Random Quote
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
---- Evan Esar
As soon as I buy the moose head, I have to go pick up some KY jelly.
---- Mary Roninette Kowal
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.
---- Jack Lynch
I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
---- Albert Einstein
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.
---- Tenser said the Tensor
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
---- Albert Einstein
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
---- Arnold Toynbee
Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own.”
---- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 -1832)
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
---- Isaac Asimov
I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
---- Terry Pratchett
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
---- Thomas A. Edison
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
---- Thomas Merton
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
---- Kin Hubbard
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats.
---- anonymous
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.
---- Robert Copeland
Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
---- Kelvin Throop III
Summer Vacation
Summer Vacation officially began about three minutes ago when I submitted my grades and emailed off the last of the reports that I had to write. I am now free until September 1. This however does not mean I will be sitting around drinking margaritas all day - no, I’m going to be smoking busy as I launch my new career in web design and take on a bunch of extra work on the side - here’s the to do list as it stands:
- private kids class twice a week 1 hour each time. This is actually more stress than you think as I don’t really enjoy teaching kids, but the money is good.
- private company class twice a week 7:30-9:00 am. This is easy, but involves getting up early some travel and prep - but the money is good and I enjoy it.
- In august I’ll be picking up 3 extra private classes for a woman going on vacation - this will be a lot of work, but it’ll also be a huge chunk of cash that will help us pay off the house loan faster
- This semester I’ve been doing classroom research and it is now time to compile the data and write an article for publication. My co-researcher has also submitted an application to present at TESOL 2009. If we get accepted I’ll be going to Denver at the end of March.
- I’ve recently launched a new web design venture. This is essentially my career transition plan for when I move back to Canada. This involves a lot of work and learning on my part:
- Just finished redesigning this site, but it still needs a little work
- received my first confirmed client, but this client is using a software that I am unfamiliar with (wordpress). I was planning on learning it later, but I guess it’s time to dive in.
- I need to figure out how much to charge, how to receive payments, and a billing cycle
- I still need to get my portfolio site (web business) off the ground. Was going to do that next, but paying clients get priority.
- I want to redo this site, my Korean learning blog, and set up a teaching portfolio site for myself.
- design and print business cards
- Learn JavaScript (which is giving me headaches already) and Jquery.
- I have another client setting up a business site for the first time - but for this I get to use Expression Engine so will be more fun.
- Yesterday I restarted my exercise routine - 5km on the running machine, chin-ups and push-ups daily.
- I also need to upgrade my student site and the department moodle
- modify my class materials for next semester.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Friday Jun 20, 2008 at 07:26 PM
Random_Ramblings | Teaching |




