My Best Teaching Is One-on-One

一対一が僕のベスト

Of course, I team teach and do special lessons, etc.

当然、先生方と共同レッスンも、特別レッスンの指導もします。

But my best work in the classroom is after the lesson is over --
going one-on-one,
helping individual students with their assignments.

しかし、僕の一番意味あると思っている仕事は、講義が終わってから、
一対一と
個人的にその課題の勉強を応援することです。

It's kind of like with computer programs, walking the client through hands-on.
The job isn't really done until the customer is using the program.

まあ、コンピュータプログラムにすると、得意先の方に出来上がった製品を体験させるようなことと思います。
役に立たない製品はまだ製品になっていないと同様です。

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Exposing myself on youtube

Just put my first video up on youtube. It's a song I put together last year using Garage Band and Sound It! and the internal mike on my iBook G4 (that has since succumbed to the zombie graphics chip symptoms), together with a bunch of shots I took of my efforts to get Fedora running on my even older clamshell iBook.

The interesting part where I got Mac OS 9 to revive itself didn't fit into the song.

Unfortunately, the 30G hard drive that I pulled from the white iBook G4 and installed on the tangerine clamshell died fairly quickly after the transplant. The G4 has since died, so I may pull the 160G drive I put in it and put that back in the tangerine so my son can use Fedora on it again. (He uses an old Mac OS X for now, with the tiny 5.6G drive the tangerine came with. That tangerine seems to be indestructible.)

Wish I could afford the tools to fix the G4.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Passed the JLPT.

Just for the record.

Heh. Maybe I should scan the "certificate" they sent me and post it. (Use the Gimp to wipe out the private information. Hahahahahahahah. What use would that be, other than to show the world what it looks like. Maybe not. I'm not sure the testing company would appreciate it. I had to sign an NDA to take the test. Seriously.)

It took about two and a half months to find out, from December 6th to Feb 14th. (Hah? Valentine's day? Did it realy come that day?)

I thought I had maybe just barely passed it. But my score turned out to be, by the curve, a B grade. Not bad for my first and last JLPT certification.

Oh. I went for the top level, level N1, just because I was too impatient. So there's nowhere left to go but the Nihongo Kentei.

Which may not be a bad idea, but I'm going to try to get the LPIC levels 1 and 2 first. Studying for it seems to be a good way to fill in the gaps in my sysad knowledge.