whatsnew

50 good questions you need to think about - NOW!

2012-01-31T10:46:00.000-04:00

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
13. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?
18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
20. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
22. Why are you, you?
23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
25. What are you most grateful for?
26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
28. Has your greatest fear ever come true?
29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
30. What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
32. If not now, then when?
33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
36. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
40. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
46. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
47. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
48. What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
49. In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?
50. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

2011-12-03T01:09:00.003-04:00

Where good ideas come from
by
Robert L. Fielding
What is a good idea? We might start by looking how the words, ‘good’ and ‘idea’ can be used and are defined. Since the word ‘good’ is a sort of catch-all word with as many meanings as it attaches itself to as an adjective, we might be well-advised to look at the list of synonyms that appear most appropriate as an adjective to describe an idea. Here is a list of synonyms for ‘good’.
commonsense, commonsensible,commonsensical, firm, hard, informed, just,
justified,levelheaded, logical, rational, reasonable, reasoned,sensible, sober, solid, valid, well-founded

However, few, if any of those words conjure up the notion of creative. In fact, most synonyms of the word ‘good’ relate to qualities of things, rather than thoughts.

Let’s try a word like ‘creative’ and see what we get: clever, imaginative, ingenious, innovational,innovative, innovatory, inventive, original, originative,Promethean
gifted, inspired, talented; resourceful; fecund, fertile, fruitful, generative, germinal, productive

Now, these words seem more appropriate when describing a ‘good idea’. They conjure up the essence of all that is good about a ‘good idea’, particularly in the context of this discussion.
Now for the word ‘idea’, defined as:
Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.

I also want to introduce the adjective ‘new’ so that the ‘good idea’ in the title, ‘Where good ideas come from, refers to good ideas that are new ones, original ones, new, perhaps not in any real absolute sense, but rather meant to refer to those ideas that are good ones and are new and original to the person thinking them, and then outlining them.

This outlining is essential for my purpose; good ideas that never make the light of day remain day-dreams, untried, untested, unverified, undefended and unexplained. Those ‘good ideas’ I want to discuss the origins of are those that do make the light of day, as we say, that are tried and tested, verified, defended and explained, and survive the onslaught of doubt, and are still thought of as ‘good ideas’.

In fact, we might go so far as to say that such good ideas are ones which effect some alternative preferable to those that have gone before. It does seem commonsense to talk about those ideas that change something for the better.

Thus, originality in thought seems to be synonymous with creativity: ‘Creativity can be defined as the process of generating something that makes a difference. It is about doing something or making something that in some way changes the world or changes how someone experiences it.’
http://www.purposivedrift.net/archives/000011.html

It can occur in any sphere of human activity. Often it is quite spontaneous, a natural reaction to an event or circumstances when a creative response is almost accidental in nature. More interestingly it can also be a deliberate form of action, a process that can be learnt, a process that can be nurtured. (ibid)

So, having a good idea can be something like a ‘light-bulb/Eureka moment, which occurs as quick as a flash, or it can be the product of a way of thinking – of orienting oneself to events, things, people, circumstances or dilemmas, for example.

It is this second, more deliberate way of coming up with good ideas that interests me. The Eureka moments – flashes of inspiration, are valuable, but I don’t think we have time to sit around and wait for them to happen. Rather, it might be more productive to look at the ways we can be creative on a regular basis rather than relying on something like lightning to strike.

A good starting point would be to say that in order to be creative, a person needs to have certain qualities:
*A creative person:

 Is curious
Curiosity is the starting point in the process of coming up with ideas. You have to be curious, to wonder if something could be changed, to give enough thought to whatever it is you think could benefit from change.
 Is flexible
Flexibility is another vital quality for anyone who has new ideas. Having a mind opposed to flexibility – rigidity – would inhibit the production of anything new.

 Connects ideas
The writer, E.M. Forster famously once said, “Only connect”, and although he was probably talking about what writers do, it is good advice for anyone wanting to be innovative. Connecting things that are not normally thought capable of being connected is the hallmark of the creative mind.
 Accepts disorder
Disorder can be threatening to some people, and seen as an opportunity to others. Putting some different kind of order to what looks chaotic is again a creative exercise.
 Is unorthodox
Unorthodox situations, solutions, or answers point to a creative mind. Some find unorthodox ideas threatening, out of the question, as they say, or just ridiculous. Creative people are not so threatened by unorthodox thoughts. On the contrary, they revel in them.
 Enjoys experimenting
Experimenting is something akin to daydreaming – saying ‘What if…? Testing out experiments brings the ideas underpinning them to fruition of finality.
 Is open to new experiences
Being conservative in thought word and deed usually signals that someone is not open to new experiences – finds them threatening and unpleasant. Those who are open to new experiences probably have a much more optimistic outlook on life and enjoy life much more too.
 Has the courage to take risks
Taking risks always requires some courage. It is in overcoming the threat risk taking poses that we find confidence to take more risks; not with abandon, but with a rational calculation of the odds of being successful.
 Enjoys humor and playfulness
It is in our play and in humour that we find our real selves, escape, however momentarily, from the day to day, often stultifying routines that mark our days. Humour and play are antidotes to the boredom of routine, and they are terrific stress relievers too.
 Sees similarities and differences
Our ability to see similarities in things, in people, goes a long way towards ensuring that we do not become cynical or prejudiced. Seeing the differences allows us to see gaps in our intuition.
 Is independent and self-reliant
There is nothing like being self-reliant and independent of thought to free a person from the chains that bind. With such freedom, comes freedom to ponder, freedom to enquire, and freedom to experiment.
 Is persistent and goal-directed
10% inspiration and 90% perspiration is the ratio of effort needed to see an idea though to its conclusion. The inspiration comes first, the perspiration ensures fulfillment.
 Questions accepted ways of doing things
Questioning accepted ways of doing things is something that is generally frowned upon, from the time we first ask, “Why?” to our having the confidence and the sense to question whether something is good just because it has always been done that way. However, novelty for the sake of it can be less than valuable too.
 Is confident
Having confidence generally equates with a personality that can cope with criticism and be resilient to it. Any new idea will always meet with some resistance, initially; having the confidence to be forthright and persistent pays off.
 Isn’t scared of being wrong
One thing experts like Sir Ken Robinson, the noted British educationalist, says is that if you are not prepared to be wrong, you will most probably never come up with anything new. He adds that although being wrong is not the same as being creative, not being frightened of it bodes well for anybody’s creative aspirations.
 Is open minded
Being open minded is synonymous with finding others’ thoughts and ideas acceptable. If a new idea is someone else’s, it doesn’t mean it should be ridiculed or banished. Having a closed mind is one of the ways to dying a death, whilst the opposite is to assert one is alive and a member of the human race – an active member.
 Is intuitive
Some people get a ‘feeling’ that something will work or turn out right, and although in tuition needs other qualities like logic and creativity to bear fruit, it is nevertheless a spring-board from which to start.
 Is adventurous
An adventurous nature goes with youth; not only the young can be youthful. Youthfulness is as much a state of mind as it is of the calendar. Loving adventure is living life at full speed; recklessness is not the same, however.
 Is willing to accept others’ ideas
It is in accepting others’ ideas that we find friends, colleagues who become friends, or those who are merely interested in the same things we are. Competition is fine, but collaboration is more productive.
 Is unwilling to accept ideas just because they are older
Accepting the ‘status-quo’ is something we all have to do to get by, for most of the time, but a healthy doubt that everything that is habitual is fine is integral to having productive thoughts. Everything that is older, however, isn’t necessarily always in need of being changed.
 Isn’t merely fascinated by novelty
Novelty, when it does not serve a purpose is called fashion. A fashion is merely a wish for novelty for its own sake. Being fascinated by novelty is not as useful as being intrigued by it.
 Is interested in the modern and the new
Since we live in this new age of technical innovation, we should be interested in it. If we are not, it might mean that we find it threatening. Challenging head on the things we find threatening renders them non-threatening, and in some cases welcome.
 Is tenacious
Tenacity is persistence added to determination; good ideas need to be worked on and through if they are to become anything more than dreams. Dreams are fine, but without some direction and application, they rarely see the light of day. Good ideas are dreams that are realized!
*My list added to by Fisher R, (2005) page 75

If you rarely have new ideas, and almost never have new ones that turn out to be good ones, you might do well to take another look at the qualities of those who do have them. If you score low on most of those, then you might need to change in some way or other.

Now, nearly everybody has some resistance to change built in to their persona. If we did not, we wouldn’t be the people we are, and if most of us were any other way than how we are, the world would not turn as effortlessly as it usually and happily does.

Change, if it is to be effected, is best to be incremental and purposeful, rather than radical and chaotic. If you can change some aspects of your life without losing control or tiring yourself out, without losing your bearings in life, then change, when it comes will be welcome. No one wants to be ‘cast adrift in an open boat on a choppy sea, so to speak.
-00000-
So much for the popular, psychological-philosophical drift. Next comes the practical side of the getting of good ideas. First, it has been said that in order to have a good idea, you need to have lots of ideas, and having lots of ideas is something that can be worked upon and developed.

The early stages of producing lots of ideas begins, for me, with making connections, associations, so that when I think of one word, ten more come out of the filing cabinet that is my brain. Similarly, if I can’t think of the name of something, I think of something that I have closely associated with it and the word comes out soon afterwards.

You might say that’s fine and dandy for me, but your brain doesn’t work like that, to which I say, make it work like that – get those synapses crackling – forge new neural networks by associating, by seeing similarities in seemingly otherwise disparate items. I do, all the time, and it is something I work on regularly and often.

I do crosswords – not just the harder, cryptic ones, but also the easier ones, asking for synonyms and the like. When doing these, easier types, I set myself rules that make me work harder to solve them. I will only try solving clues in which I have the first letter in place, for example.

When thinking something through, I sleep on it, if there is time, and invariably come up with something innovative and new the day after. I do not thrash about half the night worrying. To me, worrying is the counter-productive part of wondering; worrying is putting a value on something that hasn’t happened yet and then willing it to happen merely by making yourself miserable about what will happen if it doesn’t.

The Eastern philosophies have plenty to say about such things, whereas the Western ones tend to look at ideas and such in ways that are more logical. I think the saying, ‘East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet!’ stems from this seemingly very great difference in our respective ways of looking at ourselves and our ways of thinking, and what thought actually is, come to think of it.

Whether you hail from the Orient or the Occident, you are just as likely to be able to come up with ideas; the ability isn’t cast in granite; the human mind is adaptable to practically anything.

Connect – not only those things that everybody else connects, but try to find originality in your connecting. One way of doing this is to do those little games in children’s comics – those little exercises in which one letter is changed to make a new word, and so on until the last, given words is reached. My take on this is to see how many people come between me and someone well known – the six degrees of separation they say exists between everyone and everyone else.

I think there is something similar between things too. See how many steps it takes you to get from OXYGEN to PAPER or from OXYGEN to JOHN LENNON.

These are not just idiotic mind games, though that is precisely what they are, and no harm in that, but ways of exercising that which we sometimes prefer not to exercise – the mind! By exercising the mind, you will find ideas flow. My way of capturing them for potential posterity is to write about them – give them a life, show them to others, have them discussed, even discarded sometimes – most of the time actually, but that doesn’t matter much to me; I don’t own them, I just have them, they are not mine, and, I know I’ll have many, many more. That’s the beauty of having ideas, you see; more ideas lead to more ideas, the source never dries up – I won’t let it!

Links

Here are some links to sites on ways to come up with ideas.

Blog
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/03/11/one-simple-way-to-get-a-good-idea/

Mind Tools
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_88.htm

Talk – On getting creative ideas – Murray Gell-Mann
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1181750045682633998

Ten steps to boost your creativity
http://www.jpb.com/creative/creative.php

Getting creative things done: How to fit hard thinking into a busy schedule
http://the99percent.com/tips/6956/Getting-Creative-Things-Done-How-To-Fit-Hard-

Thinking-Into-a-Busy-Schedule
Brainstorming ideas to help you think outside the box – a compendium
http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.org/100-online-brainstorming-tools-to-help-you-think-outside-the-box/

Robert L. Fielding

References
Fisher R (2005) Teaching children to learn Nelson Thornes Cheltenham UK

Who's that?

2011-09-27T07:59:00.003-04:00

Biodiversity - what is it - where to find out about it!

2011-08-25T11:09:00.005-04:00

Biodiversity page
What is biodiversity?
Find the answer here - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/biodiversity/
Write the answer in your own words here

What threatens biodiversity?
Find the answer here - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/biodiversity/what-is-threatening-biodiversity/index.html
Write some notes here –
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Have we got a problem?
Find the answer here - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/biodiversity/biodiversity-crisis/index.html
Write some notes here-

Robert L. Fielding

Family photos

2011-06-27T02:17:00.002-04:00

Fieldings and Leslies

2011-06-19T00:18:00.005-04:00

Home on the range

2011-06-17T23:08:00.003-04:00

This is my grandparents' fireplace/cooking range from their home at number 2, Quickwood, Roughtown, Mossley.

Lunar eclipse viewed from Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain, UAE15th June 2011

2011-06-17T03:28:00.005-04:00

Images from around the world

The Dog Days Are Over

2011-06-10T00:36:00.002-04:00

‘18 Days’
The UAEU Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Presents
The First Outdoor Production at the New UAEU Campus
Outdoor Amphitheatre Tuesday June 7th 2011
In a wildly energetic flurry of song, cheering and shouted slogans, students of the FHSS Fundamentals of Stage Production Class began this ‘Orwell meets Florence and the Machine production’ directed by Dr. Jim Mirrione, ably assisted by Graeme Tennent and with guest appearances by faculty members and artists from English Literature, Fine Arts, Mass Communication and the House of Arts.

Combining choral chanting with individual vocals, the troupe cascaded down into the amphitheatre and filled our ears with sound – taunting the leader, cowed by guards, triumphal in victory – mourning a slain comrade before exulting in their new found freedom.

Rarely have Bernard Shaw, Plato and Mussolini been quoted on the same platform, I imagine, but they were tonight, in this utterly fascinating take on events that have held us enthralled for months now.

Specifics were omitted, sensibly, but the values that were extolled and celebrated; the evils denigrated, were clear and plain. The swansong summed up the emotions swelling continually to the surface in this marvelous evening’s entertaining education – ‘The dog days are over!’
Robert L. Fielding
Catch the song - The Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/f/florence_and_the_machine/dog_days_are_over.html

My namesake Robert Leslie - my great grandfather

2011-05-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

Auntie Agnes, Dad, Uncle Evans

2011-05-09T07:33:00.001-04:00

My Grandmother and her uncle

2011-05-08T06:03:00.002-04:00

Mother and child, Grandma Pino and Dad

2011-05-08T06:01:00.000-04:00

My lovely aunties - Mary and Ruby

2011-05-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

My grandparents with my Dad - the eldest son, Aunty Agnes - Aunty Ruby on her mother's knee, and Uncle Evans and Uncle Randall standing

