Lab 3 (reflection)

I just sat on the chair, staring at the computer monitor for the whole three classes. The third lab time was definitely not easy at all. At the first, I thought we were going to do the same thing as what I had done in the course of Language Teaching Methodology, but before long, I knew I was totally wrong. What we had to do was much more difficult than that. Christina, my dear partner, and I spent lots of time in searing for the article that interests us. One hour later, we finally decided which article that we were going to use. But we did not read the article out loud until we found some words that might be unfamiliar with learners (our target students are freshmen in Universities in Taiwan) and finished some comprehension questions. So, we were the last group to finish the recording.

Both Christina and I did not know why we do things in such a slow pace that day. Maybe we were tired or maybe we wanted to make this assignment better. Haa, not surprisingly, we stayed in the lab after class to finish the “Hot Potato” part. But actually we did not successfully make the assessment at that time because we did not really know how to master this program. It looks quite easy, yet, it’s not so easy to operate. I was wondering if there are other programs that can help us to make an assessment. As I remember, there are some programs (Chinese version) that can be used. But I just cannot remember what they are.

Oh~ thank God!!! And thank my dear partner, Christina! Our hot hot hot potatoes assessment finished yesterday. After we tried tens of thousand of times, we did it! Both Christina and I felt extremely happy and relax (because we really had thought it was an impossible task before we really did it.) We cannot wait to share our a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction with you all J
Are you ready? Welcome to our hot potatoes!!!

The following are parts of lab 3's assignments

※News link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2007-05-28-oplede_N.htm?csp=34

※key words and their English definitions:
▲Source: Cambridge Dictionary, Wikipedia
1.catamaran noun [C]a sailing boat that has two parallel hulls (= floating parts) held together by a single deck (= flat surface)
2.Costa Rica
(literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica, IPA: [re'puβlika ðe 'kosta 'rika]), is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south-southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army.
3.entrepreneur noun [C]someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves risks
4.gorgeous adjectivevery beautiful or pleasant
5.pinch yourself verb [R]You say that you have to pinch yourself if you cannot really believe something that has happened because it is so good or so strange
6.whine verb [I] to make a long, high, sad sound:
7.nostalgia noun [U]a feeling of pleasure and sometimes slight sadness at the same time as you think about things that happened in the past: nostalgic adjective
8.scurry verb [I usually + adverb or preposition] to move quickly, with small short steps:
9.obsess verb [I or T] If something or someone obsesses you, or if you obsess about something or someone, you think about them all the time:

10.font (LETTERS) noun [C]a set of letters and symbols in a particular design and size

※comprehension questions and answers
Q1: How old did Dustin Ashley Tester first pick up surfing?
Ans: 14

Q2: Why does Tester spend a lot of time “pinching herself”?
Ans: She thinks the life she is leading is too good to be true.

Q3: What may be the cause to send college graduates scurrying into grad school to postpone the process of getting a job?
Ans: Well-meaning family members wax nostalgic about "paying their dues" at first jobs where they manned the office coffee pot.

Q4: What possible situation would we encounter when we find a job in Career fairs feature booths?
Ans: it’s hard for us to find the job that we’ve been dreaming of.

Q5: In the article, what is the attitude suggested toward getting a first job?
Ans: Try to find pleasure in the job. Change the attitude toward jobs from tiring works to self-fulfilling dreams.

※Summary
Dustin Ashley Tester surfs everyday, but she is not on vacation, it is actually her job. Tester is one person who is lucky to find pleasure in work. But many other young college graduates are scurrying to grad school to postpone the process of getting a first job because a dream work seldom exists. The article tells us that we don’t have to hate our first jobs, we can even fall in love with them-if we ask our selves the two questions: What do I love so much I'd do it for free, and how can I get someone to pay me to do that? Find out answers to them, and you will never “work” again.

Lab 2 (reflection)

