Day in the Life

What I do during the week in Lithuania.

6am- Get up, dress, make lunch, make thermos of coffee
6:45- Walk 25minutes past the yummy smelling bakery, through a town square, over the railroad bridge, and down the street to LCC International University
7:15- Make copies, edit powerpoint, prepare classroom, drink coffee
8:30- Teach Advanced Integrated Skills class, which usually includes some grammar, discussing the readings, explaining essay structure, listening, and finding creative ways for the students to speak (skits, debates, etc.)
11:30- Lunch in the teacher's lounge
12:30- Walk back to the dorm, change clothes
1:30- Prepare the next day's lesson, search for or create worksheets and handouts, find film or radio clips, reteach myself proper grammar, grade papers.
6ish- eat dinner in my dorm room with my roommate, or go out to eat
7ish- Continue preparing the next day's lesson
9:30- Hit the pillow hard

I imagine my life as a prof will be similar. Maybe a little less prep work every day after the first year. If this is what the future holds for me, I am more than okay with that.

but

Would love to write you fine people a fabulously interesting update about teaching and life in Lithuania, but I'm tired so I'm going to bed about 2 hours before the sun. Life is good. I am happy and healthy. Teaching is fun. Lithuania is sunny.
Love to you all, dear reader(s).

Lesson Planning

I am loving me some lesson plans. Don't ask why, but I'm managed to organize my course around Edgar Allan Poe. Not my favorite author. Haven't read him since early in high school. But I'll teach Tell-Tale Heart, Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. I'll also be teaching the class how to write a 5 paragraph essay, reaching way back to my 8th grade days at D'Evelyn. Good thing I still basically write the way Miss Meyer taught me back then. I've spent the day in my office and in my room writing my lesson plan, writing a pre-test, formatting reading assignments, working through the text book for activities to use, putting together power point, drinking instant coffee, and basically being happy as a clam. I got my (somewhat tentative) class list today and tried to figure out ethnicities based on last name. The majority are Lithuanian, but there are also at least one Latvian and a few Polish and Russian. The first names are not to daunting on the pronunciation front, but the surnames will take some work. All told I'm excited to get started on this crazy teaching train.
Now I'm off to a free brass ensemble concert in the park. I'm not all that excited about the brass ensemble part, but an evening in the park sounds lovely.