Ting-chun, Long Time No See!

Time: 10:30~13:30

Place: T.B.C. Cafe

I had a tight schedule today. To begin with, I had a meet-up with Ting-chun (陳亭君), who I haven't seen for around 10 years. Next, I visited my sister-in-law in the hospice with George, followed by attending a former student's college graduation fashion show at 7pm.

Phone Scams_What's Wrong with Our Education?

This afternoon, I heard on the read a poignant talk about telephone scams. The host interviewed an editor of the magazine Businesstoday, the newest issue of which features phone frauds by Taiwanese.

What a shame! The host mentioned there have been 100,000 scammers in Taiwan. Many of them have their base in foreign countries. From those countries, they called innocent people in Taiwan and China to cheat them out of money. The host asked once in a while what was wrong with Taiwan's education.

A Day with Former NHSH Colleagues

Tips for Making Great Progress on TOEIC in a Year--"高二生多益980分 1年進步400分怎辦到的？"

http://udn.com/news/story/6915/1645699-高二生多益980分-1年進步400分怎辦到的？

高二生多益980分 1年進步400分怎辦到的？

2016-04-22 10:17 聯合報 記者廖雅欣／宜蘭報導

國立宜蘭高商高二學生林岳鋒，英文成績優異，今年參加多益測驗，拿下980分，短短1年內進步400分，老師都認為他「實在不簡單」。

林岳鋒選讀國立宜蘭高商綜合高中的應用外語學程，他從小就喜歡英文，唸高中之後，他沒補習英文，在校的英文實力一直不錯。

My comments: Intrinsic motivation counts most.

High School Student Finishes an English Sci-Fi in Three Years--"英文太好免修課 南一中生寫出10萬字英文科幻小說"

Good language learners have been the subject of several studies. Besides their aptitude, their attitude and strategies are the key.

http://udn.com/news/story/6915/1627562

英文太好免修課 南一中生寫出10萬字英文科幻小說

2016-04-14 07:49 聯合報 記者鄭惠仁／台南報導



台南一中科學班學生吳興亞語文能力佳且多才多藝，錄取美國康乃爾大學。記者鄭惠仁／攝影

英、日語也能靠自學精進！台南一中科學班學生吳興亞國中時多益滿分、托福也接近滿分，升上南一中後雖可以免修英文，卻自我要求，花3年創作英文科幻小說，準備在畢業前獻給老師，算是英文作業。

Yi-fang, Brilliant Piano Recital!

Time: 7:30pm, Apr. 25, 2016

Place: Recital Hall, National Concert Hall, Taipei

Pianist: Yi-Fang Lee



(Left to Right: Yi-fang's mother, father, my aunt Lily Hong, me, Li-chu Chen)

Thank you, Lily for inviting me to the concert.

Ken & Zazie, Congratulations! Happy Marriage!

Time: 12pm. Apr. 24, 2016

Place: Regent, Taipei

"Watch: Shakespeare’s Life in 1 Minute"--from TIME

http://time.com/4303852/shakespeare-life-video/

Watch: Shakespeare’s Life in 1 Minute

April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

"Merriam-Webster Adds ‘FOMO,’ ‘Mx.’ and About 2,000 Other Words"

http://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/

Merriam-Webster Adds ‘FOMO,’ ‘Mx.’ and About 2,000 Other Words

Katy Steinmetz @katysteinmetz April 20, 2016

'Trigger warning,' 'hella' and 'athleisure' also made the list

Merriam-Webster announced the latest additions to the company’s unabridged dictionary on Wednesday. Among the 2,000-odd entries are the likes of FOMO, the acronym for the “fear of missing out” that so plagues the young, as well as Mx., a gender-neutral honorific for those who don’t care for options such as Mr. or Mrs.

Simplicity is Beauty--"李清志／極簡生活大作戰"--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/7340/1645954-%E6%9D%8E%E6%B8%85%E5%BF%97%EF%BC%8F%E6%A5%B5%E7%B0%A1%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%9C%E6%88%B0

李清志／極簡生活大作戰

2016-04-22 03:08 聯合報 李清志（實踐大學建築設計系副教授）

最近日本電視劇「我的家裡空無一物」，十分引人矚目！因為劇中主角是一位「丟棄東西的變態」，她有一種丟東西怪癖，凡是不常用、或用不到的，她都要將之丟棄送人，因此家中幾乎空無一物，只有幾樣常用的用具，衣櫥中也只有常穿的、不超過十件衣服，過著幾乎是極簡主義的生活。

My comments: Less than 10 pieces of clothes?! Unbelievable! I wonder if she threw away letters, photos, or yearbooks.

