group discussion

Lumi-Joyce 加入對話。

Dimitrivsky 說:
hi every one
Lumi-Joyce 說:
hello
Beverly 說:
where is ko
Dimitrivsky 說:
dunno
Beverly 說:
i call him
Dimitrivsky 說:
we can wait for him like 5 mins
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
let us discuss
Dimitrivsky 說:
he is not here?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Lumi-Joyce 說:
do you call him
Beverly 說:
yes
twice
Dimitrivsky 說:
let's begin
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
OK
who go first
Dimitrivsky 說:
whoever will do
Lumi-Joyce 說:
....
Beverly 說:
what?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
so...
Dimitrivsky 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
Joyce
?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
no
ha
Dimitrivsky 說:
irepresent first
Beverly 說:
OK
i go first!!!!!!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
my topic is community of practice
it is something like a group
Dimitrivsky 說:
so you'll discuss it
Beverly 說:
yes

Ocean柯米3543 加入對話。

Lumi-Joyce 說:
hello
Ocean柯米3543 說:
hello
Dimitrivsky 說:
what intrigued you to do this topic
Beverly 說:
it is a group that we can discuss what we like
Dimitrivsky 說:
great
Beverly 說:
and what we want to participate
Ocean柯米3543 說:
what?
Beverly 說:
and this group can be everywhere
even in the website
Dimitrivsky 說:
this community is like twitter!
Ocean柯米3543 說:
we are talking about BEVERLY"S?
Dimitrivsky 說:
yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
OK
Beverly 說:
people can use it to discuss what they want to discuss
and they can also post
what they want to ask
Ocean柯米3543 說:
i think this is really a good way
Dimitrivsky 說:
they can learn together in the website too
Beverly 說:
and some people in the website who know about this question
Lumi-Joyce 說:
do they discuss only on the Internet?
Ocean柯米3543 說:
and like some web forum
Beverly 說:
can help them
yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
exactly
but at the same time you have to be careful
Dimitrivsky 說:
today even some cram shools in taiwan have this kind of service too
Beverly 說:
i think it is a little like the知識家 in Yahoo
Ocean柯米3543 說:
becasue the aswers on the Internet may not always be correct
Dimitrivsky 說:
you know, provide some courses on the net
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
It is really useful for learning
It is quite convenient
Beverly 說:
yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
or students can stream the teaching videos on the Internet
Beverly 說:
but we can not only rely on the Internet
Dimitrivsky 說:
because the system is beyond time-space limitation
Lumi-Joyce 說:
sure
Ocean柯米3543 說:
from the cram school website
Beverly 說:
we have friends with the same goals
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
therefore, at the same time
Beverly 說:
we freinds also can be a Communit of Practice
Ocean柯米3543 說:
we can motivate each other
since we have the common purposes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
I think it may make student lazy to search infromation from library
Beverly 說:
but
Dimitrivsky 說:
and it's very easy to find friends who have same kinds of interests like ours~~
Ocean柯米3543 說:
i agree with Joyce
Beverly 說:
because sometimes we can understand
what book said
so people can help me to explain it
Ocean柯米3543 說:
we may become too dependent on the web site that we become too lazy to search information in the library
Lumi-Joyce 說:
OH I know! you mean we need to read something and then discuss on the internet
Beverly 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
good
Beverly 說:
we can not only discuss on the Internet
Ocean柯米3543 說:
that's another way to look at it
good
Beverly 說:
we can also discuss face to face
Dimitrivsky 說:
a reading book group on the internet!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
oh!yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
sounds great to me
Lumi-Joyce 說:
It is really convenient for us to discuss on the Internet
but
sometimes we need to talk face to face
Dimitrivsky 說:
with webcam and microphone
we can even mimic that
Beverly 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
so we can say that the way can offer a more convenient and immediately way to change our ideas
Beverly 說:
wow everybody has so many opinions
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes we have
haha
Beverly 說:
ok
next one
Ocean柯米3543 說:
see how hard working we are
OK
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
Beverly 說:
ko is the next one
Ocean柯米3543 說:
next one is ?
sure
Beverly 說:
come on
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Ocean柯米3543 說:
go!
so do u have any special thoughts?
go ahead and speak up
Dimitrivsky 說:
my key words
Dimitrivsky 說:
are
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes~
Dimitrivsky 說:
gay marriage
Ocean柯米3543 說:
i am all ears
Dimitrivsky 說:
child adoption, and homosexual
gay rights
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes they are definitely the very key words
Dimitrivsky 說:
and i researched without not so many problems when i was trying to find some revelant infos in the data base
Ocean柯米3543 說:
