Something New; Something Interesting; Something Puzzling
Share with us your thoughts on new, interesting and puzzling things you've encountered since we began our study in February. Write no more than 200 words in a single or multiple paragraphs. Due before class on Wednesday, April 21.
20 comments:
Something New
Teaching diversity through the use of Temple Grandin was a new direction in my career. It appears to have touched a nerve! Her story motivated us to consider how we treat others and how that might prevent us from receiving useful contributions from those who are different from the majority. “We need all kinds of minds!” Yes indeed.
Something Interesting
Haiti. The recent earthquake provided an opening for student interest in a story I had held on to for awhile: “Ghosts.” Knowing a country with such an interesting history was so little known gave us all a real education. It’s a harsh place, where suffering is the norm and adding to their misery, the deaths of thousands of citizens of Port-au-Prince. Edwidge Denticat’s fiction (and nonfiction) was filled with the awful detail we need to truly understand others who are very different from ourselves.
Something Puzzling
As in the past, I have continued to be puzzled by my being unable to “set to rights” some of my students’ difficulties with, for example, ordering ideas according to some logical principle. On my holidays, I discussed this with an Italian student who wasn’t sure he agreed with me. In my experience, some students have great difficulty with logic and seem, at times, to be almost unable to grasp it. He felt otherwise, that logic could be taught to everyone. A professor of mine once said that she had been unable to teach logic to a group of students who were otherwise quite diligent, and motivated. She argued that abstract thinking, needed for utilizing logical principles, was a level some do not attain. What do you think?
—270 words
I was in England on Thursday, sitting on a runway at Gatwick Airport only 30 minutes before the airspace was due to be closed. Needless to say, I was nervous. But, thankfully, I was also very very lucky. Our plane was the last one to leave airspace in England on Thursday. To my knowledge, no other plane has flown in or out of Gatwick since! So, I'll be back with you on Wednesday, well rested, and with tales to tell.
Something new
Watching Movies, meeting a car accident, and reading a special essay is a particular experience this semester for me. Originally, writing is a kind of homework, and need to do in order to get a diploma. Through getting many new experiences, I was eager to show what I saw in the essay. It is a new feeling that I expected to write something to make somebody have the same emotion as me.
Something interesting
“Ghost”, “Temple Grandin”, and “Drivers, stop your engineers” opened an interesting window to me. I knew the world is not perfect, and some bad or good things happen every day on the earth. Before looking up and discussing these essays this semester, I never concerned these events. They seemed far away from me. Currently, these interesting things attract me to find out some extra information.
Something puzzling
Writing an essay, I always try to mix some thoughts of Chinese essays, hiding some ideas between the lines. In some situation, I strongly expected to show some scenes that gave readers to have some extra ideas, but it was difficult to me that wrote an essay to make readers read between the lines. It puzzled me a lot. In my mother language, I often wrote some essays that hid some special meaning, and gave readers some spaces to create their own ideas.
218 words
New and Interesting
Learning in PALC has rendered me a new experience. The methodlology of teaching like utilizing various media to facilitate learning, is (for me) very unconventional compared to other learning experiences that I had gone through. I found the method effective especially for a culturaly diverse learning environment. The process of learning is also adoptive to the pre-occupied schedules of adult students burdened with resposibilities. I am very lucky to be benefiting from the programs of PALC.
The materials of learning were also interesting. The movie of Temple Grandin, Edwidge Dandicat's short story,"Ghosts" and article, "A Little While" are relevant materials. Supplementary reading materials for writing good english, using quotations and other articles given, were equally valuable and timely. The materials were appropriate and writen with simplicity that can easily be grasped by english learners like us. It is also interesting interacting with contemporaries. I am amazed with their eagerness to learn and to master standard english just like me.
Learning poetry is fun. Although we didn’t spend much time to do with poems, I hope we can do it afterwards. I would have more fun if we had chance to write different type of poems. I am interested in doing ballad, spell, and even free verse. But no sonnet!!! I hate counting syllables or doing “abba or abab” (I still hesitate to say that phrase: iambic pentameter, because I couldn’t make it).
