor ever) is out of town, so Eliana and I are in charge. Really in charge. Heehee. It should go fine, and it will also be good experience and good practice.
Also today I finally got official notification from COFLT that I'm presenting at their fall convention. This is the Confederation in Oregon For Language Teaching (if you just followed the link you already know that). Now, faithful reader, you may say "Gina, why are you going to said COFLT convention? Do you belong there? Are they crazy letting you present? What are you going to talk about anyways, your finger puppets?" To answer that final question, yes, I am going to talk about my finger puppets. Ok ok ok, so in relation to my digital camera and how I use them in class. Backtrack- spring quarter I was cornered (and by cornered I mean stopped on the steps of Friendly Hall) by my former Methodology (how-to-be-a-teacher-class) professor Robert Davis, who asked me if I was going to be around in the Fall, and then told me that I should go to COFLT to present on how I use my digital camera and finger puppets to teach class. This is a true story- I really do. I have this collection of finger puppets that I set up in different situations, take pictures of (enter digital camera) and then make into either overheads or power-points for class. We teach with the communicative method, which is where you don't really explain grammar flat-out, the students pick it up (mostly) through seeing it used. So I tell lots of stories (hence the Double-Vie d'Eliana series), and thought the finger puppets, especially my long-time partner-in-crime Pony-on-the-Finger (Holy dashes Batman!) would at least make the class laugh. Turns out it works. And last term, one of my students lent me his collection of 33, taking my collection past the 43 mark. This summer I also found and purchased a finger puppet theatre, in the shape of a castle! With a queen, king, knight and jester puppet! I'm such a medievalist dork! But it's ok. So you may think that I'm just insane, but my students actually learned through these stories. And they laughed a lot. So Robert Davis thought this would be interesting for other teachers, not necessarily the finger puppets, but the using of the digital camera thingie. So I wrote a proposal (veeeeery late, since I didn't know about it), sent it in, heard unofficially forever ago, and got the schedule today. Look out COFLT! They'll never know what hit them!
My god, that was long. Ok, I'll be quiet now. And I'll post some pictures of these finger-puppet thingies.
(Don't forget about the Belle and Sebastian DVD. I'll know if you do)
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