Skyping with Brian

This morning, I spent one and a half hours skyping with Brian, a former student from Chiehshow Junior High School who I taught around 25 years ago.

Besides catching up with what we've missed for the last three months, we chatted about religion, integrity, trips, relationships between parents and children, happiness, etc. I told Brian 25 years ago that he was a philosopher. And he is still one now.

Annie and I, Afternoon Tea with Stacy

This photo, taken by Stacy (邱靖媛) with Annie's camera this afternoon at our gathering, was edited by Annie (詹麗馨). Annie and I are the author of the books you see on the photo. The one I hold was published in January, 2014, and the one in Annie's hands in January, 2015. Annie and I have cooperated in writing books and practice/mock tests for junior high school students for many years. Our writing SOP goes like this: We write the parts we individually are responsible for and exchange what we've finished for each other's modification advice.

Enjoying a Chinese Drama with High School Classmates

Time: 7:30pm~10:30pm

Place: The Metropolitan Hall, Taipei

Particpants: Mei-chu (陳美珠), Pi-hsiang (黃碧香), Chiu-xuan (丘秋萱), and me

 

Substitute Teaching for Two Hours

In mid March, I agreed to go back to NHSH to teach two freshman classes as a substitute from late April to the end of the semester. And this afternoon I taught Class 101 for the first and also the last time. Yesterday evening I suddenly found out I was much needed by my in-law's family so I sent a LINE message late in the night to the dean Ms. Han, explaining my situation and asking if I could quit the substitute teaching after today.  I apologized. This early morning, I got her response, saying she understood and that she would solve the problem. This afternoon, when I arrived at school, she had already found a substitute for me, who is starting to teach on Thursday.

柏格曼：老師再不變 恐被YouTube取代

http://vision.udn.com/vision/story/8278/1636367-柏格曼：老師再不變-恐被YouTube取代

柏格曼：老師再不變 恐被YouTube取代

2016-04-18 06:58:50 聯合報 記者林秀姿／台北報導

翻轉教室創始人強納森柏格曼來亞洲巡迴演講，首站接受聯合報邀請來台。昨天他在三創生活園區，對著擠爆會場的教育工作者說，老師再不改變，恐將被YouTube取代。

強納森柏格曼在美國是高中自然科老師，教學經驗長達廿年，二○○七年他開始思考學生為什麼缺課？他和同事錄製許多影片幫學生「補課」，卻引發家長、校長質疑：「以後學生何必來學校？何必上課呢？」

College Admission & Flipped Classroom--"大學招生看幾級分 教室難翻轉"--from UDN

http://vision.udn.com/vision/story/8278/1636366-%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%B8%E6%8B%9B%E7%94%9F%E7%9C%8B%E5%B9%BE%E7%B4%9A%E5%88%86-%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4%E9%9B%A3%E7%BF%BB%E8%BD%89

大學招生看幾級分 教室難翻轉

2016-04-18 07:07:56 聯合報 記者林秀姿／台北報導

台灣教改廿年，但學生壓力卻有增無減。聯合報系昨舉辦「國際名人論壇」，台、美學者交換意見，台灣學者多表示翻轉教室推動困難，主因教學現場「分分計較」，成績至上。長期推動翻轉教學的台大電機系教授葉丙成直言，造成這種結果，「台灣的大學要負起最大責任。」

柏格曼談效率學習 「家中學習、上課複習」

http://udn.com/news/story/6885/1627856-柏格曼談效率學習-「家中學習、上課複習」

柏格曼談效率學習 「家中學習、上課複習」

2016-04-14 10:06 聯合報 記者羅緗綸／新豐報導

忠信學校邀強納森柏格曼與新竹各校校長分享翻轉學習，課堂上掃瞄卡片可掌握學生學習情形。 記者羅緗綸／攝影

(I reduced the size of the photo.)

新豐忠信學校昨天邀在國際間力推「翻轉教室」的強納森柏格曼演講，他主張「家中學習、上課複習」，教室是做討論的地方，有了更有效率的學習，就沒有必要再補習。台下新竹縣市60餘位校長認真聽講，都肯定老師教學方式應與時俱進，透過數位方式幫助學生做更好的學習。

My comments: I have been very interested in the flipped classroom. Maximizing the time for discussion in class is what I strived to do when I taught in school.

