KaDeWo - The Joy Advocate

Greetings & Salutations Dear Reader, I feel compelled to share some useful tips learned in my four months of full-time online tutoring. Yes, the #Coronavirus has cajoled me into sharing how to prepare for online tutoring. There is a major shift occurring as the world learns how to work from home in #quarantine. Before we start the countdown, you should know that I worked 40 hours a week between 8am and 5pm EST and CST as a remote aka virtual aka  online tutor for college students of various ages. Because I was working for two reputable companies remotely, I was able to travel between Texas and Pennsylvania without missing a minute of work. I would recommend this kind of work to anyone who has taught before, wants to tutor privately, is comfortable managing small learning groups, wants to set their own work schedule, and/or wants to earn additional part-time income. Now let's get to the deets you need once you have secured your job and/or tutees/clients.... 10. Laptop or...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Lol It's necessary to greet you this way, because more than a year has passed since I last wrote. I must apologize to myself for that. Some of you dear readers know that I returned to the United States at the end of September 2018; so it is has almost been a year since I returned from life abroad... and GIRRRRLLL the transition has been full of UPS and DOWNS ...Break ups... moving twice ....three new positions.... incorporating exercise at least 3 days a week ... adjusting to a change in my eating habits to lose 40lbs in order to help an injury that happened a year prior... ending a first-time car lease to buy a new car ...returning to therapy to address childhood trauma... re-examining my struggle with codependency in order to encourage healthier relationships with my pare nts, siblings and close friends ...continuing my daily and weekly self-care routine...  and living single (cue sitcom theme song ) in the States alone for the first time. All I can say is that ...

Today marks the 7 year anniversary for this evolving blog. I am so GRATEFUL for all the readers (purposeful and accidental) that have visited to read my thoughts and opinions. Viewer/readership is UP, UP, UP!! =D  I am AMAZED at how this blog has grown. I APPRECIATE that YOU would use your free time to read through the topics that I find interesting and worth starting a dialogue about. I could not let another year pass without writing YOU a brief note to express my enormous GRATITUDE. Thank you for those of you who have shared, scrolled, followed and talked about this personal outlet.  I have come to love brainstorming, drafting, editing and publishing my words. Without an audience these posts would not continue. Thank you for VALUING this creative space. Continue reading and sharing. Every viewer is essential to this blog. The 7th year is special to me, because I believe the number seven is a number of completion. Who knows how long this blog will exist, but...

When I started teaching English in South Korea I entered in the middle of the school year. The fall semester had commenced when I came in at the end of August 2016. The start of the new academic year commenced in March 2017. After six months of working in a new school, living in a new country and rapidly adjusting to a new culture and community I felt the level in which I was getting to know my coworkers was moving at a slow pace. Although we ate lunch together, several teachers talked around me but not to me. I thought about this one evening and decided that when the new semester started I would write a Welcome Letter.  In my Temple University undergraduate education courses, one of my seasoned professors had us create a Welcome Letter as an introductory assignment. I am so happy that I took that assignment seriously and saved it with my files I knew I would use throughout my teaching career. When I student taught I wrote and distributed a letter to all of my students and it helpe...

Happy Thanksgiving! I was fortunate enough to attend a local KOTESOL chapter fall event in Daejeon and hear a message from Eunkoo Lee and Casey Lartigue, co-founders of the  Teach North Korean Refugees  (TNKR) organization.  TNKR  is a life-changing program that raises money and helps North Koreans, who are able to escape the country, adjust to life in a democracy and tell their stories as a form of healing.    Listening to these two passionate speakers caused me to reflect on my summer introduction to North Korean person who had only been out of the country for less than two years. During this summer tour we visited the DMZ to see the double-fenced, wildlife barrier that exists at the point where South and North Korea meet.  *This person explained the difficult adjustment that occurs when one has NOT had access to 24-hour electricity, processed food in numerous commercial stores, ridiculous  amounts of outlets for entertainment - includ...

Teaching in South Korea has blessed my soul on so many levels. It will certainly be hard to return to the states (date definitely unknown). Since the start of the semester (see First Day of School post) my high school - 3rd grade  students  (juniors/11th graders) have been reading a chapter on assertiveness. Reading with them has reinforced some key issues that were established in my cognitive therapy sessions between the ages of 29 and 32, regarding speaking up for oneself and creating boundaries.  Since relocating here I have naturally become more assertive - not to be confused with aggressive. This assertiveness is a result of the language barrier, coupled with the ability to reinvent one's self when living in a new environment. However, in regards to my family, friends and future partners I have a new perspective that I am practicing to keep myself genuinely happy, which keeps my mind and body healthy. I failed to be more assertive at my previou...

