Just finished Frank McCourt's autobiographical book The Teacher Man. It was an interesting insight into a teacher's mind. He was one of those inspirational teachers kids remembered after they've grown up. So many stories of students' lives that affected him. And it shed some light on his own education journey as a Trinity doctoral candidate.
Teachers that stand out in my student career are Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Morrell. Mrs. Nichols was my Grade 3 teacher who introduced us to the boy wonder detective Encyclopedia Brown who always seemed to crack such challenging cases and C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (when the cartoon version came out). She also recognized I needed a bit of an extra hand in the language side of things (Note: Cantonese was technically my mother tongue ... I've been told I learned my basic English from Sesame Street prior to entering kindergarten). She also was there one who assigned me extra 'homework' to help me improve my comprehension skills. Mrs. Morrell was my Grade 7 Science teacher. The most patient, encouraging and gentle person - ever. She somehow made science interesting. She encouraged me to open up and speak what was on my mind.
In high school, Mr. Kroiter's Social Studies and English classes were always entertaining and educational. He had a good sense of humour and knew how to handle kids. He once transformed the yardstick into the sword Hamlet used. He was hip enough to get the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet, too.
I've been to three universities, too. And there are memorable profs, of course. History Prof. Pitsula had a photographic memory. That or he memorized all his notes and students' faces with flashcards. Never did see him look at a piece of paper while lecturing. While knowledge of Canadian history was impressive, his interest was infectious. To help bring the history to life, he would bring in clips ... such as Tommy Douglas giving a campaign speech. Broadcast 101 ... CBC's Vinyl Cafe host Stuart McLean taught us the basics of radio reporting. He had a wicked sense of humour and was such an inspiration to us green j-school students. 502 Classification of Information Prof Davies made cataloging fun!
These teachers cared about their students and imparted more than just curriculum and book knowledge. Like McCourt, they helped students develop their potential in preparation for a journey called life.
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Thursday, November 9
Monday, April 17
art of language
Some of my relatives have been glued to their television screen watching a Chinese mini-series on DVD. Out of sheer boredom and a pinch of curiousity, I have joined to watch bits and pieces of this long dramatic series. This series is performed in Cantonese, technically the first language I was taught by my parents. (English eventually became my more dominant language).
While I was watching the show, I understood the drift of what was going on ... to some degree ... with my meagre vocabulary. Thankfully my relatives are patient enough to explain what certain words or phrases mean if I do ask.
Somehow, this sparked a further discussion about the basis and cultural context of the language. An angry actor insulted another actor (in the series) by using a very graphic metaphor. He could have said, "You have nothing." But he said it in a way that was condescending and insulting. Unfortunately I don't recall the exact imagry, but it was like saying, "You only have the clothes on your back." My wise relative then went on to say that since the Chinese use lots of imagry and metaphors, the langauge is great for writing poetry.
It's amazing how such the tool of language, no matter what it is, can be used for destruction and demoralization or encouragement and edification.
While I was watching the show, I understood the drift of what was going on ... to some degree ... with my meagre vocabulary. Thankfully my relatives are patient enough to explain what certain words or phrases mean if I do ask.
Somehow, this sparked a further discussion about the basis and cultural context of the language. An angry actor insulted another actor (in the series) by using a very graphic metaphor. He could have said, "You have nothing." But he said it in a way that was condescending and insulting. Unfortunately I don't recall the exact imagry, but it was like saying, "You only have the clothes on your back." My wise relative then went on to say that since the Chinese use lots of imagry and metaphors, the langauge is great for writing poetry.
It's amazing how such the tool of language, no matter what it is, can be used for destruction and demoralization or encouragement and edification.
Sunday, January 1
destined to be an observer?
this weekend, i had the luxury of wandering aimlessly in a bookstore. a dangerous thing, i tell you, when i'm starving to sink my teeth in an engrossing book. it's especially dangerous when it's boxing week sale at chapters. i spotted amy tan's "The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings." i really didn't need to buy any more books, so thank goodness my rationale part of my brain thought ... why not just borrow the book from the library?
i'm done about a quarter of the book of amy tan's memoirs. amy tan moved a lot of times in her childhood, changed lots of schools and had a mother who liked to "scare her straight" (that's my inference). isolation or alienation seems to be a common theme of great or notable writers. she expresses this process of being alone or alienated as painful, but beneficial, in the writing process. she does say that this alienation is not a prerequisite for producing good writing.
as a former "writer" of non-fiction (aka news), i identified with amy tan's comments on the relationship of alienation and writers. ever since i was little, i've pretty much adopted the viewpoint of an observer. i kept journals throughout high school and university (paper version before blogs were in use) maybe it was a coping mechanism for moving eight or nine times by the time i was 14 years old. or attending five different schools by the time i hit grade 5.
being alone allows writers to have the physical, mental and emotional space to mull over random tangents or think through ideas and their premises and implications. alone time is so precious when synthesizing life experiences and mental processes ... to attempt to make sense or explain things. this seems rather obvious, but there's a paradox: in order to produce a work that has somewhat universal appeal, the writer must retreat into alienation in order to craft the nuances and details of the story.