2011-04-19T06:47:00.002-04:00

Topics for exploratory Writing

2011-04-09T06:44:00.001-04:00

Expository Essay Prompts
Expository (informative) writing communicates information to the reader to share knowledge or to convey messages, instructions, and ideas. It involves communicating information at various levels of understanding, such as describing information, explaining or interpreting information, clarifying a process, or evaluating information. Examples include writing reports or letters.
The informative topics in 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress writing assessment required students to write on specified subjects in a variety of formats, such as reports, reviews, and letters. Several of the informative topics asked students to respond to letters, cartoons, or articles. The writing assessment prompts presented students with a variety of tasks, such as offering advice to younger students and reporting to a school committee.
1. If you could make changes in your school lunchroom what would they be?
2. Most people like one particular animal more than others. What is your favorite animal? Why is it your favorite?
3. Everyone has days that they will always remember as being very special. Think about a special day that you have had. Write an essay telling why it was so special.
4. Rules are important. What are the most important rules at your school and why are they important?
5. If you could choose any animal for a class pet, what would you choose and why?
6. Explain why it is important to learn to read.
7. If you could change places with another person for a whole day, who would you change places with and why would you choose that person?
8. We are learning all the time. Some of our learning takes place in school and some outside of school. Write about something you have learned recently and how it has affected you.
9. Think of the ideal job for you when you grow up. Now think of reasons why this would be a good job for you. Write an essay to explain why this is your ideal job.
10. Think of a book that you have read and really enjoyed. Write an essay explaining why you really enjoyed that book.
11. Imagine that time travel to the past was possible. Think of where and when you would like to go for a visit. Write an essay telling where and when you would go in the past and explain why you choose to go there.
12. Your cousin is moving to your town. Write a letter explaining why your town is such a wonderful place to live.
13. Imagine that you had no TV, computer, or video games for one week. Think of some activities that you can do instead to keep you busy and out of trouble. Write an essay to explain what you can do to keep occupied in a week of no TV, computer, or video games.
14. We all have a place where we can imagine or go where we want to be alone and relax. Think of your favorite place. Now write an essay explaining why this place is your favorite.
15. Think about your favorite year of school. Explain why it was your favorite year.
16. Friends are important, but everyone has a different opinion of what makes a good friend. Explain what, in your opinion makes a good friend.
17. Some teachers are special. Explain why one particular teacher in your life was so special.
18. If your principal asked you to write your opinion about what needed to be changed in your school what would you write?
19. Due to trouble on the playground, the principal has sent home a letter stating there will no longer be an after-lunch recess. Write a letter to convince your principal to continue after-lunch recess. Before you start writing, think about the problem during recess. Think about why students need recess. Think about the benefits for the teachers. Decide what students and teachers can do to correct the problem. Think about the results of keeping recess during school. Now write a letter to convince the principal to continue after-lunch recess.
20. Your brother or sister is having a birthday. Your grandparents have asked for ideas for a present. Write a letter to your grandparents suggesting a gift your brother or sister might like. Before you start writing, think about what the gift could be. Think about why your younger brother or sister would like the gift. Think about how your grandparents can locate this gift. Now write a letter to your grandparents suggesting a birthday gift for your younger brother or sister.
21. Your class has been studying ways of improving our environment. One of these ways is by recycling items you would normally throw away. This might be an empty paper towel roll, empty milk carton, or an old telephone book. Write 3 - 5 paragraphs for your teacher explaining how you can create or recycle something from a discarded item or throwaway. Before you start writing, think about what item you are going to recycle. Think about what new item you are going to create from it. Decide on the materials needed for this project. Think about the clear, step-by-step directions for making your recycled item. Decide how this recycled item will be useful. Now write a paragraph or more for your teacher explaining how you will create something new from a discarded item.
22. Your teacher has asked you to write an essay answering the question, "Why do you like your favorite subject in school?" Before you begin writing, think about which school subject you like best. Consider exactly what it is you like about that subject. Think about interesting things you have learned or done in that subject. Now write an essay for your teacher telling why you like your favorite school subject.
23. Your teacher has scheduled a unit test for Monday. Write a letter to your teacher requesting this unit test be rescheduled for another day. Before you start writing, think about why this test should be rescheduled. Think about what could be done to better prepare the students for the test. Consider the benefits for the students and the teacher for rescheduling. Now write a letter to your teacher requesting a unit test be rescheduled to another day.
24. You lost your watch while visiting a friend in another town. Your friend's mother found your watch and mailed it to you. Write a letter to your friend's mother thanking her for returning the lost watch. Before you start to write, think about why your watch is important to you. Think about why you need your watch. Think about how you felt when your watch was returned to you. Now write a letter to your friend's mother thanking her for returning the lost watch.
25. Describe a favorite place you have visited. Write 3 - 5 paragraphs or describing the place. Before you begin writing, think about the location of your favorite place. Think about when and why you like to visit this place. Think about the benefits of visiting this place. Now write a description of your favorite place.
26. Your friend wants to come to your house. Write directions telling how to get to your house from school. Before you start writing, think about the details you will need in your directions. Think about landmarks you pass and the order in which you pass them. Think about any roads you will need to travel. Consider having a map to illustrate your directions. Now write a paragraph or more explaining to your teacher how to get to your house from school.
27. You have just received a letter from a friend inviting you to go along on a family hiking trip in the Cascade Mountains. Write a letter to your friend accepting the invitation. Before you start writing, think about what you need to know about the trip. Think about what activities might take place. Think about any special equipment you may need. Now write a letter to your friend accepting your friend's invitation to go on a hiking trip.
28. A classmate of yours had an accident on the playground during recess and had to be taken to the doctor's office. Write 3 - 5 paragraphs for the principal explaining what you saw. Before you start to write, think about exactly where you were and when the accident took place. Think about the others who were involved in the accident. Consider (think about) any details that would be helpful in your report. Now write a paragraph or more to your principal explaining what you saw when your classmate had an accident on the playground.
29. Most people have a favorite toy. Think about your favorite toy and why it is your favorite. Now write 3 - 5 paragraphs to tell about your favorite toy and explain why you like it.
30. The gym teacher has just announced that field day will be at the end of the month. Write 3 - 5 paragraphs to describe the events that take place at field day to a new student at your school.
31. What do you think is the most significant invention ever made and why do you think so.
32. Each child has a special position in their family. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the position you hold in your family--youngest child, only child, middle child etc.
33. You are an astronaut on a peaceful, exploratory mission to Planet Q. As a representative from Earth, you are to present three gifts from our planet. What items will you take? Write a proposal to the sponsors of your mission explaining why you think these will make excellent tokens.
34. When solving a math problem, you and your neighbor reached the same answer, but had different calculations and processes. Explain to your math teacher how this can happen.
35. Select one of the math problems completed for homework. Explain to a classmate who got the answer wrong how you computed your answer.
36. You are (an element, a seed, a piece of precipitation). Introduce yourself to a young child, explaining your typical day, your life processes, and how you deal with any dangers you routinely face.
37. In our science class, we have completed several lessons on the six simple machines: lever, pulley, wheel and axle, wedge, inclined plane, and spiral incline plane. Select one machine and clearly explain to a younger student how it works.
38. You have been asked to help your classmates make decisions about meals they would like added to the cafeteria menu choices. As a nutrition expert, recommend choices for athletes. Explain the advantages of your selections.
39. Explain how music can affect one's mood. As the person in charge of providing the background music for a (shopping mall, law firm, doctor's office, sports stadium, fast food restaurant, fine dining establishment), explain to your employer what type of music you will use and why.
40. Using your knowledge of (science, geography, health), explain to a new inhabitant how to orient to a new place, such as a desert, or the jungle, or a new planet.
41. As a student familiar with this school, explain the procedure for (fire drills, forming a line, moving between classes, moving into learning groups, finding a sentence pattern, outlining a chapter, solving an equation) to a new student.
42. There are many concerns facing the student council in your school. As a member of the student council, write an editorial for the school newspaper about one concern and what you think can be done to solve the situation.
43. Choose something you know about (a place you have visited, something you saw while traveling, something you have studied in school, a hobby you wish to share). Write a letter to your pen pal in another country telling about your topic.
44. You are the class president and have been asked to write an introduction for a person you admire greatly. Write an essay describing the most admirable qualities of the person.
45. Think of some things you learned outside of school. For example, you learn from pet care, television, or grandparents. Explain what you learned.
46. The restaurant association of Snohomish County is seeking nominations for "Local Restaurant of the Year." Nominate the restaurant you like by writing a letter to I.M. Phul (the restaurant association president) describing why this restaurant should win. Sign your letter, "M.T. Stomak."
47. Cascade Valley Hospital is seeking volunteers. Your friend asks you to write a letter to the Hospital Volunteer Coordinator recommending this friend for the volunteer job. Sign your name, "F.S. Perfect."
48. Your local paper has been running a series of articles on local attractions to inform new comers of places they might visit. Describe such a place in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. Sign your name, "A. B. See."
49. Write a letter to the editors of Invention magazine. Name three inventions you could not live without and explain why they are so important to you.
50. If you could visit anywhere on Earth, where would it be and why would you want to visit there? What things would you do there? Write a letter to the judges of a travel agency contest for a free vacation trip.
51. If you had the opportunity to meet any person (living or dead) who would it be, why would you choose that person, and what would you want to say when you met?
52. You have been asked to write an essay about a day in the life of a fourth grader to be placed in a time capsule that will be buried this year and opened in 2500.
53. Think about how new computers can benefit your school. Your principal has decided that students in your school can have several new computers in your classroom. Write an essay for the school newspaper about how the new computers will be used to benefit your learning.
54. Transportation is a necessary part of modern life. Write an essay that explains how American families use the car. Explain how it is used for business, pleasure, and emergencies. Your essay will be in a new social studies book.
55. Write an essay about the differences between two different types of insects. Give examples of how each type is adapted to its environment.
56. Write a letter to your (future) grandchildren. Choose any two major events occurring during your lifetime that you believe would be important enough to pass along to your grandchildren.
57. A home in the community has burned. Tell how you would help the family recover from the loss.
58. Choose one of your favorite authors. Write a letter telling why you like his/her work.
59. Write the directions for "how to" do something.
60. Choose a book or TV show that that you have enjoyed. You are to write an essay telling the reader why you enjoyed it.
61. The telephone has become a most important part of everyone's life. Most of us have difficulty imagining what it could be like to live without it. Write an essay explaining how the American family uses it for business, pleasure, and emergencies. Assume that this will be published as a part of an encyclopedia article.
62. Each of us had a teacher that we consider to have been really good. It may not have been a person that we really like at the time. But, in looking back, we realize that that person presented and saw to it that we knew some things that would be really important. Sometimes it was how that person presented things and not just what opportunities were supplied. That person does not have to be a classroom teacher. Think about that person and the reasons that they are positively memorable. Write a five-paragraph essay and explain why this person is an excellent teacher.
63. The arts (music, art, drama, dance etc.,) and sports have important effects on people's lives. When begun at a young age, they can be pursued for a long time and can shape future interests, careers, and life styles. One does not have to become a superstar, but the effect can be there and shown in many ways. Choose one of the arts or a sport. Explain how it could shape a person and influence one's life if begun when one is young.
64. Everyone has jobs or chores. Explain why you do one of your jobs or chores.
65. The fourth grade at your school has decided to elect a class president. The class president will take attendance each morning, help plan parties, and collect money for field trips. Write an article for the class newspaper describing what kind of person would make a good president and why.
66. We hear all the time about endangered species. Write an account of the rediscovery of an animal once considered extinct.
67. Choose an existing animal and write an article about it as if it were an endangered species.
68. Weigh the risks and rewards of space flight by explaining why you would or would not like to be a passenger on the Space Shuttle.
69. Describe an experiment to be conducted on board the Space Shuttle.
70. Think of something that you just learned how to do. Explain how to do it.
71. Your friend was absent from school yesterday. Write a note to tell what he or she missed.
72. Think of something nice that your teacher did for you or something important that your teacher taught you. Write a thank-you note to your teacher.
73. Your class is having a party. You want other students to come to it. Write a sign about the party.
74. Write in your journal about a time that someone helped you.
75. Imagine that you could visit any place in the world. Describe where you would like to go.
76. Imagine that you are going on vacation and need to leave your pet with a friend. Make a list of things your friend needs to do to take care of your pet.
77. What is your favorite book? Write an advertisement that will convince your classmates to read it.
78. A new restaurant that is fun for kids is opening in your town. Write a sign for the Grand Opening.
79. Your class has decided to have a "Get-To-Know-Each-Other" party. Write an invitation asking students throughout your school to come to your party.
80. Where is the most unusual place you have ever been? Write a description of the place.
81. Your class is making a classroom cookbook. Write a recipe for something you like to eat at home to include in the book.
82. A baby-sitter is coming to your house. What does the baby-sitter need to know? Write a letter telling her/him important information.
83. The mayor has to make a big decision--should some land in your community be used for a new shopping mall or for a park? Write a letter to the mayor telling what you think.
84. A musical group that everyone likes is going to perform a special concert, and it's at your school! Write an announcement to read over the school intercom.
85. Your school cafeteria wants to try a new menu--one with foods that kids will really like. Your principal has asked each student to write an opinion about what the cafeteria should serve.
86. It is Science Week at your school. Write a report about your favorite science topic.
87. You are on a committee that is doing a presentation on good health for kids. It is your responsibility to write an announcement for the presentation.
88. You have been hired by the mayor to promote your city as a wonderful place to live. Write an advertisement to convince people to move there.
89. Most people go on vacation to have fun, but sometimes vacations don't turn out as expected! Think about a vacation you went on that had some unexpected surprises. Write a travel diary about your experience.
90. Imagine receiving an invitation to the Boston Tea Party or the first Thanksgiving dinner! Choose an historical event and write an invitation to it.
91. You are on the school safety committee. Write directions for fire-drill procedures for your class.
92. Many schools in the United States require students to participate in service projects in order to graduate. Do you think community service should be mandatory for students? Write an editorial for your school newspaper.
93. Think of a saying, such as "Every cloud has a silver lining" or "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Write about an experience you had that proves that the saying is true.
94. It's "Career Day" at your school, and your classmates want to know about different occupations. Choose a job that interests you and write a report about it.
95. You saw a help wanted ad for a job that is perfect for you. Write a letter to apply for the job.
96. Imagine that you could "invent" the perfect sibling. What would this dream brother or sister be like? Write a description.
97. You are a reporter for your school newspaper. You write about products kids like and use. Besides giving basic information about the products, you tell what you think of them. Write a news article for the next edition of the newspaper.
98. Next year you'll be in a different class with a new teacher. Write a letter to your next teacher, telling the most important things you learned this year.
99. A friend asked you to come to a party. Write a note telling your friend whether or not you will be able to attend.
100. You are a helper at a party for young children--and the children are bored! Think of a game for the children to play. Write directions for playing the game.
101. Your school did a special project. Write a letter to a newspaper telling what you did.
102. A tract of land is being sold in your community. Fictitious bidders include the National Park Service, a children's hospital, a shopping-mall developer, an oil drilling company, and the U.S. Armed Forces. Choose one and become a lobbyist for one that group writing arguments on behalf of their interests.
103. Assist your students in learning how to use laboratory equipment by having them choose a scientific instrument form your lab, and write directions on how to use it.
104. Your students can learn about the history of inventions by writing about the origin of everyday objects, such as roller skates, safety pins, or ice-cream cones.
105. Form "exploration groups" of about five students. Starting with an opening line for a story, pass the story around the group, each student adding a sentence or two to the story.
106. Write down as many questions about a new unit of instruction as you can BEFORE the unit begins.
107. Choose some thing that you could imagine being (an asteroid, a cactus, a volcano), and describe why you would choose to be that thing.
108. Write a word on the board. Have your students make a list of words that they associate with that term. Compare the lists to demonstrate to students that they do not all have the same mental picture of the concept.
109. Picture yourself as part of a scientific phenomenon, and write about the experience. Phenomena include respiration, blood flow, transmission of nerve signals, chemical reactions, heat transfer, lightning, combustion, and propagation of radio waves.
110. Describe a museum exhibit that might have been, but was not, present at a museum that you visited.
111. Make up a new planet. Describe the important features of the landscape, what the climate is like, and what lives there. Write from the viewpoint of the first visitor to this planet.
112. Gather illustrations of plants with unusual names. Give students one name, and ask them to describe what it might look like. Give the same name to more than one student so that they can compare their descriptions. Show them the illustration of the plant after they have completed their descriptions.
113. You have discovered a new type of plant. Give it a name and describe it for the newspaper.
114. Almost everyone has had at least one teacher who is hard to forget. Think about what makes it so hard to forget. Tell what happened.
115. Describe a person or an animal that you will never forget.
116. Your students can grapple with issues concerning form and function by writing about how the world would be different if cockroaches were the size of poodles (or other such distortions of scale and size).
117. Write directions telling how to do something. Name/describe the items to be used and describe the steps needed to complete the task.
118. Write an invitation to a party.
119. Write a letter to your keypal recommending your favorite book.
120. Choose a person you admire and write a letter nominating that person for an award.
121. Write a letter thanking an adult (teacher, bus driver, Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, etc.).
122. Write a letter thanking someone for being a good friend.
123. Your teacher has told your class that you may have a class pet. Explain what animal you would like to have as a classroom pet.
124. Write a letter to an inhabitant of another planet explaining basic things on Planet Earth.
125. Imagine that you are a talk-show host getting ready to interview a famous person. Prepare for the interview by writing some questions that will elicit useful, interesting information from your guest.
126. Make up a writing prompt for your class. Use your imagination; they sharpen their language skills in a science class.
127. Most people know of an animal they would like better than any other as a pet. Before you write, think about what animal you would like most as a pet. Think about why you would like that animal as a pet. Write to explain why the animal you like would be a great pet.
128. There has recently been much discussion about violence in the music, film, and television that children enjoy. Some experts argue that the media is one major reason crime rates are on the rise. They believe the violence that youths hear and see through TV, film, and music leads them to behave in violent ways. On the other side of the issue, people say kids can make their own decisions concerning such influences and filmmakers and musicians must be free to create their art. Write an editorial for your local newspaper in which you tell what you think about the issue.
129. Write a letter to a friend who has moved away to tell how third grade is different from second grade.
130. Write a letter to a friend about why you like to read books or magazines about a certain topic.
131. Write a letter to a friend telling about something you do well.
132. Write a letter to your favorite television star telling why you like his/her show.
133. Write a formal letter to the President asking him for an autographed picture.
134. Write a letter to a city recreation department requesting information about park in your area.
135. Write a letter to a local animal shelter requesting information about their volunteer program.
136. Write a letter to your town's newspaper explaining why someone you know should get a Special Person of the Year Award.
137. Write directions for a new student explaining how to get to the town's library from your school.
138. Write a paper giving step-by-step instructions on how to make your favorite sandwich.
139. Write instructions to your friends on how they can recycle at school.
140. Write a paper explaining how to study for a test.
141. Write a paper explaining how to find a book in the school library.
142. Write a paper explaining how to earn good grades at school.
143. Write a paper explaining the lunch room rules to a new student.
144. Write about what you do and don't understand about multiplication.
145. Go into a natural setting and write a log of your observations and questions.
146. Describe your favorite or your least favorite meal.
147. Describe a person you respect.
148. Describe something you collect or would like to collect.
149. Describe the perfect picnic lunch.
150. Describe your favorite teacher.
151. Eating healthy food is important for good health. Think about healthy foods and why it's important to eat them. Now explain why it is important to eat healthy foods.
152. Most people have a television show they like to watch. Sometimes they like it because of one of the stars and sometimes they like it because of what it is about. Think about the TV show you like the best. Think about the things that make the show interesting or the start of the show. Explain why this TV show is a good one.
153. Everyone has at least one thing that he/she does well, something he/she is an expert at. It may be something he/she does at home or at school. Think about something you do well, something you are an expert at doing. How did you became an expert. What do you do that shows you are an expert? Explain why you are an expert at doing something.
154. Everyone has something that is special to them. This may be something special that people like to do or it may be a special place to go. Think about what is special, when do you do it, where do you do it, who you are doing it with, and how often you do it. Explain why you feel this is something special to do or a special place to go.
155. Congratulations! You have just won a million dollars in the lottery. Think about the things that you would do with your money. Tell what you will do with the money that you have just won.
156. You are a gum drop on the grocer's shelf. A young person has just put you in their cart. Think about your adventures in the cart. Write a story about this gumdrop's adventure.
157. One day you woke up and discovered that you had been turned into an animal. Think about what animal you have become. Tell what happened to you on the day you discovered that you had been turned into an animal.
158. Most of us have had an experience that we will never forget. Think about an experience that you remember very clearly. What happened? How did you feel? Tell about an experience that you will never forget.
159. Tonight you have been asked to cook dinner for your family. Think of the foods you will make, how you will prepare them and serve them. Explain how you will prepare a dinner for your family.
160. You are a principal. You have to hire some new teachers for your school. Think about the qualifications that this person should have to be hired for this job. Explain what would make a good teacher.
161. DANGER!!! Occasionally, we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. Think about what types of situations you consider dangerous. Explain what types of situations you consider dangerous.
162. Parents would rather have handmade gifts from their children than store-bought gifts. Think about the handmade gifts that you could make for one of your parents. Explain what types of gifts you might make.
163. Most of us have had to do something that was difficult. It might have been catching a softball, making the bed, washing the dog or saying "I'm sorry." Think about something that was difficult for you. Explain to the reader of your paper something difficult that you had to do.
164. We all have something we really want. What do you really want? Why do you want it? Write about something you really want. Explain why you really want it.
165. We all have things we like to do. Think about something you really like to do. How do you do it? Write about something you really like to do. Explain exactly (step by step) how you do it.
166. We all have things we like to do with our friends or family. Think about something you really like to do with your friends or family. Why do you really like to do this thing? Explain what you like to do and why you like to do it.
167. Have you ever made mud pies? Think about what you do to make mud pies. What would you need? What would you have to do? Write step by step, what someone would need to do to make mud pies.
168. We all have someone important in our lives. It might be a teacher, a friend or family. Think about the important people in your life. Pick one person who is especially important to you. Why are they important? What are they like? Why are they important to you? Explain who is an important person in your life and why that person is important to you.
169. Think about a pencil. What does it look like? How do you use it? What makes a really good pencil? Explain what a pencil looks like so someone will be able to see it through your words.
170. Think about your desk. What makes a really good desk? What would you do to make a desk? Explain exactly what you would need to do to make a desk.
171. We all have jobs or chores to do to help out at home or at school. Think about a job (or chore) you have at home or in school. Why is this job important? How does it help? Explain why your job is important.
172. Your class has been given money to buy a classroom pet and no one knows how to go about choosing it. Think about how that pet should be chosen. Who should decide which pet is best? Should the class vote? Should the teacher choose? Explain how your class should choose a pet to be the class pet.
173. Imagine that you are to choose an animal to be your classroom's pet. Think about the animal you would choose. Why would you choose that animal? Why would it be good for the classroom? What would your class learn from having this pet? Explain what animal you would choose to be a class pet and why.
174. You are going to decide which animal your class pet will be. Think about that animal. What is it and what would you need to do to keep it healthy? What would it eat? Would it need exercise? How would you get it to exercise? What kind of cage would it have to have? Tell about what pet you would choose for your classroom and what you would do to care for it.
175. Write a composition for your classmates, describing the most interesting place you have ever visited, Describe in detail where the place is, how you got there, what you saw, and how you felt.
176. For a children's magazine, describe your first attempt at playing a particular sport. The sport might be one that looked easy but turned out to be a real challenge, or it might be one that came quite naturally to you. Be sure to describe everything you did and how you felt.
177. What are some of the more important or interesting experiences you have had in your life? Have you moved, lost something that was important to you, or overcome a big fear? As you grow older your memory of the events is bound to fade. So capture one of these experiences now in as much detail as possible by writing a journal entry about it. Be sure to tell why the event was important to you.
178. Enter a magazine contest by writing an essay about somebody you admire. According to the contest rules, your hero should be a person you know well or a historical figure - male or female, living or dead - that you've heard or read about. Tell how you feel about your hero, what qualities you admire, and the ways in which you would like your life to be like your hero's.
179. Have you seen a particularly skillful feat or performance by an athlete, a dancer, or an acrobat recently? Try to visualize the physical movements of the person, and write a description of the performance for the sports and entertainment section of your local newspaper. Use concrete details and imaginative comparisons to help your readers appreciate what you saw.
180. Is there a special object or family tradition that is important to everyone in your family? For example, do you have an heirloom that has been handed down through generations, a quilt your grandmother made, or a special way of celebrating birthdays? For a younger relative - perhaps even for someone who hasn't been born yet - describe this family treasure or tradition in as much detail as you can.
181. For an audience of your classmates, write a description of a particular time and place that you know well, such as your room on a rainy afternoon, the video arcade after school, or the waiting area at your doctor's office on a busy day. Use as many specific sensory details a you can. Try to capture the moment - and share how you felt about it.
182. For a class anthology, describe a bird, an insect, or animal that you have strong feelings about. Choose one that scares amuses, or puzzles you. Be sure you know enough about the animal to describe it fully. Use sensory details that will make your classmates feel the same.
183. Imagine you've been asked to explain to a group of students from a foreign country how to prepare a hot dog for lunch. They have never eaten a hot dog before and do not know anything about them. Tell them each step you take in preparing a hot dog.
184. You have been chosen to represent your school at an international convention for students. This convention will take place during your family's scheduled summer vacation, and it is being held in Paris, France. You will be traveling alone. Write a composition as if you were explaining this situation to a friend. Write about the good and bad aspects of attending this convention. Explain each of your points completely.
185. Many young people your age read very little. They get their news and information from television and the movies. They would rather read a magazine than a novel. No one is quite sure why this is true, but many people are concerned about the situation. Your teacher has asked you and your classmates to write essays which explain your thoughts about the causes of this situation. Your essays will be shared with other students in your school. Your teacher hopes that these essays will help the school develop a program to increase the popularity of reading for pleasure.
186. Are there any problems in your school? Do you get too little time to eat lunch? Between classes is it hard to find a water fountain that works? In a letter, make your school principal aware of the problem and suggest a solution. Be sure to explain what the causes of the problem are, who is affected by it, and how something could be done to solve it.
187. Your school is having a health awareness day. For the occasion, write a short composition about a health problem you think is avoidable. Begin with a brief explanation of the problem - how it comes about, who is affected by it, and how. Then tell how you think people could prevent this problem. In conclusion, either urge your readers to follow your advice or warn them what may happen if they don't.
188. Does somebody do something that really drives you crazy? Do you have a friend who always insists on being in charge? Is there someone in your class who always takes credit for other people's work? Choose something that bothers you. Now take a moment to figure out a way to solve this problem. Then write a composition in which you describe the problem and explain your proposed solution to it. Address your composition to others who are also troubled by this behavior.
189. Think about some of the problems in your community that affect you and your friends. Choose a problem that concerns you. Then prepare a brief written report in which you state the problem, and offer a solution to it. In your report, make clear to your neighbors why they should do something about the problem.
190. Do you have a special relationship with someone? Take a moment now to consider why this person matters to you and what he or she adds to your life. Then write an essay in which you define the role of this individual in your life. You might begin with words like "An aunt is someone who..." Plan to share this essay with the person about whom you are writing.
191. Most hobbies and sports have special words to describe the equipment and the plays unique to that activity. For example, chess players talk of rooks and pawns, and baseball players speak of knuckle balls and sliders. Imagine you are helping to write a manual for beginners in a hobby or sport you know well. Write an explanation of an important term that all beginners need to understand.
192. Choose a custom or holiday that you enjoy or that has special meaning to you. For instance, do you love celebrating Independence Day? Hanukah? In a letter to a pen pal, explain the practice or event you have chosen. As you write, remember that this pen pal lives in another country and knows nothing of your customs or holidays.
193. A magazine for children is conducting a survey on children's taste in movies. The editors want you to compare and contrast a movie that is in the theaters now with your favorite film of all time, and then draw a conclusion about what makes a movie great. The best responses will appear in a future issue of the magazine, so be sure to write for an audience of magazine readers your own age.
194. Your principal is considering a new dress code requiring all students to wear uniforms. State whether you think this is a good policy. Support your answer.
195. Name a favorite book and give reasons why you think it's worth reading.
196. Think about your favorite activity when you are out of school. Write about this activity and tell why it is your favorite activity.
197. Think about an animal you would like to be for one day. Write about this animal and tell why you would like to be this animal for one day.
198. If you could go anywhere in the world, think about the place where you would go. Write about this place and tell why you would go there.
199. Think about the famous people you know and choose one you would like to meet. Write about this person and tell why you would like to meet them.
200. Think about a place where you like to go to be alone. Write about this place and tell why you like to go there to be alone.
201. Lucky you! You are going on a trip to the moon. Think about three things you would take with you and tell why you would take these three things.
202. Name one goal you would like to accomplish and give specific reasons why. Give enough details so that your teacher will understand your ideas.
203. Your teacher has asked you to write about one person you would choose to be if you could be someone else for one day. Name that person and give specific reasons why you would like to be that person for one day. Give enough details so your teacher will understand your ideas.
204. Your teacher has asked you to write about one person who has made a difference in your life. Name that person and give specific reasons why that person has made a difference in your life. Give enough details so your teacher will understand your ideas.
205. You wake up at night and find your room filled with smoke. Describe the problem and explain how you would solve it.
206. After he takes your lunch money every day, a bigger kid warns he'll hurt you if you tell anyone. Since you don't believe in fighting to solve problems, what other actions might you take?
207. Your family has just moved to a country where you don't speak the language. What will you do to get through your first week of school?
208. Students in your school are unhappy with the student bathrooms. Write a letter to your principal describing the problem and suggesting ways to solve it.
209. The students in your school think that there is a problem at recess. Write a letter to your principal stating the problem and suggesting ways to solve it.
210. A classmate is being picked on during recess. Describe the problem. What could you do to help him/her solve it?
211. Write a letter to your principal explaining a problem in your school cafeteria (library, playground, bus, etc.) and offer a solution to the problem.
212. Think about a problem in our environment such as air pollution, overcrowding or endangering species. Write a letter to a younger child identifying this problem and offering a possible solution to the problem.
213. Imagine you have just been given the name and address of a penpal. Describe yourself to that person.
214. Describe your favorite park or playground.
215. Describe your favorite relative.
216. Describe a really fun day.
217. Describe your favorite meal.
218. Describe your favorite outfit including any accessories.
219. Think about a new invention you would like to create. Describe this invention and tell what it can do.
220. Think about an outdoor scene, such as a mountain, a beach, a waterfall, a park, that you consider interesting. Describe this sight so that your reader will be able to picture it.
221. Select a particular place you have come to know well and that is special to you. It can be a back yard, a setting in the woods or on the water, a store, a secret hideout, a certain room or any other spot that is special to you. Name the place and describe it so your reader can picture it.
222. What is your favorite room in your house. Explain why it is your favorite.
223. What is your favorite pastime? Name the activity and give reasons why you like it.
224. You have the chance to be the first student astronaut to explore another planet. Would you accept the job? Give reasons why or why not.
225. Almost everyone has had at least one teacher who is hard to forget. Think about what makes it so hard to forget. Tell what happened.
226. What's your pet peeve? Is it graffiti? Too many television commercials? Violence in movies? Write an editorial for your school newspaper. Clearly state what your gripe is and what you think should be done about it. Try to persuade your readers to accept your opinion.
227. It is ten years from now. Write a letter to an old classmate telling where you are. Where do you live? What do you do? How did you get where you are? What goals have you reached? etc.
228. Write a letter to a teacher you've had in your past that really made a difference in your life. Describe a specific experience that you remember vividly. Thank this person for taking the time to care about you. (replace teacher with person or adult.)
229. Write a story about something that has been recycled, like a can, newspaper, or plastic bag, and its adventures along the way.
230. Write a story about a ride in a hot air balloon.
231. Choose a problem from last night's homework assignment, and write an explanation to your teacher of the steps you used to solve that problem. Be sure you list and explain the steps you took to solve the problem. Include enough information and details so the reader will understand your steps.
232. You are a Confederate/ Yankee soldier of the Civil War. You fought valiantly in the Battle of Gettysburg. You are cold, tired, and hungry, yet before you fall asleep, you must first write a newspaper account of your experiences for your hometown paper. Describe your experience. Give details that are specific and relevant to your experience.
233. Imagine that someone invented a time travel machine and offered you the opportunity to invite and transport any person to your classroom from any time in the past. If you had your choice of the most interesting person with whom you could share the class day, who would it be? This person could someone from any part of life: politics, military, media, the arts, sports etc. Write a five-paragraph essay to explain how this person could be of benefit and interest to your class.
234. Invention and technology have always been an important part of changing the way one lives. Things that did not exist when your parents or grandparents were young, now have changed the way most people in this country live. Some of those inventions are large and others are small. No mater what their size, they have altered the lives of the average person today. Think about an invention that came about in the last hundred years or so. Write an essay on how that invention changed the lives of the people. Explain how life was then, how it is different today, and whether the result is positive or negative.
235. You have studied about the early settlers to this country. You know about the hard times that they encountered and know that most of the settlements survived and prospered. They lived in environments that were often difficult, but they overcame those difficulties. Many of the simple everyday acts required individual creativity and effort. They had to live everyday being resourceful enough to meet their needs and the needs of their family and community. Even at an early age, each member was expected to contribute. Write an essay about how the colonists used their creativity and resourcefulness to survive and succeed.
236. You probably have read many interesting books or watched an exceptional TV show recently. It probably stands out in your mind for many reasons. It is the kind of show that many people really enjoyed and would not mind watching again. Maybe it was a painless way to learn, perhaps it dealt with a subject that you particularly enjoy. Maybe it stimulated the imagination. Whatever the reasons, you know that many people found it interesting. Choose a book or TV show that that many people enjoyed. Write an essay telling the reader why many people enjoyed it.
237. Your class has been discussing the problems in our environment such as littering the land and water, using products that cannot be recycled, burning toxic chemicals and other waste products, cutting down trees, filling in the wetlands, and killing rare kinds of birds and animals. Your teacher has asked each of you to choose one problem in our environment, explain why it is a problem, and suggest things that can be done to help solve it.
238. Your class discussed the different kinds of workers in our society and the things they do to make our community a better place. Your teacher has asked you to choose one type of worker and explain how the work is important to your school, your community, or the country as a whole. Write an essay telling how the work is important for you and your town, the school or the country.
239. Describe your best friend.
240. Describe how you make your favorite sandwich.
241. What this class needs to make it better is...
242. Describe your favorite place to eat.
243. We all have favorite objects that we care about and would not want to give up. Think of one object that is important or valuable to you. For example, it could be a book, a piece of clothing, a game, or any object you care about. Write about your favorite object. Be sure to describe the object and explain why it is valuable or important to you.
244. Regardless of where they live, everybody knows of a special place. Describe your special place, wherever it is. What does it look like? How does it feel to be there? Who shares it with you?
Return to: Writer's Web

How writing Socratic Dialogues helps critical thinking

2011-04-08T04:14:00.005-04:00

A Socratic Dialogue - is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with differing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas.

The ways in which writing Socratic Dialogues improves critical thinking are explored in the following dialogue.

Dialogue 1: A teacher (RLF) discusses writing Socratic Dialogues with one of his students (R).

Robert Leslie Fielding: Writing Socratic Dialogues is supposed to enhance a person’s critical thinking – do you agree that it does?

R: Well, I know it has improved mine.

RLF: Can you tell me more about what you mean?

R: Well, writing them is the strangest thing I’ve experienced when writing. Once you begin, the writing almost seems to take you over. I think it’s the logic of what you are writing about that has a life of its own.

RLF: I always feel that way whenever I’m writing them. I get engrossed in the dialogue – in the logic of it – and then it flows out of me while I write. I think it’s got something to do with the questioning technique.

R: I agree. I reckon that because you are asking your own questions and then replying to them yourself, something happens – it’s different from other forms of writing. Thoughts seem to run on from other thoughts.

RLF: Yes, I think so too. You write down a question, and in forming the answer, ideas tumble out, one after the other. As you write one thought down another follows it.

R: Yes, I wonder why that happens like that when it doesn’t happen quite as readily when you are writing ‘normally?’

RLF: I think it may be connected to our attempt to answer a direct question – it focuses our mind on the task of answering.

R: Yes, I agree, and the other thing is that once you get going, a sort of rhythm establishes itself and you find yourself thinking almost automatically.

RLF: Automatically?

R: Yes, but I don’t mean it happens without thinking, but rather that your thinking is triggered by this question and answer technique.

RLF: Let’s try to see why we think that is true. First of all, you have a topic you want to discuss – this one, for example.

R: Yes, and so you prepare your mind for the topic you are about to discuss.

RLF: Then you ask a sort of opening question, to get things underway.

R: That’s right, and that question opens up your mind to specifics; you write down the answer to that question, and while you are writing it, something associated with it comes into your mind and you write that down too.

RLF: Then, because you are thinking out both question and answer, you become involved – or I should say your mind becomes involved.

R: Yes, and because you are the asker and the answerer you can control the pace of the discussion.

RLF: Not just the pace, but also the direction too.

R: You say you control the direction, but is that true?

RLF: If it isn’t you controlling the direction, then who is it – nobody else is involved.

R: Nobody else, that’s true, but something else.

RLF: What do you mean – something else?

R: You said it yourself earlier, the logic of your dialogue takes over and you write truthfully and logically, as logically as you can, which is to say that you are writing truthfully, true to your own thoughts, for how could you do otherwise?

RLF: That’s an important point, I think. If it is your internal logic commanding your directions, then you must be writing about something you know already, mustn’t you?

R: Yes, I think so. In fact, I think that’s the whole point of them – of writing Socratic Dialogues – that in writing them you find out what you know – you find out things you didn’t know you knew, if you understand me.

RLF: Yes, I understand you perfectly. We all have such a lot of knowledge in our heads, but what is difficult is accessing it. I think writing these dialogues goes some way to helping us to access what is in our heads.

R: That's right. In what other ways could you do this, I wonder.

RLF: I would say you could do it by talking with someone you trust and respect.

R: Probably, but I doubt if you would find out so much so quickly.

RLF: Why do you say that?

R: Because we all have our own persona, our own ego, our own intellect, and our own opinions, don’t we?

RLF: We do, and many of the things we have an opinion about are personal to us, that’s to say that our opinions are dear to us and having someone question them can be and is often threatening to us as individuals, whereas when we alone write a Socratic Dialogue – asking questions and answering them, we do not find it threatening.

RLF: And I would go further and say that not only do we not find it threatening, but that in fact, we find it stimulating and creative.

R: That is probably because we are finding out something about ourselves that we had previously been consciously unaware of – our thoughts and opinions, based upon our internal logic.

RLF: Now, do you think everyone has the same internalized logic, or would it depend upon the cultural background of the writer?

R: I am sure it must have something to do with that, yes. I also think it might have something to do with the level of your education.

RLF: Yes, and probably with your willingness to try it too.

R: You are right. I mean, you are never going to experience what writing a Socratic Dialogue can do for you if you never try it out.

RLF: Are you glad you tried it?

R: Absolutely. I have always enjoyed writing, but now I enjoy it more and more as I get engrossed in writing a dialogue about something new.

Dialogue 2
Incremental progress

RLF: I think the way arguments or themes make progress through the course of a written Socratic Dialogue contributes to the progress made in understanding all the elements in the theme.

R: That’s rather a lot to take in all at once, isn’t it? Would you like to explain what you mean step by step?

RLF: That’s very clever of you – well said, for it is what I meant to say – that because each point is developed before proceeding to the next one, an understanding is made clearer.

R: I thought that was what you meant to say. Isn’t it curious how we hold to one thing in the Dialogue before moving on to the next?

RLF: Yes, it is, and I think that is a vital part of the way these Socratic Dialogues proceed, not quickly, but incrementally, step by cautious step until a deeper understanding has been reached.

R: And as we said earlier, because the steps issue from our own mind, our concentration is not lost or sidetracked by another’s train of thought.

RLF: That is generally the way with discussions between different people – that while one is speaking, the other person is free to wander in his mind, leaving some things unsaid or left off.

R: Whereas when one person is ‘discussing’ a topic in a written Dialogue, the mind has no chance to wander off, it being fully occupied in providing the answers to those questions it has been responsible for formulating in the first place.

RLF: Yes, indeed. It is the mind working with itself rather than against another person’s mind. And valuable as that can often be, it is another thing completely. This arguing with itself means that concentration can go deeper than would otherwise be the case. I think that is the crux of the matter, and how writing Socratic Dialogues aids critical thinking.
R: I think you are right.
Robert L. Fielding

Me

2011-03-23T01:29:00.001-04:00

Quickwood

2011-03-19T03:04:00.004-04:00

The small boy on the left is my father, Leslie Fielding, with his parents - my grandparents, Ruby Fielding nee Leslie, born in Maryhill, Glasgow, and my grandfather, Evans Fielding, a great cricketer and soldier in the First World War, serving with the York and Lancaster Regiment in France. I'm not sure who the lady on the right is, but I will find out.
This photograph was taken sometime in the 1930s, possibly, in Quickwood, a neighbourhood in the district of Roughtown in Mossley, Lancashire.
Robert Leslie Fielding

Earth from outer space

2010-11-08T08:32:00.001-04:00

Quotes From Astronauts
For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.
- Donald Williams, USA
My first view - a panorama of brilliant deep blue ocean, shot with shades of green and gray and white - was of atolls and clouds. Close to the window I could see that this Pacific scene in motion was rimmed by the great curved limb of the Earth. It had a thin halo of blue held close, and beyond, black space. I held my breath, but something was missing - I felt strangely unfulfilled. Here was a tremendous visual spectacle, but viewed in silence. There was no grand musical accompaniment; no triumphant, inspired sonata or symphony. Each one of us must write the music of this sphere for ourselves.
- Charles Walker, USA

Looking outward to the blackness of space, sprinkled with the glory of a universe of lights, I saw majesty - but no welcome. Below was a welcoming planet. There, contained in the thin, moving, incredibly fragile shell of the biosphere is everything that is dear to you, all the human drama and comedy. That's where life is; that's were all the good stuff is.
- Loren Acton, USA

The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic. The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.
- Aleksei Leonov, USSR

The sun truly "comes up like thunder," and it sets just as fast. Each sunrise and sunset lasts only a few seconds. But in that time you see at least eight different bands of color come and go, from a brilliant red to the brightest and deepest blue. And you see sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets every day you're in space. No sunrise or sunset is ever the same.
- Joseph Allen, USA

The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man, has to make a man appreciate the creation of God and the love of God.
- James Irwin, USA

Suddenly, from behind the rim of the moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth . . . home.
- Edgar Mitchell, USA

My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.
- Edgar Mitchell, USA

For the first time in my life I saw the horizon as a curved line. It was accentuated by a thin seam of dark blue light - our atmosphere. Obviously this was not the ocean of air I had been told it was so many times in my life. I was terrified by its fragile appearance.
- Ulf Merbold, Federal Republic of Germany

A Chinese tale tells of some men sent to harm a young girl who, upon seeing her beauty, become her protectors rather than her violators. That's how I felt seeing the Earth for the first time. "I could not help but love and cherish her.
- Taylor Wang, China/USA

Robert L. Fielding

Education is the answer to the world's ills, not money!

2010-11-08T06:48:00.005-04:00

In praise of not being wealthy

Robert L. Fielding

Right away, I need to say that the title – ‘In praise of not being wealthy’ is NOT the same thing as ‘In praise of being poor’ – Being poor is an onerous position to find oneself in.

No, my drift is that being wealthy, rich, affluent – does have its drawbacks, though I can hear most readers complaining that they would just as soon have the drawbacks if they could have the wealth.

That is chiefly because becoming wealthy – or at any rate, wealthier than we are at the present, is a national – an international – a global obsession. Everybody desires more money – even the rich desire more – even the filthy rich – billionaires – desire more money.

Let’s just first explore that one; Why do the fantastically (rich beyond your wildest dreams) people desire to have more? Is it because they haven’t got enough stuff – can’t get away from the rat-race enough, need one more town house, or villa by the sea?

Probably none of those things – it could be that wealth equates with power, and, as we know, you can never have enough of that! Power corrupts….

For the rest of us menial types, surviving on what we earn under normal working conditions – you don’t work – you don’t earn, and what you do earn is hardly enough to give up work on – for us, we desire money for the freedom it would give us – we imagine.

We wouldn’t have to work again, we wouldn’t have to scrimp and save, we wouldn’t have to worry? Ah, there we have it in a nutshell; we wouldn’t have to worry. Now that is something you can always never have too little of.

We worry where our next meal is coming from – some of us; we worry about house prices – most of us; we worry about sending our kids to university, and we just worry generally – most of our worries centring around money – the lack of it.

I doubt very much if the rich and famous worry about having too much money – though they probably do worry that their stocks will crash and their wealth will disappear overnight, but apart from that gnawing worry, they probably don’t have financial worries.

But is that true? Isn’t almost everything we do connected with how much money we have, or haven’t got, as the case may be?

And the wealthy will have as many worries as the rest of us – why? It’s called ‘the human condition’ – we worry because we are human. Do zebras in the Serengeti worry that one of these days a group of cheetahs, or whatever the collective noun is for those magnificent creatures, will bear down on them at an incredible speed and devour them? I very much doubt it, somehow. If we humans, however, had even only an outside chance of being eaten by a bigger, faster animal, we would never set foot out of doors again, at least not without carrying a gun.

This existential worry we are habitually burdened with isn’t removed by a fatter wallet, though we all mistakenly think it will be, and even that it should be.

The wealthy worry, like everyone else; it’s just that the reasons they worry are different to the reasons we worry.

Now, apart from this imagined removal of worry, the most commonly mistaken, if admittedly entirely plausible notion about wealth, is that everything and anything can be bought, acquired, gotten, with it. Not true!

Of course it isn’t true – everybody knows that the best things in life are free – that money can’t buy happiness, let alone that most valuable of commodities – our health.

Money can get us into a good hospital, money can help us avoid the interminable waiting lists for operations the rest of us have to join for that hip replacement, but generally, money makes not a halfpennyworth of difference to our health or lack of it.

On the contrary, the lack of spends usually keeps drinkers sober, makes ‘em get up early and live an active life working to earn their keep. Sitting on velvet cushions soon pales, I should think, if you’ve nothing else to do – ever!

Now let’s think of some of the things being loaded does prevent us from doing; the son of a wealthy man, if he is an under achiever at school, which is by no means unlikely, would not even consider a job learning how to maintain motorcycles, even though he might love to know how is own bike works. Being from a rich family probably means that doing what is little more than manual labour, at first, whilst learning the ropes as an apprentice mechanic, precludes his entering that career. The pay is too little, the hours are too long, and the work is dirty – all that, to be sure, but it is interesting work – work that young men invariably find fascinating, particularly if they enjoy motoring in one form or another, and which young man doesn’t like doing that.

Now let’s think about the rich kid’s sister, who, like her brother, didn’t do as well at school as her parents might have hoped. Ideally, she would become a ladies hairdresser, were she to come from a more plebian family – she would learn the trade, start her own salon, eventually, and earn her own keep and be in charge of her life. Her stumbling block is that she would hardly consider doing such poorly paid work and having to sweep floors and watch hair being cut long before she was let loose on a customer’s head of hair. She would certainly enjoy it once she got into it, as we say. The trouble is that she would never begin it chiefly because, financially, it is beneath her.

Now tell me that money can buy anything! True, it can buy her a salon of her own, in which she sits and controls the money coming in, but would she enjoy doing that as much as she would learning how to make a fishwife look like a film star? Most definitely not!

The opportunities open to wealthier sons and daughters are limited in ways that is not the case for others. For young people of more modest means opportunities open to them are also limited – severely limited, but for different reasons. Still, I do stick by my claim that Intelligence Quotient for Intelligence Quotient, more opportunities, more interesting opportunities exist at lower income levels, for the reasons I have just explained.

Certainly, a kid from a back street in Bombay has not the slightest chance of opening a salon for wealthy females wanting their hair done – yet! The wonderful thing about our world is that people can rise from poverty and often do, to the dizziest heights. It must be said though that relatively few ever do. Those that are fortunate enough are held up by the class they join as proof positive that all you need to get on is the determination and the breaks.

It is this dubious fact that holds the whole rotten system together. Barefoot kids kicking a ball about in the slums of Rio all think that they can be the next Pele. 99.999% can’t and won’t. But that one kid who does eventually play for Santos and Brazil keeps everybody hopeful that it can and will happen to them.

It is nothing more or less than a monumental waste of talent, energy, resources, and, worst of all, children’s ambitions and aspirations. It makes a mockery of education, and subverts any real progress of making this world of ours any better.
Robert L. Fielding

What is daydreaming?

2010-09-17T06:46:00.002-04:00

Daydreaming: the mind in neutral
A discussion between Mr. Jung and Mr. Freud
by
Robert L. Fielding

Mr. Freud: When we are what we usually refer to as ‘daydreaming’, what, in your opinion, are we really doing? Clearly, we are not dreaming – we are not in that unconscious state of mind characterized by rapid eye movement.

Mr. Jung: No, of course we are not actually dreaming – rather that is our habitual term for what we are doing when we let our mind wander.

Mr. Freud: And is that the same as being ‘absent minded’?

Mr. Jung: That is again, only an expression. Our minds can never be absent, even when we are asleep, as you have stated elsewhere. But let us deal with this phenomenon we call daydreaming. It seems to me to be the opposite of paying attention to something, which is nothing more or less than focusing on one particular problem or on one thing, let us say.

Mr. Freud: Then if we are not focusing our attention – the direction of our mind’s focus, is on nothing, is that true?

Mr. Jung: That is true; it is focused on nothing, and on everything, or let us say that everything that can be imagined can be included in daydreaming.

Mr. Freud: What do you mean when you say, ‘everything that can be imagined’? Can we think of anything of which we are unaware – that exists in our imagination?

Mr. Jung: Here lies the difficulty for those of us studying the workings of the mind. How can we know what is in our imagination? When does our imagination manifest itself?

Mr. Freud: Why, it would seem to manifest itself in dreams, but at times when we are in a conscious state, I would say the imagination manifests itself in various ways and at various times.

Mr. Jung: When, specifically?

Mr. Freud: When, for example, we are writing a story, or when we are telling one – making one up, I mean, not remembering one and retelling it.

Mr. Jung: I might agree, were it not for the seemingly obvious fact that we are fully cognizant of what we are doing – what we are thinking – how our train of thoughts is taking us on through our made up story, written or otherwise. When we begin to embark upon telling a story – rather like embarking on a journey, we dress for the occasion – we do not go out unprepared, do we?

Mr. Freud: I rather think we start quite unprepared, unless we give our story a title before the telling of it.

Mr. Jung: Can you illustrate what you mean?

Mr. Freud: Yes, I mean that if one of the younger members of our family asks us to tell them a story – a bedtime story, for example, that we do so in the knowledge that we should tell a story that has a happy ending, and we will probably be asked to give our story a title before we begin. We might begin, by saying that “this is a story about a little girl who lost her way in the woods.

Mr. Jung: And how would that prepare us?

Mr. Freud: By giving us the setting and at least one of the characters in the story – in this case a little girl.

Mr. Jung: What then?

Mr. Freud: Then we might begin in the usual manner in story telling – ‘Once upon a time’, we might begin, thus preparing our listeners to hear something that is not necessarily true. After all, we would not want to alarm the child just before she goes to sleep, now would we?

Mr. Jung: Quite.

Mr. Freud: Whereas if we began our ‘story’ with the words “Have you heard what happened to that little girl who lives down in the village…” Then that would particularize our subject – make her a real person, about whom we would be wrong in making a story up about.

Mr. Jung: Yes, yes, I see what you mean. But how are we prepared by the first line proper of our story, and how do we use our imagination in the telling of it.

Mr. Freud: By treading step by step through the story as we go along. If we are blessed with a fertile imagination, we may well be one or two steps ahead of our youthful listeners, even though we will most probably not have worked out exactly how the story enfolds right up to its end.

Mr. Jung: And we might, most probably, speak in chunks of story, describing the scene as the little girl wanders lost through the woods.

Mr. Freud: That is perfectly reasonable to expect, since our imagination must come from somewhere. If we knew nothing at all of forests, we might have difficulty describing what it was like to walk through the middle of one, and still keep our description plausible to the hearer, who may well know what forests are typically like.

Mr. Jung: So are we saying, in fact, that in this making up of a story from our imagination, we are in fact drawing upon some aspect of the knowledge we already possess?

Mr. Freud: Yes, I think we could say that.

Mr. Jung: But what about making a story up about somewhere we had never been – say about being on the Moon or on Mars – what knowledge would we have to draw upon then?

Mr. Freud: Then we would be using our imagination in a more pure form, I think.

Mr. Jung: But would we not be calling upon some sort of ideas about what we believe the Moon is like?

Mr. Freud: Not necessarily. I could give you a description of the Moon that has no bearing at all on any reality that I am aware of. I could say, for example, that the surface of the Moon was like cheese, and then go on to describe how someone travelled across it, stopping to eat bits of it on the way, if you like.

Mr. Jung: So you could describe something outlandish, something which truly does not exist, though it might do, and do so without drawing upon any knowledge you could speak of consciously.

Mr. Freud: That is right. But, if you think about it, you would still be using your knowledge of something you were aware of, but using it in an unexpected way.

Mr. Jung: That way being what we refer to as being creative. And how do you think all this relates to what is going on when someone is daydreaming?

Mr. Freud: When someone is daydreaming, they are allowing their minds to wander freely – perhaps ‘allowing’ is the wrong word, for that conjures up a sort of conscious volition, whereas when we daydream, it is the mind, I think, that does the wandering, without any directions from our conscious thoughts.

Mr. Jung: But is that always true. We might, for instance, let our minds wander to a desert island, imagining the soft ripple of waves as they lap the shore. We might then let our minds wander to that island, placing ourselves lying upon the white sand and sipping a cooling drink of cocoanut juice.

Mr. Freud: Then we might have to distinguish certain sorts of daydreaming as, let us say, some species of wishful thinking. There we are, doing some onerous task in the course of our working day – a task we are well able to do without paying any attention to it, and so giving our mind the freedom to wander in any direction we choose.

Mr. Jung: Do you think we choose the direction or the direction chooses us?

Mr. Freud: Probably both, at one time or another. We probably daydream about our lacking something we particularly desire at that moment of our beginning to daydream.

Mr. Jung: Can you illustrate what you mean?

Mr. Freud: If, for example, you are working in a very hot place, a place you cannot leave for another hour or two, say, then your mind might wander to a cooler place, with things around you to ensure that you stay cool – cold drinks, snow or ice. In essence, you are placing yourself in what I might call an ‘If only’ situation – If only I were sitting on the banks of a stream, letting my feel dangle beneath the cool water, feeling entirely refreshed the coolness of the water creeping up my whole body, making me feel cooler than I am in the here and now.

Mr. Jung: Yes, I see what you mean. So you think that daydreaming can be brought on by a felt need?

Mr. Freud: I do indeed.

Mr. Jung: and could you forecast the direction of that daydreaming, based upon what you know of the person doing the daydreaming?

Mr. Freud: You could try, but your efforts might miss the mark. You might well expect a person working in front of hot ovens in a bakery, to be daydreaming about somewhere cool, but unless you are thoroughly acquainted with every facet of that person’s life, then it is extremely doubtful whether you could forecast the direction his daydreams might take.

Mr. Jung: Better to examine the direction of your own daydreaming to retrospectively examine your own needs or your own sense of well being. It might be the case, for example, that if your daydreams invariably follow the same course, you might be right in thinking that your mind knows you in ways you had not thought of.

Mr. Freud: But then don’t we come back to thinking of daydreaming as an activity that is consciously directed?

Mr. Jung: Yes, I suppose we do. The only way we can progress; it seems to me, is to remember the substance of our daydreams and subject them to scrutiny.

Mr. Freud: But I fear that in so doing you would stem the flow of any future daydreams – subjecting them to mental scrutiny seems like actual thinking rather than daydreaming – that is to say, anticipating – saying to yourself - “How would it be if I just did this or that”

Mr. Jung: But is that daydreaming?

Mr. Freud: Yes, I would say that it is. I am sure that much of what we call our conscious thought is of this type – hypothesizing.

Mr. Jung: Which we might term worrying, if that anticipated future state is painful or if we are reluctant to go that way.

Mr. Freud: Then I think we can say, can’t we, that to daydream is to use our minds in ways that are healthy, advantageous to our sense of worth or well being.

Mr. Jung: I totally agree, for it now seems that what we might in fact be doing, when we are daydreaming, is compromising reality, equalizing our needs and fulfilling some of them, if only in our minds, and only for the duration of the daydream.

Mr. Freud: And thereby keeping our sanity intact. I can easily imagine prisoners locked up for long periods of time, regaining their freedom in their daydreams, and so finding their incarceration more bearable because of this use of daydreaming to negate the negative and accentuate the positive.

Mr. Jung: I think we might well have found a new way of differentiating homo sapiens from other creatures: Man as a user of his imagination to get through the difficulties he faces every day of his life, for I think I would be right in saying that no other living creature is able to do this.

Mr. Freud: My only question now is this: Is it possible to daydream without language? Do we need words to name parts of our existence – imagined existence?

Mr. Jung: That is the perfect way to leave this particular discussion.

Mr. Freud: Why do you think that?

Mr. Jung: Because now we have something to daydream about?

Robert L. Fielding

Informal Writing and preparation

2010-06-11T06:46:00.000-04:00

Informal, in-class writing activities
Pamela Flash
Informal, exploratory writing, when assigned regularly, can lead students to develop insightful, critical, and creative thinking. Experience tells us that without this prompted activity, students might not otherwise give themselves enough time and space to reflect on class content, or to forge connections that will allow them to remember and use ideas from assigned readings, lectures, and other projects. These brief writing activities also allow instructors to get a general sense of students’ grasp of course concepts and materials, and can, in turn, inform future lecture notes, class plans, and pacing.
What follows is an annotated listing of some of the more common write-to-learn activities assigned in classrooms across the disciplines at the University of Minnesota.
Freewriting
Freewriting, a form of automatic writing or brainstorming trumpeted by writing theorist Peter Elbow, requires students to outrun their editorial anxieties by writing without stopping to edit, daydream, or even ponder. In this technique, all associated ideas are allowed space on the page as soon as they occur in the mind. Five-minute bouts of freewriting can be useful before class to spark discussion; in the middle of class to reinvigorate, recapitulate, or question; and at the end of class to summarize. It is also useful at many points in the drafting process: during the invention stage as students sift for topics, and during the drafting process as they work to develop, position, or deepen their own ideas.
There are at least two types of freewriting assignments: focused and unfocused. Focused freewrites allow students opportunities to initiate or develop their thinking on a topical, instructor-supplied prompt, for example, “What is a virus?” Unfocused freewrites, on the other hand, allow students to simply clear their minds and prepare for content activity. In either form, students are instructed to write generic phrases like “I can’t think of anything to say, I can’t think of…” or “Nothing nothing nothing” if their minds go blank. Once their self-consciousness or resistance lowers, ideas will begin to flow again.
It’s important, particularly in the case of focused freewrites, that students take a few moments after the timer has gone off to read over what they’ve written, highlighting useful and interesting ideas that may be glittering from amidst the verbal rubble (see example below). These insights might then be developed into formal writing assignments, or at least be contributed to discussions.
Note also that freewriting is often personal and messy. It should be a low-stakes writing activity for students, and should therefore remain ungraded.
This excerpt is from a timed freewrite and shows the student’s subsequent highlights.

One-Minute Papers
One-minute papers are usually written in class on an index card or scrap of paper, or out-of-class via email. The limited space of the card forces students to focus and also presents such a small amount of writing space that it usually lowers levels of writing anxiety. On their cards, students may be asked to summarize, to question, to reiterate, to support or counter a thesis or argument, or to apply new information to new circumstances. Such writing helps students to digest, apply, and challenge their thinking, achieving enough confidence to contribute fruitfully to class discussions. These short writing assignments also deliver quick, valuable feedback to instructors on what students are learning.
The following are examples of prompts:
• Any discipline:
Create a bumper sticker that would summarize yesterday’s lecture.
Without referring to the text, jot down one or two points that surprised you.
• Anthropology:
Try to view this slide through the eyes of a member of your target subculture. List your observations in the order they occur to you.
• Medical Ethics:
“People suffering from schizophrenia or manic-depressive disorder should/should not be forced to take their medication" (Bean 124).
• Algebra:
Think of examples of your own personal experience to illustrate the uses of vector algebra. You might consider such experiences as swimming in a river with a steady current, walking across the deck of a moving boat, crossing the wake while water-skiing, cutting diagonally across a vacant lot while friends walk around the lot, or watching a car trying to beat a moving train to a railroad crossing. Use one or more of these experiences to explain to a friend (a Kinesiology major) what vector algebra is all about. Use both words and diagrams (adapted from Bean 121).
Scenarios
Scenarios are short, imaginative writing activities that allow students to broach a topic or apply content to new contexts. Examples of scenario activities include writing letters, editorials, memos, and persona pieces such as dialogues or role play.
Sample prompts include the following:
• Create a hypothetical dialogue between 3-5 individuals who have different perspectives on, but definite stakes in, your argument.
• Write a short letter to the author of this novel in which you pose unresolved question(s).
• You are Adam Smith. You have an intercom connection to WorldCom. What do you say?
• Write a letter to an elderly and taciturn patient (who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes) explaining what is meant by the glycemic index of foods and why knowing about the glycemic index will help her/him to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Logbooks
Logbooks (called journals* in some contexts) provide students with opportunities to think through material in their own voices. They may be structured or unstructured, requiring students to complete frequent short entries in which they, for example, summarize material, connect course topics with their observations and experiences, answer questions you design, or reflect on their own notes using double-entry notebooks. Unlike individual short writing assignments, logbooks compile student writing throughout an assignment, a unit, or semester and, like portfolios, allow students to see the development of their observations, ideas, and skills. These notes may be kept in notebooks, binders, or electronic folders.
* You are cautioned against calling the logbook a journal or diary. Students may associate those terms with strictly personal records of intimate thoughts and wishes and day-to-day activity. Students need to be clear that the purpose of a logbook is the open (public) record of ideas and findings.
Microthemes
Microthemes, conventionally similar to the one-minute paper, have, in practice, taken the form of one-page papers written outside class. Informal and exploratory, these assignments should, again, present students with low-risk situations where they can feel free to speculate and work through their thoughts, paving the way for more sophisticated analysis and evaluation. Examples include the following:
• History:
Write a microtheme of between 250-350 words on the following topic: China and India both had dramatic encounters with Western countries during the nineteenth century. Select an encounter each country had with the West in the 1800s and compare and contrast the Chinese and Indian responses. Discuss these two responses in terms of at least one trend in world history.
• Wildlife Conservation and Management:
Write a microtheme addressing an issue or concern based on a news release from a non-governmental organization (NGO) or other stakeholder group. The news release of the NGO should be from the period November 1999 - January 2000. Write the microtheme from the perspective of a natural resource agency person (you). The microtheme will be addressed to me, your supervisor. You will express, and defend, either your opposition or your support of the perspective raised in the news release. You will be expected to use the World Wide Web (WWW). In addition, give the WWW address for the NGO or stakeholder group.
Teaching with Informal Writing Assignments: Some Notes on Procedure
• When introducing the activity, give students your rationale for assigning it. Avoid characterizing it as a “fun little writing activity.”
• If you’re using a prompt, present it both orally and visually by writing it on the board or projecting it on the screen. Exceptions include disciplines where response to oral instructions is valued.
• Whenever possible, do the activity yourself before presenting it to students and/or do it along with them in the class. This makes a significant impact on student motivation.
• Before students write, describe next steps. Will the writing be collected? discussed? included in an assignment portfolio? graded? If students are going to be able to be truly informal, they need to know that they aren’t going to be judged on the quality of their exploratory writing.
• Be clear about time limits (“I’ll stop you in 5 minutes”) and when time is almost over, give a one-minute or 30-second warning.
• At the completion of the assignment, ask students to reflect on insights and developments.
• If you collect student writing, summarize, or at least highlight and comment on your findings during a subsequent class.
Effective write-to-learn assignments...
• Are short (3-15 minutes)
• Ask students to write a word, a sentence, question, or a paragraph or two
• Are integrated (explicitly) into class content, objectives, and activity, and, are optimally, utilized in subsequent writing projects
• Elicit multiple responses
• Where appropriate, receive some content-focused (versus mechanics-focused) response
• Aren't formally graded, but count toward a portion of the grade
Now What?: Responding to Informal Writing
If the primary purpose of informal writing is learning (rather than communicating what has been learned) and if the intended audience is usually limited to the writer, how are instructors advised to grade or respond to the writing generated by these activities? Unlike finished student work elicited by more formal assignments, informal writing is not assessed for style or grammar; you’ve asked students to formulate and pursue ideas in a creative and potentially messy process. With this in mind, consider the following strategies for working with completed informal assignments:
For In-Class Short-Writes:
• Do nothing more: continue with the discussion, demonstration, or lecture, confident that the activity succeeded in allowing students to deepen their understanding of the target content.
• Follow the activity by giving students class time to voice ideas and/or questions they may have uncovered by writing. In large classes, ask students to discuss ideas from their writing with a peer in order to share or synthesize responses that you then pull into discussion.
• Collect the writing with or without student names. You can read them quickly for your own information, and then summarize this information in the next class session, or you can grade them (check, check minus, check plus).
• Ask students to keep their writing until the semester’s end, then hand in their five best for grading.
Three important caveats:
• Freewriting often results in personal writing that students should not be asked to make public. Make sure that you are clear about audience before the assignment is undertaken.
• Whether or not their informal writing receives a grade or comment, students should be given credit for doing it. Allocating a percentage of their final course grades to informal assignments and/or class participation can allow you a place to accumulate the minor number of points given to these small assignments. You might also ask students to compile and turn in all “process pieces” like drafts and informal writing with a final project, and allocate a percentage of that project’s cumulative grade.
• Anticipating that students may be as unfamiliar with un-graded assignments as they are with the whole concept of writing-to-learn, expect that their engagement with either aspect may require some discussion of rationale on your part as you introduce the activities.

