7 Odd Things About Me

Yes, yes, tag I'm it. I finally got to it.

1. When bored I often imagine sound effects to people’s words or that the people around me break into elaborate dance sequences and /or musical numbers. My mind is very amusing.

2. When I was a first year teacher at a conference, I found out that my ability to learn by hearing is incredibly low and learning by doing and seeing are incredibly high. Learning by hearing is so low that the teacher facilitating the session was surprised I got good grades in school. People learn less by hearing than by seeing or doing but I learn way less than normal.

It really made sense to me. People have accused me of being hard of hearing and I usually retort that I am hard of listening. I can’t really spell something by sounding it out but rather remember what it looks like. Sometimes I even forget what word sounds match with what letters. Telling me a phone number or how to spell a word? You have to slowly say one letter/ number at a time. If I’m occupied with something else and someone starts talking to me, they will be half way through what they are saying even before my brain has processed that someone is trying to talk to me. I have a hard time watching TV if people are talking. This is why I often sit in the basement by myself to watch TV.

3. I was one of the shortest girls in my class up until grade 8. In two months I grew about 4 inches and became the second tallest girl in my school.

4. I hated apple juice even from the time I was a baby until I started getting allergy shots. I loved orange juice but it started making me very sick. I can only drink in it if it mixed with other juices or if I only have half a glass occasionally.

5. I can’t seem to eat crusts on bread. They are all scratchy on the roof of my mouth. If I’m eating a sandwich I’ll eat the crusts of the first half but not of the other. I used to dip my crusts in orange juice but now cannot (see above).

6. English was always my best subject in high school. I was always good at math but I was passionate about literature (still am). I didn’t get passionate about math until my second year as a teacher.

7. I can rewind and fast forward songs in my head. This may sound contrary to #2 but it actually isn’t. People’s ability to remember music is different than regular listening skills.