My Animal Friends, Do You Enjoy Your Life?

(The koala looks like a philosopher, pondering the meaning of life...)

Reading At Least One Page a Day--李昌鈺：再忙，每天至少讀1頁書

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=487518

李昌鈺：再忙，每天至少讀1頁書

【聯合報╱記者張錦弘／台北報導】2013/11/28

Are You Qualified To Be a Teacher?--適不適合當老師 先做「情境測驗」

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=487516

適不適合當老師 先做「情境測驗」

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／嘉義報導】2013/11/28

A Memory We Share

A Happy Gathering

Grammar Teaching/Learning

I always tell students the best way to learn a grammar point is by memorizing an example sentence and then making sentences with the new pattern. Usually, before they are invited to make sentences, I ask them questions using the pattern. This way, they know they're learning something they can use to talk about their life.

"Xinyi Line set to open today, offers free EasyCard rides"--from The Taipei Times

One way to improve our reading ability is by reading what we have been familiar with. With background knowledge, we'll find our reading going more smoothly and thus faster because it is easier to guess the meanings of the new words. This is the reason why I posted the following news story in today's entry. It's about the MRT system in Taipei.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/11/24/2003577578

Xinyi Line set to open today, offers free EasyCard rides

By Mo Yan-chih  /  Staff reporter

Sun, Nov 24, 2013

Study Tips--劉世明／假裝是老師 「講」順代表懂

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=486198

劉世明／假裝是老師 「講」順代表懂
【聯合報╱記者蘇郁涵／高雄報導】2013/11/18

Grammar Activity

Today, when teaching the grammar point: S + order/command/suggest/require/ask + that + S (should) + V, I had the students work in pair and each ask their partner to do something. Then they had to tell everyone what their partner asked them to do using this new pattern. The following is an example:

"We Are the Champions"

Today I taught the song "We Are the Champions" to Class 221, a special class for gifted athletes. A beautiful and powerful song. Since the topic of Unit 5 in their textbook is the Boston Red Sox winning the championship in 2004 after an 86-year wait, this song fits perfectly. After singing the song, I wrote on the blackboard a sentence I read in the newspaper the day before yesterday:

"What would you sacrifice for what you believe?"

Then we had a brief discussion about this topic.

 

"Selfie named word of the year for 2013"--from CNN

In my yesterday's blog entry, you read a BBC news story on selfie being named word of the year for 2013. Later last night, I found a CNN article on the same topic. Interestingly, visiting the CNN webpage, you'll find photos of celebs taking selfies.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/19/living/selfie-word-of-the-year/index.html

Selfie named word of the year for 2013

By Ben Brumfield, CNN

November 20, 2013 -- Updated 0529 GMT (1329 HKT)

"'Selfie' named by Oxford Dictionaries as word of 2013"--from BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24992393

'Selfie' named by Oxford Dictionaries as word of 2013

19 November 2013 Last updated at 03:31 GMT

"Selfie" has been named as word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries.

BBC Interview with Mayday

My friend Candice (李淑慧老師) posted on FB this BBC interview on November 4 with Mayday, a Taiwanese rock band.

The Importance of Character Education--食品連環詐 品德教育出問題

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8299297.shtml

食品連環詐 品德教育出問題

【聯合報╱李同龢／東華大學經濟系助理教授】

2013.11.16 01:49 am

"Mom, I Love You"

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8300910.shtml

母親我愛你… 這句話，你說了嗎？

【聯合報╱李枝桃／國中校長（南投市）】

2013.11.17 02:13 am

lyricstraining--A Good Website for Learning English Songs

My friend Sarah (殷彩鳳老師) introduced to me an amazing website yesterday where English learners can go through the challenge of filling words in while listening to a song. To check it out, please follow the steps:

1. Click the link down below. 

Grammar Learning

One way to make learning grammar fun and effective is by using sentence patterns to talk about real life. In this way, not only do learners find it easier to get familiar with the form of a new patttern but they also know its function. For example, yesterday and today in Class 219 and Class 214 when we came to the pattern "needn't + V," I had students tell their partner what they don't think their ideal mate need to be or do. Then I asked them to tell me what they found about their partner. The following are some sentences they made:

Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge

This late afternoon I took my mom to the hospital.  We stayed there for about 4 hours. On our way out, I saw Albert Einstein's words on the wall near the exit:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Human Flesh Search Engines (HFSE)

Lesson 7 "No Escape from the Web" is about human flesh search engines (HFSE). It raises an interesting issue: Is it proper to hunt down via the Internet those who do not violate the law but social norms? The following YouTube video presents two examples of how the HFSE works. If you are interested in this topic, you might like to go on to read a NYT article about this phenomenon.

The First Class

Today I met two of the classes for the first time. As usual, I didn't just get directly to the textbook and teach. First, I broke the ice by introducing myself and then having them write some information about themselves on the back of a small card, including their name, mobile phone number, how long they'd been learning English, how they liked English, and what they loved doing. On the front of the card is their number. I told them if no one volunteers to answer questions in class, I'll draw a number for the mission.

Why Google Glass?--a TED Talk

I'm going to teach as a substitute teacher for three weeks starting tomorrow. The three classes are all juniors.  As usual, Studio Classroom is included as a learning material for two of the classes. To get familiar with what the students have learned from the magazine recently, I went through the November issue until Nov. 11. There is an article about Google Glass, which is quite new to me. Though I've heard of it, I know little about it. Out of curiosity, after listening to the two-day program of the article, I searched TED and found this 7-minute talk by Sergey Brin on Glass. Will show the students the video in class tomorrow or ask them to watch it at home, depending on whether we'll have time for it. Thanks to technology, Sergey Brin talks about this innovation right before our eyes.

Childhood music lessons 'leave lasting brain boost'

As the following news story shows, learning music in childhood may have a great impact on language learning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24802433

Childhood music lessons 'leave lasting brain boost'

6 November 2013 Last updated at 01:59 GMT

CET 20th Anniversary Celebration

Today is CET's 20th anniversary. At this afternoon's celebration tea party, seeing Mr. Chou, a mentor of mine, and those old friends who once worked together to breeze some new and good ideas into Taiwan's English education via the CET magazine, I felt on the top of the world.  Oh, I still feel our shared fire of passion for education. 

"Dance with My Father"--a Song about Family, Love, and Loss

This afternoon on my drive home, I heard this song on the radio and was really touched by it. It brought tears to my eyes.
Dear friends, please cherish your parents.

Sung by Luther Vandross:

"Be Joyful in All Encounters"

Empathy

This is what I posted on my FB page today, and I think it is very important.

"In my opinion, one of the most important things to teach kids/students is "empathy (同理心)." With it, you respect, love, are filial to your parents, help, work hard, do not cheat, etc., because you feel as the recipient of your act. With empathy, businessmen would not sell fake products because they could know how it feels to be hurt by those who they trust."

A Piece of Art I Made

A Joyous Gathering with Friends

I enjoyed a happy gathering with my former NHSH colleagues and also friends this afternon at TiMAMA. We got together because Shu (劉書真老師) are back from the States for a visit.

Things Are Not As You Think--國小考題爭議／白切雞何辜？ 老師何辜？

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8270040.shtml

國小考題爭議／白切雞何辜？ 老師何辜？

【聯合報╱李枝桃／國中校長】

2013.11.03 01:48 am

TFG Class Reunion

Time: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013

Place: City Star 24Hr HK Style Restaurant, Taipei

Attendees: 林琍珊老師   侯明德    高富月   陳秋惠  陳美珠    陳慧嬋  黃曼芬   裴秀玲   潘淑英  and me

The Sea

Please click the photo to enlarge it for a better view.

This is Cool!--Virgin America's Unusual Safety Video

The video takes five minutes 7 seconds to watch.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/30/travel/virgin-america-safety-video/index.html

'Step Up' meets robot dancers in Virgin America's new over-the-top safety video

By Frances Cha, CNN

October 30, 2013 -- Updated 1000 GMT (1800 HKT)