The ELC Writer’s Blog

Greetings, 

Well, the Spring II session has ending.  I think the students are excited as I am.  It was a tough session fills with three major essays and a number of journals, freewritings and blog comments.  It was my first time to experiment with weblogs and things went well.  I’m still learning how to use edublogs.org and their wordpress formating. I hope to continue using this weblogs for future writing classes and may even experiment with blogging in other ESL classes. 

In one week, it will begin again…

Dear Students,

I would like for all of you to keep the students, teachers, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech in their thoughts and prayers as they begin to heal from today’s tragedy.  It has to be the most upsetting event in this country since 9/11.  The US is still trying to heal from that attack, and our friends at Virginia Tech will take an equal time to heal from this event. 

I hope this will begin a new debate on some sort of gun control (in this country) because keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and other threating individuals is, I believe, a much better option than allowing any and everyone to carry a gun to protect themselves.

You are welcomed to leave a brief comment, but it should be one from the heart and not as a requirement for this class.

We had an interesting mini-discussion in the Advanced I class about Friday’s Freewriting topic.  I think The ELC Writer’s Blog is a good forum to discuss this topic further.  The question was:  

Q:  Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Boys and girls should attend separate schools. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 

First and foremost, this is a great topic because it looks at our individual feelings about male and female education and whether it should be coeducational (co-ed) or not.  I’ve research this topic before and, although, I don’t see a real need to create separate institutions of learning for men and women, I understand both sides of the argument.  I found this info from the article interesting: 

“Reports such as the American Association of University Women’s 1992 “How Schools Shortchange Girls” and David and Myra Sadker’s “Failing at Fairness,” conclude that girls are not as well served by the coeducational learning environment as boys are. They receive less teacher attention and find fewer reflections of themselves in the curriculum; their unique learning styles and ways of knowing are often ignored. At all-girls schools, girls have 100% of the teacher’s attention in the classroom. Unrestricted by the pressures of a coeducational environment, they find it safe to develop their own voices. Girls in single-sex schools speak up, unafraid to challenge themselves and others to think. They do so from a secure environment that builds upon the strengths, learning styles, sensitivities, and values of girls.”

(Taken from: http://www.albalagh.net/kids/taking_stand/girls_schools.shtml)

The authors are proponents, I believe, of separate education for young men and women.  Notice that I said ‘separate education’ and not ‘all-girls (or all-boys) schools’.  Also noticed that I said ‘young men and women’ and not boys and girls.  I believe young men and women, junior and senior high school aged, will benefit the most from having separate classes.  Young people, however, should not spend the whole day separate from each other.  Developing a rapport with the opposite sex is so much more important to their life education than their schooling will ever be.  In my opinion, this sort of co-ed education is analogous to ELC students, men and women from a variety of countries, studying English together. 

An interested excerpt was from the same resource read: “Separate education also helps girls concentrate on their fields, such as cooking, sewing, budget management etc. so they could be good daughters, sister, wives, and mothers.”  

My upbringing precludes me from agreeing with home economics (this was a class that taught cooking, cleaning, sewing, ironing, etc. when I was a young man growing up in public schools).  My mother always taught me how to do these things because, in her words, “don’t leave home then look for another mother to take care of you.  You have to be able to take care of yourself”. I don’t personally believe that these are ‘fields that girls should concentrate on’.  Is that my mother in me or the American in me?

I purposely choose this website entitled “Need for Islamic Girls Schools” because it had the info that I was looking for plus it included some info on how men and women are educated in Muslim countries. 

I always look to my student to educate me, as well, so please feel free to read this short article and comment freely. 

Should corporal punishment be permitted in schools? 

Corporal punishment is a type of punishment where hitting or striking is permitted.  In most (or maybe all) school systems nationwide, corporal punishment is NOT permitted.  Teachers and administrators (e.g. principals, counselor, etc.) are NOT allowed to strike the students.  In most cases, parents are also not allowed to strike their children.  These days almost anyone who strikes a child can be arrested by the police for assault and battery. 

When I was in the 2^nd grade, my teacher believed heavily in corporal punishment.  She would often use paddles and other objects to discipline us.  The School Board in my city decided to fire her because of complaints from students and parents.  At that time corporal punishment was not as taboo as it is today.  Parents and administrators did feel, however, that the teacher was abusing her students; she was using excessive force in disciplining her students.

On Youtube.com and found several incidents of teachers disciplining students by striking them about their face and body.  My question is two fold: 

• First, what is your opinion of corporal punishment?  Do you agree or disagree with this form of punishment?  
• And finally, how is corporal punishment looked upon by parents, teachers and school administrators in your country?

I have included the links from Youtube.com for your review.  I should preface these video clips by saying that they may or not be considered corporal punishment.

A teacher in South Korea hits his female student several times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVdbPrwyU54

The news story about the female student in South Korea who was hit by her teacher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9T6SaQXFMw&mode=related&search=

A student in the Middle East (perhaps Jordan) was hit by his teacher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDU7W8MNJBA&NR=1

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated.  1…2…3…..Blog it!!

Greetings,

I had an interested conversation today with several of my ESL students.  The conversation was about a variety of topics and recent happenings.  Eventually it lead to, “What do you think American know about your country and its culture?”  “Do you think they (Amer.) respect and understand who you are as a people……or are you (all) somehow stereotyped?”

First of all, I asked these questions because many of us have learned about other countries and its culture from the media.  And, more than anything, this portrayal is often ‘negative’ or ’stereotypical’.

Q:  “Do you think (all) people base their knowledge on a particular country and its culture on what they see in the media?” 

If you could introduce your country and its culture to a group of Americans who would then pass that info on to their friends, family and acquaintances, what would you tell? 

Blog your response to your classmates at the ELC!