A New Year -- A New Idea

McGilchrist mentions that two of our most basic instincts are to point and to grasp.  

Even animals point.  The dog paws at the door to say, "I need to go out!"  Or he nudges his empty water bowl with his nose to say, "You've let it get empty. Do something!"  My cat points with her eyes.  She sits in front of her food bowl, looking at it meaningfullly, then looks at me, then back to the bowl, which means, "Feed me now, human!"

As homo sapiens, we can combine those actions wirh appropriate words to help embed a new vocabulary in memory.   Below is a sample dialog I wrote in my head while sitting in the hospital.  The scene is acted out standing in front of a table covered with objects or pictures of objects lined up against the wall.

Marcella: (Looking at objects and pointing.) Is that the new ultapip I've heard  about?  

        I've always wanted one!
Jason: (Also pointing.)  That small, yellow thing? Yes, that's an ultapip.  

        It's free so take it.
Marcella: (Grabbing the object.)  Great. I've got an ultapip! 
Jason: (Making a grabbing gesture.) Well done!

In most people language is processed in the left hemisphere. Body movement on the left is usually processed on the right and vice versa. But it's more complicated than that. In any case, to encourage mobilization and coordinization of all parts of the brain, do the pointing and grabbing with your dominant hand, then repeat it with the other hand. 

This dialog would work to teach a new noun.  Unfortunately, students have more difficulty memorizing verbs.  I'll have to try a group of action pictures using gerunds.

A New Year -- A New Book

 And hopefully a new class to teach soon!  I've updated my resume and actually sent it out to one job posting.

Meanwhile, I'm completing some "remdial" reading.  Shortly before my son landed in the ER I had ordered Iain McGilchrist's 2-volume work, "The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World".  It says a lot about how the left and right hemispheres work with a lot of implications for effective learning (and teaching).  

I finished most of Volume 1 while sitting in the hospital watching my son sleep on and off.  When he was awake he hallucinated and I spent my time trying to bring him back to earth.  Then while he napped I'd read more about what creative realities your brain comes up with when only part of it is working.  When reading, from time to time I'd glance up at him, now slumbering, and think, "Yep, that's right on!  So true!  You're not kidding!"

More to follow.

A Tranquil Christmas!

And a hopeful New Year is rapidly approaching, minute by minute.  If I want to complete a December blog entry I have to start typing!

Sadly, I have to report that, about a week after my last post, Oliver crossed over the rainbow bridge. However, he was 18, had lived a good life, and died at home in his sleep.  You can't ask for much more than that.

December was uneventful.  Uneventful is good!  I had time to get several household things fixed which I'd postponed ever since moving in, plus unpack decorations in time for Christmas visits.

I received a solicitation for a new teaching platform which the programmers claim is better than Zoom and free (for the moment anyway).  I need to try it out.

Looking forward to getting back in the saddle in January.

Dear Students, Friends, Relatives, Colleagues, Blog Readers, and Other Wonderful People --

I have been out of touch for quite a while; so will try to catch you all up with this letter.

As you may know, in May of 2023 I downsized by selling my house and buying a townhome where the HOA takes care of outside maintenance and the cost of heating is much less. It was just in time!

Although I succeeded in getting the basics unpacked over June, July and August of 2023, my plans to go back to teaching ESL in the fall changed when my son, Ralph, quit breathing and his heart stopped. Luckily, a quick-acting friend, with the coaching of 911 on the phone, was able to apply CPR until the paramedics arrived to continue as they rushed him to the ICU.

A year later we are doing OK.  Ralph is on oxygen but has a treadmill and is working on gaining strength.  He has a portable oxygen unit enabling him to get out of the house and drive short distances safely on his own.  

I went back to the unpacking/reorganizing task which also took an unexpected turn when the floor of the finished basement flooded due to a malfunction of the HOA's irrigation system! Of course the HOA paid for remediation and recarpeting. It looks better now than it did with the prior owners' do-it-yourself carpet-remnants for flooring.

I went back to Jazzercise to keep my fitness up.  Hippolyta, our cat, is always fit. Oliver, our dog, got a dog-cart (a set of wheels like a wheelchair for dogs) which helped keep his spirits and his fitness up through the very end of his life.  Sadly, he passed away in his sleep a few days ago at the age of 18.

