ZOTERO:new tool

Yesterday, our ARW class was in ILC, because we used the computers. We learn how to use "Zotero" I'm not good at using computer, so it was complicated for me. However, I can't live in this information-oriented society without using a computer. I need efforts. Hum~~~~~~~~~.


Final test is coming soon. Then, Summer vacation is coming soon!!! I can't wait to go to Canada. I'm looking forward to it. Looking back this term, I feel time flies like an arrow. Although study is very hard for me, college life is filled with new things and happiness. New friends are my emotional support. Moreover, I can do my favorite dance than before! Thanks!

MacBook Air ~light as if air~

Our class finally reached the end of 5 paragraphs essay. Last one we are going to write is Introduction part. You think it is strange that to write Introduction last, but it isn’t. We understand the topic well after we write the body paragraph and conclusion. So, we will write Introduction. Deadline of 5 paragraphs essay is next Monday! 

Yesterday, I went back to the dormitory. I woke up at 4:30 and left the home at 5:10, so I was very sleepy. I had practice of smooth steppers. Next week, we will show the part of the summer event dance in front of members of smooth steppers. Therefore, I have to practice hard. Another thing that I care about is team dance. I and one of my dormitory friends planned to appear the summer dance  event as “Zels." Our dormitory name is zelkova house. So we decided this team name. We chose the music, but dance have not finished. It is “YABAI." And I also have Kick out, a dormitory event for students who will leave the dorm on June. I will also dance “carry pamyu pamyu (Japanese musician)” in this event. Very busy. 

By the way, my parents bought me MacBook Air last Sunday. I am writing this blog from MacBook now:)

Never give up

I read the article about thems of "the old man in the sea". It said Santiago continued to struggle against nature, other fishmen, fish and sharks. Death is inevitable, but he struggled against defeat. This shows his pride, honor and brave. 

By the way, I am in Chiba now. Chiba is my home town. The reason why I am in home town is SEA program. I'm going to go to Canada next month, so I have to prepare for it. I have a summer dance event in7/4, and departure of SEA program is 7/6. No time! Then, I decided to prepare this week. Today, I am in Ario(shopping mole that is near my house) with my family. We have finished shopping, lunch now. 

What are 3Bs?

First, I will introduce what are 3Bs. These are Background, Biography and Bias in fiction. Now, our class are reading "Old man in the sea," to we should understand 3Bs of OMS. Background means the situation and event that could influence the author at the time of writing a book. Biography is information about the author. Bias is a kind of prejudice that the author brings to the world of the book. If we know these 3 things about the novel, we can enjoy more.

YABAI!

Our class are learning about OSM(the old man in the sea) written by Hemingway now. I read an article about Hemingway. I was surprised that he was not the greatest American writer of the 20th century, but he was reminded more than five decades after his death. Though I had never read his book, I knew his name. 





Today, we had a swimming class. I went into swimming pool at the first time in this year! So, it was very fun. But, I feel very tired now. I have a lot of homework to do. Do you know how Japanese students describe this situation? We say, "Yabai,"  "Owakon" and "Thunda". See you~!!

Happiness!

Friday was CWT(course wide test) day from LBH(the little brown handbook) and print of fallacies. It was difficult because there are similar fallacies. I couldn't distinguish correctly, but after I had heard teacher's explanation, it became clear. I am always in a hurry when I take tests, but this time there were a lot of time. So I could concentrate on the test. 



Yesterday was the day of the sea program explanatory meeting. I will go to Victoria of Canada this summer! The explanatory meeting  was so long so I was  tired. It is important to prepare before I go to foreign countries; I have a lot of things to do. I heard that people who went to Victoria brought "Yukata"(Japanese traditional wearing) last year, and I couldn't find "Yukata." So, I' m considering about it.  I also went to a social gathering of sea program member in Kichijyoji. It was very fun. 



By the way, I want to talk about "Happiness" moment the latest days. When I arrive zelkova dorm, I feel relieved and quite comfortable. To go to a convenience store and buy ice cream after club activity is also my "Happiness" moment. One of my friends use the word "Happiness" so much time, I am affected by this friend.

compatible

Our class learned about Fallacies. Topic is these. 

･Begging the question・Non-sequitur・Red herring・Appeal to pity・Band wagon・Ad hominem・Sweeping generalization 



I also reconsidered about Writing Help (Support) Desk. We can get advice and improve essay in the library. I know about it, but I have not used, so I want to use this system.





I belong to dance the club called smooth steppers and practice began this Monday. I decided to join hip hop genre. I  enjoyed it. July 4th is the day of first dance event for freshman. I will appear it as a member of hip hop team. Also, I and one of my dormitory friend teamed up and plan to participate this dance event. Therefore, I will become busier. I have to try hard both study and club.

The college life

We analyzed the essay about death penalty in class. Analyzing other's essay helps to improve own essay, because we can notice good and bad quality of the essay.  

I met my friend's mother on Monday. She came ICU because of her job. I talked with her about the life at ICU. Thorough talking I gradually noticed that I  enjoy the college life. Though to do many assignments is very  hard, I live a full life at here. 

