Friday, November 6, 2009

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. Write no more than 200 words in a single or multiple paragraphs. Due before class on Friday, November 13.
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16 comments:

Brad said...

Something I wrote for last fall's class:

Poetry shakes people up. That’s what I learned. It may seem simple to read a poem. Poems are short, after all, and although densely written, they at least offer the chance of understanding “something important.” There you go. Szymborska gets in your ear, doesn’t she? Szymborska challenges you every time. A dog’s “warm fur”! Doesn’t stroking its fur sound lovely? But what does it mean to “squeeze inside events”? I imagine a tight place, uncomfortable and unsettling and then ponder conversations with “the lamp switched off.” An old fashioned “lamp” — not the more familiar “light.” The translation is good; Szymborska betrays her age. She has the jaded eye of a long-lived woman. So I noted a look on students’ faces today that seemed to say, does she really mean what she says? As for me, I’m happy to follow her “spark on the wind” with my eyes.

November 7, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Raiya said...

So far, I have learned new things since this English course was started. Reading the stories and comment about them on the blog was something novelty to me. It wasn’t just about reading a story and threw it away, but to remember the important part of the story because I had to write a paragraph or a comment about it. I had never done this way of studying before.

At the very beginning of the course, Brad gave me the “Doctorow” story. The story had 14 pages, and then he urged me to read it in an hour. I tried my best, but I couldn’t finish it, and I didn’t comprehend even a part of it.On the other hand, before half way of the course, I wrote a poem, and presented it in the front of the students; I was nervous,shaking,shy,but lucky I didn’t face a single question from the classmates.

November 8, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Brad said...

Where to begin? It’s been an interesting term. My two classes are different, but share the same enthusiasm for learning. To learn a language well, students need to play with ideas and discuss interesting topics. That will, I hope, motivate them to learn the vocabulary to better express themselves. Doctorow’s story got us off to a good start. It was a challenging read and full of anger directed towards those who govern our lives and have power over the conditions under which we live. Who can ever forget poor Roberto Guzman’s “bulging eyes”?

New students equal new conditions and challenges. At least for me it does, and my students’ devotion to their own challenges is awe inspiring. I know it is difficult to follow my curriculum; it’s a new way to learn for many of you. But as Canadians like to say: “A change is as good as a rest.” It’s only this week that I truly feel I am starting to know you well. Thus the newness fades, but the best of the course is yet to come!

November 9, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Nusrat Begum said...

This term in our English 11 class, we have finished story and poetry sections uptilnow.The story part was started with a hard one,” CHILD, DEAD, IN THE ROSE GARDEN”. Its starting was quite hopeless as Brad gave an hour for its reading. It was fourteen pages hard and a tough story. I could read only four pages of, which gave me impression of less understanding, so I fond my self ashamefull.I read it many times, further I asked Trudi for help, but she was, very busy at that time. Lastly, Brad’s comment on Blog helped me a lot. The other two stories were interesting, I enjoyed their reading.
In poetry, I first time came to know about the usage of literary devices. Before that I knew only paraphrasing and reference to the context. In poetry’s group discussion the reading of poem was just gobbling. I imagined as we are detaching, the colourful fragrance petals of a marvellous flowers in a very awkward way. This is my personal feeling. My aim is not hurt any one.
I have learnt many beautiful words, cuddle, dandillions.Now I, have a confidence to read a story or a poem and can enjoy it. This is my achievement in learning.

November 9, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Kevin said...

When I review what I’ve learnt this term, I found I had already written 9 articles, some are about 200 words, some are only several lines.

I usually consider reading is a kind of enjoyment; nevertheless, writing is harder more than reading, especially literary writing. I read five books of "Earth Sea" this summer; it's interesting. There is only one book "Tales From Earthsea" I've not read yet which I didn't find in library. In contrast, I have written technical reports for many years which were consisted of 1, 2, 3 and A, B, C. I've almost forgotten how to write a normal article then I realized that I've hardly written any articles except technical reports for a long time. Mostly, I've just been calling. At least, this is a computer communication era. Everyone has email; even my mom has an email account. I've emailed her some pictures that we took in the first year we arrived Canada. Even in that email, I only wrote "Mom, these are photos about me and my family." And then I called her.

Do we need writing? I'm not sure, however, if there are no one writing, what can I reading? And there must be someone who enjoys writing in somewhere. Anyway, writing is a kind of job, but reading is really enjoyment and life. That's it.

