Discuss it online (SkRW3, p. 9, Developing critical thinking)

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What we read

We have now read and checked our understanding of "Discuss it online," the first reading in Unit 1 of Skillful Reading & Writing Student's Book 3 (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013, p. 9). 

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Our response 

Having read the text a couple of times, Bixby and Scanlon now invite us to respond to the ideas in it in a critical thinking exercise. 

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

Bixby and Scanlon ask two questions. We will do them as two separate pieces of response writing. 

• First question:
  If you had to write a response to the discussion board question, what part of your identity would you mainly write about? Why?
   
• Think for one minute, and then write. Write complete sentences. Our main purpose here is to communicate our ideas fluently and clearly, which is why it's important to write in sentences. However, this is not a formal academic writing assignment. You have six minutes to write one or two paragraphs responding to the question. 
• Remember: write as though your readers have not seen the question. Your writing should make sense to readers who have not seen the question. 
• Do not go on to the second question until I tell you to. We will do something else before that.
   
• Second question:
  Why is the family an important part of a person's identity?
   
• When I tell you to, again think for one minute, and then write for five minutes to respond to this question. 

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References

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

Getting into Unit 1 = Movement (SkR&W3, p7, Discussion point)

What we read 

Bixby and Scanlon introduce each unit with a discussion activity, that is, an opportunity for us to share our ideas on the topic of the unit in a way that relates it to our own lives, ideas and experiences. Unit 1 of book 3 (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013, p.7) does this. 

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My response 

The research solidly shows that brainstorming or discussion activities for groups are more effective if participants start by working individually (O'Connell, 2010; Markman, 2017). In fact, experts at Harvard University's School of Management and elsewhere are sure that this can be very effectively done using online tools (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2015). Blogging is one effective way to do this, which is one reason I've turned Bixby and Scanlon's discussion exercise into a quick blogging discussion. 

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

In a comment, or two if you prefer, share your ideas on these three questions: 

• What are five words that you would use to answer the question, "Who are you?"
   
• What are some of the social groups you belong to?
   
• In what ways are these groups important to you? 

For all of these, you should write full sentences. You will also need to write a few sentences for each of your ideas, giving explanation, examples and other details to clarify and develop your ideas. 

You can address the questions in any order. You can write one comment, or if you prefer, two comments, but not three. So that you don't worry about Bixby and Scanlon's numbers too much, I replaced them with bullets. 

Open a new comment box and start writing. You have seven (7) minutes.   

Useful tip

Your writing will be stronger if you imagine that you are writing for readers who have not seen the questions you are answering. In other words, your paragraphs should make sense independently of the questions. 

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References

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education.
   
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015, April 2). Why brainstorming works better online. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-brainstorming-works-better-online
   
• Markman, A. (2017, May 18). Your team is brainstorming all wrong. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
   
• O'Connell, A. (2010, February 4). Sometimes, it’s better to brainstorm alone. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/02/when-its-better-to-brainstorm 

Welcome to RW2e and to our class blog

What I read

Although I've read a bit in preparation for it, this post has a different purpose than summarizing and responding to something I've read. I want to welcome you to your EAP class on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

So, welcome.

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My response 

Thank you for joining our Saturday class in Reading and Writing for academic purposes. I hope you find the next four weeks useful, productive, also challenging, and perhaps even fun. 

Click on them to
see images full size.

In her foreword to students on page 6, the series editor, Dorothy E. Zemach, gives some strategies for successful learning, one of which is to "be an independent learner" (in Bixby & Scanlon, 2013). This class blog is one way for us to do this. As Zemach suggests we do in her comment, it is one way for you to "find and then share information about ... different topics." Some of the topics you will write about here are the unit topics, but I also like Zemach's suggestion that "reading for pleasure and using the Internet in English" are important, so your writing here will not be limited to the topics of the units that we study over the next four weeks. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education 

Making a Difference & Most Likely to Succeed (SkRW3, pp. 79, 81 & 82, Developing critical thinking)

What we read

We have now read and checked our understanding of both "Making a Difference" (2013, pp. 78-79) and "Most Likely to Succeed" (pp. 80-81). 

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Our response 

As usual, Bixby and Scanlon now invite us to respond critically to the ideas in the readings. 

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

Comment on the following questions, which are the critical thinking questions on page 82 (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013), and then reply to at least two of your classmates' comments. 

Next, respond to the ideas from both "Making a Difference" and "Most Likely to Succeed."

Again, think for a minute or two before you write a new comment in response to these questions. 

• Who is the most successful person you know? How did they achieve their success?
   
• What is an idea that you have not yet followed through? What (has) stopped you?  (We're pressed for time.)

Post this second comment.

Then read and reply to a couple of your classmates'  comments. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

Oak's experience about SAT exam

Almost two years ago I decided to get into the International School of Engineering (CU) after I graduated from high school because I think this faculty is pretty good for my future career and another reason is it's requirement needs only SAT score and IELTS test so I would not to do any GAT/PAT test that might be extremely hard for me but SAT test is not easy too. For the first year I just started to prepare for a test, my score is really poor and it's almost made me giving up but I began to think that I was not study and practice enough and many student who smarter than me want to join to this faculty too. If I'm not trying harder, I will not have any chance. In the last year I took a lot of practice test and finally got a good score for to be applied to this university. This story teach me a lot of lesson. it shows that you can be successful if you try hard enough.

Bank_My own experience I learn a lot during the research process of producing music.

According to my own experience I learn a lot during the research process of producing music. So, In this essay I will talk about that experience in between the process when I work hard in order to express my idea by use music as a tool. What I'm thinking at that time is about how can I talk about history, mode of cultural production and local politics without using concrete language but instead conceptualise a strong idea and turn that idea into my own track. To make a strong idea at first I have to spend a lot of time for research and analyse all information I got, these process is really hard for me because you have to understand on what you read clearly and all the topics I read is not easy to understand because of the academic language and complex issue inside that text. Then I have to analyse about what I read then gatheared sound material then I have to think about the process to combined that sound material. What I learn from this experience is not about the language, idea, history and this process of making music improve the way i think a lot.

June 's learning french is fun

When I was in grade 10, I studied in Arts-francaise so I  have to learn french for the first time. Even though it was hard at first but thank to my teacher's insult I can achieve a high score in french entrance exam. As I told you, I have never known french before so it was very terrible in both pronunciation and vocabulary at that time and in the middle of the first semester there was a french international evaluation test, named DELF, so my school also sent students to take an exam too but my teacher said to me and some of my classmate that it would be fine if you didn't go because you may disgrace our school's fame. I was so upset at that time so I studied harder and harder to make her see that she thought wrongly. Finally, I still go and take a test and I get a good score, which is 91/100. the insult of my teacher also change my thought to french which is  I like to study it and that make me to get a higher score in french entrance exam,95/100,. As such thank to my teacher insult, I have changed my mind to french and achieve a high score in an important exam.

Now: Fear of suffering or suffering itself.

After experiencing unforgettable hard work that made me overcame my own limitation, I found that  personal attitudes, which are ambitious and optimistic, are very important key to success. Threw back to summer break last year, My friend and I were chosen to be a school representatives to join science project competition in Russia. This program was very popular which made many student set high expectation to my group's work. At that time I was very worried because of the peer pressure and also my own limitation. I used to be a quiet student in class, so presentation in front of many people made me feel uncomfortable and this time it became worse because the audience was foreigners who were strangers. Although, I worked very hard in laboratory for the best results of the experiment, I gradually felt more depressed and wanted to give up. What made me changed my attitude toward this competition was my advisor words which were "tell yourself that fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself". That sentence woke me up from depression and change my point of view. I began to think positively that my work was very interesting and wasn't worse than the others. I practiced the presentation everyday in front of the mirror and every time I was free. Finally, I can presented with confidence and won silver medal from the competition.

