Concepts are Tools Too

"What is concept you learned in this class that you will be able to incorporate into your teaching?"

The concept of "going paperless" is something that really resonated with me and is something I have put a lot of thought into since it was introduced in class. It's not something that I will be able to incorporate right away, nor will strive to go completely paperless in future classes, but I do think that the more digital my classes become, the better off they will ultimately be. 

Times have changed. The world is more robotic. Young children now have smartphones. Understanding the new trends of the modern world make it clear to me that I must incorporate more online resources into my curriculum, if for no other reason than because it is expected by the students. If I can get them to download assignments, print and complete them and then turn them in, I think we will be more in sync with the world as it is today.

Going paperless is really just one step to becoming more connected with the times and the students. It's a philosophy that will keep me on my toes as as educator; always trying to find new ways to streamline dissemination of material and come up with more efficient ways to teach. As for the students, I think that the fewer handouts they receive in actual paper form (paper? ugh...that's SO 2003), the better chance the information will actually have to reaching them.

"Director's Cut" - A film unit created by Zak Latif and Patrick Nay

New Website Available

My website is up now and will contain up-to-date class information for all classes starting spring semester 2014.

The site can be found here

"It Takes One to Know One"

“Is there something that you really want to say to the education world?”


The short answer to this question is ‘yes,' but it wasn't without hesitation that I decided to write this post.

I would have loved writing about my favorite tool that we have learned to use in Dr. Steve Katz’s EDUC 932 course, because simply put, we have developed a lot of great, useful skills. However, after reading numerous posts written by my colleagues, well-written as they were, I realized that nobody had anything to say to the education world – they were either uninterested or weren't compelled to rock the boat. Maybe it’s just me, but I read the question as a license to get something off my chest. It’s not every day one is afforded the opportunity to address their peers, despite the very real possibility of offending those who may feel criticized, and I would be remiss to pass up such a chance.

ESL teachers should be more understanding of what our students go through. The hypocrisy that looms in the ESL community is staggering; the ease and comfort in which English teachers, most of whom have never truly studied a foreign language, note how ‘slow,’ or, dare I repeat, ‘stupid’ their students are, is indeed noteworthy and should garner our attention. When I see a visibly frustrated teacher complain about their students’ lack of ability, it is usually accompanied with a slew of less-than-flattering remarks about Korean students. Granted, many of their claims are true. Generally speaking, Korean students are products of an educational system that is failing them, and their habits are a reflection of those shortcomings. Inefficient study methods, drastically uncreative pedagogy, and over-emphasizing test scores, are but a few of the problems I hold with the Korean educational system. Nevertheless, if we are to continue banging our heads against the wall in frustration of these issues, then we are ‘not part of the solution,’ but are in fact ‘part of the problem.’

Learning a foreign language is very difficult. Only those who have undergone the process of learning can truly understand what it’s like to sit in the students’ chairs. If we, as educators, choose not to subject ourselves to the rigorous process of language acquisition, then we can never fully understand how our students feel. Therefore, we should not be so quick to anger, for our failures in the classroom may be a direct result of our own ineptitude; knowing that, we should compensate for our own limitations in other ways to bridge the gaps between our teaching methodology and the achievement or our students. After all, it is the success of our students that we hold most dear, is it not?

Broadened Horizons: A Travel Presentaion. Created by Zak Latif