Happy New Year!

Wish you a very happy 2010.

An Era of Computers

Every NHSH teacher has got a netbook recently and has to finish three computer courses by the end of this year. The three courses include Firefox, Audacity,and DIA.

A PPT for Unit 11: Glove Puppetry: A Folk Art Transformed

The following is a ppt I created this morning for Unit 11: "Glove Puppetry: A Folk Art Transformed."

glove puppetry.ppt

Glove Puppet Show

Christmas with My Former Students

On Christmas Day, five former students came back to school, Bubble from Class 313, Joel and Jeremy from Class 314 and Chong-hao and Gara from Class 310. I had two happy "chatting" sessions. In the bottom photos are the students with their former homeroom teachers. Gara from Class 310 stressed the importance of English, which is an important tool in college education. She even suggested that students listen to Studio Classroom together and have a discussion about the lesson in the morning study period every day. See how important English is?

Christmas with Class 209

214 Christmas Party

Yesterday my homeroom class 214 had a Christmas party in our classroom. They had a really good time. I enjoyed their laughter. The following slide shows what the party was like. Click on a photo at the pause and you can read the caption.

 

 

Why Do We Need to Know Schweitzer's Nationality? --洪蘭：為何要了解史懷哲是哪國人

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/5330630.shtml

洪蘭：為何要了解史懷哲是哪國人

【聯合報╱洪蘭】 2009.12.26 02:23 am 

A Very Happy Christmas

Today I had a very happy Christmas with Class 214, Class 209, my former students, and my family.   Can you believe it?  I just got home.  Since it is very late now, I'll write about it tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Touched...

I was on the brink of tears this morning when my special student handed me a big key chain he made.

ei or ie?

Quite a few students have trouble spelling the word "receive" right. Based on my observation, I conclude that when it comes to "ei" or "ie" pronounced as /i/, the letter before the combination is a decisive factor. If the letter is "c" or "s," then the spelling should be "ei." Otherwise, it is "ie." To put it more simply, "i" has a straight line, so "ie" comes after a letter with a straight line. Here are some examples: receive, seize, yield, thief, brief, etc. Interesting, isn't it?

Take Fewer Courses, And Learn More

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=227507

台大鼓勵學生 少修課多學習

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2009/12/21

Ken's Visit to Class 214

 

This morning, Ken (王慶剛), a former student who is studying at Chengchi University majoring in Journalism and English, visited my Class 214. He talked to them in English for three quarters of the time. And the students paid their undivided attention. The following are some key points he mentioned:

What's Wrong with Taiwan's English Education

 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=227110

台灣英語教育怎麼了？小時頂呱呱 高中差

【聯合晚報╱記者王彩鸝/台北報導】 2009/12/17

A Crisis Is an Opportunity

According to yesterday's United Evening News, Vice Premier Mr. Chu thought it a shame that Taiwan's students are poor at English.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=227248

學生英文差 朱立倫：奇恥大辱

【聯合晚報╱記者王彩鸝╱台北報導】2009/12/18

Where Have All Their Smiles Gone?--A Letter from a Ninth Grader

This is the letter by a ninth grader which was mentioned in the article in my previous entry posted today.  My heart ached as I read it.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=227112

教改總體檢／為何是蒼白的十五歲？一個國三生的告白

【聯合晚報╱教改體檢總論壇提供】2009/12/17

Complaints about the Educational Reform

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=227152

教改怨與願 蒼白的15歲學得好累

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2009/12/18

Comic Strips for Unit 10 "Fish Cheeks"

This morning in Class 214, 20 minutes before the end of the 2nd period of class, I had the students form pairs and draw a 8-panel comic strip for Unit 10. One in the pair is the cartoonist and the other the "director." The "director" has to give instructions in English, telling the cartoonist what to draw in each panel. The class did this happily and finished their work in 20 minutes.

Expanding Vocabulary Through Reading

The following article in today's UDN offers good tips not only on how to expand our vocabulary but also on how to select appropriate English reading material to read.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=226760

Discussion after Ali's Teaching

After Ali's teaching, we had a discussion in Teachers' Association Office.

The following are comments made by the attendees:

Prof. Chen (陳秋蘭教授), Mr. Wu (吳正東校長), Ms. Lee (李淑媛老師), Melody (陳美麗老師), Ali (葛淑瑄), and me:

Ali's Teaching

(Click on a photo when it pauses to see the caption.)

