A marvelous website--My Hero

Here is a marvelous website: My Hero, which was set up by "The MY HERO Project," a non-profit organization, to "celebrate the best of humanity," as is its statement.

http://www.myhero.com/myhero/

I came across this website when I was searching for more information about Dr. Ben Carson and his books. Just click on "Stories," which is on the top menu bar, and you can go to "Directory of Heroes." There you will be amazed at the different categories of heroes. Even animals are counted in. It's interesting to think of a name of your hero and try to guess which category he/she falls into. It could be more interesting if you try to put yourself into a category. You can also be a hero in someone's mind! Well, you can contribute a hero story to the project.

Can SAT takers wear a mask if sick?

The answer is Yes, but they have to let the proctors know in advance. More to read, though I know it's a little bit late, and maybe many students have gone to bed by now.

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/080131/2/styw.html

What to do the day before the SAT

Here are my suggestions about what to do the day before the SAT:

1. Focus on what you already learned, not what's new to you.

2. If you are nervous, tell yourself that it's great that the SAT finally comes because after that you can do what you like to do for at least a week. Feeling great helps relieve the stress and thus ensures a better performance on the test.

Some information about the SAT

You can visit this website to get some information about the SAT.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/main_page.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12

Feedback to Ben's composition--96 SAT

Please read the feedback. Click SAT 96-Ben-feedback.doc if you want a cleared version to print out.

學測應試 國文科

考試時千萬要看清楚題目......還有呢？請見

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12&f_SUB_ID=611&f_ART_ID=108086

學測應試 英文科

先寫測驗題再寫作文......更多應試要點，請見

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=108231

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=108232

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12&f_SUB_ID=611&f_ART_ID=108230

Feedback to Ben's composition (95SAT)

Dear Ben,

Here is my feedback to your composition on 95SAT:

Please click Ben composition 95 SAT-feedback.doc for a clearer version to print out.

七忌六宜 國文作文必勝

Here is an article in today's United Daily News about the Do's and Don'ts on Chinese writing on the SAT. Please click Dos and Donts on Chinese compositions SAT.doc

考前一週做什麼？

The following is advice for what to do during the week before the SAT:

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=107941

Source: the United Daily

Ben's composition

Ben,

Here's my feedback to your composition.

Never will I forget the trip I went to
New York. Last month, I went abroad due to my on business. On the air planeairplane, the flight attendant served me so well that I can't help enjoying the atmosphere totally relaxed. Gradually, I fell asleep. However, something went wrong all of a sudden. The airplane exploded and fell/plummeted above to the sea. Lucky as I was Luckily/Fortunately, I didn't get hurt, but I could not go anywhere except stay on an a small island.

學測與指考英文評分樣例

If you are curious about what kind of composition can be graded highly and what is considered poorly written, you can visit the following website, on which you'll see 2004 SAT English compositions graded 19, 17, 16, 14, 11, 6, 3, and 2. Besides, there are also 2004 UEE English compositions.

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/CeecMag/articles/142-2.htm

How to reduce anxiety while preparing for the exam

"To reduce anxiety associated with the time following a study session, you might take a physical break to help you reduce the symptoms of stress and to peak your alertness and energy. You might also want to end each study session with an overview of a section to boost your sense of completion and confidence."

http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/eponline/exam6.htm

If you want to know more about "reducing exam anxiety and improving concentration," please visit the above website.

 

Take action!

The following is a passage from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living your Dreams:

"The thing that most separates winners from losers in life is that winners take action. If you want to live your dreams, not only must you decide what you want, turn your dream into measurable goals, break those goals down into specific action steps, and visualize and affirm your desired outcomes--you must start taking action."

 

For those who really want to go to your dream university, study as hard as you can. However, what's more important is that you have to enjoy what you are doing, with the thought that you are growing more knowledgeable and wiser every day.

Before the exam, do your best; after the exam, leave everything to God.

吳正東校長談「講述式教學法」及「如何引起學生的學習動機」 我的筆記

吳校長總會在開會的時候發表一些對教育的看法，今天的期末校務會議自不例外。我很喜歡聽他講話，總會得到一些啟發。現在有blog供我記載，真好。一方面可以分享，一方面我以後可以拿出來溫習。今天他講到教學法中常用的講述法，要點如下：

