The name of my student’s high school as revealed in her self introduction last week. I can’t immediately find it on Google, though. So I guess this post will come up as the first result from now on.
Category: Work
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet (for Thailand)?
Teaching online has been a side hustle for 10+ years and I’ve taught a few workshops along the way, so I get asked about the best platform a lot recently: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet?
So after testing and teaching classes this summer on all three, I can say that Google Meet is the best for a university teacher in Thailand.
This is based on performance, security, ease of use (for both teacher and student), and features. Price did not really factor into this decision, because my employer enabled free access to Meet and Teams. I will say that the 40-minute limit on free Zoom account meetings probably affects many.
Google Meet (basic but reliable) > Zoom (dumb 40 min. limit) > Microsoft Teams (uh… better suited for business?)
BONUS TIDBIT: Google Meet can now show many (max. 16) people on the grid, one of the last advantages Zoom (max. 49) had over it (Microsoft Teams is still at 4).
One of these is not like the others…
She’s older than all the others combined, and will probably still be running after they have all gone.
This is my parking lot at work. Our building used to be the administration building, which is why we have a flag pole in front. A military reservist comes to raise and lower it every day.
Teaching the New Generation of Chinese Students
I’ve been teaching the new freshman classes of Chinese students from various forestry and agricultural universities on exchange programs with Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University (my workplace and soon to be alma mater) for several years now. They keep getting more and more open-minded about the world, and the most recent group of 35 from Honghe University was the best yet…
The groupthink is slowly disappearing and real independence is just starting to show. I used this as an opportunity to accelerate their learning with memrise, YouTube, IG, and Facebook.
I’m thinking about writing a paper about how to most effectively stimulate their natural curiosity and independent thinking with only online tools, although it may be not looked upon so kindly by their minders… We have talked in class extensively about what will happen after they leave Thailand the day after tomorrow – their online profiles outside of the great firewall will become stagnant and wither… or will they? It’s said there are cracks in every wall.
Anyway, one of the kids just posted this on FB and sent me the translation, and it made me happy.
“Our English teacher is an American Japanese and I like him very much. The way of class is too humorous. When the teacher is in class, he will give us a game. It’s too exciting. Although my English has gone backwards after the college entrance examination, I just want to take English classes. Because the English class will make me very happy. The teacher also asked us to go to his house to cook. There are three kittens in his family. It’s so cute, I sometimes go to tease the cat. There is also a teacher’s daughter who is super beautiful. The teacher also said that he wants his daughter to marry at the age of 50. Absolute daughter slave haha “
Rad.
Color Theory
Color is an element of art. My kids love this lesson.
I wish this website was still up; it looks like it’s being squatted now.
Matching Accessories
When I finished my last class today, one of my student’s bags caught my eye. I asked about it, and she produced the phone case she had bought to go with it. I wonder what would happen if…
Thai Nickname Survey
I’m posting the surveys here for my thesis entitled, “The Effect of English Loanwords Used as Thai Nicknames on Speakers of Standard English.”
The following surveys are for Thai people who fall into one of the following categories:
- Parents who have given their children nicknames originating from English: Thai Nicknames Survey (for Parents)
- Teachers who have or know students with nicknames originating from English: Thai Nicknames Survey (for Teachers)
This is the link to the cover letter: Survey Cover Letter
Thanks for your support!
40th Anniversary of My Faculty
Pretty cool light show with the molam tonight.
Bicycle lane at work
When the curb is lined with cars and long pickups (can you see the diagonal parking lines? ), you definitely do not want to hug that lane line too closely… I’ve backed in in this photo, but people usually park forward, and back out pretty much blind if there are cars on either side of them.
On a more positive note, that’s possibly the best bicycle drawn freehand with a paintbrush I’ve ever seen.
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