For Longer Informal Assignments:
Longer pieces of writing done outside class (microthemes, logbooks, response papers) are read for content. Instructor or peer comments should focus primarily on relevance to the assignment and quality of ideas. Criteria for success in these assignments is usually based on the thoughtfulness of students’ responses and their ability to think coherently on paper. If you find that a student’s ideas are obscured by error-ridden writing, you won’t be able to respond to them.
Writing supportive and engaging comments is, of course, the ideal as these comments will reinforce the idea that these informal assignments are indeed about exploration and the pursuit of insight. If writing substantial comments is not an option time-wise, you (or a classmate) can still note brief questions and reactions in the margins.
Grading Informal Writing Assignments:
Respond with a simple check plus (excellent), check (satisfactory), or check minus (sub-adequate) and, if time is limited, minimal comments:
“Your insights on issues relating to privacy in health care reporting are strong and could be developed into a compelling argument!”
“You’ve named some of the most important issues involved with privacy and health care, but don’t develop any of them persuasively.”
“You’ve summarized the articles and have responded thoughtfully, but don’t answer the assigned question.”
Bean, John. C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/in-class.html
http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/assignment_index.html
Owl at Purdue
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/728/02/
English for students
http://www.english-for-students.com/Exploratory-Writing.html
http://www.english-for-students.com/Writing-That-Explains-and-Explores.html

Letter from America

2010-05-03T05:30:00.005-04:00

Letter from America – Alistair Cooke – creative nonfiction - written to be heard
Robert L. Fielding
Covering a vast array of events in contemporary US history, Alistair Cooke’s well known and beloved broadcast, ‘Letter from America’ was delivered in a style that was unique – probably still is.

His disciples, not just members of the American diaspora living and working within earshot of the BBC’s weekly broadcasts, sat close to the radio to listen to the velvety syrup of his voice roll out the significant happenings that particular week in America, many more of us did too.

And we heard this supremely English man talk eloquently and entertainingly about all manner of things – from the night Joe Louis, the ‘Brown Bomber’, won his first title fight, to the somber days after the Kennedy assassination – from the very different styles of messrs Carter and Reagan, to the death of John Gotti, an infamous gangster.

In all his talks, now back in paper, Letter from America Penguin (2004), Cooke, born in Salford in 1908, displayed an amazing breadth and depth of knowledge on American culture, letting us know how George Washington spoke to folk, and how Robert Frost used everyday items to say something profound about the human condition.

It felt as if he knew his subjects, which he did, of course – intimately, either personally or through reputation in word and deed. His illustrations were perhaps sometimes a little too apostolic for some tastes, particularly where grandees from DC where concerned, but he was acutely aware of something journalists ignore at their peril – the mood of a nation in times of consequence.

I say his talks are now back in paper, for that is how they began. Cooke sat down and penned them afresh, calling upon historical fact and a sort of anecdotal knowledge of the good and the great of American society; he quoted Joe Louis accurately after a bruising encounter with another Joe – Jersey Joe Walcott – asked if he had been worried during the fight, and expected to say that he hadn’t, he said – “ I was worried the whole way through. Yes, sir, I aint 23 no more.”

And being written to be spoken, as they were, his letters retain the freshness of the day they were written. Something more; his phrasing is rhythmical in a way that purely written prose – wrote to be read, usually isn’t.

No doubt Cooke heard the words he composed, like some playwrights claim they do, hearing cadence and rhythm, rise and fall of the language being written. Poets – good ones – inevitably ‘listen’ to the words they write, but it does seem rare in what is something akin to journalism.

Read a column in one of your classier dailies and I doubt whether you will hear any such sounding composition. Only with writers like Edward Abbey (Down The River), Anthony Burgess (Homage to QWERTYUIOP), or anything by Diane Ackerman (A Short History of the Senses), do you find this preoccupation with the ‘sound’ of words on the page.

Of course, novelists have long known the lure of the sound of words striking a reader’s ear. Who can forget the repetitive beginnings of Bleak House, or A Tale of Two Cities – ‘Fog everywhere….’ – ‘It was the best of times……’, but that is the novelists stock-in trade, or used to be. Now, writers of that new genre with the paradoxical sounding name of ‘creative non fiction’ are doing it everywhere and on all sorts of topics, from descriptions of rascals in Papua New Guinea to high fashion houses in Milan, Paris and London.

It sounds new, especially if you haven’t heard of it yet, but Alistair Cooke knew how it was done even before it had a name.
Robert L. Fielding

The Lesson Learned

2010-03-28T07:19:00.001-04:00

Not all that is gold, glitters, you know. Look at me. I’m a handsome Prince in disguise: I’m a rich man in a poor man’s garb; I’m Einstein in a lunatic asylum.
One day, I thought I’d go and take a look at my father’s company’s Head Office in Hounslow, Hertfordshire. I was wearing my usual stuff – jeans and a Tee-shirt – trainers and a baseball hat – like I said, not the kind of clothing you normally associate with the wealthy.
I was just getting into the lift – that one for the CEO and his minions – that one with gold buttons – that one that is the only one to go to the 43rd floor – my dad’s Penthouse flat/office.
I knew he’d be up there, doing all that vital stuff he has to do to keep his firm up there with the best – practicing his putting stroke into an upturned empty coffee cup lying facing him in the opposite corner of the room.
“How was your day, dear?” my Mum would ask him as he stepped through the front door.
“Been hard at it all day, love”, was his usual reply. I knew better.
The lift door opened, and there in front of me was a man in what we used to call a pin stripe suit.
“Hey,” I said, “I didn’t think anybody still wore those things!”
The man straightened with annoyance. The hair on the back of his neck stuck out like a porcupine’s bottom. This man was angry, I could tell.
“And just where do you think you are going?” he asked shirtily.
“Oh, just up to see the old man,” I replied.
He stiffened again.
“I don’t think so, young man,” and he barred my way and pressed one of the gold plated buttons – number 43.
I took another lift.
“I can walk the last one, I said to myself. I went to the next lift and pressed the UP button – the door opened, and a man in blue denim overalls greeted me.
“Going up, Sir?” he asked.
“Sure am,” I said cheerily”, and up went the lift.
“Which floor, sir?” I pointed to 42.
“I can walk the last one,” I said.
“Bbbut, sssir, you can’t go to the 43rd!”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because the boss will be busy. He’s always busy in the afternoons.”
“I know,” I said, “that won’t be a problem.”
“But you need to make an appointment, everybody does.. except ….”
“Except his CEO, right?”
“Exactly so, sir” the man said. “He doesn’t like surprises.”
“He’s going to get one today, isn’t he?” I laughed.
“Sir, sir, let me come up with you so that I can knock on his door.”
“OK, sure, “I said, “come with me.”
On the long trip up to the 42nd floor, I got to know Mr. Bloggs, the cleaner. I got to know that he was a very honest man, that he loved working for my Dad, and that he would do anything for him.
As the lift stopped and we trudged up the stairs to the penthouse suite, the man in the pin striped suite appeared above us.
“And just where do you think you two are going?” he shouted stiffly.
Before I could say anything, Bloggs was whispering to me.
“This is Mr. Smith, the managing director, nobody likes him.”
I whispered back, “I’m not surprised.”
Suddenly, Smith was pushing the little cleaner backwards. He spun past me and banged his head on the corner of the wall. Insensible, he fell down the stairs and lay dead still in a heap.
“Why did you do that?” I shouted up at Smith.
“He had it coming,” Smith hotly replied.
Suddenly, the landing light went on above us. My father appeared, red in the face and looking slightly frightened.
“Robert, what are you doing here?” he asked me.
“Coming to see you, Dad,” I said.
“DAD??” said Smith shakily.
“Yep, that’s right, Dad.”
That was all last year. The brass plate on the CEO’s door now reads
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Joe Bloggs
Smith cleans the stairs and landings.
Robert L. Fielding

Watching TV for too long

2010-03-19T06:54:00.000-04:00

Socratic Dialogue 2: Watching television for too long

Aisha and Maryam discuss another topic today: whether students should spend less time watching TV.

Aisha: Some people think that watching TV for long periods of time isn’t beneficial.
Maryam: What are their reasons – why do they think that?
A: Primarily because it is a waste of one’s time.
M: A waste of whose time in particular?
A: Students – some people think that students often watch TV for far too much time, and could be doing other things, things that are more useful.
M: What sort of things?
A: Well, studying, of course – reading, to begin with. Students need to read.
M: Couldn’t they get information from watching TV?
A: I hardly think so. Television programmes do not usually cover the subjects that students need to find out about.
M: The History Channel shows good programs on world events of the past. What about that?
A: That is true, it does, but how many students sit down to watch the History channel?
M: Not many, most probably. But what about News broadcasts? Surely students watch those, don ‘t they?
A: I am sure that some do, yes, but most of the time students watch soaps – serials, and these have little or no real educational value.
M: What other objections do people have to students watching too much TV?
A: That while watching TV, students go without getting enough physical exercise, and that watching TV adversely affects students’ eyesight.
M: Both are probably true. Do they have any other objections?
A: Yes, their main objection, I think, is that young, impressionable people will change their attitudes and their behavior because they sit too long in front of a television set.
M: I have to say that I agree, though in a way they probably haven’t thought of.
A: Which way? What do you mean?
M: I mean that if anyone sits watching TV for too long, they become isolated from their friends and their families. Watching TV is essentially a solitary experience, even though there may be other people watching with them. People usually do not converse while watching TV programmes. Most people don’t like the interruptions caused by someone talking.
A: So you think we become more insular to each other, do you?
M: Yes, I do, and I think that is the worst effect watching TV has on society in general.
Robert L. Fielding

ID

2010-03-16T05:31:00.003-04:00

Who needs it?
by
Robert L. Fielding
I don’t need most things. I just need food and water, and something to read – a newspaper in the morning, a book in the evening. And I need something to keep me abreast of the times in which I live – not just a newspaper, but something that will let me keep up with everything – my culture. I need a television – I like watching films, documentaries, cartoons, the weather forecast – my needs are simple.
But however simple my needs may be, and I think you’ll agree, they are simple, relatively simple, I am having difficulty meeting them – having them met, if you prefer.
Last week, I misplaced my wallet. I didn’t drop it or leave it somewhere; I put it down in the house and the dog ate it – that kind of ‘misplaced’.
Since then, I have had trouble – big trouble; I can no longer prove who I am. The people where I work can’t or won’t help me, and even if they did – even if they came with me to the bank and vouched for me, who believes anyone anymore?
That stuff in your wallet – it’s you – it’s who you are! Your bank cards, your Driving Licence, your Library card, all that – and the numbers too – they tell people who you are.
It’s like I’m suddenly the invisible man, too. I lost all those cards with my mug shot on them. Now, I can’t even prove who I am when I show up in person – it’s like nobody knows me, or wants to know me – that’s nearer to the truth, or maybe I’m just paranoid.
Everything I was, everything I undoubtedly am, all of my past, and the here and now, and my future – all that has been wiped, as these nerds say. It’s gone, finished, and now I’m wandering around cold and hungry.
I’m alone in a crowd, hungry at a feast, bone dry thirsty by a well full of crystal clear water. I’m nobody anymore.
I spoke to the only pal I’ve got left, a man by the name of Luke. Luke’s a philosopher – teaches Ethics at that university over there. Guess what he asked me the other day: “How can I prove who I am?” I nearly hit him.
“That’s just it,” I told him, “I can’t!”
“Do you think?” he asked me. What a curious question.
“Sure I think,” I replied.
“Then you are,” he laughed, and walked off to one of his classrooms.
That gave me an idea. I thought, “If I think, I am!” From that day on, I’ve been successful. I have my life back. I grew in confidence day by day until I didn’t need those cards. I am a person, and I can prove it. Here is something I have just written. Let me read it to you.
‘Life is all there is, your heart beating against your shirt.
Life is all there is, thoughts tripping out of your head.
Be what you think you are, be what you are.
Don’t wait for anyone to tell you who you are.
You tell them who you are, and that’s who you are!”
-00000-
That was two years ago. But today, I’m a man with a need to be recognized. I bought all that philosophical stuff – ‘I’m pink, therefore I’m spam!’
But I’ve got needs, physical and mental – emotional and real – rational and irrational. And all I have that shows the world who I am is this card I found in an old pair of trousers hanging in my closet. I exist, but only in cyberspace, and that has its good possibilities and its bad sides.

Robert L. Fielding
Language lecturer - Writer
www.rlfielding.com

I mean, if you take a look at my homepage, there’s a shot of me from way back when. I was a kid of 24. What am I talking about? I wasn’t a kid, but a fully grown man. It’s just that now I look at that photo of me walking the hills and valleys of my country, it seems like I didn’t really know anything about life – not real life – not living for years and years – existing, but not really living. Living without being; oh, I was real alright – still am, only now, as I told you, I’ve got this identity thing – I don’t think it’s a crisis – maybe it is. You tell me.

So I got to thinking, if I don’t exist, if I only exist in flesh and blood, and in cyberspace – out there, maybe, just maybe, I can go back to being who I really want to be – a 24 year old hill walker. Let’s pretend I’m this 24 year old – let’s pretend I’m fit – that I can walk 10 hours one day and do it all over again, day after day.
I look at the card I showed you. I’m a writer now. I was a writer back then. I just never thought to tell anybody about it.

So I got a nom de plume and wrote and wrote and wrote. Fame is the spur. That’s true, but it isn’t my spur. I prefer anonymity – this from a guy who was just talking about losing his identity. But losing your identity and gaining anonymity are worlds apart, let me tell you.
You’ll have seen my recent titles, won’t you?
‘Re-inventing yourself: it’s never too late!’
‘Getting your life back on track!’
Don’t look for me by name though. Remember, I don’t exist, least not in the ways you mean!
Robert L. Fielding

Socratic Dialogue - Tourism in UAE

2010-03-13T01:45:00.001-04:00

Socratic Dialogues
Robert L. Fielding
Socratic dialogues that include questioning and answering techniques can be used to find reasons for opinion. Level 2 Writing students recently completed their Writing Project 1 (Defending an opinion), and used three topics.

Here, one of these (It is good that tourists come to the UAE.) will be used to illustrate a Socratic dialogue. This dialogue is between two students: Aisha and Maryam.

Aisha: I think it is good that tourists come to the United Arab Emirates.
Maryam: Good for whom; the country or the tourists?
A: I would say it is good for both.
M: Why do you say that? How does the country benefit?
A: Tourists spend a lot of money here – they stay in hotels, they eat in restaurants, and they buy souvenirs to take back to their families and their friends. The local economy must benefit by an influx of foreign currency.
M: That seems true. What about the tourists themselves, how do they benefit from their visits here?
A: I should say that they enjoy their time here. We have a lot of things to attract them: nice, clean, safe beaches, interesting sites that show our history, and our modern side – all the new buildings and structures in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
M: You mean places like Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi, and Atlantis Hotel and Jumeirah Palm in Dubai?
A: Yes, I do. Places such as these are big attractions for tourists. They show how our country has rapidly developed, and how it is continuing to develop as a business hub in the region.
M: But are tourists really concerned with business? They are here on holiday, surely – here to relax and enjoy the sunshine.
A: Yes, they are, that is true, but when they return home, to work for companies, or their own companies.
M: I see, so you think that they see business opportunities while they are here?
A: I am sure some do – not all the time, and not every tourist, but some will think about what they have seen here, and some will even make connections while they are here on holiday. That is how tourism benefits the UAE and those who visit these shores.
Robert L. Fielding

10 Myths about being creative

2009-06-08T03:36:00.000-04:00

Creativity is the buzz-word at the moment. We are only going to get out of the mess we’re in by being creative, it seems. So, before we start, let’s dispose of a few myths about creativity!
1. I’m not creative.
Who told you that – probably yourself, and self-fulfilling prophecies usually come true! Throw that particular bit of creativity out and use your imagination – you do have one.
2. That’s a stupid idea!
Whoops! There goes another rubber tree plant! Frank Whittle couldn’t get the British government to take up his new fangled jet engine at first. Where would we be without it now? Don’t be afraid of being ahead of your time – a lot of people are and don’t know it.

3. Only creative people always have good ideas.
Enough with this negativity. Everybody has good ideas – few of us act on them – that’s the difference!

4. Constructive criticism will help my colleague improve her ideas.
It’s all a question of how much, how often. Criticism can sharpen up ideas, but beware of people who just want you to drop the idea – they probably think it’s a good one, but don’t like to admit it.

5. We need some new ideas. Let’s get together and brainstorm ideas.
Good ideas can drop in at any time, but more often than not, come to you after restful sleep or at a quiet time in your day. Writing is better than brainstorming – ask any writer.

6. That’s a good idea. Let’s do it.
At first, this sounds like being positive, which is a good thing, but jumping into water to find out how deep it is might not be the thing. Sometimes the water’s too shallow.

7. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Everything can be improved, and people who say they can’t often only say that because they don’t have the energy to try something new.
8. I don’t need a notebook.
You do! “I’ll remember it.” - the famous last words of someone who forgets. Besides, writing things down brings out other thoughts and ideas.

9. I am creative. I don’t need to work at it.
Whoever said that is probably out of work, languishing on a couch somewhere. Creativity needs a hand – there are techniques to help you – Google them!
10. Creativity only applies to the arts.
Experts have found that kids who were not good at math got a whole lot better when they were encouraged to visualize quantities. Creativity applies to every facet of life.
Robert L. Fielding

Voluntary simplicity – wanting less – finding more out of life

2009-06-07T10:00:00.001-04:00

Wandering around supermarkets pondering the dazzling array of choice on offer sometimes strikes me as a waste of time – armed with incomplete knowledge in abundance, can I really make meaningful choices when buying breakfast cereals, coffee, jam, and so on?

Sure, some things are important – ‘No sugar added’ is good, ‘Low fat’ too, and so are things like ‘Gluten free’ for some of us, but most of the time we don’t know what to do with the huge range of choice in front of us.

Barry Schwarz, speaking on TED (http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html) recently, spoke of our lives being messed up by having so much choice – 6 million combinations of Hi-fi in one store, hundreds of cereals and brands of coffee etc.

Schwarz maintains that faced with so much choice, the average consumer is placed at a disadvantage – he is always wondering if he has bought the best there is – something that rarely if ever happened when choice was down to one or two – wondering if the folks next door got a better deal on their car -an age old problem – or just being mesmerized into inaction because of the number of choices – this removes the benefits of choice, says Schwarz.

This ‘giving’ us choice in almost everything has its roots in the political and economic philosophy of the recent past; choice is equated with freedom – more choice equals more freedom – and as we all desire freedom, more choice must also me more desirable.

There is much in that argument that is true – if we have alternatives, we feel freer to act in a way that suits us than if we had no alternative – so far, so good. To many these days though, everything has got out of hand – our choices are virtually, almost unlimited – in everything.

Put simply, many people are finding that ‘more is less’ in very real ways. The labor saving devices in my kitchen mean that I have to work longer hours to pay for them. Am I missing something here?

More importantly, the planet cannot sustain our preoccupation with unlimited choices in everything from food products, to consumer durables to automobiles, to package holidays to homes.

Since the world’s major economies are predicated on us spending our way out of the recession – economic growth will save us, it follows that we are actively encouraged to spend, spend, spend, but this world view cannot be supported by this world – the planet Earth!

A new movement is beginning – from where else but USA – the home of consumerism. It’s called ‘Voluntary simplicity’ and it is about freedom, it’s about owning your own life. It is not the same thing at all as ‘Frugality’ - living with less of what money can buy. Voluntary simplicity is wanting less.
http://www.word-works.com/simple/index.htm

Having more does not equal being happier – something we would all like to be. Actually, being content with what we have is a better road to happiness – people, Nature, not things, makes us happy. As William Wordsworth put it:
THE world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours.
The ‘Voluntary Simplicity’ movement stems from these ideas - Voluntary simplicity means doing/having/living more with less--more time, meaning, joy, satisfaction, relationships, community; less money, material possessions, stress, competition, isolation. It doesn't mean depriving yourself; it doesn't mean buying "cheap" and always pinching pennies; it doesn't mean poverty. It does mean wanting what you have, and finding joy in having less; and recovering the connection with other people and with the Earth that alone makes life really worthwhile.
http://www.greatriv.org/vs.htm
This all means a lot – perhaps too much for many of us hooked on the acquisition of plenty. The choice worth making – the real choice – is to opt out of the ruse we all live under – that getting more will make up happier – that endless choice is not good for us, for our psyche, even for our physical well-being – more importantly, it’s not good for our planet home.
Robert L. Fielding

Are people who live abroad more creative?

2009-05-29T10:53:00.000-04:00

Noticing patterns in your life also makes you notice differences as well as similarities. In a life lived away from your native shores, the differences probably outweigh the things that are the same.

Living your life a mile from where you grew up probably doesn’t present the same opportunity to observe – you might notice how things have changed, but, like the face of a loved one, you probably won’t notice that change.

If things are different, mistakes are more common – and although making mistakes is not being creative, what is known is that if you aren’t prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with something original – if you’re not prepared to be wrong!

Like ex- Pats, children live in a world continually in a state of flux. Consequently, children often make mistakes: “Sorry, Caroline can’t resist a moustache!” “Jonathan can never remember to be quiet in company!” – that type of thing. The thing with children though is that if they don’t know, they will still have a go.

I heard of a child appearing in a Nativity play as one of the three wise men, and when it came to his turn to say what he had brought, he said, “Frank sent this!”

Picasso once said that all children are born artists, the difficulty lies in remaining one into adulthood. Like children, ex Pats find themselves in situations in which they are not always sure how to proceed. They go ahead anyway and rely on the largesse of locals to forgive them – they learn – continually – every day.

Creativity not only requires imagination and inspiration, which anyone who has taken the plunge to change their life has in spades, it also requires emotional depth. Expats have this depth, for they carry with them the memories of their lives in their home country, and the gruelling farewells as they left it behind. But of course, it isn’t left behind. The past is there, informing the hidden creativity which is bursting to find an outlet as new challenges are met.
Margaret Graham.
Bestselling author and creative writing tutor.
Writer in Residence Yeovil, UK. www.margaret-graham.com

The creative world is full of people who lived in foreign climes – Earnest Hemingway spent much of his time out of the US, Paul Gaugin, Pablo Picasso, Rudyard Kipling, George Orwell and many more lived abroad for much of their lives.

Removed from their native communities, it may be that ex-pats either have more time to pursue their creative urges, or more opportunity, or both. Being creative requires confidence, and living with strangers can increase one’s confidence. Conversely, living close to lifelong peers sort of sets you out to conform.

I once worked in a small engineering company in which my liking poetry set me apart from the majority. It didn’t put me off reading poetry, it just put me off becoming like them!

If we can define being creative as finding other worlds in this one, then half of the job is already done for someone living away from home. ‘Nothing stays the same except change’ is one way of looking at life – here or at home these days, and so really, creativity should come equally easily to all of us – we just have to give ourselves a chance to become who we want to be.
Robert L. Fielding

Have we got a sixth sense - awareness?

2009-05-29T10:52:00.000-04:00

Traditionally, we are said to have five senses: hearing, touch, taste, sight, and smell. However, no firm agreement has been reached on this number; since definitions of what constitutes a sense differ; some holding that we have five additional senses: a sense of pain (nociception), balance (equilibrioception), joint motion and acceleration (proprioception & kinesthesia), a sense of time, and a sense of temperature (thermoception).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senses
To these five major senses, couldn’t our sense of awareness be added. Sense, after all, doesn’t necessarily include having to be in physical contact with what is stimulating the senses. Sight and hearing clearly do not involve touching, whilst our sense of smell depends only upon molecules making contact with our olfactory systems.

Being aware can take a number of forms: we can be aware that we have met someone before, that the word ‘Tiddles’ will most likely be the name given to a pet – a cat – and that we have dialed the right telephone number, even when we cannot clearly or fully mentally remember the actual number.

How many times have you relied on the relative positions of the numbered buttons and the order in which they appear in the dialing code as and when you are dialing the number, rather than beforehand?

What is that? If it is memory, why do we have to remind ourselves by the act of actually dialing the number? It cannot be touch, because all the buttons feel the same. Direction seems to fit, but in this case, it is the direction and distance of the buttons relative to each other and in that particular order and no other – it seems to be a sense of direction coordinated by our consciousness.

It clearly has something to do with our memory, but we rarely think of it working through our sense of touch – in just that way. In a sense, all senses connect with our memory, even to inform us that we have never sensed something before.

Our awareness that the Earth revolves around the sun, for instance, may have something to do with our learned knowledge of the movement of planets in the solar system, and may be connected to our perceiving that the Earth’s position relative to the sun is continually changing.

It is this perception that I believe is linked to something like an ‘archaeology of our knowledge’ – a vestige of primordial awareness – but now quantified by the sciences and placed in more or less absolute terms in reference books.

What would stone-age men and women have ‘known’ of this movement? They would certainly have noticed it, but not having a concept, ‘sun’ or ‘Earth’, they would not know or be aware of what was happening – in the way we talk of knowing or being aware these days.

Our knowledge of the way we move in orbit around the sun has been handed down to us from Galileo and others. But our sense that one or both is moving goes back to those days of stone and flint. Without prior knowledge from our schooling, our senses would tell us little more than our predecessors knew about a lot of things. Could we, for example, say what the Moon is, or where it is, or how far away it is? Could we understand its phases, or that it affects our tides. The sciences have given us a lot, but has our awareness moved on? Just as the ruins of Ephesus mark the city and its borders, our sense of awareness marks the limits of our own knowledge of our world, and although it is probably growing continually with experience coupled to memory, some parts of it will not be so radically different from what they were at our beginnings.
Robert L. Fielding

Chunks of language

2009-05-29T10:51:00.000-04:00

Chunks of language and the familiarity of expressions

Robert L. Fielding
The units of language have traditionally been viewed as letters, words, and sentences. With the advent of corpus linguistics supported by technological progress, the unit of language that now appears to be the most salient is the chunk.

Chunks are groups of words – ‘Have a nice day.’ is a chunk, and so are ‘ID card’, ‘of vital importance’, ‘no problem’ – in fact any string of words that are regularly and often found together – either written or spoken. Words collocate – they flock together – rather like birds of a feather.

So, we take a vacation, completely forget, keep in touch, see what we can do, burst into laughter, catch someone’s eye and carry things too far! We pay attention, pay someone a visit or a complement - we speak in chunks, most probably without realizing it.

Chunks aid memory – it works with names most readily and easily. Americans give the state right after their town or city – Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – and they trip of the tongue – even off the tongues of non – Americans like me.

Now, let’s try it with common nouns – what comes before:
________ rain
________ downpour
________ witness
________ thief
________ policeman
________ weather
And what comes after:-
a ________ ear
a ________ eye
________ demand
________ science
a ________ habit

What do you do with these:
________ your words
________ tricks on someone
________ the question
________ your time
What do you make, give, do, pay, come to, bring, take, meet, and raise? Just take a few minutes to think of the answers – they’ll come easily when you put your mind to it.

You see, that’s the other thing about language – particularly English - it’s idiomatic. That means it’s picturesque and colourful. We eat our own words, eat our liver, we play tricks as well as football, and we pay attention as well as visits to someone sick in hospital.

One way learners begin to sound native- like is by using chunks of language – if students do their homework on this, it will pay dividends – it will pay off!

The trouble is that even native speakers aren’t always aware the language works this way – although they will quickly point out your mistake if you get a chunk wrong. If you say ‘weighty rain’ instead of ‘heavy rain’ people will smile. If you say ‘heavy arguments’, rather than, ‘weighty arguments’, their lips will curl again.

Knowing chunks of language makes them easier to bring to mind as and when you need them too. If you can’t think of the word ‘anesthetic’, try thinking of a word that often precedes it – ‘local’. If you can’t think of the name of that famous footballer, say his first name – David, and out will come Beckham!
Get help online here:-
Collocations - http://www.ccym.edu.hk/english/Hkcee/Collocation.htm
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/easy/colloc.htm
http://www.yourdictionary.com/examples/collocation
Verb collocations – examples and quizzes - http://www.scribd.com/doc/419455/Verb-Collocations
Do your best!
Robert L. Fielding

Hardy and Austen compared

2009-01-26T09:49:00.002-04:00

Hardy and Austen: two takes on English society of the day

Robert L. Fielding

Two of our most well known, most beloved authors wrote mostly about the world they inhabited; Hardy - (2 June, 1840 – 11 January, 1928), Austen - (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817). There the similarity ends: Hardy used much larger canvasses – Austen had a sharper focus – both wrote about characters from very different perspectives.

Hardy used his extensive knowledge of the rural life of his native Wessex, together with his inclination to use circumstances akin to those in Greek tragedy to weave his tales. Austen used her mastery of English, particularly her own use of free indirect speech to construct lives little different from her own cloistered life in one rural community in Southern England.

For Hardy, the rustic and the gentry rubbed shoulders and were both integral parts of his stories. For Austen, members of social classes from other than the one she focused on were merely incidental asides – tradesmen bringing goods to the house – with very little bearing on events.

Hardy drew upon characters from all walks of life – from gentry farmers such as Boldwood (Far From the Madding Crowd), Melbury (The Woodlanders) through a mélange of rustics, to newly returned inhabitants (Clym Yeobright (Return of the Native) to outsiders such as Donald Farfrae (The Mayor of Casterbridge) and then he intertwined their lives as perhaps no other English writer ever has. Adding to this pot pourri , Hardy used ingredients from earlier literary traditions to show how lives were altered, improved, or utterly destroyed by the hand of the gods, and what he called satires of circumstance in his poetry.

Austen sharpened her focus and dwelt upon mental machinations to sketch the self-delusion of Emma Woodhouse (Emma), the contrast offered by the upright dealings of stalwarts like Mr. Knightly (Emma) and the workings of the minds of mothers intent on landing well-to-do husbands for her daughters – Mrs. Bennet (Pride and Prejudice).

The outcomes of stories by the two, perhaps more than any other aspect of their writing display two differing world views: Hardy used tragedy and suffering to highlight the dilemmas of his protagonists, from the hapless and tormented Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the D’urbervilles) and her somewhat pure-minded would be suitor, Angel Clare, to the archetypal tragi-hero, Michael Henchard (Mayor of Casterbridge), and showed the reader his own view of lives that were all too often nasty, brutish and short.

Since Austen concentrated her literary efforts into re-educating her wayward heroines, the outcomes were often far more cheerful and offered the reader the fruits of lessons learned by being too headstrong, or too opinionated, usually both.

Austen taught, Hardy painted and depicted. The influences at work in Austen were mental more than societal. Hardy used both but dipped his pen into the workings of somewhat malevolent and baleful gods, and woeful circumstance, to try the patience of his protagonists. I once asked my English Lit teacher at school, “Miss, did Hardy write any happy books?” That question never arose after reading Austen.
Robert L. Fielding

Self-improvement: attention helpers

2008-12-04T04:09:00.002-04:00

How to write 'flash fiction'.

2008-09-24T02:36:00.005-04:00

Writing Flash FictionBy G. W. Thomas
With the advent of the Internet, editors are looking for shorter works, more easily read on a computer screen. The current term is "flash fiction", a tale between 300-1000 words long. Longer than micro-fiction (10-300 words) but shorter than traditional short stories (3000-5000 words preferred by most magazines), flash fiction is usually a story of a single act, sometimes the culmination of several unwritten events.This article will offer several strategies for writing flash fiction. Used by themselves or in combination, the writer can focus their story to that brief, interesting event.

1) The small ideaLook for the smaller ideas in larger ones. To discuss the complex interrelationship of parents and children you'd need a novel. Go for a smaller piece of that complex issue. How kids feel when they aren't included in a conversation. What kids do when they are bored in the car. Middle child. Bad report card. Find a smaller topic and build on it.

2) Bury the preamble in the openingWhen you write your story, don't take two pages to explain all the pre-story. Find a way to set it all in the first paragraph, then get on with the rest of the tale.

3) Start in the middle of the actionSimilar to #2, start the story in the middle of the action. A man is running. A bomb is about to go off. A monster is in the house. Don't describe any more than you have to. The reader can fill in some of the blanks.

4) Focus on one powerful imageFind one powerful image to focus your story on. A war-torn street. An alien sunset. They say a picture worth a thousand words. Paint a picturewith words. It doesn't hurt to have something happen inside that picture. It is a story after all.

5) Make the reader guess until the endA little mystery goes a long way. Your reader may have no idea what is going on for the majority of the story. This will lure them on to the end. When they finish, there should be a good pay off or solution.

6) Use allusive referencesBy using references to a commonly known story you can save yourself all those unnecessary words. Refer to historical events. Use famous situations from literature. If the story takes place on the Titanic you won't have to explain what is going to happen, who is there or much of anything. History and James Cameron have already done it for you. Beware of using material that is too obscure. Your reader should be able to make the inferences.

7) Use a twistLike #5, the twist ending allows the writer to pack some punch at the end of the story. Flash fiction is often twist-ending fiction becauseyou don't have enough time to build up sympathetic characters and show how a long, devastating plot has affected them. Like a good joke, flash fiction is often streamlined to the punch-line at the end.Let's look at these techniques in my story "Road Test". I wanted to write a story about taking my driving exam. I didn't mention the pre-test or practicing. Just the test. (#1 THE SMALL IDEA) This narrows our subject down to a manageable scene.I didn't have room to describe the driving examiner in detail. I set my main character in two sentences.(#2 BURY THE PREAMBLE) "The man in the government-issued suit sat down without looking at the person across from him. We've established the main character and his chief flaws. (He's mediocre and probably hates his job.)I started in the middle of the action by having the driver very quickly go from good driving to dangerous driving. Johnson, the driving examinerrealizes the driver is not human but goat-headed (#3 START IN THE MIDDLE). "He had changed. The beard was longer, the skin darker and two large curved horns crowned his skull." This creates tension and has created an image: a man trapped in a speeding car with a monster (#4 A POWERFUL IMAGE). It pushes the reader on because they want to know what will happen next, maybe why is it happening? We won't tell them until the end (#5 KEEP THEM GUESSING).The monster keeps yelling the same word, "Pooka!" Johnson begins to understand. He knows the old fairy stories about the Pooka, about how they pretended to be horses so they could drown their victims. (#6 ALLUSION)Now is the time for resolution, our great twist ending that no one sees coming (#7 TWIST ENDING). As the monster crashes the car into a pond, Johnson realizes a modern-day Pooka wouldn't look like a horse, but would use a car. The car crashes and we finish with: "They would die, only Johnson would live long enough to feel those large goatish teeth chewing the flesh from his bones. The souped-up V8 hit the slick surfaceof the pond like a fist into jello. Windshield collapsed under tons of water, washing away the high, shrill laughter of the driver.""Road Test" clocks in at 634 words. It is essentially a man gets killed by a monster story, but the crux of the idea is "How would mythological creatures adapt to the modern world?" This is really the small idea. The allusions to the Pooka will work for some, but I gave enough explanation to help those that don't know about the old stories.This example story was chosen because it illustrated all 7 methods. Using only one in a flash story can be enough. Writing flash fiction is a great way for writers to write everyday, even when larger projects seem to daunting or they are pressed for time. Using these short cuts can have you writing in minutes.-----------------------------------------G. W.

Thomas has appeared in over 100 different books and magazines. His micro story "Nano-Hunk" won the Zine Guild Award for Best SF Micro Fiction 2000.

A story for my students - 'The Eye-witness' - Part One

2008-09-19T05:14:00.003-04:00

The eye-witness
Part 1

by

Robert L. Fielding
Students - read the first part of the story and answer the questions at the end.

Annie was playing the piano. Her mother was in the kitchen making dinner. It was 5.30 in the afternoon and most of the kids were still outside.

Annie continued to play her piano. She was trying to play a tune her music teacher had taught her. She was concentrating and looking at the music on the sheet in front of her.

Annie turned her head towards the open window. It was just beginning to go dark and the kids were going home to for dinner. Annie was an only child – she didn’t have any brothers or sisters.

She stopped playing the piano. She thought she heard her mother’s voice.
“Mummy,” she shouted.“ Are you OK?”

There was no reply.
“She must be cooking,” Annie thought, and looked back at the music. She began to play again.

Gill, Annie’s mother, was in the kitchen preparing a salad. She liked to hear her daughter play the piano as she worked.
“Those piano lessons are expensive,” she thought, “but they are worth it. Annie is improving. She has talent, she can play tunes easily and she learns very quickly, and she’s only 11 years old.” Gill smiled to herself. She was proud of her clever daughter.

Dinner was nearly ready. Gill opened the oven door to look at the chicken roasting gently. It was nearly done. She knew Annie would be hungry. She was hungry too.

The music stopped. The house was suddenly very quiet.
“Annie,” shouted her mother. “Dinner’s ready. Stop playing now, let’s eat,” then she added, “But wash your hands first, please.”
There was still no sound. Gill moved towards the kitchen door.
“I thought she said she was hungry.” she said to herself quietly.

As she opened the kitchen door, she heard her daughter crying out.
“Mummy, they’re hurting me!”
Gill rushed into the lounge. Annie wasn’t there. The front door was wide open. Annie’s sheets of music were lying on the garden path outside. Annie had disappeared.

Q1. What could have happened to Annie?

Q2. Where could she be?

Q3. Who could have taken her?

Q4. Will she be OK?
Write and let me know what you think are the answers to these questions.

Send your answers in a short paragraph to me at www.nicenet.org
Robert L. Fielding

Scottish poetry # 1

2008-09-05T05:40:00.002-04:00

Poems from Scotland

STREAMS
When we went to the grammar school the teacher said,
‘You A-stream girls will go out in the world and be doctors and lawyers.
You C-stream girls will go out in the worldand be typists and mothers.
’But when we left(tossing our hats in the air), beyond the school borders,the streams overflowed and the dams broke with the water hoarded in our hearts and all the girls flowed out in the world in alphabetical disorder.
Diana Hendry

THE FERRYMAN
The blue ribbon of a river,
too deep to ford,
a great chattering of water a hundred feet across,
and on the far bank a cottage fluttering smoke.
No-one crosses here without the ferryman’s consent:
king or commoner,
all are in the same boat -
thirty years he’s criss-crossed the river for the one coin
a coin for a crossing but for silence also:
the man who travels under cover of owls always to meet the girl who is not his;
the boy who’s running away,
whose eyes are full of ships and storms;
the priest who carries more than he came for.
That coin is worth its weight in gold,
to seal the slip of a tongue,the spread scent of a secret.
So he has learned to say nothing,
the man with the bracken hair and the big hands -
to let out no more than where the best trout lie.

Kenneth Steven

THE SONG OF THE MIGRANT WORKER
We’re building the ring road round Beijing,
helping to support Olympic dreams.
Green beans and noodles twice a day.
Yes, we’re building the ring road round Beijing.
Twenty of us in the dormitory.
Family back in Hunan Province wait.
Three hundred yuan a month we send them back.
We see beggars shoed off the avenue.
We see new tramps every week.
We watch the giant billboards change.
We see the new underground open.
We’ll return to our fields when roads are done,back to our peasant farming lives.
But we know now how city people live.
Clean fingernails, leather shoes,washed clothes every day.
Girls go by in high, high heels,speak into mobile phones.
China has so many new roads now.
We wait to see where they will take uswhen we’ve built this ring road round Beijing.
Liz Niven

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/poetryblog/index.var.0.12.0.php?act=list

Creative non-fiction: A Natural History of the Senses

2008-06-12T07:49:00.004-04:00

In her book, 'A Natural History of the Senses', Diane Ackerman writes in a genre that can best be described as creative non-fiction. The writer flavours her well researched book with her own style - a mixture of poetic prose and fact.

The covernotes say that, 'if Colette had studied science and spent time listening to icebergs in Antartica and interviewing a professional nose in New York, she might have written a book as luscious and erudite as 'a Natural History of the Senses' - the book is luscious (richly sweet in taste/voluptuously attractive/mouth-watering, rich, succulent) - fitting words to describe a book about the five senses.

Diane Ackerman uses all her skills as an experienced writer to weave a tapestry in words, calling upon learned research from universities and medical sources and poetry and great literature - she casts the reader adrift to float along on her narrative, dream-like at times, intensely factual at others - fascinating throughout - a great read, something not easy to define - whether it is the style or the subject - I suspect it's both in this great read.

The many benefits of dictation exercises

2008-06-03T08:58:00.003-04:00

Most probably regarded as a somewhat old-fashioned, pedestrian technique with few advantages to the student, dictation actually has many benefits to both students and their teachers.

If done systematically and regularly, dictation exercises improve students’ ability to distinguish sounds in continuous speech as well as improving their spelling and their recognition of grammatically correct sentences and their production of them. Davis and Rinvolucri write that "Decoding the sounds of [English] and recoding them in writing is a major learning task" (1988)

Unlike a reliance on grammar exercises on the page of a book, language processed by students doing such exercises proceeds through more ‘processing steps’ and becomes more integrated into memory than is the case with sentences written down with no context to anchor them to facilitate recall later.

Frodesen writes that dictation can be "an effective way to address grammatical errors in writing that may be the result of erroneous aural perception of English.... Dictation can help students to diagnose and correct these kinds of errors as well as others." (1991) Our students’ inability to produce grammatically correct sentences is familiar to every teacher, and since our students hear or see little English outside the classroom, either between themselves in dormitories and hostels, and very likely at home, giving students dictation exercises could be looked upon as one way of redressing this.

The links provided below appear on the Dictation page of the Writing Centre website (URL here), so once students begin to become familiar with the use of dictation in the classroom, it is hoped that they will access some of these sites outside class time. The links provide interactive exercises (students listen – write – get immediate feedback on the substance of each dictation), and so can measure their own progress as they work their way through the exercises on these sites.

The benefits of dictation
Dictation makes the students and the teacher aware of the students' comprehension errors--phonological, grammatical, or both. In English, typical errors include the frequent omissions of bound morphemes such as:
The -s plural
The -'s possessive
The -s third person singular
The -ed ending for regular past participles.
The ability to distinguish and produce the items listed above come well down the list of things our students are required to have mastered, even at Level 1, yet we find repeated errors of this kind right up to and including Level 3 and ESP.

Dictation shows students the kinds of spelling errors they are prone to make.
Students seeing their own written responses next to the correct ones in exercises should provide invaluable guidance in the ways that their spelling can be improved. Of course, there is no guarantee that students will conscientiously work their way through such exercises once they are outside our jurisdiction, so to speak, it is hoped that they will react positively once the benefits are shown in the classroom. In any case, only those students who are really motivated to improve will do them anyway.

Dictation gives students practice in comprehending and transcribing clear English prose. This is important because we have all encountered awkward sentences in textbooks that are not good models of English writing, or raise grammatical, syntactic, or semantic questions that are not the point of the exercise to begin with. One example from a rather famous source: "When you receive a request like that, you cannot fail to obey it." This was in a textbook for a pre-intermediate class and came without a footnote to aid the student.

This point may only be marginally applicable to us, using in-house materials, as most of us do, but some of the English in our textbooks may sound awkward to native users without necessarily doing so to non-native users. It is important for students to hear as well as read a standard version of English, supposing there to be such a thing.

Dictation gives students valuable practice in note-taking. Students may already be in courses in which they must take notes of lectures delivered in English at normal speaking speed. While no one should take lecture notes that are exact transcriptions, learning to write spoken language quickly is an essential college skill.

Notetaking is a core competency and a valuable addition to a student’s inventory of sub-skills, and while we may teach techniques and strategies to recognize the signposting of information, students still have to comprehend what is said in situations in which both the language used and the information conveyed by it are unfamiliar. Regular dictation exercises will help students’ recognition of super and supra-segmentals in the lectures that attend.

Dictation gives practice in correct forms of speech. Note: We have all read student compositions with grammatically correct sentences that are not correct forms, for example She is a surgeon of hearts or He is a good cooker.

Any attempt to improve our students’ grasp of vocabulary has to help; the comprehension of pronunciation of words in a foreign language, particularly in the English language, is problematic and difficult; the apparent lack of any regular correspondence between spelling and pronunciation of English words in isolation is compounded in connected speech. Students need to hear and understand authentic speech patterns in a systematized way that ensures full comprehension later in faculty.

Dictation can help develop all four language skills in an integrative way.
How many of the methods we employ can make that claim? Many of our lessons give scant importance to at least one of the four skills. A writing lesson may well employ texts to be read, but how many dwell on the spoken variety or its comprehension; at best, all a student gets in these is the teacher’s instructions before starting a particular task.

Dictation helps to develop short-term memory. Students practice retaining meaningful phrases or whole sentences before writing them down. Having given dictation exercises, I have been made to realize how little students can retain whilst listening is in progress. It is almost as though more water is being added to an already full cup; some has to be poured out in order to make room for more to be added. However, I have also found that as students are introduced to more and more dictation exercises, their ability to both forecast what is coming and to retain what has already been said increases rapidly and noticeably. Both abilities point to evidence of an increased familiarity with the language.

Dictation can serve as an excellent review exercise.
Once a passage has been dictated, much valuable work can be done in getting students to ‘notice’ their own errors on the page they have just written; what happens is that many students come to recognize their errors by virtue of the positioning of items in sentences – parts of speech, for example, as well as equally obvious things like verb tenses.

Dictation is psychologically powerful and challenging.
The concentration required to ‘keep up’ with the dictation exercises in class, together with the pressure to keep up with everyone else listening to the passage ensures that exercises are totally enveloping, meaning that once begun, they ‘take over’ the class, and thus at once become a challenge that all face together. It is my experience that students listening and writing to something being dictated become absolutely absorbed in the activity, a point which leads on to the next in this series.

Dictation fosters unconscious thinking in the new language.
Since dictation, even at its sometimes funereally slowest, forces students to engross themselves in the target language, not having time to go through native language equivalence to assist themselves. If the students do well, dictation is motivating. At first, if not paced appropriately, or if too much of the vocabulary is unknown to students, taking part in dictation exercises can be very stressful and too demanding. It is important, therefore, to grade passages for complexity and for the ratio of new, unknown words to known ones. Once students begin to get used to voice levels and speed, success follows, which, even partially is a great motivator.

Dictation involves the whole class, no matter how large it is.
It goes without saying that dictation exercises must involve everyone in the room, although with more advanced classes, a sort of mixing of passages would be very advantageous, particularly since much natural language heard in vitro, is not heard in isolation.

During and after the dictation, all students are active.
Activity is intense at every stage of dictation exercises; heads are down whilst students are listening, of course, but afterwards, in reviewing what has been written, and in striving to turn it into an acceptable form to teacher, written up on whiteboards for all to see and scrutinize.

Correction can be done by the students
This is vital; it is in finding mistakes and attending to them that students learn. Peers can help here and usually do, with a sort of instinctive class consensus operating to bring slower students up to scratch.

Dictation can be prepared for any level.
Dictation can be as complicated or as simple as is appropriate for the level of students. At elementary levels, single words can be produced, going on gradually to more connected speech.
The students, as well as the teacher, can get instant feedback if desired.
The feedback is built into the exercises (this applies to online exercises too), and indeed, students become used to actually wanting to know the correct form.

Dictation can be administered quite effectively by an inexperienced teacher.
The nature of dictation exercises, although fairly simplistic in their operation, do make demands upon the teacher; oration must be loud and clear, but as importantly, must not proceed at an unnaturally slow speed since connected speech is disturbed and radically altered by too slow a delivery. Shortened forms, for example, are often removed if delivery isn’t paced at a ‘natural’ pace. Giving dictation is straightforward, in terms of procedure, but reading out loud is not as easy as it might sound.

While dictating, the teacher can (in fact should) move about, giving individual attention.
This is a matter of opinion, although moving round the classroom could mean that students sitting in the far corners get more exposure to the dictation than would be the case were the speaker to stand on one spot.

Dictation exercises can pull the class together during the valuable first minutes of class.
Once a dictation exercise has started, in my experience, latecomers quickly fall into step without the need to stop and disrupt the concentration of others.

Dictation can provide access to interesting texts.
The variety of texts that can be used is virtually infinite; students of literature might benefit to hearing Shakespeare or Joyce, whilst students of the sciences would most definitely benefit from their hearing words that are rarely spoken in everyday speech – words that are common in certain disciplines might be rarities in common parlance.
Knowing how to take dictation is a skill with "real world" applications. Many jobs demand accurate understanding of spoken orders (phone agents, dispatchers, administrative assistants, etc.). Also, the U.S. citizenship exam requires examinees to take a dictation. The advantage of being able to quickly, easily and correctly comprehend what is being said in any given situation is obvious; all too often, people who profess to know the language fall down when it is spoken for longer than the simplest of utterances.

Dictation can be a good indicator of overall language ability; it can be used in testing.
Dictation exercises lend themselves to standardization and repeatability; two qualities essential to the production of examinations that accurately test what they set out to do, and give reliable and verifiable results to examiners and examined alike.
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Alkire-Dictation.html

Online dictation links
1. Learn English Network - http://www.learnenglish.de/dictationpage.htm
2. Handouts - http://www.smic.be/smic5022/handoutsgrammarand.htm
3. Using picture dictation - http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ieong-Dictation.html
4. Interactive dictation exercises - http://ressources-cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/listen_index.htm
5. Real English Interactive Dictation Exercises (beginners) - http://ressources-cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/dictations/realenglish/realindex.htm
6. Homophone spelling exercises - http://spelling.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/dictation-exercises-homophone-spelling-practice/
7. Dictation Practice - http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/hist455/dictation/index.htm

References

Davis, P. and M. Rinvolucri. 1988. Dictation: New methods, new possibilities. p. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frodesen, J. 1991. Grammar in writing. In Teaching English as a second or foreign language, Ed. M. Celce-Murcia. p. 268. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Robert L. Fielding

Citizendium and Eduzendium

2008-05-29T07:57:00.000-04:00

The medium of innovation: Citizendium and Eduzendium

Robert L. Fielding

With almost universal access to the Internet comes what may be described as the ‘democratization of access to information’ – access to information once confined to specialists has now become available to anyone with a connected computer.

Sites such as Wikipedia proliferate, and although some are devalued, others such as Citizendium and its sister site, Eduzendium are striving to maintain credibility with users.

Co-ordinated by Dr. Sorin Matei, Associate Professor at Purdue University, Eduzendium seeks to provide high quality English language entries for Citizendium. It invites university instructors ‘to include the crafting of an article for its pages into an assignment.’ In other words, it is starting collaborative educational and knowledge generation initiatives with higher education institutions such as ours.

Working from the notion that anyone who struggles with the meaning of fundamental concepts regularly (what teachers do every day) turns them into competent authors. As educators, we all know that to be able to teach something, you first have to fully understand it – put the other way round, if you fully understand something, you can teach it and also write about it.

And while it is admitted that teaching a subject is entirely different to writing intelligibly about it, it is surely true that a good working knowledge of a subject is a prerequisite to writing about that subject.

Now, while we might all claim to know our subject, how many of us would feel competent writing it all up? This question brings me to another one: Why do we expect our students to write about something about which they may know very little, and struggle with the nuances of the language at the same time whilst simultaneously admitting we are not always comfortable doing it?

Citing the two sites: Citizendium and Eduzendium, what I would like to suggest is that we as educators ‘go back’ to basics for a while by going through some of the steps required to write a readably informative article for such a site.
Even writing about something as familiar to us as our own life events, we would be faced by such considerations as coherence and cohesion – two aspects of writing, that while being essential to something we refer to as being ‘well-written’, are often given scant consideration in the language classroom, particularly when we are overwhelmed by those monumental areas of students’ errors in writing: grammar, punctuation and spelling..

In laymen’s terms, we may speak about whether an article is readable as well as delivering the amount and kind of information we expect from it. Everyone has had the experience of plodding through some densely worded academic apotheosis at undergraduate level, only to discover later that its content never deserved to be clothed in such fine linguistic raiment.

‘Keeping it simple’ might well be frowned upon by some in their ‘ivory towers’ elsewhere, but the ability to write sentences that are succinct and economical is a skill that needs practice. Here, in Eduzendium, is a means of learning that skill.

If, as said earlier, the world-wide-web is a force for the universality of knowledge, then the language used must be accessible. Just as a CEPA question for candidates to answer must be to the point whilst staying within the specified corpus of words, so must an article hit the target of the audience at which it is aimed.

The rewards for writing an acceptable piece for inclusion in such a site’s pages are immediate: seeing one’s words ‘out there’, as it were.

Of course, the process of creating something worthy of such inclusion may be a fairly long one – hopefully, not longer than a semester, and after all, a great deal of learning would take place in the meantime, would it not?

And, as the authors of the site say, ‘writing a high-quality encyclopedia article requires, and trains, a specific sort of effort or discipline.’ Connecting a plethora of facts into something that can readily be understood and even enjoyed is a skill that stands anyone achieving it in good stead for a life in the modern world, replete with the need to successfully and quickly decode or encode messages.

University students are surely the lucky ones – they are taught how to do this before they face it in real life situations in the workplace. The rest have to muddle through where success or failure can mean the difference between having an occupation that is satisfactory, in every sense, and one that is not.

At the site (http://www.eduzendium.org ), Dr. Lee Berger provides advice to instructors that have made the decision to use the program in their courses. No particular, specific expertise, it claims, is required to join a collaborative effort. Guidance is comprehensive and the journey so guided will certainly be an enriching one – educationally and spiritually as a confidence-building scheme.

Citizendium offers a wide variety of stimuli and support to educators and would-be contributors, ranging from blogs to writing competitions – one such is the ‘Monthly Write-a-thon’, as well as a competition to write the 4,000 highest priority articles.

