Tutoring Students

is a wonderful way to actually "see" our education system at work. Or not at work, as the case may be.
i tutor several subjects, but my favorite is English grammar. There is just something so tidy and organized and beautiful about the rules. And once a person has conquered these rules, he/she can feel perfectly comfortable about breaking them. Mistakes of "stupid" are a whole different thing from deliberate "rule-screwing". at least that's my theory.

So...........gerunds. Now, i personally adore gerunds. They're simple, useful and an easy thing to "put in a diagram", should you be so motivated. What i love the best about "teaching" them, though, is how much fun it is to fuck with the student's mind. I make test sheets for them to do....you know, like underlining the nouns once, verbs twice, gerunds three times, etc. Should be easy......after all, the first thing i explain is that a gerund always ends in "ing". So......i give a sentence like this......."I love to sing during the running of the bulls . " Or... "Bring me that thing that is shining on the swing." And then i just sit back and watch the frantic underlining, erasing, crossing out, and finally.......the look of complete helplessness. And thus......i then have this know-it-all teenager
in the right frame of mind to LEARN.
and that makes me happy.

Yesterday my most favorite person told me i am a "mean little woman!".......Best praise i've had in a while. Just because my physical self is waning doesn't mean i have to become kind, sweet and understanding. i shall remain myself and continue to annoy people as long as possible.