By the way, yesterday was Korean night day. I practiced Korean idle dance in 4 days. At first, I  hesitated to  do the dance in Korean night. But I enjoyed this event. I wanted to practice more, but there was no time. Next time I will show dance in front of many people, I want to satisfy with my performance. I thank to my dormitory friends for making dinner when I was tired on last holiday.

  

It's hard to find evidence

I watched following videos. 

* Evidence for argument 
* Tests for an Argument Subject 
* Criteria for Weighing Evidence 
* Analyzing Assumptions 

I wrote 2nd paragraph of essay and realized that how difficult to find good evidences. It's too hard so I took a lot of time to find evidences. My argument is nuclear power should be banned. I thought it is easy topic to write, but it isn't. Nuclear power problem is deep, so I have to study more about it. 

This holiday was very busy because I had to remember dance for "Korean night". Our dance team will participate "Korean night" on this Tuesday. Actually, I don't know much about "Korean night" and I started practicing dance on last Friday. So I have much anxiety now. Oh my goodness.         

Friday

I have only 1 class to attend on Friday, so I have neglected to do home work until now. I always think that "I will do home work as soon as possible" after the classes, but this kind of will is soon will be forgotten. What should I do? Please give me advice!

I watched the video about peer editing. We should do peer editing after writing an essay. It helps a lot to improve own essay. Peer editing gives us new point of view. If we work oneself, we can't realize the mistakes or unclear part. But too concentrate on find grammar mistakes is not good, because "the Grammarly" (the soft can find grammar mistakes) can do it.

I will attend the class from 3:40 pm and it is the final class of this week. Happy Friday~:)

To write a nice essay

I watched the following video.  

http://9oo.jp/opwOZ1

http://9oo.jp/dhRTX5

To write a nice essay, what should we do? First, research is a crucial part to write an essay. It's difficult to find information in English, but research supports writer's opinion. We can strengthen an essay topic with research. Secondly, outlining can help plan an essay. Before we write an essay, we should think of the structure of an essay. It helps to write an essay more clearly. After writing an essay, we have to polish it. Peer edits each other and omit extra part. These things I mentioned in this blog are important. I'm going to write 1 paragraph of the essay from now. Bye~~~~~~~~~~~~:)

After the school retreat

I went to Yamanashi for the school retreat. It was very fun. I saw stars and stayed up all night with my section member. I also made new friends! Activity in the ground was the nicest memory during the retreat. My team won the first place!  

Now, I have to look reality. I have to do homework! yeah~!!

 By the way, I will talk about last ARW class. We graded other student's CWT test and learned how to use Ever note. I think Ever note is very useful tool, but I haven't made use of it well. To write a nice essay, I will use Ever note efficiently. 

I will write about what did I learn from last ARW class. First, we discussed our essay topic. Each of our member of the group explain the topic and what will we write. I also learned how to organize the essay. My essay topic is "nuclear power should be banned." I didn't have clear view of my essay, but after tutorial by my teacher Dan, I can organize the my essay. I think it is also important to brainstorm before we write the essay.

No to racism

I watched the following video. 

http://9oo.jp/tv2349

This video's main purpose is to oppose racial discrimination. They ate banana and said "We are all monkeys!" to show people are equal. Racial discrimination is a huge problem in the world. Do you know "Martin Luther King, Jr"? He made enormous efforts to solve the discrimination. It is very difficult to affect to the world like him, but we can contribute to this significant problem.  Though what we can do is small things, it is meaningful.

Before I kick the bucket!!!

I will show you my bucket list today!

・To talk with Jaejung 

Jaejung was a member of my favorite musician group called　"Tohoshinki". He is from Korea. I love Jaejung, so I want to talk with him even if once in my life. 

・To take a round-the-world tour

I like to go to tour. I went to "Kyoto" alone last spring vacation. To go to the place that I haven't went is very exciting. It is the chance to know about other cultures and people. I know that to take a round-the -world tour cost me much money. I will earn enough money to go to the tour.

   

・To get marriage 

I think it is possible. Maybe..........

・To get a job that I want to do.

My dream was to be a teacher, but I don't know what I want to be now. Even now, I'm interested in to be a teacher, but I'm not sure. I will try to think and look for job that I really want to do.

These are my bucket list. There are many things that I want to do before I die, but main is these. 

Photo Credit: http://9oo.jp/fxFIJM

I learned how to link pictures. I didn't know that there is a way to shorten URL. It is very useful. 

Netiquette

Welcome to my blog! Thank you for reading my blog! Do you know the word "Netiquette"? Actually, I hadn't know this word before I heard it from my teacher. This word is a compound word of "Inter-net" and "etiquette".　When you use Inter-net, you have to follow the  "Netiquette".

I will introduce the 2 main rule of "Netiquette". First,not to speak ill of others.  It is also moral of real world. Don't do this in the Inter-net too. It can be a cause of quarrel and opposition. Second role is that to treat personal information carefully. To protect personal information is very important. There are many people who try to get personal information and make bad use of it.

Let's enjoy and communicate in the Inter-net with good Netiquette .

