Who are these people?

First 5 correct responses in the comments get extra points.  If you can only guess two out of the three, that's OK. 

Congratulations!

To all of you who guessed that the man above is the youngest teacher (not PA or TA) at GLPS.  The first five correct comments were given points. 

Get Creative!

For those of you who have finished your second skills post I'd like to give you an opportunity to do a little creative writing.  Above, you'll notice a picture I took yesterday of one of the buildings on campus.  It is always one of the first buildings anyone notices when they come here, but after staying here for a while it tends to slip into the background of our minds.  We all know it is there, but nobody really cares or pays any attention to it.  Well, I think it is time to make up for this neglect.  I'd like you to take a nice long look at the picture and make up a story about it.  You can be as creative as you'd like, but keep it decent.  Feel free to write in whatever kind of genre, just use the picture as a jumping off point.  I'll be giving 15 extra points to any really well written stories. 

Post your stories on your blog.  Feel free to use the picture from here. 

Challenge

I always get a little bit confused when students ask me, "What is your hobby?".  It appears that they expect a person to only have one hobby.  I, and most of my friends, are interesting in a number of things and spend a little bit of time doing a lot of different things.  I like, cooking, watching movies, taking pictures, swimming, cycling, gardening, reading, sailing, playing frisbee, yoga, badminton, hanging out with friends, traveling, hiking, and scuba diving. If it is interesting or fun, I'll probably do it.  I've just taken up tennis and went rock climbing a couple of times recently and thought it was really fun. 

Anyway, one of my hobbies (actually a couple of them combined) is responsible for the picture above.  I took the picture when I was on vacation in the Philippines, 12 meters below the surface of the ocean on a dive.  If you are one of the first five people to identify the creature you will receive ten points.  Hint: some of the relatives of this kind of animal have a shell.
Here is a different one.  It is the same type of creature, but a different species:

Standout Blogs of the Week

Hi,
I'd just like to give some recognition to some of the students who did a really good job on their blogs, particularly their skills posts, this week.  An extra ten points each will go to the writer of:
Class 15's "i luv me" http://iloveseanpark.blogspot.com/
Class 17's "GLPS Announcer Note" http://glpsannouncernote.blogspot.com/
Class 16's "Morning Cereal" chocochex16.blogspot.com
Class 16's "Containing Faces Including Ours" http://containingfaces.blogspot.com/
Class 15's "Here at GLPS" http://glpsclass15van.blogspot.com/


Class 15's "I love sports" will get an honorable mention.  I would like to award you some points but I cannot find the material again. 
I have checked all of the skills posts I could find.  If there is no comment at the bottom of your post, I did not see it and you need to tell me your URL again. 
If you think I have overlooked your blog and you deserve some recognition, you can let me know in the comments and I will double check.  There is a lot of good writing out there and I want to give recognition to the people that deserve it.  Tell me if you think you deserve more.
YB

Question!

Here's a little test to see how much you know about the teachers here at GLPS.   Who is the youngest teacher (not TA or PA) teaching here at camp?   The first five correct answers will receive five points each for their class. 
Write your answers in the comments.

Zombie Food!

No, not the food that Zombies eat.  Everyone knows

No, I'm talking about food that is actually a Zombie.  For those of you who don't know what a Zombie is, it is a dead person (or in the following case, a frog) that rises up out of its grave to steal the brains of living creatures. 
Take a look at the video below:

I found this on a news site I read regularly.  They have a blog there devoted to "Sciencey" stuff.  If you are curious about why those things dance, or would like to see the other video that goes with the article, follow the link below:
      http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/08/01/138890515/food-on-a-plate-shouldn-t-move

Yoga

Well,
I guess most of your yoga classes have finished now but I wanted to post a little about it anyway.  I talked to some of the folks in my class and a lot of the boys seem to think the yoga was a little bit ridiculous, and a little painful.  Well, yoga is actually on of my hobbies.  I do it almost every day and think its a really great form of exercise.  It takes a lot of strength, flexibility, agility, and concentration, all of which I think are pretty important.  It also takes practice.  A lot of practice.
Some of you probably already think it's funny that a man does yoga.  These days, in Korea, and even around the world, yoga seems to be associated with women.  It wasn't always the case, the practice was actually restricted to only men when it originally started.
Anyway, I wanted to show you a clip of a man who amazed me when I first started doing yoga.  When he came to Korea a few years ago I even had an opportunity to take a class with him and learn a few things.
Check him out:

And now, no matter what you thought of the yoga class you just had, take a look at this next guy and be happy he is not your teacher.  The poor guy wants to introduce young people to yoga but I think he probably just chases them away.  Write an interesting adjective to describe him in the comments.   The best one(s) will earn ten points.  When you write, tell me what class number you are in.  

Skills Post 1

                                                                                                      Photo by Automania on Flickr.com

Modeling a compare and contrast essay.

For the first skills post, all students will have to write a “Compare and Contrast” essay. In class together we all did a great job talking about the good and bad points of a number of English Language camps that might appeal to young students. They had to look at the benefits of each program and decided which one was the best for the class to attend.

During class I also asked students what a major difference between speaking English and writing English was. For me, good writing always has smooth transitions from one idea to the next. In spoken English you can use all different kinds of techniques to signal small changes in the direction of your conversation; tone of voice, body language, pauses, volume, or eye contact. In writing, the reader needs a little more help. This is where “transition” words become valuable. They signal the changes to the reader and bring different thoughts together. When used well and with good variety, they can take make a simple comparison seems lively and readable.

Here are some of the transition words or phrases that are commonly used with the “Compare and Contrast” essay format:

compared to, similar, alike, both, as well as, although, even though, however, but, on the other hand, despite, contrasted with

As a demonstration of the type of essay I am looking for, I will pretend that I am a Korean student of English in a University class and write about my preference for one the schools below:  (taken from http://esl.about.com/od/teachingintermediatelevel/a/Which-English-Language-School-Do-We-Choose.htm)

British Best

• London, England
• Language instruction 6 hours a day, Monday through Saturday
• Housing with a British family - breakfast included
• 14 days - 12 days of instruction
• Teachers qualified with TEFL Certificate
• 4 Outings included: Tate Gallery, Concert in Royal Albert Hall, The Countryside around London, Cats (Musical)
• Price: $1,500 round-trip airfare included
  

Hawaiian Paradise Learning

• School located in a park on Oahu Island 60 miles from Honolulu
• Language instruction 4 hours a day, Monday through Friday
• Housing in a bungalow 5 minute walk from the beach - breakfast, and dinner included
• 14 days - 10 days of instruction
• English native speaking teachers
• Beach Party, Scuba-Snorkel Safari, Wind-Surfing included
• Price: $1,700 round-trip airfare included
  

English Program at University of Whatchamacallit

• School located in the small town of Paluka in Wyoming, USA, population 40,000
• University staff - all teachers with Masters Degree
• Language instruction 5 hours a day, Monday through Saturday
• Dormitory style housing, breakfast, lunch and dinner included
• 14 days - 12 days of instruction
• Nature walks, meet American students party (party to make introductions between US students and international students), skiing at weekends included
• Price: $1,400 round-trip airfare included
  

I'm sure nearly everyone would agree that one of the best ways to study English is to spend some time abroad and immerse yourself in a culture where English is spoken all around you. Any program that enables a student to speak in a natural way on a daily basis is bound to be very beneficial. Even though each of these programs may be beneficial, the benefits are not the same and each program has some drawbacks. 

On the surface it seems that they are all fairly easily acceptable programs. They all have a minimum of four hours a day of English instruction by highly educated and trained teachers. Each offers the opportunity for a Korean student to experience a new culture and learn from new teachers. All three offer great activities outside of the instruction of the camp, although they do have very different types of activities. 

One of the important things for me to think about when I am choosing a place to go is the quality of the instruction. Compared to the University of Whatchamacallit and the Hawaiian Paradise learning, I think that British Best has the best instruction. All of the teachers there have TEFL certificates, which means that they have been trained to teach English to speakers of other languages. Even though the teachers at the University of Whatchamacallit have Masters Degrees, I don't really know what subject they studied and I don't know if they have any experience teaching. In contrast to both of those, Hawaiian Paradise learning doesn't seem to care about qualifications at all. Their ad says that their teachers are “native speakers” which means they could have very little or no experience teaching. 

I also look for opportunities to interact and speak English with local people. The University of Whatchamacallit looks attractive because, on the one hand, it has a party where we can meet American Students and we can stay in an American dorm. On the other hand, though, I can't be sure that the dorm won't be filled to the brim with Koreans while the American students stay far away. Compare that to the interaction promised by the Hawaiian school and it seems like you are guaranteed a lot. They make it seem like you will be at the beach by yourself all day. While I could probably find a way to meet some people in both of those situations, I don't think that either one is as good as British Best. A home-stay situation with a British family will let me learn all the different aspects of the language, not just what we study in class. 

In short, although I've considered other factors, the two reasons above are enough for me to choose British Best. I feel that the quality of the instruction within the classroom will be better than both the others. Also, staying in another family's home will be a great help to my language skills, despite the difficulties I may have adjusting to a different household.

Points!

I've talked to all my classes about the point system I'll be using to encourage some active blogging.  Here are some of the things I came up with.  It may change later in the camp, I may decide to add some more categories.  For now:


Skills posts: 15 points
Fun posts: 10 points

Comment on another persons blog: 1 point for each comment
Exemplary blog (if you are cited for doing very good work): 10 points
Comment of the week (for an especially insightful, helpful, or funny comment): 10 points
Post one of your own photos: 5 points (available one time only)
Post one of your own videos: 5 points (available one time only)
Answer a trivia question that I have posted: 5 points
Comment on changes or improvements that I have made on my blog: 5 points

There are, of course, ways to lose points:
For negative and unhelpful comments: Minus 5 points
For generally lazy blogging: Minus 10 points

PLEASE KEEP TRACK OF YOUR OWN POINT TOTAL.  I will do my best to follow all the blogs and all the comments but, in case I am overwhelmed and miss something you posted, you will need to have your own point total and show me where you have commented.  

