Ultima zi de Teaching Assistant

In ultima vreme afirm parca din ce in ce mai des: “Cat de repede a trecut timpul”. Si vineri an avut o noua ocazie sa afirm asta.

A fost ultima mea zi de Teaching Assistant. Noiembrie, Decembrie, Ianuarie, Februarie, Martie, Aprilie, Mai… A trecut ceva, nu? A fost absolut minunat. Am convingerea ca a fost cea mai buna alegere aceea de a participa la acest internship, apoi de a continua pt al doilea trimestru si, desi am stat putin in cumpana, ma bucur ca am mai ramas si dupa finalul celui de-ai doilea trimestru.

Simt ca am invatat multe lucruri si mai ales am imprumutat cate ceva dintr-un fel de a fi.

Data trecuta cand am fost pe punctul de a pleca credeam ca voi fi foate trista in ultima zi. Evident sunt putin necajita,  imi va fi dor sa stau la ore, sa corectez teme, sa dau stickere si sa iau stelute >: ) normal ca imi vor lipsi copiii. Dar sunt si foarte fericita. De ce? Pentru ca voi face in continuare parte din echipa BC, de data asta de pe postul de Customer Service Assistant !!!

Am avut niste emotii legate de asta… pana am scris aplicatia….pana am primit telefon sa ma cheme la interviu… apoi inainte de interviu… dupa interviu… si mai ales vineri cand asteptam raspunsul final. De fiecare data cand suna telefonul sau venea cate un mail imi sarea inima din loc. (cu motive diferite in fiecare caz in parte). Sa va explic. La finalul interviului mi s-a spus care e procedura lor. Daca sunt acceptata voi fi sunata. Daca nu, voi primi un mail. Va dati deci seama cu ce teama mi-am verificat mailul in ultimele azi. Iar vineri pe la 13:30 am primit un telefon!!!

Maine e prima zi… si am emotii. Stiu ca o sa fie OK, dar tot am emotii.

Sper sa gasesc maine timp sa va povestesc.

My day

I had an amazing birthday and I don’t know how to thank enough for that. I am incredibly grateful to have such wonderful friends.

I had to take a test in the morning and I was so nervous and kept on saying that I don’t want to get a bad mark on my birthday. And what do you think Roua, my colleague, told me to show support? “Don’t worry. You won’t get a bad mark on your birthday. The teacher will bring the results next week so you’ll have your bad mark then “  Well… it seems I won’t get a bad mark at all.

Than Iulia and Alex came with a great bunch of flowers and an amazing present : a book called “Jewish Wisdom for Business Success”. Even more amazing coming from them. Thanks you so much, guys! >:D<

Than I ate watermelon for the first time this year.

And went to BC. The teachers were so nice and told the kids (from the classes I was assisting) it was my birthday (I still feel bad for not bringing candies for the kids as well) and they sang me “happy birthday”. I received some more beautiful flowers and nice wishes. All were great, but the one from Lilyana was the most… let’s say complex, covering all the “areas of interest” from job, to friends, kids, relationships and accomplishments.

That was followed by the gathering with my beloved jewish friends. Sweets, lemonade, some more flowers, presents, smiles and jokes.

I felt (and I still do) that I had the perfect birthday, most of the important aspects (or people to be more precise) of my life gathered on the same day , making  it perfect. Thank you all for being such wonderful friends.

Particularitatile managementului proiectelor in domeniul cultural

Parca nici nu m-am dezmeticit bine din emotiile admiterii si deja am si tema de licenta. Ziua asta parea foarte departe si foarte mareata. De fapt e doar o zi ca oricare alta si a venit uimitor de repede. Ciudat cum mai trece timpul asta…

And it gets even better

The quote of the day  (word by word exactly as it was said – since she speaks English): “I love you till sky’s end” – comming from a 4 years old.

All I can say is another quote I would often use some time ago: “If things get any better, I may have to hire someone to help me enjoy it.”

The end of a pretty good week

This was the first week of a new term at British Council. It was also the first week without Patricia. It feels weird without her. First of all because we became pretty close and I was accustomed to see her all the time and having her as part of the team. Secondly because I’m the only one left from the initial TAs. Mihaela left long time ago, last week was Patricia’s turn , even Diana is going to leave in 2 weeks and I cannot stop wondering… maybe it’s time for me to move on too.

On the other hand, I enjoy very much the time spent there. The schedule changed so I have some new teachers to assist and some new classes. Maybe the change the I appreciate most is that I have one of Lily’s BCkids classes. She is a great teacher and gets along great with the little ones.

Another new class is Patrick’s former class, being taught now by Rebecca. I as there only for 45 minutes, but it was enough to leave impressed. Some of the children in that class are little monsters (and I’m very rarely impressed by naughty children).   She is the first teacher I saw to apply a method I only read about before. It goes like this: some children are very naughty only because they want to attract all the atention. Even if the teacher is upset on them or tells them to stop or criticise them, it doesn’t matter. The children win: they draw attention. So the solution in these situation is to ignore them, and reward the ones who behave well and tell those ones how much you appreciate their attitude. It seems simple, but it’s not that easy to apply. But that was precisely what Rebecca did. And guess what – it worked. There were 2-3 boys alwasy pushing or kicking each other, even swearing. And instead of asking them to stop she gave stickers to the other ones, saying : “Look, all this children are ready for the activity and stay so nicely” and gave all of them a sticker. When she got to the naughty ones she said: “these boys were’t paying attention, sorry boys, no stickers this time.” So the rules of the game were clearly stated: if you want to be rewarded and receive attention, you have to behave properly and pay attention to the activities.

Talking about great teachers let me tell you about Rachel’s class. One of the many reasons I always like going to her classes is that I feel good in there, that I am really helpfull – she gives me tasks and responsabilities (like checking the homework) and … I don’t know how to explain that… she lets the children know that I have authority as well, doing small things like telling the kids “when you finish the exercise come to me or to Magda to check it”. It may be difficult to understand what I mean, but as a teaching assistant, it’s very important to have classes and assist teachers that don’t behave like you’re just a piece of furniture. And I was very proud yesterday when she implemented a new system of penalties and rewards and told me to fell free to reward them with stamps and take away yellow stars as well.

Another reason of happiness is the weather. I had a spare hour yesterday between BC and going to the synagogue and I spent it outside reading and enjoying the sun. I absolutely love spring!

And for the week to be even better, this evening I’m going to Livia’s house. I haven’t been there for a pretty long time and I miss her and the kids. I can’t wait!!!

Now back to work. Keep in touch!