I am renewed! ^^ Therefore, I felt compelled to renew my teaching contract as of yesterday. I will remain as the English Foreign Langauge Teacher at 대전맹학교 (Daejeon Public School for the Blind). I enjoy my work environment and students, in a way I never thought I could. There are several reasons I have loved working at my school for the past 12 months. I will share three: 1. Small classroom sizes and very few behavior problems. There are times when a student might be upset and choose to stop speaking or participating in an activity. This is human behavior with which I am very familiar with, especially from working with students diagnosed with Emotional Disoders. However, the absence of inappropriate language and violent behavior have left me feeling safe and RENEWED, in the workplace.     Yearbook picture day, Fall 2016 (above) English Zone classroom (below) 2. Utilizing my special education (SPED) academic background to ...

So I don't usually do reviews, but this experience warrants a praise...so le'go!  I booked a trip to Taipei, Taiwan in December 2016 for February 2017. Around the same time I started looking into airport transportation options for late arrivals, conducting random Google searches. Some great person (whose webpage I can no longer find or maybe it was a travel site) suggested AirPopo . The website was helpful in providing an ETA map and comparison price chart for other transportation sources. I downloaded the app, but was not convinced that I was going to use AirPopo. Before deciding to actually use the service, I checked the company's reviews on TripAdvisor . I was impressed with the number of reviews that were excellent. Every reviewer highly recommended the service. 2 days before my trip I attempted to use the app to set up a pick-up. My flight to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was scheduled to land at 12:35am UTC on a Friday morning. Based on the scheduled...

Farewell Sweet '16!! Dear you, I hope you have enjoyed a SWEET 2016. The year was amazing for me. I have experienced so many firsts. At the age of 33 I am living what I call my "Jesus year". In the past 366 days #leapyear I was blessed to grow in numerous ways. I graduated with masters in Special Education from a private Jesuit institution. I quit a job that was encouraging depression due to the lack of emotional intelligence amongst a senior staff that was completely fine with thriving in the midst of drama. I visited 7 different mountains on two continents and appreciated the blessing of sight like never before. I flew internationally for the first time, to fulfill my dream of teaching and living abroad. This move forced me to conquer some of my phobias...germs and escalators.  Before August 25, 2016 it had been 18 years since I have ridden a down escalator. I could always go up without an issue. However, an incident inv...

Yesterday, one of my coteachers and I attended an open-class at an elementary school in 20 minute walking distance of our school. I enjoyed the experience, for many reasons. I chose to attend, because this is a public school with 999 elementary students*. The open-class was a general 40 minute English class for 28 students in E-4 (4th grade);  there were 15 girls and 13 boys. On average the elementary students in this school experience instruction, 80% English and 20% Korean. Approximately 90% of the class was taught in English. Open-class, as I understand it, is a scheduled class where parents, faculty, administrators and academic guests are welcome to sit in the back of a classroom and observe the teaching, students, materials, lesson/s, etc. The invitation was provided about two weeks in advance. Usually a survey is completed afterward. For about 45 minutes post class the observers sat with the teacher and administration to discuss the strengths and weak...

Happy Black History Month! Today I am reminded of an undergraduate professor I had who cautioned my cohorts and I to refrain from using phrases like "those kids" when referring to our students. As I (poorly) paraphrase his lecture, he explained that such language is not kind or professional. If you commence with such phrases, they will become a part of your usual conversation about students when talking amongst other faculty, administrators, staff, and when speaking to parents, guardians, community members, student advocates etc. He warned that people who use the term "these kids" are separating themselves from their students. This divide can cause a superiority complex and even a division between the teacher and students - without the teacher's awareness. Creating an unpleasant line of separation between faculty and students affects the culture of the school. I want my students to know that I am an ally, not an enemy. I am thankful for this professor's word...

"All students have different abilities, types of knowledge, and literacies; all students can benefit from engaging with texts in different ways and in different contexts." Allison Hitt When I think of Universal Design (UD) the rainbow comes to mind. To me, a rainbow symbolizes a group of individual colors bound together to make one overarching bridge. It is as simple as everyone identifying as one of the colors, connecting themselves to another person/color for a common interest. Resistan ce only makes things harder for of all us ; working toge ther welcomes harmony.   Allison Hitt, author of "Access for All: The Role of Dis/Ability in Multiliteracy Centers" believes writing pedagogy should support multi l iteracies that are accessible to a diverse range of students . As a future educator, I am inclined to agree with her and apply this to all forms of pedagogy. I f teachers spend more time thinking about all learning styles instead of student diagnoses t...

"We can't afford to make assumptions about our students' "intuitive" grasp of language and rhetorical effectiveness." - Bonnie Lisle and Sandra Mano Globalization continues to make the world seem smaller. When I read the articles in  The Times of India application on my cell phone much of the nation's news is includes major news in the US and in other countries.  As quickly as my CNN and GoogleNews apps update their national and international news, so do the foreign news sources. As a digital immigrant I find myself still amazed at how instant media can go viral. The intermingling of American news in India reminds me of the tossed salad of culture and languages that exist in the US. Educators are continuing to, voluntarily or under requirements, prepare themselves through literature, workshops, and observations for the growing number of students who they will successfully teach that have different language and ethnic backgrounds from their own. The ...