Today is the last day of this semester. As usual, we teachers have a meeting. At the meeting, we got a box of cake from Losan (羅珊), a colleague and friend, and a book from our principal Mr. Wu (吳正東校長).
2008年6月30日 星期一
2008年6月29日 星期日
Food for thought
This evening, while I was cleaning my study, I came across a note on my desk. I forgot when I jotted down the words; however, they can still serve as a guide to teaching:
不要盡想填滿學生的胃口,
而 要設法刺激他們的食慾。
Do not always want to fill the students' stomach.
Instead, try to stimulate their appetite.
2008年6月28日 星期六
I'm patiently waiting
I'm patiently waiting for my old blog to return to normal. The service system has been down for 2 days.
It's true that the computer has brought us human beings to a new era and made our lives so convenient, but when it "goes strike," most of us can't do anything about it. It just won't communicate with us. Is it possible that one day an unsolvable computer problem arises, which even the best of the best computer experts can't fix?
2008年6月27日 星期五
Things That Adults Can Learn from Children--a composition by a student
The following is a composition by my student in Class 306:
"Ten Letters to College Graduates"--Letters 3 & 4
Here are two more letters. You can either click http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=133156
2008年6月26日 星期四
"Ten Letters to New College Graduates"
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=87&f_SUB_ID=37&f_ART_ID=132822
Scroll that page down, and you can find more.
I copied and pasted the first two letters here in case some day they might be removed from the website.
2008年6月25日 星期三
Sample compositions on "Travel Is The Best Teacher" provided by CEEC
http://www.ceec.edu.tw/CeecMag/articles/142-2.htm
Just scroll down until you see
指考英文作文評分樣例
2008年6月24日 星期二
Read instructions carefully and follow them exactly
After reading so many compositions, I found the most important thing in writing a composition on the exam is read the instructions carefully and follow them exactly. So circling the key words in the instructions is a must. If not, it's easy to forget what we are asked to do.
Take the 2004 UEE for example. The writing task is:
請以“Travel Is The Best Teacher”為主題,寫一篇至少120個字的英文作文。第一段針對文章主題,說明旅行的優點,並在第二段舉自己在國內或國外的旅行經驗,以印證第一段的說明。
2008年6月23日 星期一
Two places at the same time
On second thought, I decided to maintain two blogs, with almost the same contents. I say "almost," because if one of them crashes, the other will have one more entry.
Migration
Migration
With the help of Etta, I started my blog migration last night. Here is my migrated and new blog URL.
I moved, not because I don't like LifeType, but because I need a steadier place to put my blog. In fact, I like LifeType very much. Thanks to it, I have a record of the life since Dec. 3, 2008.
So far, I've moved the first 10 articles in Chicken Soup and My Dearest Students to Wordpress.
2008年6月22日 星期日
It's natural to feel nervous
For three days in a row, students in Class 316 called me at night. I know they are nervous now, with the UEE around the corner. I told them it's natrual to feel nervous. But understanding the reality might relieve them of some stress. The reality is that our life is not just determined by the four years of college. Life is long. Graduating from a prestigious university doesn't guarantee that one will succeed in life. What's important is the will to reach our dream.
2008年6月21日 星期六
Running a restaurant is not easy
This evening, I took my parents to my cousin and cousin-in-law's restaurant I Swear for dinner. It's a cozy place, making you feel at home, and the food is delicious! Listening to my cousin-in-law, I understood how tough it was to run a restaurant. You've got to take care of every detail. In fact, everything is like this. If we want to reach and maintain a certain standard, we've got to put great efforts into what we're doing. Then, whether we love it or not comes into play here.
2008年6月20日 星期五
Alzheimer's disease
2008年6月19日 星期四
Stay young
A short article in the June issue of Reader's Digest mentions that according to a study in Britain, generally speaking, people who are physically active may not only feel younger than those with sedentary lifestyles, but actually be younger.
So exercise regularly.
2008年6月18日 星期三
Do Cram Schools Help? --two compositions written by students
Do Cram Schools Help?
1.
In my opinion, going to cram school after class is useless. To a student who is very hard-working, it is unnecessary for him or her to go to a cram school, because he or she has already learned very well in class. On the other hand, if a student is absent-minded and never pays much attention to what the teachers say in class, then it will be useless for him or her to go to a cram school.
I did not go to a cram school in senior high school, but when I graduated from elementary school, I spent the summer vacation learning English phonetic symbols. The experience was not very good because there were too many students in a single class and the teacher could not listen carefully to the questions students asked. From this bad experience, I learned that cram schools did not help. (146 words)
Count your blessings
2008年6月17日 星期二
A hero: Rick Rescorla
2008年6月16日 星期一
Caged Bird--a poem
"A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky."
Study tips for geography and history
This article offers study tips on geography for the UEE. If you scroll downward, you can find another article on how to prepare for the history test.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=131169
2008年6月15日 星期日
Is this true?
I came across this statment in the June issue of Reader's Digest:
"A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory."
--Steven Wright
I don't quite agree with this statment. Since Wright is a comedian, he might just have been kidding when he said this. This proves something: Anything out of context is questionable.
2008年6月14日 星期六
Reading for reading purpose
1. Let junior students choose one article they like to read every week and they write their afterthought/reflection in Chinese.
2. Give students the same article to read. The next day they have to take a 5-minute open-book quiz. The quiz contains some reading comprehension questions and vocabulary items.
3. Students get the same article. They are divided into several groups. Each group has to translate a part of the article into Chinese. Then the translations will be put up on the bulletin board. Finally the students take a quiz on the article.
Though these activities are used to ensure most students will read, I still have a dream that one day all students read for pleasure, out of their own will, but not for the test.
Tips on how to prepare for the math test on the UEE
At this webpage, you can find suggestions from a senior high school teacher on how to prepare for the math test on the UEE.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12&f_SUB_ID=31&f_ART_ID=131059
2008年6月13日 星期五
To Etta and Chia-ling
Dear Etta and Chia-ling,
What a small world! It's even smaller than before blog appeared.
Tips on how to prepare for the UEE
Here at the United Daily News website, you can find some tips on preparing for the UEE, including some for the English test on the UEE.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12&f_SUB_ID=29&f_ART_ID=130839
To Chia-ling
Dear Chia-ling
Can you believe it? You are the first one who flashed into my mind when I saw the message. I recalled your face, but forgot your complete name at that moment, just remembering the word "靈" in your name.
How have you been since you graduated from junior high? If you don't want to have your story discussed in public, you might like to send me a mail.
My E-mail address: june0626@gmail.com
2008年6月12日 星期四
An article on learning English
http://www.youthwant.com.tw/column/index.php?d=0306231
2008年6月11日 星期三
To Tracy
Thank you for your feedback. In fact, I believe you will be a very conscientious teacher because of your concern about what is really good for your students. You care.
To 20年前的因緣
Dear 20年前的因緣:
Of course you can write to me in any language you feel comfortable with. What counts is what you say, not how you say it.
However, I still don't know who you are. I visited your blog and still couldn't get any clue. Would you please let me know your real name?
"Right Here Waiting" is a beautiful song. I still teach my senior high school students this song and they love it, both the lyrics and the melody.
Thank you for leaving me the message.
2008年6月10日 星期二
Reading, or vocabulary and grammar?
2008年6月9日 星期一
Food for thought
"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
--Tom Wilson
2008年6月8日 星期日
To Etta
Dear Etta,
I had my hair cut about 10 cm long around 1 month ago. If I had watched the hair donation program, I would have kept and donated the cut hair. Watching TV seems not that bad.
What is education?
Here's another quote by Albert Einstein, which might evoke some thought about education.
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."
Imagination
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."
This is a quote I came across while I was searching for an article by Albert Einstein. I can't agree more. It was imagination that brought us cellphones, iPods, arts, etc. As an English teacher, how can I cultivate students' imagination?
2008年6月6日 星期五
To take it or not to take it?
This morning, the dean of academic affairs asked me if I could teach the third-year students again next semester. I told him that I had to think it over for a few days. Hmm, I'd like to help, but I've promised a practice- teacher-to-be to be her supervisor. Besides, I've planned to take a trip this summer vacation. Here is a dilemma.
The dean told me if I agreed, he would arrange for another teacher to supervise the practice teacher. So this seems easy to solve. But the summer class...
2008年6月4日 星期三
Yesterday's entry about the graduation ceremony
This is where I kept yesterday's entry blog:
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!Bg7HgvOYBRkzGeSay8m92M.mshBOd7IWAF4-
2008年6月1日 星期日
Teach with' your heart
I'm reading the book Teach with Your Heart. It's the Chinese version because I haven't bought the original. It's about how a practice teacher led a group of "impossible" students to love learning. I just started and reached the part in which the teacher guided the students to read great literary works, such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (梅岡城故事) and Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye (麥田捕手). She made it! They listened and were willing to say something about the story.