My Big Fat Portuguese Life Category
Things I’ve Done Lately That Aren’t Quite Blogging
Posted on September 10, 2019 Leave a Comment
Instead of bringing you some fresh Original Content, here’s a look at some of the not quite blogging stuff I’ve worked on lately.
Dia de Portugal 2019: My Portuguese Heritage and My (Future) Children’s Portuguese Inheritance
Posted on June 10, 2019 Leave a Comment
It’s not just Dia de Portugal today; it’s also Portuguese National Heritage Month here in California. While I’ve written about Dia de Portugal and about being Portuguese in general, this year, I want to switch things up.
2017 Year in Review: Career
Posted on January 23, 2018 Leave a Comment
I put off this edition of my Year in Review for last because it’s the hardest one to write. It means admitting failure, something I hate doing. That hardly makes me special; nobody likes feeling like they’ve fallen short. And yet, here I am. I have a pile of W2s waiting for me to do my taxes. Let’s find […]
How Professora Nearly Ruined Christmas
Posted on December 14, 2017 Leave a Comment
This year’s Portuguese class skews relatively young. Last year, my class ranged from 3rd graders to 6th graders. This year, it’s more like 1st through 5th grade. That wider gap in age and cognitive ability, combined with the fact that half of my class is new while the other half is in their second year […]
Professora Elizabeth, Year 3
Posted on September 22, 2017 1 Comment
You’d think that starting my third year would mean that I’d have this teaching down, right? Pfffft, only if teaching isn’t your day job. While every year brings new challenges, I have only response to that:
Poetry with Professora Elizabeth: Mar Português
Posted on June 13, 2017 1 Comment
While the kids in the preschool class are singing songs for the end of year presentation we’re putting on to show the parents that their children really did learn something this year, I decided to give my students something I didn’t get much of in Portuguese school: poetry.
And since this is me we’re talking about, this week we did Fernando Pessoa’s Mar Portugues. I wrote about why this poem has had such an impact on my life, so go check that out if you haven’t already because I’m diving right in.
Dia de Portugal 2017
Posted on June 12, 2017 Leave a Comment
For a crash course on what Dia de Portugal is, check out my post from last year. This year, I decided to let my camera do the talking.
Poetry with Professora Elizabeth: A Cozinha da Avo
Posted on June 7, 2017 3 Comments
I haven’t come back to this poem for almost twenty years. Since then, I’ve racked up a couple degrees in words, English and otherwise. It took teaching this poem for me to discover it’s deeper meaning
Professora Elizabeth and the Carnation Revolution
Posted on April 26, 2017 1 Comment
Most days, I’m happy if my Portuguese students retain enough from the one night a week I have with them to be able to speak to their grandparents. I hope that they remember how conjugation works for when they take other foreign languages. And maybe, if I’m lucky, I have a few that fall in […]
The Darkest Timeline: Day 7
Posted on November 16, 2016 Leave a Comment
At this time a week ago, I still thought Hillary Clinton was going to be president. I told my students as much, because while everyone else was watching the trainwreck was last week’s election results, I was trying to teach my students Portuguese adjectives have to be pluralized alongside their verb. I say trying, because this is […]
