2008年9月30日 星期二
2008年9月29日 星期一
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/
2008年9月28日 星期日
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
2008年9月27日 星期六
Harvard Style 上哈佛真正學到的事
2008年9月26日 星期五
The toxic milk scandal
2008年9月25日 星期四
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:
2008年9月24日 星期三
To Etta
Then since you've taken the TOEFL, do you have any advice for both English learners and teachers?
2008年9月23日 星期二
Tests
2008年9月22日 星期一
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.
2008年9月21日 星期日
Secret to success on the UEE
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.
2008年9月20日 星期六
Use English in English Class
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.
2008年9月19日 星期五
A Flasher!
2008年9月18日 星期四
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.
2008年9月17日 星期三
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?
2008年9月16日 星期二
What is most important to you?
2008年9月15日 星期一
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.
2008年9月14日 星期日
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.
2008年9月13日 星期六
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?
2008年9月12日 星期五
Please read
I hope they will enjoy reading the magazine.
2008年9月11日 星期四
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."
2008年9月10日 星期三
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.
2008年9月9日 星期二
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!"
2008年9月8日 星期一
The only certainty is the uncertainty.
2008年9月7日 星期日
Max
2008年9月6日 星期六
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."
2008年9月5日 星期五
Do we really see what we are supposed to see?
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.
2008年9月3日 星期三
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.
2008年9月2日 星期二
Including English tests in national exams
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.
2008年9月1日 星期一
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: