(1) Well, it's this time of the year again and we have arrived at the end of this course for this semester. Some of you may be very happy for that, but some of you who are serious about English would say goodbye with a little regret, I think. Whether my students liked me or not (which is not important to me as I do not value popularity), and whether it sometimes looked like I never appreciated you (as I often felt obliged to 'haul you over the coals'/reprimand you), don't be mislead, as I will definitely miss you (as I will miss my other students). My most enjoyable times are when I am in the classroom with my students (whether the sometimes make me angry, or not!).
Thank you to those of you who had such good attitudes and showed it through your class contributions and your comments here on the website. You make it a pleasure for a teacher to teach! I greet you with my school motto in Latin:
SOL JUSTITAE ILLUSTRA NOS
(MAY THE SON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS SHINE ON YOU)
(2) Awards of Appreciation
A short awards ceremony would be held just before the movie starts to show my appreciation to the students for good performances and contributions. Awards would be in the following categories:
Best 3 performances in oral presentation
Best result in vocab paper
Best EC comments
Best class contributions
(3) Movie
We'll end off our classes with a relaxing movie (with subtitles ..).
P.S. Students don't have to comment for this last class, except if you would really like to. I will still reply to every comment though. ;-)
Replies
Thank you, Kelly, for this semester's last good comment. I know why you received the award for best comments! I'm surprised about what some of you said about the classes as I know very well that it could not have been easy at times given the teacher's 'serious' approach in most classes. My apologies if my behaviour put fear in some of you (it did, I know!); that was not the intention. And those rules ... maybe a little harsh (and a little complex, as you mentioned), but believe me that my classes operate much better with those rules than without. I had virtually no class rules in my first year with Liao Gongda (2010 at the Fuxin campus), and it was a disaster (some diligent students have even complained about the lack of rules!). Oh, you really make an impression on me with this sentence, ".. i come to realize(d) that those rules could reflect our basic moral accomplishment ..." Well said, and it reflects good insight. ;-)
And finally, you are right about the English-learning process ... a nearly never-ending one! But be of good cheer, it gets easier as one masters more and more of the language (through hard work, of course!). And then it becomes very rewarding when you one day suddenly realize that you have conquered the language! :)
Thank you for a last good comment, Ada. Though Kelly got the award for best EC comments, you know you were not far behind in the second place. So, thank you for at least trying to say a little more in your comments than just the stale and boring way some students have done most of their comments (sorry, don't want to be rude to them, but it was really like that!). I am glad to read of you good intentions for the new semester to throw off that laziness and show an improved Ada! You can start by not forgetting to work on your listening skills this summer holiday, okay?! Oh, and btw, I am not a good teacher (I know because it is myself you are referring to!); so, you never have to say that to me again, please! I am the one who knows best of my many shortcomings (in class too). Maybe you can say that I am a teacher who is trying his best every time (though, I am also aware that one's best is not always good enough!). ;-)
Thank you for the remarks, Amy. If that comes from your heart, then I appreciate that. Yes, maybe a rigorous spirit (for the right reasons, I believe though), but it borders on being too harsh and I have to be careful. However, if you feel you benefited by our classes, I am happy to hear that. I hope we'll grow closer next semester and that both of us (me and the class) will learn valuable lessons (I never stop learning from my students, and from my own mistakes). Oh, and don't forget to work on your listening skills this summer holiday, please! ;-)
Haha Cynthia, are you sure all of you ('we') would continue this English course happily ..?! How do you know that?! I don't think so (but I won't tell you how I know!). And the reason for asking you that question more, is that your look "dull" most of the times I say something new, and than I know you didn't follow me ...! So, look more clever next time when I say something! Oh, and just a reminder, please don't forget to work on your listening skills during this summer holiday! I'm sure you would benefit by that. ;-)
Thank you, Linlin. I am glad to read you feel you have made some progress. I hope you will benefit more when we have class again next semester. Don't forget to work on your listening during the summer holiday! :)
Thank you for taking the time to comment, Hou Yan. I'm taking note of what you're saying and having some retrospect. I appreciate your positive outlook and sentiments about improving your language skills. I hope that I can again assist you in that next semester. And don't forget to already start this summer holiday and work on your listening skills! ;-)