i'm done about a quarter of the book of amy tan's memoirs. amy tan moved a lot of times in her childhood, changed lots of schools and had a mother who liked to "scare her straight" (that's my inference). isolation or alienation seems to be a common theme of great or notable writers. she expresses this process of being alone or alienated as painful, but beneficial, in the writing process. she does say that this alienation is not a prerequisite for producing good writing.
as a former "writer" of non-fiction (aka news), i identified with amy tan's comments on the relationship of alienation and writers. ever since i was little, i've pretty much adopted the viewpoint of an observer. i kept journals throughout high school and university (paper version before blogs were in use) maybe it was a coping mechanism for moving eight or nine times by the time i was 14 years old. or attending five different schools by the time i hit grade 5.
being alone allows writers to have the physical, mental and emotional space to mull over random tangents or think through ideas and their premises and implications. alone time is so precious when synthesizing life experiences and mental processes ... to attempt to make sense or explain things. this seems rather obvious, but there's a paradox: in order to produce a work that has somewhat universal appeal, the writer must retreat into alienation in order to craft the nuances and details of the story.
Sunday, May 15
Sunday, April 17
signs of spring
this weekend was relaxing.
finally made it to the ottawa public library ... took out a few books ... explored their library. indulged in reading "real simple" magazine -- my fave publication (practical yet picturesque!) took out "confessions of a shopaholic" for some light reading, "the missing manual for Mac OS X" for practical purposes, "the swashbucklers" by knowlton nash for nostalgic reasons and "paper shadows" by wayson choy for cultural enrichment and insight.
met with a fellow co-op student for coffee. she and i will be staying in the nation's capital for a second term.
we discussed the student evaluations. we talked about how politeness in some cultures can be seen as not being assertive enough, or possibly even passive. my friend, being a caucasian, noted that Canadians are pretty polite, too. women, are still, to some degree, socialized to be submissive. so, we agreed that assertiveness or passiveness could be measured by varying degrees ... depending on the person ... maybe librarians are also a bit "timid" because they don't want to offend patrons ... hmmm ...
as we had this discourse, we sat by the rideau canal and soaked in the sun. we also observed the sad state of debris leftover which the snow once concealed. the national spelling bee tour bus was parked on the other side of the canal. kids were out taking advantage of the balmy weather (we think). kids. sign of new life. the two seem to go well together.
when another season starts, particularly spring, it's a time to plan for the summer ... for relaxation. sowing the seed for the warm weather to grow something or other, as gardeners and farmers do. summer slips by so swiftly, if not scrutinized. so many plans, potential ... but unless there is intention and purpose and some goals established early in the season, fall comes more quickly than we wish.
finally made it to the ottawa public library ... took out a few books ... explored their library. indulged in reading "real simple" magazine -- my fave publication (practical yet picturesque!) took out "confessions of a shopaholic" for some light reading, "the missing manual for Mac OS X" for practical purposes, "the swashbucklers" by knowlton nash for nostalgic reasons and "paper shadows" by wayson choy for cultural enrichment and insight.
met with a fellow co-op student for coffee. she and i will be staying in the nation's capital for a second term.
we discussed the student evaluations. we talked about how politeness in some cultures can be seen as not being assertive enough, or possibly even passive. my friend, being a caucasian, noted that Canadians are pretty polite, too. women, are still, to some degree, socialized to be submissive. so, we agreed that assertiveness or passiveness could be measured by varying degrees ... depending on the person ... maybe librarians are also a bit "timid" because they don't want to offend patrons ... hmmm ...
as we had this discourse, we sat by the rideau canal and soaked in the sun. we also observed the sad state of debris leftover which the snow once concealed. the national spelling bee tour bus was parked on the other side of the canal. kids were out taking advantage of the balmy weather (we think). kids. sign of new life. the two seem to go well together.
when another season starts, particularly spring, it's a time to plan for the summer ... for relaxation. sowing the seed for the warm weather to grow something or other, as gardeners and farmers do. summer slips by so swiftly, if not scrutinized. so many plans, potential ... but unless there is intention and purpose and some goals established early in the season, fall comes more quickly than we wish.
Sunday, April 3
Sunday, March 27
decisions, decisions, decisions
lately, i've been pondering whether or not i should go digital ... in terms of cameras ...
there are several factors when considering changing from film to digital photography ...
what type of photography will be done? what type of quality is desired? is most work done for black and white and colour or just colour? is this for fun? for professional work?
a friend of mine is looking to sell his fancy digital manual camera ... very tempting offer...
but, i can't justify spending a lot of money on a camera when i'm still trying to finance my education. the only way i could justify, or rationalize, this major purpose is to view it as an investment ... to do freelance work. however, with the crazy student load, i'm not sure if this freelance option is honestly that viable.
sigh. well, i guess i'll have to sleep on it. again.
there are several factors when considering changing from film to digital photography ...
what type of photography will be done? what type of quality is desired? is most work done for black and white and colour or just colour? is this for fun? for professional work?
a friend of mine is looking to sell his fancy digital manual camera ... very tempting offer...
but, i can't justify spending a lot of money on a camera when i'm still trying to finance my education. the only way i could justify, or rationalize, this major purpose is to view it as an investment ... to do freelance work. however, with the crazy student load, i'm not sure if this freelance option is honestly that viable.
sigh. well, i guess i'll have to sleep on it. again.
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