Kids

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Dinosaurs and PB+J

February 15, 2011 in Kids, Reflection | 1 comment

I painted a dinosaur in watercolor shades of blue fading into green, orange into yellow and sparkly glitter and salt covering the top. I didn’t just freestyle paint  a dinosaur. I can’t really say they come up in thought too often. I was inspired by my friend Rose who gave me a stencil she made of a dinosaur. I decided to finally put it to use. It was a lovely day, I had my door wide open, the sun from my porch beaming onto my legs as I sprawled out on the living room floor. Briana fed the starving artist I had become. She brought over a peanut butter and jelly (homemade plum jelly of course – Briana doesn’t do cooking “halfway” even when it comes to basic necessities).

I realized I act more and more like an eight year old every day. Maybe I never grew up past eight years old? I’d like to think I kept all the good traits of little Ashley (artistic, hardworking, playful) and tossed out the bad (stubborn, impatient, bad 90′s fashion sense).  It makes me smile inside to think I still enjoy the things a kid can, but with the freedom of being an adult. I think working around kids every week has been really good for me. I embrace wearing tutus in public and still find excuses to throw more pink into my life (ex: Don’t you think those pink paper plates would be cute for the party? OR I think I’m going to buy the pink string lights from Target for year round use, even though they’re obviously meant for some old lady’s pink christmas tree fantasy).

Personality quiz says I’m 38. Wii Fit test based on my balance, fitness and BMI says I’m 42. I say I’m somewhere between 8 and 16 years old.

Where does 20-something fit into this equation?

A Thai Teenage Dream

December 8, 2010 in Kids, Teaching | No comments

Sometimes it’s as easy as talking about pop music to connect with a 17-year-old girl. Today, I tutored May, a girl from Thailand that goes to high school down the street from me. In between learning the different pronunciations of the letter “v” and the letter “w,” we were giggling about Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. She told me she loves the song “Teenage Dream.” I squealed, and a little too loudly at that. The school is at a church. Some students were in the chapel trying to read and I was being my big, American self, yelling out with all my voice had to offer. I really am a big mouth, but with a big smile I can usually get away with it. :)

May told me her parents sell vegetables in Eastern Thailand in a town called Surin. She is going back there in June and worries that she won’t know English as well as she had hoped. I think she is making great progress, especially considering she had only had four hours of english lessons before she hopped on a plane to California for a year! So brave, that girl.

I love learning about Thailand. She said her favorite holiday is Loy Krathong. There is a picture of people launching lit crafts into a pond above. She said it’s really fun, but there is still a language barrier between us. Often I have to do a lot of research on my own on learning about stuff like this, but I don’t mind. It’s so cool!

The more that May learns English and begins to trust me, I feel like we are making a genuine connection. It really makes me want to travel to another country. I’m not sure where/when/how/why/blah blah blah that I would make it all happen, but I know I have always been fascinated with people that are different than me.

The sun came out. I “step”ped up my good mood

November 28, 2010 in Exercizication, Kids, Teaching | 2 comments

I’ve been kind of gloomy the past couple days. The weather reflected my mood – unsettled. It would brighten as the clouds opened up and I would skip around town with a down coat, a beanie and my iPod – bopping to Arcade Fire and Lily Allen. A lot of folks were out of town for Thanksgiving and I was kind of lonely in Arcata. Town was just dead. I woke up this morning feeling sluglish and decided to try something I hadn’t done in five years – Step class! It’s an aerobics routine workout that became popular in the 80′s.  Basically all you do is dance around and on-top -of a platform.

Judging by the people who attended the class, I’d say the same steady followers from the 80′s still make up most of who attend the class. I was the youngest person there. Oh boy, Sunday morning workouts aren’t big amongst 20-somethings, but I didn’t let it stop me from getting my groove on. Anyway, long story short – I got my ass kicked. It was mildly humiliating. I could barely do the side crunches. Yikes. One “L” step after another, a shuffle-ball-change, mambo, tango, reverse rotation, ham lift! Ahhh! I was spinning. It felt good though. I had been invited to go to a co-worker’s bootcamp class recently, but after this morning, I can see I’m not ready to be doing push-ups with beefcakes at the gym. Maybe next week?

Now, I’m back at my cozy home at the Compound. Drinking coffee and prepping to teach my 12-year-old students about newspaper. I’ve been copyediting their work for the last couple hours and what can I say – it makes me so happy! I love seeing their progress. I love their energy and it gives me more positive energy. I really think I am meant to be some sort of teacher. It just is the most fulfilling work I have done in my life so far.

This Saturday, I am going to take it another step farther to see if teaching is really what I’d like to do. I’m taking an all-day workshop in literacy tutoring for adults through the Humboldt Literacy Project. I’m going to start volunteering one-on-one with a local adult in the community that has difficulty reading – whether it be those who are learning english as a second language, or english speakers that just need a helping hand.

Should be exciting, fulfilling, challenging and a learning opportunity. All things I welcome and strive for. Hopefully it will get me back into reading, too? I’ve been lagging…

Song to listen to: Modern Man by Arcade Fire

Discovering a passion besides journalism…what?!

November 10, 2010 in Kids, Teaching, Uncategorized | No comments

Who knew I would find something I love to do as much as practicing journalism? I’ve been carrying the torch for the media business, totally enveloped in learning about reporting for seven years. I know I’m young, but I really thought that nothing could ring my bell like catching a scoop on a story could. I was wrong.

My new passion is working with kids. I’ll admit, I’ve never even technically babysitted for anyone (unless you count the rare occasion I’m left playing Memory Match with my 8 and 11 year old nephews). I had always avoided kids like the plague because I just thought we wouldn’t get along.

I’ve been working with kids part time at a local elementary school for three months now. I love it. I’m teaching nature fun, creative writing and newpaper (yes!). I teach kids from age 7 to 12. I never realized there was such a difference in each age range. I think I really do prefer 9 to 11 year olds. Although the younger kids are a plus because they never hold back from giving you a hug if they need one (and as Bill Cosby notes, they really do say the darndest things).

This is a whole new world for me. I’m learning a lot just by teaching them. Can I raise my voice to them? What do I do if they won’t listen? What can I teach them? I feel like coming up with lesson plans is never a problem for me. I’m creative and I have a knack for breaking down information into a way that anyone can understand. It’s just sometimes the kids are having a bad day or they’re tired or hungry or yadda yadda yadda.

The last couple days I was having a hard time getting the kids to stop screaming. And then, a yard duty came into my class and did the magic “hand clap.” I remember teachers doing that when I was a kid. You clap a rhythm, and when the kids hear it, they clap back. Everyone is silent. Everyone listens. It really is magical. Whoever thought of that should get a medal or something. Better than Cody’s idea of shaking a can at them. Maybe squirt bottles? Haha. Just kidding.

Each day I spend with the kids, I learn more about myself and I can see that they are learning from me, too. It’s a wonderful human exchange and I feel giddy just thinking about it.

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