Forums on actual policy making decisions are linked on the homepage, as are Workgroups, organized in six categories: Natural Sciences, Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities, Applied Arts and Sciences, and Recreation. The site provides users with the opportunity to request new Workgroups, illustrating an openness and a willingness to incorporate work on all areas of knowledge.

In the Social Sciences, Workgroups on the following areas are included:

Ø Anthropology
Ø Archaeology
Ø Economics
Ø Education
Ø Geography
Ø Law
Ø Linguistics

Within Humanities, Workgroups exist in these areas:

Ø Classics
Ø History
Ø Literature
Ø Philosophy
Ø Religion

Within Arts:

Ø Architecture
Ø Music
Ø Theatre
Ø Visual Arts

Applied Science Workgroups include ones in the following areas:

Ø Agriculture
Ø Business
Ø Computers
Ø Engineering
Ø Food Science
Ø Healing Arts
Ø Health Sciences
Ø Journalism
Ø Library and Information Science
Ø Media
Ø Military
Ø Robotics

From Recreation, there are Workgroups centred around:

Ø Games
Ø Hobbies
Ø Sports

And in the world of the physical Sciences:

Ø Astronomy
Ø Biology
Ø Chemistry
Ø Earth Sciences
Ø Mathematics
Ø Physics

Within the pages provided b y the Computer Workgroups, there are 367 articles of varying lengths on subjects such as Podcasting, Phishing and Piazza Telamatica, and about such items as Artificial intelligence, Akalabeth, and Assembly Language.

In Journalism, articles are already provided on Editing copy, Copyrighting, and Citizen Journalism.

The breadth and variety of articles already provided online and growing in number daily should ensure that students’ attention is riveted, particularly when getting involved in writing entries for existing workgroups and initiating new ones is possible. What this project amounts to, in not so many words, is a people’s university in which students and teachers can become both writers and editors, as well, of course, as readers wishing to further their knowledge.
Robert L. Fielding

Genres: who wrote or said what?

2008-05-13T13:26:00.001-04:00

One event – six accounts – but who wrote what? How can you tell?

1) Around midday yesterday, two men were seen climbing up Burj Dubai. They reached the 13th floor, where they hung a banner reading, ‘Keep Dubai green!’ Both men were later arrested and charged with trespassing and behaviour likely to endanger life.

2) We saw two men climbing that tall building in Dubai yesterday. It was around lunchtime. They hung a banner out but we couldn’t read it from where we were standing. I did see them being led away by the Police later though –strange!

3) Well, we did it – we actually managed to climb up and hang our banner. The cops got us later, but we expected that. It was a great feeling and we got on TV too, which was the whole point of the exercise!

4) “We’d just stopped to have our break when two heads came over the edge of the scaffolding. It made us all jump, I can tell you. They rushed past us up to the next floor. I think they were protesting or something. Anyway, next thing we knew was when we saw them on TV – being marched away by the Police.”

5) We were proceeding in a northerly direction along Sheikh Zayed Road, between Intersections 3 and 4 when PC. Ahmed saw the suspects climbing up Burj Dubai. The time was 11.57am. We arrived at the scene at 12.01pm and apprehended the suspects as they reached the 13th Floor. When asked what they were doing, Smith replied, “We just wanted to enjoy the view, governor.”

6) Top of the hour news tonight – two men were arrested half way up Burj Dubai today. A Police spokesman said the men were supporting ‘Greens’ in Dubai. Next, sport…

Robert L. Fielding
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Punctuation: the colon and how to use it

2008-05-13T13:24:00.000-04:00

The colon – the introducer
by
Robert L. Fielding

Hi there, I’m a colon. I introduce words – I introduce lists of things, and clauses and phrases introducing or illustrating what has just been written.

I sometimes have to direct the reader’s attention to what is called an appositive, like this – The question is this: What are we going to do next?

I can be used to separate titles and subtitles of books – The History of Russia: The Days of the Czar – like that!

If you see me between spaces, I am marking out things that are being compared or contrasted – The land is useful : it is often abused.

I punctuate at the beginning of memos – like this – Dear Mrs. Smith: - To whom it may concern:

And while we’re on memo writing, I appear in places like this
To:
Subject:

And I identify the writer or typist’s initials in the identification lines of business letters – like this – WBC:jmd

I separate carbon-copy or blind carbon-copy from the names of people the cc is sent to – like this – cc: Alan Smith – bcc: TFL

And remember, no space goes before or follows me when I am used between numerals – like this – 8:30pm – a ratio of 2:1 – or lines of identification – TCP:jg – but put one space after me in your emails – cc: Terry Smith

A lot to learn – just remember this page: read it several times and then stop and think whenever you use a colon.
Robert L. Fielding

Punctuation: the apostrophe and how to use it

2008-05-13T13:23:00.000-04:00

The Life of the Apostrophe

by

Robert L. Fielding

Hi, I’m an apostrophe – the little punctuation mark that looks like a comma, except I don’t sit down on the line like a comma or a full stop. I stand on the shoulders of the letters next to me – usually an s – as in the boy’s shirt or the man’s hat – and that is my main use – to indicate the possessive case for nouns.

The trouble begins when plural nouns are involved – the boys’ shirts – means the shirts (plural) belonging to the boys (plural). If a name ends with an s, writers have trouble – Dickens’ pen, not Dickens’s pen – the pen belonging to Charles Dickens – only one of him, remember!

Next, they use me to show a letter is missin’ – see, that last word should be missing – the g sometimes goes missing – but never in good English. Still, in regular English, letters do get omitted on purpose – I’m – I am/You’re – You are/It’s – It is – a funny thing here – Its doesn’t have an apostrophe yet it’s a sort of possessive quality about it – Its fur – the fur belonging to it (it = an animal).

I get used to mark other omissions too – like numbers – the class of ’96 – meaning 1996 – be careful here – 90’s or nineties but not ‘90’s – don’t overuse me.

In English, numbers can sometimes become verbs – The manager 75’d my suggestion. – where 75 is a procedure that everyone in the office knows – it’s a kind of shorthand, and plenty of people, mostly Americans, say things like The boss OK’d the plans.

I can be used to add er to an abbreviation – He works for the BBC – he’s a BBC’er – understand?

Last but not least, I can be used to form an abbreviation - M’boro for Middlesbrough!

An apostrophe’s life’s a busy one, isn’t it?
Robert L. Fielding

Poetry Night on Women's Campus

2008-05-13T13:21:00.000-04:00

Poetry Night
Wednesday 30 April 2008

‘Bliss it was, in that dawn, to be alive,
But to be young was very Heaven.’
Wordsworth

Starting with the thought that ‘writing is life’, demystifying perceived barriers to effective production; encouraging students to tap into life’s experiences and imagination to respond to prompts and writing tasks; Razak opened the first ‘Poetry Night’ in the Writing Centre on Maqam Campus, our students showing their prowess at poetry.

Mary Donnenworth got things moving with a poetry writing game with teams given a set of words and a few minutes to come up with a poem, which they did. The appreciative audience judged by applauding and winners received prizes.

Next, several poets read out their poems to the crowd, again to mass applause and appreciation. Prizes were presented to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places and then activities recommenced.

This time, Basila Jello recited a line from a poem, the ending being the starting point for the next line – called a "Musajaala". Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this activity and teachers and students recited together as well known lines were remembered.

Earlier, in the Writing Centre on Men’s, a similar event took place and prizes were also given and poems read aloud. One student staggered everyone by reciting his long poem without needing to look at it on paper. It sounded almost like the ‘lyrics’ from a rap. The twist at the end brought loud cheers. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out what it was. Poetry affects us all, but the young most of all. As one teacher said, “I saw our students in a totally new light tonight.”
Robert L. Fielding

Faculty Workshop 2: Enhancing critical thinking in the classroom

2007-12-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

Faculty Workshop 2: Enhancing critical thinking in the classroom

Thursday 6th Dec. 2007-12-06

Sun streaming in across the lake at the front of the brand new, shiny CIT Building lit up the welcoming remarks by Dr. Amber Haque to the workshop which followed on from an earlier workshop on Oct. 25th.

Dr. Haque began by asking participants whether we foster a thinking climate in our classrooms, adding that as well as helping students what to think, we should be helping them how to think as well.

Dr. Ray Percival got the ball rolling by getting us to ‘think outside the box’ – quite literally, by giving us a diagrammatical conundrum to solve. In explaining our obvious difficulties in solving the puzzle, Dr. Percival urged us to question our assumptions first, adding that learning to think critically is analogous to learning to ride a bicycle – we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. It seems that being habitually reluctant to make mistakes somewhat inhibits our ability to think critically.

Einstein said that he let his pencil do the thinking for him – a whimsical remark on the face of it until Dr. Percival that whereas the mind can hold between 5 and 7 concepts at the same time, the power of writing – the act of writing - increases this number to between 10 and 100. Writing assists thinking, Dr. Percival maintained.

Prof. Dennis Leavens urged self-reflection, stressing our powers to reason rather than calling upon our emotional intelligence. Prof. Leavens had participants work on sample problems in thinking, identifying issues, questioning assumptions and assessing evidence and then eliciting feedback from teaching staff and the many students who attended and contributed to the whole workshop.

Dr. Raja Bahlul from the Dept. of Philosophy outlined various obstacles to thinking critically, beginning with what he termed ‘Literalism’ – taking words literally rather than contextually, and going on to ‘extreme factualism’, which he said was symptomatic of students unable to question the authority of the written word and the facts stated in any source – going beyond the facts is part of the essence of one’s ability to think critically, he said.

After a welcome break in the foyer of this cross between a futuristic airport and a 7-star hotel, faculty students gave a presentation of a survey they had conducted, in which they elicited responses to questions about whether students had a perception of what is involved in critical thinking. A lively debate followed.

In his final closing remarks, Prof. Donald N. Baker, Dean of the College of Humanities, opined that critical thinking comes with age – it is what is left, he said, after names are forgotten. Prof. Baker deliberated upon whether our curriculum is structured to facilitate critical thinking skills in our students, in, ‘a logical progression of rising complexity and challenge.’

Many people had to be thanked for this useful workshop, not least the participants, many of whom were students in faculties. Critical thinking should be encouraged and facilitated at the university, and this workshop added to what is already in motion in faculty classrooms and lecture theatres.
Robert L. Fielding

Answers to questions on the WP2 Worksheet

2007-11-06T10:04:00.001-04:00

Writing Project 2 - a worksheet for Level 2 students

Answer the questions below – look in Writing Project 2 to find the answers

Page 4 –
1. Who wrote ‘A tough job’? Abdulah Khabisi
2. Where did it appear? Gulf News: Lifestyles
3. When? 10/10/2007
4. What is the article about? The problems that face policemen.
5. What solutions have been suggested? i) Cars that put less pollution into the air.
ii) Walled construction site
iii) Police can wear masks
Page 6 –
1. Where do these tables come from? A website
2. How old is the data? i) Table 1 – 1992 (UK), and 1995 (UAE)
ii) Table 2 – 1991 – 1995
3. Table 1 – What are ‘fatalities’? Deaths
4. Which country has the higher death rates? UAE
5. By a factor of how many? Approximately 6
6. Which of the two countries had the higher number of deaths on the roads in both periods? UK
7. Why? Because the UK had far more vehicles/people driving than the UAE, and far a greater number of miles travelled in vehicles.
Table 2
How many people died in road related accidents in 1991? 490
What was the percentage? 11.9%
What is that a percentage of? Causes of death in 1991.
Did that situation improve in 1995? No, it worsened.
What were the figures for 1995? 563 – 11.6%
Does the table explain that? No
Page 7
Where did this chart come from? From The International Association of Insurers
When was it produced? No given
What happens after a road traffic accident? Victims are taken to hospital by ambulance.
When are people released from hospital? After their condition has stabilized.

Page 8 –
What are ‘fatal crashes’? Crashes in which someone died.
How many deaths a month were there in 2004? 17
How many were there in 2005? 19
By how much did traffic injuries increase between November 2004 and November 2005? 17%
How many injuries were there in 2004? 211
How many were there in 2005? 247

Page 9 –
When was this published? 01/23/2006 at 12am.
What is strange about the majority of traffic violations in Sharjah in the first half of 2006? They involved motorists hitting stationary vehicles.
What does ‘stationary’ mean? Not moving
Page 10 –
How old is this article? More than one year old.
What does the report say is the objective of Dubai police? To keep racing off the streets.
Who is racing? Not given
What was the name of the initiative? ‘Road Peace’

Page 11 –
What is a decade? 10 years
How many people were killed on Dubai roads between 1996 and 2006? 1,770
How many people were injured during the same period/ 25, 086
How many were serious injuries? 966
How many pedestrians were injured in this period? 4,472

Page 12 –
Where can you read this article? Online
Who wrote it? Alia Al Theeb
What three reasons are given as the main reasons for fatal accidents?
i) Lack of consideration for other motorists
ii) Driving under the influence of alcohol
iii) Not keeping enough space between cars
What other violations were reported by the police?
i) Driving on the hard shoulder
ii) Blocking traffic
iii) Driving with out of date registration or licenses
iv) Not leaving enough space
Robert L. Fielding

Online help with your English

2007-10-05T06:31:00.001-04:00

Virtual Tutors

BBC Writing Lab Virtual Tutor - a superb site with lots of help for students + the online virtual tutor, which happens to be closed during vacation time at British universities. http://bellevuecollege.edu/writinglab/VT.html

EnglishClub.com - http://www.englishclub.com/

Writing Lab - http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/writinglab/img/menu.gif

English as a second language – an amazing website with links to anything a student could possibly need. - http://www.rong-chang.com/

Guide to Grammar and Style - http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/contents.html

I-tools – a search engine to locate tools online - http://www.itools.com/

Writing in the English language – test your written English:-

This is a free writing exercise for learners of English as a second and foreign language. To take part you will need to watch a short film and then write a short review of your reaction to the film; how you felt while you were watching and when the film had finished. The film changes to a different film every few weeks, so bookmark this page and do the exercise again at a later date. Your review should be sent here where it will be read and assessed by one of our English teachers; and then returned to you by email.
To have your written work assessed and corrected for grammar, spelling and vocabulary use for free, just follow these simple instructions:
I - Turn up the sound on your computer. The sound quality is poor so and it's important that you can hear the film
II - Watch the film
III - Write your review (in under 50 words!) and send us your work.
IV - Wait for the corrected version to be returned to you via email.
http://www.world-english.org/writing.htm
Robert L. Fielding

Improve your chances of achieving academic success - become a better learner

2007-10-01T08:59:00.001-04:00

Thoughts on promoting academic success and learning.

If learning is what we value,then we ought to value the process of learningas much as the result of learning.

Academic success and learning are not exactly the same thing, though they are closely related.

Learning – this should be something that is done in a sort of formal assessment-free zone – the gaining of marks seems to overshadow anything else in students’ minds. The Writing Centre should provide students with the opportunity for real learning to take place freed from the restraints imposed by formal assessment.

Academic success – this could take the form on concentrating on things like examination format, and the type of writing examiners are looking for. For this reason, I think it should only be provided in the time just before any tests or examinations, rather than earlier. If too much emphasis is made on strategies to pass tests, students will come to equate learning with attaining grades – more than they do at present.
---------

Sites
1. Sites to promote academic success – a useful site with lots of links to interactive activities to help
learners http://www.muskingum.edu/~cal/database/general/
2. Understanding what kind of learner you are – we should be encouraging students to monitor their own learning styles – here is a possible first step, though I do think changing learning styles could go beyond our scope. http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
3. Promoting learning – this site has a lot of information to assist us in helping our students to learn. http://www.marvinmarshall.com/articles/promotinglearning/outstandingteachers.htm

Motivation is probably the key to improving learning. I am not here to tell teachers what to do in their classrooms, and most of these ideas aren’t new ones, but it might help us to focus if we have them in front of us when we are talking about how to improve learning.

1. Create curiosity

Curiosity is perhaps the greatest of all motivators. Here is the difference between American and Japanese styles of teaching: In Japanese schools, students are immediately introduced to a problem or challenge. They grapple with it.

Curiosity is naturally engendered. By contrast, in American schools the main idea(s) are presented, the solution is taught, and then students practice. Where is the curiosity engendered using this approach?

2. Teach students to ask themselves questionsEncourage students to ask themselves questions. The questioning process starts the thinking process. When students begin to ask themselves “Why?” and “How?” questions, both alertness and interest increase. There are only three things we are more likely to answer than a question--the telephone, the doorbell, and e-mail.

3. Create desireStudents are constantly asking themselves, “What's In It For Me?” Since they're tuned to that radio station, WII-FM, spend a little time at the beginning to talk about what the lesson has in it for them--long and/or short range.

Consider asking why the lesson would be worthwhile, how students may benefit from it, and how they can make use of it.

Start by asking these questions of yourself.

Stuck? Put it on the table for students to grapple with. You will be amazed at (1) how resourceful they will be and (2) how it helps them buy into the lesson.

4. Structure experiences to apply to life outside of school.

Theory is important, but interest will increase the more you tie it into practice by showing how the learning makes life easier and better.

Share how the content will help students make better decisions, solve more problems, get along better with others, and make them more effective.

Have a poster and re-emphasize the following wisdom:

“Wise people think long-term, not just for today.”

5. Develop a sense of personal responsibility

Remember the fundamental principle of motivation: consciously or non-consciously people motivate themselves.

Each individual is responsible for learning, but it is the teacher’s responsibility to create the best possible climate in which that learning can take place.

An effective way to do this is to give students an opportunity at the beginning of the class to indicate:- What expectations they have,- What outcomes they expect, and- What they are willing to do to achieve those results.

6. Use acknowledgment and recognitionAcknowledgment/recognition/validation simply affirm. “I see you did your homework” fosters reflection and feelings of self-competence.

Also, consider repeating a comment you have heard or that someone has told you. "Evelyn made an interesting comment, one that applies to what we've been exploring. I think it bears repeating." What has been accomplished by employing this simple technique?- You gave recognition.- You not only encouraged Evelyn but you encouraged others to become more involved.- You demonstrated that you are open to feedback and students’ comments can contribute to their own learning.

7. EncourageOne of the most effective techniques is to let the student know that you believe s/he can accomplish the task. A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than a whole lot of praise after a success.

Emphasize that learning is a process and that no one can learn something and be perfect at the same time. Doing something one way and not being successful is another thing learned; don’t consider it failure.

8. Use collaborationCompetition improves performance, not learning. Yes, some students will practice for hours spurred on by the competitive spirit--be it in music, athletics, or performing arts. But these students are motivated to compete.

And competition can be fun for short periods, but competing with others is devastating for the youngster who never finds himself/herself in the winner’s circle. Rather than compete, the student drops out by giving up.

Every time a teacher asks a question of a group, students are competing for the teacher’s attention--and usually only one student wins.

A better approach is to establish learning buddies. Even a very shy student will share with one other person. So, instead of asking a question, pose the question. Asking implies a correct answer, whereas posing invites thinking.

Have students discuss the answer with each other. Using this approach, every student participates.

9. Get yourself excited You shouldn’t expect others to get excited about what you are teaching if you are not excited about it yourself. Show your enthusiasm for the lesson.

When lecturing, use just a little more enthusiasm than when you are conversing, facilitating, or reviewing.

10. Intensify interpersonal relationshipsConnecting with your students on a one-on-one basis is extremely valuable, but helping them connect with one another on a one-on-one basis can be even more valuable.

Give students an opportunity to socialize for short periods before learning activities start. Establishing relationships are extremely important to young people.

11. Offer choicesRegardless of age, everyone likes to feel control over one’s own life.

When we can make choices, we feel we have that control. Offer a choice of activities--and that includes home assignments.

By providing two, three, or even four activities and letting students choose among them, you give them an opportunity to select something that engenders motivation.

12. Use varietyA myriad of visual techniques can be employed including charts; cartoons; selected parts of films, videocassettes, and/or digital versatile discs (dvd’s); power point creations (on many new computers); and overhead transparencies.

Dressing the part of a character (teacher and/or student) qualifies.

A myriad of audio techniques can be used such as playing music, recording music, rapping, creating verse--or anything that has rhythm.

Remember how you learned your ABC’s? “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” is the tune for “the alphabet song.”

A myriad of kinesthetic techniques can be used. Examples are drawing the spelling of a word in the air, standing in a small group rocking together to feel seasick on the boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean as immigrants, and just giving a high five to get attention (two eyes on teacher, two ears listening, one mouth closed).

Other approaches include large group discussions, case studies, and relating personal experiences to a learning buddy on the topic.Another technique is to use handouts for students to complete during the presentation.

This activity keeps them involved and also gives them something they can refer to later. This simple technique also allows you to cover more material in less time.

Conclusion

It's a wonderful experience to have in our classrooms eager, young people who are there because they want to be, not because they are obliged to be. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many classrooms today. However, by focusing on these suggestions, we can create lessons that produce better results for both students and teachers.

http://www.marvinmarshall.com/articles/promotinglearning/article_suggestionsformotivation.htm

Here are a few things we might do well to remember:-
1. Motivation is optimal when coercion is at a minimum and a trusting, caring climate is at the maximum.
2. Involuntary relationships become voluntary when people are where they want to be.
3. Learning is promoted in this type of climate.
4. People do better when they feel better, not when they feel worse.
5. Competition increases performance, but collaboration increases learning.

Robert L. Fielding

Creative writing - ideas to start you to write

2007-09-28T02:30:00.000-04:00

CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS

Here are some links to websites that provide ideas to start writing --
Please try them!
Creative Writing prompts – hundreds of ready prompts for writers to choose from.
http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/#

Creative Writing – great online prompts that begin with a short poem or puzzle to start you thinking.
http://bogglesworldesl.com/files/creativecave.jpg

WritersDigest.com - a new prompt every day + a chance to look at previous prompts
http://www.writersdigest.com/writingprompts.asp

Teaching Ideas – good ideas to make writing fun + lots of great resources for learners and/or writers
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/creative.htm

OnceWritten.com – lots of prompts + information on writing contests all over the world
http://www.oncewritten.com/FreeCreativeWritingPrompts.php

TheTeacherCorner.net – a great site with lots of resources for teachers to get students writing
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/daily-writing-prompts/march/index.htm

Prompt Generator – simply click for a prompt
http://languageisavirus.com/writing_prompts.html

NB. All these sites are free and will cause no offence whatsoever to anyone – they are teaching sites!
Robert L. Fielding

University Writing Centers

2007-09-27T06:56:00.000-04:00

Writing Center websites

I have put together this guide to online Writing Centers at various universities, with links to them.

Examples
i) Brown University - http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Writing_Center/resources/writers/index.html
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Writing_Center/about/index.html
ii) Colorado State University - http://writing.colostate.edu/ Look around this site – look at the drop down menus from the green toolbar at the top of the homepage. Look at what is offered to students who have to log in to gain access.
iii) The Purdue Online Writing Lab - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ This is not affiliated to any particular university (I think), but it does provide a lot of support for writing students needing help. We could provide links to sites like this with written guides such as this one to help students locate what they want.
iv) Temple University - http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/Writing%20Center/group_policy.html I particularly like the link ‘What’s new in the Writing Centre’ with links for students and instructors.
v) The University Writing Centre - http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Writing%20Resources/business_professional.htm This link will take to a section on Business Writing, which we mentioned at our meeting today. –
http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Faculty_Resources/purpose_of_uwc.html entitled: What is the
purpose of the Writing Centre? an excellent site.
NB: Admittedly, all the sites above are mainly for students whose first language is English, though there are many Spanish users at American universities.

Finally, please go to http://www.rlfielding.com/interactivelearning.htm to see what one individual website can offer to students of English generally. This site offers all sorts of help:-

Ø Glossaries
Ø Sites that help students create their own graphs and charts
Ø Sites to access world newspapers
Ø Help with phonetic symbols
Ø Vocabulary (use, register and variety)
Ø Homepage of Study Guides and Strategies
Ø Keeping a reflective journal – something you can do for the rest of your life
Ø Style Manual for everything from how to punctuate sentences to when to use italics in your writing
Ø Untangling the web – help with online research
Ø UGRU Concordancer
Ø And many, many more. Take a look at http://www.rlfielding.com/
Robert L. Fielding

Use all your intelligence

2007-08-31T04:29:00.000-04:00

Using words and numbers, answer the following ten questions. Have fun. Tell me how you worked out the right answer.

1. Susan walked three miles in one hour. She had to slow down to two miles per hour. She returned at two miles per hour.
What was her average speed?

2. Hassan took six hours to fly to Pluto, in Tierra del Fuego, at 2,000 miles per hour. He hit a head wind on the way back and could only fly at 1,000 miles per hour.
What was his average speed?

3. Unscramble each word below and then form a grammatical sentence about Tom with the words you have found. What is the sentence?
DLRAIEY TMO DSIA OWT TOSAUHND NWO NWO KBOOS.

4. Sally likes liquorice jelly beans, but not vanilla or lemon. She gets a packet of 15 jelly beans, 5 of each flavour. How many jelly beans does she have to remove before she can guarantee getting a liquorice jelly bean?

5. In a contest to collect bags of clothing for charity, Patty was neither first not last, but she beat Jan. Rachel beat Sue. Sue beat Patty. Sally beat Rachel.
Who collected the most clothing?

6. Take one letter from each word to form the name of an animal. What is the name of the animal?
CUT INTO GOT GET ROT

7. Jim is three times as old as Jane was two years ago. In 10 years, Jane will be as old as Jim is now.
How old are they now?

8. At a hairdresser’s one busy Saturday, the staff found there were 10 blondes. One fourth of the customers had red hair, and half had brown hair. How many customers were in the hairdresser’s that Saturday?

9. In one year, Roy will be three times as old as he was 19 years ago. How old is he now?

10.If six painters can paint 12 walls in 30 minutes, working at the same speed, how long will it take two painters to paint 16 walls?

Answers later!

Help with phonetics and producing sounds in English

2007-08-16T06:55:00.000-04:00

Help with phonetic symbols
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/phoneticsymbolsforenglish.htm

Help with producing the sounds represented by phonetic symbols
http://www.derek.co.uk/vowels.htm

Links to other sites
http://www.faceweb.okanagan.bc.ca/pron/minpair3.html

BBC Guides
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/pron/chart
NB: All good dictionaries include a chart of all phonetic symbols used with each headword.
Robert L. Fielding

Extended essay - check list

2007-08-14T16:30:00.000-04:00

Check your writing assignment for the following:-
A clear argument http://cptra.ln.edu.hk/~ym1wong/eleac/02process/develop/identification.html

Supporting your argument http://www.umt.edu/writingcenter/pdfs/MicrosoftWord-ThreeWaystoSupport.pdf

Appropriate staging http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learningconnection/student/learningAdvisors/essays.asp

Key concepts http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/essay/2b.html

Evidence http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/using_evidence.shtml

Critical analysis http://essayinfo.com/essays/critical_essay.php

In text referencing http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/02/

Full reference list http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/06/

Vocabulary (use, register and variety) http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/intro.htm

Sentence structure http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/sentelmt.htm
Robert L. Fielding

Guide to online learning

2007-08-13T14:28:00.001-04:00

Online Resources
for
Learners

http://www.rlfielding.com/

Robert L. Fielding

Learning Strategies

Homepage of Study Guides and Strategies
http://www.studygs.net/

Find out what kind of learner you are by filling out this online questionnaire
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

A good site for all sorts of things for students and teachers
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/links.html

BBC Learning English – a place to listen to English to help your listening comprehension
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/index.shtml

Online listening for learners – lots and lots of different topics
http://www.elllo.org/index.htm

Keeping a reflective journal – something you can do for the rest of your life
http://www.doceo.co.uk/reflection/index.htm

Style Manual for everything from how to punctuate sentences to when to use italics in your writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

Untangling the web – help with online research
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/search/index.html

Counseling services and information and advice on all sorts of problems
http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/

Feeling homesick – find your local newspaper on this site – wherever you come from in the world
http://www.world-newspapers.com/uae.html

A good place to start to find information
http://dmoz.org/Business/Healthcare/desc.html

Health issues – find help here, but talk to someone too
http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/issues/issues.html

Create a place to save and access your favourites
www. crayon.net is a site that provides a place where you can access all your favourites.
Click on the link and follow the simple instructions.
NB. This is a free and secure site. You will be asked to provide an email address.
http://www.crayon.net/scripts/login.cgi?mode=create

Links to concordancers

UGRU Concordancer
http://www.ugru.uaeu.ac.ae/concordance/

Other concordancers - this one is probably the most useful one for students, with a little help from a teacher
http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html2.

