Justin Pyfrom's Blog, page 10

May’s Book for 2022 Reading Challenge

For the month of May, I have read 18 books. These are the books I loved during the month of April.

   

These are the books I really liked during the month of May.

These are the books I liked during the month of May.

This is Me Being Reasonable…

There is something about letting a student know that what are doing is out of kindness and love without using words.  To show them that you care about them even to only get involved when it’s for their safety is something. But, sometimes, you have to use their words and, though it’s pretty rare for me, go into a monologue of suppressed anger and annoyance.

Let me explain…

Now, I don’t teach Grade 10, but I do get myself involved when I have to.  This past week, my colleagues and I had to deal with a student who decided to tell on us because we stopped him from getting his way. Now, personally, I don’t know what happened and the information was only relayed to me. But I learned enough to give the student a little talking to. He tried to justify his actions by saying “They wouldn’t leave me alone”, but I was beyond done with his entitlement.

So what did I say?

Well, would you believe me if I told you that I recited Wanda Maximoff’s monologue from Doctor Strange into the Multiverse of Madness?

You have no idea just how reasonable we’ve been. You don’t see that we do this because we care about you. And in spite of your entitlement and arrogance, I have begged you to show us the same respect we show you. You have exhausted my patience. So, I do hope you understand. That even now. What’s about to happen. This is me, being reasonable.

He thought it was funny, but he wasn’t laughing by the week’s end. You see, the teachers and I had a plan to show me that his entitlement has consequences. We just ignored him outside of the classroom. We would talk to his friend, but not to him. They would grade his paper, but not explain anything to him. I would joke and play with the students, but I wouldn’t engage with him.

Eventually, he caved and told on us, but the principals were made aware of it. Moreover, they were even in on it, including his mother. In the end, he asked to talk to me and begged me to talk to him so I did. I explained that we only gave him what he wanted: To be left alone. We talked about that and I ended with a quote from another movie: “We talk and yell because we care. You should be more concerned when we stop talking to you.” Let’s hope that my words sink in.

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 113. Seriously, I wonder how many books I’m going to have read by the end of the year.

With Friends Like These…

China is a country that can be welcoming one minute and elitist the next. I had to deal with people trying to parent me only to try to befriend me when I prove that I won’t be bullied. It’s been an ongoing cycle for a good while now, but I’m not here to talk about that today. But, right now, I want to talk about something that made me smile today.

So, what was it?

Well, I had a wonderful surprise presented to me today. I got to talk to my best friends while university. They messaged me through Discord and we ended up talking about life and plans for a partnership. To put it simply, I was invited to be on the podcast that they have been running for a while now and this wasn’t the first time they asked me. Unfortunately, I had to decline their offer again and the time difference between us would make it almost impossible to join. But that’s not to say that I didn’t have other ideas.

I’m actually still going to be a part of the podcast, but behind-the-scenes. For example,  I’m creating topics for each show and a writing project that will feature all of us. Right now, I’m worldbuilding for it and everybody is very excited. I’m using a book called The Worldbuilder’s Journal of Legendary Adventures: Create Mythical Characters, Storied Worlds, and Unique Campaigns to help me create the world. I think everything will be done – worldbuilding-wise – by the end of the year…I hope.

Buy it on Amazon

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 112. Seriously, I wonder how many books I’m going to have read by the end of the year.

The Additional Duties of a Teacher

“I teach students, not subjects.”

-Unknown

I’ve been an educator for, at least, three years, now. Moreover, I’m closing in on my first year as a big boy teacher and I’m beyond proud of myself.  I have seen and endured a lot and I still got one more month before the 2021-2022 school year closes out.  But, what got me the most is the additional responsibilities of a teacher; it was a welcoming surprise.

