On the way to supper, I passed ice sculptors...
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Location:Vingio gatvė,Klaipėda,Lithuania
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Saturday night...catching the last bus
Last night I ventured over to Jurante's and Simonas' flat for supper. They have a great flat--very cozy, warm and a good view. However, when I left, I got very turned around in the maze of apartment buildings and ended up across the street from LCC. Jurante made a Swiss meal with roasted potatoes with melted cheese along with assorted accruements like green olives, garlic, onions, ham, red peppers. It was delicious. After a pleasant evening with friends, I headed for the bus stop. There was no one there. Odd. Then I checked the schedule. It' s a good thing I realized there was a weekend schedule too. No more buss after 9:30 pm. Crap, I have to start walking. So over the bridge and down the main street, I did notice some buses running yet. Stopping at the first place, I checked the schedule again...17 minutes til the last bus. Wait or move to the next stop...I pushed on, making it to the next bus stop in plenty of time, and this time, there were many people waiting. My number 8 showed up...now the 40 minute ride home. And not too soon because tonight was daylight savings in Lithuania.
On the way to supper, I passed ice sculptors...
- Posted using BlogPress
from my iPad
On the way to supper, I passed ice sculptors...
- Posted using BlogPress
from my iPad
International teaching...same focus in a different setting
Well, I just finished grading my final essays. Even though I don't miss reading papers, I still find it's the best way to understand what my students really know, understand and comprehend. I gave my students five different writing prompts, still believing in differentiation. And my students did a remarkable job sifting through all the passion, courage and dark images of Stalin's deportation of the Baltic people. For some, it was a look back into their grandparents lives. For others, it was a hard look into their countries roles in this historic time. The discussions tore at the hearts of some of these students. It was a very quick two weeks and rewarding for me in many ways. I tested the new grading rubrics developed at AHS by the core teachers, rewriting, of course, the rubrics to focus on the needs of these students. I was able to conert the rubric into grades with remarkable ease. The correlations worked rather well. After trying this system, I think I can seamlessly work it into the new courses we are developing at AHS for next fall. In addition, I tried a new variation to in class discussions regarding the book. Each day, for example, the students journaled about their previous night's reading--writing a summary, recording pages they read, focusing on key quotations and individual vocabulary word choices to increase their own needs. We often discussed these points without revealing what happened in the story, so as not to reveal the storyline for those not as far as others. It worked well, and I believe could serve as a good model in any classroom. Maybe I just realized what I should have been doing all along...the technology at LCC is also a plus. Every room now has a smart board and podium with computer, DVD player, and Internet connections.
Last night, I met with my friend Marius for beer. We have been picking each other's brains about our our different cultural experiences. He was telling me all about the history of the communist flats, dachas or summer gardens, individual incomes and living expenses. During communist times, flats were built based on the needs of individual space. The bathroom, for instance, is rather small and for me clostrophobic. Average toilet rooms are about 3 x 4 feet. When sitting on the toilet, my knees touch the door and my shoulders almost touch the side walls. My bath tube and shower are in another room. There is no sink, so I need to use the tub faucet to brush my teeth and wash my hands. The Soviets decided these dimensions based on the room an average person needs--not desires. I have been in one room flats where the living room also serves as a bedroom. I have seen kitchen sinks and bathtubs in the same room. Hot water heating systems have no individual temperature controls, so it's really warm in the flats, so warm in fact that I usually open windows to cool it down. My flat is large compared to the ones I have visited with two bedrooms, a living room, two balconies and a kitchen--approximately 600 square feet. So when Marius asked me about my house, it seemed like a mansion. He asked why I needed so much space? I so look forward to our chats and beer...Marius was going to his dacha today to prepare his soil for summer planting. His plot of land is 8 miles away. He had to get a permit from the city to cut down some dead trees. All trees are protected and even though it's his tree on his land, he still needs permission to cut it down. Tomorrow before I have a church gathering at my flat, Marius will help me pay my utility bills at the same place I buy my bus tickets--a little kiosk across from my flat. To do this, I had to read three different meters, cold water, hot water, gas and electric--one for day and one for night usage. Each utility has a booklet that needs to be filled in and calculated. Then it's taken to the kiosk, paid and stamped, so that it's official. A little overwhelming for me, but part of this Lithuanian experience. Later today, I have been invited to dinner with Jurante, another Lithuanian friend. I've gotten used to riding the buses, walking and getting around this part of Klaipeda. So cool...
