Thursday, May 25, 2006

tales from the front

I'm reviewing 062 in the process of making CESL Today volume 65 (tedious process) and have a few comments.

First, I'm proud of my ae2 students of 062, who got in the groove and became very good webloggers (despite their intermediate level, tendency to copy, etc.)...and wrote lots of very nice entries, only about a third of which ended up on the class weblog...take a look at their personal weblogs.

My eap2ww writing class wrote lots of good papers on the Arctic (scroll down for the abstracts, which I've put together) but only six out of about ten made it onto the class weblog - maybe I wasn't vigilant enough! Poor polar bears- they're doomed.

Lots of good pictures from 062- thanks. I'll try to be a good steward. Have been making squares and putting them in places like the alumni page where they'll always give people a little bit of a jolt, I hope. Hope to develop the Ling. alumni page also.

In the new term, I teach newstalk. A class that uses reality as a textbook, literally. Whatever is on the waves - I'll grab it. English-only bill, king of Nepal, car falls in the Big Muddy, whatever. And just in time, another deer (or two) went into fawning season and started attacking innocent Saluki pedestrians. You get what you need!

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Saturday, May 13, 2006

congratulations!

It's graduation weekend in Carbondale, as I noticed at the bank when a young lady in front of me, in cap and gown, was clearing out her account. Congratulations to all of these people!

Cassie- CESL marketer
Beth- an awesome childcare provider, good friend of Eli
Gabe- MA Ling. grad and Indians fan
Jessie- former CESL student, excellent photographer and weblogger, winner of a journalism award this year...

and the following from the family:

noah...Noah, graduating from nine years of Unity Point to the high school;

justin Justin, graduating from Carbondale HS, one of about eight valedictorians, going to Univ. of Kansas in the fall;

josie Josie, getting a PhD in Minnesota with the help of the super-awesome phd advisor - and moving off to Seattle...best regards from here in Carbondale, wish I could be there!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

from out and about

062 appears in the rearview mirror, with only CESL Today looming ahead like a deer in the headlights. Lots of good pictures for this one - which will end up on the web, I hope. Good new logos for the weblogs, too...thanks, Eric!

Here are some interesting finds from out there...

web economy bs generator...

hacked - from the dark side (windows)...

Something to think about.

I found someone who is onto my idea (about the essence of language) - more about this later. It set me back a little. But hey, I still came up with it myself, no help from my friends. And I'll still carry it out, on my own terms, without using others' work (or even reading it!!)...or at least, that's the plan.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

podcasts

I've been slow to trumpet our podcasts (we've made TWO...) - to tell about them, advertise them, wear them on our sleeves, etc. This is partly because I've just been busy. I'm also sorry to say that my colleague Sharon, who helped me make them, may be leaving CESL soon. This could set us back a little! And just when the educational use of podcasts is being discovered and employed...

here's an article that tells a little about them.

Klein, G. (2006, May 1). iPods, podcasts latest teaching tool in classrooms. Potomac News Online, Media General Service.
http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WPN%2FMGArticle%2FWPN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835724174. Accessed 5-06.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Friendship Plaza

friendship

For a small town like Carbondale, a sculpture like this is huge. First, it's in the busiest corner in town: one I spend much of my life on, one that has become a very long light since the Mill Street underpass. But more important, it commemorates international friendship and global awareness (plaques to our sister cities are coming). Our small city is reaching out to us, to the international community, to the world, to friendship. I commend Mayor Cole (shown on right)...thank you! Photo by Dave More.