By my Friend Arlene Wang

Love: The Nemesis of Cowardice

"I believe that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well--which is the same thing. And when the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face...it is because they love with sufficient passion to push Death out of their minds. Until it returns, as it does to all men."

-Character of Hemingway in "Midnight in Paris" (Film). WHOA

http://colinshanafelt.com/2012/01/courage-love-work-death-sex-and-hemingway/

Honest.  True.  When we finally find what our heart has wanted since it began pumping the livid juice of life through our bodies, nothing will stand in our way.

Brainstorm ESL Curriculum #1

Daily Exercises at the beginning of class:

GREETINGS:

In Spanish Greeting: Hola Ninos!  Como estan ustedes?

Children reply.

In English: 

Hi children!  How are you today?

Children reply.

Go over how to greet individuals.  Have children greet each other.  

On board: Hola = Hi

Como = How, esta = are, usted/tu = you?

Go over this in class.

Have children shake each other's hands and save, "How are you?"

Response to greeting:  

Estoy = I am, bien = all right/good

Teacher says: 

MANZANA!  (Rules established, when teacher says "Manzana!"  children reply, "APPLE!")

"A mi me gustan las manzanas!"  Translates to:

I like apples!

"To me, I = a mi," "me gustan = like," "apples = las manzanas"

"Las manzanas ayudan a el corazon!  Y tambien ellas limpian a mis dientes!"

Apples help my heart!  And they clean my teeth!

(Integrate healthy associations with curriculum).

PLAY A LITTLE GAME:

Ahora vamos a cantar el alfabeto.

Now we will sing the alphabet.

Ah Beh Seh Deh Eh Efe ge(heh) hache Y jota kah ele eme ene oh peh cu ere ese te ooh ve doble ve equis i griega zeta

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

ah buh kuh duh eh fuh guh huh (ihhhn) juh kuh luh muh nuh ahh puh kuh ruh sss tuh uhhhh vuh wuh cks ya zuh

http://www.spanishspanish.com/alfabeto_ipower.html

Looking for ESL Curriculum: How to Teach Kids English

So this is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.

How do you teach children ages 5-10 English?  Finding a set curriculum online is almost impossible.

I find I'll have to follow these steps:

1.  Contact ESL teachers from Chicago and ask best way to approach this.

2.  Contact latino organizations that could point me in the right direction.

3.  Figure out a way to customize the curriculum so that Spanish-speaking college students can teach kids.

4.  Figure out logistics:

Will this be an after-school program?

During school program?

 Will college tutors need to be trained by ESL teachers willing to help?

Will the partnership turn into college kids helping out in an ESL classroom?   

Or will they have a separate class time?

 

 

 

I'm Good: Workin' Hard, Creating Victory Plans

I'm back, baby.

Hard work, easy.

Goals for the Summer:

1.  Awesome internship experience and work
2.  Write more posts in my Economics Blog
3.  Log my marathon training and Marathon Training Blogging
4.  Learn Econometrics
5.  Read Healthcare Regulation in America, and four other books
6.  Draft plans for student RSO that would teach spanish ESL elementary students English
7.  Just TRAIN HARD.


MOTTO over the Summer:


That it?

A Good Lesson to Learn

It's never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be.There's no time limit.Start whenever you want.You can change or stay the same.There are no rules to this thing.We can make the best or the worst of it.I hope you make the best of it.I hope you see things that startle you.I hope you feel things you never felt before.I hope you meet people who have a different point of view.I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you're not, I hope you have the courage to start it all over again.

- Eric Roth screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Hopefully I'll have the courage to live a life I'm proud of.  I'm getting there.  It's taking me time.  Oh, it's definitely taking me time, but I'm getting there.  

The Beaver: What is Crazy?

From "The Beaver" (2011 Film):

Crazy is being miserable and walking around half asleep, numb, day after day after day. Crazy is pretending to be happy. Pretending that the way things are is the way they have to be for the rest of your bleeding life. 

All the potential, hope, all that joy, feeling, all that passion that life has sucked out of you. Reach out, grab a hold of it and snatch it back from that bloodsucking rabble.