Learning Psychology: What's Your Focus?

Image from kdheks.gov

These two days I have been training the Form 3 students' oral skills in order to prepare them for the TSA (Territory-wide System Assessment) Group Interaction paper. Like I have mentioned in my earlier entry, Speaking: A Story Of My Learning, many students lack substance in their group interactions, but in fact for the Form 3 students, there is more than just that.

Every group of students who join me in the practice has no idea of the rules in the examinations, they do not even know how they will be tested. Could it be that the school hasn't prepared them for it, or they simply cannot care less?

After explaining the rules to them, I set my timer to 3 minutes and hit start for the countdown of the preparation time, some will talkto another student in Chinese during this "examination", some will make noises rapping their pens on the tables, and today, I had a classic student who did not even bother writing down anything! Really, it is a matter of choice in the examination for one to write or not write, but he performed terribly, and so I gave the entire group another chance to prepare, and this student looked at me and told me, "I don't have a pen."

I was absolutely disappointed. First, how can anyone go to school without a pen? What does he plan to do in school if he doesn't have to write down anything? Second, couldn't he tell me and ask for a pen before the "examination" started? Third, couldn't he literally ASK me and not say "I don't have a pen"?  The examiner has no obligation whatsoever to lend a pen to any students under any circumstances. The examiner needs not be smart and translate "I don't have a pen" into "may I borrow a pen from you?"

What are these students thinking? What's their focus? Why do they need to go school?

Image from waukesha

I am unsure whether any one of you readers are facing similar problems, fingers crossed, let's hope not, but we must try to ensure this will never happen to our future generations at all cost, otherwise, the future -- their future, is bound to be devastated.

As a teacher, I tried to wake them up, explained to them that in 3 years' time, they will be facing the grand challenge from the HKDSE (Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education) examinations, if they don't start working hard now, when they are in Form 6 they will look back with regrets and tears for their laziness. Some students appreciated and thank me before they left, while some walked out of the room thinking that this whole oral practice was a waste of time.

Obama speaking to high school students
Image from LA Times 

I hate to predict how these kids become who they are now, but if I had a kid, I would definitely be a very strict father because I knew, harder work in the early years means better days in the future.

One day late is one day lost.

Vocabulary:
fingers crossed -- (also cross your fingers or keep your fingers crossed) to hope that things will happen in the way that you want them to
devastated -- (adj) completely destroyed



Resources:
Speaking: A Story Of My Learning @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/02/speaking-story-of-my-learning.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cross-your-fingers_2?q=fingers+crossed#cross-your-fingers_2__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/devastated_1?q=devastated+

News: News Digest (5th March)

Hello everyone, sorry I have missed one entry last week, have been working my head off with various projects, so I hope I can compensate my readers for the missing entry.

Image from arstechnica

First of all, iPad 3 is to be announced on the 7th March, much earlier than many have expected, my guess is that because the competitors are doing too well and if Apple doesn't launch iPad 3 earlier, it will soon be way behind in terms of hardware specifications. For me, and even many Apple fans, they are expecting no surprises:   "Retina" display, higher megapixel cameras, faster processors, LTE support (may not even have this).

Samsung bendable OLED
Image from slashgear.

As for me, I'll be truly excited when Samsung launches its bendable smartphone.

Then, not much of exciting news in business or politics, so none will be recommended.

Onto entertainment, just-18-I-want-to-be-a-young-dad Justin Bieber Punk'd his good friend Taylor Swift.

Bieber Punk'd Swift
Image from popbytes

For those of you wondering what it means by the word Punk'd, Wikipedia has all you want to know,

"Punk'd is an American hidden camera-practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, and produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher."

So punking someone will mean playing jokes on someone with a hidden camera filming their reactions.

How did Bieber punk Swift? You have to watch the show, or maybe there will be clips on YouTube later.

Under-fire Inter Milan manager Claudio Ranieri
Image from Soccernet

Moving onto sports, my favourite team Inter Milan has not won a single game in 9 matches after they have sold Thiago Motta to PSG, in fact, they lost 5 in 9 games. The recent 2-2 draw against Catania is already their best. I'm totally disappointed and I can only say, "there is always next year". But there may not be next year for current under-fire club manager Claudio Ranieri, and we might be seeing yet another manager change after the huge success of Jose Mourinho brought to Inter Milan.

