ASP: Discussion June11th

In this class, we talked about what items we should bring if we are left on an uninhabited island. Before we chose items, we made 7 categories which are essential to survive: air, water, food, fire, shelter, clothes and mental stimulation(fun, enjoyment). Then I chose items which are needed for each categories.

12 items which I have chosen are following:
1. a large cooking pot 2. matches 3. an army knife 4. an axe 5. a hammer / nails 6. a fishing pole 7.toothbrushes 8. soap 9. a lamp 10. a flying pan 11. sunglasses 12. a book

I think a large pot is useful because it can be used for both keeping water and cooking. Matches can be used as a starter of fire. An army knife is an item for protecting myself and cutting vegetables or fruit. An axe and a hammer/ nails are tools for building a shelter. Then the last item, a book, is an item which helps you keep mental health. For these reasons, I chose these items.

ARW Blogging Assignment 6

The most useful approach to use in critically analyzing The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway is the approach of Santiago as a Christ Figure. The reason I choose it as the most appropriate approach is that there are several figures which have a relation to Christ in this book. For example, 3 days is the time of hardship for Santiago and also for Christ. Moreover, the description of his fighting with a big fish, his bleeding hands or his falling while carrying the mast, reminds us of Christ suffering from the passion. For these reasons, I think this approach is the most appropriate.

ASP; Presentation

ARW Blogging Assignment 5 (OMS)

The main characters in Old Man and the Sea are Santiago, a fisherman and Manolin, a boy who helps him. Three adjectives that describe Santiago are lonely, patient, proud. When Santiago was fishing alone, he repeatedly said, "I wish I had a boy." This statement show his loneliness. Then, while fighting with the fish, he kept encouraging his cramped hand by talking to it again and again though he was getting so tired. This action implies his patience. Moreover, after he know how big the fish was, he thought in his mind "I wish I could show him what sort of man I am" and "let him think I am more man than I am and I will be so." These statements mean that he still believe in his ability and he has pride as a fisherman.


Two adjectives that describe Manolin are considerate and innocent. Every day Manolin and Santiago went through the same set of conversation. Although Manolin knows that is a fiction, he always do that with Santiago. This shows his consideration for the old man. Moreover, he wouldn't stop believing in the old man in stead of eighty-five days without fish. This action implies that he has innocent mind which make it able to believe in someone anytime.

ASP:the practice of P&D

Today, we practiced P&D. We were divided to 4 groups and each member in groups performed P&D to the others of the same group.
In this time, our theme was Meiland and my topic was "the roll of college students". Our preparing time was only 10 minutes, so it was difficult to construct the outline of a presentation and make a memo not using sentence but writing only key words. In my presentation, good points and bad points are following;

• Good points
  

・use eye contact while speaking
・use transition language(first, second, last...)
・present summary and conclusion at the end of presentation

• Bad points

・memo(sometimes write full sentences)
・forget to show the outline
・fail to encourage other members to discuss actively

Next time, I want to improve these bad points.

ASP: about today's class on May 25th

Today, we learned how to make and perform a presentation by using google document.

As we make a presentation, the first step we should do is to decide a title of presentation. Title is composed of 2 parts; one is a short title which is eye catching and simple, the other is a title which contains long and detailed explanation. After we have decided a title, we choose an image which is relevant to the title.
Second step is inserting a video which catches audience's attention and introduces what we want to talk about well. A video should be within about 2 minutes in 10 minutes presentation because a too long movie makes audience bored.
The last step is making a list of references we use in presentation.

Moreover, when we perform a presentation, what is important is standing near a screen and talk to audience without looking at it.

ASP;about today's class May 21

Today, we learned how to perform P&D(press and discuss) effectively. When we do P&D, we should consider three key points, content, structure and delivery.
Firstly, content means information and it should be high quantity and high quality.
Secondly, structure means the order according to which we present information. The order is following;
1.greetings
2.thank audience
3.self introduction(name/background)
4.topic introduction(theme/topic)
5.outline
6.body
7.summary and conclusion
8.Q & A time
9.thank you

About 3&4, we should make a connection between them so that we establish credibility. In explaining the outline, we tell audience how many sections we have(first is~, and second is ~) and foretell we having a question time at the end of presentation. Moreover, when we explain the body of the presentation, we should use a memo on which we write only key words, not full sentences. Only when we keep speaking and forget what should say next, we can read it for about 5 seconds, then soon start speaking.
Lastly, delivery means how to present, the attitude in a presentation. The most important thing for good presentation is "Don't read." If we speak in a monotonous voice looking down, the audience get bored certainly. To change this bad way, we should use eye contact at random for 5 seconds per person and audience also should help presenter by looking at him/her.

ARW Blogging Assignment 3

The pieces of information I found in sources to use to support my thesis and topic sentence ideas for Essay 2 are as follows.

The supporting piece of evidence that I found for body paragraph 1 is a paraphrase/quote from Lying Moral choice in public and Private Life. New York; Sissela Bok, 1979.
This information supports the reason for may thesis by presenting the common example of the situation where we tell a lie for keeping the relationship good.

The supporting piece of evidence that I found for body paragraph 2 is a paraphrase/quote from 1) Lying Moral choice in public and Private Life. New York; Sissela Bok, 1979.
2) Ford, Charles V. Lies! Lies! Lies! Trans. Mori Hodeaki. American Psychiatric Press, 1996
These works support the reason for may thesis by ...

1) presenting an example ; doctor's lie, placebo

2) explaining what is kind lies

The supporting piece of evidence that I found for body paragraph 3 is a paraphrase/quote from Alison Leigh Brown. Subjects of Deceit A Phenomenology of Lying. Albany; State University of New York Press, 1998

This information supports the reason for may thesis by explaining that lying helps us be in good health mentally.

