Chris' Wonderland

Though I have a tight schedule this semester, I still grasp some time to participate in conferences and workshops. Only by doing so, can I get out of pressed work and breathe a little bit free air. Most of important, I can trigger my brain to think. The following is what I got this week: 12/1 Testing guides Teaching What a teacher teaches must base on pragmatic function of the target language. 12/2 Creative Teaching There is a gap between teaching and learning. However, if I can see, then I will think. If I can think, then I will do. If I can see, I can think, and I can do, then that is learning. That is understanding. 12/3 Talk at United University What a competitive world! 12/4 Grief Healing Garden I shed tears while staring at the Buddha's tears. 12/5 Teaching at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology The earlier it is for a student to get his or her hands on books, the sooner he or she will learn to read. (by Watt) 12/6 Proposal Writing for NSC If you think it, y...

I feel sad.... I remember seven years ago I gave a talk on the issue of teaching and learning at Chimin University of Science and Technology. I started with a story; the story went like this: Charlie Brown told his friend that he had taught Snoopy how to whistle. Charlie's friends were so excited when they heard that. They asked Charlie to bring Snoopy here and then they could have a happy party. Yeah, everyone agreed with that wonderful idea. At that moment, Charlie irritated, saying "Hey, I said I had taught him how to whistle, but I did not say he learned it." The audience laughed and assented to my point. In fact, I was sharing my experience with them how to fill in the gap between teaching and learning, because I was proud that I was a successful instructor with plenty of compliments from my students. Well, well, well, ironically, it seems that I encounter the problem that I tried to give a solution to before. Can you imagine the feeling I have right now? What should...

Why is blog interesting! Look at the video from YouTube!

Absolutely amazing! Now, take a look at this... From a strictly mathematical viewpoint: What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%. What equals 100% in life? Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions: If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. If: H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K 8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98% And: K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E 11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96% But: A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E 1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100% Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there.Have a great week ahead !! Beauty of Mathematics !!!!!!! 1 x 8 + 1 = 9 12 x 8 + 2 = 98 123 x 8 + 3 = 987 1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876 12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765 1234...

Why do we need to work? Why do I need to work? Why do I accept so much work? I am not happy at doing it. Why? 為磨鍊自己而工作 青年朋友乍入職場，年紀輕沒有經過磨鍊，比較缺乏耐心和毅力，在工作中一旦遇到挫折，就可能想要逃避，有這種反應其實是正常的。現在的人和過去不一樣，心不容易定下來，造成流動性高，變動頻繁。所以工作變動性大，是非常普遍而且可以理解的現象。當人們不知道做什麼工作最好時，正反映出對自己的不夠瞭解，因為人生沒有一定的方向，做這樣覺得不好、做那樣也覺得不好，做一行怨一行，結果沒有一行是稱心如意的。我在美國認識一位年輕人，他平均三個月換一個工作，而且總是會跑來告訴我換工作的事。他說世界上沒有好工作可以讓他持久做下去，我告訴他：「因為你不是好人，所以沒有好工作給你。」他反駁說：「我怎麼不是好人？我很忠誠、努力，一個人可以做兩個人的工作，所以不論到哪裡老闆都欺負我，看我很會做事，就把兩份工作給我一個人做，所以我做一做就走人了。」 我告訴他：「為什麼人家只做一份工作，你要做兩份？而且你做一做就走掉了，是既不瞭解自己，又沒有毅力，當然找不到安身立命的地方。」 俗話說：「家家有本難念的經」，不但有難念的經，而且天天都有經要念。若平常遇到困擾，不知道如何解決，卻又不想辦法，久了就會變成死結，卡在那裡了。可是這裡一旦卡住，到另外一個地方也是會卡住。無論逃到哪裡，因為問題沒有解決，心存逃避，仍然會重蹈覆轍。 在日本，有些公司為了考驗新進員工的毅力，會要求他們去打禪七。打坐很苦，會腿痛、背痛，坐著不准動又不准講話，心裡是很不舒服的，如果熬不過就跑掉，這種人當然不能錄用，因為從中可看見他們面對問題時的逃避個性，當然就不錄用。這樣的磨鍊，考驗的是毅力，而不是體力和智慧。 許多公司行號任用新人，都會看新進人員的經歷，第一個工作做什麼？做多久？第二個工作的情形如何？如果資歷又短又經常更換，很可能就不會被錄用，即使任用了，也不敢把重要的工作交給你，因為你可能隨時會辭職。老闆不能信任你、重用你，你自己也會覺得工作上沒有前途。 因此，奉勸年輕人：剛開始工作的時後，不管是什麼工作，一定要耐心磨鍊自己，不要只是為了輕鬆賺錢，而要鍛鍊自己的毅力。就算老闆什麼也不教，還是能學到毅力，一段...

Why do I feel exhausted this semester?

It's really not that hard? Hi there, I got an interesting email about an annual senior citizen test. The email emphasizes that "exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles". I totally agree with that although I do not know who wrote the test. (Please let me know if you wrote it.) It is quite true when we grow older, it's important to keep mentally alert. Otherwise, we will lose it if we don't use it! So, why not give it a try? "It is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence. Take the test presented here to determine if you're losing it or not. The spaces below are so you don't see the answers until you've made your answer. OK, relax, clear your mind and begin. 1. What do you put in a toaster? Answer: 'bread.' If you said 'toast,' give up now and do something else. Try not to hurt yourself. If you said, bread, go to Question 2. 2. Say 'silk' five times. Now spell 'silk.' ...

Calm Down I need to calm down so that I can handle things clearly and smoothly. I cannot lose my patience and temper when dealing with their default. I cannot push them too much so that they are afraid of the new environment. As a perfectionist, how can I balance the situation? I guess I need to read novels to distract myself from the "chaos."

Hi there, I love a summer break for I can take a long, long breath and do plenty of things that I won't do during the semester. For example, I can get good and enough sleep, read my favorite novels, go traveling and see the world, take a walk in the late afternoon or evening with my husby hand in hand, learn new stuff such as PowerDirector and Ulead VideoStudio, and, most of all, I can do a lot of thinking and study the material for the next semester. I did these I mentioned. I have been being happy. However,now I am kind of sad because I smell the beautiful time will come to the end. (Indeed, people usually say happy times always goes fast.) Well, well, the material I need to prepare for the next semester still hasn't been finished. Then again, one thought comes to my mind: do they do this? I doubted. Perhaps they are too good to do this preparation.

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is one of the most effective skills in language learning. However, it is one of the most difficult tasks for EFL learners. A lot of learners are usually confused with the big term which makes them mistake it for summarizing. Paraphrasing and summarizing indeed overlap in some way, but they are not exactly the same. Citing from Cambridge Advanced Dictionary, paraphrasing is a skill to clearly repeat something written or spoken by using the presenter own words, often in a humorous or a simpler form. One thing needs to be emphasized: the presenter, either the speaker or the writer, cannot loose the original meaning; instead, he or she needs to stick with the primary information and make it clear. By contrast, summarizing is to express the most important facts or ideas about something or someone in a short and clear form. There are three kinds of summaries in general. They are brief, extended, and summary-response summaries. A brief summary only focuses on the aut...

Republic of Creativity Today, I read an article named "An Introduction to Critically Thinking in Picture Books," written by an elementary school teacher. Normally, I won't pay much attention to the Chinese articles especially the ones that refer to teaching reflection. After all, I had plenty of reflection in my brain and also published not a few articles under my belt. However, this article mentioned a special term that caught my eye. It is ATDE. ATDE stands for asking, thinking, doing, and evaluation. Although it is quite common to see the components, it reminds me whether I apply them fully in my teaching when I am preparing for the teaching job next semester. In fact, teaching material in English is not difficult for English teachers, but designing activities is. At least, it is the challenging ones for me to design activities to achieve the teaching purposes and please my students at the same time. Well, well, just ask, think, do, and evaluate. Haha, it is not for st...

Recharge Myself It is happy to see my being vibrant and alive. However, there are times when I feel burning out or running down. It seems the right time. A sound, coming from my heart, reminds me that I need to figure out the underlying cause for exhaustion and inefficiency, and I need to find a way to recharge my battery. Take meditation? Or tune in a moment of silencce? Taking an honest look at how I have been thinking, feeling and acting, I find a certain behavior pattern and relationship that is out of alignment with who I am now. I need to cut down some situations which are draining my energy and time. Can I get clear on the root cause? Can I weed it out and better direct my flow of energy in the future? I hope so.

Jessica's Creative Story

A Fishing Boat vs A Maritime Defense Frigate The event of Tiaoyutai Islands occurred again! Territorial issue? Perhaps. But it is about the lives of human beings! I don't know why the Japanese maritime defense frigate "willfully" rammed the fishing boat. The fishermen could die for this collision. In fact, if the frigate really thinks the boat intrudes their territory, she could cry out to drive the fishing boat, not colliding it directly. It seems like a strong man who rapes a lady without any weapon accuses her of "committing adultery." Of course, it is for sure that people in Taiwan gave a spontaneous outcry against the "outrageous act." But if there were not, would our government take any further action? I really appreciate that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has guts to ask the Taipei representative in Japan to return to Taipei for so-called a home consultation. After all, this incident is promising to escalate into a Tiaoyutai crisis.

Practice makes perfect! It is a permanent saying for anyone. See! Here is the evidence.

