Semester two begins soon. New classes and a few new instructors. I suppose one of the classes that initially caused the most anxiety for me at the beginning of last term was Mathematics. My childhood memories of Math class had left me traumatized....or so I thought. I realized that I really don't dislike Math, I just didn't have teachers who taught it well. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed my Math class last term and really liked teaching it to my 3rd graders for 5 weeks as well.
Today some of my friends in the Teacher Education department will get together for a "Hello, how was your New Year/Let's have a fewpints before it begins again" party. Good chance to catch up on everyone's holidays. These things are usually pot-luck style and Mai usually makes some killer food to bring. Think she's making gyoza (Japanese dumplings) to bring today....yummy!!!
Mai and I have been talking about my upcoming move to Japan (after graduation of course) and I've been watching a lot of vlogs of foreigners living in Japan on YouTube. While watching some, I came across this funny Australian tv commercial...check it out.
Ad - When a Japanese Baby is Born
"Holy Stereotypes Batman!!"...made me giggle though.
So, back on the topic of cool vlogs about Life in Japan....here are a few I've been watching a lot of.
TokyoCooney...this guy is an aspiring comedian and writer living in ...well...Tokyo. He's from the States. I've been following his vlogs for more than a year now...good stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/tokyocooney
Softypapa...is a foreigner married to a Japanese woman living in the countryside of Japan. His videos are a very different take on life in japan. Most vlogs I see are from foreigners living in the heart of big cities like Tokyo and Osaka. Softypapa's vids are a refreshing change.
http://www.youtube.com/softypapa
Zenhill...is an Australian living outside of Osaka. His wife is Japanese and has a newborn son in Osaka. His vlogs have a mix of humour, practical knowledge and other cool elements.
http://www.youtube.com/zenhill
There are lots of other interesting vlogs about Life in Japan and I'll post some more sometime later on.
Showing posts with label youtube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youtube. Show all posts
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Teaching Math, ESL and having fun!
As some of you may already know (and if you don't, you will as of now), I am in the midst of geting my teaching qualifications. Classes at university have started and the assignments and homework have begun to flood in. These were of course things that I expected. BUT...something has happened that I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams. I LIKE MATH! A self-confessed "mathphobe" I has spent the greater part of my life ducking behind trees and hiding under shrubs in order to avoid anything mathematical! This makes sense, I was the product of a not-so-well-oiled system of education that was a(when it came to math)one-way, black and white, right and wrong sort of a show. Simply put, it made math scary for a lot of people; myself included.
Well, things have changed and if I could do primary school all over agin, I'd wanna be here in Ontario...now. The way things are done these days are sooooo cool. Kids get to be creative, explore, work together and solve problems as a team. They don't have to live in the "black and white" world of math their parents did. I could have never imagined myself saying this in the past, but "Math is Cool!"
So, on to other things. On a more serious (though the coolness of primary math is not to be taken lightly)note. As I've been thinking a lot about my future in the education profession, I have as well been reflecting on the past 5 years of my life as an ESL instructor in South Korea. I learned a lot by living in Korea for so long. Not only did I learn methodologies and tactics of teaching and managing a classroom, but I learned a lot about the private education industry in Korea...good and bad. There are many wonderful aspects to moving abroad and teaching ESL, but there are some pitfalls as well. I decided to take some of my knowledge and put it online in the form of videos. I'm starting with some general information and advice, but if the demand arises, I'll continue to make more videos on more specific topics of teaching in Korea.
Here's my first one.
If you're interested in seeing more of my videos (they tend to be about the sillier side of life), you can take a peek at my youtube site.
www.youtube.com/busankevin
Well, things have changed and if I could do primary school all over agin, I'd wanna be here in Ontario...now. The way things are done these days are sooooo cool. Kids get to be creative, explore, work together and solve problems as a team. They don't have to live in the "black and white" world of math their parents did. I could have never imagined myself saying this in the past, but "Math is Cool!"
So, on to other things. On a more serious (though the coolness of primary math is not to be taken lightly)note. As I've been thinking a lot about my future in the education profession, I have as well been reflecting on the past 5 years of my life as an ESL instructor in South Korea. I learned a lot by living in Korea for so long. Not only did I learn methodologies and tactics of teaching and managing a classroom, but I learned a lot about the private education industry in Korea...good and bad. There are many wonderful aspects to moving abroad and teaching ESL, but there are some pitfalls as well. I decided to take some of my knowledge and put it online in the form of videos. I'm starting with some general information and advice, but if the demand arises, I'll continue to make more videos on more specific topics of teaching in Korea.
Here's my first one.
If you're interested in seeing more of my videos (they tend to be about the sillier side of life), you can take a peek at my youtube site.
www.youtube.com/busankevin
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
