My Top Five Strengths

            I have many strengths and weaknesses, but I am going to write about my top five strengths, in my opinion. First of all, my strongest strength is that I am good at learning languages. For example, I know how to speak Spanish. I also like to teach English as a Second Language and beginning Spanish courses.  Second, I am good at music. For example, I have always liked to sing, especially in the shower, and I play the guitar and the drums. Third, I love to read. I have read many books and I usually read a couple of books every month. I would rather read a book than watch television. Fourth, I have quite a bit of patience. For example, it takes a lot to make me angry. I have three daughters who were teenagers. It is good to have patience when you are a teacher, to be able to answer questions and be polite to your students. Finally, I am not good at math in general, but I was always good at Geometry. For example, when I was in school, I was always one of the best students in Geometry, but I was usually the worst student in Algebra. I hated Algebra, and I still do. In conclusion, I have at least five strengths that I have discovered about myself in life by understanding what I am good at.  

Why Ivy Tech Community College is an excellent place to study

          Ivy Tech Community College is a good option to study at the college level for the following three reasons. First, the low cost of tuition makes it accessible to everyone, not just the rich. For example, you can take a course at Ivy Tech for only $100 per credit hour. You don’t even have to buy a parking sticker if you are a student at Ivy Tech. Ivy Tech has different options for payment and financial aid for most students. Second, Ivy Tech is a convenient place to study. For example, it is fairly close for anyone who lives in the Indianapolis area. There are over 20 campuses in Indiana, so if you live in Indiana, there is probably a campus near you. Finally, Ivy Tech has some very well qualified teachers with a lot of experience working with students. For example, all the ESOL teachers have many years of experience teaching ESL to international students, have lived in different countries and speak another language besides English. In conclusion, I would recommend that everyone should consider studying at Ivy Tech because of the low cost, convenience, and excellent teachers.

How I learned to play the drums

           If you want to learn how to play the drums, there are many ways you can do it, but this is the way I did it. When I was a kid, I always wanted to play the drums, but my family didn't have a lot of money to buy drums and things like that. So when I was about five years old,  I started hitting pots and pans in the kitchen with big spoons and sticks. My mom didn't like that. I used cardboard boxes or plastic tubs for drums. In school I would bang on my desk with my hands or pencils. I used whatever I could find. I finally decided to buy a drum set about 20 years ago and learn to play. You can get a starter set of drums with cymbals for about $300 to $500. I bought a nice set of used drums for $500 that was worth a lot more than that because the guy needed money, fast. After I got the drums, I just started playing around on them by myself, but then I realized I was just making noise, so I bought some CDs about how to play drums and then found a drum teacher for weekly lessons. I tried to practice my drums every day for at least half an hour, but sometimes I was too busy with work, or was just lazy, or didn't want to bother my wife and daughters.  So I found a guy my age who played the guitar and liked the same kind of music. We didn't play too well, but we played LOUD. We had fun playing music together, but neither one of us could sing, but we had fun. Now I don't take drum lessons, but I listen to rock music from the 60s and 70s like The Beatles, The Who, and The Police, and I just play along with the music. I have a good time, but I would not say that I am a good drummer. There are many great rock drummers, but I like Ringo Star of The Beatles and Stewart Copeland of The Police. Now, I am teaching my little grandson Alex how to play the drums, and he can have my drums later when he gets older. I bought him some little drums. Like grandpa, Alex thinks it is fun to bang on the drums. Most drummers like to play drum solos as a way to show their skills. Click here to hear a drum solo by one of my favorite drummers: Stewart Copeland drum solo  Wow!  I wish I could play this well, but for now I just enjoy listening to drummers like him. In conclusion, when you know how to do something, you don't necessarily have to be good at it; what is important is that you have fun doing it and don't take yourself too seriously, because if you think you are a great drummer, there is always some drummer out there who is better than you.

