Seeing the bigger picture

So, we are all here and hopefully doing the best we can. I am realizing that I think it is important to find peace within oneself and to be able to then dealk rationally with the regular stresses of life. I have felt divided and conquored lately and I would rather feel like things are rolling right along. I have been able recently to take a pottery throwing class and have thoroughly enjoyed it, and as it's coming to an end, I am using the metaphor of creating something out of a lump of clay, as a metaphor for my life and where I am in it. I have felt stressed and pulled in many directions lately, but need to rememeber that ultimately I have the authority over this "clay" my life to build what I will. There are things that are out of my control and that bother me about the way that others choose to do things and to react and I must allow those to happen.
Things I needed to be reminded of:
look at the big picture
remember that others will make mistakes
watch and listen before reacting
don't get dragged in to the way that others are reacting
stand up for what you believe in
know when to play the right card at the right time.

I need to really focus on watching the "poker game" of life and seeing my most valuable play at any given time... that is the advicce I have for myself at this point.

Shrews and Cuckolds- The Merry Wives of Windsor

"This is the short and the long of it." Act II Scene II



Wonderfully done PSF! I thoroughly enjoyed this play and loved the ideas which were so pertinant in my past weekend in which I spent the weekend dealing with jealousy and mistrust. Since it is my personal goal to behave with grace and class, I am hoping to be able to not dwell on the insanity that is someone else's life, for if it is my insanity, it is their reality, and that is all I need to remember.



Shakespeare plays reminded me greatly of our class discussion in class today. We were discussing the idea of teaching idiomatic sayings and figurative language and it's importnance in the understanding and learning of English among students learning English as their second or third/fourth etc language. Figurative lanugage and idioms are diffficult to understand when you are not familiar with all aspects of the culture. This is important to remember in talking about diverse students. I still struggle with some things from American culture which were not available to me during my time living as a native in England.



I was then reminded how many of our idioms and sayings in English come from Shakespeare plays. And what they mean. I find thinking about the reasons and backgrounds to certain expressions very interesting and some are still confusing to me
"indian giver"??

"the hair of the dog?"

What exactly do these mean?

The Help- Fabulous book for summer

Do I think that racism is inherant or taught? If Aibileen had stayed working for Miss Elizabeth would Mae Mobley have grown up to be racist?

-This question is an interesting one as I feel there are more factors to the answer than inherent or taught. There are also societal influences. Thinking about these characters and their futures I feel that Mae Mobley still had the ability to make her own decisions when she got older. Even at her still young age she knew that her momma was not a kind woman. She was afraid of her and felt Aibileen's compassion. May Mobely may well have grown into the world to become an agent of change, or she may have feel vicitim to the societal pressures of the southern white woman.

The characters in this story are brilliantly written. I feel that maybe May Mobley would grow up to be like Skeeter and to feel that she was lucky to have such a wonderful balck woman to care for her and to teach her the compassion and empathy that their mothers could not teach them.

Overall, this book was excellent and well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Help and couldn't put it down when I was reading it. I was glad to have heard of it through a recommendation, and would readily recommend it to others as well.

And in the beginning...

I wrote and I wrote and I wrote.

I decided to try to start blogging for the simple fact that I want to have an outlet to put my thoughts down regarding the books that I read, have read, and are hoping to read. I wanted to have a way to have an open honest and straightforward discussion about books and to get others opinions as well. But especially, I just wanted to be able to talk out loud. Even if no one will listen.

I am a general and special educator and have been teaching since 2000. I love teaching and I love children, as long as they belong to someone else. I feel extremely happy to be able to help a student or a friend to connect to a book and wish to share the feelings I have for books and reading with others. I take pride in being able to foster reading in others and have many students who have thanked me for helping them learn to love reading... I have instances in my mind of when this happened for many of my previous students. It is my goal in my profession to encourage people to want to learn, and in my opinion, what better way than reading.

As a child I wanted nothing more than to own a bookstore and loved to spend hours and hours in bookstores with my family. I could always convince my parents that I should get a book...

I am always amazed at people who state that they don't read, and feel that they truly haven't tapped into their "inner reader" and found the book that will grab their attention to the point that they won't want to put it down.

This has prompted me to begin this blog. I hope to update it as to thoughts I have about the books that I encounter. I hope you enjoy. And grow. And learn. And teach.

And so, Kirsten said, "Let there be light."