Krong's the drummer experience

 Every year, there are one event that I always waiting for, Just like most student in my school, "Sport day". It is the biggest event of my school that every student in each year have different activities and job to do, following their own interested. I always want to be a drummer for stand-cheer.It was may dream since I was in year 7. Every time I aw my seniors control all the student on stand by their rhythm, it looks so powerful. The only year that can be the drummer is student in year 11 which was the organizer year of the sport day. Years passed and I became Year 11. I still want to be the drummer of stand cheer, but there many problem that I can't be. First, there are only 4 person that can be. So, My friend would choose people that can play drum the best. since I can't play drums at all,  that day that day announce the rules, I went back and bought drum sticks.  Luckily, my friend who can play drum extremely perfect come to be my teacher and help me. I have to practice very hard. I have only 1 month to play all the rhythms they required and also be able to play it for 30 minutes. I precise 2 hours a day and it does work. I can play all the rhythm but, I cant hold it for 30 minutes. So, I decided to practice more to be 4 hours per day. I was so tired and wanted to stop. But every time I choose to look to the prize. If I could be the drummer.That makes me went through all the tough times. Finally, the precise show the result. I passed. This teach me that if i try hard enough, I can do everything.

Eng's experiences and main factors before getting admitted to university

There are many main factors in order to get admitted to university; for instance, your dream university, required score exam, and good encouragement. First of all, when I was in high school, I had considered about which faculty and university that I wanted to study. At that time, there were only two faculties that I expected, namely, Chulalongkorn University (CU) and Thamasat University (TU). Personally, both of them were the top-raking university in Thailand and it was very difficult for me to choose only one of them. However, then, I talked this story with my parents, they strongly suggested me that I should pick CU to be the first choice and the second choice was TU. After having considered carefully, I decided to study at Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy in CU finally. In addition, before I got admitted to CU, I had to pass the exams of Thailand Admission. Back then, there were a lot of subjects; for instance, English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, and so on for high school students who need to continue their education in university. Fortunately, My faculty required me only two score tests in English and Math seeing that to study in the faculty, students had to have better knowledge in second language and Mathematics. However, unfortunately, I was really bad at English. Therefore, I had to practice extremely hard and every day. After I finished the class in my school, I always went to the English tutorial school, Enconcept, in order to practice my English skills. I have promised to myself that I will keep on practicing English until I die, I won't surely stop doing it because I actually guess that learning and studying are limitless and never too late for everyone. Lastly, to be honest, I can not forget to say about them. My family, friends and teacher, who had always supported me until I achieved my goal, were the most important part of my success. Without them, I would not have been successful like this for sure. From then to my successful day, When I was completely tired, when I wanted to give up on my dream, they stayed by my side and always consoled me and said to me "you could definitely do it, you had to verify your own capabilities so as to let everyone know that you were the best". Every time I heard that I felt like I got plenty of energy and encouragements from them and that made me very ready to clench my teeth and keep pursuing my goal. Hence, these three main factors that I have mentioned above are the most essentail things that you should consider carefully and have them before preparation for your dream university. Please always bare in mind that you are the only unique one in the world, no one is perfectly like you, so there is only you who can do it, JUST DO IT!

Wan's My first roll

Nowadays, we have digital camera that is really easy to use and get high quality photos, but some people, including me, fascinate in film camera that is old, not a first hand, complicated in instruction, basic elements and development. I randomly bought my first film camera two years ago and then I learnt  how beautiful and fascinating of it own is after finishing my first roll. First of all, beautiful does not mean beautiful, understanding how to use film camera fluency is not easy, so it may be blur, unlike what I imagined or out of flame, but I clearly remember that time, and thought me next time, I think it is the real beautiful.

Pim' everyone can cook

When I was young, I watched my mom cooking. I like to eat fried chicken very much but I always seen oil splashes that me so scare to cook any menu which had to fried. Once day, I watched Master Chef Junior Thailand on TV program that inspire me that everyone can cook not depend on your age. I decided to learn with my mom. First menu is omelet that make me cry a lot because I can not do it. I too scare to do by yourself. I watched how to cook on Youtube and the movie about cooking a lot to inspire and get rid of fear oil splashes. I try to learn and read cooking books.The important things is

Bam's incredible London trip without plan!

London is one of the most tourist destination for everyone, isn't?. One day, while I was taking a short break in York Language institute with new friends who did not now each other before, they persuaded me to join the London trip because they booked a hostel for 4 people per room. I admitted because I followed my heart to hope to see the Sherlock's house. Although it was a excellent trip, there are many expected troubles like a dirty hostel and conflict with friend to handle. Firstly, we arrived at a hostel which we searched the review on the internet ,and the reviewer got the average around 7 points from 10. However, when I saw a hostel at the first time, I shouted in my mind "what's.....(swear word)" because this hostel differed from the pictures on the review website. For example, my bedroom was dirty. To be more concise, I saw some yellow traces ,and the restroom that we understood it was private but it's not true. Moreover, the relationship between me and rest of them did not get on well because we had difference of the styles of travelling or the main purpose to come here. For instance, I had to wait for her taking many photos around 1 hour ,so I made a decision to change the traveling group. Then, I contacted other friend who were traveling in London also. We made the new plans by using tour books. One of the most impressive moment was fun that we got on well and the trip was memorable. To conclude, we should be open-minded and be ready to handle every incredible situation. 

Tu's Pubic Speaking Experience

The year before last year, I was selected to be a representative from Chulalongkorn Engineering School to present about my Engineering school in  the Open house day . Speaking in front of more than 1,000 people in the hall was not an easy task for a people who do not have a public speaking experience like me so I felt really excited.Firstly, I enrolled in Public Speaking Class which can help me to prepare my presentation .Secondly, I have rehearsed my speech over and over with my professor in the class so I got a  feedback that can help me develop my presentation.After that ,I have practiced speaking in front of the mirror over and over every night.On the Presentation day , I did it very well as I have practiced too many times so I felt that we can do everything that we want if we have enough ambitious and determination.

Seeing Peter More Clearly

Students in my classes quickly notice that my handwriting is pretty awful, and I had always thought that my ability to draw was the same. I was wrong. In 1990, I learned that the satisfaction of drawing reasonably well came with disciplined practiced of a series of skills, primarily learning how to see more clearly. I was studying Thai at AUA, where the very unusual teaching method had caught my interest while I was working in Taiwan. At AUA, Thai is taught using a natural method that imitates how we learn our native languages, which we have all done without ever studying them or doing a single grammar exercise. I had already studied a few languages the traditional way, from Latin to Chinese, but had never been very pleased with the results. I never thought I would be able to draw, either. However, in one of our chats, Dr. Brown, the founder of AUA’s radical Thai language course, introduced me to similar ideas about learning to draw, specifically citing a book by Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I was not working at the time, and although spending a few hours every day in my Thai classes, I had plenty of time to spare, so decided to give it a go. First, I accepted that this radically new approach, at least for someone from my traditional background, meant I need to do it the way the teacher instructed. The hardest thing was that drawing is slow. I did a few test drawings before I started, and they took only a few minutes. But the first exercise in the book insisted that I spend at least 40 minutes drawing my own hand. Not only did I have to draw very, very slowly, but I was not allowed to look at the paper at all. This seemed really weird to me. I was wondering how I could draw anything if I was not allowed to look at it. But Betty Edwards, the teacher, was right. the careful focus on the subject and the lines in it, in my hand, meant that I was seeing it more clearly than I ever had as I moved my pencil slowly, slowly, slowly to match every twist and turn I saw in front of my eyes, which never left the hand they were drawing. When I looked at my finished work, it didn’t look much like my hand, but that was not the purpose of this first exercise. The next day, I moved on to the next chapter, which allowed a very little looking at the paper. This time, after 40 very careful minutes, during which I fell into a kind of meditative state that Edwards explained was a goal, I drew a hand that looked amazingly like my hand. I was impressed. Over the coming weeks and months, I got more and more caught up in following the instructions and putting in the necessary daily time. After six weeks, I had finished the book, and had learned that I could in fact draw very well. Picasso was in no danger of being overthrown, but had discovered that I thought was a talent that I just didn’t have was in fact a skill that could be developed by following instructions and putting in the necessary practice day after day. From her concluding chapter, I even discovered that the same principles could work with handwriting, but I’ve also learned that if you stop doing the deliberate practice that improves a skill, it withers and dies, as my scratching on the whiteboards at AUA prove.