Inside Out movie review

      I have never written a review of a movie on my blog. Until I saw Inside Out. Last Saturday, my wife and I took our grandson, Alex, to this movie. It was the most interesting and creative movie I have seen in a long time. Yes, an animated movie. A cartoon. Did you think animated movies were just for children?  The movie theater was full of parents and their children--everyone was enjoying it just as much as we were. The movie is impossible to explain. You just have to go watch it and you will see what I mean. This movie is so unusual because it can be watched at two levels, by children and adults.  It is thoroughly entertaining for people of all ages.  It begins with a beautiful scene of two volcano islands singing a love (lava) song to each other.  See what I mean?  It's hard to explain. Just go see the movie. You can click here to see a trailer about the movie; Inside Out trailer.  Go see the movie!

The Writing Process

      To write a good academic paper, it is important to follow the writing process. There are several steps in the writing process. The steps can be divided into four parts; pre-writing, writing, reviewing and revising. First, previewing involves thinking about your topic, brainstorming, writing down your thoughts, and organizing your thoughts into an outline. Good writing, like everything else in life always starts with thinking. Second, you write the first draft using your outline. Third, you have someone read your first draft and tell you what they liked and how you can improve your writing. This is called peer review. You review their comments and decide how you are going to change your paper in the second draft.  Finally, you revise your paper and write the second draft,  taking the peer review comments into consideration and your own ideas about how to improve your paper. Then you proofread your paper for any errors in format, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, Now you have finished your second draft and your paper is ready to submit to your instructor. In conclusion, if you have followed all these steps in the writing process, from pre-writing to revising, you will write a good paper that will receive a good grade. Good luck!

How to write a process paragraph

          Almost everything that we do in life is part of a process.  Think about it. Very few things that we do are just one-and-done actions. Life itself is a process, a developmental process. We are born, we depend on our parents, we learn language, we go to school, we grow up, maybe we get married and have children, we grow old, and then, well, we die. So there are passages in life. That is a process. Explaining how to do something is also a process. This is called a how-to process. A how-to process paragraph is when we write about the steps to do something. For example, how to wash a car, how to play soccer, or how to fix a flat tire. To write a paragraph on any of these topics, we need to first describe any tools or materials that will be needed, and then describe the steps, in order, to complete the process correctly, being sure to use words like first, second, then, after that, and finally, to signal to the reader the order of the steps and help him/her better understand the flow of the process. Being able to write about and describe a process in a clear way is an important skill that is used in training manuals, set-up instructions for computers, and so on. In conclusion, writing about a process can be as easy as one-two-three. And when you are assembling a bicycle or other toy from parts in a box on Christmas morning, you will appreciate that the company has taken the time and effort to have someone write clear instructions about assembling that special gift.

Give me a comment about my process paragraph and tell me what you are going to write your Process Essay about, and why.  Think of something that you know how to do or make well.

     

Adventures in Mexico: Part 3

          A couple more days on the road after leaving the motel and rat behind, Mark and I finally reached Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, and continued our adventure.  It is one of the largest cities in the world, with more than 20 million inhabitants. There were skyscrapers everywhere. We had no idea it would be so big. If you have ever been to New York City, Mexico City is larger and a lot more difficult to drive in because everyone drives so fast and no one obeys the traffic rules and signs, not even the cops. Mexico City was an exciting end to our adventures in Mexico.
         To avoid driving in this crazy traffic, we parked my car to visit different parts of the city using the subway (Metro), which is very modern, clean, cheap, and has lines that go everywhere in the city. When we got down in the Metro, we were looking around, and we had no idea how to get a ticket or where to go.  I'm sure we looked very confused and frustrated.
         After a few minutes, a short, old man with white hair walked up to us and in perfect English said, "Are you boys lost?"  We couldn't believe it. We told him that, yes, we were very lost.  He offered to show us around the city on the Metro. We followed him. We were a little scared because we didn't know him and thought he might be taking advantage of us. We traveled with him on  different lines of the Metro to different interesting places like Chapultepec Park, the Zoo, the Museum of Anthropology, and the National University of Mexico as he explained everything like a tour guide. We were getting hungry and found out that people in Mexico usually eat lunch around 2pm. He took us to a cafe he liked and ordered for us. The food was delicious. When we finished, he asked for the check, and told the waiter "Traeme la cuenta y un policia" which means "Bring me the check and a policeman." It was a joke. The waiter laughed and brought him the check. This kind man (I can't even remember his name) paid the bill and asked us if we had a hotel to stay in. We didn't. He said, "You can have dinner and stay at my home tonight if you'd like. I live on the outskirts of the City."
          Mark and I looked at each other. Could we trust this stranger?  Why was he being so nice to us?  We decided to accept his invitation. After all, we didn't have hotel reservations yet. He drove us in his old Volkswagen (at that time, almost everyone in Mexico drove Volkswagens) to his small home, in a poor area outside the city. We met his wife and six children and tried to use our best Spanish to talk with them, but the man had to interpret for us most of the time.
          We found out that he had lived in the US for many years when he was a young man, so that's why he spoke such good English. His oldest son was a motorcycle policemen and was living there with his family,  too. He showed us his motorcycle. We had a delicious dinner, spent the night, and the next morning the man drove us back to Mexico City and said goodbye. We thanked him for all that he had done for us. We offered to pay him, but he wouldn't take our money.
          To sum up, this was the best part of our Mexican adventure, visiting the capital of Mexico. We never saw this kind man again. I believe he might have been a guardian angel. Whether he was real or a guardian angel, we learned from him how kind and generous Mexican people are. I will never forget the experience.

