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!