The good old days with Jose Mourinho
Image from zimbio

I really missed the good old days, which was just 2 years ago actually.

Huge success Real Madrid wins 5-0 against Espanyol

In another competition, Inter's ex-boss Jose Mourinho continues his incredible managing adventure, guiding Real Madrid to score an unbelievable 85 goals in 25 games, that is more than 3 goals per game!!!! Man, a big difference between the two in fate.

That's it for today, have to get back to work!!!


Vocabulary:
compensate -- [T] to pay someone money in exchange for something that has been lost or damaged or for some problem


Punking -- (n) [U] the act of playing jokes on someone with a hidden camera filming their reactions.
under-fire -- (adj) from come under fire -- to be criticized






Resources:

iPad 3 rumor roundup: everything we think we know @ Arstechnica
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/03/ipad-3-rumor-roundup-everything-the-rumor-mill-thinks-it-knows.ars?clicked=related_right

Samsung flexible OLED gadgets incoming this year @ Slash Gear
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-flexible-oled-gadgets-incoming-this-year-29216189/

Punk'd @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk'd

Justin Bieber: "I Want To Be A Young Dad" @ celebritybabyscoop
http://celebritybabyscoop.com/2012/03/04/justin-bieber

Justin Bieber punk’d Taylor Swift @ Popbytes
http://popbytes.com/archive/2012/03/justin_bieber_punkd_taylor_swift.shtml

Inter show fight to end losing streak @ ESPN Soccernet
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=326948&cc=4716

Sports & People: Inter Milan wins UEFA Champions League!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/05/sports-people-inter-milan-wins-uefa.html


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/compensate_1?q=compensate
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/come-under-fire?q=under-fire+#come-under-fire__1

Technology & Economics: Nothing Is Too Big To Fail

Image from money-for-nothing.nl

Once up a time, there was Apple, then came Microsoft which overtook Apple and dominated the PC operating system market, then Apple came back from a hard fight with the genius of Steve Jobs and the retirement of Bill Gates.

During the fight, Yahoo was king of the search engines, then because of its hugeness (or arrogance, if you like) in all means, came Google to the challenge, which brought down Yahoo (not completely yet, but almost).

Nokia was once the king of mobile phone, and in terms of the feature phone market, probably it is still the leader, but up came the challenge from Apple with smartphones and Nokia is now much less of a choice for mobile phones in people's mouth across the globe.

At the same time, or on 5 November 2007 to be precise, Google saw Apple going in strong in the smartphone market and launched Android as the iOS challenger, and since the Google style is collaboration as oppose to Apple's one-man show, Google formed the Open Handset Alliance to gather 34 mobile handset manufacturers such as HTC, LG, Sony, Motorola, NEC, Lenovo, Acer, Dell, Toshiba, ASUSTek and Samsung to compete against Apple. The fight is still on but without Steve Jobs, the soul of Apple, it is not hard to see in which way the war will end should the situation remains unchanged.

Nothing is too big to fail.

Android is still winning
Image from pocketgamer.biz

In terms of the number of smartphones in the US, till July 2011, Android still captures 40% of the market while iPhone has only 28%. In terms of number of phones shipped, till 3rd quarter 2011, Apple still ships much fewer phones than the Open Handset Alliance does.

"The future is droid. " -- Justin Mauldin

The battlefield is not only on the phone itself, but also on the apps -- Android Market VS Apple App Store.

It has long been said that Apple App Store leads the Android Market with the total number of apps available, but this gap is closing fast! When I was writing my paper, Smartphones for Teaching and Learning, Angels or Demons? I found that Android Market has already overtaken App Store in the number of apps available.

In the future, Android Market is expected to continue to grow faster than App Store. No surprise, since there are more player in the Android world.

Image from androidauthority.com

Here's an expert talking about the various platforms.

Breaking it Down for Developers: Android vs Apple iOS vs Windows Phone vs Blackberry from Innovators Network on Vimeo.

Moving onto the battlefield of Instant Messaging (IM), Whatsapp has been around for quite a few years now and it seems pretty unbeatable in terms of its development maturity. Other than a big security loophole which has not been solved, this product of 2 ex-Yahoo! Inc. geeks is still winning the hearts of many, particularly in Hong Kong.