Adventures in Mexico: Part 2

          After we finished our first delicious lunch in Mexico, Mark and I headed on down the road towards Mexico City, several hundred miles to the south.  We wanted to get there in a couple of days, so we decided to drive until midnight. We didn't know what a surprise was waiting for us.
         At midnight we got to a small town with one motel, so we decided to stop and sleep there. It wasn't a very nice motel, but it was cheap. We were very tired, so we went right to sleep. About three o'clock in the morning, I woke up when I felt something run across my face. Something with soft little feet. I was terrified. I sat straight up in bed, turned on the light, and saw a rat the size of a cat run across the floor and into a hole in the wall. I remember it had a long tail with no hair.
        So I yelled at Mark to wake up, that there was a rat in the room. I explained to him what had happened. We kept on all the lights in the room for the rest of the night and sat up in our beds talking and reading books we had brought. And watching that hole in the wall. We couldn't go back to sleep.
        We were still tired at seven in the morning, but decided to get up and hit the road. We didn't even stop to complain to the motel manager. After our experience at the cafe the day before,  we thought we probably wouldn't be able to explain in Spanish what had happened anyway.
       That was the second funny thing that happened to us on our road trip to Mexico.  It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now!

Talking to strangers

          This morning I had an interesting experience. I was returning some merchandise to the Costco store on Michigan Avenue. As I was walking through the parking lot towards the store with my cart and merchandise, a young woman passed me leaving the store pushing a cart piled with stuff. As she passed by, she looked at me, smiled, and said, "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" It surprised me a little, because I didn't recognize her. After a pause, I replied, "Yes, it is a beautiful spring day!"  Then I looked at her again, and asked, "I'm sorry, Do I know you?" because she acted like she knew me and she didn't look familiar to me. She said, "No" laughed, smiled and went on her way to her car. This made me start wondering why we don't say "hello" or just make a simple greeting to people we don't know. So I decided to do a quick experiment. After I returned the merchandise and got to Ivy Tech, I decided to say hello to 10 random students while I walked to my first class. These are the results of my experiment; five of them said "hello" back to me and a couple of them smiled and said, "How are you?" Three of them looked at me and didn't say anything. Two said "hello" but didn't look at me. They looked down at the floor. So I started thinking about the years that I lived in Mexico, and that it was common to greet strangers you passed by on the street with some pleasantry or comment about the weather. When I got to class, I told my students, who are from many countries around the world, about my experience and asked them what they thought. They said that in general, most Americans are friendlier to strangers than people are in their countries. One student from an African country insisted that in his country you would never greet a person you didn't know or had not been introduced to. It would be considered bad manners. A student from another African country said that in his country it was common to say "hello" to anyone you passed in the street, whether you knew them or not.  Obviously, this is a lot more complicated than I had originally thought. You can't just say that Americans are this way and everyone else is a different way.  Many times our international students complain that they don't have American friends, even if they have lived in the U.S. for several years. So I challenged them to just say "hello" to 10 American students, as I had,  as they walk around campus, and see what happens. I told them that, who knows, they might start up a conversation with one of these "strangers" and make a friend. Just as it was for me, it might be uncomfortable for them to say "hello" to someone they don't know, but it might be a risk worth taking. What do you think?

Adventures in Mexico: Part 1

          I will never forget my first trip to Mexico after college with my friend Mark. We had both studied Spanish for a couple of years at college, so we thought we would go to Mexico and try it out. Well, we were in for a surprise.
          First of all, we crossed the border with no problems and after we were about 20 miles into the country we were getting hungry, so we decided to stop for some lunch at a cafe in a small town. They didn't have menus. The server greeted us and told us about the day's specials, in Spanish, of course. Mark and I looked at each other and then at her. We didn't understand a word she had said! So we just shook our heads and said "No entendemos." (We don't understand).
         So she smiled and gestured for us to follow her. She took us back to the little kitchen. Everything smelled delicious. She pointed at the different pots and told us what they had to offer for lunch. We still didn't understand anything, but we could see what looked good and what smelled good, so we just pointed at what we wanted while saying "Esto" (This one).  She nodded and took us back to the little dining room with four tables.
       A few minutes later, our food came. It was delicious! We asked for more. When we finished, we paid, gave her a tip, and said "Gracias" (thank you) and "Adios" (goodbye).  That day taught us several  things--we found out how good Mexican food is, how patient and kind Mexicans are, and how bad our Spanish was!
      In conclusion, this was only the first of many adventures that we would have on our trip to Mexico.  Understanding the language and culture of a new country can be a lot more difficult than you might think. But it is worth the effort. Have you ever had a similar experience when you visited or moved to a different country?

Ex Machina and the future

          Have we created a monster by making robots that have Artificial Intelligence (AI)?   Some very smart people who started the information technology revolution, like Steve Wosniak, Apple co-founder and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, are starting to have second thoughts about a future with intelligent robots.  They worry that robots of the future could become smarter than humans and decide that humans should no longer be in charge. They see two possible scenarios; either the robots decide that humans are no longer necessary and destroy them, or the robots make humans their slaves. Both of these scenarios are scary to us humans, of course. My opinion is that although robots may become smarter than humans at some time in the future, they will never have what makes us human--souls. So it's hard to see how robots will ever have qualities like emotions, feelings, creativity, courage, caring, and a conscience, or example. These are some of many human characteristics that make us human and don't seem to depend on intelligence, either human or artificial. There is a new movie coming out soon, called Ex Machina, that explores the future of robots and AI.  You can click here to watch a trailer about the movie.  It looks like an interesting movie and I'm sure it will cause much debate.  I am eager to watch the movie when it is released. The future is difficult to predict. That's why it can be both fun and scary to think about. What do you think about the future, robots and AI? 

Think before you drink (opinion paragraph)

       There are many good reasons not to drink alcoholic beverages. Having said that, I think it is okay to drink a glass of wine, a beer, or a glass of champagne at a social event from time to time, but drinking excessively, every day is not a good thing, for the following reasons. First, alcohol is a drug, and if you drink too much of it, you will become addicted, an alcoholic. This means that you can't go without a drink for more than a day or two without feeling sick and craving a drink. I think we would all agree that it's not a good thing to be addicted to anything, whether it is alcohol, cocaine, or work. When we are addicted, the thing controls us, we don't control the thing. Second, drinking too much can cause chaos in your life. For example it can make you to miss work if you are drunk or have a hangover, and maybe even lose your job, have family problems,  get a divorce and lose your family. Is a drink worth that risk?  Finally, excessive drinking is bad for your body. For instance, every drink that you take destroys brain cells.   And alcohol causes damage to the liver over time. Many people who have been alcoholics for years die early when they get cirrhosis of the liver and their liver stops functioning. I guess that's why they call it a "liver." Excessive drinking actually causes little holes to form in your liver, making the organ look like a piece of Swiss cheese. In conclusion, it's alright to have a drink at a special occasion every once in a while, or a glass of wine with a meal occasionally, but if you drink to excess, you will become addicted.  it will cause chaos in your work and family life, and over time it will damage your brain and liver, two organs that you cannot live without. Think before you drink.    

   

Put your cell phone away!