November 11, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Jessie said...

I have experienced different way of learning English this term. The “Blog” is a bright idea. Brad always posts an example immediately. He gives us plenty of time to digest it and write our own. This is quite an efficient method on guiding me to start a writing. The group discussion is also a good practice for me. It forces me to talk and think; meanwhile, I was amazing to know everyone in this class has different talent. Rosemary always has wide and deep thinking. Her opinions about the “Homework” let me noticed the mother’s negative emotion in the story. Raiya has a beautiful tone on reading the poems. I was lucky to be in the same group with him and heard his reading “Our Ancestors Short Lives”. We have studied four stories, one video and one poem so far. None of them is easy. I read “Child, Dead, in the Rose Garden” at least five times, but still have questions on many sentences. General speaking, I enjoy learning English in this class except the presentation. To speak in front of the class was horrible. I hope that was the first also the last presentation in this term.

November 11, 2009 at 7:57 PM
sherry said...

For now, I would like to take the English 11 class against the first time that I felt little bit nervous. I learned a lot that not only from the class, but also from our blog.

Opening my bind, I counted that I have leaned four articles (still remember) and “A Note” poem, and using “when bad luck is a good luck” as a model, we wrote the story about our-self experience. This is the newest and challenge for me; yet, I was enjoy it very much even if it took me two days work.

In this semester, I feel more confidence to write a paragraph or an essay because before the writing we have group discuss, thus I could understand the article and class content well. Further more, I could share my classmate’s opinion that we came from different countries with different cultures; therefore, I was very interested in that time.

Learning English for the second language people is not easy especially for our adults. Knowing that, I will stick to go to school, and hope to get improve both in speaking and writing.

November 11, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Kamaljeet said...

When I am doing review for this class, I found I learned so many new things. From reading a long story, to writing a list poem, I took three tests in class, but I found my weakness in this term as weak grammar, poor reading. Sometime I found myself I didn’t match my teacher’s expectation.

Something I really enjoyed poem terms. Reading and writing a poem are a good opportunity for me. But lack of time and my busy schedule, I had to rush.

I always enjoyed writing compared to reading. This course is a challenge for me because I have to enjoy reading then I can write something. Because Brad already knows what is in the story, he wants to know how I feel after readings. I am trying to read something everyday.

November 12, 2009 at 11:06 AM
fatima said...

Since we started this course, I have learned many new interesting and useful things. First of all, I found that I have the ability to write a narrative essay of 1000 words. Also, the ten poetry tips helped me to improve my poetry skills. They were the keys that encouraged me to write a poem, and they helped me to understand the insightful meaning of poetry. Blogging also has been a great experience for me because it is an effective way to gain knowledge, to learn amazing new vocabularies, and to stay in touch with students and the teacher. I have greatly enjoyed the methods Brad “the teacher” is using, and it is a great way to make us to get inside the appropriate English language and discover the secrets about it. Overall, the whole experience so far in this class has been positive, and I am looking forward to complete this course successfully.

I really enjoy the class and I feel that I am improving my English day by day .

November 12, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Sophie said...

At the beginning of this term, I wrote a comment on Linda Liu’s poem which made me “full of deep dread”. I doubted myself and worried: “Shall I be able to keep up with the class?” When I read the story “Child, Dead, In the Rose Garden” in 14 pages, I was shocked and tired. There were too many new words, so I had to rely on a dictionary. As I faced the homework to write a narrative essay, I felt relaxed at first because I thought it easy to write a story. However, during the process of writing, I found it was not as easy as I had predicted. I was puzzled by punctuation marks for conversations and troubled for detail descriptions. Fortunately, I found reading and writing poems both very interesting. Now, I know I have benefitted a lot from Brad’s comments and group discussions, and look forward to the next half puzzling or interesting semester.

November 12, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Douaa said...

Every night, I try to take notes about what I have learned from the passing day. In fact,course after course I have foud myself strong and fortified,but what should I say about my English 11 class? It's really groovy.Many new things have lodged in my brain.let's begin by the long story,I found it difficult and boring at the begining but later on,I understood that sometimes we must be as a ant,or borrow it's patience.Going to poems and poetry terms was a powerful way to refresh my brain in new ideas.Also,homework on the blog encouraged me to share my opinion to my classmates,and I really appreciate everyones' point of view.Even, small details and some messages that I have heard them from Brad were helpful.


Today, I aspire to learn more new things to hold them in my quiver, and I also wish to everyone in my class including me to pass this course.

November 12, 2009 at 5:41 PM
WENDY CHEN said...

How time flies, we are already on the midway of our English 11 course. This semester, I find three interesting things which are not the same as our study before. They are internet based blog, more various styles of writings, and more presentations.
We post all the homework on our English 11 blog. To me, we have a designate home which can share our works, opinions, and comments. Not only can we brush our computer skills, but also learn from Brad and other classmates’ writing style. So far, besides 200 words writing for each class, I have written a one-thousand word fiction, and a poem. It is a brand new pride, achievement and experience to me. In English 11, we have more chances to present our ideas of homeworks. We have learned both how to make public speech and how to be a good-mannered-audience. Above three issues are really important for our future study in university. Personally, I feel that I have made great progress under Brad’s direction in English 11.

November 12, 2009 at 8:41 PM
Audrey said...

I like the way you are teaching that we “play with ideas and discuss interesting topics” in the class. It is an excellent way to learn new language. From the discussion, I get all kinds of ideas. In order to express myself, I need to use the proper words and drill the sentences. Experience it is much better than just have it. I feel like English literature is not that far away from me. I have confidence to approach it.
Now, everything changed so fast. Lots of new things around that you can’t catch up. You opened our mind. It’s not only English class but also a lesson for our lives. One decision can make big difference. After one day work, I just sit down and experience the “blog”. I feel like I am not behind. A wonderful future is waiting for me. I eager to enjoy it.

November 12, 2009 at 9:43 PM
George said...

It is an effective learning procedure since I began to study English 11. Finishing reading a story in limited time, discussing how to write a good essay, and put comments to blog are new for me. In Taiwan, literature should be taught and transferred by an instructor, so I can get the best and right concepts from a right one. Never imagining to create some ideas about writing with classmates, and I can write an essay through our conclusions. After finishing these, I seem more impressive in English than before. Since studying literature, I like poetry but not included an English poem. An English poem has few words than a paragraph or an essay, but it is difficult to understand for me. In my memory, when my roommates wanted to read a English poem and tried to show a good English poem to me, I always gave them the cold shoulder. Unbelievable and interesting, I can write an English poem and share my concepts of it to my classmates. From beginning, it puzzled me a lot that a learning method was different from the past, and I was not sure whether it could be work or not. Nowadays, I think it is effective and can give me a lot benefits.

November 12, 2009 at 11:49 PM
rosemaryrrr said...

During the 9 weeks in English 11, I recognize my English has improved, but not enough. Brad, the teacher, makes a lot of diversity actions and utilizes several techniques, for instance; homework published in the Blog, working in groups, short and long readings, writings, videos, lectures and more. Occasionally some class activities seem not very practical but indeed they are; e.g. working in group is very constructive for our future labor and community teams and promotes interaction with classmates. Publishing comments in the blog is thrilling, the strict use of certain amount of words is challenging productive, and makes to chose precise vocabulary and develops grammar.
We have read good stories as such “Child, dead, in the Rose Garden” E.L. Doctorow, an exciting denouncing story in the imaginary but real environment of the White House in the 2000’s where a boy is found dead, the memorable “Biker Brad Hyde” when teacher freely competes with students giving them pattern about how to work, “Homework” Helen Simpson, the notable mother helping his son Charlie doing his fake English assignment. Listening Gore imploring to save the planet was touching, the poems by Wislawa Szymborska when students awake feelings to later simulate to be poets using her model. Finally produce our personal writing master piece have being inspiring.

November 13, 2009 at 12:50 AM
somayeh said...

When I started this course, I already missed two weeks of the beginning. Reading “Docctorow”‘s story in one hour and comment about it was my first homework. ”Child, Dead, in the rose Garden “was a resentful story, but writing a paragraph urged me to cogitate about “Roberto‘s death”.”Homework “is reminiscing story, and I introduced with my classmates ‘opinion during class discussion. Reading “A Note “and use it as a model to write a poem was hard to follow, but the bright result was poetry is learnable not only naturally. Also following the structure of “Good lock, Bad lock “as a example to write a narrative assay about 300 to 1000 words was successful.”Blog “is a smart idea to connect the students and the teacher to gather. I learned Lot s of new useful words and vocabulary until the middle of term. Although English 11 course is puzzling, Brad‘s new way for teaching make it interesting. I strived to improve my English language, and I will do my best after that in my friendly warm English class.

November 13, 2009 at 10:34 AM

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