Last night, I met with my friend Marius for beer. We have been picking each other's brains about our our different cultural experiences. He was telling me all about the history of the communist flats, dachas or summer gardens, individual incomes and living expenses. During communist times, flats were built based on the needs of individual space. The bathroom, for instance, is rather small and for me clostrophobic. Average toilet rooms are about 3 x 4 feet. When sitting on the toilet, my knees touch the door and my shoulders almost touch the side walls. My bath tube and shower are in another room. There is no sink, so I need to use the tub faucet to brush my teeth and wash my hands. The Soviets decided these dimensions based on the room an average person needs--not desires. I have been in one room flats where the living room also serves as a bedroom. I have seen kitchen sinks and bathtubs in the same room. Hot water heating systems have no individual temperature controls, so it's really warm in the flats, so warm in fact that I usually open windows to cool it down. My flat is large compared to the ones I have visited with two bedrooms, a living room, two balconies and a kitchen--approximately 600 square feet. So when Marius asked me about my house, it seemed like a mansion. He asked why I needed so much space? I so look forward to our chats and beer...Marius was going to his dacha today to prepare his soil for summer planting. His plot of land is 8 miles away. He had to get a permit from the city to cut down some dead trees. All trees are protected and even though it's his tree on his land, he still needs permission to cut it down. Tomorrow before I have a church gathering at my flat, Marius will help me pay my utility bills at the same place I buy my bus tickets--a little kiosk across from my flat. To do this, I had to read three different meters, cold water, hot water, gas and electric--one for day and one for night usage. Each utility has a booklet that needs to be filled in and calculated. Then it's taken to the kiosk, paid and stamped, so that it's official. A little overwhelming for me, but part of this Lithuanian experience. Later today, I have been invited to dinner with Jurante, another Lithuanian friend. I've gotten used to riding the buses, walking and getting around this part of Klaipeda. So cool...
Location:Vingio gatvė,Klaipėda,Lithuania
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Teaching again
It's wonderful to be in the classroom again. I wonderment extremely diverse group of students from many different countries: Albania, Kazakhstan, Moldovia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kalingrad, Ukraine, and Belarissia. Our first two days of discussions have been full of culturally divergent thinking. Since some of the students picked up the book and started reading during spring break while others picked it up the first day of class, most are in very different places--four or five finished and the remaining somewhere between 30 -200 in the book. So, I'm practicing some differentiation techniques on this class before I do some training sessions at AHS. We start off each session with discussion based on the loosely knit question-What are you thinking at this point in the story or some have even chose quotations from the story that have got them thinking. Then, we move to vocabulary, letting them choose what they wish to define. Everyone needs to participate in the discussion, everyone needs to provide a written summary with some analysis daily, and finally everyone needs to choose two of the 20 theme responses given to them the first day of class. So far, so good. Reading and responding to the journals every other day keeps me in tine with individual thoughts and feelings as they read. Also, it allows me to individualize the writing focus for these students. As one can imagine, the writing proficiency is all over the board. But I really enjoy the class and each session seems to fly by quickly...I modeled paragraph writing today. We'll see how their answers are tomorrow. All their work is done in a blank notebook I supplied them. when the unit if finished, each student will have his/her own journal.
After classes at LCC on Tuesday, I took food packages to the Needle exchange, a social service organization in Klaipeda that The Vineyard community helps out. I went with Robin, my LCC language director and friend, to meet with Lydmuella, who works at the exchange. We went in the first set of doors and entered a small room with two more doors. We chose the only open door and found another small room but with three doors this time. After knocking on all three, only one door had a person behind it...Lydmuella was there behind a desk with boxes of syringes, needles, ointments and alcohol swatches. She greeted us with hugs after telling her my name (along with Kel and Sharon's names). She was a wealth of information, telling us about the girls who come in for needles who have small children and ask for the food. It's really quite sad, but Lydmuella said she has seen many success in recent weeks--where people who have not used for a while come back just to visit with her and tell her of their successes. But she also said it's a long and hard journey for most of the people. Most she knows only by number until they become frequent visitors.
After that, Robin and I went to have coffee and pancakes before she went back to school and I left for English classes at the orphanage. Every Tuesday night, Ieva and I go to the Rytas orphanage and give language lessons. This is Ieva's idea, and I just show up and help where needed. Last night, for example, we role played interviewing for jobs, along with describing pictures from a book. Ieva does a great job, taking the initiative to plan and direct each lesson...She's a third year psychology major at LCC.
Then off home to grade papers...something I don't really miss about teaching...but necessary and rewarding when I see their growth.
After classes at LCC on Tuesday, I took food packages to the Needle exchange, a social service organization in Klaipeda that The Vineyard community helps out. I went with Robin, my LCC language director and friend, to meet with Lydmuella, who works at the exchange. We went in the first set of doors and entered a small room with two more doors. We chose the only open door and found another small room but with three doors this time. After knocking on all three, only one door had a person behind it...Lydmuella was there behind a desk with boxes of syringes, needles, ointments and alcohol swatches. She greeted us with hugs after telling her my name (along with Kel and Sharon's names). She was a wealth of information, telling us about the girls who come in for needles who have small children and ask for the food. It's really quite sad, but Lydmuella said she has seen many success in recent weeks--where people who have not used for a while come back just to visit with her and tell her of their successes. But she also said it's a long and hard journey for most of the people. Most she knows only by number until they become frequent visitors.
