Brainstorming

Today in class I had students brainstorm some examples of uncomfortable conclusions to which facts sometimes lead, which is mentioned by Mr. Bok in "Have a Good Four Years."  Before they came up with something, I gave them my example: Life is unfair.   I asked the students to give me some facts which lead to this conclusion.   The following are some facts Class 314 offered:

Discussion in Class

This morning in Class 310, I started U. 12 "Have a Good Four Years."  Of course, the students brainstormed the reasons why they wanted to go to college as a warm-up.   After that, I asked them what they would say as the opening of the speech if they were the university president Mr. Bok. One said, "Welcome to Harvard." Another said he/she would introduce the school.  

A Warm-up Activity for Unit 12 "Have a Good Four Years"

Yesterday and today I started Unit 12 in Class 313 and Class 314 respectively.   It is a speech given to freshmen at Harvard by its president Derek C. Bok in 1971.  Before having the students look at the text, I asked the students to guess from the title "Have a Good Four Years" what this lesson was about.  They immediately told me it was about going to college.

Crying--Two Compositions by Two Students

Remember the two students I mentioned yesterday who PK in writing?  I'd like to post their compositions in this entry.  The following is the writing task on the 2005 2nd mock exam.

有人哭，代表著無助、失敗、惋惜、憤怒、或懷念和哀悼；有人哭，卻是一種幸福、喜悅、或成功。請寫一篇120字以上的作文，第一段敘述你自己或曾經見過什麼人、為了什麼事而哭過。第二段描述你是如何度過這次的哭泣或是你如何安慰、陪伴或協助你所見到的哭泣者，以及這次的經驗令你有何體會、收穫或學習。

Two Interesting Students

Yu-ting (顏渝庭) and Shu-wei (周書緯), two students in Class 313, are two of the most aggressive students in my writing class.   They have their own interesting game--PK in writing.  I forgot since when, but they have kept writing almost every day for a while.  They write on a new topic every other day and then after I give them my feedback. they hand in their revised version next day.  Starting the day before yesterday, they handed in their English diaries.  I'm happy that they have fun doing what gives some students a headache.  

YouTube Edu

Annie (詹麗馨老師) just called me and mentioned a website set up by YouTube meant to offer free lectures on video from different US universities.  She told me it was introduced in the latest issue of TIME.  After hanging up, I rushed for the magazine (April 27) and found the article "Logging On to the Ivy League."  Terrific!  Now we can sit at home in Taiwan and learn from professors in the US. 

Co-ed or Not Co-ed?

This afternoon a student from former Class 306 paid me a visit.   Now a freshman, he found it harder for him than for those who came from co-ed schools to get along with the opposite sex .  During his three years at NHSH, he studied in a single-sex class.  That was the school policy then.  I remember once a student who graduated earlier also told me about the same problem. 

What to Write after a Topic Sentence

The writing task of Meow-meow Practice Exam 22 required students to write on "How to Get Rid of Depression," with "Everyone gets depressed once in while." as the topic sentence of the 1st paragraph, and "Whenever I feel down, I like to..." as the beginning of the 2nd paragraph. 

English Villages

Wow!  English Village!

The government is planning to set up English villages, making use of schools' spare classrooms.  The author of the following article in today's UDN, suggested setting up immersive English-only villages.   I agree.  When one is put in the sea of English, he/she will certainly get wet. 

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/4861865.shtml

A Spider in Its Web

  

This morning when I stepped out of the Academic Affairs Office, heading for my office, I looked up and caught a glimpse of a spider in its web.  The web stretched from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor.   If a spider that big appeared in front of me on the wall of my study right now, I would definitely ran away, probably with a scream, and asked for help.  However, this morning I stopped to take a long look at the spider and its web, amazed at how the spider had woven the web.  It must have started with a string, and then? 

The Power of the Written Word

In Unit 10 "The Teacher Who Changed My Life," Nicholas Gage mentioned he started to understand the power of the written word after his essay about the story of his family aroused sympathy among his classamtes and later won a medal in a contest, which brought glory to the Greek community.  

The Reader, the Movie

Yesterday evening I went to see the movie "The Reader."   It made me sigh for the unavoidable tragedy of the wartime.  Hanan, the heroine, applied for the job when she was young as a guard working for the Nazi Party, killing many Jews.   In her middle age, she faced the trial and was finally sentenced to life imprisonment.   When asked in court by the chief judge why she killed, she retorted, "What would YOU do?"  Hearing her question, I asked myself what I would have done if I were her but couldn't offer an answer.

Great Teachers

Here is a list of the qualities of the teachers who Class 313 described as having a great influence on them.

1. Kind

2. Encouraging/Inspiring

What Is He Doing?

Yesterday afternoon, while I was answering some 314 students' questions during the break, I caught a glimpse of Alex (張智堯) standing in the garbage can. 

Warm-up Activities for Unit 10 "The Teacher Who Changed My Life"

Today I started Unit 10, "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" in Class 313.  Since I promised them yesterday that I would teach them a song first thing in today's class, I began the class with the song "To Sir with Love."  They listened to it once very quietly and then tried to sing along.  The students said the song was beautiful but hard to sing.  I wished then that I could let them sing with the CD for ten times so that they would find it easier. 

