Keep this in mind!

The Last Lecture-Chapter 24 page 112
....But in my mind, a better number one goal was this: I wanted to help students learn how to judge themselves. Did they recognize their true abilities? Did they have a sense of their own flaws? Were they realistic about how others viewed them?

Randy Pausche is not only an excellent scholar but also a great educator! He is always reflecting on how to do things better. No wonder he was so admired by the world. As a teacher, I think I have to set a higher goal to view myself as an educator. Helping students to become more postive and socially adapted is more important than teaching them knowledge which they might access anytime. I should always keep the above words in mind!

A passage in "The Last Lecture" that moved me to tears

Leaving the doctor's office, I thought about what I'd said to Jai in the water park in the afterglow of the speed slide. "Even if the scan results are bad tomorrow," I had told her, "I just want you to know that it feel great to be alive, and to be here today, alive with you. Whatever news we get about the scans, I'm not going to die when we hear it. I won't die the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that. So today, right now, well this is a wonderful day. And I want you to know how much I'm enjoying it." I thought about that, and about Jai's smile. I knew then. That's the way the rest of my life would need to be lived.


Randy Pausch keeps describing himself as a comoputer nerd in the book. Yet, he is the kind of nerd who can express his emotions and feelings so well. His strong will and optimism have really made him a moder hero!

Yesterday, when I was in class 113, I told them that they didn't do very well on English mid-term exam. Although their average grade is the second best among all the first-graders, they only won the third best by 0.2 point. This is not a good performance for them considering that they are a talented class. So, in class, I asked them to close their eyes and I would do some survey. I asked them questions like, how many of them thought that they had done their utmost and how many of them hadn't. As I had expected, almost half of them thought they didn't try their best. However, there are still about a dozen students who thought they had tried their best but still couldn't do well on tests. Today, when I was in their class and they were writing some tests, an idea flashed into my mind, which I could use to encourage them and teach them some conceptions. I thought of my experience of riding the foldable bike on the mountain road to Pin-ling, which is really an unforgettable experience for me. The following is my "speech" I made in front of them:

The Sunday before the last week, I went biking on the Pei-Yi highway to Pinglin. We started off from Taipei and passed Sin-Tien to get on the mountain road. I didn't have a good bike, so I borrowed a foldable bike to ride. When my friends told me we would ride on the mountain road, I wouldn't mind at all because I was quite confident of my physical strength and endurance. After all, I have exercised regularly for almost three years. So, I thought the trip would be just a little challenging but wouldn't scare me at all. With such innocence, we hit the road at nine in the morning. At first, being excited, the mountain road didn't really bother me. Panting and sweating was normal, I thought. And some part of the road is a little steeper but I just had to push myself a little bit and then I could go on riding. So, riding uphill about 1.5 hours, we reached the highest point of the highway and took some rest. We knew that we would feel easy the rest of the trip because we had got to the highest point and the road would be downward all the way to Ping-ling. After we took some rest, eating some chocolate and drinking some water, we started off again. When we were gliding down the mountain road, enjoying the cool breeze and the excitement of the high speed, we felt more complex than simply joyful. We were thinking that the high speed at which we were gliding down meant that it would be more difficult to ride back. We had already worried about the difficulty we would encounter when riding back uphill and that was why we couldn't enjoy the high speed and the breeze to the fullest.
About half an hour of gliding, we finally reached Ping-ling. There, we enjoyed an inexpensive good lunch. We also went to the Tea Museum to take a rest and do some strech there. At that time, I already felt sore in my thighs and legs. But when I thought of having to ride back on the same route, I told myself I had to forget the pain, or else, I would be unable to get on my bike again. So, I had no choice but to gather up my courage, get on the bike and hit the road again. It was more difficult than I had thought. It only took five minutes for me to realize how hard it would be to ride back to Taipei. I felt pain all over my legs after I just started riding. And there were still 8 kilometers of uphill road to go. I knew at that moment that it was only my will power that I could depend on to continue pedaling because I had used up all my strength. It was like competing with myself. I had to keep telling myself not to give up. I even begged my companions not to talk to me while riding because I was afraid that I might get distracted. I knew I had to pay all the attention to my pedaling and breathing. I had to have conversations with my own body. There were a few times I really felt as if I had no more strength and almost fell off the bike, but still, I clenched my teeth and made some growling sound to "squeeze out" some more strength from nowhere and kept pedaling. After an hour and half, we eventually got to the highest point. I felt a great sense of achievement. I felt an excitement that I had never felt before. We stopped for a while and had some tea and snacks to restore ourselves. After all, we were only on half way back to Taipei although the other half would be much easier. We finally got to Taipei at around six p.m. and this biking trip took almost 8 hours. This was the first time I rode on a mountain road for such a long time and I made it! I was proud of myself not only for my conquering the mountain road but also for that I made it with a foldable bike!

After I returned from the trip and went to work the next day, I told one of my colleagues who sometimes goes biking as well what I had achieved. I told her how challenging the biking tour was and how I suffered during the trip. To tell the truth, I was proud to tell her this experience because I thought there were not many females who could do that without much practicing. She listened but showed not much surprise and admiration. Then, one week after I told her, she told me that she also went biking on the same route. I asked her what it was like. She said it was "O.K." It was indeed challenging but she didn't feel worn-out as me. She blamed my sufferings on the foldable bike I rode and she also said that she didn't feel very exhausted because she had some professional friends to tell her when to change gears and speed. She also added that it took practice before you went mountain biking and she had gone biking several times.

I am now telling you my own experience of biking because I want to tell you that you might think that you have done your utmost and you have paid as many efforts as you can to study English but those who do better than you might pay more efforts than you do. Take my biking experience for example. I thought that I had tried my best and used up all my strength. However, my colleague seemed to use only half of her strength to finish the same biking tour. It is not because she is born a better biker than me but because she has practiced more times than I. We can always think that we have done our best but actually other people are doing more than us and that's why they are better than us. So, there is still a lot you can do and there's still something you can improve. If you really think that you have already paid every effort you can and there's no more you can do, maybe you can contemplate whether you are using a right and effective method or not. My colleague had professional friends to teach her some tips so she could do it without much pain while I didn't have any so I suffered a lot. Therefore, if you find your method of studying is not effective, you can consult your teachers or discuss with your classmates to find out a method that is more suitable for youself.....

Then I encourged them to do better next time on English exam and made a deal with them that they have to raise their average grade by 3 points at least. I also told them that if they could improve by 5 points, I would treat them to some goodies. They were glad to make this promise to me and I hope they can really keep the promise, for I had spent so much time telling my story to encourage them in class. I hope my words can really affect them and inspire them.

House viewing tour

Yesterday was an exciting day. I, with my boyfriend and his parents, went on an interesting and "educational" house viewing tour in the district of Yilan County Administration Center. There are plenty of new, big houses there. Some are even like villas. The district is the only area that was planned well in Yilan. There are many regulations and restrictions on house construction there. Therefore, there is supposed to be no illegal constrution there. And so, houses there should be more good-looking and safer and every building land should contaion a certain proportion
of yard or garden. With so many patches of garden or lawn among the houses, the residential area there is a view! Living there is like living in a Japanese community, a dream community. Although there is still a lot of land unused and some area is still a little bit deserted, the district's got potential to be the most high-classed community in Yilan. During the day, we had went into several houses to have a look. It's really fun to watch new houses, especially the ones with some furnishings. Watching these new houses can give me some ideas of how we can decorate our house.
When things get started, I also start to look forward to my new life. I am looking forward to having a cozy new home and living happily with my family. And I expect myself to be a woman who can take care of both work and family. Starting to think about managing a house and taking care of family means starting to become a real adult. Maybe soon, I will formally say goodbye to my girlhood and step into another stage of life.

(a country house in Salzburg)

Dec. 4

I am now waiting to play badminton. This is one of my "extracurricular activities." I started to play this sport about three years ago. At that time, I just wanted to exercise in a fun, not boring, way. So I joined in the school badminton team and played every Tuesday and Friday. However, I was a poor player then. Everyone in the team played a hundred times better than I. So, it was not at all exciting to play with me. And if playing double, I was a bad partner, which always made the game look like a single. Of course, I also found no pleasure in playing badminton with those skilled players. Then, I decided to find some colleagues who were as bad as me to play with me. I was surprised that there were really some female colleagues who also wanted to play the sport. From that time on, we, several girls, went to the gym on Tuesdays and Fridays and occupied a court to play our own game. We enjoyed ourselves on the court but we still didn't neglect the so-called "sports manners"--which is not to occupy a court too long and to take turns to play. However, perhaps we were too innocent and too "happy" when playing badminton, we were distasted by other players without knowing it. Those skilled players might have thought that we played poorly yet we still occupied a court. In short, we were not qualified to use a court. So, one day, a senior female colleague came to us when we were taking rest after playing a keen game. Very "indirectly", she suggested us to find some other days to play our games because there are not enough courts. She tried to tell us not to occupy their courts in an indirect way. However, what she tried to do was not decent basically. So, she spoke and acted very awkwardly. She as well as we knew that she had no good reasons to make us leave. If courts are not enough, everybody can take turns to play. Anyway, we were certainly offended by her words, but she was a senior to us after all. So, each of us just kept silent, listening to what she said. Then, we could not but promise her that we would play on other days but we still felt very offended and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, because of this experience of being humiliated, I was determined to practice my badminton skills and play well. I decided to take this sport as my second profession. And I also made a decision secretly that I would one day beat her on the badminton court. I want to revenge!! Ha! She never knew who she messed up with!

Now, I've been playing badminton for three years. And my skills did improve a lot. What's more, I could easily beat her on the court. After all, she is much older than me. Now, I am going to prepare to play and have fun on courts!

December 2

Time flies. It is almost the end of the year. And it's been another two weeks since last time I posted something here. Life changes all the time. In the past two weeks, many things happened. A big shopping mall was open and all the people in town are talking about the mall. "Have you been to the mall?" has become the most frequently heard greeting in Ilan recently. Yeah! I have hung out there two times and also have spent money there. The opening of the mall is really a breakthrough of the development of Ilan city. The Carefour is allegedly the biggest one in east Taiwan. Should we be proud of this? Let's wait and see. I am more looking forward to the opening of Eslite Bookstore in the mall. It occupied the greatest corner of the floor in the mall. But the most important is whether they have a large collection of books or not. The previous one in Yo-Ai was so disappointing. I hope it can improve. As for my work life, there has been some frustrations in my class management. But fortunately, everything is fine now. I can adjust myself to take those criticisms and malicious comments as a challenge for myself. I can learn and grow mature from that. And I also try no to take things too personally. After all, the top priority is whether my students can learn in a good environment or not. So I am only a supporting role while my studnets are the leading roles. Once I change my way of thinking, I can be more rational, unaffected, to deal with problems. I am sincerely grateful for those who criticize my class and me because they give me a chance to think and learn. From every failure or frustration, I think I have gained more courage to move on.














The view from my seat in my office

Nov. 19

Making it a habit to write something in English every day is not easy. It's been more than a week since I last posted something here. I really have no idea why I have been so busy last few days that I couldn't even spare a few minutes to write something. I was not being lazy. It's just every day there seems to be endless work I have to finish. In the past few days, I have been busy working on my project of IWill. I designed an on-line lesson for my students. Although doing this is not difficult for me, it still has to take quite an amount of time to finish a project. First, I have to spend some time organizing my teaching ideas. Then, I have to think up some way to present my ideas. Collecting the ingredients for the presentation also requires a lot of time. Sometimes, I may come across some technical problems, which may waste a lot of time. So, generally speaking, it takes me at least 10 hours to finish a teaching project. And I am sure I work quite efficently. Now, I have finished the job, and later I will use this project to teach my students. Hope it can work well!

Hahaha...

Today, my class had the foreign teacher's class. In an activity, students were asked to say their daily routines. When this part was finished, the foreign teacher asked them if their routines in weekends were different from those in weekdays. Not surprisingly, students answered, "There's no difference. We still have to go to school on Saturdays." Then, I heard some little voice saying "holes" and several others also repeated "holes." All the students laughed and turned their heads to look at me and there was a bit commotion. Then, another voice said, "We have to dig holes on weekends." I coudn't help but laugh. What is funny about this? Now, let me explain. This semester, I assigned my students to read two English novels. We have already finished one novel (The secret garden), which is not difficult for them. But when they started to read the other one(Holes), they found it very challenging because there are too many new words in the novel for them. And some students would spend 3 or 4 hours just looking up new words in dictionaries. Besides, they have to do the reading homework that I assign every week. Like the hero in the novel, who has to dig a big hole every day in the camp, students feel like they are digging holes in some sense. Their assignment is just as difficult as digging a hole for the hero. I admire my students' cleverness to mock themselves in this way. And I am also glad to see that the reading(or the novel) has become part of their lives. Ha!

Down

As soon as I stepped into the classroom of 112 this afternoon, I sensed something different in the air. The atmosphere was kind of tense. Studnets seemed to be a little down and unenergetic. I knew part of the reason was that they couldn't go to the auditorium to watch their seniors' chorus contest. Their class schedule is different from the other classes because they are so-called "language talented" students and the school has given them many extra classes and lectures. When all the other classes attend activities of student clubs, they have to stay in the classroom studying. I don't like this arrangement at all, but I can do nothing to change it. Everytime when I see the disappointment on students' faces, I feel helpless, too. They know they are treated specially by the school, but they don't know they are sooooo special that they even can't participate in some school activities. When I sensed this disappointment today, I again played the role of offering some comfort to them. However, I found my words didn't work at all on them. They still looked dispirited. Then, I realized there must have something else happening in the morning. I stopped my teaching to ask them what had happened to them. I was showing my concern and sincerity, but they seemingly didn't know how to tell me(or maybe they just didn't want to tell me.) Now, I was discouraged. I thought that I was their homeroom teacher whom they could trust and count on most. I tried my best to stand in their shoes and encourage them. But it seems I am still not a teacher whom they can really rely on and talk anything to. At last, there were some students telling me that they were down maybe because their math teacher had a serious conversation with them in her class. What the math teacher told them has some effect on them. Ok, at least this explains some part of their discouragement. Although I don't really think that's the real reason, I try to believe them. When I finished my class, on the way back to my office, I was thinking, "Maybe I think too much. Maybe I worry too much." Sometimes, students would get low in spirits for no reason. It may be the change of weather; it may be the weariness from their over-loading homework and tests. Perhaps I have to learn to not bother myself with these questions so that I can be calmer and more stable to help them go through these problems. From this experience, I realize that I care more about them than I thought. That means the there is more pressure to manage this class than I expected.

shopaholic!

Gosh! I am a shopaholic! Almost every time I go to Taipei, I go shopping and buy something. Last weekend, I bought a jacket, a skirt, a scarf and a pair of sports pants, which altogether cost me almost three thousand dollars. Now, just two days later, I have already been browsing some on-line clothes shops, searching for the items I want to buy, yet trying hard to control my desire at the same time. Why can't women resist the temptation of shopping? This must be a curse! A curse for almost every girl and woman. I know "beauty is but skin deep," but people say "clothes make the man." These two sayings seem to contradict to me. Maybe shopping is just one nature of women. I can't change this, but perhaps what I can do is read more to elevate my mind so that I can keep a balance between the shallow beauty and the inner, real beauty. HA!! Ok, ok, I have no shallow beauty! What I want to say is it's time for me to do some reading. Stop talking this nonsense!

A parent's call

I got another phone call from a father of a student in my class yesterday afternoon. This is a long story, but I will try to make it short. We will go on a visiting trip this Saturday. The places we will visit are the Eslite Bookstore in Shin-Yi District, the Palace Museum and Bei-tou Library. The second and third destinations were decided by our school adminstration while the first one (Eslite Bookstore) was proposed by me. I chose this place because this bookstore is really a marvel. I say so because Eslite is now not only a shop which sells books and some stationery, it has also become a cultural token of Taiwan. It represents a taste and a lifestyle which the middle class is pursuing. Where else in the world can we find another bookstore like this? Anyway, I am always impressed by this Eslite Bookstore wonder created by the founder. This is also why I would like my students to take a tour in the largest Eslite Bookstore in Taiwan. I presumed that only a very few students have been there. However, to my surprise, when I told my students about this destination we would visit, nearly one-third of them told me that they had been there. (Oops, I am off my topic again.) Back to the father who called me. He didn't allow his daugher to join in this visiting trip. So, I called the girl's mother to ask about the reason in the morning. I thought that after talking with her mother, this case was closed. However, in the afternoon, her father called. At first, he told me why he wouldn't let his daugher attend this trip. The reasons sound to me somewhat absurd, such as that he was afraid his daugher would just go there for fun without learning anything. He also told me that he didn't let his daugher attend the graduation trip in junior high because "bus drivers are prone to doze off when driving, which is very dangerous." Then, he started to give his "intellectual speech" to me. He gave his suggestions on how we should arrange this kind of visiting trip. He said a visiting trip was worthless if it didn't serve some purpose of education. I told him that we had already asked students to write a report after the trip. But he still stuck with his own opinions on what an education-oriented visiting trip should be like. Actually, at the beginning of our talk, I had already known that this father just wanted to show off his knowledge. I could have ended this converstion if I wanted to. But somehow, I was very curious about what he wanted to say and I also wanted to fight back if I got any chance. So, during the conversation, I was acting like I was very involved in this "exchange of ideas" so that he could spill more to me to reveal his own weakness. I knew that I was evil. But that's the way I deal with a parent who is offensive and does nothing constructive but criticize. As for my response to this father, I indeed got a chance to express my opinions to fight against his twisted concept of education. (But this is another long story.) After the talk, I started to pity his daugher. She is a very intelligent and creative girl. But from the beginning of this semester, I've already noticed some problems in her and also talked to her about that several times. However, what can I do? I think I can only wish her luck.

Nov. 3

It is another new month! This month, I will be very busy. I have to catch up with the syllabus. I should speed up my teaching for fear that I may not cover all the materials for the second mid-term exam. Besides, it is my turn to make test papers for the exam. I hate this time-consuming job. It can take me as long as one hour to make up just one question. I am just that unproductive in terms of making test papers. Moreoever, there will be more and more school and class activies in the middle of the semester. These extra jobs will make my tight schedule even tighter. How I hope time actually flies and winter vacation is coming soon. I want to travel!

Time management

Today, I received a phone call from a student's parent. She told me on the phone that she was very worried about her daughter's health because her daughter hasn't had a good night sleep since she entered senior high school. Every day, she seems to have endless homework and tests to prepare for. She has to stay late almost every day. The mother was so worried that she herself couldn't sleep well. From the tone she used when talking to me, I could sense that she was so helpless that she was nearly blaming us(school teachers) for giving students too much homework. However, she was trying hard to hold back her anger because she knew it was not us to blame but the whole education system. Anyway, I can empathize with the parent's worry because I've heard so many students complaining about the heavy load of schoolwork. I have already tried hard to support them and help them deal with pressure. But since there has been a parent calling me to ask for help, I thought I should do more to help students with this problem. After I hung up the phone, I tried to think up some practical advice I could give to my students. In just a few minutes, Professor Randy Pausch's theory about time management came into my mind. Randy Pausch's idea about time management is an easy and effective method to help you classify the tasks you have to do. All your work can be classified into four groups--important and urgent, unimportant and urgent, important and not urgent, unimportant and not urgent. I shared this idea with my students in my English class.(I often use my own English class time to deal with my homeroom class's problem. That's why I may risk failing to teach all the assigned lessons before next mid-term exam.) I wanted my students to classify all their homework and tests into these four groups and put these groups in an order--which group of tasks they should do first and which is the last. Almost all the students put the group of "unimportant but urgent" in the second place, which is what most people do according to Randy Pausch. I told them, if they do the "unimportant but urgent" before the "important and not urgent", once they finish doing the former, the later will soon turn into an "important and urgent", which means they will be always urged by time. Thus, they will always do everything hastily to meet the due date. In this way, their life will become a vicious circle. So, I asked them to reconsider how they should arrange their jobs. There is no definite answer. The order in which they put their work depends on their own habits and situations. I just wanted them to think about it. I don't know how many students really understand this concept of time management, but after all, I have grown a seed in their mind. I hope one day this idea can really work for them.

Being cruel!

I never thought that one has to be cruel to be a high school teacher. If you sympathize with students' pressure, you will be too soft-hearted to give them assignments. Being a homeroom teacher of such a class, I couldn't neglect their pressure from studies and tests. I have to take care of their feelings and the problems they might come across. At the same time, I am also their English teacher.I have my requirements for students in my English class. However, whenever I assign homework to them, an inner voice of their homeroom teacher will tell me not to push them too hard and that they already have too much work from other subjects to do. When I face this dilemma, I will try hard to forget my identity of their homeroom teacher and be cruel to give them my assignments, which might be challenging for them. Lately, I have been trying to balance the job of being a homeroom teacher and that of being an English teacher. And I also hope my students can distinguish my two different identities.

Let's call it a day. (I mean my writing.) I have to prepare to play badminton now!

Oct. 27

This weekend, I saw two movies on DVDs. One is about friendship and middle-age crisis. The other is about brotherhood and spiritual journey. I like both of them, especially "The Darjeeling Limited" (one about brotherhood). The cast of the film is good. There are three leading actors in the movie. One is Owen Wilson and I can't remember the names of the other two. The setting of the movie is in India, mostly on a train to Darjeeling. The story is about three brothers who haven't met each other for a long time going on a spiritual journey in India, which is the eldest brother's idea. The eldest brother, played by Owen Wilson, got severely injured in a car accident. He almost died in the accident. When he was being saved, what flashed in his mind was his two brothers and the childhood they spent together. So, after the accident, he decided to "summon" his two younger brothers over to join his so-called spiritual journey. Somehow, despite that they were distant from each other(both physically and emotionally), they finally made it to get on the train. The three brothers have been parted for quite a long time, each one having his own way of life. They have so different personalities and ways of thinking. This is why it is interesting to see three totoally different types of persons having to stay together in a tiny coach. At first, probably because they haven't hung out for a long time, they are like three parallel lines. Their talk is not so much a converstaion as a monologue. No one is really responding to another's remarks. However, there's still some unspeakable mutual understanding among these three brothers. After all, they are brothers. Just as they say in the movie, "If we were not brothers, could we be friends?" They know they are different people but they still have something in common that only brothers have. After all, they grew up in the same enviornment, going through the same family events. So, even though they have been separated for a long time, it isn't long before they get back into the same mode of interaction--the eldest give orders while the younger ones obey. On the other hand, the eldest, who always has to make decisions, has the greatest burden of responsibilities. He has to be strong and decisive, yet, he also needs his brothers to support him.
(I have to stop writing here, cause Clio is keeping sending messages to me, I can't make my thoughts organized. I will finish it next time.)

Show and Tell

Every Thursday, I have my students do "show and tell." They have to bring something meaninful to them and tell a story about it. In my class, almost every student who has already given the presentation did a very good job. Some of them speak fluent English; some of them presented interesting contents. I've enjoyed every student's presentation. However, not until today did I see a really impressive and touching presentation. This presentation was given by a student who is not so good at English. She even got the lowest grade on English mid-term exam in my class. At first, I didn't expect much from her report. And as I had predicted, she couldn't do without her note. However, as her report went on, I as well as all the students sensed the sincerity in her report, or to be more precise, her confession. The class became more silent than usual because everyone was all ears to listen to her story carefully. The first few words she said in her report had already caught everybody's attention. She began like this, "You know that my fingers are different from yours." As soon as these words came out, not only I but also most of the students were confused and a little bit shocked. She held out her right hand, and we could clearly see that her index finger was amputated. Most of the students were shocked because they, like me, knew this for the first time. They have studied together for two months and they hadn't known this until today. Then, the reporter told the story about how she lost her finger. When she was one year old, she accidentally touched a sewing machine. Her finger got injured so badly that the doctor had no choice but to cut her finger off. Despite the defect of her finger, when she was still a child, she decided to learn to play the piano. Her parents tried to find a piano teacher for her, but when piano teachers learned about her problem, they refused to take the challenge of teaching her. However, they finally found a teacher who was willing to teach her. During the report, she didn't mention much about how difficult it was for her to learn playing the piano. She just said that she had to find some other ways or create her own techniques to make up for her defect of her finger. Then, she played a video clip of her playing a number in a concert. In contrast to her calmness when she was speaking, the audience were touched and emotionally affected by her report, including me. I was so touched by her determintaion and enthusiasm for music. Imagine the obstacles she had faced with on her way to pursuing her music dream. Some might have doubted whether she could play music or not. Some might have said something discouraging to her. However, she didn't give up playing the piano. So far, she has learned to play the piano for 10 years. Now, she can play very well. Today, I learned a great lesson from her. Every student has her own story, even if they are still very young. I am grateful that I can be a teacher, whose job involves meeting different types of people. I think I will learn much more from them than they from me.

Oct. 22

I have nothing particular to say. I just want to write something in English. Today is just a normal work day. I didn't have class until 11 o'clock in the morning, yet I still went to school very early to see the students take tests. Then, after the morning study session was over, I went directly to the breakfast shop to have breakfast. I ordered the Chinese egg pancake with corns and cheese and a cup of iced black tea. I read newspapers while I was eating my breakfast. After finishing my breakfast, I went back to my office and started to prepare lessons. There were still 2 and half hours away from my first class. Sometimes it is more tiring to wait for classes than having classes. My second class is in the afternoon. Now, I am sitting here typing because I've finished my second class. And I am about to have my last class for today. I think I have to leave. Today's article is very boring and lacks content. Sorry for myself.

My recent life

It has been 2 months since I took the job of being the homeroom teacher as well as the English teacher of Class 112, which is called the Language Talented class. It requires a lot of courage to take the job. I don't mean that I am more courageous than other teachers. The reason I would take this job was just that I was half forced to. The principal was too persuasive and a little bit arbitrary when he was talking me into taking this job. So, I could not but promise to take the job without any struggles. I knew, sooner or later, it would be my turn to teach the Language Talented class. But, I had never thought that I would be assigned to be the homeroom teacher of that class. I thought that I was still green and not experienced enough. There are still so many experienced teachers who are more qualified than me to take the job. Anyway, I have been on the boat. I can't get off the boat halfway. All I can do now is grit my teeth and move on. So far, I have taught the class for 2 months. To be frank, it is not as challenging as I had expected, although there are indeed some challenges or problems that I have never handled before. The problems of this class are very different from those of other "normal" classes. In a normal class, one thing a homeroom teacher does is remind students to study harder. A homeroom teacher of a normal class has to think up as many ways as possible to encourage students to work hard, get good grades, and be competitive. However, the situation is very different in a talented class. Students in a talented class are competitive enough and most of time, they put too much pressure on themselves. They always want to be perfect and they are too demanding for themselves. So, the task of a homeroom teacher of such a class is no more asking them to study harder but teaching them to relax. The homeroom teacher of such a class is more like a counselor. She has to give comfort and security for these anxious students. There has been too much tension in class and among the students. If the homeroom teacher adds more tension or pressure on the class, some students are very likely to break down. The competition between students is too keen, and the stress from the schoolwork is too much for them. If the atmosphere of the class is not good or the environment is not secure, it is very likely that some of the students will drop out of the class before long. However, to my relief, the students in my class are supporting one another. They have created a good atmosphere in class. Besides, I am not as anxious as I was during the first two weeks. I can be more relaxed when facing them. Just as an observant student of mine told me, "If you(I as their teacher) can be calmer and more confident, we(the students) will feel more secure to rely on you." I know I am making some progress. No matter how challenging the job is, I should feel appreciated that I got the chance to grow and mature.

Why do you think people attend university and college?

University Education is not a compulsory education in any country. Besides, studying in university costs more and more money because the tuition fee is getting higher. However, in recent years, more and more people choose to go to university rather than find a job after they graduate from high school. So, there is no denying that there must be some advantages of studying in university.

Unlike high schools, university is supposed to be an unlimited learning ground. It should provide numerous chances to learn different knowledge and skills. Students can take whatever courses they have interest in and are helpful for their future careers. With different departments and the experts in different knowledge field, university can offer a large diversity of courses. Students can get different perspectives from different courses and professors. Usually, people with some knowledge about different subjects are more likely to get a better job or perform better in their careers. And university is just the place for students to cultivate the background knowledge of every field.

In addition to the pursuit of knowledge, university also offers a place for students to know and socialize with different people. In a university, students come from all around the country. Everyone grows up in different regions and families, and thus, their values of life must vary a lot. Therefore, university is just like a mini society where students can develop their social connections. These connections may play an important part in their future careers.

Besides the above-mentioned two advantages of going to university, there is still another advantage which can’t be neglected. When people study in university, schoolwork is not as heavy as that in high schools. Hence, they may have much free time to arrange their life. For example, some may devote themselves to their own hobbies. Others may learn foreign languages or computer skills. Still others may join in some charity-oriented students clubs to do some volunteer work. The four years are really a good time for students to do something they won’t have any time to do after they go into the society. So if students can make good use of their time in university to pursue their interests, they will not feel any regret when they really go into work and find themselves too busy to engage in their hobbies.

All in all, there are more advantages to study in university than drawbacks. Some may argue that people spend four years in university to get a diplomat but end up in failing to find a job, so going to university just wastes the resource of our society. However, I think the unemployment has very little to do with university education. Although university does not promise people their jobs, it is definitely a place which provides further learning and training and also helps people of a country elevate their levels, which is beneficial to the development of a society. Therefore, I hold a very positive attitude toward university education.

No time to waste!

I have to get started! Start practising English writing! I should make up my mind to sharpen my English. First, I will take the TOFEL test and have to get a high score. If I don't do something, I will lose my confidence little by little.(although I don't have much confidence left) When my colleagues are going to study in graduate school one by one, I can feel a little threatened and insecure. I know I don't really like to study, either in Taiwan's graduate schools or abroad. I am not so motivated to get a higher degree. However, I know that I have to improve my professional knowledge and skills lest I should be eliminated from this more and more competitive society. Although everything looks fine currently,no one can say for sure that the world will not change. So, I have to develop some advantages over others. And I have no time to lose now. I'd better get started soon.