ASP: May11

In this class, we discussed the desert survival problem.
My total score;76
My group score;84!!

According to this result, we will certainly die together. When I knew the ' official ranking' and the reasons about it, I noticed professionals understand the way of using each item effectively that we couldn't come up with. In my group, we gave high rank to the items which seem to be helpful for us to survive(water, salt, map and compass) and useful to protect our safety(gun,knife and torch). However, in fact, the important items are ones which we considered useless. Through this quiz, I learned it is important to focus on other side of things which is difficult to find without critical thinking.

ASP: the discussion about the order of priority

In my group, everyone agreed to the idea that firstly children should be rescued. As next one to be rescued, we chose women and the young because women are weaker than men and young people should have the the right and the responsibility for making future. Of course the old is weaker than the young, but we considered it more important how long they can live from now if they survive. After women and the young, we made the order of priority according to people's careers and personality. About careers, we made a point of how many people can get benefits if a person is rescued. For example, if a scientist studying AIDS survived many people who are suffering from AIDS will be helped. About personality, we placed the order of person low who have some ethical problems; foe example alcohol abuse or having love affair. In my group nobody did critical thinking, so I thought we have to practice thinking critically all the time.

ASP: Comments on tody's class

Comments on videos
・"The shocking way to run effective meetings ! "
I think the reason for such a web software being produced is probably many people have difficulty to perform good discussions or meetings. They have to take much time for preparing a meeting and they can't finish a meeting 0n time so that they don't know a effective way of discussing.
・" Ken tanaka fulluently japanese"
I was shocked when I watched this video, but , at the same time, I have noticed there is a big difference between Japanese reaction and English reaction. In Japanese way, people express many kinds of feeling by the same reaction without wards. On the other hand, in English way, people react with various wards which express how people have felt clearly. Therefore, if we want to improve English communication skills we should change our way of reaction now.

ASP blog assignment1

I have understood how important and useful acquiring good group discussion skills is by watching the videos. If we can learn the way of making a discussion good, we have many advantages. For example, we can reduce discussion time because we can advance a discussion smoothly and reach a conclusion effectively. We can also apply the effective skills at discussion to business. When we have a meeting on business, we can lead the meeting and approach an agreement efficiently. Learning good discussion skills will become a very strong point for us in both daily life and business.

By the way, what is differences between a bad discussion and a good discussion? They are presented in the videos, which show an example of a bad discussion and a good. In a bad discussion, group members are uncooperative. For example, someone is only writing without participating in the discussion, and another one looks sleepy or bored and keeps silence. On the other hand, in a good discussion, all of the group members are cooperative and participating in the discussion actively. Everyone listens to what others say carefully, and asks a question or adds something about it. Then, a leader summarizes all ideas and makes a conclusion.

It is true that acquiring the effective discussion skills is difficult, but it will surely help us succeed in several situations. Therefore, I will keep thinking about the way we discuss effectively for myself, without depending on a web software such as Matchpeg.

ASP2 Assignment April 23

In the ASP2 class in April 23, we discussed the following topics.

1. "What is a good discussion and what is a bad discussion?"　

What are necessary for good discussion are ...

・decide a leader and a scribe(voluntarily, of course not Jyanken)

・talk with watching everyone's faces

・make a circle

・question

What make discussion bad are...

・silence

・not participate in a discussion actively
・only agree other's opinions, not question or add anything

2. "Japan should start teaching English from the beginning of Elementary School every day."　
In my group, almost everyone, opposed this idea. They claimed that in elementary school children should concentrate on learning Japanese, because Japanese is so difficult that it difficult for elementary school students to learn English grammar or vocabulary in addition to Japanese.

On the other hand, some people agreed with this idea. They argued that the earlier people learn English, the sooner they master it because small children's ability for learning is greater than adults.

3."The age of consent/adulthood should be １８(or other age)in Japan."
About this topic, my group had several kinds of opinion. One idea is the age of adulthood should be more than 18 because many people go to school and depend on parents for the cost of living, so under 18 is not enough to be an adult. Other idea is the age of adulthood should be 16. In Japan, children graduate from junior high school at the age of 15, and they decide whether they go to college or start working, then come to independent of their parents. So, 16 is the best age of adulthood.

In my opinion, the age of adulthood is depended on the definition of "adult". What defines people as "adult"? Several definitions can be considered. Earning for themselves, graduating from junior high or high school, living alone, and so on... As the first step, we should define what being "adult" is, and then decide the most appropriate age of adulthood according to the definition.

ARW :Essay Outline

The thesis statement I have chosen is the following : The most important thing of academic learning is to motivate students by helping them place their goals high, thinking approach to achieving the goals, and managing their time effectively.

Blogging Assignment:How "good"collage teachers present information?

According to Meiland, a "good" collage teacher presents information in the following way. A "good" collage teacher tells students the basis of what is currently believed. It is because they require students not only to understand information presented by teachers but also to develop it toward higher level for themselves. That is, "good" teachers want students to question materials which are usually regarded as obvious things and find good reasons or evidence for believing them, before students take the information for granted without thinking deeply on their own.

I think what Meiland claims in this text is so important to improve our education. In Japan, most junior high school and high school teachers tell students to accept information as it is and memorize it. However, in this way of studying students can't develop their own power to examine and evaluate the information they are given critically. Therefore, in college, we should change our way used in high school and start asking questions( WHY?, WHAT? or HOW? and so on...) and thinking critically as the way Meiland presents.