March 16 ~ March 22

• Chapter 1 (21 lines per day)
  
• Data analysis part 1
• Look for materials for chapter 2
• Reading about critical theory and practitioner inquir

This week is the spring break of this semester. I don't have to teach, which is good. But time flies away so easily, so better catch it.

Am I pleasing my students?

Am I pleasing my students to get a good evaluations? Is evaluation that important? If my evaluation is good, does it mean that I am a good teacher? Yes, it does mean that I will not be laid off. But does it mean that I am a good teacher? I am a good teacher! Yes, I am. I don't need anbody to remind me of that! Because I have chosen to be a good teacher. If it is my personal choice, why do I have to care about what other people think?

Sometimes, I really don't know what the teacher identity means to me. Is this identity institutionally given and taken? No, neither will do!

Is it so political?

I watched a beginning level class which is very political. The teacher teach the "although...(but)..." structure. He used a lot of political content in his teaching.

"Is obama an Amercian" (teacher)
"Yes, he is" (student)
"Do you like him?" (teacher)
"although he is an American, I don't like him" (student)

The students are American students and class was on the day before the Presidential election. So the students are very amazed to see that they can express their political point in the target language. But can we really easily bring political things into the class? Yes maybe, but there are at least one condition.

The political issue must be related to their life. otherwise, it would be very difficult to have any discussion.
"Hey, what do you think about taiwan issue?'
Silent...
"Do you think taiwan is a part of China"
Silent...
They look confused. I don't know what they want to say. I am a Chinese. Are they concerned about my feeling? They don't want to offend me? Or maybe because my question is so intrusive and so far-away. Is it not close enought to their own lives and concerns?

There might be more conditions, I believe, to bring about political issues. Yes, it is a big issue, particularly in a language class.

For this week

• Revising the human subject application
• Continuing teaching reflection: one sentence per day
• Chapter 1: another 21 lines
• Starting my first data analysis: 1 hour Pib stuff.

I probably will not be able to do the last one. But I will try...

My experience

How to share my experiences with my students in Chinese? I tried it once.

今天又下雪了，街上走路的人很少，街上的车开得也很慢，外头漂亮极了，树上，路上，房子上，到处都是， 可是走路的时候，漂亮是漂亮没关系，重要的是安全不安全。 今天早上，我是走着路来上学的。因为下雪的时候，开车太危险。我的妈妈不放心。可是走路的时候，我还是一不小心，摔到了地上，把我的腿摔伤了。而且还被我的学生看到了。啊哟，糟糕，我闹了笑话。
(It snows again today. There are very few people on the street. Cars are also slow. It is really beautiful outside. On trees, roads, and houses, it is white everywhere. However it is really does not matter it is beautiful or not, the most important thing is safety. This morning, I walked to school, because it is dangerous to drive in snow and my mom will worry about me. However, I was still very careless. I fell on the ground and hurt my legs. Moreover, I was seen falling on the ground by my students. Oh, my god, so embarrassing! I make fool of myself. )

"Did it really happen to you?" (student’s reaction)
"Yes, last year, not today actually." (I lied. Why I lie?)
"How far do you live now?" (more question)
"Not far, 20 minites walk."
......

I can feel that students are interested or curious about my own stories which can elicit some discussion. But can I do it more? Maybe, and maybe not. I need to try more.

Let's plan... and let's do what we plan...

Dear XJ,

We talked in the phone that we should work together to approach our goals. I am so glad we have a common goal. Now we are interdepedent with each other. Remember!

Ok, here is my plan for this week.
1. Further revising my proposal, I should finish writing the "Subjectivity & Accountability" part. It is so important because that is what most people will accuse me about or I should say I would mostly defend myself about.

2. I should write at least one or two sentence per day reflecting how I teach and what i observe. I will write it on the blog, so you will check how they are going.

3. Keep recording my class, keep documenting materials.

4. Can I move on in my chapter one? I don't know. Very presimistic!

Of course, there are more things I want to do. Much more... but let's just see how these things work out so far.

Give me a copy of your plan!

Best,

FF