Reading

Gina (胡靜), a student in Class 314, is reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight.  She told me that often she dared not open the book for fear that once she started reading, she couldn't stop.  However, I encouraged her to read a few pages every day for entertainment, which at the same time improves her English reading ability.

Presentation on How to Conduct an Advanced English Class

This afternoon I went to a workshop at Xisong Senior HIgh School (西松高中).  The presenter Mr. Chien-chou, Chen (陳建州老師) demonstrated and told us how he conducted an advanced English class.  The following is his course outline:

The Last Lecture--a Fantastic Book

I finished reading Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture this morning. A fantastic book. Rich in life lessons. With the book closed, the following is what I remember I've learned from the book.

1. Fundamentals! Fundamentals! Fundamentals!

Thank you, Ken

A few days ago, I got a text message from Ken (王慶剛), a former student who graduated about three years ago.  He greeted me and offered help to my students who are applying to college.  I texted a message back, thanking him and asking if it was OK for me to give my students his phone number.  He answered "Yes" and said that he was willing to help. 

Let Students Learn on Their Own

Today Chris (林詠梅老師) told me that around three years ago, when she was teaching third-year students, each class had 7 classes a week.  After March, she spared one class period for students to learn on their own.  They could read their own English boos/magazines, study their textbooks, or do some practice tests for the UEE.  When the students had questions, they just raised their hand, and she would go to them.

He's Finished Two Readig Books

Today after class (314), Alex (張智堯), came up to me and told me that he had finised the Classroom 7000 Reading Comprehension book, a prize from me for being one of the first ten to finsih Six-Way Paragraphs (Advanced Level).   I was impressed by his diligence.  He won another book from me: Reading Master II.  I told him that after he finishes this one, I have no choice but to give him an English novel as a prize because I cannot find other reading comprehension books more suitable for high school seniors than these three. 

What can be more rewarding for a teacher to know his/her students are working hard?

 

Exhausted But Delighted

For the past three days, my evening life pattern is like this:

After dinner, I went to sleep until 9~9:30pm.  Then I started to work, grading students' compositions or translations, and preparing lessons until 12:30am.

"I think so I am."

I really enjoy discussing the questions on tests with students. Classes 310, 313, and 314, they all participate actively in the discussion. I could have saved more time if only I talk, giving one-way explanation. However, I believe in the power of thinking. As Descartes said, "I think so I am." In fact, we often forget what we are told. We remember what we try hard to figure out.

"Let's saddle up and ride."

How I love this sentence!  Short and powerful.  It is from Chapter 19 of Randy Pausch's book The Last Lecture.  The title of the chapter is "A New Year's Story."  When I turned to page 88, I was immediately captivated by the words at the beginning of this new chapter:

"No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.  At the same time, it is often within yoru power to make them better."

The Interview and the Personal Profile in College Application

Today's UDN runs an article which I think offers some useful tips to students who are applying to college.  It's about the interview and the personal profile.

Blog Contest

 

 On March 18, I made a big decision. I finally decided to enter the blog contest sponsored by National Teachers' Association.

Listen to ICRT News

At the beginning of today's class, I had Class 314 listen to a piece of ICRT news which I recorded this morning before I left for school.   Listening to English news used to be a very common activity in my class several years ago. 

A Test-free Morning

This morning, when I entered Class 314, I sensed a different atmosphere.   The students seemed happier than they used to be in a typical first class on Friday.  Usually on Friday morning they had a quiz from 7:30 to 8:10, so when I entered the classroom at 8:10, everyone would be quiet, appearing to have been weighed down with unbearable pressure.  But today, many of them were chatting like delighted chirping birds.  I asked them why they seemed so happy.  They answered that they didn't have a quiz.  What a heavy burden tests seem to students! 

I often told my students to take the test as a game, which they play to score.   I also told them that without tests they would never know if they had really learned or remembered something.  However, tests still seem formidable to many of them.

 

Challenge the Authority

I always encourage my students to challenge the authority.  In class, if they correct me, they can win 2 points for their team.  I love the sporadic challenges from the students in class.  That means they are thinking critically.

The Spell of Interlanguage

Today in each class, I spent about 80 minutes discussing the items on the 1st mid-term.  The students kept asking questions, and I just couldn't say "Stop!"  I was glad that they were eager to learn from their mistakes.   However, I was wondering why more than half of the students still couldn't write the correct answer to the translation question:

Attitude

This afternoon, Chris told me about the attitude of her student Wei-rou, the one who has been admitted to the Department of Accounting at NTU.  Last Friday, when Chris was discussing a Meow-meow test, only a few students showed interest.  Among them was Wei-rou, who already knew she was an NTU student-to-be.  As usual, she paid undivided attention and took notes.  We believe it is her attitude that decides where she is going to be.

Copyright

I'm really puzzled by the copyright law.  For example, for fear that some day some articles I introduced in my blog might be removed from the website, I copied and pasted them on my blog, with the source cited, so that my readers will never miss them.  I did it not to gain any profit, but to serve my readers.  Did I still violate the copyright law?

Good 2009 SAT Compositions

This year, CEEC posted good SAT compositions at its website, including 12 Chinese ones and 13 English ones.   I believe it can serve as a benchmark so that students have a clearer idea about what a good piece of writing is. 

