3 de junio,2022
Actualmente, estoy viajando a través Europa. Estoy en Irlanda. Las ciudades que estuve visitando son Dublín y Limerick. Mi vuelo a Barcelona es el domingo.
Mi itinerario para este viaje será los siguientes países, Irlanda, España, Alemania, Suecia, y Estonia.
Tengo que visitar a mi tia en Colonia, a mi amiga en Suecia, y asistiré a un camp de jiu jitsu en Estonia. Las últimas semanas serán en Valencia, España.
I received my brown belt in Jiu Jitsu last month. I have been at Maven Jiu Jitsu since 2018. I took a year off to recover from surgery in 2019. In total, I have been doing Jitsu for over 12 year, give or take some time for inactivity, surgery rehabilitation, and laziness.
Whenever you switch academies or move, sometimes you have to start over. In my case, I had to learn the school’s system, ideology towards Jiu Jitsu and the instructors has to reevaluate my skills. My instructor has been a friend, mentor and Jiu Jitsu instructor during my time in Texas. He has been a pivotal role in my growth as a person, Jiu Jitsu practioner, student, and teacher.
What does the belt mean? It contains meaning if I give the belt meaning. Nothing changes currently in my journey. I want to grow, improve and help others with Jiu Jitsu. Hopefully I can still keep doing this martial until I’m an old man.
A few pictures and my speech.
I know, I know. It has been a long time between posts. It just isn’t on my to do lists.
A few things to report on the past few weeks.
Cloth Drawings.
Purpose of the Drawings. I want to get better. I need to work on a portfolio. I think back of Daniel Adel’s Paper drawings. Amazing. It really is practice. I went back to drawing instead of water color because to paint you really have to be a good draftsman.
A failed Comic book. On my birthday I tried to do a 24 hour comic since I couldn’t travel or do anything I wanted to do like Jiu Jitsu. I wanted to do a comic about my travels in 2017. It was a good subject. I just didn’t have enough skill, experience or drawing endurance to complete such a task. It was a major undertaking. I learned a lot from the experience. My curiosity peaked to study the world of comics and drawing more. I read Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud again. Then I read Making Comics. Now I’m reading Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner. It is a project I still want to do in the future. 
Some provoking questions to ask myself. What do I want to do with my Art? Do I want to make beautiful art. Yes. But that can’t be the only reason to make art. Anyone can make a pretty pictures. How do I transcend the surface of it? Story. Maybe a narrative to connect the viewer/reader with the art. Beauty gets boring. I like to laugh and have fun. How can I steer my work in that direction?
My friends and family came to visit. It felt great to get out and experience Houston with my guests. I have friends here in Spring but childhood friends have a special place. We laugh and reminisce. They are also very creative and doing different things with their lives. Its interesting to hear their stories. We did a myriad of things. We visited the Johnson Space Center, watched a pro wrestling event in a parking lot in Montrose, saw the Fighting with my family movie, ate Texas BBQ at Corkscrew BBQ and tacos at Bigotes. Larry and Fernando are going to start a pro wrestling podcast. I fully support them because of their wealth of knowledge and experience of the industry. I pitched them a travel show where they go to different countries and interview the wrestling scenes in each country. There are subcultures in every country and pro wrestling is no different. I suggested the countries I’ve visited or want to visit. South Korea, Ireland. South Africa or Mexico. I can be their camera man I think its undiscovered territory in the Vloging world.
My mother and sister came. I can’t thank them enough for their love and support.
Surfing, Jiu Jitsu and Family
A few days after the Copenhagen Camp I ended up in Porto, Portugal. I wondered what I would do when I got to Porto. From the start of my trip I knew my family was coming to Portugal. I had to decide what to do before I met them in Porto. My options were I would either walk another Camino from Porto to Santiago, hang out in Porto for a week, or…. wait for it. Go to a surf school.
Porto will be an unforgettable chapter in my trip. I learned to surf and met other beginners from all parts of the world. I trained Jiu Jitsu in the afternoon and nights after surfing. I drank and hung out with cool people whose couches I could use in the future. I was reunited with my family and I had old fashion family vacation.
I booked the camp when I was in Vienna after talking to Tina, from Leipzig post, who described her love for surfing. I thought that I should try it out. One should push themselves outside of their comfort zones. How else can you grow as a person? I found Surfivor on Google. A great place with very comfortable accommodations. Bruno and Albert are very good surf instructors. It seems they still have a lot of enthusiasm for it after many years. There were plenty of beginner students just trying it out. Most nights the students ate dinner together and drank together. This experience has made me really enjoy surfing. I will continue to surf in the future.