"I'm always really sleepy. I don't want to wake up early every morning". " It is trouble some to talk with new friends". "I don't want to go school! There are a lot of assignments!" Don't you say these words? If you said, watch out. It is the sign of "GoGatsuByo". "GoGatsuByo" is the Japanese word. You don't want to anything if you suffer from "GoGatsuByo". "GoGatsu" means　May in English. We have Golden Week in May, so after Golden Week we tend to want to rest more. 

What should we do to avoid "GoGatsuByo"? It is important to lead a well-regulated life even if holidays. Staying up late is not good. You should go to bed early and wake up early. It is also effective to make good friends. You want to go to school if you want to see your friends.  

How the brain works

I read the article of brain works. The source of this article is following URL.
http://theweek.com/article/index/248669/12-things-we-know-about-how-the-brain-works

We know 12 things about how the brain works.
1. Exercise boots brain power
2. Your brain is a survival organ
3. Every brain is wired differently
4. We don't pay attention to boring things
5. Repeat to remember
6. Remember to repeat
7. If you sleep well, you'll think well
8. Stressed brains don't learn the same way
9. It's important to stimulate more senses
10. Vision trumps all other senses
11. Male and female brains are different
12. We are powerful and natural explorers

I'm interested in 3 of these, No.4, 10 and 11. The interesting point of 4 is that when 10 minutes have passed, our attention to the lecture decreases suddenly. I'm very astonished because it is too short. If it is true, we have to do something emotionally relevant every 10 minutes to concentrate the lecture. No.10 is also remarkable. Humans are very good at remembering pictures. Only texts, we can remember the information about 10% after 3 days. On the other hand, we can remember 65% of information with pictures. Therefore, to use pictures in the textbooks is very effective way to study. Finally, I want to talk about difference between Male and female brains. The difference between brains effect type of psychiatric disorders. Males exhibit more antisocial behavior.Most alcoholics and drug addicts are male. Females have more anxiety. Therefore, to know about brains can be useful to solve the psychiatric disorders.

There is a chance we can see another intelligent life in the universe

"Human beings are the only intelligent life in the universe". I completely disagree with this hypothesis. I like to watch stars and also like to go to planetarium. Every time I watch stars, I feel how enormous the universe is. Human beings don't know much about the universe. Though our scientific technique is developing, the universe is filled with riddles and mysteries. The universe is infinite space and have limitless stars. We can only see few of these.  Why we can say "Human beings are the only intelligent life in the universe"? There are no reasons for this hypothesis. There must be another intelligent life in the universe.  

Hybrid college

Japanese education and U.S. education is quite different. Of course, there are some similar points like students prepare for "white-color careers", but I want to talk about differences between Japanese college and U.S. college and what is ICU as "Hybrid college".

First big difference is the entrance examination. In Japan, to enter the college is very very hard, but easy to graduate. Japanese college is looking for a parson who has high ability. On the other hand, U.S. college is easy to enter, hard to graduate. Comparing U.S. college students,  Japanese college students tend to seldom study themselves after entering the college. What is the purpose of to enter the college? We paid a lot of money for the college to play and have fun? Playing and having fun is important,  however study is also very important for college students. 

Secondly, Japanese students have to choose the major before entering the college and to change the major is difficult while U.S. college students have many elective courses at university. It is early to limit our major before entering the college.  

Third, lecture style is also different. There are two way communication in lecture, teachers to students and students to teachers. In Japan, most lectures are teaching style. It is passive style. In U.S. many discussions, and many students to teachers communications. 

Finally, what is ICU as "Hybrid college".  ICU was founded by the cooperation of both U.S. and Japan. ICU is still Japanese but more like U.S. university than other Japanese university. We can choose the major after entering college. We have many English discussions, students to teachers communications and assignments. We have a lot of studies to do, but less than U.S. students. I thank to ICU.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

My high school teacher said "Where there’s a will, there’s a way" when I entered the high school. The meaning of this proverb is If you have a will to something, a way is opened to you automatically. In other words, you can achieve almost all things in this world If you try hard. Imagine if you belong to tennis club and  you are very busy because of assignments and  a part-time job. In this situation, other people may say that you should quit one thing. However, if you have very strong will, you can do 3 things.  My high school teacher liked this proverb. He wanted his students to try hard as he did when he was a high school student, so he told us this proverb. My high school class teacher was same throughout 3 years. Therefore, this proverb is a familiar to me. Our life can change if you want to and try.

What is the perfect wedding?

・For men, a bride should be a person who really love a groom. For women, a groom should be a person who really love a bride. Not a marriage by arrangement and both of them are 20~30 years old are ideal. Having common hobby and interest is nice. It is important that the house which live in after wedding have been decided.

・The wedding day is sunny. The church is stood in the hill.  Surrounded by many friends and relatives. Everyone celebrate the wedding. Filled with smile, fun, and interesting talk. There are many delicious foods. We can hear nice BGM.

・A groom and a bride should say "Thank you" for their parents. Their friends made picture movie and show in the wedding. Whoever participate the wedding  ceremony can feel happy and romantic mood.