Thanks for the comment, Maxine. Maybe you are right about that (being too strict); I'm working on that! But as you said, students perform better when a teacher is strict! However, it is not my intention to bring fear into the classroom (some students stay afraid of me for a long time before they realize that my intentions are not to harm them). My aim, amongst others, is that students can enjoy the classes, and not looking up to coming to this class. If that stays like that all the time, then the teacher is failing. I hope we can change that. But I don't think it is going to depend only on me! So, let's hope for the best and be positive about next semester's classes. And don't forget to work on your listening skills this summer holiday, PLEASE! ;-)
Thank you for a very valued comment, Liu Yufan. I knew from the beginning that you had the right attitude towards class and that I could rely on you. So, thank you for your support and contributions to make our class functioning better. I really appreciate you. As I said to Hetty, I am awfully sorry for getting too often upset with the class. Maybe that reaction was provoked by the class, but that is still no excuse for me losing my temper (and maybe they really couldn't help ..?). I apologize for that. You can be sure that I do not accept myself as I am, as I know I have too many shortcomings; so, I will also continue working on myself to at least try to improve my approach and treatment of the class. I don't want the class to always have fear (like your friend ..) when I am in their class; that should change as everyone has to get the opportunity to enjoy their classes. I also feel that our classes would improve in the next semester.
Haha, so it's not only me that find some students to be cute (like CC and some others ..!); they also view the teacher through different glasses on different days ..! However, you say, "sometimes we really love you" .... The implication of such a statement is that, "other times we really hate you" ..! But even if not completely true, I think I still deserve that fair and square! And if I say that I love your class, I am sure that not half of the class would believe me ..! So, I won't say that now and keep my feelings in my heart for now .. ;-)
Are the freshmen students still busy lately, Liu Yufan? Something that I noticed here, actually worries me ... Tomorrow is our last class and this post has only been viewed 14 times (and that includes you, Hetty, and myself that has been on this post at least twice after posting - thus 10 views from about 25 students). Are the students not interested in tomorrow's class? Surely they have all received the email notice when I posted this lesson on Friday last week??? Is the attitude of your class right, or is this now their justice ...? I'm just asking.
Thank you for the nice comment, Hetty. I appreciate this last effort. I am glad to hear that you would be a sophomore student soon - and that you would have a little more time! You mentioned something important I should remember for future classes, and that is that as freshman you have so many other classes. I should bear that in mind with my future freshmen as I realize I'm very hard on my students to perform. So, thank you for making mention of that.
About our English classes, I'm not so sure that most of your classmates would have enjoyed the English class ... They mostly couldn't follow what the teacher said (like you!), and then, apart from that, there was the teacher's temper that flared up too easily and probably put the fear in most of them ... So, I am not sure where you got that piece of information from! But btw, I don't enjoy losing my temper; I abhor it (as much as the students) as it is not right for me to do that. However, some classes unfortunately have the ability to easily aroused that temper (not that I'm trying to make excuses; there are no excuses for that as I know I have to work harder to control that temper). So, you may accept my apologies for making the class unpleasant too frequently by getting upset. I will continue to work on that.
Finally, one doesn't pray for things that you said you want to pray for ... getting an award, as that is not right to pray something that would be to another person's detriment (in this case, your classmates)! But tell me then, who do you pray to? Chinese people mostly have no religion (except superstitions and worshiping ancestors, I understand - and ancestors are no gods, but only human beings who are long dead). So, why pray then if you don't have a god to pray to? Or are you just kidding about that? Oh, and about those awards, I hope you would not be too disappointed ... But let's make an agreement here - if you can convince me of an area you believe you have been the best in the class, I will give you an award for that. How about that?! ;-)
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, Betty; you gave me a better picture now to understand you better. I am surprised, but glad for you to read that your parents gave you a christian upbringing. When one's parents are christian, it tells me that that person was raised with good principles and would be more prepared for life than others. I am not sure whether that was your experience too? And about the listening skills (which are actually quite absent!), I hope the students would take to heart what I suggested today and do something this holiday about their listening skills (or rather the lack of) .. That is probably our biggest problem in the classroom, I guess.