Blinder touches Elephant

Blinder touches Elephant but she is touching only a part, anyway. But she must be trying to find the best part to understand the elephant.

Every single studies and thinking is constituting my teaching.

Referential questioning is based on student's background knowledge.

In interaction between teachers and learners, they have to be in rapport with each other. ( it means learning motivation in another words)

teacher's talk includes greetings, compliments, questions, refusals, initiations, feedbacks, closings ....

Classroom Interactional Competence - it is focused on confluence more than fluency.
                                                                                        ( similar to interact)

cooperative principle - Attitude to interact with learners

Proper Discourse structure - Learner's personalized, individualized talking.

making questions by using " Whose "

I am teaching 5th unit,"Whose cap is this?" .
Since we went through lots of activities, kids were used to "Whose .....? " , "It's mine/ ours ...." ,
I wanted to try another ways to use "Whose...? " , more than simple like "Whose cap is this?", (because of the effect of Critical pedagogy class? I don't know.. haha...)

Today, I let them to make questions by using
"Whose" , that everyone think that it is ours, but that we usually don't think deeply,
First , I gave them a question , "Whose Dokdo is this ? " , Koreans usually says "It's ours" , Japanese says "It's ours"

They think these questions ...
"Whose nature is this ? "
"Whose east sea is this ? "
"Whose Bal hae ( which is controversial issue between Korea & China ) is this ? "
" Whose 직지심체요절 (the book, which is the pressed by metal type for the first time in Korea but France has it, now ) is this ? "
"Whose school is this ? "
one student said " Whose air is this ? "
....
At last , arising memorial day in this month, thinking about the ownership of our country.

They are brilliant than I think !

space observation “Lecture(Class) room " Chloe & Jason

1. What is central / peripheral ?

- central : black board , chairs for students , desks for students , computer, projection TV

- peripheral : windows , trash box, corner , mirror , bookshelves, cabinets ...

 

2. How is this place filled ? / How does space feel ? ( Jason and I got the question in 2 ways )

- filled : desks, chairs, blackboard, TV, computer, light bulb, distinguisher, clock, blind

- feel : framed , silent, calm, formal, rational , ...

 

3. What are you supposed to be in here?

- studying , no running , no mess up , being attentive, concentrating , being gentle, being decent ....

 

 

4. interactions & encounters

- Teacher or proffessor give a lecture and students learn or discuss each other.

- Some times student demonstrate and present.

- Even students they fight each other, but they usually have a good relationship with friends.

- It is very stable comparing to other places.. teachers and students stay together for a long time, not with new acquaintances.

 

5. What couldn’t be not happen in here?

Students here should not fight, yell, condemn, ignore other friend and throw out the trash on the floor.

Implication of Post-structure feminism - PSY Gentlemen

Two Questions from PSY's "Gentlemen"

 

1. He is teasing girls.  How does this video reproduce dominant ideas of gender ?

( Girls are weak , crying after boys are teasing,  Boys are naughty ? )

  Can you think of reverse - girls are making fun of boys in the video?

2. "Gentleman"

How do you define "Gentleman" in his video ?

What do you have in mind about the word "Gentleman" ?  Is it same with that in this video ?

How does this challenge dominant ideas about gentleman & gender ?

Lesson plan for critical thinking

 

Object : We can say "pretty talking" .
Time	Teacher	Student	Material
10’	Fairy tale "Paper bag princess" ·Why princess say "No" ? ·What do you think prince's problem ? ·Is princess changed? Is she bad because she is ugly?	·She disappointed to prince because he asked her to change clothes and be clean ·He judged princess by appearance. ·No, She isn't changed. She is still same altough she became dirty (they can also say in Korean)	E-book
	※ Today, we will talk about "pretty face , pretty mind", at last we can say "Pretty talking"
9’ 5’ 10’	·Presenting many faces (Face with Big eyes, small eyes, long hair, short hair, slim, fat, white skin, dark skin, sharp nose, big mouth... ) ·Let’s divide pictures into two parts- Pretty(Handsome) or Ugly by groups ·Write the features of Pretty & Handsome people. ·Write the features of Ugly people. ·Let's Watch the video (bullying because of appearance) ·What's the problem? ·What's the pretty mind ? ·Let's think about pretty talking When you hit your friends by soccer ball accidently When your partner lend you a glue in art class. When friends fall down during relay running. When your friends said " Brian in this photo is funny looking, let's upload on internet	·Talk which face is pretty & Handsome face ·Divide pictures into 2 parts. ·blonde hair, long hair, big eye, white skin, sharp nose, earings, good fashion... · small eyes, Fat, Dark skin, pig nose, dirty, short, big head... · They are bullying one friend because she is ugly. ·Pretty talking / pretty thinking / pretty acting .... I'm sorry Thank you Are you okay? Let's not do.	10 pictures (ppt, paper)
6’	·Pretty talking ·Let's say pretty talking. Get friends' signature. It's your homework	I'm sorry/ Thank you/ Are you Okay? / Let's not do / Can I help you?

solutions for problems..