Over time, I have been like a part-time parent to a lot of students with it being a boarding school and all.  I may have been hired as an ELA teacher but I became so much more in much little time. For example, I ended up becoming a counselor to one student who was suffering from his parent’s divorce. His father is very thankful for that one since, according to him, I’m the first person he opened up to.  Additionally, I wasn’t the only one who accomplished this.

A lot of my foreign teachers were able to do that with their students and many of the Chinese teachers were pissed because of that. Seriously, they were beyond annoyed that the students were willing to talk to us more than them. My twelfth graders are the best example.  On one occasion, they were asked to clean their room (a common weekly task) and didn’t want to. They told one of the teachers “No. Shut up. Leave me alone.” Melody, their homeroom teacher, came to me and asked me to talk to them. Five minutes later, they were up and cleaning, and, though Melody was happy, the other Chinese teachers weren’t.

One of the students remains in contact with me after leaving for America. Just like in China, he’s still asking me ever about American culture and customs. He even continues asking me to help further his English so he can fit in better. So, even still, I’m an educator from across the ocean. It’s a nice feeling, you know? To know that I can to have a good impact of my students even after they leave the school.

This is why I became a teacher…

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 93. Holy crap! I’m already past the halfway point and I’m only on the fifth month.

April’s Book for 2022 Reading Challenge

For the month of April, I have read 35 books. These are the books I loved during the month of April.

These are the books I really liked during the month of April.

These are the books I liked during the month of April.

 

These are the books I somewhat liked during the month of April. There are the books I didn’t like during the month of April.

It Won’t Be Long Now…

I don’t have anything to talk about in regard to my life. However, I do have a good amount to say about what I’m planning to do with myself for the rest of this year.  I’m pretty excited about it all.

First and foremost, I’m going back to school. I’ll be going for my Master’s. There are two choices for a Master’s program: MFA or Master’s in Creative Writing. The MFA is the most vigorous out of the two, but it’s the one I want for many reasons. One of them is the course selections as they have some of the most interesting variety. Another reason is because of what is added to that degree. I will get a certification in addition to my Master’s; I will be able to strictly teach Creative Writing to students. It would be another step forward in my career path.

Secondly, I’m finally going to be able to re-release my debut novel, Dimensions Vol. 1. I’m aiming for a Fall Release during the beginning section of my Master’s journey. It will be a new start for my sci-fi series and I’m so excited about that. I’ve even finished the short story for about three more volumes.

Finally, I’m hoping that I can finish this new novella that I’ve been working on for a better part of three months. I don’t want to give anything away. Just know that it was inspired by a famous fictional character from the 1800s and quite possibly literature’s first narcissist. I’m even working with various models and photographers as this is going to be my first multilingual literary project for me.

I’m excited for the next seven months of 2022. It’s like that beautiful song from In The Heights: It won’t be long now…any day…

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 93. Holy crap! I’m already past the halfway point and I’m only on the fifth month.

The Nerve of Some People…

Well, I’m back at school. Actually, I was back at school for a moment, then we were forced to go into lockdown, again, and, finally, able to leave my community…again. However, China’s Labour Day holiday is coming up so you can imagine my reservation about things getting back to normal. Nevertheless, I do have something to share…

During my time in isolation, I had an encounter with an entitled Chinese man who thought he could police foriegners. It was the damnest thing because he wasn’t law enforcement – nor a health inspector. He was trying to make sure that foriegners followed the rules and did it in a very aggressive and intrusive way. He was being dismissed and berated but he continued to try and, apparently, he thought he could do the same thing to me.

For the record, when I’m walking about in public, I wear a mask by only under my chin. When I’m in enclosed spaces or buildings, I put the mask up per the law.  However, that didn’t sit well with this entitled self-appointed Chinese policeman.

He tried to make me put my mask up while I was going for a walk. When I told him to leave me as he wasn’t law enforcement, he tried to physically force me to put it by touching my face. Yeah…that wasn’t happening. So, I gripped his finger and twisting it making him fall to his knees in pain. He tried to call for help but no one took his side. In fact, everybody amonished him for trying to “bully foriegners. He screamed for me to let go, but I didn’t.

