It’s Saturday! Musings on the Dangers of Recommending Books

A few weeks ago I was enthusiastically telling some people how funny I thought the book which I was reading “The Hundred Year old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared” was.

One of the women who heard went out and bought the book.

When I met her again a week later she had read about 30 or 40 pages. “When does it get funny”? she asked. I was a bit taken by surprise as I had started chuckling by the end of page one. I said something about the hero leaving Sweden soon and meeting all these famous people and she nodded hopefully.

I met her again a few days ago. She didn’t mention the book and I didn’t ask but the conversation was akward and short. If she had just borrowed it from the library instead of buying it…

What’s nice about my blog, as opposed to such situations, is that I don’t see it as”a book recommendation blog”. I write about my own feelings about what I’m currently reading. I’m delighted when people discuss their opinions with me but I don’t feel commited to supplying a full or objective review of the book for readers.

Perhaps “funny” is the most “dangerous” word. People differ wildly in regards as to what makes them laugh. If I had discussed a heart-wrenching drama the expecations may have been clearer.

But then again, maybe not. The style of writing is very important to me and people have been bored by books I found dramatic…

Part 2: Using Google Forms for Online Homework

Here is part two (of three) of my tale describing the classroom applications of Google Docs following an ETAI conference session given by Adele Raemer.

First, an update on  part one.  It turned out that the other two teachers were accessing our shared schedule by searching for my email with the link each time (instead of accessing it directly from Google Docs) and needed a “refresher”. Nonetheless, I’m still very optimistic that they will really adopt this change. All of us having the most updated schedule at all times is simply too good to miss.

The enthusiastic response I got from the students when they saw that the  first online homework task was built as a form with a “submit” button was astonishing. The results appear immediately in my Google Docs. Till now the students sent me homework by email, often with attachments. Some didn’t like using email. Worse, a surprising number of students don’t have “office” on their computers (some seem to have only Facebook…) and I was pasting tasks into the body of the email for them. There were also issues of different versions of “Word” and tasks that wouldn’t open…

Photo by Gil Epshtein

Despite all of that I was still astonished by their response. I didn’t expect students to compliment me on building a homework task! Some asked how I suddenly knew how to do this. I told them that I studied this in the summer and basked in their momentary admiration.

Here is an example of the most recent task for one of the four homework groups. PLEASE don’t fill out the form. I’d like to see only my own students’ names on the results page!

But that’s not all. Adele introduced us to “Flubaroo”, which grades the tasks and lets you send out an email to all the students, with the results and a comment (it doesn’t matter which kind of email the students are using). Very cool and simple to use.

So, why didn’t I place online tasks using Google Forms at the top of my list?

Building every task in the format of a form requires some adjustments. At the moment it is taking me longer than creating a task using Word. There are a number of possibilities for answer formats and I have to devote thought to the right format for each question, thinking of how the answer should look.

A step in the right direction was to expand my possibilities for utilizing the forms by deciding not to use Flubaroo for all tasks.

Photo by Gil Epshtein

There is importance in giving open ended questions. The fact that the answers to each question, in all their variety, will appear in one column should enable me to easily create an error correcting activity in class. At least that is the plan. In the past I attempted to copy problematic sentences from each task I corrected onto a document but that was too time consuming and even confusing.

I am simply going to have to experiment with this and see how many of the tasks I would like the students to do, can fit into the format of a form.

Next time, Part three – Google Forms and Staff Meetings

The Impact of a Conference Session on Using Google Docs

I always learn many interesting things at an ETAI conference. But now and then I hear something that turns out to have a significant impact on my day to day life in the classroom.

I know I may be writing this post too soon. We’ve only been at school for two weeks. I do have a tendency to get excited about things that don’t always turn out to be as awesome as I thought, but this is really too exciting for me to wait.

Photo by Gil Ephstein

However, in order to be on the cautious side, I’ll present the classroom applications I have found in order of my optimism regarding their permanent usefulness.

At the July ETAI Conference Adele Raemer gave a fascinating Tech-Talk. Among other things she introduced me to Google Docs. I must admit I was dimly aware that I had been missing something. But there were always other things going on… who has the time?! I guess that’s what conferences are for!

