In my ESL class, we read what turned out to be a stringent Christian article about Christmas (it started out as being funny and light. Oops).
I grew up everywhere, but I spent several winters and Christian holiday seasons in Maine with snow and the hippie parents of all of my friends. I sang Christmas carols at Quaker meetings. I went ice skating all day and drank hot cider afterwards. And yes, my cheeks were rosy.
My ESL students gave informal informative (not persuasive) presentations, and we ate donuts and talked. We talked about possible connections between certain kinds of German dessert pastry things and donuts and the US Midwest. Today was the last day for three of my students. Two of them were only in my class for three weeks (but that's 3.5 hours every day, five days a week for three weeks). Still, they are creative, intelligent people, and the class always suffers when people like that head on their own way. The third student didn't show up--I was rather sad about it. He'd been my student off and on for more than seven months, and I wanted to give him a proper "ra ra good luck in community college" send off. Or at least I wanted to give him a donut. Oh well.
My students take up more than 50% of my time and account for more at least 50% of my livelihood. My creative work effects my life. I shouldn't even have to note that, but I'm noting it. I get annoyed by and jealous of my fellow writers who say that teaching has no effect on their writing. I don't / can't compartmentalize my life in that way. I spend more than half of my day talking to students, and that effects my life, and so that effects my writing.
I made a lasagna this evening. Yum. Mark heads off to DC on Tuesday, so we need to get all of our holiday celebrations in this weekend.
2 comments:
omg! look how cute you were! such darling photos!
sounds like you feel drained and i can certainly empathize. i don't understand any claims that teaching has no effect on someone's time/energy to write. of course it does. so do lots of types of work, but i think teaching is extra special draining.
here's a pet peeve of mine: i find especially irksome the people who seem to think teachers have it so cushy because they don't sit in cubicles 40 hours a week and punch a timeclock or answer to a "team leader" for their hours spent in the office.
sorry--i got attracted into the rant space too! i'll stop now.
hope you have a restorative holiday, lorraine. and may 2008 support even more productivity and shower peace & prosperity upon us, every one!
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