The other day my Freshman oral English class had a picnic. We took pictures and ate snacks. Then they wanted to play games and we played all these games that they would play in elementary and middle school. For example, catch the chicken where a mother hen stands in front of a long line of her baby chicks who are all holding onto each other's waists. Then a hawk tries to tag the chicks while the mother hen tries to prevent it. Or a game where the students stand in a circle on one leg where the other leg is hooked to the leg of the person next to them, their hands on each other's shoulders. They then jump in a motion like a merry go around, round and round and round. Another game was a boat race, where two students face each other and sit on each other's feet while holding hands. Then they race the pairs of people who are also sitting in this position by one student hopping backwards on her butt and the other one hopping forwards.
Yesterday, I was invited to dinner by two sophomores and realized that lately I've only been talking to freshmen. It was refreshing to be able to have a conversation with students who can more easily compared to Grade 1 students express their ideas in English. It made me realize that maybe the reason I've been so tired lately isn't because of all the activities and stress of the Tree House, but because I've been teaching 10 hours a week to Freshmen. Listening to Freshmen as well as non-majors takes a lot of energy and patience.
It has been HOT! I am so lucky to have a fridge filled with cold water and popsicles.
Today, I accidentally walked too close to a woman who rushes around the streets getting into people's faces and yelling at them. As I was heading for the escalator rushing by a bunch of people to go to a hot pot restaurant, she slapped my shoulder and started yelling at me. This isn't the first time I've had a run in with a homeless person. A month ago, this one man while I was riding my bike grabbed my handlebars and wouldn't let go. He demanded that I get off and give him my phone.
I'm burnt out. Today I realized that I am tired of having English conversations always as an English teacher.
Today a student said, "If you fail students, they will hate you, so you better not fail them. Plus if you fail them, the students will also hate me and say bad things to me because they believe that I'm your close friend." I felt like hmm... what kind of psychological warfare is this?
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