Great links for teachers and learners

Create a graph
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Style conventions for writers
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/editorstyle.html

Academic phrase bank
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/methods.htm

Using English for Academic Purposes
http://www.uefap.com/

Catalogue of Internet Resources
http://bubl.ac.uk/link/e/englishlanguageeducation.htm

Glossaries for everything
http://bloxword.ca/glossaries.htm

Online Dictionaries
http://dictionary.reference.com/

Wordsmyth – glossary maker (you need to register with this site)
http://www.wordsmyth.net/home.php?content=glossary

Great Teachers’ Resources
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/review.html

‘Cause and effect essay’ outlines and resources
http://essayinfo.com/essays/cause_and_effect_essay.php

Techniques for Creative Thinking
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/Creative/Techniques/

ESL Directory
http://www.usingenglish.com/links/Idiomatic_Expressions/index.html

Chris Morrow’s Blinklist
http://www.blinklist.com/grammar/

Activities for Learners
http://a4esl.org/

Word Detective
http://www.word-detective.com/

Dictation - exercises for listening and writing

2007-08-10T07:03:00.001-04:00

Go to
http://www.learnenglish.de/Dictation/Dictation1.htm

Help with pronunciation for students

2007-08-08T17:42:00.000-04:00

Go to these sites for help with your pronunciation of English words.

Remember to practice, practice, practice.

http://www.sil.org/Mexico/ling/Glosario/E005ci-PlacesArt.htm

http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/IPA_chart_(C)2005.pdf

http://www.umanitoba.ca/linguistics/russell/phonetics/articulation/describing-consonants.html

http://www.unil.ch/Jahia/site/ling/cache/offonce/pid/24434

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/russell/138/sec3/poa-big.htm

To hear a word - type the word in the Search box. Make sure you spell the word correctly.
http://www.howjsay.com/

A good writing text book online

2007-08-08T03:53:00.001-04:00

Go to

http://www.englishforacademicstudy.com/Task.aspx?taskId=1&unitId=6&partId=1

Interactive Pronunciation Exercises for students

2007-08-06T11:13:00.000-04:00

For help with your pronunciation, go to

http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/sites/beginners.htm

Listen and repeat. Record your own voice and compare the way you pronounce words, b ut remember that the pronunciation of many words changes in utterances with other words.

Describing graphs and charts

2007-08-02T03:47:00.000-04:00

For help, go to http://www.leeds.ac.uk/languages/resource/english/graphs/tren.htm

Robert L. Fielding

Paraphrasing

2007-08-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Links to help

1. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_paraphr.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphrase

3. http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/cite/paraphrase.html

4. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-05,GGLR:en&defl=en&q=define:Paraphrasing&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

5. http://www.canadacollege.edu/inside/acad_integrity/ParaphrasingStrategies.pdf

Characteristics of a well-done paraphrase
It is not a summary.
It does not contain most of the words or phrases from the original (plagiarism).
It includes all minor details from original.
The meaning of the writing being paraphrased is clearer to the reader than in the original text.
It restates the thesis
It is usually shorter than the original. wikipedia.com
Robert L. Fielding

Advice on giving oral presentations

2007-08-01T09:17:00.000-04:00

Go to

Mark D. Hill
Computer Sciences DepartmentUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
April 1992; Revised January 1997
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

What exactly is plagiarism?

2007-08-01T02:18:00.000-04:00

Plagiarism (Use the linked words in the text to find out more)

Plagiarism (from Latin plagiare "to kidnap") is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object, itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution. Plagiarism can also occur unconsciously; in some cultures certain forms of plagiarism are accepted because the concept can be interpreted differently.
Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. Some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include quotations or give the appropriate citation. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the Internet, where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier.
Plagiarism is different from copyright infringement. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they emphasize different aspects of the transgression. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of the copyright holder, when material is used without the copyright holder's consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author's reputation.
wikipedia.com

Plagiarism - how to avoid it

1. Read - write down the main ideas (the ones that are useful to you)

2. Divide the points into:-

a) generally known ideas (eg. Water is vital to all forms of life.)

b) not generally known ideas/information (Water degradation is doubled in areas frequented by tourists.)

c) specific information (More water is used in tourist areas than in other areas - 880 litres per person per day vs 250 litres pppd)

Use without citing (a)

Use only after citing (b), (c)

But

i) If you use (a) from a source, still try to paraphrase it (it it into your own words)

ii) Use the information in an order that is different to the order in the original source (ie. Do not simply copy from someone else's text.)

iii) Don't let the original text dominate your writing - you choose what to write, and in what order you wish to write it.
Robert L. Fielding

Outlining an essay

2007-07-27T03:19:00.000-04:00

OUTLINING AN ESSAY: ROBERT L. FIELDING
The traditional outline has three sections: introduction, body, and conclusion.The basic model looks like this:
Title
Introduction
The background
The thesis statement
Body
First major category of support
Supporting detail
Supporting detail
Supporting detail
Second major category of support
Supporting detail
Supporting detail
Third major category of support
Supporting detail
Supporting detail
Conclusion
Review of the major categories of support
The answer, solution, or final option
Example:
Alcohol Testing for Mass Transportation Employees
Congress mandates testing for transportation employees
Background on why
Explanation of new policy
How and why alcohol testing is used
Circumstances for Alcohol Testing
Pre-employment
Post-accident
Reasonable suspicion
Random
Return to duty/follow-up testing
Method of Alcohol Testing
Blood
Urine
Breath
Performance
Options for Alcohol Abusers
Retesting
Treatment
Termination of employment
Conclusion

Tourism and its potential problems

2007-07-26T14:27:00.000-04:00

Sustainable Tourism
Problems of Unsustainable Coastal Tourism - Environmental impacts
Tourism can create great pressure on local resources such as energy, food, land and water that may already be in short supply. According to the Third Assessment of Europe’s environment (EEA, 2003), the direct local impacts of tourism on people and the environment at destinations
are strongly affected by concentration in space and time
(seasonality).
They result from:
Ø The intensive use of water and land by tourism and leisure facilities.
Ø The delivery and use of energy.
Ø Changes in the landscape coming from the construction of infrastructure, buildings and facilities.
Ø Air pollution and waste.
Ø The compaction and sealing of soils (damage and destruction of vegetation).
Ø The disturbance of fauna and local people (for example, by noise).
Ø The growing number of tourists visiting sensitive natural areas may also jeopardize nature conservation.
Ø Some conflicts may also arise between tourism development and other sectors such as agriculture and forestry.

Impacts on biodiversity
Tourism can cause loss of biodiversity in many ways, e.g. by competing with wildlife for habitat and natural resources. More specifically, negative impacts on biodiversity can be caused by Example:- In Zakynthos (Greece), which is the most important breeding site of the Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta), the coastal nesting grounds along sandy beaches are disturbed, destroyed by tourism development and tourism behaviour. Unfortunately, the peak of the tourist season coincides with the nesting season for the vulnerable Loggerhead Turtles (EC, 2002).

Strain on water resources
Water, and especially fresh water is one of the most critical natural resources. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generate a greater volume of wastewater. For example, the average water consumption in Antalya City (Turkey) is 250 litres per person a day, while the average water consumption in the tourist areas of Antalya exceeds 600 litres. In Mallorca (Spain), water consumption in rural areas is 140 litres per person a day, in urban areas 250 litres, while the average tourist consumption is 440 litres, or even 880 litres in case of a luxury establishment (EEA, 2001).

Land degradation
Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and non renewable, from the construction of tourist facilities, roads and airports can be caused by the use of land for accommodation, other infrastructural provisions and the use of building materials (sand mining!). Forests often suffer negative effects of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection and land clearing. This is the case in many valuable coastal areas in Turkey where the forests were cleared for the construction of summer houses and hotels during the last three decades. Example Mykonos: a cosmopolitan and a rapidly urbanized island
(EC, 2002) The island of Mykonos (Greece) is a well known international tourist resort, which has experienced rapid tourist development during the last 30 years.
Parallel to the expansion of the tourist industry (accommodation, bars, etc.) the island’s population has also increased in size, in contrast to other Greek islands that have lost population over the last decades. This growth was followed by the expansion of the infrastructure (enlargement of the port, improvement of the road network construction of a surface dam, etc.). These investments have further boosted the island’s capacity to accommodate tourists and other visitors. Problems and some signs of saturation have already appeared: congestion, lack of parking space, higher crime rate, water and soil pollution occur especially during the peak summer season. A large proportion of the island’s extremely limited land surface has either been absorbed by intensive housing construction, tourism development and its accompanying infrastructure or left unused for future speculation thus causing widespread loss of agricultural land. The two traditional settlements in the island together with other newly developed villages on which the tourist industry was based mainly during the first phase of development have already been transformed in scale, volume of built-up areas, character and environmental quality as a result of uncontrolled and rapid development of tourism. Rapid urbanization has also altered the socio-economic structure and local culture. (Coccossis H., Parpairis A., 1996).

Case Study: Development of the Summer Secondary Houses in Turkey
In the Kusadasi-Davutlar area of Turkey, a coastal strip of 30 km by 750 m has been totally covered by summer houses during the period of 1975 to 1985. These houses are owned by the middle and higher income residents of the larger cities. They provide a temporary relief from the stress of big cities, are regarded as good investment, increasing in value over time and can be used as permanent residence after retirement. However, this trend has resulted in a severe loss of forests, free space and agricultural land. Growing pressure on the water resources has lead to a shortage of drinking water in many areas and the waste problem is growing. Electricity shortage and cuts have become common in many important tourist areas.Example "EL BURRERO" beach, an example for unsustainable coastal erosion management.

The project area
El Burrero is a leisure and recreational area not only for this urban centre but also for all the inland urban areas. Furthermore, in summer time, the regular population of 600 to 1000 residents increases to 5000 to 6000 inhabitants. Before the project took place, El Burrero was a boulder beach and only one third of the beach was sandy. The coastline continues to the south with a series of boulder beaches, rocky platforms, intertidal pools of high importance for biodiversity and the fisheries sector.

The Action
The project aimed to enlarge the sandy beach and make the whole site more attractive for visitors. In order to do so, dikes and a seaside promenade were built and artificial sand nourishment started at some points along ca. 500m of coastline.

The consequences
Facts have proven that the project design was not at all appropriate for the meteorological and oceanographically and biological conditions of this site. At the northern area, sand accumulated against the walls that separate the beach from the urban centre. At the southern area with the promenade, the sand is being dragged by the wind from the wet area to the back of the beach. Due to this process, the sand has already exceeded and accumulated over the promenade wall. The consequences of this project over the seabed have also been disastrous. The rocky seabed in this zone had been colonised by a high diversity of molluscs, invertebrates and fish. The changed sand movements due to this project completely buried the rocky substratum causing a drastic decrease to the species diversity and abundance and therefore also damaging the local economy. This negative impact did not affect only the action area but also the rocky seabed southwards this site. In addition, the natural sand feeding from the sea has importantly decreased because of the construction of the north dyke. This makes it very possible that torrential rains will cause in the future serious damage to the promenade and nearby buildings. The works undertaken by this project did not improve the beach conditions, they rather diminished them.

Corrective measures
During the last four years the municipal authorities carried out actions to correct the problems caused by this project. These measures - sand removal, watering the sand and putting up windscreens - did not reach their objective because again they were done without the necessary knowledge of coastal dynamics.

Outlook
During the last year the same State Coastal Authority has been preparing a new project to correct the mistakes of the first one. Meetings are being held with neighbourhood associations, ecologists and municipal authorities with the objective of finding a satisfactory solution for all parties.

Air pollution and noise
Transport by air, road and rail is continuously increasing, along with the rising number of tourists and their greater mobility. Tourism now accounts for more than 60% of air travel and is therefore responsible for an important share of air emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Transport emissions, emissions from energy production use are linked to acid rain, global warming and severe local air pollution. Noise pollution from airplanes, cars, motorbikes, buses, as well as recreational vehicles such as snowmobiles and jet skis, is an ever-growing problem of tourism, causing annoyance, stress and even hearing loss.

Energy utilization
Hotels are large consumers of water. A tourist staying in a hotel uses on average 1/3 more water per day than a local inhabitant. Energy consumption per m2 per year by a one star hotel is 157 kWh (380 kWh in a four star hotel) (EEA, 2003). However, most of the time the infrastructure is not designed to cope with peak periods. Some tourism businesses are starting to implement energy-efficiency measures, for example hotels in the United Kingdom ‘saved’ up to 9000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year each, between 1997 and 1999.

Water pollution
Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities often leads to increased pressure on sewage disposal facilities, in particular because many destinations have several times more inhabitants in the high season than in the low season. Waste water treatment facilities are often not built to cope with the dramatic rise in volume of waste water during the peak. Waste water has polluted seas and lakes surrounding tourist attractions, damaging flora and fauna. Sewage run off causes serious damage to coral reefs because it stimulates the growth of algae (bloom algae) and causing hypoxia (means low oxygen). In aquatic ecosystems, low oxygen means a concentration of less than 2-3 milligrams of oxygen per litre of water (mg/l). The direct effects of hypoxia include fish kills, which not only deplete valuable fish stocks and damage the ecosystem, but are unpleasant for local residents and can harm local tourism. Hypoxia is primarily a problem in the estuaries and coastal waters, although it can be a problem in freshwater lakes. On the other hand, bloom algae as such also represent a huge problem. The ocean gets a red or green colour (depending on the kind of algae) and it is unpleasant to see the ocean like this while tourists and local residents are not allowed to swim. Changes in salinity and siltation can have wide-ranging impacts on coastal environments. Sewage pollution can also threaten the health of humans and animals.

Aesthetic pollution
In some locations, conventional tourism has been accused of failing to integrate its structures with the natural features and indigenous architecture of the destination. Large, dominating resorts can look out of place in any natural environment and may clash with the indigenous structural design. In areas with high concentrations of tourist activities and appealing natural attractions, waste disposal is a serious problem. Improper disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment. Solid waste and littering can degrade the physical appearance of the water and shoreline.

Coastal erosion
Development of marinas, breakwaters and shoreline development can cause changes in a current’s sediment supply and consequently coastal erosion. Extraction of building materials on coastal land and in near-shore areas can harm inland forests and Posidonia beds respectively and lead to erosion.
References
http://www.biodiversity.ru/coastlearn/tourism-eng/why_problems.html
Robert L. Fielding

WORDSMYTH

2007-07-21T13:13:00.000-04:00

is a free site at http://www.wordsmyth.net/ - the site requires you to register in the usual way – provide a username and password and then you’re in.

Facilities include a Glossary Maker, Quiz builder (for teachers), a Vocabulary builder, an anagram solver and crossword puzzle solver (the less academic uses of the site).

The Glossary Maker is worth a visit. It provides information on all and any words you care to include in the box provided – just remember to separate each word with a comma (,) as per instructions.

Pronunciations
Inflected Forms
Synonyms
Syllables
Definitions
Similar Words
Derived Forms
Examples
Phrases

Boxes can be ticked as you wish, but a full glossary which includes all nine aspects of words you choose to search will give you a lot of valuable information about those words. Print the glossary once it has been made – it will help you to use each word – in both writing as well as in speaking.
Robert L. Fielding

Interactive Grammar Sites

2007-07-21T05:21:00.000-04:00

The sites listed below are interactive – you choose a solution to a problem, and get the answer later.
Here are the site details:-
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/iowa/quiz/
Irregular Verbs Pronoun Case Common Errors Adjective/Adverb Reading Skills Subj/V Agreement Parts of Speech Word Form The Deadly `ed'"S" Problems Transitivity of Verbs Gerund / Infinitive Re-expression I Re-expression II Inversion Sentence Types Sentence Analysis Adjectives Relative Pronouns The Overall Quiz

2. Purdue online http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/esladjadvEX1.html
English as a Second Language
Adjective or Adverb: Exercise 1
Adjective or Adverb: Exercise 2
Prepositions of Direction: To, On (to), In (to)
Prepositions of Location: At, In, On
Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
Accept and Except Practice
Affect and Effect Practice
Apostrophes: Exercise 1
Apostrophes: Exercise 2
Commas vs. Semicolons: Exercise 1
Commas vs. Semicolons: Exercise 2
Commas with Nonessential Elements: Exercise 1
Commas with Nonessential Elements: Exercise 2
Commas with Nonessential Elements: Exercise 3
I/E Spelling Rules: Exercise 1
I/E Spelling Rules: Exercise 2
I/E Spelling Rules: Exercise 3
I/E Spelling Rules: Exercise 4
Sentence Fragments: Exercise 1
Using Commas: Exercise 1
Using Commas: Exercise 2
Using Commas: Exercise 3
Using Commas: Exercise 4
Using Commas: Exercise 5
Words that Sound Alike: Exercise 1
Grammar and writing guides on this amazing site http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
This site covers everything you could ever need – from pages on plagiarism and how to avoid it, to pronouns and how to use them. It also contains several excellent Powerpoint presentations to be used in class.

Grammar Interactive Exercises http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/3cc42a422514347a8525671d0049f395/263de9c50c495972852569f5005bdcb1
Exercise 1: Noun-Verb Agreement
Exercise 2: Agreement with Trick Singular Nouns and Pronouns
Exercise 3: Agreement When Words Come between the Noun and Verb
Exercise 4: Noun-Pronoun Agreement
Exercise 5: Pronoun Agreement with Other Pronouns
Exercise 6: Pronoun Reference
Exercise 7: Adverbs and Adjectives
Exercise 8: Verb Agreement with Other Verbs - Tense
Exercise 9: Words and Phrases in a Series (Parallelism)
Exercise 10: Compound and Complex Sentences
Exercise 11: Sentence Fragments
Exercise 12: Run-On Sentences
Exercise 13: Active & Passive Voice
Robert L. Fielding

Internet Classroom Assistant - User's Guide

2007-07-19T13:11:00.000-04:00

USING THE INTERNET CLASSROOM ASSISTANT
USER’S GUIDE
FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION
The Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA) is a simple system that can be used by teachers and tutors to pass on information to students, and for students to pass on their work to their tutors.

It is a free site, designed in the early years of the Internet when the dominant ethos was sharing.

ICA is user friendly and simple to operate. It has a number of features: it allows link sharing, conferencing, provision of class schedules and an additional feature whereby students can deposit written work for their tutors to read and comment on.

It is a secure system, working on a password and username, and a class number, which includes both numbers and letters.

Teachers may create as many classes as they like, and students can access them, once the tutor provides them with the class number referred to above.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. To access ICA, log on to http://www.nicenet.org/
2. For teachers – Click on CREATE A CLASS
3. For students - Click on JOIN A CLASS
4. Enter a USERNAME and PASSWORD (remember these)
5. For teachers – you will be asked to provide the following information:
Ø Username
Ø Password
Ø Class name
Ø Email address
Ø Your first name
Ø Your last name

6. Follow the steps until you are given a class number to give to your students – that’s it.

7. For students – follow steps (1) (3) (4) above and then type in the number your teacher gave you.

NB. If you type in the wrong number, the system will not let you in.

Teachers - my advice is to try it, click on the links down the left hand side of the page and see what they do – it is very, very, easy to use.

Students – Select all (Ctrl +A) copy (Ctrl + C) and paste into the page (Ctrl + V)
Robert L. Fielding

2007-07-09T11:16:00.000-04:00

University Sports Centre

http://www.strath.ac.uk/sport/

contents
Centre for Sport and Recreation Membership
Health and Fitness Services
Pregnancy Advice
Fitness course
Term – Timetable
Timetable Key
Amenities/Services
Beginners courses
Monday through Friday
Physiotherapy
Contact Us

Centre for Sport and Recreation Membership
Over the past few years, the Centre has undertaken a number improvements to the sport and leisure facilities in the University. These have included the enlarged ladies changing room, lighting and plant work at the swimming pool, improved showers in the gents changing room and more recently resurfacing of the Sports Hall floor and refurbishment of the Squash Courts. The largest single development however, has been the opening of a well-equipped and appointed Conditioning Suite in February 2002. All of the Cardiovascular equipment in the Conditioning Suite was replaced in July 2006.
Membership of the facilities of the Centre for Sport and Recreation are available to all students and members of staff upon payment of the appropriate membership fee.
Memberships are also offered to Graduates and Associate Users, Retired Staff and Spouses of Members of Staff (who themselves are not employed in the university).
Staff members will have their membership fee deducted from their salary, staff spouses' fees will also be deducted from the staff member's salary.
Once the membership has been taken out, members are entitled to free use of the facilities and classes organised by the Centre on the John Anderson Campus.
Squash and badminton rackets are available for hire from the Reception at the cost of £1. (Breakages may be charged at £5 at the discretion of staff!)
To take out membership, please click on the appropriate link below and follow the simple instructions.
Students and Members of Staff may use the facilities as Non-Members by paying the Non-Member fee (Currently £1 for students and £2 for staff) as well as any additional fee in operation for any of the facilities.
Current Membership Rates
Students £65 per year
Staff £120 per year
Graduates and Associate User £180 per year
Retired Staff and Spouses £60 per year
STAFF
STUDENTS
GRADUATE AND ASSOCIATE USERS

Health and Fitness Services
Health MOT - A Health MOT will give you an indication of your current health status. A series of measurements will be taken, including blood pressure, BMI, percentage body fat and cholesterol level, along with general health and lifestyle history. These are all important variables which can impact on your health. The Health MOT is targeted at anyone who is interested in knowing their health status.
Nutrition Consultations - A Nutrition Consultation involves you completing a nutrition diary for one week. You will then attend a one-to-one meeting with a member of the Health & Fitness Staff, where your diary will be discussed and a plan of action drawn up and goals and targets agreed. You will then receive follow up through e-mail over the next month, after which long term advice will be given.The consultation is aimed at those who feel that their nutrition and eating habits are poor and those who are struggling to lose excess weight, or maintain a stable weight and is also suitable for those who are active and feel that their energy levels are low.
Physical Activity & Exercise Consultations including Personal Exercise Plan - A physical activity/exercise consultation involves you initially either meeting with member of the Health and Fitness team, or completing an e-mail questionnaire covering topics such as your past activity history, your current activity, your wants, needs and barriers to activity and exercise and your goals and targets. From here an individualised programme will be designed for you and your goals and targets agreed, which will help you get started if you are currently inactive. If you are currently active, it will look at increasing the effectivness of your training, whether training for general fitness, weight loss, or a specific sport or goal.You will be given an induction on any equipment that you will use in your programme and you will also receive record monitoring cards to complete as you train so that you can observe improvements.The physical activity consultation is primarily aimed at the sedentary individual wishing to improve their quality of life and increase their activity levels, and those returning to exercise after a period of absence. The exercise consultation and programme design is primarily aimed at those who are currently active and want to increase the effectiveness of their training in order to achieve specific goals.
Sport Specific Consultations - A sport specific consultation involves you meeting with a member of the Health and Fitness team to discuss the needs and requirements of your sport and/or position within a team. Specific advice will be given and a detailed training programme written involving all aspects of your requirements. The sport specific consultation is aimed at those playing sport at either recreational or competitive level.
Fitness Assessment - Many aspects of physical fitness are health related. Hence, a good level of fitness will have a beneficial effect on your current and future health status. It can also highlight strengths and weeknesses within your fitness levels which will be valuable when devising a personal exercise plan.We offer fitness assessments which involve a series of physiological tests that will assess aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular endurance, strength and flexibility. Fitness assessements are targeted at those who are currently exercising and want to monitor improvement.

