Thursday, July 30, 2009

Teachers Helping Teachers in Bangladesh


I went to Bangladesh. I went to Bangladesh with a group called Teachers Helping Teachers. This was my third trip with Teachers Helping Teachers. I have been to Teachers Helping Teachers seminars in Laos and the Philippines. You can see Bangladesh on the map below.

Bangladesh is surrounded by India. It shares a small border with Myanmar too. I stayed in the capital city of Bangladesh. The capital city of bangladesh is called Dhaka. You can see Dhaka on the map below.

 
I arrived in Dhaka very late. I arrived in Dhaka after one in the morning. I got through  customs and immigration easily. I was met by Dr. Patrick Dougherty, the President of Teachers Helping Teachers, and a member of the Aristocrat Inn's staff. You can see a picture of the Aristocrat Inn below.

Aristocrat Inn

I stayed in a standard room at the Aristocrat Inn. It was twenty-five U.S. dollars per night. You can see a picture of my room below.

The bed in Room 306 Aristocrat Inn Dhaka

My first day in Dhaka I went on a short tour. First I visted Curzon Hall. You can see a picture of Curozn Hall below.

Red Fort

My new friend Mithu is in the picture below. He was my guide on the tour of Dhaka City. He is very knowledgeable. He is a very good guide.


After I visted Curzon Hall, I visited Labagh Fort. You can see a picture of Labagh Fort below.

Pink Palace 8

Then I visited a Hindu Temple.

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I saw a beautiful dragonfly at the temple.

Golden Dragonfly at Hindu Temple

The next place we went was the Buriganga River. We took a short boat ride. It was very interesting.

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Next, we visited a palace called Ahsan Manzil. We met many friendly Bangladeshis there. All of them wanted to take a picture with us. We felt like stars! In the picture below, I'm with Ann and Cherie. Ann and Cherie are also members of Teachers Helping Teachers. Ann is from New Orleans in the United States. Cherie is from New Zealand.

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After our visit to the palace we went shopping. I bought some Bangladeshi crafts for my wife. I bought a bag, a table cloth, some pillow cases, and some lunch mats for her. When we were finished shopping, we went back to the hotel. I was very tired, but I had a great first day in Dhaka.

The next day the BELTA/AIUB/THT Seminars started. The Seminars lasted three days. I led three workshops. The participants were fantastic. They were enthusiastic. They were very active participants. They had great ideas. They were very kind. I think they all must be great teachers. You can see a video clip of the workshop I lead on project-based language learning below. Unfortunately, the quality of the video isn't very good. Enjoy!


An introduction to project-based language learning from Michael Stout on Vimeo.

Next time I'll write some more about my wonderful trip to Bangladesh. I'll post some more pictures too.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

英語総合1A (Global Issues) Spring 2009 Final Exam Study Guide

 
This Image  is an edited and modified version of image by Lipo's sojourn (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikkoskinen/309990286/)

The semester is almost over! The final exam for the Saturday class is 18 July 2009 (1st period). The final exam for the Tuesday class is 28 July 2009 (1st period).
Please study Units 6 - 11. Please study carefully pp. 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42, and 45.
The final exam with have short answer type questions, and long answer type questions. You will have to show that you remember the content of the textbook, and that you understand the content of the textbook.
Here are examples of the kind of question you might see on the exam. These questions WILL NOT be on the exam. They are examples only:

What are the 2 lessons that Gandhi’s philosophy teaches us? (2 points)

List 5 similarities between Nelson Mandala and Gandhi. (5 points)



I recommend that you do the Wrap Up activities for units 6 - 11 on pp. 72.
Good Luck!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Shibaura Institute of Technology Writing 1A: Students write movie reviews

Students in the Writing 1A class at Shibaura Institute of Technology have written some great movie reviews. I decided that it would be fun to present their reviews as animated movies. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo, a teacher in Sacramento California, I discovered xtranormal.com. Xtranormal is a web 2.0 application. You can change text to speech using xtranormal. You can make an animated movie with one or two characters. It's fun and easy. So, here are some animated movies of cartoon characters presenting Writing 1A students' movie reviews. Enjoy!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Toyo Gakuen University Travel English Semester 1 2009 Final Exam Study Guide

 

Today is the last class. The next time we meet will be the final exam. The final exam is on the tenth of July. The final exam covers units 2,3,4,5,7,9,12,14,15,16, and 20. Please click here to practice the final exam: Passport Online tests.

Good luck!

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 2 - Reading Semester 1 2009 Final Exam Study Guide

 
Your final exam is on Friday the 10th of July 2009. Click the link to see your study guide 
Now let's review some vocabulary. Click iKnow below and do the lesson.



Good luck!!!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Toyo Gakuen University: Introduction to Business English 1A Final Exam Study Guide



Exams Display, originally uploaded by William & Mary Law Library.

The Final Exam is Thursday the 9th of July 2009. Yeah!!!

The exam covers Units 4 and 6, pp. 34-40 and pp. 50-56, 58,59 (テストの範囲は ユニト4と6です). The exam will include listening, reading and writing.

* Do Unit 6 on the self-study CD ROM
* Do the iKnow, Dictation and Brain Speed lessons on smart.fm
* Study the writing file on p.130


Good Luck!!!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Happy Canada Day

Today is Canada Day! Today Canada is one hundred and forty two years old.

Here's a video tour of Dan Beaudoin's interesting house in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The house is decorated in maple leaves. The people in Windsor call it "Canada House".

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You can see some more cool pictures here. Click the link. Happy Canada Day Shared via AddThis