2013-05-09 we THINK, therefore we ACT
It's getting warmer and warmer after every shower of rain. Summer's arrived! It also means that it's time for the beaches and water sports! On the other hand, there are only
Tonight, we spent quite much time discussing the bright sides and dark sides of technology. Teacher Abbie divided us into groups of 3 or 4 people. It's been over 2 months since the semester begun and she knows us all better. She did a great job on mingling all the students into different groups. We all got the chance to get to know each other better.
After those passionate discussions, Abbie revealed the secret of the game she prepared for all of us tonight. Each team needed to choose one topic out of the ideas that they've come up with. Then we would form an acting crew to act the chosen topic out! To be honest, we all had the gene of acting and we surely had a great time acting and guessing! Each one worked on their own parts and learned to cooperate with their teammates. Abbie absolutely added lots of flavors to our class and helped us discover some hidden potential in ourselves. It was a great night, wasn't it?
2013-04-25 Technology!
Wow! I really have to apologize to our classmates who visit our blog frequently and care about what's new on here! I've been a bit lazy lately. Being a parent has let me confront more challenges than I thought but at the same time, it also provides me a chance to be immersed in joy, happiness and abundance.
It was exciting to see everyone again tonight and we welcomed 4 fantastic presentations from Julie, Lucas, Amar and Marian. Many thanks to them and we all got to learn more!
In the beginning of today's class, Abbie led us to read some poems about technology. All of them were special and the writers of those poems used different ways to describe how technology affects their lives and their perspectives on the things around them. We also got to read those beautiful poems together and dip deep into them to discover what those writers really wanted to say. Here's the link of those poems and if you are interested, go check it out. http://tweentribune.com/essaycontestwinners
Here's one of my favorite ones. I was thrilled by this poem and felt really blessed that I'm healthy in some way and get the chance to re-realize how important health is!
How does technology
make the world a better place?
Grade 9 First Place Melodyy wrote:
With waterfall tears, I've said my goodbyes
Awaiting my fate, in bedsheets I lie
Though hopeless it seems, I begin to dream
Of running through fields, dancing in streams
But before long, I'm taken away
Placed in a room, where I have to stay
There's blinding bright lights, machines everywhere
My heart starts pounding, and I become scared
My vision then blurs, my eyelids fall
I'm suddenly dreaming, escaping it all
Then I'm awoken, "Everything's okay"
"The tumor is gone," and I'm here to stay
I think of my life, possibilities too
Technology, I owe my life to you.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Awaiting my fate, in bedsheets I lie
Though hopeless it seems, I begin to dream
Of running through fields, dancing in streams
But before long, I'm taken away
Placed in a room, where I have to stay
There's blinding bright lights, machines everywhere
My heart starts pounding, and I become scared
My vision then blurs, my eyelids fall
I'm suddenly dreaming, escaping it all
Then I'm awoken, "Everything's okay"
"The tumor is gone," and I'm here to stay
I think of my life, possibilities too
Technology, I owe my life to you.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After those thought-provoking poems, we jumped to our presentations. Julie gave us the first presentation. Before she started her topic, she shared some of the latest technology with us and I couldn't help thinking of what our world would be in the near future. Julie talked about a project called OLPC a.k.a One Laptop Per Child. It's a project supported by the Miami-based One Laptop Per Child Association(OLPCA) and the Cambridge-based OLPC Foundation. Its mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education. It provides each kid with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop. They hope that those children can become more connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future! Sometimes, it's hard for us who live in Taiwan to know that still many people in the world don't have the access to computers or cellphones, and if we want, we can also give our hands to the organization through donations. Thanks, Julie!
The second presentation was about one of the newest printing technology - 3D printers. Lucas showed us how this new type of printer works to produce a 3-dimensional solid object rather than some printed piece of paper. He also displayed some pictures of different types of 3D printers and those different materials used by them. Although the prices of 3D printers remain much higher than the normal ones, we can expect the coming future that more and more people would adopt this new technology to give their friends more surprises in their own technical ways.
Ammar then introduced this interesting topic about smart phones. Nowadays, a large number of people in Taiwan use smart phones to communicate with friends, visit the social network websites, read novels, play games, take pictures, and etc... According to his own experience of using different types of smart phones, he recommended us those smart phones with the Android operation system. It's easy to learn and use and it offers tons of free applications for us to choose from. He shared a useful program "The Voice Search of the Google Dictionary" provided by Google. You can just say the word to the receiver of your cell phone and the program will identify the word then translate it into the language you want. Moreover, Barrett even gave it a try to see how it worked, and it did WORK well to translate "I Love You" into "Wall Eye Knee" in Chinese pronunciation!


The last but not the least, Marian brought us back into a different area of technology. She introduced the food revolution and inventions in our human history.
