Dallas CP 8

Wednesday I took Sunny for a ride in the cab. With having to balance the time between meetings and work, I felt it would a fun experience. We discussed the different things that I do. How the machine works when I receive phone calls, how much time I spend working, etc.

When we arrived at the gas station she told me that in Korea they differentiated between gas, gasoline, and diesel. I explain to her that we kind of just consider gas and gasoline to be the same thing. That's what I think at least. I guess they refer to gasoline being the actually oil or petroleum.

I wonder how much do they spend on gas their? I think that something I'll ask next time. I know that there is a metro-rail system there so maybe people don't depend on gas as much as we do here in the states. During our ride I would re-direct her on her speaking skills. I thought this idea was great. Most of the time when there was a patron in the car she'd sit a mimic their pronunciation of words softly to herself. I think she enjoyed the experience.

Myrick, J. TP#5

Hello people! I hope everyone New Year's was well. Marie and I met up before the New Years to go over her writing and to develop a constant writing plan for her to do everyday. I bought my This I Believe book that has over 100 TIB essays to be used. We decided to have her keep a journal and document everything that happens while she is in America as she just got here a few months ago and this is a completely different world for her as she was telling me. Aside from the journal, I read one of the essays in the book and I had her write her thoughts about what was just read. I noticed that she can comprehend speaking well, but as far as her writing, she had problems putting sentences together. They were short and choppy, and she had problems with transitions. We reviewed her writing and discussed what mistakes she had. She seemed to understand what I was telling her, and said she can work on it. So until next time.

Dallas CP 7

Sunny and I talked more about our meeting in Tampa. She asked me what I thought was the best beach in the Tampa area. I personally thought that Clearwater beach was the best. She said that she went to Atlanta for the New Year. We talked about Korea traditions an how is was not custom to poor your own beer. It is said that if you poor your own beer you will not be able to find a sweetheart for seven months, or it could have been years. She was wondering about the downtown life in Tampa. I told her about Ybor City. Ybor City is a strip area with a movie theater, GameWorks, clubs, and restaurants. She said that she would like to come back again and check it out. We talked about the different cruise-liners that depart from Tampa. I also told them about how Tampa was famous for its cigars as well. I complimented her on her family. I recalled them teaching me ( June included) the words cookie and bathroom. We laughed about that because I remember that they were both similar in pronunciation. It was a cool experience to learn Korean from them. I can't wait to learn more.

Dallas CP 6

I spoke with Sunny's husband Hyongsik. We talked about where I would like to go when I go to Korea. I would like to go to Busan or Jeju. He informed me that Dageu was a good place to go because it wasn't as large as Seoul. Seoul he said that it was most like New York. He said that Incheon had to much crime in the city. He has a brother that still lives in Korea. I told him about my two sisters that live in Mississippi and Orlando. He is from Dageu, which is central eastern South Korea. It is has a harbor. He describe the area for me explaining that it there was a lot of commercial operations there. Since June asked me about my iphone, we started talking about different phone companies and what was the better company. I explained that I had coverage with both and they both fall short at times. I know he mention that he does some government work, but I can't recall exactly here. He seems like a real peaceful, cool guy. I can't wait to meet him again. He told me that it might be really difficult to learn Korean because most people want to talk to you in English.

Dallas CP5

Met with Sunny at the Apple bees. Throughout her vacation she went on a cruise to Mexico. We talked about different was to respond to someone that she continuously saw on the cruise ship. Every time we talk she has something to ask me about what or how to say certain things. One thing she said about June was that he was her best creation. I told her that I think he is a good kid. She asked me what the different meaning for "insane". She her the term on the show How I Met Your Mother. We spent time talking about how much we both enjoyed the show. I had told her that there was a difference depending the connotation. I think the usage they where looking for was when someone is extremely annoying. From there we went on talking about different ways to say that someone was driving us crazy. I couldn't believe that we were able to meet up in Tampa. They were touring all over the state. She said that they were staying in Clearwater and going to NASA in the morning.

Dallas- CP 4

Over the break I had the opportunity to meet with Sunny and her family. I had a wonderful conversation with her son June. June is seven years old. He attends Swift Creek Elementary. He is such a bright and smart kid. June speaks English quite well. He is better than his parents which is usually understandable since kids catch on a bit faster than adults. I would say that June is about at a level three. We were able to communicate fairly easy. He asked me about my iPhone and I told him about the games scrabble. Maybe at some other time we will play. I was thinking either Scrabble or Upwords maybe. We played a few games of hangman. He provided me with the words hamburger, pizza, etc. He can read and his listening skills are extremely sharp. I was really impressed by his ability to pronounce words, especially imagination and gentleman!

Class Observation # 3

Today I viewed Ramin's IN-HI Reading class. He opened up with a bit of conversation, it is much different being in this advanced class , it feels just like a regular college class since most students are speaking without hesitation and with more ease now. One thing I really found not only more conducive to learning but created more interaction among students was the large oval, conference table he used. This isn't always available but sitting in some sort of circle really works guess this is why they did it during storytelling in elementary. First, he administered a short quiz based on a short, highschool level book(Frindle) and news article then collected it. The quiz had a vocabulary section where you found it's synonym and some multiple choice. Then he did a timed reading using a simple nature-related article about 1-1/2 long. He had the students raise their hand when finished and Ramin write their time on the board. I asked how he chose the readings, he said a good method is to do a diagnostic at the first class to find the average word/ min. He suggested a book, Time Reading Book Series, for finding appropriate articles. The class was very engaged when he started the discussion . He made this class student centered, letting the students do the work instead of lecturing. Some students would shy away from answering; Ramin would use prompting to engage them instead of calling on them which tends to scare some. Now looking back I realize how important a student centered class is to education and so many teachers make it teacher-centered. He consistently throughout class would ask students if they understood and the purpose for these activities. Everything he taught in our TESOL class was displayed in this class. Obviously feedback from students was very important and I found this to be so beneficial and something I will definitely make a part of my teaching repertoire.