After that, Robin and I went to have coffee and pancakes before she went back to school and I left for English classes at the orphanage. Every Tuesday night, Ieva and I go to the Rytas orphanage and give language lessons. This is Ieva's idea, and I just show up and help where needed. Last night, for example, we role played interviewing for jobs, along with describing pictures from a book. Ieva does a great job, taking the initiative to plan and direct each lesson...She's a third year psychology major at LCC.
Then off home to grade papers...something I don't really miss about teaching...but necessary and rewarding when I see their growth.
Location:Vingio gatvė,Klaipėda,Lithuania
Friday, March 9, 2012
Getting around life's little lessons...
I've learned a few things since I have been here. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. I've learned that if you order ground beef, not to ask for half and then kilo--implying half a kilo because that means one and a half kilos or about four pounds of ground beef. I was frying and freezing one entire morning. The next point I learned was also a grocery store mix-up--take items from basket before paying. I made the mistake of leaving them in the basket. The cashier said something, I shook my head, she gave me one of those "idiot" looks--which I deserved--and promptly emptied my basket, walked around the counter and placed it back in the stack before checking me out. Lesson learned. I never did that again.
I was also given a phone--an old Nokia flip one...needless to say, I learned to text on the next generation phone--the one that actually have letters and not numbers and letters on the key pad...well, watching me text (it's called SMS here) is like amusing at best. It usually takes several minutes for me to answer, and the it is pretty nasty. I just learned after two weeks how to back space to correct my mistakes. But my friends here are very patient.
I've also learned that taking the iPad for a walk on the beach in March is not a goog idea. It got so cold, my electronics shut down, causing me to panic a little since it is my main source of communication. Don' t mess with Mother Nature in Mother Lithuania. I'm also learning to develop a very flexible conversion formula from oz to ml--8 oz of tomato sauce is about the size of a 250 ml jar here. If not, it's a lot more "tomatoey" with my new recipe.
I was even able to get a return bus ticket--for the correct day and correct time to the Riga airport. However, I didn't realize I need "documents" to buy the ticket, but my credit card had my name imprinted on it, so that served as my "document." So, life has been full of surprises. The buses have been a crap shoot--sometimes my bus pass works and sometimes it doesn't. But then again, it doesn't work for the locals either. I am just waiting for the "bus police" to find me the time it does not work...
Even though the weather is maturing into spring, it's still really cold waiting for the buses. Murphey's Law--the colder I am, the longer I wait for the bus. I usually walk most places though. It keeps me warm, but I always know Number 8 will be coming past at any moment.
Next week, I get to pay the electric, gas and water bills by readingthe multiple meters throughout the flat, calculating the payments, and taking the bills to the Post Office for the appropriate stamps. That should be a precious exercise...
I was also given a phone--an old Nokia flip one...needless to say, I learned to text on the next generation phone--the one that actually have letters and not numbers and letters on the key pad...well, watching me text (it's called SMS here) is like amusing at best. It usually takes several minutes for me to answer, and the it is pretty nasty. I just learned after two weeks how to back space to correct my mistakes. But my friends here are very patient.
I've also learned that taking the iPad for a walk on the beach in March is not a goog idea. It got so cold, my electronics shut down, causing me to panic a little since it is my main source of communication. Don' t mess with Mother Nature in Mother Lithuania. I'm also learning to develop a very flexible conversion formula from oz to ml--8 oz of tomato sauce is about the size of a 250 ml jar here. If not, it's a lot more "tomatoey" with my new recipe.
I was even able to get a return bus ticket--for the correct day and correct time to the Riga airport. However, I didn't realize I need "documents" to buy the ticket, but my credit card had my name imprinted on it, so that served as my "document." So, life has been full of surprises. The buses have been a crap shoot--sometimes my bus pass works and sometimes it doesn't. But then again, it doesn't work for the locals either. I am just waiting for the "bus police" to find me the time it does not work...
Even though the weather is maturing into spring, it's still really cold waiting for the buses. Murphey's Law--the colder I am, the longer I wait for the bus. I usually walk most places though. It keeps me warm, but I always know Number 8 will be coming past at any moment.
Next week, I get to pay the electric, gas and water bills by readingthe multiple meters throughout the flat, calculating the payments, and taking the bills to the Post Office for the appropriate stamps. That should be a precious exercise...
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