There is diverse level of students in class. It is not easy to deal with them, some of them struggle to understand or form quite basic sentences.

- Critical thinking is difficult to me, not to mention students.
I think they definitely need Korean to think and communicate with others. and they need time to express to English. First we should give them materials to understand easily (pictures or video clips)
although they don't know English well, and then we have to give them key phrase words (not a sentence) and let them tell in Korean. Give them time to write answer- mind map maybe good way to organize their thinking, teacher should help student how to think words in English.

Thoughts on gentleman by PSY.

PSY is very famous Korean singer. Lots of people have seen his music video. "Gentleman"
His music video can be very powerful media. Students, too. My students also like PSY, and his new song "Gentleman"

But in his lyrics, there are some sentences that are unpleasant to me. ( Because of my job-teacher?)


알랑가 몰라 왜 미끈해야하는건지
알랑가 몰라 왜 쌔끈해야하는건지
....

있잖아 말이야
너의 머리 허리 다리 종아리 말이야
Good! feeling feeling? Good! 부드럽게 말이야
아주 그냥 헉소리나게 악소리 나게 말이야
Damn! Girl! I’m a party mafia!

 In English,
I don't know if you know why it needs to be waxy
I don't know if you know why it needs to be sexy
...
Hey there Your head, waist, legs, calves
Good ! Feeling feeling Good! It's soft.
I'll make you gasp. I'll make you scream
Damn! Girl! I’m a party mafia!

If an ordinary people says these, it would be less problem. But it is PSY. Many Koreans search this lyrics. I think it is a kind of streotyping ideals of people, especially women(because in the movie, womens wearing bikinis and they are very good shape). we think people should be sexy, waxy....
Songs put emphasis on extrinsic factors-beauty of extrinsic.
Not only this song, many songs too.
And it is issue that young teenage idols competitvely appeal sexy icons.
Who concetrate on these young teenages? , also young Students.
Especially young students can follow this imagery without critical thinking, adults too.
It's very dangerous thing.

=============================
Is this sexual harassment? How does Psy reproduce or question  "gender relations" ,"women" to me, to my students ?  

Englishinism ...?

About this ad, we discussed same issue in Miss Kim's class.
'When we acquire English as L2, can we acquire it as same as native speaker or not.'
She asked "Why do you want to be native speaker ?  Do you have any specific reasons to have a native speaking level? "

First, we have to think about Korean society that makes englishinism ( Social atmosphere that we have to be good at english. ) In reality, lots of companies standardize specific TOEIC & TEPS score. My boyfriend also studied TOEIC when he prepared for employment. Does he use English...? Yes, but not usually, only when he meets with foriegn companies.
Many student in Korea have a lot of pressure to be good at english. Lots of them study abroad, and take many english courses(Speaking class, TOEIC, TOFEL, TEPS, Korean SAT )  in academy.  This can be a very big market. Someone can earn lot of money from the high demand of English improvement.
I think this English market has a big role encouraging the social atmosphere that Korean society has to be better,better at English, saying "be competitive" , "be global person".

Second, I think it is related to anxieties Koreans have. There are  plenty of anxieties in Korea. Historically we were under Japanese colonial, went through Korean war, socially, politically, ecnomically unstable period (1960~now). So we have some kind of oppression that we have to follow the main stream(ex: Be good at English) . That means stable job, stable life, economically&Socially stable status. we continually compare with others, and try to be better than others.(Sang min Hwang,2011) This "better than Native" is good example that reveals Korean's comparing culture,and reveals anxieties that I have to chase the upper level.
 
"Better than Native" statement involve these social issues,desires of English in Korea, I think.    

Education remains 40 years ...

After reading Freire's. I thought his issue(oppressing in education) have been close to Korean History in education. I talked with my mom. She was born in 1959, so she went through 박정희, 전두환's military regime, which is represented as dictatorship in Korea. At then, they justified dictatorship as "Korean democracy" , used people's fear of possibility of war between NK and SK, insist that SK have to be one, gathering together. So lots of critical thinking was ignored at that time. Also, my mom mentioned that when 5.18 Gwangju affair rose up, no news report, most of university closed for a while. (She was a university student then). Interesting thing is that when she was young, she thought that North Korean was evil . Now she became to think that we shouldn't oppose to North Korea. Anyway we are one country. But my father still thinks North Korea negatively. ( He said it is unconsious to think in that way, because of education)
Education remains 40 years to my father... Power of education ...

reflections on the class...

I think class is active, lots of discussions, thinkings, questions, seems like alive. Professor Porter presents lot of authentic examples that represents theory. So easier to understand, and he explains simply &easily to understand.(not meaning that content is simple). Professor Shannon also helps me to understand and helps me to think apply in my class by discussing each other and gives some advices to understand and participate in the class. I became interested in social theories, like Marxism, Freire, Orientalism....which was never interested me before. And it is very interesting to see , think about how this world is going by the thing which I learn through this class. What matters is about me, don't have listening skills perfectly, feels a little bit awkward to get used to contents which never I studied before. If I can ask, please speak slowly ( I'm sorry that I 'm asking you again although Porter mentioned about this, but this is the biggest problem to me. )

Internet & Equality

I read ab interesting article in today's newspaper.
It says "Internet, also eliminate the university's wall. " 
It was about the website : Coursera, which provide MOC(Massive open online course) from 62 universities around the world for free.
It was impressing that Andrew, the co-founder of Cousera & professor of Stanford said
"Technique has to be a  tool  for provide equal education for everyone."
And it is very surprising that they give lecture for free.
He said "Education democraticization - Poor people & Rich people take same coureses, and talking each other, be friends "
It is real purpose of education, I think

It is one of the possitive aspects of internet. It is really amazing

What are some barriers to doing this in your teaching?

1. Since my students are very low level in English, 5th grade elementary school,  so it seems hard to find proper critical content for my student. I have to consider deeply what they are interested in, whether they can study critical content by english.

2.  They are not accustumed to think critically(because they are young, or they haven't think critically). Also I'm not used to teach critical content. So I don't know exactly how to teach critical contents

3. Too many contents in curriculum, This is not only problem in English subject. There is not enough time for educate critical content. I think it takes quite a long time if we teach critical content. (For example, if we teach critical contents by discussion, we have to search about the issue)

After reading "Critical Peadagogy in Korea"

I liked this paper while I'm reading it.
In this paper, teachers tried to make a change , although little change, and this paper was about "Planing - Adapting in the real classroom " , which was practical, experimental, challenging.

While reading this article, I remembered my high school life. The curriculum in my school was focused in english in 2nd grade, so I took 4 or 5 classes related with english, and 2 of them were with foriegn native teachers.

With Australian teacher, we made our table in a circle, and we discussed about "Plastice surgery issue in Korea ". (I think I was surprised by that class, which I had never had before.)
I think she wanted to use critical issues for class theme.

I remember dimly what I said. " Most of models in magazines are very glamorous, have big eyes,  a small face, a sharp nose. So we think those types are ideal type, we have plastic surgery to be like those ideal type. I think social atmosphere are inciting plastic surgery. "

Although the class was 9 years ago,  why it is still in my mind ? Because I thought about the issue, and I participated in the discuss.

I don't know if that class influenced me or not, but it is still remembered.

Reflecting my lesson today..

Today, there was "Photograph activity" in my class.

The activity was: to say the present progressive (ex)I am reading a book, She is dancing....etc.
Taking pictures in each group by smartphone(they are photograph and model themselves), and show pictures by projection, and students say the present progressive.

some classes were successful, some were not. But all of classes were very noisy.
And I kept yelling to them. So after class, I thought   'Why did I yell at them ? '
Maybe I have a streotype of ideal class - Be calm, Not noisy....
And I'm little nervous when they are very noisy, Why?.... Noisy = Not learning ?
Do I have a prejudice that class should be quiet ? ...

I have an open class next week... maybe supervisor likes quite, nice class ?

After reading "A Historical and Comparative Perspective in the Case of Korea "

Through the reading, the part that come to me was "the present", "Cho"'s saying, "I hope that the students enter the class to make meaning themselves in this era "
She wanted students more active, I think .
That comes up to me with an idea, 
In class, closing time, give student post-it and review about the class,
"What was most memoriable, or What was hard thing to you, Anything to say to teacher... "
I let them think and reflect about the class. Also I can communicate with them.  
I 'll try it.

Trivial talking....

Yesterday, I talked with my boyfriend. I asked questions about 'Critical thinking' .
"Why do you think that people are thinking white man & black man different and even think black people in a low level , although they are same foriegners?
" um.... I don't think in that way.. so I can't say the answer. "

I asked again , "What is your image of America? "
He said " Wannabe, and ideal place "

" why do you think so ? "
" Because they are good in welfare system, democratic system ...."

"What make you think so ? You've never been in there. "
" By media. "

" Don't you think that media is wrong, only give us selected information ? "
" ... What's your point ? "

" I mean ... it can be very dangerous to just accept the informations without critical thinking .... "
" You are thinking so complicated. Concentrate on your graduate school study... "

This was one of my studies !!!

I'll keep asking him and make him get disturbed !!!

After Reading "Proofreading Woes"

The writer is thinking that Konglish is akward, something need to be cleaned, corrected.
Also he(or she) thinks that American English is standard, and Konglish is mistake, error.
He is othering English & Konglish.
I thought in same way no doubt before, but my thought is changing by taking this class, talking, and thinking.

Is it a big problem that Koreans make mistakes in Korea? I think it is not unless people can understand what it means, and know other people's thinking. I can't find why he thinks he should correct many errors in Korea in his article. Maybe he is thinking naturally, Native English teachers are representing standard english, and their important role is cleaning up the konglish.(what's this mean, "cleaning?" )