Halloween in Blava

YI!

Recently, I have been up to two things: reading, and lesson planning. When I am done with those two things, I read and then lesson plan. AH! I started Hamlet with my fourth year students last week. Talk about crazy and stressful! I feel this overwhelming sense of pressure to do a good job, teach them all about the themes, character foils, structure, background, etc. while also helping them find something to enjoy about the play. My most successful lesson was when I illustrated how Hamlet pretends to be mad and "test" Ophelia. I had the students draw a picture of what he might have looked like, and then had them help me draw one on the board. Talk about a terrible, possessed stick figure! I think they got the idea though (especially after I used a student to help me act it out!). All in all, I do love Hamlet, and enjoy teaching it. "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Hamlet

Here is a shout out to all the ed majors who read this: Lit. circle! I totally did one with my first year's today and they loved it! It was hands down the best lesson of our novel so far (abridged Dorian Gray), and the most dynamic and animated English conversation that has taken place in the classroom. Certainly one of those "feel good" teacher moments, when you realize that you have motivated your students.

In other news, my roommates and I brought Halloween to Blava last weekend. There are a couple of pictures below, as well as a few of Gustav and I in Hungary. So crazy that I can go to Hungary for a couple of hours on a Saturday!

Love you all!

:0) Maika
Hungary and Gustav

There was an animal theme...Hugh was just a perk.

My flatties and I were cats!

Guess which one is mine??!!

The Tatras

I am pretty sure I fell in love this weekend: the Tatra mountains in Slovakia are AMAZING! After school on Friday, five of us hopped on a train and spent the weekend in a small village close to the Tatras. On Saturday, we hiked for nine hours up Mount Rysy. It was the most dynamic hike I have ever been on, and the part where we were hanging off the mountains on chains was absolutely my favorite! The pictures help illustrate the story better than I could with words, and it was great to be able to capture some fall color before winter strikes.

In other realms, my classes are going well. I showed the Princess Bride to my first years and they loved it. (The really ridiculous part was that during the movie, I was in the back quoting the whole thing! It is probably good that they didn't catch on to this. :) I am wrapping up an oral traditions unit with my first years, and they are writing me all sorts of folk tales, fairy tales, fables, myths, and other wonderful pieces of writing. I had one student write "Sugarella," which is about a girl who can't have salt or she will turn into a salt pillar! It is great to read their creativity and see their enthusiasm.

And story: trains in Slovakia are madhouses! There are bars of course, but there are also bottle cap openers under every individual table on the train. On our last journey, we spent some time in the bar area, just listening to the drunken Slovak men sing folk songs. It was a riot. On another train, a Swede approached us and started talking to us about how the United States was full of guerillas, that all the jobs were in China now, and that everything was S#@* - he said that a lot. He was the kind of guy that you think is interesting at first, and then just can't believe that he is so prejudiced and jerky. While one of the members of our group was kindly listening to him (there was no disagreeing with the man), the train stopped at a station and there was a knock on the window that I was leaning against. I looked out the window and saw a big *flash!* There was a whole group of teenage boys taking photos of us! So strange! I also ran through the bus with gloves on my pig tails - I blame it on the delirium that accompanies six hours of hiking! The main point is: if you come to Slovakia, you must ride a train. :D

:0) Maika

This is my train ticket and the fall colors!

Breathtaking; simply breathtaking

I spent most of the hike with Becks and Carsten

Flatties! Me and Amy.

The chains and snowy cliff :)

Sampling the National Dish

Well, I decided to give up school lunches for a month. It is kind of like fasting: you gotta take some time without to appreciate and focus on what you have. The saga begins again next month...

I gave my first exam today. Since we were doing an oral traditions unit, the exam was oral. It went over well, and now I just have to spend some time grading everything. Grading and keeping a gradebook is by far my least favorite activity...I try not to have a bad attitude about it. :0)

I was introduced to two Slovak things this week: the national dish Bryndzové Halušky (potato dumplings with sheep's cheese.) It was really good, but I wonder about the cheese. It is unpasteurized and that is a little scary. But, after a gorgeous fall day and a lot of walking, it certainly hit the spot.

Other news here includes my students naming Paul Bunyan as the great-great-grandfather of Chuck Norris (they are absolutely obsessed with Chuck Norris here!) I also learned that October is national popcorn eating month. This was followed by the lesson that our microwave sets popcorn on fire...you have to learn some lessons the hard way! I am also starting the Princess Bride movie with my first years tomorrow. I have always hoped that my love for this movie would come in handy. I about had a heart attack from happiness when I saw this movie listed as a resource for this lesson. "Inconceivable" is totally a vocab word. :0)

Dobrý večer!

:0) Maika

This is one of my favorite pictures. :)

Shadow Games!

Cool Relections

"The Nature"
(As my students would call it)

Dobrú chuť!