However, to be able to Whatsapp with someone you will first need to offer your own phone number and that is real personal information which could cause more troubles than benefits (which has been voiced out by this forum, for instance), owing to this, there came other IM apps which need not have the other party's phone number and yet can still be connected, such as Naver's LINE, which focuses on the weaknesses of Whatsapp and offers a lot more fun than its counterpart.

Image from haymarket.net.au

Image from soyacincau.com

Friends of mine were arguing which is better, for now, I would say Whatsapp will have just a tiny edge over LINE because of it allows users to start from the unread messages, but that is nothing LINE can't copy and fun wise, LINE is winning by a long way with the stickers and icons, not to mention the free stable overseas call it offers. Potentially speaking, LINE is definitely going to be the next big thing.


Vocabulary:
one-man show -- (n)[C]  often referred to comedian,[citation needed] who would stand on stage and entertain an audience. With the advent of feminism, words and phrases such as one-woman show and comedienne have entered the modern-day lexicon.
geek -- (n)[C] informal a person, especially a man, who is boring and not fashionable
owing to -- preposition because of
edge -- (n)[S] an advantage over other people

Resources:

Theory of the Second Best @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_second_best

Open Handset Alliance @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Handset_Alliance

Academic Research (Literature Review): Smartphones for Teaching and Learning, Angels or Demons? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/02/academic-research-literature-review.html

In the battle of the app markets, Android has the winning numbers, says Papaya's Justin Mauldin @ Pocket Gamer.biz
http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/PapayaMobile+news/feature.asp?c=34824

Google Android Market VS Apple iTunes App Store @ Android Authority
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-market-vs-apple-itunes-app-store-26281/

Canadian Mobile Subscriptions to Climb 20% by 2014 @ eMarketer
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007747

The Mobile Phone Landscape @ ASYMCO
http://www.asymco.com/2011/11/01/the-mobile-phone-landscape/

Whatsapp @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whatsapp#Security_concerns

Whatsapp Official Website
http://www.whatsapp.com/about/

LINE by Naver
http://line.naver.jp/en/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-person_show
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/geek?q=geek
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/owing-to
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/edge_4 >br/>

Message: Locky's 1st Chiropractor Visit 2012

Image from keller chiropractor

April 2009 went to visit chiropractor once, maybe went there a couple of times in 2010, then February 2011 went another time, today, I'm going back again.

This time, I guess it is one of the post-symptoms of the fever I had last Friday midnight (the other symptoms are super painful sore throat, unlimited supply for phlegm during sleep, sleep sweats, cough, sleeplessness). And also, I think my spine is very messed up, so it is time for maintenance.

Night Sweat
Image from thehealthmagic

Anyway, I'm not in a good shape for research today, not to mention I have to rush for my assignment deadlines.

Hope I can get better after the treatment today.

For my recommendation of chiropractor, see the two links below.

Vocabulary:
phlegm -- (n)[U] a thick substance in your nose and throat that is produced especially when you have a cold
sleep sweat -- (n)[C] or sleep hyperhidrosis, is the occurrence of excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) during sleep.


Resources:


Health and Fitness: Chiropractor @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/04/health-and-fitness-chiropractor.html


Message: Locky's Neck Has Problems Again! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/02/message-lockys-neck-has-problems-again.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/phlegm_1?q=phlegm+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_sweats

Speaking: A Story Of My Learning

Article 4 on Singtao Student Page:


An anecdote of my learning experience -- my doubts and enlightenment.

This is how I learn
Image from directory.ac

When I wrote the first entry of my blog, Locky's English Playground, I put the following quote just beneath the blog title, "Languages are tunnels that lead to the worlds of infinite knowledge -- Locky", in other words, languages are tools for us to gain knowledge. This may be common sense, but truly understanding the essence of it cost me years of time.

Some students in schools consider learning English boring, I agree, because that was exactly what I used to feel. Dully spelling words and getting the grammar correct will not make the learning experience meaningful, we have to go beyond knowing English language itself. It is only fun to learn a language if one will eventually make meanings out of it. An easy question to ask ourself is, "What can I do with English if I am good at it?"

I did not like reading news when I was in schools. I always kept in mind, "Why should I like it? It will not do anything good to me!" No matter how my teachers made me subscribe to news magazines and how many reading periods went by, I just could not find any meanings in knowing about wars and politics. I was still a school kid!

But then, meanings slowly appeared when I started teaching.