I get my recommendations where to train from the BJJ Globetrotter Facebook Group. I simply remember or search where people go to train on the forum. So far every place I’ve trained at has not disappointed me. I account that this is also a very open community that loves the sport and showing people their love for Jiu Jitsu.
Focus Jiu Jitsu in Porto, Portugal was one of the best places I’ve trained. Manuel Neto, the head instructor, was very friendly and welcoming. Focus has Jiu Jitsu three times a day Monday through Friday with one class on Saturday. The location of the gym is located inside a bigger gym/crossfit/MMA place about three blocks from the beach. I rented a bike and it took about 15 minutes from my hostel. A large amount of higher belts, one them just came back from Worlds and was awarded Black Belt. The facilities are clean, showers and a large mat space. The majority of population of Porto could speak English and the gym was no exception. I will definitely return to this place in the future.
My family visiting Porto before they attend a wedding in Lisbon was my favorite part. I love Jiu Jitsu and surfing, but I enjoy spending time with my family. It’s a good recharge from the months of travel I’ve been through. There were many times on my journey where I get homesick. I would call my sister and see how things are doing back home. I did this more on this 4 months of travel than my 7 years in the Navy. I took them to the restaurants that Tiago, the surf camp owner, recommended to me. They enjoyed the Francesinha, Restaurante Ababia do Porto and eating at the grilled fish street. We spent roughly two days in Porto together but I instilled them the love for Porto that I felt.
My plan is to come back for a month to Porto maybe next summer. The surfing, Jiu Jitsu, and the amazing Portuguese food are a few reasons why I will return. I’m already planning my return to Portugal. I want to continue surfing when I return to California so I will be better when I come back. The lifestyle is very similar to something I imagine myself I would be when I grow older.
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My first BJJ Globetrotter Camp. When I first decided to travel around the world this was the first thing I booked, it was also one of the cheapest camps. All I had to do was travel to Copenhagen, lodging not included in price. I didn’t know what to expect for my first Jiu Jitsu camp. I kept my mind open and trained as much as my mind and body let me. At the end of the camp I gained many friends and invitations to different gyms all over Europe.
Some of my favorite tips from the Copenhagen Camp Information Guide by Daniel Bertina. Pace yourself, take notes and be social. Six days of 8-9 hours of Jiu Jitsu is a lot for anyone. I didn’t want to burn myself out so I went to open mat at least once a day and I attended an average of 2.5 classes. I would have liked to have attended more classes but it will just be a goal for next time. I took notes for the classes that I did attend. A tip that I will do next time is record myself doing the moves again in sequence with a partner to accompany the written notes. I should have been more social during the camp. This is one aspect that I did not take advantage until the end of the camp which was too late. Next time I will attend the welcome meeting/ Jiu Jitsu speed dating, dinners and a few drink afterwards. The trick is to have a right balance of socializing and rest for the next days training sessions/classes. As you can tell I’m already convinced that I will attend another camp. The next important question is which one?
A rolled with the original BJJ Globetrotter on the last day, Christian Graugart. Many years ago he went on a trip around the world to train Jiu Jitsu in as many different gyms as possible. It spawned into the friendly travel community we now know. He is not the first to make Jiu Jitsu camps but his BJJ Globetrotter brand has the most amount with 10 camps in different locales around the world. I felt honored to roll with him. He rolls like a black belt, relaxed and very composed against a lower belt, like myself. Although very playful and fun. A very approachable guy, it was interesting to pick his brain about the camps and his travels.
I trained everyday during the camp. I didn’t go to every class even though I wanted to. I socialized more on the last few nights. I should have went out more in the beginning especially for the Jiu Jitsu speed dating session to meet people. I should have recorded myself summarizing the techniques I just learned. A Gopro is good but my iTouch with a tripod would have been fine. I met people from all over the world and received many invitations from gyms and gave out just as many. I wonder when and where my next BJJ Globetrotter camp will be?
How I came to visit Leipzig is one of those serendipity moments. I met a girl from my hostel in Vienna and she invited to visit Leipzig after Dresden. It wasn’t on my plan, but why not I thought. At times I think about how I travel before and how I travel now. I make more room to meet different people and have unique experiences. For example, I don’t have a concrete itinerary and I couchsurf through friends of friends. I’m glad that I had room in my schedule to see this city.