To read the compositions, please copy and paste the following URL on the URL bar.

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/98學測/98學測國英佳作/98學測國英佳作.htm

 

Poor English, Good English, Why?

This is an article I just read on the Net, which was posted yesterday.  It discusses why students in Taiwan are poor in Engish. 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=184154

There Is Not Short Cut to Learning English

Just now while I was searching for an article I read in today's UDN, I found this article, which is about ways to learn English.  The article points out the importance of exposure to English, reading, and practice.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=164899

Heaven Rewards the Diligent (Tian Dao Chou Qin)

This morning, I wrote the Chinese phrase "天道酬勤" on the blackboard and asked the students in Class 314 to translate it into English.  Most of them knew what the phrase meant, though a few tranlsated it into "Heaven helps those who are diligent."  Some translated the word "酬" into "repay" or "award."   The best English equivalent for the word "酬" is "reward."  I'd transalte this phrase into "Heaven rewards the diligent."

Tian Dao Chou Qin

The list of the first group of students who got admitted to college  was announced today.   There are nine NHSH students on the list.  A student in Class 318 got admitted to the Department of Accounting at NTU.  The students envied her.  Their homeroom teacher Chris (林詠梅老師) wrote four words on the blackboard "天道酬勤."   When Chris told me these four words, though I knew what it meant, I'd never heard this Chinese phrase.  I've got to read more Chinese books from now on. 

I love this phrase, and I'll challenge my students to translate it into English tomorrow. 

We Can Be Happy Every Day

"We might not be happy the whole day, but we are happy every day."  This is a sentence Lu-ching (黃律晴), a former 316 student, told me this afternoon during her visit.  It was an adaptation of some lines from the movie "Sex in the City."  

Sometimes if we lower the standard of a wonderful life, we can be happiness itself.

The Function of the Topic Sentence in Writing

The writing task of the 20th Meow-meow test asks students to write about an experience of getting sick.  Students have to start their first paragraph with the topic sentence: "When I opened my eyes this morning, I knew I was sick."

How to Write a Brief Autobiography

 In today's UDN, a news story caught my eye. It was entitled “Working Part-time at McDonald's Helps Pave Her Way to Harvard.” It seems that as long as you have done something positive which can prove you are special, you have a better chance to go to a prestigious university like Harvard.

It is the last two paragraphs of the article that I'd like to highlight here. They provide very helpful tips on writing an autobiography.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=23&f_ART_ID=181812

 

Problems Found in Writing

I read an article in last Friday's UDN about the writing performance on the GEPT for Intermediate Level.  According to the research done by NTU, the examinees didn't have problems writing complete sentences; one of their problems lay in paragraph writing.   Some examinees lacked the idea of unity; they put irrelevant sentences in a paragraph.  For example, in a composition about exotic food, the raters saw sentences like "Taiwan's food is also good.  You can give it a try when you've got a chance."  

Don't Quit

In yesterday's entry, I mentioned that to make the most of the paper, I put some inspiring words on the back of the lyrics I handed out to students.  The words go as follows.

If--A Beautiful Song

This morning, as promised yesterday, I taught Class 314 the song "If."  

Writing Pleasure

I have some students who love writing.  Every morning when I get to school I can find several notebooks on my office desk waiting for me.   In the notebooks are students' essays.   I often try my best to read, correct, and return them in the afternoon.   However, when I'm busy at school, I have to take them home.   This Monday morning, my son saw my heavy bag when we are leaving home together.  Then we had the following conversation:

Reading Pleasure

More and more students came to borrow English story books or novels from me. Yesterday noon, even Quei-ting (李奎霆) in Class 314, a very queit student, came to ask for something to read. I lent him a story book from the 3rd level of the Original series published by Longman. Amazingly, he finished and returned it to me at around 4pm. Then I handed him another one, overwhelmed with joy.

Now I feel like I'm running a very small library. Hmm, I've got to put more books in my students' hands.

A Serious Problem in Taiwan's Education

A student in Class 313 wrote a short essay about the most serious problem in Taiwan's education.   In his opinion, the most serious problem is that students spend too much time in school.  His argument is that the more time students spend in class sitting and, most of the time, listening to teachers' lectures, the less time they can have to develop themselves. 

I agree with him in some way.  However, if given more time, what will students do?

An Interesting Website about Nanotechnology

The teacher's manual introduces an interesting website about nanotechnology, which is the topic of Unit 3.  At the site, students can not only learn what nanotech is and how it works, but also enjoy an interactive activity.  What's better, they can even hear some researchers talk in English about how special nanotech is.  I love the section about the potential  use of nanotech in particular.  Here's its URL:

http://www.nanozone.org/

 

Excellence Is Nurtured

The teacher's manual of Book 6 mentioned the stories of two excellent persons.  One is Po-yin Yang (楊柏因), who received a PhD degree from MIT at the age of 22, and the other is Roger (羅傑), who entered an American university at 12.  What they have in common is that their interest in reading started at an early age.  The following is the story of Roger.

http://www.taisun.org.tw/qLoveFamilyItem_Show.asp?LoveFamilyItemID=186