I must give a shout-out to the grandkids and their wider families who have been so helpful and supportive though all of this, especially the eldest, David.

I have joined Senior Planet, a technology-oriented division of AARP, which is offering a course in hosting Zoom meetings. The goal is to become more adept in the finer points, such as managing  rooms with the intention of one day starting up ESL classes again for everybody in a group at least once a week.

The Holiday Season already upon us!  I hope you all have had a good 2024 and are also looking forward to an adventurous 2025. 

PS: Dog carts are great.  Oliver was so glad to be able to stand up again to eat his meals!

End of July already!

I guess if I want to have a blog post dated this month I'd better write one fast!

My furniture was all moved into my new address as of May 24.  My old house was sold and my bridge loan paid off as of June 1.  This summer I have done little but fill out paperwork, unpack boxes and try to get everything moved around/fixed up.  

There is still no light at the end of the tunnel.  However I've also spent some time with my youngest granddaughter who, also, just moved into a new place and is getting settled.  It's funny how helping someone else to put together their furniture with a screwdriver feels like taking a break.  And I do schedule a little time to unwind each day.  Every evening I walk my dog or, rather, as a Jack Russell terrier, he takes me for a vigorous walk.  All the kids in the new community have now met Oliver.  I have a rule that it's OK to pet him but only one child at a time.

Later, I read myself to sleep with something light.  I just finished "The Crime That Binds" by Laurie Cass,  This is the latest in her murder mystery series featuring Minnie Hamilton, a librarian who drives a bookmobile with her sociable cat riding along.  As someone who loves books, Minnie often plays around with words, as I do. When contemplating "toastiness" and "sogginess" to describe a microwaved sandwich, she just has to look them up.  Merriam-Webster recognizes only "sogginess" but a wiki dictionary does, already, cover "toastiness".

Then follows a passage in the book that just blows me away:

"...I felt an odd sense of comfort. The world changed around us, sometimes at breakneck speed and sometimes so slow that only rocks could understand the long-term impacts. Language, however, moved with us."

It's true. Language is always changing. This annoys many people, like members of the Académie Française, created by the French to halt the process or at least slow it.  The Académie is also charged with creating appropriate new vocabulary as the need arises. But, to their frustration, people often ignore their terminology, instead adopting the words that spring up, organically, without effort, as society moves forward.  Sometimes new expressions even lead the way by inspiring people to investigate and adopt new ideas.  It's a bit like being walked by a Jack Russell terrier.

Ex -- Ex Libris

 My crazy translation: Formerly -- From the Library of...

When I was a child, when given a book as a present, the first thing you did was write your name on the first page opposite the front cover.  When you were older you bought a bunch of bookplates to paste to the inside front cover of all of them.  It usually said, "Ex Libris" in a fancy script, then you wrote your nam on the line below.  

By the time you were an adult, you actually had a collection worthy of being called a small, personal library featuring some classics of literature plus leading works and reference books in whatever profession you prepared for in college.  And the homes of your grandparents' generation housed bookcase after bookcase in the living rooms or dens.

Today, of course, you can access any book you want via the internet and read it on your computer.

I've just downsized and moved into a townhome after donating carton after carton of books to Goodwill.  Not only is there no space for all of them but they're really heavy to move!  I still have more books and bookcases than I should, crammed into too little space.  The Goodwill donations will be ongoing for a while. 

It is with great sadness that I have given up the concept of building and maintaining a true "personal library".  Nobody does that anymore.  Computers and smartphones make any book accessible anywhere, anytime.  But for me there's just nothing like settling down with a bound copy on paper.

"Profeale"

It's been a while since my subconscious invented a new word which showed up in the early morning as I awoke.  But I got one today: "profeale" (pronounced "pro-FEEL".  It's a combination of "profile" and "reveal".  This is a noun describing a summary of a person which also gives you an insight, usually sudden, into their personality, character and motivations.  It can also be used as an adjective as in: "They went on a profeale date".

I awoke dreaming that I was writing it as "profile" and realizing that spelling was wrong because it has already been used for the spelling of "PRO-file".  I suppose profeale does not really need the silent "e" at the end, but it feels natural, somehow.