Tina showed me around her Leipzig during her off day. We had lunch then we walked around the city center. We went to a museum about the GDR( German Democratic Republic), it was all in German but I had a translator with me. While traveling through Czech Republic and East Germany/ Dresden I am learning more and more about that time. Tina said Germany is a young country when you think about the unification of the West and East sides. Germany is only 26 years old. Germany is a millennial?
She took me to see Völkerschlachtdenkmal, it’s a famous monument that symbolizes Napolean’s defeat in Leipzig. I should read more about Napolean, his legacy is still lingering in Europe. He is one of those historical figures that I studied in History but I don’t remember the details. History tends to be buried underneath new history on top of present day news. For it’s worth learning more about a continents history because in turn it affected the United States become what it is.
Music was everywhere in Leipzig. Not only can you find it walking around down town or in the park, but when I was at the haupbahnhof and a traveling choir started singing in the atrium. It was an incredible experience that I can only give thanks to letting things go and see where things end up. I will definitely come back especially since I didn’t have time to train Jiu Jitsu.
A summary of Bratislava. I arrived on a Monday and I left on a Monday. I stayed in a Botel. I attended my first Polyglot Gathering. I also helped the event as a volunteer. I went on a tour of Devin Castle and a wine tour. I added a few more friends to my Facebook network. It was incredible new experience.
I took a bus from Vienna Erdberg to Brastislava Einsteinova. The worst part was if I just stayed bus till the end of the line I would have been closer to my hotel. Since I got off a bus stop before the end I had to walk an extra 30 minutes to my accommodation. Lesson learned for Bratislava. It wasn’t a big deal, it could have been avoided if I possibly knew German or Slovak. The growing pains of traveling, its almost impossible to not a make a mistake, cultural or logistics during travel.
I stayed in a Botel, not quite a hotel, not quite a boat on the Danube River. It was the more economical choice when it came to lodging options for the Polyglot Gathering. It’s location was the selling point. It was about a 10 minute walk to the bus stop and it was a 10 minute walk from the city center. It was very convenient for the conference. Many other attendees or polyglots were also staying there. My roommate was from Lithuania, he spoke many languages. We mainly conversed in English and Spanish, the only languages I can converse in. Having a roommate made the experience better and put my whole anxiety at ease.
My first Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava, Slovakia. I felt very intimidated because I only spoke two languages, and one of them wasn’t at a high level. There were people there that spoke 4-5 languages fluently, then there were Rockstars in the community like Richard Simcott who can speak as many as 20 languages. I felt at awe when I was walking around and seeing all these people I watched on Youtube. By the second day I realized that these people are just human beings, like me. I started talking more as I got over the intimidation factor.
I helped as a volunteer since I got there a few days before the event started. As I wrote before I was apprehensive of my language skills so I decided to volunteer to help get over my anxiety. By being a volunteer you see more behind scenes and how things operate from a stage left point of view. It’s something I learned in the Navy, by being behind the so called magician’s curtain we can see that some things aren’t that special or magical. I met other people that spoke only three languages, a few didn’t even speak English, they were from Slovakia. I even saw Esperanto exist on a working level with the volunteers. I enjoyed volunteering and had more one on one time with the other staff. I was glad that I was able to help such wonderful event.
I took some tours that the organizers of the Gathering had set up. The first day was non-stop talks in the morning and afternoon, it felt like school. My tour of Devin Castle was in the afternoon of the second day, it was a good break from the talks. It was good to meet and talk with the other people from the Gathering in another setting. I didn’t want to go to Slovakia and not see some historical monuments. Another was a wine and old town tour. On the afternoon of the third day we walked around the old town and heard the history of Bratislava. Which ended in drinking wine in a cellar near the center. I enjoyed the tours more for the socializing with the other attendees than hearing the history, though it was interesting. I was engaged with a lot of interesting conversations about languages and where people are from.
I ended up connecting with more people in the end. I was able to open up more by the end of the conference. I think the tours were a good icebreaker to meet other people, especially when wine is involved. I practiced as much of my Spanish as possible, usually when I practice Spanish it’s with native speakers. I hope meet all the people I talked to at future events.