Interaction & Flipped Classroom--"柏格曼：翻轉不用太多高科技 重點是互動"--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/6901/1625249

柏格曼：翻轉不用太多高科技 重點是互動

2016-04-13 07:59 聯合報 記者蔣繼平／屏東縣報導

翻轉教室創始人強納森，昨天走入台灣偏鄉，一探台灣老師如何努力翻轉教學。觀課後，強納森柏格曼建議學校，教學影片跟娛樂片不一樣，為了學生更投入，老師可親自當影片主角，也可花時間跟學生一起看影片。

Voices of Art, a Concert

Time: 7:30pm, Apr. 16, 2016

Place: Song Yi Hall, Soochow University, Taipei

對教學挫折而換位思考：為何學生不想聽課？

http://udn.com/news/story/6885/1621009

對教學挫折而換位思考：為何學生不想聽課？

2016-04-11 08:26 聯合報 記者林秀姿／台北報導

強納森柏格曼在推動翻轉教室前，二○○二年已獲得總統傑出科學數學教學獎，他仍對教學感到挫折，當時他在科羅拉多州林地公園高中教書，不少學生愛上校外活動而缺課。

從失敗的老師變成席捲全球的教學改革者，他採取「換位思考」，為什麼學生不想聽課？為什麼課堂上有的學生聽得懂，也有學生困惑聽不懂？

The Flipped Classroom--"翻轉教室創始人柏格曼：在教室完成學習 消滅補習文化"

http://udn.com/news/story/6885/1621017-%E7%BF%BB%E8%BD%89%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4%E5%89%B5%E5%A7%8B%E4%BA%BA%E6%9F%8F%E6%A0%BC%E6%9B%BC%EF%BC%9A%E5%9C%A8%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4%E5%AE%8C%E6%88%90%E5%AD%B8%E7%BF%92-%E6%B6%88%E6%BB%85%E8%A3%9C%E7%BF%92%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96

翻轉教室創始人柏格曼：在教室完成學習 消滅補習文化

2016-04-11 08:24 聯合報 記者林秀姿／專訪

「唯有翻轉教室，才能消滅補習班。」翻轉教室浪潮的創始人強納森柏格曼（Jonathan Bergmann）將到亞洲巡迴演講，首站接受聯合報系邀請來台。訪台前夕，他接受聯合報越洋專訪表示，在美國很少學生下課後「補習」，但這幾年他才驚訝於韓國、中國大陸、台灣補習風氣大盛。

My comments: Cram school has been exisiting in Taiwan for ages.

不過，自從世界掀起翻轉教室浪潮，一個韓國學生告訴他，學校推動翻轉教室後，已不再補習了，因為在學校已經學到所有需要的知識。這讓柏格曼很欣慰。

Give Kids the Chance to Take Their Own Responsibility--"對孩子最好的保護就是 不保護"

對孩子最好的保護就是 不保護

文/洪蘭

一個朋友的孩子大學畢業半年了，沒有去找事，窩在家裡，白天睡覺，晚上上網。

最近跟他父母要錢，想去美國遊學，朋友來問我該不該讓他去？我望著他蒼蒼的白髮說：「你如果真的要為孩子好，讓他去，但是不要給他錢。」我想到了我妹婿的故事。我妹婿是美國人，從小就想作水手，嚮往外面的世界，想先環遊世界再回學校念。 雖然他父親是醫生，家庭經濟環境許可，但是父母並不給他錢，他也沒向家裡要，高中一畢業就先去阿拉斯加伐木存錢。因為阿拉斯加夏天日照很長，太陽到午夜才落下，三點多又升上來了。

Wei-yu and Yun-chien, Congratulations!

Time: 12pm~16pm, April 9, 2016

Place: 33rd floor, World Trade Center Club, Taipei

At my high schoo classmate Meiguey's (陳美桂) invitation, I attended her son Wei-yu's wedding. I was one of the two high school classmates she invited. We three were close friends back then.

Gathering with Junior High Schoolmates & Birthday Celebration

Time: 6pm~10:20pm, Apr. 8, 2016

Place: HuaKang Palace Wedding Party Hall (華港城婚宴會館), Taipei

Participants: Three teachers and 34 among Xin-xing Junior High School's first graduates, from all walks of life.

What Book Would You Be in a Human Library?

