Work
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what’s going on
So I took the fam on a trip with my coworkers from the English program last week. We went to Hua Hin, which I had passed through but not enjoyed since our honeymoon. We saw the resort we had stayed at (Nern Chalet) and the massage parlor my dad got groped at, and the kids had a great time at the beach. Max learned how to stay underwater at the hotel pool, and was very proud of himself. Mina could put her face in the water, but is still scared to put her ears in, I think. I have many photos, but alas, the start of the new term is…
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Dirty dogs at Burapha U
There are many.
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Bye nior
The uniquely Thai combination of “goodbye” and “seniors.” I’m at a farewell party for our graduating class.
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Teaching with Google Plus
I’ve now fully implemented my improved ad-hoc Google+ system for my weekend classes and have found the greatest barrier for entry to be that some students cannot use the net except for clicking on virtual cows and Like buttons. After having them sign up for Gmail and Google Plus and showing them how I want work to be done for the first couple of classes, I now have a couple of active “Communities” where I post assignments and class announcements, and students ask questions and check their grades. It seems to be working smoothly. I’ve had some inquiries from people who saw my workshop at the conference last month, so…
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bleatz
Finals week has come and gone, leaving me with a sore throat and plenty of grading to get through. One last push with a huge synchronized test for combined classes this afternoon and it will be done. In this time of paper flurries and worried sophomore ministration, only one thing can snap me back to my happy place at any given time:
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Thai TESOL Conference – After Action Report
My workshop went pretty well, I was told. One of the participants told me it was the most useful thing she saw at the conference, which was very nice to hear. The biggest problem I faced was that the provided wifi was very unreliable, which made it very difficult for the audience to interact in real-time, but it eventually worked out when the network stabilized halfway through. One attendee asked if I knew about Edmodo and asked why he should use my system instead of it. I told him that I’d like to show him why at the end of the workshop, and then he disappeared and missed out on…
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Thailand TESOL International Conference 2013
I’ll be running a 45-minute workshop tomorrow at this year’s Thai TESOL Conference entitled, “Using Technology to Aid in Teaching Oversized ESL Classes.” This is the first time I’m attending the conference, and I decided if I was going to pay the stiff entry fee, I was at least going to have some fun with it. I talked to a few people today who have been repeatedly turned down as presenters, so I guess I was lucky to be accepted. Wish me luck!
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Welcome home
I was greeted with the following exchange upon returning home to bring my sick kids (who choose to play hooky in unison) lunch: MAX: Daddy, are you going to work again? DADDY: Hello, Max. I brought you some noodles. MAX: DADDY, ARE YOU GOING TO WORK AGAIN, DADDY? DADDY: Why? MAX: I want you to go make a lot of money! GO TO WORK AGAIN, PLEASE, DADDY! MINA: YEAH DADDY, GO TO WORK! The monsters have grown too powerful to control.
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One Tablet PC Per Child Tablet PC aka “iPad10”
I got to test out a number of Tablet PCs at one of the education projects I’m helping out. My opinion is that they are complete crap and even worse than I expected at the 81 USD price mark, for several reasons: Of 6 units I tested, 2 were obviously defective (one would not charge past 12% and one constantly emitted a high-pitch squeal) Overall build quality is poor Devices show deep scratches, bubbles under the protective film, and other physical damage as delivered Most of the cases I saw (I only checked a dozen or so out of 40 units delivered) were black or white, with some hot pink…
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All that glitters
It’s perhaps a fortuitous sign that I realized the lip balm I borrowed from my wife is shiny before I got to work.