There are two important technologies invented to improve the safety of food. One is Pasteurization in 1860 and the other is Refrigeration in 1877. Both of the technologies help us to be able to have clean and healthy food and also to prevent some diseases in some certain degree . Have you ever wondered our lives without those two epochal technologies? Or have you ever thought of our lives when we still had to use ice and closets to store our food? Then, Marian shared more information about the convenience created by those food inventions. Eggcartons, metal cans, can openers, knives, bread slicers, microwaves, chopsticks, mixers, blenders, tea bags, corks plastic wraps and etc... Almost all of these things are frequently used in our daily lives and we can see them everywhere. But what if we didn't have them in our lives? What would our lives be? Technology. It's a friend of ours that helps us save our time, energy and strength. However, it's also a friend that gradually takes something, some feeling and some skill out of us. Maybe it's our worst best friend, eh?
Ammar then introduced this interesting topic about smart phones. Nowadays, a large number of people in Taiwan use smart phones to communicate with friends, visit the social network websites, read novels, play games, take pictures, and etc... According to his own experience of using different types of smart phones, he recommended us those smart phones with the Android operation system. It's easy to learn and use and it offers tons of free applications for us to choose from. He shared a useful program "The Voice Search of the Google Dictionary" provided by Google. You can just say the word to the receiver of your cell phone and the program will identify the word then translate it into the language you want. Moreover, Barrett even gave it a try to see how it worked, and it did WORK well to translate "I Love You" into "Wall Eye Knee" in Chinese pronunciation!
The last but not the least, Marian brought us back into a different area of technology. She introduced the food revolution and inventions in our human history.
There are two important technologies invented to improve the safety of food. One is Pasteurization in 1860 and the other is Refrigeration in 1877. Both of the technologies help us to be able to have clean and healthy food and also to prevent some diseases in some certain degree . Have you ever wondered our lives without those two epochal technologies? Or have you ever thought of our lives when we still had to use ice and closets to store our food? Then, Marian shared more information about the convenience created by those food inventions. Eggcartons, metal cans, can openers, knives, bread slicers, microwaves, chopsticks, mixers, blenders, tea bags, corks plastic wraps and etc... Almost all of these things are frequently used in our daily lives and we can see them everywhere. But what if we didn't have them in our lives? What would our lives be? Technology. It's a friend of ours that helps us save our time, energy and strength. However, it's also a friend that gradually takes something, some feeling and some skill out of us. Maybe it's our worst best friend, eh?
2013-03-21 No news is GOOD news!
Tonight, we talked about some fun news and some serious topics as well.
Lucas shared his presentation about the future of the smart phones and tablet computers. He provided us some clear pictures of the new coming types of models of cell phones and computers. One of his favorites is the one with a transparent touch screen! He told us it would be interesting to manage all of the functions and modify the pictures or videos on it!
Jerry brought up a very interesting piece of news right after the break. He said the news is more or less related to everyone. In Taiwan on March 19, Women's group urged the government to abolish an article in the Criminal Code that punishes adultery because it is unfavorable to women and unhelpful in repairing marriages. The DPP legislator Yu-Mei-Nu said that according to statistics, 50 percent of women who sue their husbands for adultery will eventually drop charges, but only 23 percent of men will drop charges against their wives, resulting in a higher conviction rate among women. Jerry told us the law should be amended to provide more protection for women and hopefully it can bring more justice and equality.
Everything changes day by day and everyone get influenced by the things happening around them. We have the right and power to make the world different once we believe that we can! Every class, we learn from each other and we'll always keep this way.
Before we said good-bye tonight, our teacher, Abbie helped us brainstorm some ideas about the content of good news and bad news. Here are the ideas we shared:
What types of news we consider "Good News":
sympathy, uplifting, inspiring, compassionate, affectionate,charity, positive
What types of news we consider "Bad News":
discrimination, too personal, invasion of privacy, disasters, tragedy, cruelty, murder, violence, war, politics, suicide, negative
Moreover, the ways reporters report the news affect our feelings to define it's good news or bad news.
When the news is about justice, something justifiable, objective, responsible, logical, rational or true, we would think of the news "Good news."
However, when we see some news with the words of biased, subjective, sensational, based on rumors, repetitive, too private, threats, and prejudiced, then we would consider it "Bad news."
What a great night! Many thanks to our teacher, Abbie, who is always hardworking and devoting, and to those classmates who spoke out to share their thoughts and feelings. Our CI class wouldn't be so fun without your participation. Thanks again and wish you all a great weekend, and see you all really soon at the same time at the same place!
In the News on 3/14
This week on 3/14, our topic is "In the News," and we'll be talking about events that have been in the news recently.
When I was in university, I had a professor who always clipped interesting articles out of newspapers. His whole office was full of the files which were stuffed with years' and years' worth of his newspaper clippings. Now that I'm a teacher, I find myself clipping out interesting newspaper articles for my students too! Though with the internet, I can find them all online, I somehow still enjoy keeping the paper copies, and I still keep adding to my file of newspaper clippings!