At our 3/28 gathering, I mentioned the human library and also asked Vicky if she were a "book" in a human library, what book she would be. Before she answered my question, I told her what I would be: People could borrow and "read" me as a grammar book. Hearing this, Vicky laughed and said, "Well, I think you could also be a life book, guiding the users to positive thinking and happiness. I was glad about it.

Students observe, and they know what kind of person you are.

It Is Love That Works--"「那種有問題的小孩，不要跟我的孩子同班」孩子的人格扭曲，你我也曾經是幫凶？"--from Business Weekly

http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/KBlogArticle.aspx?ID=16095&path=f

「那種有問題的小孩，不要跟我的孩子同班」孩子的人格扭曲，你我也曾經是幫凶？

撰文者一下迷路一下爆走

天下所有父母都盼著孩子成龍成鳳，特別是亞洲社會，幾乎傾全力關切著孩子的成績表現，似乎分數的成果就代表「教育的一切」，往往忽略了人性面、心靈面與社會關懷面的教導，不在乎孩子善不善良，愛不愛人，只在乎數學考幾分？英文考幾分？學測基測考幾分？

My comments: In his speech years ago, Mr. Cheng, Shih-yan (鄭石岩) said that the most important things to teach kids are being kind and being happy. He didn't mention success at all.

Hi or Dear? English for Email--"寫email，何時該用Hi、何時該用Dear開頭？"--from BusinessWeekly

http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/KBlogArticle.aspx?id=16039

寫email，何時該用Hi、何時該用Dear開頭？

撰文者世界公民文化中心

學生反應自己的語感不好，寫email常陷入兩難，擔心自己的email寫得不夠正式，老闆或客戶會覺得他不專業；有時又怕太正式，感覺和同事距離很遠，不該見外的事顯得見外。

其實正式和非正式比語感來得單純，在慢慢培養語感之前，先抓到幾個關鍵，搭配這裡幫同學整理的對照表，一點都不需要擔心太正式或不夠正式的問題：

A Time for Us

Time: 11:30am~3pm, Apr. 6, 2016

Place: New hama, Taipei

Participants: Mr. Lin (林煇校長), Meihua (許玫華老師), and me

Everyone Does His Best--"周行一／易子而教"--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/7340/1608541-%E5%91%A8%E8%A1%8C%E4%B8%80%EF%BC%8F%E6%98%93%E5%AD%90%E8%80%8C%E6%95%99

周行一／易子而教

2016-04-05 01:30 聯合報 周行一

兩個小孩念中學時，我都曾經自告奮勇教他們功課，兒子說：「爸爸你不會教」，女兒說：「我的功課很難喔，你不會的」。就像別的父母一樣，怕兒女成績不好，我們讓兩個小孩大量補習，英、數、物理、化學都免不了。其中先後教他們的數學補習老師最被小孩稱道，他們兩個都認為這個老師很「神」。其實我的學術還可以，但別的老師似乎才可以得到我小孩的認同，看來古訓「易子而教」是很有道理的。

Zhangshu Hiking Trail at Maokong, Flowers, and Me

Time: 2:40pm~4:10pm

Place: Zhangshu Hiking Trail at Maokong (貓空樟樹步道)

Teaching Writing to Young Learners: 10 Online Resources

http://blog.tesol.org/teaching-writing-to-young-learners-10-online-resources/#more-7798

Teaching Writing to Young Learners: 10 Online Resources

Posted on 1 April 2016 by Elena Shvidko

Today I will share a few websites that contain helpful resources and materials for teaching writing to young learners.

1. Creative Writing Teacher Resources

This collection of printables, graphic organizers, lesson plans, and activities helps teachers to build learner’ creative writing skills. The resources include poetry writing activities, journal topics, art projects, short-story writing exercises, scoring rubrics, and other printable worksheets.

Gathering with Diego

Time: 6pm~10pm, April 2, 2016

Place: VaPiano, Taipei

At each gathering, I can feel the eagerness of learning in Diego. This evening, he told me he is used to acquiring knowledge online. What amazes me is not only the width of his knowledge, but the depth. If you read the commentaries he posted on his FB page, you know what I mean.

Trip to Yilan with Junior High Schoolmates

Time: 11am (arrived at Yilan) ~ 5pm

Place: Yilan

Participants: 高儷綾, 唐銑, 陳俊智, 張同科, 杜欽榮, 蕭瑞陞, 淑華, 連莉霞, 許啟育, 周毓彥, and me