At that time, experienced English teachers in my workplace memorised English grammar so well that given any unit numbers, they could recite the entire grammar lesson . On the other than, some new Caucasian teachers knew little about grammar, but students enjoyed talking to them because these teachers knew about their home countries better than anyone else. There had to be something more than just learning English, I supposed.

Following the school's guidelines, I taught my very first week of classes and I was already bored to death. I thought to myself, "I like grammar, but how can I not feel bored doing the same things over and over again?" It was then I began to go online and explore the world of knowledge on my desktop computer.

I selected some topics which I found fun and intriguing from the internet, merged it into my lessons, and the responses from my students were remarkable! Since then, I have continuously expanded my circle of interest and my knowledge has grown exponentially.

For me, I enjoy the feeling of knowing anything and relevance is the key to my interest in learning.

Looking back, I wish my teachers in my schools had at least told me how to build interests in news, or anything such as maths and science, rather than telling me to repeatedly read them. Had I known the fun and joy of knowing, I would have collected much more amazing knowledge in my brain.

When I was training my students for oral examinations, many of them possess common knowledge, but few have actual substance. Student must have quality knowledge in order to impress the examiners, or as a matter of fact, to mature as a human being in the long run.

Although Locky's English Playground on Singtao Daily has only lasted 4 weeks, my blog is always online. If you would like to learn more about everything through English, do visit Locky's English Playground at http://lockyep.blogspot.com/ or simply Google it.

I will see you there, thrice a week. Have fun with English! Goodbye (to my Singtao readers) for now!


Vocabulary:
anecdote -- (n) [C] a short often funny story, especially about something someone has done
enlightenment -- (n) [U] the state of understanding something
beneath -- (prep) in or to a lower position than, under
dully -- (adv) not interesting or exciting in any way; boring
Caucasian 
to death -- until you die
intriguing -- (adj) very interesting because of being unusual or mysterious
remarkable -- (adj) unusual or special and therefore surprising and worth mentioning
exponentially -- (adj) formal describes a rate of increase which becomes quicker and quicker as the thing that increases becomes larger
relevance -- (n)  [U] (also relevancy) the degree to which something is related or useful to what is happening or being talked about
as a matter of fact -- as a matter of fact (also in (actual) fact) used to add emphasis to what you are saying, or to show that it is the opposite of or different from what went before
in the long run -- at a time that is far away in the future




Fun Tasks For You:

1. Sit together with a group of friends or classmates and share your learning timeline, focus on what are the most successful and unsuccessful in your past learning experience.
2. Ask yourself,  "What can I do with English if I am good at it?"
3. Ask yourself,  "What do I enjoy learning and knowing?"
4. Once you have the answer for question 2 and 3, start to focus on achieving your goal.

Grammar:
Third Conditional -- an unreal situation; something which cannot be changed any more because it has already happened, to express regrets or past possibilities

if + past perfect --- would have + past participle

eg.

1. If I had practised more speaking, I would have passed the oral examination.
2. Had I practised more speaking, I would have passed the oral examination. (Variant of 1)
3. Had I known the fun and joy of knowing, I would have collected much more amazing knowledge in my brain. (Because I didn't know, so I did not collect those amazing knowledge)
4. If I had not decided to make a change, I could have lived a boring life teaching repetitive lessons. (Notice the use of "not" and "could")

Resources:
Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/anecdote?q=anecdote
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/enlightenment?q=enlightenment
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/beneath_1?q=beneath+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/dull_1?q=dully
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/death?q=to+death#death__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/intriguing?q=intriguing+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/remarkable?q=remarkable
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/exponential_1?q=exponentially
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/relevance?q=relevance+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fact?q=as+a+matter+of+fact+#fact__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/in-the-long-run?q=the+long+run#in-the-long-run__1

News & Science: Science News Digest (22nd Feb)

Silene stenophylla after 30,000 years
Image from BBC News

Most amazing news in science today, is the discovery of a 30,000-year-old seed which has grown into a beautiful plant!!!

Woolly mammoth
Image from Wikipedia

According to BBC news, "The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones"

If mammoths also lived there, maybe there are some freshly frozen mammoth DNAs!!

They have Siberian flower, China has 300-million-year-old fossilised Chinese Pompeii! Many times older than the one reported in BBC. The difference is, you can't grow the latter.