一、講述法的優點：

1. 有系統 。

2. 提供學生扼要概念。

二、講述法注意事項：

1. 扼要、流暢、音調要有高低、抑揚頓挫。

2. 配合教具（teaching aids)，如圖表、甚至表演，效果更佳。

3. 多發一些補充資料如講義習作等，辜學生課後複習。

4. 注意時間上的掌控：

(1) 上課前段20分鐘（上升階段）：告訴學生本節課的重點單元目標等。

(2) 上課中段20分鐘（衰退期）：做學習單、問答、或操作。

(3) 上課後段10分鐘（精神振奮期）：可做重點複習。

三、可與下列教學法交錯運用：

1. 討論教學法：先設計好題目，邊講邊問。

2. 詰問教學法：適合年紀大一點、有思想力的學生。

3. 分組教學法。

此外吳校長更談到如何引起學生學習動機，首先，他認為影響學生學習動機的因素有三：

1. 科目 2. 學生本身程度 3. 老師

其次他談到為了引起學生學習動機，老師可以試試下列三點：

1. 瞭解孩子的位置。吳校長以自己為例，談到以前當導師時，第一週一定先跟每個學生做半小時以上的個別談話；非導師時，除了從筆試評量，另以一對一對談方式瞭解學生。

2. 分數不要給得太苛。這不意味分數給得很鬆，而是不要斤斤計較一兩分；在平常分數上可以多給予鼓勵。

3. 善用「胡蘿蔔和棍子」原則。平常表現不好的學生，忽然考好，就好好給予獎勵。吳校長說到他以前有時甚至跑到Costco買個雞肉捲，給學生做為鼓勵。（哇!這倒是蠻吸引人的鼓勵。）

最後，吳校長說其實所有的師裡，當老師最好，因為你面對的是一群青春洋溢的學生。想想還真對呢!

P. S. It's very tiring to blog in Chinese. For each character, I have to hit at three keys on the computer. What's worse, there is no Chinese punctuation mark on the keyboard; I've got to find on the screen the mark on a small pad provided by the Chinese input system I use. However, in order to share the information with more people, I'm more than willing to do it.

王文華介紹蔡明介

早上邊打成績邊聽收音機，剛好聽到98.1王文華的不敗地球人。今天他談論到的人物是聯發科的創辦人蔡明介。他是台大化工系轉電機系。其之所以成功有五大因素：

1. 他喜歡讀書。即使在去美國的飛機上，也會帶好幾本平常沒時間看的書閱讀。

2. 擁有成功的人才庫，這些人才年輕時就開始被培養。

3. 無為而治。相信人性本善，給予員工相當大的自由。例如：員工只要申請加班費便照給。

4. 不做 Me, too。

5. 形式低調，不喜歡太過曝光，不常演講。

The final exam

The English final exam is quite easy. Yu-chi (王郁琦) in 314 even got a 100. However, there are still students who got below 50. A mid-term or a final exam is an achievement test. As long as the students are familiar with the material the test covers, they should get quite good grades. It's unlike a proficiency test, such as TOEFL and TOEIC, which is intended to test students' real ability in English.

A beautiful sentence from a student

When I was reading students' compositions, I came across a beautiful sentence. The topic of the composition is "What Makes a Good Friend?" And here is a sentence appearing at the end of the composition by Tsai-hsiuen (沈采萱): If we can find true friends during our life, then we already see the most beautiful scene in our life.
I changed its last part into: then we already see one of the most beautiful scenes in our life. I know for teenagers friends are everything; however, to me, the love among family members, the affection between teachers and students, the compassion for people in need, a random act of kindness, these are all the most beautiful scenes in our life. In fact, I can list more.

學測應考檢查表

請同學們利用大考中心公佈的檢查表及考前叮嚀

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/

進入大考中心網站後點選96.12.28公布的

97學科能力測驗考生應考注意事項

A model composition for 96 SAT

Mr. Chen kindly emailed me the PowerPoint he used for the speech on "How to prepare for SAT English." Here I'd like to share part of it--a model composition written by him for 96 SAT English.

You can have a look at the pictures and tell your own story before you read the model.

1.



2.



3.



4.



Source: 96 SAT English (CEEC)

 

Mr. Chen's speech--Photos

Here are some photos taken during and after Mr. Chen's speech:

學測英文應考須知--陳坤田老師的演講 我的筆記

時間：今天上午10:00～12:00

地點：內湖高中活動中心

題目：學測英文應考須知

內容：

陳老師首先用蘇格拉底 (Socrates)和一位年輕人的故事點出了 I want English badly是學好英文的必備心態。接下來便開始今天演講的主題。以下提綱挈領的記下一些要點：

A student's writing--No Cross, No Crown

A student in Class 316 wrote her afterthought after reading General MacArthur's Prayer for His Son. To have a better idea of what she wrote, you'd better read the prayer first:

http://www.scborromeo.org/prayers/father.htm

Reading aloud

Class 316 asked me to let them read aloud Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" in class. I was surprised. Whether it was because they just wanted to have a review before the test or because they really loved the speech, I was happy that they made the request. During the break, Yi-ching (林怡青) told me last night when she was studying this lesson, she read aloud the speech, thinking about Dr. King giving the speech. This is great! The speech has touched her heart.

A blog for computer lovers

Eric's response made it very easy to find his blog. For those who are interested in computers, his blog is a place to go:

http://blog.leezhenyu.com/

如何準備學測及指考英文科 Suggestions from Spencer on how to prepare for the English test on the SAT and UEE

Given that Spencer took the SAT or UEE last year, in the email I sent him today, I posed the question Ben asked yesterday: How should the students prepare for English on the SAT. He got 15 on the scale for SAT English and 84.xx for UEE English.

I got a prompt reply. The following are Spencer's suggestions: