Four Hundred Days Til Re-entry

This is an almost verbatim rendition of the introduction to my training presentation on theme and task based learning:

"Good morning everyone. I am glad to see you all here today. I hadn't expected to see so many here. Most gratifying.

Before I move onto the main part of my presentation, I would like ot take a couple of minutes to tell you what I think makes a good teacher. The first fifty percent is in the preparation. If you are not ready then your lesson is in the hands of the gods. As such I spent almost four hours on my handout, a further three on my speech and powerpoint presentation. The planning was almost perfect.

The second half of a good teacher is in working in the moment. On those days when things are not going your way, can you carry the lesson, the day or even the week by thinking on your feet? As I say, tmy planning was almost perfect, up to the point where I left the office without my memory stick."

So there I was, without my powerpoint presentation. To be fair I didn't absolutely need it. I luckily had most of the data on my laptop. That icy-cold bucket of terror that thoroughly drenched my body as I was setting-up the projector drained-off and a bit of quick thinking saved the day.

The guy that had been running the seminar had said we might be able "to give you something for doing it" beforehand. I thought that this sounded a little along the lines of a book-token or a warm handshake. Personally, I had been thinking that the experience was more valuable than anything because I want ot get into University next year and anything that makes me look beter is most welcome. I had thought that 5,000 - 10,000 yen was about all I could expect.

At the end, I got the warm handshake and was given an envelope. The guy said, "here is a token, no two tokens, of our appreciation." I was thinking to my self, "They have never decided to give me 2,000 yen for it?" In the end I just threw it in my bag and forgot about it til this morning. 20,000 yen! It could not have come at a better time.

The upshot: I am feeling benevolent today.

posted by Between daisies @ 08:59