If you have any suggestions for other ways to earn points, post them in the comments.  Also, if you have a suggestion for prizes for the class with the highest point total, post them in the comments.

Leadership and "The First Follower"

Throughout the camp, I'll be using this blog in a number of ways.  I'll be instructing and giving assignments, showing you some examples of ways to answer those assignments, and talking about one of the underlying reasons that students come here; to understand "Leadership".   I know it can be a boring subject, and even the best speakers can have a hard time getting kids to stay awake when we want them to learn something:

Everyone has a few ideas about what makes leadership so important, or how to be a good leader.  The narrator of the video below makes some interesting points, though.   Watch it.  Think.  Then answer these two questions:  1. Are you a version of the shirtless dancing guy?  2. Would you have had the courage to be his first follower?

What would I have done? Well... I would have followed... maybe.  Surely not first, though!
As always, your comments are welcome below,
YB


Update:
Here is a transcript (Official transcript at http://sivers.org/ff) of the video for those of you who can't listen to the audio:

If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons:

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!

Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it's not about the leader anymore - it's about them, plural. Notice he's calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.

The 2nd follower is a turning point: it's proof the first has done well. Now it's not a lone nut, and it's not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.

A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers - not the leader.

Now here come 2 more, then 3 more. Now we've got momentum. This is the tipping point! Now we've got a movement!

As more people jump in, it's no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there's no reason not to join now. They won't be ridiculed, they won't stand out, and they will be part of the in-crowd, if they hurry. Over the next minute you'll see the rest who prefer to be part of the crowd, because eventually they'd be ridiculed for not joining.

And ladies and gentlemen that is how a movement is made! Let's recap what we learned:

If you are a version of the shirtless dancing guy, all alone, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals, making everything clearly about the movement, not you.

Be public. Be easy to follow!

But the biggest lesson here - did you catch it?

Leadership is over-glorified.

Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he'll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:

It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.

There is no movement without the first follower.

We're told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

Introduction

Whenever I let my students ask me personal questions, they come up with a pretty standard list:
How old are you?
Are you married?
Where are you from?
How long have you been in Korea?
What is your favorite Korean food?
Why did you come to Korea?

While all those questions may be interesting, after ten years in Korea giving the standard answers  begins to seem a little bit boring.  Actually, only one of them will even give you any insight into my personality.  How much can you really learn about a person if you know that their favorite food is Kimchi Bokkum-bap?
Instead of giving you my noral answers to all of the questions, I'll answer one of the questions with two lies and one true answer.  If you think you know which one is true, leave a comment on the blog. 

Question:
Why did you come to Korea?
1.  I fell in love with a Korean girl who was studying in my home country.  When she had to move back to Korea because her visa expired I decided that I could not live without her, so I quit my job at my local government office and found a job here.   I started in finance but switched to teaching after I came to GLPS and started working with really nice students. 
2. I was working for an internet based sales company but I didn't really like my job.  My apartment rental contract was going to expire and I needed a new place to stay.  Most of the people in my family are teachers of some sort and I had always wanted to teach and travel so I looked all over the world for opportunities.  Korea was the first place to give me a reasonable situation so I decided to move here. 
3. There was a lot of crime in the town I lived in.  The police were investigating a number of different bank robberies that they believed were all done by the same person.  I don't know why, and I am really not guilty, but they decided to begin investigating me.  The police called me in to their offices so many times that I decided I needed to leave town, and the country.  I took all my savings, got on a plane and started to travel.  When I finally began to run out of money I was in the Philippines.  I quickly found out that I could work in a camp in Korea and I contacted KMLA for an opportunity.  They liked my interview so I came here. 

Leave a comment telling me which one you believe and I will tell you more in another blog post.   

Getting Started

Well,
Since a blog is an outward representation of who we are, what we like, and what we want out of life, let's all start by telling our audience who we are, what we like, and what we want out of life.  Or, rather, let's just write about who we are and what we want out of this blog. 

Assignment 1:

   In several paragraphs, tell our audience some information about yourself.  Do not be too specific.  Since all of our blogs have pseudonyms, we should try to avoid telling people our name, our hometown, or any information that might easily identify us as the owner of the blog.  You should try to find a balance between being vague or purposely unclear about your important personal information but specific when identifying different aspects of your personality.  I want this:

I live in a small town and there isn't really much to do so every chance I get to go into the city is refreshing.

Not this:

My name is Kim Dong Hyun and I am 12 years old and I go to Soekyo Elementary School.  I live in Seoul, City, Mapo-gu and I like it very much. 

 When you have finished giving us a little information about yourself, tell us about your plans for the blog.  Some people will be more likely to return to your blog if you clearly explain what kind of things you will be posting about.   If you find another blog that seems interesting, you can even use some of the features of this program to alert you every time a writer that you like has entered a new post. 

This first assignment does not have any length requirements.  You can write as much or as little as you'd like.  

Make me happy,
YB