...in May. Yes, it's a balmy 30 degrees in Fukuoka today, far too warm for my liking. At least the breeze is cooling.
So news. I've been incredibly busy over the last few weeks. Pretty much since the new school year started. Part of this is because my classes are clumped together on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, leaving me with little time during those days to plan. As well, despite being in my 3rd year, I find that every year I still have to make new lessons. Probably this is because most of my lessons suck. But a part of it is because a lot of the classes have changed in terms of curriculum.
Here's an example. My English Expressions class, last year taught solely from the textbook, is now being taught via movies. I'm not personally all too happy with the way it's being taught now; as it stands, we only show parts of the movie, and so for the students the experience is rather disjointed. I'm hoping to use smaller elements (the WKUK "Sniper Business" skit, for example) so that the stories are self-contained, but we'll see how that pans out.
In other news: After much scrambling, I've got a weekly gaming group! A long sought after goal, myself and three other JETs are currently workout through the Scales of War Adventure Path offered by D&D Insider. A total blast. I'm actually saddened that we're skipping a week. It's odd how some skills, like being an effective DM, actually start to rust without use. But I'm getting back into the hang of things.
I guess that's more or less it. I'm just here enjoying a semi-day off. I have some work, but it's not too pressing...
2 comments:
Hey Mike, glad to see that you are busy but good.
I loved that video, and what you are thinking of in terms of educating kids. I agree that skit shows are probably the way to go, if you are going to keep students' attention. Especially comedy, and hope that the humour doesn't get lost in translation. Humour carries the day IMO.
Let me know how this works out, as I am curious to see whether this can be a case study in the future of educating.
And nice work on getting a gaming group! I broke down and bought the new 4th edition D&D books, and man do I want to get in a campaign!
Now to watch some more of these Whitest Kids You Know skits...
Ian
Yeah, problem is that comedy is one of those things that does NOT translate. About the only comedy that works is slapstick. Honestly, I'm not expecting a big reaction from the WKUK skit. Mostly I assume the students will be at a loss as to what to make of it. That said, virtually every line spoken by the Boss is an idiomatic expression, so I'll score big on that one.
Yeah, 4e loses some flexibility in terms of making truly unique characters, but more than makes up for it by being ultra-balanced (ie. one of the characters, a druid controller/striker build, dishes out damage like there's no tomorrow, but one good hit has him bloodied. The warden defender/controller, on the other hand, has little over all damage output, but MAN can he take a beating, when he even gets hit at all).
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