daronloo

So I awarded an "F" to my student. He wanted to petition for a change of grade. How did he do it? He came into my office yesterday reeking of alcohol. He was also smoked with cigarette fumes. Way to pass college.

"Daron, when are you getting married?" Is a common question I have been getting recently (playing for too many weddings in a year). I used to get livid when someone asks me this. But I don't see the point in getting frustrated (woohooo I'm maturing :p) The next time someone decides to ask me that question, I'll say, "Oh didn't you know? I have a wife a three kids back home."

I woke up this morning, fed my cat, prepared lunch, opened my email. Apparently I won a green card lottery. I don't remember signing up for any. I did some research on Google (just to confirm my suspicion and of course to educate myself) and found out that that if ever anyone wins a green card lottery, he or she will have to deal directly with the embassy instead of USAFIS . Bleh. Sucky scams. I was quite surprised to find that the email listed my house number. Hmm. Probably I should start keeping my info on the internet to a bare minimum.

The Morning After Friday. I woke up this morning and went back to bed. When will I ever have those days when I can just laze around doing nothing, or if its too much to not do anything, then when will I ever have those days when I can just laze around reading a book. I recently purchased (hopefully not an impulsive buy) a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The lady at the counter installed a tonne of games into it which I later deleted. I am not a big fan of games... UNTIL I STARTED ANGRY BIRDS - I have had two late nights since getting this Tab for my Bday. Bleh. Every morning I have Angry Birds outside my window. All sorts of birds have been domesticated to frequent my backyard. Thanks to my Mom and Dr. Chew and his wife who has always intentionally stuck bananas on tree branches for the birds to eat. They're so noisy in the morning, like Angry Birds. I wish I had a pig to throw at them. Adios

Had countless meals with friends last week. Yesterday, I finally found my favorite Thai dish at the university cafeteria! Khao Soi! It's like laksa, but with a Thai twist. What was initially a trip for some buttermilk buns turned into a heated frenzy of slurping this spicy Northern Thai delicacy! Totally recommended :D I'm kinda stuck in the office. It's really pouring out there. I have to run up to the music room in a bit to give a make up piano lesson to a student who has been consistently missing classes. Grading some papers at the same time.

looking for the perfect evaluation tool for a large class is painful. i'm teaching a same general class for the third time in my two-year teaching stint here. my assess my students by seeing how much they can transfer what they have learned in new contexts... in other words, i'm testing similar principles but using different linguistic items the two previous classes i taught found this type of assessment fine. it is my present class that really surprises me. perhaps it is because the two other classes before have been with me since they started their beginning course in general english. this third group is new to me. they've had two different teachers prior to me. and the ways the other two different teacher used were different... actually the first one is similar to how i teach, very communicative and in line with the direct method, the second teacher, however, did a lot of grammar translation with a direct method twist... making the students prone to memorize inste...

A group of students came into the office today to share their concerns with me. They were unable to follow the classroom's progress. I asked them whether I spoke to fast. They told me that I spoke slow enough, but it would probably help if I wrote what I spoke on the whiteboard. I agreed to that. They added that the previous class (I'm teaching the second level of an English class) handled tests very differently from what I am currently doing. They would have had a similar practice, or rather a mock test before the actual test. In other words, they were being drilled and prepared for the impending evaluation. I've never thought of doing that before for my personal opinions regarding tests. But maybe this is a 'wake-up' call to rethink of my teaching/evaluation strategies. I'm glad the students came to see me. At least they came to tell me the problems they face at the very beginning of the semester. Rather than waiting till the end of the semester for ...