Application Number One -The Class Schedule

The deaf and hard of hearing students at my school learn some subjects with their hearing peers and some with special teachers in small classrooms. So each student must have his / her own unique schedule, depending on the number of hours in the regular classroom. Some students barely study with their hearing peers, some study many hours. Learning a foreign language is difficult for most students with a hearing problem so almost EVERYONE studies EFL in our special classroom. All these factors make our teaching schedule an absolute nightmare during the first few weeks of school.It changes a lot during the school year too, though (thankfully!) not as much.

At this time of year the schedule  seems to change by the hour as students shift their majors and make other changes. Think of the butterfly effect… It has always been a nightmare to constantly update the list (worked in pencil!) and update the other part time teachers and the head of my department.

Now, its not that I hadn’t heard of collaborative tools before. But the aforementioned people are decidedly “un-tech” minded.

Epstein Family photos

Google Docs doesn’t require creating a user name and password to a new site and then remembering what that site was called and how to access it.

Its right there in your mailbox.

And there is nothing to learn regarding how to erase a student’s name from one place and type it in another box in the spreadsheet (yes, I created the sheet with original schedule. I even color coded the boxes so one can see who’s teaching when!). I didn’t even have to stand beside them to explain how to use it.

I’m optimistic they will accept this change. In addition to all the advantages I just mentioned is the fact that I flatly refuse to accept written notes about changes and will not write any. I will not read out changes over the phone either.

Worst case scenario – Even if I do end up using it only for myself, I have just “deleted” a whole “brick” of aggravation. I’m the one who teaches the most hours and have said goodbye to those paper schedules with the heavy marks of an eraser. Hurrah!

Next post – classroom application number two, online homework!

 

Saturday’s Book: “In the Name of the Mother” by Erri De Luca

Any book by Erri De Luca that I can get my hands on, I read. This is third one since I’ve started this blog.

My husband brought it home from the library in Hebrew.  I don’t know if it was translated into English – Amazon only carries it in Italian.

If I had seen the name in English I might have guessed what it was about but as it was I was clueless. It has to do with the birth of Jesus from the mother’s point of view. Though, now that I’ve finished it I believe it is about giving birth in a very univerasal sense. Strange to think that the author is a man!

Its a very small book. I never dreamed I would read it in less than a week during the hectic beginning of a  school year! Its only 66 pages, the pages are smaller than normal and the print is large. And, as always. Erri De Luca is immensly readable. Wonder why this book was translated into Hebrew and at not into English (at least as far as I found on the web)?

 

Unrelated note: Read a great post for book lovers: “Just Let them Read Books”  .  I really enjoyed it.

Saturday’s Book: “The Book Borrower” by Alice Mattison

I really don’t know what to make of this book.  It’s as if the book hasn’t made up its own mind regarding what kind of book it is. At times I’m puzzled. For example, the main theme of the book is supposed to be the powerful friendship between two women but the friendship is described only from the point of view of one of the two women. I can’t figure out what made this relationship work like it did. There is also a bit of confusion when reading – often its not clear if a statement is something that the heroine actually said or just thought to herself.

On the other hand, at no point did I think of giving up on the book. You can see some elements of the story becoming related and I have to see how it plays out. In addition, the author surprised me. I like that in a book. One of the first story lines is related to a tragic event. When it becomes painfully clear that this chain of events will end badly the author acknowledges that the reader knows it and really doesn’t want all the gory details and takes the tale into the future (in case someone actually didn’t get it the sad event IS mentioned later on at some point).

Still haven’t finished it (my pace of reading slowed down considerably now that I’m back at work full time!). Will add a postscript when I do finish it.

Monday: Finished the book last night. I must admit I didn’t know what to make of the ending either. I was glued (stayed up until the last words were read) but was left feeling that I didn’t really understand the point which was being made. Rather a bewildering situation for me!

Are There Hidden Motives behind Feedback Forms?

A few days ago I taught the last lesson of the course for adults (end of Summer semester). Each student was handed a feedback form to fill out.

How far will management go just to please? (I took the photo!)

Despite being a teacher for many years, this is my first experience with a real, clear cut, “for profit” framework. The message that it is a business is being hammered home in many ways. The main one is, of course, the size of the language class for the weakest students in the school -37 students.

But its the other ways in which the message “the customer is always right” is being sent that makes me wonder what the purpose of these forms really is. I have already been asked to teach the course again, so that can’t be the reason I was asked to meet with “the big honcho” (not the English coordinator) to discuss them.