i think your paper presents us a lot of modern insights
Beverly 說:
i remembered that i have mentioned
Lumi-Joyce 說:
because many people had discussed the issue before
Beverly 說:
not everyone can go abroad
haha
Dimitrivsky 說:
but later i changed some key words, for i did change my title
Lumi-Joyce 說:
you find a question which can get information to write
Ocean柯米3543 說:
it is inevitable
haha
Dimitrivsky 說:
ur opinions helped me alot
Beverly 說:
i think in taiwan
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes in taiwan
Beverly 說:
we can practice with our classmates
Ocean柯米3543 說:
the issue is very contraversial?
Dimitrivsky 說:
so not much as we have imagined
Ocean柯米3543 說:
but i think today
Dimitrivsky 說:
but i think it's because we are still students
Ocean柯米3543 說:
many and many people are willing to come out of the closet
Dimitrivsky 說:
and we live in a very liberal campus
you know
Lumi-Joyce 說:
yeah
Beverly 說:
so?
Dimitrivsky 說:
english department of ncu
is very strong in this domains
Ocean柯米3543 說:
and more and more people have liberal attitude towards the issue
Dimitrivsky 說:
so i do see this issue very controvercial
Beverly 說:
wow
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes it is
Beverly 說:
i never sense it
Ocean柯米3543 說:
sense what?
ㄎㄎ
Dimitrivsky 說:
sense the controversity of the issue "same-sex marriage"
well i think the environment really encouraged me to write sth. like this
even though it's kind of cliche
Beverly 說:
what
so we discuss Dimi's now?
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
yes
Beverly 說:
ok
i got it
hahahah
Ocean柯米3543 說:
or what else do u think we are talking
haha
Beverly 說:
because i think KO is the next
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
Ocean柯米3543 說:
so let's continue
Beverly 說:
OK
DIMI
Ocean柯米3543 說:
I think Dimitri does a very good job
Dimitrivsky 說:
do u guys wanna ask some qs about my r essays?
Ocean柯米3543 說:
because your ANNOTATIONs ar very supportive and give a lot of insights
Dimitrivsky 說:
wow ko u did read my annotations
thx
Lumi-Joyce 說:
i want to ask you do you join any movement to support gay's right
Dimitrivsky 說:
not yet XDD
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
I had read your paper
Beverly 說:
i have!
Dimitrivsky 說:
well because i am not really familiar with related subject, i wrote this article
really
tell us about it
Beverly 說:
your annotation are very interesting
Lumi-Joyce 說:
and I suggest that you can join it and then you will have more object ideas
Beverly 說:
and give me some suggestion
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Dimi maybe you can take Hans's class
Dimitrivsky 說:
i definitely will join one
Lumi-Joyce 說:
you will know more
Beverly 說:
haha
Dimitrivsky 說:
haha maybe next semester
he is so cute
Lumi-Joyce 說:
yeah
Beverly 說:
because he supported the topics
Lumi-Joyce 說:
I give you a web
Dimitrivsky 說:
i should have researched more in the sex center
Lumi-Joyce 說:
http://intermargins.net/
this is helpful for you
Beverly 說:
JO!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
yes
http://intermargins.net/repression/
and this one
Beverly 說:
this website is very interesting
Lumi-Joyce 說:
there are many cool article
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes!!!
Dimitrivsky 說:
thx alot
Ocean柯米3543 說:
u ar welcome
Dimitrivsky 說:
hans gave you this in the class of cultural studies
Lumi-Joyce 說:
yes
Dimitrivsky 說:
great
Beverly 說:
wow
i love this website
Lumi-Joyce 說:
we discuss many issue on it
Dimitrivsky 說:
in fact i am really into cultural studies
great
Ocean柯米3543 說:
that is really helpful
good job!!Joyce!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
oh you have to appreciate Hans
not me
haha
Beverly 說:
this website is made by him?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
no
he introduces this on the class
and we need to discuss the articles on class
Beverly 說:
what class?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Introduction to Cultral Studies
Dimitrivsky 說:
great course but i had e literature
Beverly 說:
oh
Ocean柯米3543 說:
so u recommend it to us?
good
maybe in the future i will try
Beverly 說:
yes
me too
Ocean柯米3543 說:
really?
ㄎㄎ
Dimitrivsky 說:
me too
Ocean柯米3543 說:
YA!!
Beverly 說:
ok
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Dimi I think those link can provides more ideas for you, If you want to take this topic to do studying in the future
Beverly 說:
i think we can discuss next ine
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
who is the next one
Dimitrivsky 說:
thx aloooooooooooot
Beverly 說:
Joyce?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
ok
Beverly 說:
let's gO!!!!!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
actually I change my topic
my issue paper's topic is:
Ocean柯米3543 說:
OK!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Is it an effective way to help improving reading ability by writing the learning sheet after reading?
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
and ur final opinion?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Is doing the work sheet an effective way
to help improving reading, writing, and learning skill?

Dimitrivsky 說:
yes
of course XD

Beverly 說:
ok
i got it
Lumi-Joyce 說:
the reason why I want to change
→I think that both reading and reading are tool for learning
Beverly 說:
what
Lumi-Joyce 說:
so I change my topic to make my issue widely
Beverly 說:
both reading and reading?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
writing
sorry
Beverly 說:
oh
Dimitrivsky 說:
hmmmm
Lumi-Joyce 說:
In fact, I have some problems to search informtaion in the begining
Dimitrivsky 說:
i like this topic a lt
Beverly 說:
this topic is very connected
Dimitrivsky 說:
reading--writing
wow
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
and then I use "scaffold" as my key words
Beverly 說:
to what we have experience in our senior high and junior high
Dimitrivsky 說:
i think you might write sth about watching and writing too
you know
Lumi-Joyce 說:
good idea!
Dimitrivsky 說:
a lot of people write their own film critic on their BLOGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGS
Beverly 說:
hahah
Dimitrivsky 說:
hahahaha
Beverly 說:
BLOG!!!
Lumi-Joyce 說:
watching becomes a important way for us to learn
Dimitrivsky 說:
blog how i ADORE it
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
Dimitrivsky 說:
yes and we do Read films
seriously
Lumi-Joyce 說:
you guys give me many great ideas
thank you
Beverly 說:
in David's class?
Lumi-Joyce 說:
so I think a great and effective way to learn should include in/out practive
practice
Dimitrivsky 說:
yes in fact
Ocean柯米3543 說:
COOL!
Dimitrivsky 說:
Prof. David Barton
uses watching films to teach
Beverly 說:
you mean
Dimitrivsky 說:
composition
Lumi-Joyce 說:
I like his course
Dimitrivsky 說:
ha ha basically this is related to your subject
Beverly 說:
we can develop some ways to make our leaning effective
i will take his course next semester
Lumi-Joyce 說:
writing down what we gain from watching can help us check out whether we really know the main idea from the film or not
Ocean柯米3543 說:
which one?
Beverly 說:
can you check what we have said
BY　YUORSELF
Lumi-Joyce 說:
so, do you have any question about my paper
Dimitrivsky 說:
nope
Lumi-Joyce 說:
Ocean
let's talk about your paper!
Beverly 說:
OK
Lumi-Joyce 說:
hello
Ocean>
?
where are you
Dimitrivsky 說:
OOOcean
Ocean柯米3543 說:
hi?
let's go
Beverly 說:
your turn!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ocean柯米3543 說:
so
Lumi-Joyce 說:
haha
Ocean柯米3543 說:
whats your opinions?

