WANISAN

I teach a class called Web English and use a computer lab with monitors and OHC. I used to use the whiteboard, and still do a little, but while using one of the labs that contained a very long (full length of a 60 foot classroom) whiteboard, I got so tired of running up and down the front of the room and having to write things on both ends of it because of the angle making it nearly illegible from either opposite end.

Yes, my handwriting being so bad added to the problem.
Since we have center monitors for all of the rows of computers and islands and an OHC, I thought I would write notes and use that.

I bought a small whiteboard that fits in my bag and use that for most of my notes. I use a fine point marker on it and then only use the wall whiteboard for some extra notes and drawings for examples.

This has been a big help to me and I thought others might benefit from doing something similar. Besides the fact that every time you turn your back on any classroom full of students, even to write important information on the whiteboard, you are fighting a losing battle trying to keep their attention from waning. That is doubly, or more, difficult when they have the internet in front of them and it is part of the class.

Using the small whiteboard allows me to write and watch and engage them at the same time and not run up and down the front of the classroom.

I usually put a drawing and short message on the board when I first set things up so there is something showing on the monitors for students when they turn them on.

I’ve been playing around with little faces and characters to keep things interesting and to let me know if monitors are on and students are paying attention.

Here’s last Friday’s drawing as an example. You’ll see it’s nothing special, but just to give you an idea. And yes, I know the drawing is evidence of why I’m a professor and not an artist 😉

These pictures were taken by one of my students outside our classroom before Advanced Discussion on Wednesday.
This window shade is usually closed because the window opens onto the patio that connects this building to the auditorium building on this side, the sun(ny) side.
For some reason when I returned from lunch this Wednesday it was open and I felt really exposed standing at the front of the class. Students were walking by outside and looking in, so I turned around and then decided to do my mannequin impression.
I caused a bit of a stir with several students walking by, so Ms. Nishio decided to take a photo.
That side of the building is very hot, especially at that time of day, the sun made the pictures hard to take, but I think they’re great!

Today I had a really interesting time (it is usually interesting, but today even more so) in my graduate course in American Literature and Culture.

We were discussing Ezra Pound’s poem “A River Merchant’s Wife – a Letter”.

This is not an original poem by Pound but actually a translation of a poem written hundreds of years ago by a Chinese poet named Li Po. Maybe you already knew that, but just in case, and because it is important to the rest of this discussion, I needed to bring that up.

There is of course some discussion among scholars, some heated discussions even, about the veracity, and accuracy of the translation. Pound said he was trying more for an image to image, ideal to ideal translation, but still he used some very literal translations in his version.

Keep in mind this was done in 1914 or so. Chinese was not a widely known language outside of China.

The places named were easy enough to verify and they do bring some additional understanding to the poem.

2 of my graduate students in this class are Chinese though, so we had a unique opportunity to discuss the original poem, which they were easily able to call up on iPads and compare Pound’s translation.

That was really interesting, but also interesting that one of the students knew the areas mentioned in the poem and had actually been there. He commented that the river mentioned is famous for being very dangerous as well.

They both were able to talk about the customs of early marriages and the way a wife would act which also shed some light on our discussions.

This class is usually interesting, but today, really interesting. Not the kind of class we usually have.

Here’s to next week and hoping it is still interesting as we move to one of my favorites, T.S. Eliot.

This week in Advanced Discussion we talked about a few more proverbs. One of the ones that seemed simple but brought a lot of talk was “ignorance is bliss”.

There are a lot of aspects to this proverb, but at its base it simply means “not knowing about some things is better and allows you to be happy” instead of stressing or worrying about something you may not be able to change.

While it surely isn’t good for you to be ignorant about a test you were supposed to be prepared for.

Students are not allowed to use a dictionary, so that is also part of the discussion.

“Ignorance” looks like a word many students know which is “ignore” or even “ignorant”. There is a connection, but it isn’t in the way some of the students thought. To be “ignorant” simply means “to not know about”. To be “stupid” means “to not be able to know”.

If someone asks you how to get to Nagoya station, it is okay to say you don’t know, but it is not okay to say you don’t understand.

Had this question at lunch the other day, and I thought the answer might be helpful for others.

We were talking about the difference between “look” and “see”. Sometimes there is confusion about when to use which one.

The simplest way to separate them is that “look” is an action and “see” is the result.

For example:

— Using “Look” and “See”

Look at the silly monkey using a computer.

Can you see that silly monkey using a computer?

Will you look in your room and see if your window is open?

I hope that makes it clear.