Highs and Lows

My freshman year of college, My floor-mates and I ate dinner together almost every night.  It was no easy feat to schedule around everyone's evening class schedules, but we always enjoyed our dinners.  These dinners would often go on for hours as we continued to talk, drink coffee and, in my case, eat dessert (Freshman 15!).

The best part of these dinners came at the end of the week when we would do something called "Highs and Lows".  During this time we would all go around the table and talk about the best part of our week (the high) and the worst part of our week (the low).  It was such a great way to keep track of how everyone was doing, and the big events in everyone's lives.  

So the following post is going to be my high and low of this week.  Who knows!  I may start throwing these at the end of my posts from now on!

I always like to start with the low so we can end on a positive note:-)

LOW: I found out that I have yet another week of no classes.  This will be week number three of no teaching.  While I have enjoyed the time off, I really do love teaching, as it gives me a sense of purpose, and most importantly, something to do!

HIGH: Today, one of my English Club students used the word "hearsay" correctly in a sentence.  Most of you know that I am a complete mock trial nerd, so any legal term like this really makes my ears perk up (and for any mockers reading my blog, I definitely had a "trigger-word" response and was instantly formulating a response with an exception under 803).

The best part about this is that I didn't even teach her that word.  This particular student has been asking me about ways to help her study on her own, in addition to the two times a week she meets with me.  So I've been lending her books and telling her to look up any words she doesn't know, and telling her to read as much as possible.  It is so amazing to me that this young lady has gained so much autonomy in her learning, something that is not common in Cambodia.  This is sustainability at its finest.  Giving a student the tools and confidence to know that they can learn on their own is something that I strive to do during my time here.

Lastly, the smile that spread across her face when I told her how amazing it was that she learned that word on her own, and used it correctly, was priceless.