Dimitrivsky 說:
tell us about ur key words~~
Beverly 說:
it is your turn
to present your opinions
Ocean柯米3543 說:
my paper is about learning English
and i think it is not so difficult tofind relevent information
to find
Dimitrivsky 說:
lte's learn in english
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
Dimitrivsky 說:
how did u resolve ur problems
Beverly 說:
i want to know, too
Ocean柯米3543 說:
do we need to go abroad to learn?
my final conclusion is that
u do not really need to go abroad to learn
because
Dimitrivsky 說:
because we have great teacher in taiwan
Beverly 說:
hahah
Dimitrivsky 說:
like ours orifs
Dimitrivsky 說:
profs
ok
Beverly 說:
you can not type English?
Dimitrivsky 說:
continons-nous
Ocean柯米3543 說:
hi
the problem resolved
we have so many resorces now in Taiwan
Beverly 說:
yes
Dimitrivsky 說:
yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
we need to take good advantage of them
for instance
Beverly 說:
and there are many foreigners in taiwan now
Dimitrivsky 說:
like we can learn by BLOGGER
Ocean柯米3543 說:
the English magazines
Beverly 說:
yes!
Ocean柯米3543 說:
ICRT
CNN
Dimitrivsky 說:
and DISCUSS by MSN
Beverly 說:
Advanced!
Ocean柯米3543 說:
ETC.
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
BBs
haha
Dimitrivsky 說:
rfi
Ocean柯米3543 說:
u read advanced??
i read it too!!!
Dimitrivsky 說:
no that is kinda boring
Ocean柯米3543 說:
it is really interesting
Dimitrivsky 說:
hahahaha
Ocean柯米3543 說:
haha

Beverly 說:
i think it is interesting
Lumi-Joyce 說:
there are many great magazines in Taiwain now
Ocean柯米3543 說:
hahaah
Beverly 說:
yes
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
Beverly 說:
like EZenglish
Ocean柯米3543 說:
i love advanced
Dimitrivsky 說:
hmm i like blogger more
Ocean柯米3543 說:
haha
yes
me 2
haha
so
Lumi-Joyce 說:
and the magazines are published by foreinger
Ocean柯米3543 說:
back to the point
Dimitrivsky 說:
there are so many great articles in bloggerrs
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes they are
Dimitrivsky 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
so we can use them to learn
Beverly 說:
so many reverent magazines in Taiwan now
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
this is my final conclusion
how do u think
do u agree or not
Dimitrivsky 說:
hmmm
Lumi-Joyce 說:
we also can take TV programs on Internet
Dimitrivsky 說:
agree
Beverly 說:
agree
Dimitrivsky 說:
but these magazines are kinda of expensive
Beverly 說:
we can copy them
haha
i am just kidding
Dimitrivsky 說:
we can read them in English Corner
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes
Lumi-Joyce 說:
we also can watch the film for example : Friends
Ocean柯米3543 說:
it is illegal!!!!!
haah
Dimitrivsky 說:
or in the liberary
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes we can!!
Dimitrivsky 說:
I watch it like 5 times

Beverly 說:
sex and the city
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes in it!!
Dimitrivsky 說:
whole seasons
wait
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes the show!!
Beverly 說:
where is JOYCE
Ocean柯米3543 說:
where is JOYCE??
Beverly 說:
hahah
Ocean柯米3543 說:
JOYCE???
Dimitrivsky 說:
great
she's back
Ocean柯米3543 說:
come out come out wherever you are~~
Dimitrivsky 說:
i watched the whole 10 seasons
yes
Beverly 說:
ok
Ocean柯米3543 說:
yes we can
Beverly 說:
thanks every body!
Dimitrivsky 說:
i have learnt a lot in the process of writing long essay
great experience
Dimitrivsky 說:
Yes We can
i will uploard it on GOOGLE DOC
Dimitrivsky 說:
you guys just
Dimitrivsky 說:
copy my adresse

