…and voila!
I made two new covers for my books. I cannot write much here anymore. I spent most of the time writing my updates, doing some freelance writing, editing book covers, and starting (yep, not finishing) lesson plans that I have nothing much to say on this space. Until next time.
I took a break from blogging because I was not well and was also a little bit paranoid. Coughing a lot can do that to you in the time of COVID. But hey, a negative COVID test certainly made me feel a little better. I know it is an antigen test, which is not as accurate as a PCR test. However, combine that with the negative tests of all the people in my family and I feel much better. It helps that I barely leave the home. I protect myself with double masks and shield when I do. I am fully vaccinated. Why was I still worried? Well, I am an asthmatic and my unvaccinated son (waiting on the Pfizer vaccine) is, as well. I support vaccination, but I am aware of the possibility of breakthroughs. But there it is – a negative test. Whoa. My allergies and asthma have not stopped plaguing me, but at least I have more peace of mind.
I have not left the house for DAYS. When I do leave, I only do so to speed through the supermarket aisles and get what I need. Right away! But if I do go out today, some people will probably avoid me like the plague (yeah, pretty close) because of my asthmatic cough.
The nights are especially terrible. Post nasal drip keeps me up at night. The only thing that helps me is a Piriton tablet to stop the dripping. What I don’t like about antihistamines is that they make me fall asleep almost immediately. I cannot even watch anything after I have gone through my full workload for the day.
Anyway, my asthma and allergies have been acting up. The only comfort I have is that my husband knows his status (negative) and we have both been fully vaccinated. I am gathering the courage to have my twelve-year-old vaccinated, as well. He has asthma and may need extra protection.
I am not a special education teacher. I used to teach university students for four years. I taught animation, drawing, Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Autodesk Maya, and even screenplay writing for animation. The best thing about skills-based courses is that students often gravitate towards them because they know what they want and what they are capable of. The only problem you may have would be the usual lazy bunch or the ones who are online shopping during classes. The classes are in computer labs. Everyone has a workstation. I also prepared online modules for about two years and wrote English tests for Korean pilots for about a year.
I have been teaching second-grade for six years now, though. So, it is what I am the most comfortable with at the moment. Again, I am not a special education teacher but my interest in this line of work was piqued last year when I had a boy I suspected to have some sort of special needs. Mind you, he had not been officially diagnosed. However, he had very short attention span, flapped his hands about, and only did what he wanted to do. On the other hand, he was very smart and could read very well. I used to give him my calculator for comfort, and it kind of worked. Unfortunately, he had also labelled himself as “not smart,” which was heartbreaking.
This morning, I had asked our principal to allow me to attend a special education session. I knew that I would have a few slow readers. The greatest instance was last school year’s as the children went back to face-to-face session after more than a term at home. We are back to online classes this term, though, because of the recent surge in COVID cases (with Delta strain, as well). Therefore, I wanted to know how I could involve special needs children through the virtual teaching setting. There is no fixed solution for all children. A teacher must still discover a child’s quirks and needs. However, there were several resources recommended by the speaker that I truly appreciated:
Other resources given where similar to the ones recommended for children who need some form of audio-visual prompts to learn. Of course, application is going to be a lot rougher as we teachers will find ourselves almost plastered in front of the screen for more than half of the day. I got burned out the last time – as I got obsessive with producing engaging lessons, working from 5 am to 7 pm at times. I would try to do better this school year, especially now that I have so many freelance duties.
I could not believe I managed to write 40 episodes of mostly 1500+ words each on a web novel. lol I have probably just reached the halfway point. I am not earning anything from it since I am still struggling to get more readers. I am now at 94 followers. However, I am having fun. Today, I wrote after going through a Google Meet, fixing this school year’s Grade 2 timetable, writing an article and revising/proofreading two more.
Today was packed but it is no longer surprising.
I did:
I will probably be more coherent with my blog post tomorrow. For now, I leave you a list. At least, I have done all of the above.
So, hey, I managed to get this one in even though this Monday is particularly busy. I included a button link like the one from yesterday, but you need to be logged into Dreame, I believe, to get to it.
Today is packed with teacher and parent duties. In the morning, after I was done with a couple of articles (a new one and a revision of another), I attended a meeting where our principal updated us as to what The Ministry of Education plans for this school year. My co-second-grade teacher and I had to put together a new timetable that takes in consideration both synchronous and asynchronous classes.
Later on today, I have to attend a Zoom meeting for secondary school parents. There will be a discussion on Pfizer vaccination for students ages 12 to 17. I am looking forward to this, as my son has asthma. I have been waiting for a chance to get him vaccinated. He will have his own Zoom meeting – a karate session with his dojo since their instructor and fellow dojo members would not be allowed to meet face-to-face. Teacher and parent duties have to adjust to new setups that arose due to COVID-19.
I said I was not going to write a second book until I am done with the first. lol! But I still kept on writing. I liked my first book better so far, but this one is also starting to crowd my thoughts.
I might not update this one daily if I want to have a life beyond my teaching job, freelance work, and creative writing projects. Ugh.
I had been reading a lot of horror lately, but somehow I found my way back to Young Adult books. Shelby Mahurin’s Serpent & Dove series was the first series I got caught into after completing Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy a few months back. Mahurin’s series read a little more mature although it is marked as a Harper Teen book. I started writing my fantasy romance web novel on a witch and a warlock before I realized that I have been neglecting a book I own, which has a witch and a witch hunter as the romantic leads.
What started as a means to get a feel for the teenage fantasy romance genre, I started racing through Mahurin’s series. Despite all my workload, I found myself getting caught up in not only the romance but also the plot of the popular book series. It was certainly a lot steamier than most YA books, so be warned if you are planning to buy it for a precocious tween or a younger teen. While there is only one explicit scene in this thick book (around 500+ pages), the sexual tension was palpable long before that. The enemies to lovers trope certainly set an interesting friction that created a complication that made the ending so much sweeter. I am supposedly not a romance fan but my last few reads had been veering towards the direction. Even my TV series (e.g. Poldark) has some romance with the horror lately, but I had to pause on too much drama. There is so much going on in this world that already warrants tears and despair that it was great to escape into something hopeful, youthful, and romantic.
I am not done with the trilogy, but I am certainly onboard. I have the first two books in paperback format and I have the sample of the last book, Gods and Monsters, in my Kindle. Mahurin made sure Lou and Reid are supported with other characters you can cheer for (e.g. Coco, Ansel, and Beau).
Book Author, Content Writer, English-Filipino Translator, Editor and Proofreader
thoughts of a chronic disease non-victim/mom/teacher/graduate student/artist
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