efei: "he is...how do you say it...full of knowledge?"
me: "nerd?"
efei: "YES yes!"
this is the definition i'm using for nerd from now on.
24.6.10
23.6.10
week six
june 23rd. by the end of the week i'll have been teaching for a month and a half already this semester. time, man. (also, all of my students have been learning about the verb tenses this semester, so now i'm hyper aware of the tenses and any time i write a verb, i mentally check off the tense. i'll have been teaching=future perfect continuous. this is an annoying and mostly useless brain habit.)
anyway, something happened this week. on monday, in 5/2 (last year's 4/2, supposedly the naughiest of all my classes), a boy tried to give me a paper that was due last week. "no, no points," i told him. if he wasn't here, that's too bad for him. no points. it's just one assignment, i tried to tell him. mai pen rai, no big deal. no points this time, but you can have points if you do the next assignment.
i sort of waved it off and went to the board to teach. a minute later, i see him grab his backpack and storm out of the classroom, yelling at my thai co-teacher. i sort of looked at my co-teacher like, "um, wtf mate?" turns out he was so mad about not getting points that he ripped up his paper, threw it on the floor, and left the classroom.
this was actually kind of upsetting because despite their reputation, i love this class. after i figured out how to deal with them--they're just the kind of kids who aren't meant to be students, so i just have to figure out things to do that aren't so school-ish--we've had a really good relationship. this boy is part of the group of guys who usually sit in the back and every week, they quiz me on american bands (blink 182 and green day are their favorites, but they also like crap like limp bizkit. i haven't told'em yet that loving limp bizkit makes them 90s lame). i thought this boy and i were friends of sorts, so it kind of sucked that he did that.
i ran into the boy in the hall yesterday, and as soon as he saw me he hung his head in shame. "sorry, teacha. sorryyyyy." it's ok, i told him. mai pen rai. he realized what he did was mean and apologized. over and done.
but the administrators thought otherwise. my thai co-teacher had told a disciplinarian, who thought the best solution would be for him to apologize formally. so today at 12:40 pm, the boy came in (along with an administrator and my thai co-teacher) with a ring of jasmine flowers and roses on a gold dish. he got on his knees and told me (in thai) that he was really sorry for what he did and he promised never to do it again. i had no idea what to do in this situation--i will never get over feeling awkward when students bow down to me--so i sort of grabbed the flowers awkwardly.
my thai co-teacher told me to say a few words, so i said it was ok, i forgive you, just know it made me sad because i know you're a good student, if you help me i'll help you, blah blah blah things to make you feel guilty and like i'm disappointed in you. he wai-ed me (the super deep kind...people in thailand, you know what this means), i thanked him, and it was done.
it really weirded me out. i hate formalities like that and i hate being treated like such a high and mighty person. i think he and i both knew this formal stuff was mostly to make the administration happy. so, whatever. it's over and done with. and now i have some nice smelling flowers.
anyway, something happened this week. on monday, in 5/2 (last year's 4/2, supposedly the naughiest of all my classes), a boy tried to give me a paper that was due last week. "no, no points," i told him. if he wasn't here, that's too bad for him. no points. it's just one assignment, i tried to tell him. mai pen rai, no big deal. no points this time, but you can have points if you do the next assignment.
i sort of waved it off and went to the board to teach. a minute later, i see him grab his backpack and storm out of the classroom, yelling at my thai co-teacher. i sort of looked at my co-teacher like, "um, wtf mate?" turns out he was so mad about not getting points that he ripped up his paper, threw it on the floor, and left the classroom.
this was actually kind of upsetting because despite their reputation, i love this class. after i figured out how to deal with them--they're just the kind of kids who aren't meant to be students, so i just have to figure out things to do that aren't so school-ish--we've had a really good relationship. this boy is part of the group of guys who usually sit in the back and every week, they quiz me on american bands (blink 182 and green day are their favorites, but they also like crap like limp bizkit. i haven't told'em yet that loving limp bizkit makes them 90s lame). i thought this boy and i were friends of sorts, so it kind of sucked that he did that.
i ran into the boy in the hall yesterday, and as soon as he saw me he hung his head in shame. "sorry, teacha. sorryyyyy." it's ok, i told him. mai pen rai. he realized what he did was mean and apologized. over and done.
but the administrators thought otherwise. my thai co-teacher had told a disciplinarian, who thought the best solution would be for him to apologize formally. so today at 12:40 pm, the boy came in (along with an administrator and my thai co-teacher) with a ring of jasmine flowers and roses on a gold dish. he got on his knees and told me (in thai) that he was really sorry for what he did and he promised never to do it again. i had no idea what to do in this situation--i will never get over feeling awkward when students bow down to me--so i sort of grabbed the flowers awkwardly.
my thai co-teacher told me to say a few words, so i said it was ok, i forgive you, just know it made me sad because i know you're a good student, if you help me i'll help you, blah blah blah things to make you feel guilty and like i'm disappointed in you. he wai-ed me (the super deep kind...people in thailand, you know what this means), i thanked him, and it was done.
it really weirded me out. i hate formalities like that and i hate being treated like such a high and mighty person. i think he and i both knew this formal stuff was mostly to make the administration happy. so, whatever. it's over and done with. and now i have some nice smelling flowers.
20.6.10
life
[6/20/10 9:45:05 AM] Nicki Arnold: i wanna shower then you wanna head down to banya's?
[6/20/10 9:45:35 AM] Madeline Armstrong: yeah, i should be ready in a half hour
[6/20/10 9:45:51 AM] Nicki Arnold: ...what are you doing?
[6/20/10 9:46:02 AM] Madeline Armstrong: nothing
[6/20/10 9:46:04 AM] Madeline Armstrong: lol
[6/20/10 9:46:17 AM] Madeline Armstrong: just want to move slowly
suphan sundays.
p.s. yes, another layout change.
p.p.s. I'M HANGING OUT WITH A.J. RAWLS IN PARIS IN NOVEMBER. for at least a week. in one of the most phenomenal cities in the world. this fact alone gets me through some of my toughest days.
[6/20/10 9:45:35 AM] Madeline Armstrong: yeah, i should be ready in a half hour
[6/20/10 9:45:51 AM] Nicki Arnold: ...what are you doing?
[6/20/10 9:46:02 AM] Madeline Armstrong: nothing
[6/20/10 9:46:04 AM] Madeline Armstrong: lol
[6/20/10 9:46:17 AM] Madeline Armstrong: just want to move slowly
suphan sundays.
p.s. yes, another layout change.
p.p.s. I'M HANGING OUT WITH A.J. RAWLS IN PARIS IN NOVEMBER. for at least a week. in one of the most phenomenal cities in the world. this fact alone gets me through some of my toughest days.
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