A telling example has to do with use of the site Quizlet, which I believe to be a very useful tool. I put up two lists of relevant vocabulary for my students to practice. I made a simple screencast showing them how to use it. In addition I posted a page in mother tongue explaining how to use it. Despite all that, it seems one or two students had trouble with it and asked for help from the support service (students can’t write me directly, emails go through the office first). I was immediatly told not to use Quizlet.

So what happens if a student complains that there wasn’t enough groupwork or too much groupwork? What about the number of quizzes I gave in class? I gave quite a few, short, easy ones as I believe that success breeds motivation (which leads to more success) but there were a couple of students who did not hand in the tasks and did not take all the quizzes. How will “the customer is always right theory” work here?

I’d be very interested to hear how such things work in other places.

 

Its Saturday! Choosing a Book by its Cover

I chose a book this week by its cover. I thought I didn’t really do that (except for books that their covers STRONGLY hint that  you might  find them hidden under a mattress. I don’t take those). But then I began thinking about it. Maybe I DO do that and what’s so wrong with that?

I don’t really like reading blurbs on the back cover of books as they tend to give too much of the plot away. I try to stop reading the blurb after a sentence or two but I don’t always succeed. I’ve put many a book back on the library shelf because I’ve felt that I know to much and can guess the rest. Its better to examine the front cover and the first page of the book, or even open the book to a page chosen randomly and to read a paragraph.

This week the title “The Book Borrower” caught my eye (by Alice Mattison). You can imagine why! Then I saw a review on the cover that compared the author to Margaret Atwood, whose books I really enjoy. That was enough for me!

So, now you know what next week Saturday’s book will be about! I’ve only read about 10 pages and still don’t have an opinion. More next week!

 

Impolite Relief: It Wasn’t Mine!

All summer vacation I had an unpleasant, nagging thought which I tried with all my might to ignore:

“I hope they don’t take my classroom away”.

Discovering the week before school begins that I no longer had a designated English room was not an unfounded fear. The previous school year had ended with an ugly change of administration and with the information that the school would be growing. In fact, we were told that caravans may have to be brought in as temporary solution.

In addition, that exact scenario did happen once, three principals ago ( I’ve seen quite a few principals come and go…). I came to school like I did this morning, to start unpacking the closets and setting up the classroom for the first day of the new school year. It was a different room back then, much smaller and in the main building. I found my two closets in a side niche of a corridor and my own overhead projector (it was donated to me, personally, not to the school!) added to the school’s stock of OVP’s. Luckily mine had a very distinctive label with the name ELMO on it so it was quite clear which one it was.

ELMO, the OVP

I was told, after I asked (!!!!) that the school had grown and they needed the room.

It was because of Elmo, the overhead projector, that I was given another room. When I met with the principal I told her that all this equipment I had personally gotten from donors would have to be returned to them along with the explanation that they could no longer be used for teaching English to deaf and hard of hearing students, as the school had other priorities. To be honest, I’m amazed I was able to say that to the principal as she was very intimidating and I’m not known for being eloquent when I’m upset.

Classroom door (inside)

I’m still in the room I got back then. Its in the yard, its sort of a makeshift room that was added on and it has some problems. But I think I’m lucky it is so. Because it wasn’t my room in the yard that was rennovated this summer and transformed into a regular classroom, it was a different one. I don’t know the details yet regarding where the other teacher will be teaching and what she was or wasn’t told in advance. I’ll see her at the general staff meeting on Thursday and find out.

I’m not phoning her because I feel so relieved that I’m afraid I will sound very impolite and not supportive…

 

Saturday’s Book: “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely

This book was recommended to me by my friend Vicky Loras and after enjoying “Freakonomics” last summer I was quite interested in reading it. I was no longer under the illusion that such books were only for people good at math and science.

I would like to point out that this is a book I now own (a gift I exchanged) and not a library book. I know I have mentioned often how I’m all for library books but this is the kind of book it is good to own. It isn’t meant to be read all at once, the author says it explicitly in the introduction (or was it the first chatper?).So I’ve been reading it, bit by bit, for the last month or so. I need time to take in what I’ve read before starting a new topic.

Each chapter is thought provoking and about issues related to every day life. It is very readable and the author does try to infuse humor into it. While all the topics are interesting (so far at least, have not finished it yet), some topics are REALLY interesting! This weekend I read about proctastinating and being addicted to email

Besides reading, we went on a great trip up north this weekend. Here are some random photos from our trip which I found interesting:

Epstein Family Photos
Epstein Family Photos
Epstein Family Photos
Epstein Family Photos

 

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