Getting into Unit 8 = Drive (SkR&W3, p77, Discussion point)

What we read

As they usually do, Bixby and Scanlon introduce Unit 8, "Drive", with a large photograph and some questions to get us thinking about the coming topic and ideas in this unit of Skillful (2013, p. 77). 

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

Two quotations

• "The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win."
  (Roger Bannister,  The Four-Minute Mile, 1955)
   
• "Everybody is born with an equal chance to become just as unequal as he or she possibly can."
  (Anonymous, n.d.)

Discuss these quotations on page 77. 

• Explain their meanings in your own words.
   
• Do you agree or disagree with the quotations? Why?
   

Write two or three paragraphs to address the questions and the quotations in any order. Remember, it's response writing where we want your ideas written down in sentences as quickly as possible. Think for a minute or two, and then write. Then write your next idea, and the next one. And repeat. 

And as always, imagine as you write that your readers have not seen the questions. Because your writing should make sense as an independent piece of work, you might like to copy and paste the quotations into your response. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

A Semester on Ice (SkR&W3, p70, Critical thinking)

What we read

Having now done the global and close reading exercises that check our understanding of the ideas in the reading, Bixby and Scanlon follow their usual practice of inviting us to practice our critical thinking skills by expanding on the ideas in Osman's A Semester on Ice (2013, p. 71).

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

As we did before, read Bixby and Scanlon's questions, think about them for a minute or two, and then write down your response in one or two paragraphs. 

The questions, which you can discuss in any order, are: 

• What types of research take place in Antarctica? 
• Why is this research important? Which type of research are you interested in, and why?
   
• Kamal chose to spend three months in Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth. In spite of the challenges, how do you think he benefited from the experience? 

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Tips for response writing

As usual our main purpose in this response writing exercise is to give a thoughtful, critical response to the prompts, which are Bixby and Scanlon's questions. Use the formal style appropriate to an academic context, and write paragraphs that make sense to readers as independent pieces of writing. The goal is to share your ideas that expand on what we have read, writing fluently to communicate effectively. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education 

Adrift: A book report (SkR&W3, p69, Critical thinking)

What we read

Having now done the global and close reading exercises that check our understanding of the ideas in the reading, Bixby and Scanlon now invite us to practice our critical thinking skills by expanding on those ideas in "Adrift: A book report" and applying them to our own experiences (2013, p. 69).

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

As we did before, read Bixby and Scanlon's questions, think about them for a minute or two, and then write down your response in one or two paragraphs. 

The questions, which you can discuss in any order, are: 

• Few people have survived more than a few weeks in an inflatable raft. How important do you think Callahan's attitude and survival tactics were to his survival for over ten weeks? Give reasons.
   
• Why do you think we like to read books or watch shows about people who survive treacherous situations? 

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Tips for online response writing

If you have looked ahead, you will have seen that the second reading in unit 7 is a couple of entries from a blog. And if you look back to page 9, the first reading in the book is response writing on an online discussion board, which is what our class blog is. Online discussions like this are a common part of many university classes today, even though the writing is a little more relaxed than more formal academic writing. 

The main purposes is to give a thoughtful response to a prompt, which in this case are Bixby and Scanlon's questions. You should use a fairly formal style, and write paragraphs that make sense to readers as independent pieces of writing. The goal is to share your ideas that expand on what we have read, writing fluently to communicate effectively. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education