Final Paper

Beverly Wang
Professor Liang
English Composition 2A
9 January 2009
Community of Practice Help Students Participate
What is Community of Practice? Communities of Practice (CoP) are a key element in modern organizations. The term community of practice has been brought up in the 1990s. It’s a group formed by people with the same specific interesting. For example: a group of students working on the presentations, a group of white collar workers working on similar problems. The concept has turned out to provide a useful perspective on knowing and learning. A growing number of people and organizations are now focusing on communities of practice as a key to improving their performance.
Every people has a domain of their interest, members of this domain can engage together to have activities, make discussions and share their material. But members of community of practice do not necessarily work together. For instance, they can meet in cafes to discuss the game they were playing on the Internet. And in the communities of practice, members seeking their experience with their partners. No matter what sizes of communities of practice we are in or what style we and our partners meet and discuss, we all belong to communities of practice.
By the way, community of practice can be also used in education. Because of this concept, educators can have the opportunities to embed what they learned and social relations, and educators have to create opportunities for students to solve real problems with adults or friends, in real learning situation.
When I first heard this topic in the class, professor mentioned some connections with my issue paper. After that, I searched some materials about this concept. I realized that what we do in school can be as communities of practice. According to Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott and William M. Snyder(2003) Cultivating communities of practice a guide to managing knowledge. When we want to start a cop, we have to start small and expect surprises instead of results. And get contact with interested people inside and outside your organization. Then show the outcome and let others benefit of your activity. Last but not least, don’t bother too much, whether your interaction is a CoP or not. You will realize it in time.
Recalling those activities I have joined and compared with the idea of communities of practice. When I joined those activities, first, we have a leader, and usually there is a secondary leader. Then the leader would divided us in some different groups, all the groups have their specific things to do. And about a week or two, we have to report to the leader what we have done in those days. Each group can be called as a community of practice. When we make discussions, we have the same goals, because we want to achieve the goals, we can make up our minds to make all things in order or even perfect. And take my learning in college as an example. In college, we have many discussions in classes. During the discussions, the members would have brainstorming. All members can share their own opinions and thoughts. And other members even can overthrow what you said, but they have to make their opinions reasonable and make you think their ideas are more constructive than yours. We can get some new ideas through our discussions, those ideas that we may never think of, or because of this idea, our brain would flash into other more interesting ideas.
Sometimes, communities of practice would face a problem that is people may think they are peripheral guys, they may think they are abandoned or have uncomfortable feelings when they participate CoP. Why do those feeling would come from? When we participate in a group, at first, we may be appointed what we have to do by authorities. If we are be appointed some jobs that we think not important at all, or not related much to the core. We may think that whether our authorities think we are not able to do more difficult one.
I have those feelings when I participated in activities. When those bad feelings came to my mind. I would tell myself that what I do today may help me someday during my life trip. And all the experience I have gone through can be a lesson to me. Even though sometimes, I would think that authorities did not respect me, because of this reason, I really want to make all the things in order or even perfect to make other people know that I am the person you want.
The article I put in research and annotations mentioned there are so many choices can be seen in school. It may be overwhelming, but getting involved in new activities with new people is a fun way to challenge yourself. No matter what choice we take, we all have to get involved in what we joined. Because of involving, we can learn what we want to learn. Therefore if we did not pay much attention or not care at all, we got nothing. We all want to get benefits from those extracurricular activities we joined. When we joined those extracurricular activities, we get the chance to explore our physical creative, social, political, and career interests with like-minded people.
Besides, if we want to difference between people, it is a good way to join clubs. Because of joining clubs, we have the opportunities to meet people who are different from you. Those programs can bring youth together. By doing this, we can also learn how to make friends and talk with those people when we first meet them. That is to say how to conquer the nervous when we first step into an unfamiliar place. We can learn other skills we won’t learn in the classroom. On the other days, we may use those skills when we are in working. Take Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs for an instance, when he was in college, he joined a calligraphy club. In this club he learned many different styles of calligraphy. When he invented the first line of Macintosh computers, he used this skill he learned in the club to input those special styles of calligraphy in Macintosh computers. It made Macintosh computers have the unique forms of printed characters.