I have to say that I have really bad bad bad experiences in schmooze. Though I had introduced this website before, not until explored deeper during the lab time, did I really get to know what schmooze is.
I really try my best to solve this mission which is like a game of treasure hunting. Unfortunately, I do not accomplish this task, because I do not know how to manipulate this hunting successfully. That is, it seems that I can never understand what to do next! This is really upset. I do follow the instructions that given to me; however, it just doesn’t wok! It’s really annoying to find that I can not move at all. I mean, no matter which direction I key in (N, S, E, W), I JUST CANNOT MOVE! Ohh~ I cannot help but complaining that this is a really unfriendly platform. Because it can only work when we key in the exact words that meet its need. This is not flexible at all. Oh, it’s really difficult for me to imagine there is one class has to deal with this unfriendly game for a whole semester.
Well, I think I have to clam down a little bit. Maybe I am too harsh to this game. But I am really depressed when I know that I actually do not accomplish any task after three hours passed by.
Ok, after complaining, I think I still have to share what I did during the lab time. First, I would like to talk about my experience in MOOrrey's bar. It takes me a long time to figure out how to order something. And the following is what I have experienced:
Iona (Bartender)
Bar (MOOrrey's)
---------------
The bar is long and high. It is made of stainless steel at one end and transforms seamlessly into polished oak at the other, traveling through marble and stone on its way there.
Iona, the bartender, stands behind the bar, idly throwing a cocktail shaker from one hand to the other while she waits for you to decide what to order. She specialises in cocktails and can make almost any in existence (as well as few of her own devising). If you know of something she hasn't come across before, she'll try to oblige by making it for you. (Common non-alcoholic soft-drinks are served by Manuel, the waiter. Just ask him about the menu...) Behind Iona, there's a large, mirrored surface along the wall, with chrome shelves covered in bottles filled with various types of drink. A
selection of cocktail umbrellas, cherries, cocktail sticks, gherkins, olives and onions lines the area in front of her. Of course, you can get Belgian beer too, as well as being able to choose from a fine selection of wines and fruit juices.
drinks Iona - Gives you a list of what Iona serves.
order from Iona - Makes Iona mix and give you a drink.
ask Iona about - Ask Iona questions.
stacy [Guest] comes along from the main room and walks in Iona's
direction. You wonder what it might order.
Haven't heard about that. Can I add it to the menu? [Enter `yes' or`no']
The bartender prepares a drink...
and hands it over to cherrielo [Guest].


And next is what I have encountered in MOOrrey's Dancefloor:
Dancefloor (MOOrrey's)
----------------------
This is MOOrrey's dancefloor, similar to most dancefloors anywhere in
the world. Just that here you can virtually meet people from all
dancefloors from all over this planet. Of course there are spinning strobes and other
special effects, of course it is rather hot, in spite of the very efficient
air conditioning. But dancefloors are supposed to make you feel the heat
of the night, aren't they? So have fun!
PS: Type HELP HERE to find out how to dance with somebody.
You see Youssou (DJ) here.
Obvious exits: MOOrrey's and Bar
Youssou (DJ) starts to play missing tou by me.


I went to the cafeteria, but I did not really have interaction with any waiter. Oh, I just couldn’t find them:
Cafeteria
---------
You see a large cafeteria that can seat up to 50 people. One large
table goes down the middle of the room, where you see people eating. Ed, the
cook, is serving food. Type 'out' to exit the cafeteria.
You see a pile of trays, a menu, and Ed here.
Obvious exits: out
cherrielo [Guest] has arrived.


Last but not least, I have to say that I did go to library. Besides, I did successfully find “Public Book” and found a poem I like. Nevertheless, I do not know how to add a poem. Oh, I promise I couldn’t find any instruction that would help me to add a poem:
cherrielo [Guest] is looking at the If I can stop one heart from
breaking in
the Public Book.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Hope that you enjoyed looking at Public Book.


All these above are my experiences in schmooze’s treasure hunting. To be honest, I feel quite disappointed about both myself and this platform. I thought I can achieve these goals that Mei-Ya set for us, but failed. And also, I do think that if this game can be more flexible in reading the words we key in, I believe it will become much more interesting and attracting.

Lab 1 (reflection)

Oh~
Today we have a really great time in lab!
In the first twenty minutes, we are asked to give others feed back on BB, everyone just keep silent and do it with 100 percent concentration. When I reply what Celia said in the BB, I mention Jenny Pao. I want to say more about her, because she was my idol when I was little. And I love the TV program 魔法ABC sooooo much!
【鮑佳欣1995年GMAT以780分打破世界紀錄，同年TOFEL測試成績660分，為台灣地區最高分。著有《英文小魔女》、《英文小魔女在哈佛》等】

After finishing giving feed back, we start to visit others’ blog. Everyone’s blog is very different, and I just keep changing the background and colors of my own blog. Teacher teaches us how to find out every color’s html code, I think this is cool and pretty useful!

Ok, it’s time to put what we discussed last week to teacher’s blog. For our group, this is the beginning of challenge. We are really eager to make a perfect picture(diagram), but we just cannot achieve it! We try thousands of ways to do it, finally we succeed! I think our group should give the credit to Vercy, because she makes a great diagram!

Then, we go to “tapped-in.” We create our own room and learn how to join others and this is interesting. Though it’s just a chat room, I think it still differs from msn or yahoo messenger. But I do not know what’s the exact differences, maybe…if I type Chinese in this room, I will feel…kind of guilty, because I know I have to use English just like everyone does!

Teaches asks us to copy our group’s discussion (about our final project!). Because we all know all of the chat content will be presented, we pay attention to what we say, I mean, we try very hard to avoid taking non-sense. But guess what? We still joke around! Ha~ and we cannot stop laughing!

What a great afternoon in lab, I love taking the course in lab because it makes me feel that I’m learning something “practical.” I am looking forward to next lab class!