                    Almost everyone has cell phones nowadays, and they make our lives easier, but there are some bad aspects of cell phones, too.  First, some people spend hours on their cell phones every day and waste time that they could be using to do other, more productive things. For example, some young people spend more than eight hours a day on their cell phones, texting and surfing the net, but don't have time to go to class or do homework.  Is all that time necessary? Think of all the other positive things they could do if they cut down the time they spend on their cell phones daily.  Second, cell phone can be very expensive. For example, an Iphone or  SmartPhone might cost you a few hundred dollars a month, depending on the company, your plan, and how you use it.  For people who don't earn a lot of money, that's a big part of their budget. That's a lot of money that they could use to do other things, like going out to eat or buying gas for your car.  Finally, cell phones can be bad for your health.  Many young people are developing problems with their thumbs from texting too much. And there is some medical research suggesting that cell phones may actually give off some transmissions that could be bad for your health or even cause cancer if you use cell phones over a long period of time. So you might not want to hold your cell phone in your hand all day or always put it in the same pocket.  If you text while you drive, you are more likely to have an accident, and that could definitely be bad for your health! In conclusion, there are obviously a lot of benefits to new technology and cell phones, but they can have some disadvantages, too, such as wasting time, costs, and possible health issues.

                   I only know one person who doesn't own a cell phone. He is a professor at Ivy Tech Community College, where I teach, and seems to do just fine. He borrows his wife's cell phone whenever he needs to use one. How did we all live 20 years ago without cell phones?

What do you think about cell phones?

Valentine's Day

             Most people around the world celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th each year. In the United States, the day is about celebrating love and friendship. For some people, it is about romantic love, a time for a boyfriend to buy red roses and a box of chocolates for his girlfriend. Or a husband takes his wife to dinner and a movie.  For children, the day is about friendship. In elementary school, children give Valentine cards and little candy hearts to the other children in their class and to their teachers.

What do people do on Valentine's Day in your country?

Cell phone slaves?

          I saw the image below on the Internet the other day and starting thinking about cell phones. When I look around and observe how most people use their cell phones, it makes we wonder if we are becoming addicted to our phones, or maybe we are becoming slaves to our cell phones and technology in general. On the college campus where I teach, I see that most of the students are constantly checking their cell phones for text messages, email, surfing the net, whatever. I don't see them talking to each other that much. Each of them is checking his or her cell phone and ignoring the people nearby. Most people have Smartphones. I have a Dumbphone for phone calls and text messages. I know a professor at Ivy Tech who doesn't own a cell phone. He borrows his wife's cell phone if he needs to make a call. Of course, technology makes our lives easier, but can we also become slaves to that same technology?  Is there a dark side of technology? Twenty years ago, no one had a cell phone. Now everyone has one. Is this a good thing?  What do you think?

Describing a car

                                    My First Car

          I will never forget my first car and my first girl friend, which were both beautiful in their own ways. I was only 15 years old when I got my driver's license and I couldn't wait to have my own car. It was a 1956 Chevy. This was a car that any cool guy my age would want to have. I was very lucky, because my uncle was a car salesman at a Chevrolet dealership, and one of his best customers, an old lady, traded in the car to buy a new one. She had kept the car in her garage most of the time, and seldom drove it, so it only has 20,000 miles on it. It was beautiful, maroon and white. My uncle told me he would sell it to me for only $500 dollars, a great deal. I had saved $250 from working on the weekends and my mother gave me the other $250. I paid her back later. The body was perfect, not even a scratch, and the interior was almost like new, with black and white upholstery and nice black carpet on the floor.  It was a four-door car, with an automatic transmission, and bench seats in the front and back. These were the only things that weren't perfect about the car. A "perfect" 1956 Chevrolet for a teenager in those days would have only two doors, bucket seats in the front, and a standard transmission on the floor. But it was close enough to perfect for me. Let me tell you, it was easy to get a pretty girlfriend with a car like that. I felt like the coolest guy in high school when I was driving around with my girlfriend, Mary Ann. And I went on a date every weekend with her in my car.  The car was in such excellent condition that I drove it through four years of high school, put it in my mother's garage for four years while I was in the Navy, and drove it through college. Then it finally died when I finished college,  I felt like I had lost an old friend. Unfortunately, I don't have a single picture of that car, but I will put a link below so you can see a similar car. My next car was a 1970 orange Volkswagen bug. It was nice, but nothing would ever replace that beautiful 1956 Chevy. In conclusion, I will never forget my first car as long as I live, and sometimes I still dream about it, and Mary Ann. They were both beautiful. Do you remember your first car?

