As usual, the semester is flying by--in fact, it's now one quarter over. The past few weeks have been filled with classes, grading, and other day-to-day stuff that's kept both of us busy (for Mark, it's been a lot of rehearsals). I'm finding it a challenge to adjust to my new schedule, which includes 10 hours a week working at our tutoring center (I'm filling in there for a colleague who is on leave this semester). That means I'm only teaching 3 classes instead of 4, which is certainly a fair exchange, but it's been an adjustment to have so much more of my time each day scheduled. For example, it's much trickier to find a time to meet with a colleague about a project we're working on for one of our classes because I have less flexibility in my schedule. But it's really a great opportunity for me to explore the teaching of writing in a totally different context: working with writers one-on-one. I'm also leading weekly training meetings for a small group of student tutors who want to learn more about working with ESOL writers, and I'm contributing small lessons/activities/tips in the weekly staff meetings for all the writing tutors. So I'm learning a lot, and I hope I'm making a meaningful addition to the other tutors' knowledge base. I've also been completely reworking the curriculum for the writing class I'm teaching, which is pretty exciting, but it also takes a lot of time. I feel like I'm just barely one step ahead of the students most of the time, which is not how I prefer to do things. So, there's a lot going on around here, but it's mostly good stuff.
In my life outside of school, I've been cooking a lot, and trying some new recipes. Which reminds me, the new pizza dough I posted about last month is definitely a keeper. Specifically, doubling the recipe makes a perfect large pizza. I also found a tzatziki sauce that turned out pretty well, and I made some tasty broccoli soup using some ham bones I had in the freezer. Yum. Of course, I seem to have an unending list of recipes that I'd like to try, but sometimes it's hard to deviate from an old standard at the end of a long day.
I'm also reading the Harry Potter books, which Mark has wanted me to read for a while. I've just started the 5th one, which is where the story line gets a little "darker" than the previous books. I'm not expecting to become a die-hard fan of the series, but the books are interesting, and at least now I get all (or maybe most of?) the Harry Potter references people make.
So that's a bit about what's been going on here.
1 comment:
Amy...I agree with Mark about the Harry Potter books. I am glad you are reading them. I enjoyed them and got Brandon to read them when we were dating. Glad to here school is going well, and you are enjoying your new found responsibilites. Sounds like it is an exciting time for growth for you in your career. I have been enjoying all your posts, and I too have way to many recipes that I have been dying to try. Recently, I have making so many new dishes that I might be going back to an old tried and true pasta dish for dinner. I believe my creative juices are in a holding pattern. Brandon just loves the experiments in the kitchen. Let us just say his baby bump is bigger than mine. :) Miss you all bunches.
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