Thanksgiving, Y'all

Thanksgiving Meal, © 2017 Yuanhao Zhu

If you strip away the context, Thanksgiving is basically a harvest festival. It is a way to say "thank you" for the food you'll need to survive the upcoming Winter.

I love teaching my high school English Language Learners the word "thanksgiving." It is a great word to introduce to students because it opens up a nice way to talk about gratitude, what to give thanks for, and what is the meaning of sharing and community.

I particularly like this photograph one of my students took at our annual Thanksgiving dinner at school. I like how he chose to take the picture of the plate from a bird's eye view. It gives the place setting importance - even the plastic glass full of apple juice is in the right spot - and the fork and spoon set in the right place.

I am thankful for my students - we spend a lot of time with each other every day - and sometimes it is a challenge - but at the end of the day it is kinda cool. 

Here is what one of my tenth graders wrote:

I am thankful for my parents because they have given me a good life and good conditions, so I am very grateful for what they have given me. I thankful for my teacher, because they teach me English and learning new words.

Maybe it is an overused, overdone question (because of the holiday) but what are you truly thankful for?

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Halloween Costume (circa late 1990s)

Greig dressed as a scary D.C. lobbyist OR tricky Dick

Halloween Shenanigans
I don't dress up for Halloween anymore. The last time was a few years ago - I was a wizard.

However, I found this darling picture of me from back in the day - I was dressed up as either a crooked political lobbyist from the bowels of some Washington, D.C. think tank or I am just basically your standard Richard Nixon - except I look pretty ragged.

Peace out, dudes! And happy All Hallows Eve!

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Photo: Sixth Grade Photographic Portrait

Greig in Sixth-Grade, circa 1992

I'll probably regret posting this picture of me taken on a Sixth Grade field trip to the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, Louisiana.

Family Photograph of Mom Skipping Rope in Chicago

Pamela Roselli skips rope in Chicago, Illinois (circa 1997)

Throwback to a family vacation in 1997 where we walked the streets of Chicago - and my mom decided to jump rope with some kids.

We were walking the streets of Chicago back in 1997 or something like that and Mom decided to play jump rope with the neighborhood kids. Great memory.

We had driven a car to Chicago from New Orleans. We wanted to go to a Cubs game and to see the Chicago Art Institute.

We walked a lot in Chicago which is why I like this photograph. I wonder who those kids are? Do they remember this moment? Mom looks young and energetic, waiting for her time to jump rope. The boy with the hoodie is trained on his game and the girl in the sky blue dress is counting time.

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Recollections: College Visitations back in 1998

At Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana circa 1998

Throwback to that time in High School when I visited Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, on a college visit.
I visited Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana, when I was a Senior in High School. Mom drove me. We spoke to the professors in the Liberal Arts department, and I asked them questions about their philosophy program.

I did not enroll in the school - I ended up becoming a seminary student at Saint Joseph Seminary in Saint Benedict, Louisiana.

However, Centenary symbolizes the trajectory I could have taken if I had chosen to stake out my own way as a college student on my own terms.

Teenagers Read and Write with Early Childhood Learners at the Garden School in Queens

In this blog post, I write about teaching international students at a school in Queens.

A Seventh Grader holds up a sign
he made for our school's annual International Night.

I am incredibly honored to teach a large cohort of adolescent English Language learners this year at the Garden School, in Jackson Heights — one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Queens. My students — representing mainland China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Turkey; each have an F-1 student visa to enable them to receive their education here in the United States — with many continuing their studies at college or universities both within and outside of America!

      To put into perspective how vast this group is: approximately one million international students are studying in the United States alone, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). Of that group, roughly one hundred thousand are middle and high school adolescents. So I am one lucky teacher. My experience as an international student also adds further depth to my appreciation for this amazing opportunity - I had a student visa when attending the Higher Institute of Philosophy in Leuven, Belgium, and I lived in the American College.

      One activity I love doing with my students is having them read to younger kids. It is a fun, low-stakes way for kids to learn from each other. And it's fun. Here are some photographs to document our learning together:

A kindergartener and a Tenth grader write a story together for a Language Arts project. 

An Eleventh grader conducts a read-aloud for a couple of Early Childhood students.

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Recollection: Catholic Confirmation at Mary Queen of Peace Church (c. 1990s)

Me, Archbishop Philip Hannan, and Georgette Pintado (Nanan)

Throwback post to 1997 - a Catholic Confirmation ceremony at Mary Queen of Peace Church in Mandeville, Louisiana.

In the Catholic tradition, young people get confirmed. It's the standard rite of passage for Catholic youth. You take some classes. You go on a field trip. You take on the name of a saint and you choose a sponsor to help support you in your Catholicity. At sixteen years old, I was confirmed at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mandeville, Louisiana. The pastor was Father Ronnie Calkins - a really nice guy who I later knew better when I joined the Seminary. But that's another story.