A proposal to webheads to participate in the project

A proposal to webheads to participate in student-teacher meeting at Tappedin

Message 3106 (posted in Evonline2002_webheads Yahoo! Groups page)

This is in relation to Scott's posting on the transformation of f2f to online form of instruction. Arif mentioned in his last posting, and I quote here, "I have mostly used the online activities as supplementary to my courses and asked my students experience online coursewares, e-portfolios, etc." In the same spectrum, I also use CMC to augment my classroom activities while at the same time providing students the opportunity to interact and participate in an authentic form of discussion with people (in my case, usually, webheads teachers) who are competent speakers of English (regardless of ethnicity). The idea is to have the students speak out their thoughts and opinions about a particular topic. Discussions in the classroom will then follow (the next day) with chat logs and experiences in hand. So, this is what I have in mind. I intend to bring 6 groups of students in Tappedin this Sunday, February 23, 12:00 noon GMT (that's 9:00 pm Japan, 10:00 pm Australia, etc) Students: 4th year University Level, majoring in Applied Foreign Languages Course: Advanced Communication Skills Topic of Discussion: What's in a name? Synopsis: To have a better understanding why and how Chinese names come about. Names given to most Chinese people have meanings and many were based on fortune telling and superstitions. But the most significant influence in this aspect is the number of strokes a single character has. For instance, a character that looks or sounds like "Si" with a strong downward tone is considered taboo because the word means 'death'. It's considered an omen and therefore, brings in bad luck. This topic is interesting because you will find out the trouble a parent has to go through just to give his/her child a name, a name that would ensure happiness and prosperity. Invitation So, I invite new and the savvy webheads to join my students this Sunday. Each group will have about 8-10 students. 1-2 webheads per group. Where TappedIn. This is where you will be tested :-) I have an office in TI- AidenY's office at East 802. You could use my office or you could also set up your own office in TI, simply page in BJ Berquist, TI's helpdesk 'wonder' woman, hey, she's a super-dooper webhead, too. Or go to http://www.tappedin.org for details. What's in it for you? You have wondered how some webheads teachers like myself have integrated CMC into the classroom, well this is your chance to do the same. But, before embarking on this online journey with your own students, you need practice, you've got to test the water and see and experience for yourself what's it like, how's it like. Besides, you get to open your own office in TI, for free. How cool can that be? Bar none. What's in it for students? They get the chance to talk and be heard by intelligent folks like the webheads. They'll be there to learn, and to have fun. They have done this several times last semester, so they're familiar with TI's interface. What's in it for me? Definitely 'no dinero' (not even a dime in raise) but simply doing my job as a teacher. Note: Similar topic has been used and posted in efiwebheads by my students from NKFUST, this time, the students from Shih Chien University will be doing this activity. If you're interested in participating, please let me know so I could assign groups. Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Aiden Yeh

Teresa Almeida was the first to respond!

Aiden, You can count on me! This is going to be fun. As much fun as the I had with them about food. Maybe I'll finally understand the names of two very nice Chinese students I have this year! Teresa 　

Then was followed by Dafne Gonzales

Iwill be there, Aiden! I think my Nook at TI could accommodate one your groups ;-) I will just move plants and books to the corners, and send the pets with their friends for the week end. I will also hide the caipirinha bottles in one of the file's drawers. Btw, I love the topic your students will be discussing about. I will be an authentic audience with relevant questions whose answers I do not know beforehand!!! Hugs, Daf　

Then, Rita Zeinstejer

Count on me, Aiden, see you on Sunday. Rita　

Then, Arnold Muhren

Hi Aiden, I can make it this Sunday at 12.00 GMT for an hour or so. You count on me for taking care of a group, or teaming up with one of the veterans. http://www.behindthename.com/ tells me that my name is 'eagle power'. I may not be able to exercise my muscles enough this week to be worthy of it by Sunday. But then - what's in a name? Arnold

Then, Don Caroll

Aiden, Sounds like fun but could you remind me again what time on Sunday it is scheduled for? BTW, would you like us to stick closely to the topic of Chinese names or would it be suitable to expand out into the importance of names in general (for example research showing that teachers respond more positively to students with certain names) or that certain names carry with them stereotypes (John is perceived as "strong and reliable but can be a little slow", Eric is "handsome but somewhat conceited") or naming traditions in other cultures? Or even why Chinese students often adopt Western names when other students around the world do not. --Don 　

Maria Jordano

Hi Aiden,

I have been talking to Daf, and she has convinced me about taking one of your group. I have just opened an an office at tappedin, so that the meeting could be there.

MariaJo Office S1915 Is that ok? Regards, Mar燰　

That completes the matching! For groupings, check the list here.

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Created 2/21/2003

Last Updated 2/20/2004