Monday, July 11, 2022

Monday, July 11, 2022

  

After two one-hour naps during the day, I went to bed around 10 pm and slept soundly till 5 pm, if you don't count the times I got up to pee. I didn't count them. I fell back to sleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

  Once Scott came to pick up Elsa around 5:30 am, I got up and dressed. I got back on the bed to do one round of my exercises. I still had problems with the leg raises. I could get my leg up, but my inner thigh hurt after the fourth repetition when I lowered it. However, I did well with the glute exercise. I did a prone plank as I did that exercise, holding my glutes and quads, pulling my abs under my rib cage, and throwing in a Kegel contraction while pushing my shoulders and heels into the mattress. I hold that position for a count of at least twenty. I'd lost an inch and a half off my waist doing this.

   I meditated for an hour after I fed Elsa. After that, I needed an hour's nap.

   At 9:30, I had an appointment with the M & W sisters. I do half an hour with each girl. I started each session by chatting. I talked about M's favorite colors today. As it wound up, she loved every color except red and orange. Then we worked on the questioning exercise that was her choice. She was too frustrated the other day articulating her experience at the rodeo. This morning before the class, I reviewed what she wrote and wrote a paragraph that captured what she wanted to say. I didn't push doing that today. I would come back to it on a later date.

  Going into sixth grade W didn't want to work on her story either. I let that go, too. She wrote a rough draft that needed much work for a decent story. She wanted to continue with the Gating Game. I may regret introducing this activity. It requires a lot of fast thinking on my part. I also have to face how poor my auditory recall is. Hopefully, it will improve as I go along.

  I had half an hour between the tutoring appointment and my Reading & Writing office hour for Step Up tutoring. Tutors can sign up and get suggestions for helping their students. I had two people sign up who were just checking in. One was meeting with a fifth-grade student who was doing well. A second tutor signed up to get advice on what to do in her first session with her student. I wasn't good at that. I told her what I had to offer.. I made a point of asking the student what they were good at. In the tutor/tutee relationship, the student is always in a weak position. We only get to know them where they need help at their worst. I make a point of asking students what they like to do or do well. I want to know other aspects of them. I want them to know I know of other parts of them. There was another tutor in the meeting. I asked her what she did. She said her student just talked about themselves. No probing questions were necessary.

      The last tutor had attended the office hours twice before. I thought she wouldn't get my work when I first met her. Boy, was I ever wrong! She was a deep thinker, an inquiring mind. She tried what I suggested and came back to say what she had accomplished and what she continued to have trouble with.

      These office hours are great for my ego. Even I am impressed with how much I know. I always have something to contribute unless the tutor asks what to do in their first session.  

    I didn't do much else for several hours afterward except play FreeCell, listen to NPR, and get my steps in.

  I started watching Love, Guaranteed on Netflix. Nothing great but the main characters and the actors were fun to watch.