It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Acceptance

I received an acceptance letter to the MS program in Communication Sciences and Disorders Speech Language Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions this morning!

I'm a Little Teapot

At our mid-year conference, my fellow ETAs shared some of their classroom successes and ideas. It was really helpful to get some fresh and creative lesson plans. One of my favorite suggestions was made by Dani. All of us ETAs have students that misbehave or generally ignore the fact that we're teaching. Other teachers at our schools either don't use any forms of discipline or use physical punishment [hitting, thrashing hands, push-ups, etc.]. I'm a fan of discipline, but I'm not a fan of physical punishment. Dani had the grand idea of using embarrassment as punishment. When her students misbehave she makes them sing I'm a Little Teapot in front of the class. She said her students loved it. As she was telling me this I was imagining my classes of 36 17 year old boys dancing around to I'm a Little Teapot...if nothing else, it would probably cheer me up when they were being bad.

Below is a sample from Class 1 MA. Don't worry! They're not being punished, they're just learning the song. As for enthusiasm, they are not the most enthusiastic bunch I've got. I have some classes that love the song! Again, enjoy!

Thanks to Chesh for the great travel video camera!

Down By the Bay

Everyone loves Raffi--my preschoolers in Boston and my high schoolers in Magelang! A fun lesson on rhyming ended with the students begging me to let them sing the song...again and again. So here are some of their rousing renditions of Down By the Bay. Enjoy!
Here's Class 1 LC:

Here's Class 1 EA:

Presidential Plans

President Obama has announced that he will be visiting Indonesia in March. Excellent news! The whole country, myself included, is excited.
Unfortunately, President Obama has declined to meet with the Fulbrights. Drat! I was hoping that being one of the few American citizens living here and having a prestigious fellowship offered by the U.S. government I might be able to meet the leader of our nation. Well, apparently the prestige of the Fulbright is not as far reaching as I thought. What's the use of this Fellowship if it can't even get us an audience with the President? Admittedly, he might have more pressing matters to attend to in Indonesia than meeting us. I wasn't asking for much though--only 5 minutes to introduce myself and take some photos!
I had grumpily resigned myself to the missed opportunity when the Jakarta Post released this article http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/17/obama-plans-give-a-public-speech-jakarta.html. President Obama intends to give a public speech in Jakarta during his visit. Ah-ha! Opportunity! I learned many lessons growing up as Cheryl Vickery's niece, but one of the most important was that you can almost anything you want if you look cute, smile, argue sweetly and persuasively, and are persistent and bold. Secret Service agents and Presidents might not be as easy to convince as your average person, but it's worth a try. I will be at the front of that public speech in my cutest batik shirt with a huge sparkly eye-catching sign. And if I don't get to shake President Obama's hand and introduce myself to him, at the very least I will be there. And his missed opportunity will be as great as mine. Here's hoping!

Any suggestions for what my sign should say?

Love Lists

Things I Can't Believe I Lived Without Before Indonesia:
-> My 'Bus: especially Ibu Rina and Ibu Mila
-> My students: they are funny, sweet, and laugh at everything I do
-> Constant simple kindnesses from perfect strangers
-> Fresh mangoes, mangosteen, pineapple, papaya, rambutan, and more for only pennies!
-> Pet cicak: small geckos that infiltrate all corners of my house
-> October to February and I'm not freezing to death!
-> Friday morning workouts: more to come on this later...nothing makes me laugh more
-> A rice cooker: so easy, so fluffy, so perfect
-> Angkots: public transportation that while incredibly unreliable costs only $.20 and will inevitably eventually get you where you need to go
-> Milas: a delicious organic vegetarian experience
-> Yupi Strawberry Kiss: a gummy, heart-shaped, strawberry flavored, sugar-coated candy that has added Vitamin C [which is my excuse for eating it]
-> Excellent tofu and tempe
-> "Cantik dan pintar sekali": being considered beautiful and intelligent by nearly everyone I meet no matter what I do, say, or look like at the time
-> The other 31 Fulbrights: who keep me sane, safe, happy, and entertained

Things I Desperately Miss from the Motherland:
-> My family: the whole wild, extended bunch
-> Friends: the elders, the peers, and the little ones
-> Ovens: I want to bake!
-> Bagels: bread in general, but bagels the most
-> Cheese: cheddar, feta, bleu, provolone, mozzerella, swiss, brie...every kind
-> Mustard, hot sauce that isn't sweet, pesto: you know, all my favorite condiments
-> Salad: raw vegetables are dangerous and there seems to be a general lack of lettuce
-> Slices and Back Home Again
-> Privacy
-> Moving without dripping sweat from every part of my body
-> Hockey: the excitement of the game, the companionship of the team and staff, and the coolness of the rink
-> Reliable doctors [Dr. George] and medicine: after a few days of throwing up everything that passes your lips, the last thing you want to worry about is whether the medical treatment you get will kill you
-> The library
-> Ease of movement: easily getting where I want to go when I want to go there
-> General lack of unwanted roommates: bugs, rodents, lizards, etc.
-> Reliable power
-> Well water

Both lists subject to revision when and as needed!

Woohoo!

I am officially finished applying to graduate school! Finally.