Click here to see a maroon and white 1956 Chevy. 56 Chevy

Process paragraphs

                             How to Write a Process Paragraph 

          Writing a process paragraph, which is also called a How To,  Directions, or Instructions paragraph, is easy to do if you follow certain steps.  First, the most important thing to think about as you write the paragraph is that you are describing steps in a process, explaining to the reader how to make or do something. For example, you might write a paragraph about how to ride a bicycle or how to make a decoration for a party. Second, every process involves following steps in order to correctly do or make it, so you need to use signal words to help the reader follow the process. For example, you will write about the steps using signal words like first, then, after that, next, and so on, to show the reader the order of the steps. Finally, the body of your paragraph begins with the first step of the process, which is to gather any materials and tools that you will need. For example, if you are writing about "How to Change the Oil in a Car" your first step will be to describe the things that you need to have before you change the oil, such as tools, several quarts of new oil, a new oil filter, a pan to drain the old oil into, and so on. In conclusion, writing a good process or "How To" paragraph isn't hard if you describe the steps one by one, use the correct signal words, and begin with the first step of gathering the tools and materials you will need for the process.

Paragraphs and pyramids

          Strong paragraphs, like strong pyramids, are based on the number three, and have certain similarities. First, paragraphs have three parts--beginning, middle, and end--and pyramids have three sides because the sides are triangles, not squares or rectangles. Writers know that strong paragraphs need to have three parts, and engineers know that pyramids are strong structures because they are based on triangles with three or four sides. For instance, writers know that if they leave out any of the three parts of a paragraph, it will not be strong.  And engineers know that a pyramid will support more weight than a typical four-sided structure. Second, you might say that both paragraphs and pyramids have a body. The body of the paragraph is the biggest part, between the beginning and the end. You could say that the inside of a pyramid is the "body" of the pyramid, and the biggest part, too. Finally, paragraphs and pyramids are both pleasing to read/look at because they seem complete. If you read a paragraph with no conclusion, you feel it is missing something. In the same way, if you look at a pyramid without triangular sides, you would say, "That's not a pyramid at all."  In conclusion, the structures of paragraphs and pyramids are similar because they are both based on the number three, and that basic characteristic makes them strong and well formed.

The power of three

          The number three and signal words are important in writing, and we can see this in how we write a good paragraph. First of all, a good paragraph has three parts; a topic sentence (beginning), a body (middle), and a concluding sentence (end). If the paragraph is missing any one of these essential parts in its organization, it won't be as easy for the reader to read and understand. Second, we need to use signal words to help the reader find the three parts. For example, in the body of the paragraph, we can make three points. We make it easier for the reader to find the three points by beginning each of the points in the body with signal words like first, second, and finally.  That makes it easier for the reader to find the three points and know exactly what they are.  You can think of these signal words as "flags" or "signs" that guide the reader through the paragraph, like a map. You should use signal words like for example and for instance to show the reader that you are giving an example or detail to support one of your three main points. Finally, at the end of the paragraph, you need to begin the concluding sentence with a word like in conclusion, in summary, or to conclude  and then summarize the main ideas in the paragraph. For example, you can restate the topic sentence in different words. In conclusion, a good rule for writing good paragraphs is to follow "the rule of three" and use signal words to make it easy for the reader to find the three parts.

Paragraph Organization

          A paragraph is a group of sentences about a topic that has a beginning, a middle and an end. A paragraph begins with a topic sentence that tells the reader what the topic is and what you are going to write about that topic.  The next part of the paragraph is the middle, or the body. In the body of the paragraph you write several sentences, usually at least three to five, that support your topic sentence and give examples and details about each point that you make. Finally, the end of the paragraph is called the concluding sentence. In this sentence you summarize what you wrote about in the paragraph. In conclusion, a good paragraph should have three parts; a topic sentence, a body with supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.