E-programme - An e-programme is an extension to the personal exercise plan. You will have to have an activity/exercise or sports specific consultation prior to ordering an e-programme. You will have your induction and receive your personal exercise plan and record cards. From here you will receive extra support through e-mail and/or telephone conversations. You will be asked to e-mail your record cards to your trainer once per week with any questions and other comments that you have and wait for your return contact, new targets and modified programme. The e-programme lasts for twelve weeks, at which point you can decide to order a new programme or drop out of the service and train on your own.
Personal Training - Personal Training offers you a further extension to the e-programme with one-to-one training. It is a great way to train effectively and see results quickly, especially if you find it hard to motivate yourself when exercising.Your Personal Trainer will work with you and encourage you throughout the session, develop and improve your technique, record your progress and develop your programme as you improve whilst also motivating you to turn up!
Shuttle Run Beep Test - The Centre for Sport and Recreation run the multi-stage 20 metre shuttle run test three time per year, in November, March and July. The test involves running at a progressively faster pace until fatigue and assesses your aerobic fitness. The test is suitable for those who are currently activive or participating in sport. If you are interested contact Seona McKenzie at seona.mckenzie@strath.ac.uk for further details.
C.V. Suite Inductions - Inductions are aimed at those new to a gym environment and will cover the safe and effective use of all machines, as well as discussion of training principals and recommendations. Booking for inductions are taken at the Reception in the Centre. A charge will apply for non-members.
Gym Challenges - There are a variety of challenges on in the gym throughout the year ranging from individual Dry Triathlons to mass participation team events. See the main noticeboards in the Centre and the Gym for further information.
Campus Health Walks - The CSR have developed a series of walks in and around the Campus and the local surrounding area. They range from short 10 minute walks for those just starting up, to longer 45 minute walks for the more seasoned walker. Map packs are available to purchase in the Centre, which include a pedometer, the routes and health information leaflets relating to the benefits of walking. See webpage for times of organised led walks or contact Seona McKenzie at seona.mckenzie@strath.ac.uk
Seminars and Workshops - During the year The Centre for Sport and Recreation offer a variety of seminars and workshops, including nutrition, the principals of training, Stability Ball and Relaxation. See main Noticeboards in the Centre for further information or contact Seona McKenzie at seona.mckenzie@strath.ac.uk
Weightwise - This is a 15 week course that runs from January to the end of May each year. The primary aim of the course is to help you eat healthily and adopt other healthy lifestyle behaviours such as becoming more active. The course will educate you how to eat in order to either lose weight, or maintain a healthy weight. For further information see Noticeboards or contact Seona McKenzie at seona.mckenzie@strath.ac.uk.
Pregnancy Advice -Advice and information regarding exercising during pregnancy can be obtained by contcting Seona McKenzie at seona.mckenzie@strath.av.uk
swimming course
Below is a list of the classes offered by the Centre to staff and students in the university who are interested in following a class in Life Saving, classes are normally offered for Pool Lifeguard certification through the STA. A crash Life Saving course is usually offered in early June. For further information and to register for these classes please contact Liz Kerr on extension 2783.
Beginners Swimming classes are offered for those either wishing to learn to swim or improve their confidence in the water. For these classes please turn up at the swimming pool at the indicated time or contact Niall Sturrock on extension 2782.
Class and times as follows:-
Pool Lifeguard - Tuesday 4.00 -6.00pm
Pool Lifeguard - Wednesday 2.00 - 4.00pm
Beginners Swimming - Thursday 10.00 - 11.00am
Beginners Swimming - Friday 2.00 - 3.00pm
racquet sports course
Below are classes offered by the Centre to staff and students in the university who are interested in learning to play or improve their ability in Squash. The coaching is free of charge to members of the facility. Non-members have to pay the entrance fee to the facilities in operation at the time. Squash coaching is for a 30 minute period, with the session starting at either 'quarter to' or 'quarter past' the hour.
Two athletes are taken for one court with one coach looking after two courts. Balls and rackets are provided. Coaching is available for beginners and intermediate/advanced players. For information about the squash coaching please contact Niall Sturrock on extension 2782.
DAY TIME GROUP
Thursday
12.15 - 2.15
Every effort will be made to match standards but this cannot always be achieved.
Bookings can be made at Reception up to one week in advance.
For anyone interested in improving their badminton or just getting together with other players and enjoying a lunchtime game, on Wednesdays the Centre offers a Social Badminton session where coaching is available for anyone interested.
Wednesday
12.00 - 1.00
Social Badminton with coaching available
For information on the Badminton, contact Liz Kerr on extension 2783.
fitness course
The information contained on this page gives a range of fitness classes that are available to students & staff of the University. As you will see there are a number of different activities. The Centre makes every effort to offer a wide range of activities to give the members of the university community the opportunity to integrate exercise into their lifestyle.
Class Timetable // Class Description
Advance Bookings can be made on the day of the class for Aquafit (Ext 2017), Core Attack and Yoga (Ext 2446), however booking for Cyclofit is from 8.45 a.m., in person and from 9.30 a.m., by telephone on the day of the class or from 1.00 p.m. on Monday for the Tuesday morning class (Ext 2446)
If you are about to start an exercise programme or re-introduce exercise to your life please look at the link for Beginners' Exercise. If you require any further information about any of the classes please contact Anne-Marie Hughes extension 2449
Please note
that exercise classes will run from 10 minutes past the hour until 55 minutes past the hour
that late entry to classes after 10 minutes past the hour will be at the discretion of the teacher and, subject to the activity programme of the class, but will NOT be allowed for Aerobics, Fit Physique, or Step
The Centre requests that anyone suffering injury, illness or are pregnant should inform the teacher prior to the class commencing.
Term - TimetableMonday 22nd January 2007- Saturday 31st March
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri & Sat (Timetable Key)
Monday
12.10-12.55
Beginners Yoga*
AR
12.15-12.45
Core Ball Workout*
SC4
1.10-1.55
Aerobics
AR
5.00-6.00
Supervised Gym Session
CV
5.10-5.55
Aerobics
SH
5.10-5.55
Yoga*
AR
Tuesday
8.15-8.45
Cyclofit*
CV
12.10-12.55
Circuits
SH
12.10-12.55
Aquafit*
Pool
12.10-12.55
Running Fitness(meet at TrophyCabinet)
Hallway
1.05-1.45
Campus Walk
Meet at Nappy Pin - Rottenrow
1.10-1.55
Fit Physique
AR
1.15-1.45
Cyclofit*
CV
4.10-4.55
Step*
AR
5.10-5.55
Boxercise
AR
6.10-6.55
Sleek Physique
AR
Wednesday
12.10-12.55
Fit Physique
AR
12.15-12.45
Cyclofit*
CV
1.15-1.45
Core Attack*
SC4
1.10-1.55
Yoga*
AR
5.00-6.00
Supervised Gym Session
CV
5.10-5.55
Aerobics
SH
5.30-6.15
H20 Workout*
Pool
Thursday
8.15-8.45
Cyclofit*
CV
12.00-1.00
Supervised Gym Session
CV
12.05-1.45
Campus Walk
Meet at Nappy Pin - Rottenrow
12.15-12.45
Cyclofit*
CV
1.10-1.55
Aquafit
Pool
4.00-5.00
Fighting Fit
AR
5.10-5.55
Step*
AR
5.15-6.15
Staff Circuits
SH

Friday

12.10-12.55
Stretch & Flex
AR

1.10-1.55
Aerobics
SH

1.00-2.00
Supervised Gym Session
CV

5.30-6.30
Streetdance Hip Hop
SH
Saturday
10.30-11.30
Weekend Wake Up
AR

Timetable Key
*These classes should be pre-booked
KeyAR - Activities RoomCV - Cardiovascular SuiteRCG - Royal College GymSH - Sports Hall
Class Descriptions
AQUAFIT
Exercise in the water to music suitable for beginners to exercise.
LO AEROBICS
Ideal for those returning to exercise or those just starting. Class will involve choreographed routines and muscular conditioning exercises.
HI LO AEROBICS
A hi/lo intensity class allowing each participant to work at their own level. Comprehensive workout of moderate intensity.
HI AEROBIC TRAINING
All round exercise to music session designed for those accustomed to exercise. Combines intensive aerobic exercise with floor work.
BOXERCISE
This is a fitness class which uses boxing moves in combinations incorporating arms and legs to provide an aerobic workout.
STEP
Moderate intensity class combining using the step for aerobic and muscular work along with an improvement in motor skills.
STRETCH & FLEX
Exercise to music class with more focus on developing flexibility. Ideal compliment to more intensive training or for injury rehabilitation.
YOGA
Improves suppleness, strength, posture and general well-being.
SPORT FIT CIRCUITS
Exercise class suitable for those accustomed to sport. Combines aerobic work and muscular conditioning exercises using sport specific drills.
CIRCUITS/STAFF CLASS
A circuit training session designed for those accustomed to exercise. Combines intensive aerobic work with floor work to provide a balanced conditioning class.
FIT PHYSIQUE
Exercise class to music, suitable for all levels, combining aerobic work with resistance training for upper and lower body through the use of hand weights, bands and body bars.
CORE ATTACK
This class focuses on the development of strength, stability and flexibility in the abdominals and back. Suitable for all levels.
GYM CHALLENGE
Individual gym circuit combining cardiovascular work and resistance training. Suitable for those accustomed to exercise and to using the gym equipment. Booked as a block of 10 classes.
LIFE SAVING / POOL LIFEGUARD
Classes are run as a block of lessons, covering lifesaving skills and resuscitation. Bronze Medallion is taught in lifesaving with Pool Lifeguard being the advanced class. Booked through Liz Kerr in the Sports Centre.
SQUASH
Advanced and beginner classes available covering technique and tactics. Booked at Reception.
SWIMMING
Drop in session for any level dealing with gaining confidence and developing technique
BADMINTON
Drop in session covering technique and tactics
CYCLOFIT
Exercise to music on a stationary bike, low impact, interval training and strength techniques adopted.

LIFESTYLE CONSULTATION
Provides an opportunity to discuss your fitness and health needs with one of our qualified teaching staff. Ideal if you have been inactive and want to improve your health. Book at Reception.
FITNESS ASSESSMENT
Often the first step toward developing a fitness programme and monitoring its effectiveness. Evaluates aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, body composition and flexibility. Book at Reception.

Beginners courses
This page is set aside to highlight classes that the Centre offers which are felt to be suitable to members of the University community who are just starting out on an exercise programme or are wishing to re-introduce exercise into their life style at an appropriate intensity.
The Centre would recommend that anyone starting exercise should have an exercise consultation and/or take a fitness test prior to commencing their programme.
As you will see there are a number of different activities. Not all these classes are tailored for only beginners but are suitable for a wide range of fitness levels. Beginners should identify themselves to the teacher prior to the start of a class.
For further information regarding classes, exercise consultation or fitness testing please contact Anne-Marie Hughes or Seona McKenzie in the Centre or telephone extension 2449.
CLASS
DAY & TIME
Beginners Yoga
Monday 12.10 -12.55 (AR)
Core Attack
Monday 12.15 - 12.45 (SC6)
Lo Aerobics
Monday 1.10 - 1.55 (AR)
Aqua Fit
Tuesday 1.10 - 1.55(SP)
Fit Physique
Tuesday 1.10 - 1.55(AR)
Step
Tuesday 4.10 - 4.55 (AR)
Fit Physique
Wednesday 12.10 - 12.55 (AR)
Core Attack
Wednesday 1.15 - 1.45 (SC6)
Aqua Fit
Thursday 12.00-1.00 (SP)
Step
Thursday 5.10 - 5.55 (AR)
Stretch & Flex
Friday 12.10-12.55 (AR)
Lo Aerobics
Friday 1.10-1.55 (SH)
Key
(AR) - Activities Room(SP) - Swimming Pool(SC6) - Squash Court 6(RCG) - Royal College Gym
Monday
12.15-12.45
Core Ball Workout (B)
SH/AR
12.15-12.45
Cyclofit (B)
CV Suite
1.10-1.55
Aerobics
AR
5.10-5.55
Aerobics*
SH
5.10-5.55
Yoga (B) *
AR
Tuesday
8.15-8.45
Cyclofit*
CV
12.10-12.55
Circuits
SH
12.10-12.55
Aquafit
Pool
12.10-12.55
Running Fitness(meet at TrophyCabinet)
Hallway
1.10-1.55
Fit Physique*
AR
1.10-1.55
Yoga
AR
1.15-1.45
Cyclofit*
CV
4.10-4.55
Step*
AR
5.10-5.55
Boxercise
AR
Wednesday
12.10-12.55
Fit Physique
AR
12.10-12.55
Social Badminton**
SH
12.15-12.45
Cyclofit
CV
1.15-1.45
Core Attack*
SC4
5.10-5.55
Aerobics*
SH
5.30-6.15
H20 Workout*
Pool
Thursday
8.15-8.45
Cyclofit*
CV
10.00-11.00
Beginners Swimming
Pool
12.15-12.45
Cyclofit
CV
12.15-1.45
Squash Coaching
SC^
1.10-1.55
Aquafit
Pool
5.10-5.55
Step*
AR

Friday

12.00-1.00
Stretch and Flex
AR

1.10-1.55
Aerobics*
SH

2.00-3.00
Beginners Swimming
Pool
Key: Classes marked with an * will only run from Tuesday17th April until 1st June 2007. (B) Classes require booking - see belowClass Booking - Aquafit and H20 Workout can be booked at the pool on the day of the class from 8.45am. Step, Cyclofit, Core Ball Workout, Salsa, Yoga and Pilates can be booked at the Sports Centre on the day of the class from 8.45am. Telephone bookings will be taken for lunchtime classes between 9.30 - 11.00am on the day of the class and for evening classes between 2.30 - 4.00pm on the day of the class. Telephone bookings for the 8.15am Cyclofit classes will be taken between 2.30 - 4.00pm the day before the class, or you can book in the Centre from 1.00pm the day before.IMPORTANT - ONLY MEMBERS OF THE CSR CAN BOOK VIA THE TELEPHONE.
Note: There will be no taught classes during the Glasgow Fair (Friday 13th - Friday 27th July)

Physiotherapy
A private Physiotherapy service is available within the University. Anyone wishing to avail themselves of the service should contact the Physiotherapist direct. Details below :
Corla M. van Griethuysen PhDState Registered Physiotherapist
PRIVATE PRACTICE
University Centre347 Cathedral StreetGLASGOWG1 2TD
t: 0141 553 4151
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Centre for Sport and Recreation address
The Centre's address is :
Centre for Sport and Recreation,University of Strathclyde,347, Cathedral Street,Glasgow G1 2TBt: +44 (0)141 548 2784f: +44 (0)141 552 6934
Please contact the Centre reception for bookings or other information on +44 (0)141 548 2446 (ext - JA 2446)
With compliments
Robert L. Fielding
www.rlfielding.com
ELTD @ July/Aug 2007

Useful sites for advanced learners and teachers

2007-05-12T06:17:00.000-04:00

"He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool. Shun him
He that knows not, and knows that he knows not is a pupil. Teach him.
He that knows, and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him.
He that knows, and knows that he knows is a teacher. Follow him.
(Arabic proverb)
1. A good site for all sorts of things for students and teachers.
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/links.html

2. BBC Learning English – a place to listen to English to help your listening comprehension.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/index.shtml

3. More online listening for learners – lots and lots of different topics
http://www.elllo.org/index.htm

4. Keeping a reflective journal – something you can do for the rest of your life.
http://www.doceo.co.uk/reflection/index.htm

5. Style Manual for everything from how to punctuate sentences to when to use italics in your writing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

6. Untangling the web – help with online research
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/search/index.html

7. Counseling services and information and advice on all sorts of personal problems
http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/

8. Feeling homesick – find your local newspaper on this site – wherever you come from in the world
http://www.world-newspapers.com/uae.html

9. A good place to start to find information
http://dmoz.org/Business/Healthcare/desc.html

10. Health issues – find help here, but talk to someone too
http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/issues/issues.html

Robert L. Fielding

Al Ain Theatre Society does it again!

2007-05-05T06:03:00.000-04:00

Al Ain Theatre Society
An Inspector Calls
by
J.B. Priestley
Al Multaqa Auditorium
May 3 2007

Set in a millowner’s home in 1912 and watched over by portraits of Queen Victoria and Edward VII, Priestley’s moralistic tale of the alleged, imperious neglect, high handed philanthropy and reckless treatment of a young woman by the members of the property owning class of the day, An Inspector Calls was as well performed tonight as it probably ever has been.

Inspector Goole (Mel Tyers) interrupted celebrations in the Birling household, enraging the arrogant millowner, Birling, (Keith Wiggle) toasting the engagement of his daughter Sheila (Libby Stack) to Gerald Croft (Ben McGrath), watched by his wife (Carol Boardman) and by the flippant waster of a son, Eric (Rick Johns), Edna (Caroline White-Goettsche) attending to the family and their guest.

Jeff Weiss directed this great performance, marshalling a somewhat unassuming, but not deferential inspector into the midst of the evening after Arthur Birling had toasted an amalgamation of two great families in the midlands town of Brumley.

Once Goole turned up the heat with the revelation that a lass had burned out her insides with disinfectant and died in a local hospital, the guilty party crackled apart like so much popcorn in a pan.

In a tour de force impersonation of arrogance and selfish indifference, Keith Wiggle as Birling, did his level best to dismiss Goole from the evening’s joviality.

Goole, however, persisted magnificently, peeling off the onion-like layers of guilt and implication perpetrated by each one present.

Sheila’s culpability came after her father’s, and her fiancé fared little better with the news to all that he had had an affair with the girl sometime earlier, using her and dismissing her as it suited him.

A sort of telescopic philanthropy had been denied the girl in her hour of need by Sybil (Carol Boardman), throwing the girl further into dismay and ruin.

Eric, by now, well in his cups, told all that he had dallied with the girl, though her name had changed again as each tale unfolded. Constantly berated by his father, Eric stood up to the awful indifference to the girl’s fate in the face of Birling’s altogether more selfish reaction to the news of her suicide.
The news that the girl had also been pregnant was the icing on a very distasteful cake. Goole left and the party reflected.

In a brand of wishful thinking, they soon reached the same conclusion; that Goole was not a real policeman, confirmed by a phone call, and that the girl in each case was a different individual.

Another phone call confirmed that no such suicide had occurred. Birling and his wife breathed a sigh of relief, audible and hypocritical, while Eric and Sheila could not forgive themselves so easily.

The final hammer blow came as another caller announced that a girl had just been admitted to the hospital, and had died of poisoning.

Priestley’s play, though perhaps too heavy handed to have been written today, did highlight the fact that we are all ultimately responsible for each other.
Robert L. Fielding

The sources of creative writing

2007-05-01T01:19:00.000-04:00

Creative writing, it sometimes seems, is all things to all people. It’s storytelling, writing poetry, sketches and skits, but would you call writing a diary entry creative writing – most definitely not. What about so called ‘cause and effect essays’? Again, the answer is no.

So what is it that defines creative writing from all the other kinds of writing we do? Well, for a start, the answer is in the phrase – it’s creative (to create – to bring into being Collins). That doesn’t get us much further. Let’s see what the practitioners say it is – the gurus of wikipedia, no less.

Creative writing is a term used to distinguish certain types of writing from writing in general. The lack of specificity of the term is partly intentional, designed to make the process of writing accessible to everyone and to ensure that non-traditional, or traditionally low-status writing (for example, writing by marginalized social groups, experimental writing, genre fiction) is not excluded from academic consideration or dismissed as trivial. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_writing

Verbosity doesn’t seem to enlighten, and this entry looks as if it’s part of a UN charter. So I’ll have a go. Creative writing is that type of writing that spells out in words what can be but isn’t, what could have happened but didn’t. To quote Albert Szent-Gy-rgi, talking about discovery, which seems to be involved in the process of creative writing, it consists in seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.

All this needs illustration – something people writing creatively do well. If, as Arthur Schopenhauer says, ‘every man takes the limit of his field of vision for the limits of the world’, creative writers go beyond their field of vision. How else would you account for the novels of Jules Verne or HG Wells, but also of Jane Austen who, we are told, never married, and lived most of her short life within her parish boundaries in the south of England.

For doesn’t creative writing stem from two areas – from your imagination, and from real life experiences recreated and tweaked to fit into a story. Again, best to illustrate.

I recently came across the name of one of my college lecturers on a website. I recalled taking part in his seminars and reading out my first seminar paper for him. He sat idly gazing out of his study window as I rattled on, but quickly spun on his chair to confront me with a point I was trying to make or had made.
“So he was listening,” I thought.

Of course, he didn’t remember me from the multitude of students who passed through that room – how could he, but I did – well!

Now, if the bulk of our memories of our past experience of living lies under layers of our subconscious, what brings one particular experience to the fore is present significance. Creative writing can give a past experience present significance.

If I were to write up my experience of reading my seminar paper to my group and my tutor, that could hardly be called creative writing. If that man who probably still sits looking out onto the green lawns outside his study while undergraduates sweat and toil with their seminar papers, were to write it up, adding what he could not recall exactly, and drawing upon his experience of just such a scenario, that would be creative writing.

In recreating that moment, embellishing it for effect, substituting a spotty youth with, let us say, a beautiful young woman, he would be taking what Marcel Proust calls the real voyage of discovery, ‘which consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes’.

Having stayed in his book lined study, and turning from the view from his window for a moment, the tutor would be drawing upon his experience of life, colouring it with his imagination, until, half way through the seminar, he writes, an irate young man rushes into the room and drags the young woman out by her hair.

It didn’t happen that way, but it could have done – it did happen that way on the page caught in a ray of sun streaming in from the window at the writer’s back. That is what creative writing is – using what God gave you and what you know to create – recreate in this case – something that can be but isn’t, what could have happened but didn’t.

The art comes in making something so believable that readers turn the page. They wouldn’t want to read about another day in the life of a university lecturer per se, but they would if it involved the solving of a murder.

Ascribing motives to somebody who never existed to explain what never occurred is at the heart of what creative writing is about. You don’t need to go hunting for big game in Kenya before you include it in a story – it just helps if you do.
Robert L. Fielding

Global warming - diagrams to help understanding

2007-04-30T05:01:00.000-04:00

Click on these images to enlarge them. They should help you to understand a bit more about global warming.

Try this link for more information.

http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/english.html

Robert L. Fielding

Solving global warming – doing something

2007-04-30T01:27:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s here – global warming has begun to shape our lives – droughts, hottest days since records began, polar ice melting, glaciers receding, ski slopes full of grass!

And although it probably can’t be stopped, we can all make sure we do everything we can to slow it – we owe that much to our children and their children.

Individually, we might be forgiven for feeling powerless, in the face of massive industrial plants in China and elsewhere producing millions of tonnes of carbon as we speak.
Still, I reckon we are not powerless, if we act together. Thinking positively and acting positively can go some way to saving our planet from burning up.

All it requires is thought, and a mindset of economy – savings to save, if you see what I mean.

We can act in every area of our lives – eating, drinking, shopping, relaxing, driving, even emailing and using the phone – and we can do something even while we are asleep.

Eating less meat will make us healthier and reduce methane production, as well as reducing all that goes on to rear the animal and bring the products of grass further up the food chain. Buying locally produced products reduces the need for transportation of imports – they are expensive – for the planet!

Drinking cold drinks means using less electricity, drinking milk or just water rather than factory produced canned drinks cuts out the need for factories.

Whilst shopping, take cloth bags instead of relying on being given lots and lots of poly bags – they are a waste of our energy, and our energy comes from burning fossil fuels – producing carbon – which is expensive – for the planet.

Relaxing at home – read more, turn off the TV, take exercise – that will relax you more than being a veggie in front of the box!

Drive slower – that will save lives as well as saving the planet – it may even save yours some day.

Keep your car maintained – do the simple stuff like keeping correct pressure in your tires – car pool when you can, walk when you can’t – use buses more, use trains if you can – stay home more.

Using the phone less must save something – radio waves hitting your grey matter – the need to charge batteries – save it all, don’t use it as much. Telling people what they already know is one think you can stop for a start.

And there are general things you can do in the home – hang wet clothes out to dry – use energy efficient light bulbs – and switch off at source when you’ve finished using it. It makes sense and is doing your bit for our Earth and for our kids and their kids!
Robert L. Fielding

Global warming - diagrams to aid understanding

2007-04-24T04:42:00.000-04:00

Links to 'global warming' dictionaries/glossaries

2007-04-19T03:16:00.000-04:00

Here are some links to three global warming glossaries
(a glossary is like a dictionary)
1. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/glossary/index.html
This may be a site for kids, but it does provide good definitions that are easy to find.

2. http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=123
This is a more serious site, but it is not as easy to use. Scroll down until you reach the initial letter of the term you want to understand.
Ie. G for Greenhouse Effect

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_climate_change#G
This is the wikipedia glossary, which provides links to the words you want to understand. Scroll down to the initial letter, or use Control + F and type in the word, and then click Find Next
Robert L. Fielding.

Links to explanations of global warming and related terms

2007-04-19T01:07:00.000-04:00

Global Warming Project websites

Here are some website dealing with global warming, greenhouse gases and similar things.

Have a look at them, but please do NOT copy any sentences into your own Project for me.

If you do want to mention facts you have read in books or from websites, talk to your teacher and sh/he will show you how to do it properly...Enjoy!

1. . http://www.computing.ee.unsw.edu.au/~solar/index.html
2. http://forest.mtu.edu/kidscorner/face_nf.html#greenhousegas
3. http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/category121.html

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Robert L. Fielding

Global warming - what it looks like

2007-04-18T05:34:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of talk about global warming - well, here it is in pictures! Can you match the three pairs of photographs? - before global warming and after!

Robert L. Fielding

www.rlfielding.com

Tuesday afternoon in the Writing Centre - many thanks

2007-04-18T04:03:00.000-04:00

I would like to thank everybody who came to my talk on writing and blogging at the Writing Centre yesterday. I hope you all enjoyed it and found it interesting. I know I did.

If you want to start blogging, go to

www.blogger.com/start

Then just follow the simple instructions, remembering your passwords and usernames.

You WILL be asked for your email, but this is a very secure site. Email addresses are needed for Google's own security, and to provide you with information as and when they have something they want to let you know about.

Happy blogging, and don't forget, once you become a blogger, you will be read by people all over the globe, including me, of course.

Once again, many thanks for making the meeting so enjoyable.

Robert L. Fielding

Reasons to write

2007-04-05T04:28:00.001-04:00

Subscribing to a podcast

2007-03-22T02:12:00.000-04:00

Download iTunes at http://www.apple.com/itunes/.
Click on ‘Podcast’ on left menu bar
Click on ‘Podcast Directory’
To learn more about a podcast, click on the title. If you want to subscribe, click on ‘Subscribe’ and the most current podcast will be downloaded to your iTunes together with titles of previous podcasts. If you want to download previous podcasts, click on ‘get’
Robert L. Fielding

A poem for my students

2007-03-18T06:46:00.000-04:00

I know what it is to be young

by

Robert L. Fielding

I know what it is to be young.
For though you may not think so,
I was once as young as you.

I laughed at the teacher if he tripped up,
Or if his chair fell over, tipping him forward.
I knew how to keep him talking,
So that the end of the lesson came quickly.

I know what it is to be young,
To feel sleepy right until the bell.
And then run out happy the lesson is over.

I know what it is to be young,
Pulling faces behind the teacher’s back,
Not to be rude to him,
Just because he is old and we are not – yet!

Podcasting

2007-03-17T11:32:00.001-04:00

Podcasts in the classroom

Two teachers from Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, gave an informative, lively workshop on the use of podcasting in the language classroom at TESOL ARABIA last weekend.

“Podcasting,” according to the BBC, “is simply an automated form of MP3 downloading”, which helps a lot.

However, the two presenters quickly and clearly outlined the advantages of podcasting; URLs can be sent via pc to other users, without the need for lengthy downloading of files or giving students listening tapes or CDs.

With an iPod, the teacher can download extensive, often authentic listenings, real news broadcasts and debates from universities and then play them back in class as the basis for a project, for example, and since both visual and printed text are also quickly and easily available, podcasting looks like it’s here to stay – until the next gismo comes along at least.

Downloading iTunes enables teachers and students to gain access to a plethora of material that is both current and varied. Here are some of the podcasts teachers can exploit.

BBC – In our time (great for historical topics)
Living on Earth (covers environmental issues)
The New Scientist (excellent reports on science topics)
NPR: Books (interviews with authors – graded readers)
BBC Women’s Hour (interesting and varied topics on many different subject areas)
ESL Podcast (great tips for communicating)
ESL for TOEFL students (plenty of practice before those exams)
Podictionary (listening activities and vocabulary development)
English Banana (basics for beginners with lesson handouts
Bardwell Road Centre Podcast (podcasts for English students made by students)

NB: All the above can be found easily on Google.

For more anything more specific:-

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/help/podcasting.shtml (a list of everything on BBC)
http://www.podzinger.com/ (Search engine for podcasts)

Other Links

1. http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/itunes/it1-1.html. This link has both written directions and a video for how to install iTunes. The video also shows some of the basic features of iTunes.

2. http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/itunes/it5-1.html. This link has both written directions and a video for how to subscribe and listen to podcasts.

3. Sabancı University Podcast

http://www.sabanciuniv.edu/do/eng/?PodCast/PodCasts.php
Robert L. Fielding