If you are a language learner or if you are wondering about attending one of these events? I recommend it and I plan on going to the next one. Whether you only speak one or 13 languages, everyone is welcome. As long as you have an openness to learn and speak. Where else would you meet people who are as passionate about learning languages, travel, food, and cultures. I’m glad I was able to stop by in Bratislava for this conference. I’m incredibly fortunate to attend all the events I wanted to do this year.
Langfest- Montreal, Canada.- August 25-27, 2017
Polyglot Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland.- October 27-29, 2017
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
Somewhere between Peru and Chile I decided to take a detour and visit my old home, Guam. I lived on Guam for 3 years when I was in the Navy. I look back on my time on Guam as my transformation into Adulthood. It was the first time I really was away from home. I lived by myself without room mates. I paid rent, utilities, cleaned my home, cooked my food, and solved my life problems on my own. There were many ups and downs that came with the experience which is why it feels like a home.
Guam is a small island in the Pacific Ocean. It is a United States Territory, like Puerto Rico. Citizens on Guam cannot vote during federal elections but they do have a delegate in the House of Representatives. The US military is the islands #1 employer. The bases cover 27% of the islands land mass. Most of the income comes from tourists that visit from Asian countries like Japan, China, and South Korea. Here is a video by Wendover productions for an overview.
It is very expensive to fly to Guam from the United States. The average round trip ticket is around $1000 USD. I was initially going to spend three weeks in South Korea. My thought process was that I can take a cheaper flight to visit Guam now than when I return to the States. So I took a detour and made some arrangements with some friends that were still on the island.
My friend, Jordan, and his wife, Emily, were hosting me during my stay. They live in Mangilao, Guam. They gave me my own room and bathroom. It was a luxury that I rarely had during my trip. Both of them were working during my stay but we caught up at night. Jordan even let me borrow his car while he was at work. Jordan worked during the day and Emily at night but she comes home at 8 to 9ish. At that time we would eat dinner and have catch up on life.
I visited my duty station, Naval Hospital Guam. I was a Hospital Corpsman at NH Guam for 3 years. One of the most frustrating jobs of my entire life. Though it helped shape the person I am today because of my experiences there. I ran into some old peers that were still there. It felt great to catch up but it didn’t feel good to listen to the consensus of low morale. It was a good reminder of why I left the Navy to travel the world. I know where their dissatisfaction comes from because I lived it. I hope they find their peace with the Navy. I compare the hospital visit felt like going back to your old high school, if your high school took care of sick and dying patients.
My friend told me it would be a good morale boost to be on American soil and be around friends. I didn’t realize until I left how true that statement was. The ability to speak English freely without thinking if the other person understood me was comfortable. I used to live on Guam, so when Jordan let me use his car, it felt like driving around my home town. I revisited my favorite restaurants McKrauts, Gabriels, Cafe Tu’re, Asu Smokehouse, and Pikas Cafe. I cooked risotto for Emily and Jordan as a kind of payment for hosting me. I’m so thankful to have friends on the other side of the world.
I trained Jiu Jitsu twice. I went to Vida once. It wasn’t too far from where I was staying. It had a good core of students. Some are MMA fighters on Guam. Every night was competition training for them. It was a good push. They waived the mat fee too. Then I trained at Spike 22 at Steel Athletics. I had to pay a $15 mat fee for that day. Only two people showed up for lunch open mat. Rohin was training for a MMA fight in July and Mike was there training with him. It was good training with heavy weights that just used technique, especially Rohin. Rohin could have crushed me, he looked over 250 lbs. It was a chill rolling session. Despite the $15 mat fee and the few people it was a good experience.
I went to see Gabe Baker, my coach when I trained at Carlson Gracie Guam. We had lunch at a Thai place next to the academy. It was getting renovated, new mats, so I couldn’t train at my old gym. Getting a one on one with my old coach was what I needed. It felt at times that I was stumbling through the dark with what I needed to work on. He gave me some guidance that was worth more than the two training sessions I had on the island. He had an interesting philosophy on the belt system. I’m grateful for the training I received on Guam and I thanked him for all that he taught me. I will visit Guam and Carlson Gracie Guam again some day.
“Purple belt is the longest belt, and is the belt most people quit at. A brown belt is just waiting for his black belt. “
It’s been a long time since I posted. Why write blog posts? Why not.
I always feel guilty about not writing blog posts. No one reads it.
I should follow my own rules. Who am I doing this for? I’m doing it for me.