To follow the flow of the modern society, it is necessary to keep track of all the fragments. Likewise, leaving some tracks is important, too. Here is an example for you to see whether time indeed changes someone in somewhere.

Time flies. When it is the time, even good friends have no choice but leave for the unknown future. To wipe off the sorrow of leaving, people always try their best keep some good memories.

Invited by the publisher, I took the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Taichung to have a one-hour speech. This was the first time for me to take the railway, even though I did not have any special feeling or any excitement. However, one thing indeed attracted me: passengers looked as neat as the station and the train. "Is that because passengers who afford to take the train look noble?" Quickly, the image crashed though I had to admit I saw not a few neat gentlemen. At 12:06, Rock picked me up at the station. Glancing around, I started doubting whether this was Taichng--it was not the same as I think. Then, I was surprised again to see so many teachers crowded in the gym. "How lucky the Taipei teachers are!" "How lucky I am!" Well, the third thing surprised me was the slow atmosphere seemed to influence anyone in this place. There I'd like to shout, "Taipei, you are really energetic! I love Taipie!" Then again, I couldn't help laughing--no wonde...

While people were celebrating Mother's Day, I was celebrating myself in involved in attending a workshop. In fact, I was not alone because I ran into Sophie, Alice senior and junior, and my colleague--Hwei-Fon. Surprisingly, I received a call from my sisters right after the workshop. They wanted to buy me a special dinner to celebrate the special day. Ha,how content I was! The following are the excerpts from Richard R. Day. May 11 (Sunday) Ambassador, Oxford Press Richard R. Day 1. If teachers are talking, students will not read. 2. Try to accept students' own interpretation of a test. 3. Reading fluency: unknown words general words sight vocabulary Then, students can be effortlessly learners. 4. If you want to torture students, you can show students one word after another, but each word should be shown around 30 seconds or even 1 minute. That is, reading word by word will slow the speed of reading and also interrupt the reading comprehension. 5. Strategies are read to learn,...

It is October. It is the first time for me to go to an international conference. Although I do not really appreciate the weather and even the conference, I love the feeling that I can escape from the busy life for a while.

According to Lally & Miller (2006), there is a significant relationship between academic performance and self-concept. It sure is. The experience reminds me that learners with low self-concept tend to have lower academic achivements. However, here comes another question: Do students with high self-concept perform significantly better even if they are lower academic achievers? So far, it seems to be positive. However, the result seems to be limited. I need to have more evidence to say so.

Sweet home? Never heard of it?! I did not even know how to define "home" until I settled down. My childhood was not that miserable, but it always brought me a sense of pain for myself, for my mom. With my mom's hardwork, I was not scratched by the stiff stuffing protruding from the mattress when I was a child. Nether did I jumble together with my sisters with fleas leaping. That was because we did not have a mattress. We had only boards. Yet, I tended to fall down on the ground while sleeping. I did not tell my mom that. I did not tell my other four sisters who slept together with me, either. I thought it was a sign that I was anxious to seek for freedom when I was young. It was a symbol that I enjoyed being busy even in sleep. Yes. I always kept myself busy and searched something missing in my life. For that sake, I treated my home as an impersonal place. I did not think that my home was a sanctuary that deserved me to spend time staying in it although people kept sayin...

If you are a mom, you need to watch it. It helps you express what you have done. If you are not, you even need to watch it. And you will see how lucky you are! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYcmZEOvW4

This poem is introduced by my teacher, Sharon Fahn, who is teaching neurolinguistics this semester. She read this poem in a book "Half a Brain is enough." Not only does she love it, but I also do. Hope everyone can enjoy it, too. The Two Sided Man Much I owe to the lands that grew- More to the lives that fed- But most to Allah who gave me two Separate sides to my head. Much I reflect on the Good and the True In the faith beneath the sun But most upon Allah who gave me two Sides to my head, not one. I would go without shirt or shoe Friends tobacco or read, Sooner than lose for a minute the two Separate sides of my head.

It was a big day yesterday. I passed the final oral defense though the process is kind of torture. But, I survived.... It's hard to imagine and explain how tough to finish writing a dissertation. However, it still can be detected from several things. First, I don't remember how many times my sister said to me "Wow, your place is really messy" and I always responded to her "I'll do it when I finish my paper." Next, I don't know when my flowers on the balcony died, but I just know the leaves on the pot were faded and broken. Then, I cannot count how many hairs there were scattering on the floor and on the desk. I only know my hair on my head become sparse. Also, I am even surprised that I am nearsighted again even though I had a surgery before. Moreover, I am a little sad that when my colleague told me that I looked older this year.... However, these are all ordinary things. The most difficult part comes from my mental and psychological scar. I, with a...