A Dream

Last night, I had a strange dream.  It was a long dream, but I only remember part of it. 

Ten Commandments for Bloggers

I was surprised to find "Ten Commandments for Bloggers" in the United Daily News today.   Then I found the English version on the Internet. 

http://coastalpastor.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/ten-commandments-for-bloggers/

Happy Teacher's Day

This is how Lungshan Junior High School celebrated Teacher's Day.  They took it seriously.  Quite touching.

http://blog.roodo.com/anniechan/archives/7247485.html

 

To College Freshmen--from the book Harvard Style

On page 86 of the book Harvard Style, there are a list of Dos and Don'ts for college freshmen:

1. Don't take part in too many extracurricular activities. (不要參加太多課外活動﹗）

Harvard Style 上哈佛真正學到的事

Today I came across a book in the bookstore, 上哈佛真正學到的事 (Harvard Style).  It was written by 姜仁仙 (Kang In-Sun), a Korean journalist and translated by 蕭素菁.  On the cover are the words as follows:

The toxic milk scandal

Recently, the public has been panicking over the Chinese toxic milk scandal.  I don't understand why there were people who would put money before others' life.  If they had felt empathy for those consumers, they wouldn't have produced the toxic milk.  They need empathy training.

Warm up for Unit 3 "What It Takes to Be a Good Leader"

The title of Unit 3 seems very serious.  So I had to try to arouse students' interest in discussing this topic.  The following is my lead-in activity:

To Etta

Dear Etta,

Then since you've taken the TOEFL, do you have any advice for both English learners and teachers?

 

Tests

A student walked up to me during the break this afternoon.   Appearing a little sad, she told me that she got only an 87 on this morning's review quiz.  Eighty-seven!  It was quite good for many students! 

Learning English is not a matter of months.

A former student who graduated from NHSH about 7 years ago called me last night and we chatted over the phone for about 40 minutes. 

He has been very good at math since I taught him English in his 2nd year of high school.  He was studying math textbooks in English then.  Later, he was admitted to National Chinghua University and then NTU graduate school.  Now he is planning to go abroad for his PhD degree. 

Secret to success on the UEE

To go to the university of your first choice is not that hard.   Determination, concentration, and health are the key. 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=149998

You don't need to go to cram school.  In fact, having too many cram school classes will deprive you of time to study and think on your own.

 

Use English in English Class

According to today's United Daily News, Taiwan, as a whole, is weak at English.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=149845

Prof. Lee suggested that listening, speaking, and writing should be covered in English tests.  Besides, he mentioned English teachers are a decisive factor too.  According to him, though students in Taiwan start to learn English in third grade, some are not taught by English teachers, but by teachers who can't really speak English. 

Personally, I believe only by using as much English as possible in class can we improve the English ability of learners in Taiwan.  Language is a habit.  To form a habit, continual reinforcement is a must. 

 

A Flasher!

The day before yesterday, at the beginning of the eighth period of class, Class 310 told me during the break they saw a flasher in the park by our school. 

Time Tested Beauty Tips by Sam Levenson

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

I came across the first four lines of this poem in Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirt, a book written by Hepburn's son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer.  Audrey Hepburn was beauty itself, and "Time Tested Beauty Tips" was one of her favorite poems. 

time-tested-beauty-tips

 

A good sleep

This afternoon I asked Class 310 what is most important to them.  Many of them said having friends.  A student answered, "Sleep."  I remember when I asked my former students what they wanted to do most, many of them would answer, "Sleep."   It seems that generally speaking, high school students in Taipei don't get enough sleep.  Is it because they have so much to do--homework, preparation for countless tests, cram school to attend, etc.--or because they don't manage their time well? 

 

What is most important to you?

In the last paragraph of Unit 1 "Dying to Look Beautiful," a question is raised: "What is most important to you?" 

Libraries of English Books and Magazines

Today two more students in Class 313 came to borrow Reader's Digest.  Pei-ling (陳培玲), a student in Class 310, came and told me she had read 3 articles in the Reader's Digest I lent her last Friday.  Good for her!  All of them made my day.

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design)

TED is a website where you can watch/listen to some outstanding thinkers and doers, for example, Jane Goodall and Amy Tan, talk about their lives or interesting issues in 18 minutes, for free.   Click the following URL and you can reach it.

http://www.ted.com/

To Tracy

Tracy left her comments on my "A Lead-in Activity for Unit 1" in my Life Type blog as follows:

Dear June,

Thank you so much for allowing me to sit in on your class, and I really enjoyed it! To my amazement, you taught in almost all-English, but still, the class was so attentive and responsive. I am always curious in what way the top-down teaching method can be effective, and your teaching method certainly inspired me a lot. :D If you don't find that bothering, may I sit in on your class for a few more times, please?