For the next few days, please pay attention to the news, either the English-language or the Chinese-language news, either from an actual newspaper, or from the t.v., radio, or internet, and choose an article or news item that you personally think is interesting. Then in class this Thursday, 3/14, please share that news item or article with us.
Just tell us (briefly if you want, or in great detail if you want!) what the article's about, and what you think about the information in the article!
This evening, I checked out CNN's website, http://edition.cnn.com/, and I found this article interesting:
"Two enemies discover a 'higher call' in battle," by John Blake, CNN
and I also watched this short video:
"Japan's unusual energy solution"
I often buy Taiwan's English language newspaper, the Taipei Times, a source for English-language news about Taiwan, as well as international news. Their home page is at: http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Today's Taipei Times includes this headline:
"Protesters use exercise to make nuclear point," by Lee I-chia
I hope that each of you will be able to find some news that interests you this week.
Class on 3/14 should be fun for all, and we'll have lots to discuss as we discuss the news!
Please don't forget, our class time has been changed: the new C.I. class time is Thursdays from 7pm to 9:30pm!
See you all at 7:00 on 3/14!
Welcome to the Spring 2013 Semester!
Welcome to those of you who are new students, and welcome back to those of you who are returning students! It was great to see all of you last Thursday!
Last week on 3/7, after my introductions we played "Two Truths and a Lie." In this game, we each had to tell two truths and one lie about ourselves, and the others had to guess which was the lie. But we were all "honest liars," and told only the truth when revealing our lies!! We learned some unbelievable truths about each other last time!
We also brainstormed a list of different types of presentations, including drama, powerpoint, reading an article, giving a prepared speech using key words as memory aids, "off the cuff" (impromtu), drawing on the blackboard, singing a song, telling a story, showing photos, bringing in objects and/or other visual aids, and many more ideas. I was impressed with all the great ideas that everyone came up with!
I hope you'll all feel free to get creative with your presentations this semester, and I hope that our brainstorm got you all inspired to give whatever type of presentation that you feel comfortable giving this Thursday and in the future.
As I said in class, we welcome any type of presentation, and from any length starting from half a minute, to twelve minutes long! The more people who share ideas in class, the more fun we'll have, so I welcome you all to share something in class on Thursday!
2013-01-03 The end of 2012 semester and POTLUCK
Wow! I just can't believe that it was already the last day of this semester. My gosh! Still trying to figure out how fast the time flies.
We were so happy to have so many participants and one special guest from Slovenia whose name is Ziga. He's much taller than most of us and he's in a very great shape. He told me that he's been working out since young and he got inspired from a very famous Japanese manga "Fist of the North Star." That was really interesting! We were honored to have him with us especially in the last class of this semester. He also joined the first game "Don't say no" with us and he won the first tile! He got the most cards! Then Abbie led us to sing several classic songs and Ziga performed a famous Slovenian song for us. The melody was catchy and it sounded beautiful although it was indeed a sad song. Thanks to Ziga!
After the first game, we continued to play the second game. Abbie brought lots of PROPS and divided us into 5 groups. Each group got 2 props and we decided to set a play with one or more specific topics. The other groups got to guess what topic was after seeing each group's play. It was so much fun and I could see those big smiles on everyone's face! We surely had a fantastic time!
It's always sad to say good-bye but we all know that one day we'll get together again! Wle aren't just a class but a family that loves sharing, helping and learning! See you all this March! :D
We were so happy to have so many participants and one special guest from Slovenia whose name is Ziga. He's much taller than most of us and he's in a very great shape. He told me that he's been working out since young and he got inspired from a very famous Japanese manga "Fist of the North Star." That was really interesting! We were honored to have him with us especially in the last class of this semester. He also joined the first game "Don't say no" with us and he won the first tile! He got the most cards! Then Abbie led us to sing several classic songs and Ziga performed a famous Slovenian song for us. The melody was catchy and it sounded beautiful although it was indeed a sad song. Thanks to Ziga!
After the first game, we continued to play the second game. Abbie brought lots of PROPS and divided us into 5 groups. Each group got 2 props and we decided to set a play with one or more specific topics. The other groups got to guess what topic was after seeing each group's play. It was so much fun and I could see those big smiles on everyone's face! We surely had a fantastic time!
It's always sad to say good-bye but we all know that one day we'll get together again! Wle aren't just a class but a family that loves sharing, helping and learning! See you all this March! :D
| Jerry, Eason, Julia, Tina, Jeff, Humor, Karla, Neinko, Barrett, Ming, Jonas, Donald, Hogan, Abbie, Ching, Lucas, Liam, May, Hans, Wealth, Jack, Justin |
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