When we were asked to take photos during spring break, I thought it was a new idea. Actually it inspired me. Our students brought their pictures to the class. Some of them were done with purpose, while some were just randomly taken. But they all made sense. Seeing those pictures was like seeing the world through different windows.
It was and still is confusing to see that some native speakers are weak in grammar but strong in fluency. Our second language students are just the opposite. This makes me question “What is the right way to learn language?” “Grammar or fluency, which should go first?”
178 words
Something New
TED is a new thing for me. Brad opened up a new window for me to see the world. Otherwise, I would never know that there are so many brilliant people offering their thoughts for free. Intellectual property is very valuable in North America. What the people on the TED are doing is noble, and what Brad has taught us is way beyond English.
Something Interesting
Having uninterrupted instructions to blog and to write essays, while Brad is on vacation, is interesting. Even though it means I will have to delay my spring cleaning for some time.
Something Puzzling
Temple Grandin is a puzzle for me. My trouble began when she addressed the groups of parents who have autistic children, saying the importance of early intervention and exposure to interesting experiences. Grandin gave me the impression that autism can be cured or even excel if you do the right thing. However, as a mother, my heart goes to those parents, who have frantically tried every treatment they knew, but still struggle with their acceptance or dim hope. Grandin’s ideas can feel like salt in the wound. Otherwise, if Grandin had shed some light on social acceptance and tolerance towards autism, next time, when we see a nine-year-old boy throwing a tantrum in public, we wouldn’t glare at the poor mother. Because now we understand that he is not inappropriate. He is just autistic. But still, Grandin has my upmost respect and admiration, if I perceive her as a renowned livestock facility designer, with a little autistic touch, advocating for animal welfare.
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SOMETHING FRESH AND ENGAGING
"The Not-So-Formal-Writing"
Brad shared us a speech of William Zinsser which encourages the foreign students and writers to use simple but correct words that the readers could understand easily. Also, Brad wants us to write in multi-paragraphs with quotes, dialogues, or anecdotes, not with the aged five-paragraph essay.
"The Blog"
I didn't think, at first, that this kind of assignment "system" would work to me. Apparently, I was wrong. This is fun; typing what's flowing inside your mind instead of writing it (although we still have essay writing assignments)!
"Movie Session"
I really enjoyed watching the true to life story film of Temple Grandin! It inspires us to reach our goals, as the "unusual" people can do too! I hope Brad would schedule a movie day once more before our class ends.
"Photography"
When Brad asked us to present a picture, I was engrossed with the different pictures that were responsively taken by my classmates, like professional photographers! After the sharing of photos in the class, Brad also prepared a "free" one-day class in Photography. Because of that, I begged my parents to buy me a digital camera on that night.
SOMETHING ENIGMATIC
"English Itself"
Until now, I am overwhelmed whenever I read novels and stories that have "weird" sequence of construction and grammar. The usage of tense is the most common one. "I stood silenced," an excerpt from James Dolan's "I Learned Punjabi For My Wife," is an example. It just sound wrong to me. However, I'm not sure.
I totally agree that English is a very vast language. As a second language learner, I am worried that I might misuse my English. But as they say, not all English speakers and writers are perfect. There is no right but there is no wrong too (many buts). How unfathomably wonderful it is.
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Something new
Tample grandin as a successful autistic person changed my mind. Before I watched this wonderful movie, I thought autistic people are mentally sick , and they have no ability to learn ,but some of them are more smart than normal people. They are thinking in pictures which most of us are not able to do it. Although I cannot think like animals, I am aware of “The animal world is all sensory-based-vision, smell, sound, touch, and taste.”
Something interesting
We introduced ourselves by “Here I am”. Although that was short piece of writing, it involved our life’s long experiences, lost hopes, habits, entertainments, and our points of view of our life. I was interested in Reading about Bel Air “the Baghdad of Haiti “, and know why Haitian is enduring poor and hard life? Although writing is not simple and enjoyment, William Zinsser ‘principles make it more easy for students.