Posted by Tracy at 12/09/2008, 21:20

Here is my response to her:

Please read

Today I lent 6 students different back issues of Reader's Digest. I told them to read under no pressure. They don't need to give any report or take any quiz. I suggested they just read a few pages before they go to sleep. They can even read only one article in the magazine, return it to me, and borrow another one. In my opinion, getting into the habit of reading plays a crucial role in learning a language. By reading, they review hundreds or even thousands of words at a time. If they feel at ease reading English, they won't find it hard to take the English test, because that's what they do in their daily lives.

I hope they will enjoy reading the magazine.

A Lead-in Activity for Unit 1 "Dying to Look Beautiful"

I started Unit 1 in Class 314 today. The title is "Dying to Look Beautiful." Because their class starts right after the nap time, I played a slow song first, "Yesterday Once More," to help them wake up. I asked them who the singers were. They replied, "The Carpenters." Then I mentioned Karen Carpenter and asked the students if they knew how she died. They knew it! She died from anorexia nervosa. Of course, they gave me the answer in Chinese. So I wrote the English term on the blackboard. Then I asked them how she got the illness. With these questions, I gradually led them into the topic, "Dying to Look Beautiful."

Using English in Class

This noon, Yi-ching (陳怡晴) paid me a visit and we had a good 2-hour chat over lunch.  In our conversation, Yi-ching asked if my new students were shocked at our first encounter by my speaking English for almost the whole class period.  I said some were and some weren't. 

A Correction

Today when I was teaching Class 314, I mentioned Jimmy's story. However, a student told me that he has already recovered from his sickness. After I went home, I checked online and found that Jimmy got leukemia 13 years ago, but, thanks to the doctor's treatment, he recovered.

Last Saturday, I just read the headline of the news. And that was why I made the mistake. I feel sorry about my lazy eyes.

The following is the complete news story.

http://www.udn.com/2008/9/6/NEWS/READING/REA8/4505727.shtml

Now I'm very happy to say, "Congratulations, Jimmy!"

The only certainty is the uncertainty.

I was shocked by two pieces of news last Saturday.  One was that the famous writer Chao-ning (趙寧)passed away on Friday, at the age of 66.  The other was that Jimmy (幾米), a well-known illustrator, suffered from leukemia.  The headline said Jimmy has cried every day since he got to know he had cancer.  I feel great sympathy for him, not only for his physical pain but also for his mental suffering.

Max

This evening, my former student Max, his girlfriend, and I had dinner together. Max talked about the second business he is going to start.

The Secret

I started to read the book The Secret the day before yesterday. Though I haven't had half done, I've already got the gist. According to the book, our thoughts lead us to where we belong. If we always have good thoughts, good things will be around us. If we have bad thoughts all the time, bad things will certainly come to us. This is the law of attraction.

I like a sentence on page 21, "Your mind is actually shaping the world around you."

Do we really see what we are supposed to see?

Today I didn't have to proctor the test, but since this is the students' first mock exam, I still went to school and went to each of the three classes to remind them of the dos and don'ts.  The first thing I said to them was the English test lasted only 100 minutes, unlike the Chinese test, which lasted 120 minutes.  However, when I turned and looked, I found on the blackboards of two classes the time schedules for the test were wrong. 

Beyond Genius -- Sep. 4, 2008 entry

Sep. 4, 2008

This evening starting from 8:00, my phone line got disconnected. I put it on my calendar a few days ago to remind myself to write my blog before 8pm, but I still forgot it. A sign of aging?

However, I still have a way to keep my blog. I kept it on Word so that I could copy and paste it in my blog later.

Challenge

Being an English teacher, I have to face challenges from students every day.  Yesterday, a student asked me how to say 圓周率 in English.  I said Pi, but not sure if it was English. 

Including English tests in national exams

On the front page of today's United Daily runs the story news that President Ma proposed at a luncheon yesterday to include English tests in all national exams so as to enhance our public servants' global competitiveness.

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NATS4/4499665.shtml

In my opinion, whether our government employees need to master English depends on what they are supposed to do at their jobs.  Are they required to use a lot of English at work?  If not, their expertise should come first.

 

Thanks, Annie and Hung

In my LifeType blog, my former students Annie and Hung left their response to the "English song" question. 

http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/27088#comments

Here is my response to their answers.

Dear Annie and Hung,

Thank you for your response. All the three songs are among my favorites. Not only are their melodies beautiful but their lyrics inspire. Among the three, I taught "the Rose" almost every year. Its lyrics are as follows: