Teaching Online

Now I have a new full-time job (hooray) and it's not teaching. However, my new side hustle is teaching with VIPKids. I can set my own hours, and it's fun. Despite China recently changing its teaching laws to require teachers to have some kind of certification, VIPKids can provide teachers with a free online TESOL certification. VIPKids is so successful, rumor is they are expanding into Korea.


If you are interested in teaching via VIPKids, use my referral code (KATHY0109) or my referral link.


If you are a former student and want to study online with me, contact me and I can arrange a personalized class for you.

Week 34: Ionic Bonds, The Golden Age of Islam, and Fall of the House of Usher

Math: Slopes

Chinese: 8th Grade Chemistry Textbook in Mandarin
Science: Middle School Chemistry Chapter 4, Lesson 5
Energy Levels, Electrons, and Ionic Bonding (pg.337- 351) Quizlet

Videos: American Chemical Society, Khan Academy,

Geography:  Chapter 10, The Muslim World (600-1250) Unit 3: Muslim Culture

Quizlet/ Videos: Sunni–Shi’a Split: Khan Academy 1, 2,
Science and Technology: The Golden Age of Islam, Medieval Islamic Science

World Religions Video: Ted-ED

Spanish: Hacer (Unit 11) Quizlet: Hacer, Expressions
Videos: Hacer Conjugation, Expressions w/Tener + Hacer,

Writing: Unit 7, Classification Essays, pg. 175-189 Write a Classification Essay

US History: A Young People’s History, Chapter 25, “War in Iraq, Conflict at Home”

Reading: Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe  (PDF)

Pre-Reading: Quizlet Vocabulary

Post Reading Comprehension: Quizlet

“War in Iraq, Conflict at Home” (A Young People’s History, Chapter 25)

(Quizlet) Video: Events that Led to Iraq War (BBC), Bush: God Told Me to go to War,
SNL Parody of Bush Declaring War in Iraq  

Introduction

1. What made people question the US government’s commitment to social justice?
2. How did American signal it was time for a change?

Afghanistan after the US Invasion

1. What was the US military’s justification for Afghan civilian loss of lives?
2. What did Bush claim about the removal of the Taliban,and why was that a lie?
3. Which statistic on the toll of the war on Afghan lives most impacted you?
4. Why was the US invasion of Afghanistan a failure?

Weapons of Mass destruction

1. What did Richard Clark say about Bush’s plans about Iraq?
2. What did the UN weapons inspectors find?
3. How was the US’s painting of Saddam hypocritical?
4. What was the real reason for the US invasion of Iraq?
5. How was Bush’s invasion of Iraq illegal?

Videos: Cost of War (Brown Univ)

The Human Cost of the Afghan War, Democracy Now

The Iraq War Begins

1. Why were Iraqis resentful towards the US invasion?
2. What did Bush’s administration go to great lengths to keep from the media?
3. Why was the title “Operation Iraqi Freedom” a lie?
4. How else was the US government violating the constitution and international law?
5. What did the US Congress vote to do in 2006?

The Anti-War Movement

1. What were US soldiers doing?
2. Why were they deserting?

Two Storms

Videos: Katrina: Live Footage, Sky News, Secure Fence Act (2006)

1. How did the Bush administration try and build nationalistic fervor?
2. What was ironic about building a wall between the US and Mexico?
3. What was shocking about hurricane Katrina?
4. How did Americans say “no” to the Bush administration?

EXTRA: (for bilingual student)

I. CIA Torture

In 2006, Bush banned torture by the military because of discriminating photos of

US soldiers torturing prisoners in Iraq (see Abu Ghraib). However, Bush did NOT ban torture by

the CIA.

Keep in mind that torturing POWs, or anyone is illegal by international law

(UN Convention Against Torture 聯合國禁止酷刑公約).

A. Abu Ghraib The name of the prison and scandal where American soldiers brutalized detained
Iraqis including rape, torture, electrocution, sodomy and even murder (weekly executions). The
brutality began in March 2003 and ended in 2006 (See CNN).

B. Waterboarding 坐水凳 A form of torture that drowns the victim so that they confess to anything. Not a reliable way to
gain factual information, and considered cruel and inhumane by most moral people.
C. Guantanamo (關塔那摩灣拘押中心) was a prison for terrorists who were subject to torture, especially waterboarding. Later a secret military file, the Manuel操作手冊 for Operation運作 of Guantanamo was leaked by military whistleblower Chelsea Manning to the website WikiLeaks
(維基解密)founded by Julian Assange (朱利安·亞桑傑). WikiLeaks and Manning published a
series of leaks 洩 including US soldiers in Iraq targeting and killing civilians and journalists.
Manning faced jail time and Assange was recently arrested in London after hiding out in an
Ecuadorean embassy for 7 years.

D. Black Sites: Secret CIA prisons where the CIA torture suspected terrorists.
When Germany found out about these Black Sites operating in Germany and other EU countries
it created a diplomatic storm. The new German leader Angela Merkel was livid and
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to go to Germany to smooth over the tension.
(See BreakingNews English). At that time, Germany and the world only knew about 8 of these
so-called sites, but after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks, we know these Black sites were far
more numerous and extensive (See Washington Post).

Week 33: Slopes, Covalent Bonding, the US War on Terror and Islam Expansion

Math: Slopes

Science: Middle School Chemistry Chapter 4, Lesson 4 (pg.319-,
Energy Levels, Electrons, and Covalent Bonding (Quizlet)

Videos: American Chemical Society, Covalent Bonding, Crash Course,
Take Notes:
Covalent bond in hydrogen,   Covalent bond in water, Electrolysis,  Oxygen’s double bond,
Covalent bonding of methane,..

Geography:  Chapter 10, The Muslim World (600-1250)

Unit 2: Islam Expands Quizlet/ Videos: Byzantine-Sasanian War

Spanish: Tener (Unit 10) (Quizlet: Tener, Feelings) Videos: 1, 2, 3

Writing: Unit 7, Classification Essays, pg. 166-174

US History: A Young People’s History Chapter 24, “The War on Terrorism”

Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapters 27-31 (Vocabulary), Test

The US War on Terrorism (A Young People’s History Chapter 24)

Introduction: What was voter turnout like at the 2000 presidential elections and why?

Vocabulary: (Quizlet)

Videos: 2000 Presidential Election (SNL parody), 9-11, Crash Course, Patriot Act,
the US in Afghanistan

A Close Election

1. What did Bush and Gore have in common?
2. Who was the third candidate and what issues were on his platform?
3. What was the rare result of the 2000 presidential winner?
4. Why was Florida’s popular vote in doubt?
5. Why did Bush have an advantage in Florida?
6. How did the US Supreme Court get involved and what was the significance of their ruling?

The Terrorist Attack and the Response

1. What did Congress rush to do?
2. What does the Constitution say about the US going to war?
3. Who was the only member of Congress to disagree of giving Bush the power to declare war?
4. Who did the US believe was responsible for 9-11?
5. Why did Bush bomb Afghanistan?
6. What was the effect of bombing Afghanistan?
7. What were some victims of 9-11 doing?
8. What were critics of bombing Afghanistan saying?
9. What were some of the complaints from the Islamic world about the US?
10. Who was Robert Bowman and what did he say?

Teaching Conversational ESL

The goal of this course is for the student to speak English for the entire class
time. The teacher will make notes of errors and provide feedback during pauses
or the end of the class. However, more important than perfection is flowing
communication and confidence. The intermediate/advanced student is expected
to use a new idiom and vocabulary.

Before Class 1: Take the online survey.

Class 1:

1. Greeting and General Things
2. Identify what the student wants to focus on. Discuss their survey. The student can decide which grammar weaknesses they may want to improve.
3. Speaking Basics
4. Current Events
5. The student can choose topics of interest for Class  2

(Topics + Conversational Questions + Discussion Topics).

Class 2: (Might be a little different based on the student’s individual survey)

1. Greetings (Greeting and General Things II)
2. Current Events
3. Warm up/ grammar dialogue/pronunciation
4. Student Topic conversation
5. Teacher’s suggested reading/video and discussion (introducing new vocabulary)

Conversational Lessons, Video Lessons, Listening Lessons,Dialogues, Role-Plays

Dialogues:

Feelings

Travel

Shopping (Basic)

Health

Business

Money

Pronunciation

Resources

Topics,

https://www.thoughtco.com/teaching-conversational-skills-1211772

https://busyteacher.org/14409-how-to-teach-conversational-english-best-practices.html

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/teaching-conversational-english-online/

https://www.talkenglish.com/lessonindex.aspx

https://www.thoughtco.com/top-esl-conversation-lessons-plans-1210391

Human Rights for Summer School

I have taught human rights several times for my social studies classes, and now I will present something to my ESL students. I will pick and choose from my past lessons and apply them to what writing lessons we had learned from our completed textbook Great Writing 1.

My past lessons:

•  This is a nice introduction to the story of human rights, with an example of China's crackdown on human rights lawyers in 2014, a well as Taiwan's treatment of SE Asian migrant workers. (September 2015)
•  This lesson is about Identity and Otherness and its relation to human rights using readings about acid attacks on women and the first Muslim mayor of London Sadiq Khan. (July 2016). I'll never forget this lesson because I had them draw identity maps and I was honored with the privilege that in almost every class, 1-2 students disclosed their sexual orientation to me, some even before me telling their parents.
• This lesson is a little bit more difficult, having the students discuss with a partner Needs vs Wants. There is a list of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights here with some Mandarin translation. (August 2015)

Introduction: I'll introduce the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights with some of my previous material and corresponding booklets. (Class Handout)
Activities: 

• Needs vs. Wants
• HR Tree
• HR Timeline

Resources:
http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/activities.shtm

Week 32: Valence Electrons, Clinton, The Muslim World

Math:

Science: Middle School Chemistry
Chapter 4, Lesson 3 The Periodic Table and Energy (pg.293-318)

Videos: Crash Course, Valence Electrons

Energy Level Cross-Section, Oxygen Atom,

Compare the way different elements react chemically and relate this to their
location on the periodic table.

1. Sodium in water and potassium in water.
2. Sodium in acid and potassium in acid.
3. Calcium in acid. The calcium reacts differently from the sodium and the potassium.

Geography: Chapter 10, The Muslim World (600-1250)

• Unit 1: The Rise of Islam Quizlet/ Videos: Crash Course, BBC
• Analyzing Architecture: The Dome of the Rock

Spanish: Expressing Time (Unit 9) Quizlet,
Quizlet2: Days of the week, Months Videos: Time: 1, 2, 3,

Writing: Unit 6 pg. 157-162, Write-Cause Effect Essay

US History: A Young People’s History, Chapter 23, “The End of the 20th Century”

Reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapters 21-26 (Vocabulary)