So if or when the time comes that I will need to write something important and meaningful to others. I would have already had the practice by writing for myself.
3 things.
I am a substitute teacher. I drive for a ride-share company. I still want to do art.
I left my elementary teaching position from last year. The job was so stressful and overwhelming. I can’t see how anyone can do that job. There are just so many responsibilities. I appreciate every job in a school because of my experience. The job is impossible to do perfectly. I can go on and on. Fast-forward to now. I decided to substitute teach to see if there’s some other aspect of education that I want to explore. Started in October. I should give updates of my experiences.
I substitute in my old school district. Sometimes I see former students in 5th or 4th grade. When I subbed for my old school. A former student hugged me. A student that gave me a some trouble here and there. He gave me a gift (pictured above) while I was hanging around during recess. I’m not sure if he liked me as a teacher or not. Nonetheless, I appreciate it and I keep it on my shelf of student gifts.
I drive for Lyft. Truthfully, I always wanted to drive a cab. Just to try it out. In my mind, through media and pop-culture, the cab driver is very knowledgeable with city streets, traffic, establishments in their respective city. Think Jamie Foxx’s character in Collateral. The first month was fine and pretty fun. I’m in my third month. The honeymoon phase has worn off. It really is a grind. It is work. I do enjoy the stories. I will share some next time. (I like to practice my Spanish when I get fares that are hispanohablantes.)
I still want to do art. I don’t really know how to start. I don’t know if I go on a path. Will it lead to something? I’m I wasting my time? I have a lot of insecurities.
This is not a review. This is not a persuasion piece telling you to purchase this book. I wrote this post for myself. I finished reading it. Cover to cover. I took notes and extracted value from it
One of the important parts of being a self-taught artist is study. An artist has to self educate themselves on artists before them. I will make blog posts on my favorite artists, their books or resources, and how it can help my art. I will provide some examples.
I bought the reprint of this book. The whole story of Mr. Gurney and Mr. Kinkade jumping on trains, hitchhiking around the country and drawing is so romantic to a young artist. Not only did they do that, but they used the images they made from that trip to create a how to sketch instructional book. James Gurney wrote Dinotopia and Color and Light. His videos are an amazing resource for inspiration and methods. Thomas Kinkade was notorious to have galleries in quaint beach towns in California. Paintings of picturesque America. Some say sellout. This book gives him street cred. I have more respect for him now, seeing his drawings and learning about this drawing adventure.
I made notes in my sketchbook on the different approaches. I tend to just draw contours or mannikin. I think these approaches are good tools for my tool box.
I knew this fact. I just haven’t put this theory in practice. Like any art form or craft. It takes hours of deliberate practice. I need to devote actual time to do this activity if I want to improve. A lesson from the book is to plan your drawing with thumbnails and accurate measuring, then and only then can you proceed with your drawing. The time for your thumbnails and measuring depends on your total drawing time allotted. I often watch Mr. Gurney’s videos, and he has an analog watch sitting on his easel. For example, if you have 45 minutes to draw. Set 5 minutes of the session to map it out or draw thumbnails.
I have several sketchbooks or notebooks for a variety of subjects such as language learning notebooks, guitar notes, watercolor books, writing journals, etc. I can make this practice more deliberate with art. I usually have one sketchbook and I use that for many things. Two sketchbooks that I will take away from this section is a studio sketchbook and a specialized sketchbook. A studio sketchbook is for notes, drawings, copies of masters, and prep work for paintings. A specialized sketchbook is for concentrated study on one subject. That could include notes, diagrams, or nomenclature. I think my next one will be the human form/portraiture/drapery.
This is a rather new concept to my lexicon. I interpret it as putting the pathos or emotion into your drawing. If you are drawing a landscape at night, and it feels lonely and cold. As an artist, you will try to communicate that feeling with exaggeration, placement or value. The artist has the license to alter the reality to communicate the desired mood. I will wrestle with this idea more in the coming years. The following paintings have mood intertwined within it.
This is not a review. This is not a persuasion piece telling you to purchase this book. I wrote this post for myself. I finished reading it. Cover to cover. I took notes and extracted value from it. I am not a professional artist, but I wish to become a better artist. Studying from books from artists that I admire is one step to improvement. Thank you for your attention.
Sharing your art is the price for making it. Exposing your vulnerability is the fee.- Rick Rubin
Despite that I am bedridden and non-ambulatory, I am in good spirits. Why? I have my whole life ahead of me. I WILL get better and I WILL get stronger. With age comes experience and wisdom. I have more clarity to my life.
I think about what I learned this year. Know thyself. Go towards that. Who cares what other people think.
I have had this on and off relationship with art. This past year made me really think about it. I am 40 years old. I am going to die. We all are going to die. I really want to be an artist with the time I have left. What does that mean? I want to express myself. Not for fame, not for monetary gain, just to express myself. I want to put art on my walls that I like. That’s why I want to make art.
Sharing your art is the price for making it. Exposing your vulnerability is the fee.- Rick Rubin
I think about this quote from The Creative Act by Rick Rubin a lot. I always fear this. This is one of those unique things that I cannot get away from. The ridicule or disapproval of my art has always been my biggest fear. Now is the time to face it.
I’ve never had this feeling in Jiu Jitsu or language learning. I’ve never associated those activities with me. It is just a skill that I do. If I am awful at it, it’s not a big deal. But with art or drawing. When ever I share this with an audience, I truly feel like I am bearing my soul. If people dislike it or make fun of it. They are doing that to me. That is the vulnerability of art. Despite, that is the feeling I get. I still want to make art.
I am an art school drop out. I am proud of that label. My favorite artists are art school drop outs; Dave Choe, James Gurney, Joe Bluhm, and many more. I dropped out of art school because they didn’t teach fundamentals. They taught abstract concepts that involved art. Which was good, but I wanted to make strong work. Now I know that fundamentals in drawing was what I need and want to continue to make art. I didn’t know that at the time. So how do I learn fundamentals in 2-d representational drawing? In my amateur opinion, an old school atelier. For example, Watts Atelier in Encinitas, California. They teach representational drawing with busts, casts, figure drawing in several mediums. This is something that I wanted to do for a long time. At the current moment, I do not have the funds or resources to make that move.
The alternative approach is that I teach myself. Which is the harder route. Without a mentor or guide in this journey, I will be struggling for a long time. That’s why I always gave up before. It is really difficult to grow as an artist without a community, a nurturing community. It is possible. I’ll give you one example. I learned jiu jitsu by myself.
I have been doing Jiu Jitsu for over 15 years. I did have teachers in Jiu Jitsu, but I did use agency to supplement my learning. I went to Jiu Jitsu camps, bought dvds, took notes, bought private lessons from instructors. I took my learning into my own hands. I can say that at this point, I am comfortable with my level. Am I unbeatable? No, of course not. Anyone can be beaten. I do have a depth of understanding and a philosophy that I feel strongly about. 10 years ago, I was hungry for knowledge and skill.
I am a brown belt. There is still so much to learn. I will not stop learning, but the hunger to beat people has left me. I suppose that comes with age. I stopped caring about achieving the rank of black belt. What matters more than that your belt color is growth, depth of understanding, and proficiency of skill.
I will not quit Jiu Jitsu, but it will not consume me as it once did. It is an excellent form of exercise and good thing to bring with you when you travel. Anne Lamott said this about writing.
I’m good at it and I like it.
It will be the same reason why I continue to do it. I will take the things from my jiu jitsu journey and apply it to art. Investment in time, money and other resources.
I want to be an artist. I have to teach myself. I will take the lessons from my jiu jitsu journey to become a better artist.
Update on my life.
It is my sister’s birthday today. I would like her to wish her a Happy Birthday. I got her a gift while I was in the Philippines. I will have to remind myself to wrap it.
I got ankle surgery today. I will have to be on crutches for the next 3 weeks. I have my mom and sisters coming to help me out for the first week. What will I do for the following 2 weeks? I didn’t think about that. I just realized that I do have a lot of hobbies. I’m improving my Spanish. I’m learning Portuguese. I draw and paint. I also picked up learning the guitar. I have a lot to do. I would include blogging, but I don’t do this as frequently as I would like.
I would like to write more but let’s just get started.
An artifact is a human-made object that provides evidence of a past culture or period.
Today was the last day of school. The last day that I spent as a 3rd grade English Language Arts Teacher in 2025.
Straight to the keyboard.
What did I learn from teaching a full academic year?
I don’t want to do this. That is what I learned. There are too many responsibilities and tasks to do on a given school day that it is overwhelming. The learning curve is too steep to be a proficient teacher right after school. Teaching students who are disrespectful, rude, or unwilling to put the effort don’t make the job enjoyable. I found very few moments in my year and half where I enjoyed teaching. I will further to add to this laundry list of why I don’t want to be a general education teacher at a later date, but the moments today were good.
Last day
Somewhere along the way, I learned that elementary teachers will get their class a gift. When I graduated from student teaching, I gave my class Frisbees. I taught them how to throw and play a modified version of ultimate Frisbee. These kids were from the bilingual class, and they choose to play Frisbee over soccer. So, I gave them all Frisbees. They signed the Frisbee that I used throughout the year. Last year, I gave all my students a picture of themselves with a quote I wanted to give them. All of them were different.
This year, I wanted to give them a portfolio or book of all their writings. I was their ELA (English Language Arts) teacher. The end of their book would have a message from me. Think Lisa’s Substitute. Then I wanted their parents to create a message that makes them appreciate their parents. Think Iron Man 2, when Howard Stark talks to his son from the grave through a secret recording. I kept this sketch and idea in my head for a long time. I didn’t do this. I still feel it is a strong idea that should be thoroughly planned out. Maybe someday.
Today, I gave my students a photo of themselves. They were props like 80s sunglasses, a blow up novelty 80s cell phone, a blow up novelty boom box and a vuvuzela. They also showed the camera a printed QR code. The code is an unlisted YouTube video. I made a slideshow of pictures of their 3rd grade year. I printed the 4×6 photos and framed them. I had 44 students this year.
My closing remarks to my class
” I learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”- Maya Angelou
I put this quote on the board. I thanked them for the opportunity to be a first year teacher. I apologized for the mistakes that I made. I paraphrased the quote to fit my situation. You will probably forget what I taught you, you will forget what I did during the class. I think that you will not forget how I made you feel. I hope you felt safe, listened to, and cared for. I told them that the quote will also reflect them when they grow up. People will not forget how you made them feel. Then I passed out the framed photos. I did this to my morning class and my afternoon class. For some reason, the afternoon class started bawling for 10 minutes after I left their room. That class was the most difficult in diversity of behavior issues.
Why?
Why do this at all? … As a teacher, we do take pictures of our students. I thought that I should give back all those photos to them. I take pictures and give them Fuji Instax print-outs. So they do have most of those physical photos. One of my students showed me her teacher’s slide show of last year. So I stole the idea. It does not carry the weight of the Iron Man 2 idea. Regardless, the photo and the QR code are an artifact. Not the education definition, but the normal definition is just as strong. An artifact is a human-made object that provides evidence of a past culture or period. A year book is an artifact. Some of them bought year books. I just made them a video slideshow of their year and just for their class. Again why? I would want someone to record the happy childhood of my life. Perhaps, that is why I became a teacher. To give them a better education and childhood than what I had.
I never remembered this week when I was in school. I’m glad we have it. It makes my grateful that I have this job. It also makes me reflect on the people that have affected my life.
This time of year is bitter sweet. It is sweet because I enjoy the end of the year and I look forward to summer. It is bitter because of the finality of possibly never seeing my students again is depressing. Why? I will have no idea how their story will continue. I want their journey to be successful and enjoyable. I suppose that’s what makes teachers naive. That’s what make me naive. I’m a sap. I got into this profession thinking that I can make a positive impact on every student that I encounter. In reality, after they leave your classroom, their life is entirely out of your control. Their journey will be filled with the ebb and flow of life. I have no control over it after they leave my classroom.
The big takeaway from this week is gratitude. I really don’t expect anything from my students. I’m glad they got me stuff, but I treat all of them as I would like to be treated.
28 de abril de 2025
April 28, 2025
I’m a first year third grade teacher. I have a few boys that constantly argue and antagonize each other. They never get classwork done because they constantly have conflict. Their compliants are petty and tattle tale on each other everyday. One time Jim (psydonym) was telling me that the girls were passing notes to each other. I thought to myself, that’s not worth telling a teacher about. I’m glad they are writing to each other though. Third graders are still at the age where they will write to each other. Once they get a cell phone, all they will do is text. This gave me an idea. What if I made those boys that tattle tale on each other write their compliants to me on post its or sheets of paper.
I tried it today. I made boys that never write in class, write their compliants and gripes. When they brought it to me, I corrected their grammar usage and punctuation. Jim wrote “making fun Steve and Matty about brokn fence.”