Something puzzling
Taking a photo of something interesting (manmade objects, displays, advertisements) was baffled me for two weeks, and I was not sure that I could take photo of beautiful amazing Vancouver nature.
Using three kinds of quotations in our writing was puzzling. Punctuating well-turned phrase to make our point takes practice and experiences .using quotations correctly to make writing interesting was more complicated than I thought about it.
The new thing to me was having more group works. By working as a group we came closer to each other, and it is always fun to know different information about one topic. Having a speaker after group discussion who represents whole group, was also something new.
We had many interesting stories to read and discuss. Feedbacks by blog, and reading the whole class opinions made them more attractive. Rewriting the essay was an exciting experience. It is much easier to write when you know which mistakes exactly you have, and after working on them have better marks is pleasurable.
The puzzling thing was giving comments on others essays in our last class. It was not that difficult to give them good annotations, but when it came to write some terrible things, such as “the essay was boring, it does not persuade me and etc,” made me a bit confused.
172 words
Something New
Choosing special photos as a homework on the blog was a new thing at this semester.I was glad reading my classmates characters from these photos, some of them were terrific that made me go too far to find the message and the specific meaning of each one.We need from time to time something new as we used to have
Something Interesting
Truly,blog homeworks were so interesting for me.Each piece of writing had special case and technique and to be more specific, I have to admit that writing about anything we would like to change was a great idea to express my feeling honestly.Although,something funny about everyone's traveling experience. I really enjoy these kind of paragraphs.
Something Puzzling
Quotations were little puzzling for me.I wondered for couple days what should I write in my piece of homework.It's so easy to choose quotations from any story or paragraph,but the idea was to pick three quotations accompained by some punctuations we had to folow.I was also puzzled about writing the essay not just because it was an essay(first draft),it's simply 750 words,so it needs a lot of concentration.
Since February I have experienced a few new things, one being a new more effective way of studying. The school has made absorbing important information easy. The teachers are very helpful and make sure everyone understands the criteria. Some other new experiences since February include the many movies I have seen in the past few months. Some were amazing and offered life changing stories that motivate, such as Avatar. Some movies were just a waste of time, like Paranormal Activity.
What I found to be an interesting experience was taking a photo and sharing it with the class. It was interesting to see all the different choices. Everybody shared a different opinion for each picture. A look at Temple Grandin’s life and accomplishments was very interesting to me. Learning about her was an inspiration and something I won’t soon forget. I think she showed the class that each one of us is important to this world, and by trying our best at everything that life hands us we will eventually make a difference.
Something puzzling would be the English class itself. I have learned so much about my classmates and their different cultures. I enjoy listening to everyone’s life story.
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Something Puzzling
Learning about three different kinds of quotation is puzzling for me. Until now I didn’t know about three ways to use punctuate a quotation. I thought it was easy for me .Now, when I use quotations I am feeling I don’t now anything about how to punctuate them. I a trying to learn, but so far I am lost.
Something New
Temple Grandin is new for me. I had a bit of knowledge about autistic people. I had different information about them .For me it was a more disease. I know her mother had to suffer by her behavior, but still I am impressed by Temple Grandin.
Something interesting
Bringing a photo into class was very interesting for me. Through each picture I got lots of information about my classmates, different places and different ideas. Since then, I have been trying to view my pictures and trying to remember why I took those pictures and what is special in them.
Since we began this class, I've learnt many new ideas and have tried my best to improve the way of putting my ideas into writing. Such things would be, "what is good writing?", I realized when I write its not entirely necessary to emphasize what is being written because writing should consist of clarity, simplicity and brevity, "short is always better than long". As for, Temple Grandin, she inspired me to think outside of the box. The method she had to use in accumulating information to build a system, such as a gentle slaughterhouse and a convenient way to open her aunts front gate.
I enjoyed the short story, "The Ghosts" by Edwidge Danticat, it helped us see the struggles of the Haitian people. The events that occurred interested me because of how the government treated the people who lived in, Bel-air, the Baghdad of Haiti. On the other hand, it also reveals how the chimes felt about the government. The poem, "We are more" written by Shane Koyczon shows the many stereotypes about Canadians, "we do more than sit around and day "eh?" The metaphors he used in the stereotypes show the reality of Canadians and is recognized for the thing we are capable of, "we are hammers and nails building bridges".
The most puzzling thing that I encountered would be the three proper way to use quotations. I was so flustered in deciding which sentence would be best for which quotation. Possibly, I was over thinking what I should write and how to put it as accurate as I can.
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Something New
Something that is completly new to me is writing a persuasive essay. I have never written one before, but the work sheet we got helped me underatand how to present an effective argument. It taught me the best way to get your point across is to combine ideas that effect a person emotionally along with facts that can be verified. You also you have to make sure the evidence and facts that you acumulated are the real deal, and not some internet fabrication.
Something Intresting
I found it was interesting in the story "Ghosts" how Danticat descibes the former street children as being like chimes, ghosts or lost souls. When I looked up the word ghosts in the dictionary it says them as being a spriit of a dead person. It is suppost to be in another word and appear to be living in a pale dim form. Though the street kids are alive and breathing, in the inside they are lost, stuck inside some other world where the are forgotten. A world of poverty that no rich kid could ever imagine being in. But still the street kids appear. Living amoung the shadows.
Something Puzzling
After the TED Lecture:"The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise" Renuka told us that before in America kindergaren teachers were given a set list of things to say to the students, and do in the classroom. It was turning normal people into human robots, robbing them of their own personal teaching styles. It left me shocked thinking of an accident happening to a student and a teacher not being able to help because it was not on the set list. It also left me puzzled that the goverment, when they made the rule for teachers to follow a list, didn't think of accidents happening. The are in kindergarden remember.
Something New
It was a new experience to present our photos in class. These carefully chosen photos laid out the natural and social phenomena, and also revealed the photographers’ esthetic, emotions and feelings. I appreciated them with empathy, and learned a lot from the presentations and discussions in class. Enjoying these photos was really like “seeing the world through different windows.” (From Linda Liu’s)
Something Interesting
Temple Grandin’s unique outlook of the world was interesting. I had never known some people thinking in pictures before I watched the film. They are as smart as, or even smarter in some areas than the majority. Examining my own thinking style, it is logical, but not rich and colorful. Could that be the reason why my paragraphs were often commented by teachers as “too brief” for their lacking specific details?
Something Puzzling
I am being puzzled to see the blog homework requiring “no more than 200 words,” but the sample at the blog being more than 200 words. I think I am a little captious, but I wonder whether I should keep my paragraphs very short to meet the requirement strictly, or just follow the sample.
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Something puzzling and interesting
In the beginning of class, I sometime felt puzzled on how much my English would improve. Unlike the other English 12 class I have known, the teacher did not teach any long novel or Shakespeare’s play. I was spending more time on writing a short personal reaction. However, after completing several blog assignments, I actually realized that I was learning the real English. In PALC, I learned how to organize my idea and react to the thing going on. My essay writings developed much better. I also could evaluate and comment on certain articles and things. The thing I learned in this class was practical and useful. I really loved this class.
Something new
In my last class, our studies basically relied on paper. There was no such a website that I could learn from each other. A lot of time, I did not even know what my classmates’ writing looked like because it was between individual student and the teacher. Only if the teacher showed us other people’s essay, I was able to read it. Nevertheless, in this class, Mr. Hyde opened the blog that was something new to me. It allowed me to see all my classmates’ work and idea. Also, I had chance to see every entry of the blog, and learn my classmates’ mistake from their writing. Thanks to the technology.
—229 words
Something New
So far, since we began our study in February, taking picture the objects was something new to me. I wasn’t expected that Brad could ask us to go around and take photos. I spent couple days looking for an object that I could take, then I ended up took a picture of an object from where I work. So, taking photos the objects was something new because I didn’t even know what to do at the first place.
