Language is a funny thing. One of the things that I love best about teaching English is learning how to make connections through language. During our clothing unit, I had a student who consistently mispronounced the word suit as ‘sweet’. She did it 100 times and I finally threatened her with the tiny leather sandal … Continue reading
Tag Archives: work
Life, Actually
We’ve been taking family walks every day. The Kid pretends that he hates it but thus far, we’ve discovered two wisteria plants that smell lovely, a mint plant that we’re trying to grow a clipping from, interesting artwork in our neighbors’ yards, a drama between a crow and a hawk worthy of daytime television, and … Continue reading
Prompt Me: My First Job
{In an effort to not drown in a sea of dumpster fires, I’m trying to write (at least every other blog) about something light. I’ve found some prompts to get me going} Here’s today’s prompt: Write about your first job and what it taught you. I don’t remember much about my first interview at Villa … Continue reading
Welderbeth Gets an Office
(I wrote this last year but it never got posted last so I’m now sharing the saga and subsequent rescue out of the closet office.) I had a meeting a few weeks ago with my executive director (the big enchilada at our non-profit). It was about my office space at our satellite campus, where I just spend … Continue reading
The Splinters of Entitlement
When you guys are ready to adopt and you come to me freaking out about the home study, I will give you three key pieces of advice: 1. Make sure to remove the beer that you use to wash your hair with from under your bathroom sink. (Beer in the bathroom doesn’t bode well for … Continue reading
How to Lose 20 ESL Students in 30 Seconds
I may have mentioned before that field trips at my job are a little, how do you say, insane. Generally, we’ve got a group of about 70 adults (sometimes with kids) that we need to get on a train, off a train, and to the right location. It’s a bit like herding cats, except that … Continue reading
The Gratitude Project: Day 21
I really wanted to wear a costume to work today but no one else was dressing up, so I compromised by wearing this cool African dress (that came from NOWHERE that I can remember). I planned on having one of our sweet little African ladies help me with the head dress. When I walked into … Continue reading
Do you? Do you?
I might have mentioned once or twice that I have an ESL voice (see the 7:30-8:15 time slot here). When I am speaking in my ESL voice, I over-enunciate, speak loudly, don’t use contractions, repeat things, ask questions to things that I just said, and my eyes get huge. I might have also mentioned that … Continue reading
Family / Fun / Life with Jesus / School / The Duplex / Work
2011: A Year in Review
Hello friends and family- If you were breathlessly checking your mailbox every day for a Christmas letter from Alex and Beth, you can breathe now. Here it is….in all its glory. Don’t get me wrong. I love sending people mail but I just bought replacement ink for our printer after months of us talking about … Continue reading
They Call Me “The Hammer”
You might think this is hard to believe, but people do not find me intimidating. Maybe it’s my freckles or my fat cheeks or my un-make-uped face or my unkept hair or my ill-fitting clothes. I dunno. People think that I am a pushover when they see me. I guess I used to be, once a long time … Continue reading
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