Lab beef
Image from BBC News

Then another news from the BBC, meat from animals aren't going to be enough for human consumption, and so we now have to move on to lab-grown beef! Although this sounds disgusting and I do not really want to try it, I don't think it is dangerous to eat, since in the lab, scientists can really control every gene in order to maintain its cleanliness. Any possible cancer-causing cells which might appear in the natural beef can be removed or not even produced during the process. If the technology is mature enough, it might just be the safest beef on Earth for consumption!

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter detected tectonic activity
within the last 50 million years
Image from Discovery News

Next on Discovery News, the moon behaves just like our Earth, with magma, earthquakes and tectonic plate movements! We call it earthquakes, and on the moon, it will naturally be called "moonquake", sounds like "mooncake". Anyway, scientists can't be sure if the movements are still happening now or has come to a halt millions of years ago. I would be thrilled to know that it is still moving like our Earth does should that be confirmed one day.

Image from Wikipedia

Talking about the moon, when watching the Bollywood (from Bombay + Hollywood) movie 3 Idiots, the professor had a line saying something like, "Everybody remembers the first man on the moon, who will remember the second?" So I want to be that person who knows it, and here's my answer.

Buzz Lightyear
Image from drjeffadams

The first man on the moon is of course, Neil Armstrong, the second man on the moon, 20 minutes later than the first, is Buzz, not the one above, but the one below, on the right, Buzz Aldrin; Steve Jobs might just know how important the second person on the moon can be as much as the first. So I guess now, you will never forget.

The Apollo 11 crew portrait.
Neil Armstrong(left) , Buzz Aldrin.(right), Michael Collins (middle)
Image from Wikipedia

Do you remember what Neil Armstrong's famous quote is when he first stepped on the moon?

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. -- Neil Armstrong

Beautifully said, but the English grammarians did not let him go with his grammatical mistakes. There should have been an "a" to be grammatically correct, so it should have been,

That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. -- Neil Armstrong

And the funny thing is, Neil said he did that on purpose, an Australian programmer said Neil actually did say an "a" but it was disrupted by the poor receptions at that time. You can listen to it yourself using the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frase_de_Neil_Armstrong.ogg

For me, an English teacher, I would say, does it matter? It was the best moment of man / mankind and no one had ever been on such a dreamland, couldn't Neil Armstrong be over-excited that he made a simple harmless grammatical hiccup? Why can't these grammarians just embrace the beauty of his words?

And lastly, guess what this is going to be?

Image from ibtimes

Very iconic? Isn't it? An adaptation of Neil Armstrong's words. When is it coming?

This will make Rovio big money... again!!!

Vocabulary:
mammoth -- (n)[C] is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, proboscideans commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair.
fossilize -- (adj) to become a fossil
tectonic --  (adj) specialized relating to the structure of the surface of the Earth and the way it is formed, changed and moved by forces inside it
thrilled -- (adj) extremely pleased
Bollywood -- (n) [U] from Bombay + Hollywood,  informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing films in regional languages.
hiccup -- (n)[C usually plural] a loud noise made in the throat caused by a sudden uncontrollable tightening of a muscle just below the chest, usually happening repeatedly over a short period
embrace -- (vb) [T] formal to accept something enthusiastically
iconic -- (adj) formal very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time
adaptation -- (n) [U] the process of changing to suit different conditions


Resources:
Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen years @ BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17100574

Lab-grown meat is first step to artificial hamburger @ BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16972761

300-million-year-old 'Chinese Pompeii' found buried under volcanic ash @ The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0221/300-million-year-old-Chinese-Pompeii-found-buried-under-volcanic-ash

Antibiotic-Resistant MRSA in Livestock May Spread to Humans @ ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mrsa-livestock-spread-humans/story?id=15753074#.T0Rwn4dODz4

IT'S ALIVE! THERE'S MAGMA ON THE MOON @ Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/space/moon-magma-122102.html

Angry Birds Space Launch March 22: New Birds, Super Powers, Zero Gravity and Many More @ International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/301932/20120221/angry-birds-space-march-22-rovio-game.htm

Neil Armstrong @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_man_on_the_moon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fossilize?q=fossilised+#fossilize__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tectonic?q=tectonic+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/thrilled?q=thrilled+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hiccup_1?q=hiccup
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/embrace_1?q=embrace+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/iconic?q=iconic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/adaptation?q=adaptation+

Angry Birds Space - Teaser #1 @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9YZ_yLQadBg