Attacked by a Bird

This evening, around 5:30, while I was walking on campus toward my car, I felt something hit me on the right part of my head.  Looking around, I saw nothing but a beautiful long-tailed bird, which just perched on a tree.  My conclusion was: I was attacked by the bird!  Never have I had the slightest idea that I would have this kind of encounter with a bird. 

Well, I didn't blame it, though my head hurt a little then.   Maybe it didn't hit me on purpose.  It just passed by, with its wing or tail sweeping across part of my head. 

Congratulations, Derek!

Yesterday the result of NTU application came out.  Derek (董德), one of my assistants in Class 310, got admitted to the Department of Entomology at NTU.   He was exhilarated, and I was too.  We hugged for a while, our joy bankrupting any language.    

生活化的「新聞英語」--楊欣欣教授演講，我的筆記

This noon I attended Ms. Yang's speech on news English.  Ms. Yang is a correspondent of AFP (法新社) and a teacher at NTU. The following are my notes.

Topic: 生活化的「新聞英語」

Speaker: 楊欣欣女士

Place: 台灣大學應用力學館400室

Time: 2-4pm, Apr. 13, 2009

A Fantastic Blog about England

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/shiny-shine/

While doing the peer evaluation for the blog competition, I came across this fantastic blog.  Shinyshine used the blog to recorded his life in England when he was studying there.  I admired his insight and commitment.  All of the entries are in Chinese except one "番言英語," in which he wrote bilingually; that is, in English with Chinese translation.   This blog would be highly appreciated by those who are interested in British culture. 

Singing in Class

Since I taught Class 314 a song at the beginning of the class one Friday in March, they have been looking forward to singing every Friday.  So far, we have sung "If," "When You Believe," "Rhythm of the Rain," "Hero," and "Perhaps Love."  All these songs have beautiful melody, and most of them are inspriing.  Ying-zi (張盈姿) told me that when she was preparing for the 2nd-stage screening, she often hummed the song "Hero" to herself.  I am glad that the song reassured and helped her, giving her more strength.

What Makes a Happy Life?

In Unit 7 "An Era for LOHAS," there is an interesting question for discussion: 

   "In Chinese, the literal translation of LOHAS means "happy life."  How do you   define a happy life?  What are its essential elements?"

Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck

This is the topic for the writing task of yesterday's mock exam. The sentence is a quote from Benjamin Franklin. An interesting topic, but not easy to approach. Many students wrote about how diligence leads to success.

University Professor Teaching High School Students English

This morning, a piece of news story attracted my attention.  Its heading is "University Professor Teaches English at High School."   I've long been curious about how university professors or Studio Classroom teachers would teach high school students the textbook English.  Now, Prof. Chen (陳超明教授) is doing teaching demonstration at Jingmei High School.   He has planned to teach one freshman class one hour per day for a month.  I admire his experimental spirit and dedication to English education.

How She Made It

Ying-zi (張盈姿) gave me a Thank-you card yesterday.  In the card she wrote about how she prepared for the 2nd-stage screening held by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Tsing Hua University.

Memorization Alone Isn't Enough

In yesterday's UDN, there were a few words from Ms. Doris Brougham, the founder of Studio Classroom, about English learning.  According to her, learning English is not all about memorizing sentences; rather, students should learn to think and judge. 

The Power of Words

An article in today's UDN caught my eye as soon as I opened the paper. From the title, we can know it is an article inspired by the movie "The Reader (為愛朗讀)."  I haven't seen the movie, but I know the movie involves a young boy reading some literary works for the heroine because she is illiterate.

When Strangers Got Connected

They never saw each other before yesterday. They only talked on the phone. However, when Yi-ching (陳怡晴) came to visit me yesterday, they had their happy enocunter. See their broad smile?

Reunion of Former Class 313

Today, my former homeroom Class 313 had a little reunion. They are in their junior year of college. Those who showed up are in their spring break. Everyone came with a beaming smile. We were so exhilarated that we gave each other a bear hug.

Enlightening Encounter

(A click on a photo can enlarge it.)

This morning, four of my former 303 students, who are juniors in college, came to Class 314. They are Wei-chen (王偉宸), Wei-yi (李威毅), Chao-lung (陳昭龍), and Xuan-an (賴旋安). Three years ago, they all did very well on the UEE and entered their ideal universities, namely, NTU and NTNU. They proved that efforts and perseverance finally paid off.

Congratulations, Ying-zi!

Congratulations, Ying-zi!

This noon the list of those who are admitted to National Tsing Hua University is announced.  Ying-zi (張盈姿), a student in Class 313, is on the list.  She is admitted to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.   I was so happy for her.  In fact, I think she deserves the honor.  Before the 2nd-stage screening, she worked very hard, listening to CNN, practicing summarizing articles she read, writing compositions, and doing two past tests.  She took it really seriously. 

Speak Up in Class

Today I gave Wen-yu (鄧文瑜), a student in Class 314, a mock interview.  She is going to attend an interview, put more precisely, a panel discussion, at National Central University next week.  During our conversation, I was surprised to find that she, though quiet in class, could speak very fluent English.  I was really impressed!  I told her she should speak up more in class, not only because by doing so she can show her willingness to participate, but because she can set a good example to her classmates.