December 2018

I’m back home for the holidays and intend to blog more. I got a new job in August which has kept me pretty busy. I’m a teacher and I went to teach in a remote location. It was a very rewarding experience, I have lots of good memories about the people and the place. I’m going back next year once the school year starts. I hope to make a lot of improvements for next year.

One thing that I want to improve on is giving priority to my personal goals. Before I got my job, I had started on an Arts degree majoring in creative writing. It was something that I had always wanted to do.  I dropped out of college when I got my job because I felt that I would be too busy to do it.

I missed writing and having that creative outlet, so I’ve enrolled back into uni. I’m still working full time, but I’ll make the time for my studies.

I have a few weeks of summer vacation which I intend to catch up with friends, go out and watch lots of movies. What I like the most about being back in city is the availability of everything and catching up with people.  I do enjoy living in a remote place, but a change of scenery is good.

Reading

I am currently reading The First Days of School: How to be an effective teacher by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong to get some tips on teaching. I’ve been a substitute teacher for most of my career but now I have my own class. Subbing is different from being a classroom teacher. A substitute fills in for a classroom teacher who is away. Now I have to do some planning. I am looking forward to seeing the growth of the students throughout the school year, which was something I wasn’t a part of as a sub.  

source

I am also reading the bible to better understand the community that I work in. Most of the community are Christians and the school is sensitive to the culture of the community despite being a public school. We have a prayer at every staff meeting and school function. I’m a Buddhist but I don’t have any problem with learning another religion.

In contrast, I’m also reading The Davinci Code by Dan Brown. Jon Bear and I are reading the book together and I’ll post a review about it later.

Watching

I started watching The Alienist on Netflix. It’s set in 18^th century New York and follows a psychologist, a newspaper illustrator and police secretary who are investigating serial murders. I’ve only watched one episode and I’m hooked.