Instead, I maneuver his fingers so he would stand upright; I do love being a martial artist. I had someone translate for me and told him that he wasn’t law enforcement or a health inspector so he is to leave me alone. He promised to never touch me again and he ended up walking away with his head down. I got a couple thumbs up and smiles (Chinese thing) and we all went on our merry way. Never saw the guy again.

I did feel bad about embarrassing him in front of a crowd since Chinese people really care about saving face. However, I felt like that, if I didn’t stop him, he was going to continue to be mean and antagonistic towards foriegners. At least now, he knows that there are some foriengers who wouldn’t tolerate his tomfoolery and shenanigans. Silver lining, you know?

Anyway, that’s my big story during lockdown. Everything else the same. You know, teaching online classes, writing stories, and playing video games. I have been reading a lot more of WebToons, though.

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 57. I think this month is going to be about The Great Course audiobooks since I need to get through all of them before the end of the month.

Through The Calming Water

It is interesting to see how my life has leveled out after two weeks of lockdown. It’s also a blessing and a half to see how quickly I was able to bounce back into the land of vivid living. I mean…it is a task to keep busy when you were forced to be confined to an enclosed space. Anyway, everything is slowly coming back to normal and my students are slowly coming back to school. Speaking of which…

I have to say that this week was one of my easier weeks. I was off on Monday and Tuesday because of the Tomb Sweeping Festival. I was, again, forced to say inside my community and I had to deal with an old person who wouldn’t leave me alone about not wearing a mask when he wasn’t even wearing one. Luckily, I learned from my last encounter with someone like him and ignored him. Eventually, he was shamed into leaving me alone; Chinese people really do care about “face”.

Anyway, I spend time working on my next short story project (I’ll talk about that later) and, as of now, I only have two more stories left to write. It’s also a project that I’m all too excited about because of my personal attachment to my source of inspiration. But, again, I’ll talk more about it when I’m done with it.

But, going back to what I’m saying, I only had two days of teaching as Friday grants a non-work workday. Although, I use Friday for creating lesson plans and such. So…oddly, my week has been going very smoothly. Nothing eventful and…I’m okay with that. Bet you that’s not going to be the case for next week. Ha! Ha!

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 57. I think this month is going to be about The Great Course audiobooks since I need to get through all of them before the end of the month.

God, I Really Hate The Internet Sometimes

This week and last week have been a trial of patience, devocation, and dedication for everybody at Limai. Teaching online with students who either have the attention span of a hummingbird or who just don’t like the idea of an online class.  I mean…I didn’t like the idea of online classes when I was at university so how the hell was I going to convey the importance of it to my students. But I did my best…

Last week, I was forced to stay home and had to go through numerous tests before even being allowed back to my school. Then, when I got to the school, I had to do a few more tests and our students were still not allowed to come back on campus. Worse yet, the students that were here were advised to stay on campus. It was either that or their parents didn’t want to pick them up as it was for their protection. Whether their reasoning is legit is anyone’s guess.

Anyway, I’m just trying to keep myself busy because I don’t know what is worst: being at home or at school with no students. I will answer that for you; I miss my students. I miss the chatter and laughter from my students. Don’t really miss the yelling…well…kinda because, at least, they’re here.

Hopefully, they will be allowed to return after their Tomb Sweeping Festival. God, I hope they are because I don’t if I can handle another online class with my students. As I said, they don’t have the appropriate attention span.  But, priorities, right? As long as they are safe, I’m happy. In the meantime, I have some stories to read and write.

Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 46. I think I have a better idea of how I’m going to go about reviewing all these books.

March’s Book for 2022 Reading Challenge

For the month of March, I have read 21 books. These are the books I loved during the month of March.

 

These are the books I really liked during the month of March.

These are the books I liked during the month of January.

These are the books I sort of liked during the month of January.