Tuesday, November 18, 2008

To calm my nerves after the frustrating week I had, ie the substitute teaching application process and the digital camera fiasco, I sat down and finished reading the mystery novel, Entombed, by Linda Fairstein. "It was a crime scene Edgar Allan Poe himself could have conjured, only it was all too real: workers demolishing a nineteenth-century Greenwich Village brownstone where Poe once lived unearthed the skeleton of a young woman -- buried standing upright behind a brick wall. Manhattan Assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper takes on the gruesome case while in pursuit of the Silk Stocking Rapist." This is the blurb I copied from the back cover (yeh, I'm feeling too lazy to be so thoughtful with my words this morning). It was a great read and the description of the burial scenes were so real it was as if I was watching TV. I actually skipped a line or two in fear of what may happen next. Fairstein is an excellent suspense writer. Today, I'm on to reading Moment of Truth, by Lisa Scottoline. "When attorney Jack Newlin discovers his wife dead in their home, he's convinced he knows who killed her—and is equally determined to hide the truth. He decides to frame himself for murder, and to seal his fate he hires the most inexperienced lawyer he can find: a reluctant rookie by the name of Mary DiNunzio from the hot Philadelphia firm of Rosato & Associates. But hiring Mary may turn out to be his biggest mistake." (I love cut and paste...makes my life easier). Well, I'm off to see my two only students today. I have been working with both for two years. One is an adult with low IQ who I am helping to get established as an independent person - which is a challenge because his father is in denial of his son's limitations and expects unrealistic results from this poor kid who is 38 years old. The other is a Japanese girl who lives in a bilingual household. Her parents are determined to give her the best of everything including stellar English skills in writing...and they actually believe I can do that for them! ((lol, lol)). Both students are a joy to be with. They are the extremes of each other: the man has low IQ and the girl is in the genius range with a high IQ. Enjoy your day...

3 comments:

Beth said...

Karen, I can't recall if I've read either of those two books, but I have read some by each author. I really like Fairstein. Glad you enjoyed it.

Your students sound great!

Hugs, Beth

Paula said...

That sounds like a great experience with two completely different type students.

Missie said...

I think being a substitute or full-time teacher must be a wonderful experience!