I asked Jim, ” Who is making fun of you?”
“Steve and Matty.”
Put the subject in front of the sentence.
I told him to rewrite the sentence as “Steve and Matty are making fun of my broken fence.”
Jim fixed it. I got four boys to write formal complaints about each other.
You might say I made them go “Karen on each other.”
I have to trick my students into practicing handwriting and compositional writing. This was absolutely worth blogging about. It’s the little wins at this job that I have to appreciate.
22 de abril de 2025
I feel that my Spanish is at a basic level, some would say intermediate. I feel that I am still not at a comfortable level. maybe I will never get there. I feel that my level and understanding and use of the language is still broad. I can communicate. I can comprehend spoken converstation. If something is too complicated, I can get the gist of it. That’s not good enough. My goal is precision. I want to be able to use the language with precision and accuracy.
I don’t think I will attain the proficiency I desire by just passive listening and reading. I think to reach the next level, I will have to study and improve with small increments. Eventually, along the way I will begin to dream in this language. Then I can maybe slow down and passively learn, like English.
I think, we, as learners learn what we want to learn. Ultimately, the student will put in the majority of the work towards mastery.
Also, those AI generated featured images are too attractive. I want to give you the reader real images of my life. If no one reads this, I want to give my future self real images of my life.
Siento que mi español es de un nivel básico, algunos dirían intermedio. Siento que todavía no estoy en un nivel cómodo. tal vez nunca llegue allí. Siento que mi nivel y comprensión y uso del idioma aún es amplio. Puedo comunicarme. Puedo comprender la conversación oral. Si algo es demasiado complicado, puedo entenderlo. Eso no es suficiente. Mi objetivo es la precisión. Quiero poder utilizar el idioma con precisión y exactitud.
No creo que alcance el dominio que deseo simplemente escuchando y leyendo pasivamente. Creo que para alcanzar el siguiente nivel tendré que estudiar y mejorar con pequeños incrementos. Con el tiempo, en el camino empezaré a soñar en este idioma. Entonces tal vez pueda reducir el ritmo y aprender pasivamente, como el inglés.
Creo que nosotros, como estudiantes, aprendemos lo que queremos aprender. En última instancia, el estudiante hará la mayor parte del trabajo para dominarlo.
Además, esas imágenes destacadas generadas por IA son demasiado atractivas. Quiero regalarle al lector imágenes reales de mi vida. Si nadie lee esto, quiero darle a mi yo futuro imágenes reales de mi vida.
The hardest part of writing is not the writing, it’s the sitting down to write. I heard that from somewhere.
The past weekend I was studying Spanish everyday. It felt good to be consistent and come back to a goal of improving on a skill. This is incredibly easy when I don’t have outside stresses or responsibilities. How do you continue towards your goals when you’re tired and exhausted from your day job?
I suppose that is the hardest part. Cultivating discipline.
La parte más difícil de escribir no es escribir, es sentarse a escribir. Escuché eso de alguna parte.
El fin de semana pasado estuve estudiando español todos los días. Se sintió bien ser consistente y volver al objetivo de mejorar una habilidad. Esto es increíblemente fácil cuando no tengo estrés ni responsabilidades externas. ¿Cómo continúas hacia tus objetivos cuando estás cansado y agotado de tu trabajo diario?
Supongo que esa es la parte más difícil. Cultivando la disciplina.
I have to start writing again.
Tengo que empezar a escribir nuevamente.
Aqui es una receta que voy a probar.
Wet Brine Chicken
By Tuffy stone
-6 Qts (5.67L) of water
-1 cup ⅛ cup kosher salt
-1 cup of white granulated sugar
-2 cups of large carrots (cleaned and sliced)
-3 stalks of celery
-½ yellow onion (chopped)
-3 TBSP Black peppercorn
– 3 Large Bay Leaves
-1 bunch of italian parsley
-1bunch of thyme
24-48 hours
Pollo En Salmuera Húmedo
Por piedra Tuffy
-6 cuartos de galón (5,67 litros) de agua
-1 taza ⅛ taza de sal kosher
-1 taza de azúcar blanca granulada
-2 tazas de zanahorias grandes (limpias y cortadas en rodajas)
-3 tallos de apio
-½ cebolla amarilla (picada)
-3 cucharadas de pimienta negra
-1 manojo de perejil italiano
-1 manojo de tomillo
24-48 horas
markmagpusao.com 