This afternoon, my student teacher Ali (葛淑瑄) gave a teaching demonstration with Class 209. Her NTNU advisor Ms. Chen (陳秋蘭教授) and several teachers of NHSH observed her class.

Ali did a good job. Her fluent English, organized teaching, and encouraging smile made the class enjoyable.

TIME December 21, 2009

I got the current issue of TIME magazine today. Just take a look at the table of contests, and you might be attracted by titles such as The Year in Pictures 2009, The Best of 2009, The Ignoble but Undeniable Truth about the Chinese Practice of Feng Shui, and City Guide: Sydney. Well, go check out for yourself.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/asia/0,9263,501091221,00.html

A Beautiful Life --舒國治：美好的生活

I just ran into an interesting article on the UDN website, in which Mr. Su defines what a beautiful life is. I'd like to highlight the points I strongly agree with.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/5293628.shtml

舒國治：美好的生活

【聯合報╱舒國治】 2009.12.07 03:18 am

A Way to Teach Songs

Yesterday, to wrap up Unit 9 "A Memorable Event," I taught Class 209 a very inspiring song "Smile," which was written by Charlie Chaplin. This is a good song to teach the students rhyming.

Admirable Young People

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=226137

高中生編課程 關懷原鄉學童

【聯合報╱記者邱瓊玉／台北報導】2009/12/11

Turning the Story into a Comic Strip

Two days ago, my student teacher Ali, after finishing the reading part of Unit 9 "A Memorable Event," gave Class 209 an interesting assignment--drawing Chaplin's memorable event and turning it into an 8-panel comic strip. At that time, some students complained that they were bad at drawing. However, this morning, when I collected the comic strips, I was quite impressed with their drawing skills.

A Thing Hard Earned Is Treasured Much More

The following is a news report in yesterday's UDN in response to a recent hot issue on college students eating chicken legs in class.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=225475

錢致榕：補習18年上台大 怎會珍惜

【聯合報╱記者湯雅雯／台北報導】2009/12/08

A "Silent" Game

This afternoon, in Class 214, around 5 minutes before the class was dismissed, I played a game to relax the students, who had sat in class for around 90 minutes.

Acting Out

Today when teaching Class 214 the 7th paragraph of Unit 9 "A Memorable Event," I asked the students to do silent reading first and tell me the main idea. The paragraph is about Charlie Chaplin's performance after he was led to the stage by the stage manager. Then, instead of asking the class some detailed questions, I had them do group discussion and act the paragraph out silently.

After we go through the whole reading of this lesson, I will have the students act the whole memorable event out. This time, I'd like a "talkie."

What Might Be Included in the Oral Discussion about Steve Jobs's Speech "You've Got to Find What You Love"?

Dear 209 and 214,

For the one-on-one oral discussion with me about Steve Jobs's speech "You've Got to Find What You Love," which you have to do by the end of this semester, the following are some potential topics:

1. Which part of the speech impressed you most?

Do You Know What You Want to Do? 洪蘭：大學生 你知道自己要做什麼嗎

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/5290602.shtml

洪蘭：大學生 你知道自己要做什麼嗎

【聯合報╱洪蘭】 2009.12.05 02:46 am

Honesty & Facing the Music

We always say, "Practice what you preach." However, students don't stay around us teachers so that they can see and learn from what we do. So today in class meeting I decided to tell my homeroom class two of my stories to demostrate the ideas "honesty" and "face the music."

Today, I Celebrate My Dedication to Blogging

This morning, I gave each of the students in my two classes a piece of chocolate to celebrate my 2nd blogging anniversary. After I told them that I would like to celebrate my perseverance with them, both the classes applauded. They are so lovely!

The 2nd Anniversary

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my blogging. On this day two years ago, I attended a workshop on blogging, and since then I've been keeping my blog every day for two years, without any intermission. I celebrated my persistence on the 1st anniversary last year by giving Classes 310, 313, and 314 a piece of chocolate. Tomorrow I'm going to celebrate the 2nd anniversary with Classes 214 and 209. 731 days nonstop!

A Pronunciation Rule--Where to Put the Stress

Every Tuesday, the UDN runs a column on English words, which is written by Mr. Chen (陳超明教授), a professor of National Chengchi University. Today besides seven words to learn for the coming week, he deals with the stress of words. Please click on the following link to check it out.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=381&f_SUB_ID=4274&f_ART_ID=224470

Regulations Are Still Needed

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=224425

台大醫自省 頒上課規則

【聯合晚報╱記者王彩鸝、嚴文廷╱台北報導】2009/12/01