Something Interesting
Spending the whole class watching “Temple Grandin” movie, was an interesting thing to me. Not because I don’t like reading or writing, but the movie was very cool to watch. Watching how “Temple” was capturing images through her mind was so amazing. (I enjoyed watching it)
Something Puzzled
If I compare this semester to the last semester, Brad didn’t use to give us homework two times a week, “Wednesday and Friday” during the last semester. But, I wonder why this semester he gives us two homework most of the time. Is it because he wants us to improve our English writing before we graduate? Or he wants us to get use to do homework before we go to College or University? I don’t really know.
--205 words.
New
The method Brad teaching this term is new for me. I had read an article about globe warming just before we saw Gore's address at same topic on the TED. Temple Grandin is an autistic but successful woman whom we learned through a film named after her and an essay. Everybody told a story through a picture. We've learned more from various teaching, but I'm wondering does Brad have any marvel to show at the rest of this term.
Interesting
It's the most interesting that share others' stories which reflect different cultures and experiences and feelings. It reminds us we are in a special city of a special country that about 40% people are not born in Canada. Some stories are genial, some are familiar, and they looked like happen to me or around me. It's as if old friends gather together chatting with a cup of tea and sharing a pack of cigarette.
Puzzling
I'm really puzzled that there are so many writing that is much more than I had ever done before. I know my writing has been improved a lot since I entered English lesson in PALC, but I still hate it yet.
--197 words
Something New and Interesting
In this term, we have learned a different way in studying with BRAD. Though it was the easiest homework assigned to us this spring break, we found it very interesting. By asking each of us to get a special image from the community we live in, was something unusual for us. The way Brad, the teacher, explained to us how to take a picture was very intriguing for me. I usually take pictures without paying any attention and just clicking the button, but in that special class, I realized that with simple movements you could capture a picture that actually shows really beauty.
The measurements and the way we hold the camera all can affect our picture. I really learned something new from that class; something I thought I had no idea of before. Thanks to our teacher for this opportunity that not only resulted in us getting an A and becoming familiar with using the camera, but also in discovering our classmates’ personalities from the pictures they picked.
Words: 174
Something New and Interesting
In this term, we have learned a different way in studying with BRAD. Though it was the easiest homework assigned to us this spring break, we found it very interesting.
By asking each of us to get a special image from the community we live in, was something unusual for us. The way Brad, the teacher, explained to us how to take a picture was very intriguing for me. I usually take pictures without paying any attention and just clicking the button, but in that special class, I realized that with simple movements you could capture a picture that actually shows really beauty.
The measurements and the way we hold the camera all can affect our picture. I really learned something new from that class; something I thought I had no idea of before.
Thanks to our teacher for this opportunity that not only resulted in us getting an A and becoming familiar with using the camera, but also in discovering our classmates’ personalities from the pictures they picked.
Words: 174
Something new
This semester, I sometimes get chances sharing experience with the native speakers or the kids studied in the public high school system. Most of them want to upgrade their grades for English 12, such as Amanda. Last class I shared my experience with Rachel, she even taught me several English words, it is a new experience to learn English from the kids.
Something interesting
This semester, we shared the pictures when took during spring break. I could see all styles of pictures, such as Brad’s art, Linda’s love statute, Rachel’s frog, also someone’s lamp, national flag etc… etc. Each picture stood for an interesting story in his/her life. Later we talked about the pictures and voted for the impressed ones. It was exactly an interesting topic and we all enjoyed it.
Something puzzling
So far, I cannot write the essay as the native speaker does, such as Brad. All I can write is the standard essay and small dialogues. Even though we have learn different styles of English, such as persuasive writing. To me, English learning is still a long way to reach the goal; in other words, English 12 is not an end. When I do in class writing, I have to keep in mind that I won’t go astray with the topic – off topic. How to control the second language is really puzzling me.
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