But we still have to find the right activities for us. At first, we have to review all the activities our school offers and listen to other students’ experience to make choices. In different CoPs, we would have different roles. No matter what roles we play, we are important. Each role can not be excluded in communities of practice. Through those clubs, we have experienced, we can learn many things, such as how to get involved in, how to play your roles good and how to make ourselves progress.
I searched on the Youtube about communities of practice. I found this video. (http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=be_k4BH2EvU&eurl=http://beverlyw.blogspot.com/2008/10/community-of-practice.html)This video is mainly discussing about a community of practice in the Internet called NAAE. The narrator is a teacher, so she took educators as an example. She said educators had questions, problems, and great ideas, but they don’t have many channels to share or ask for help. NAAE created a place in the Internet for educators ask each other questions, post resources they want to share with the friends online , help connect each educator.
We all know whatever questions or problems we have , there probably another educator there who has answer or advice. But without NAAE CoP, they don’t know who you are and when you need help. Through NAAE community of practice, they can get together, and discuss together. It is organized, so it’s easy for you to find what you want.
The narrator, Carol, a high school teacher, she has taught for four years. She wants to open some new classes not in her speciality-planting, she wants to know how to teach well, and not let her students in chaos. But she can’t anybody to help her by her side. Then she thinks of community of practice. She posts questions there. In NAAE, she finds so many materials about planting , there are so many advices , and someone even upload worksheets, which Carol can share with the whole class. Because of this, she does a great job in the class. After a semester, she even sets up her own blog for planting.
Even though this video is very like advertising, it reminds us how importance community of practice is. Through our life, no matter what careers we take, we all have problems to ask. Therefore, community of practice in the Internet is a good way for us to let our questions have answers, we can also get other people’s experience, later we can even share our own experience. And in the Internet, those people are from so many different countries. We would not limit ourselves in one corner, special life experience can make our life more colorful.
After watching the video, I have checked the Internet, NAAE.( http://naae.ca.uky.edu:8080/clearspace_community/index.jspa). It is a really fantastic website. So many different regions are posted, it seems like no matter what your question is, you can find your answers there, so when you have problems, go ahead and have a try.
Since Community of Practice is still confusing in Taiwan, so I found a periodical to help everybody realize communities of practice.
Like what I have said, communities of practice is still confusing in Taiwan, so Ministry of Education starts a plan about how to make innovation and knowledge management connected with community of practice. Creativity and innovation have become more and more important, if you are a guy with those talents, you have the advantage to compete with others. But the education in Taiwan now seems not put much emphasis on social education, this make our children know how to study but do not know how to jump out from books. Due to this reason and the force of globalization, Community of Practice is used to stimulate our total creativity and innovation capability.
Many multi-national companies have used CoPs to develop their advantages of competition. Although enterprises are an important part in our society, we can not let our children to know how to progress their ability of social education until they go to the society. It is too cruel and late to know.
When we are in schools, we have to know what things happened around the world, and we have to make our knowledge renew everyday, so we have to keep learning new ideas. This article takes P&G as an example. P&G is an international company with many brands in the market like Oral-B and Pert. P&G uses community of practice as a way to identify and expand their new way of research and development. CoP plays an important role in this company.
However teams and communities are two things, communities can be used on the Internet, that is to say, on the virtual way. For example, electronic community and Network Learning Community, so we students can get on the Internet and take a look at those communities and even join in. by joining those communities, we can make friends from many different countries and learn what we can not learn in schools.
I joined a activity held by ASUS, a famous computer company, this semester. It is called campus CEO. In CEO, I met so many people with the same interest as me. We can discuss the surveys in the market or the product we are ready to make a research on. This is a really special experience during my college life, I think everyone can have a try in what they have interest in.
During our life, we have so many chances to meet different people, when we are in different Community of Practice, I think all of us have to seize the opportunities to know the people from dissimilar domain.










References
1. Richard McDermott and William M. Snyder(2003) Cultivating Communities of Practice a Guide to Managing Knowledge.
2. Sy-Feng Wang,Kai-Ming Chen(2002,DEC.)Community-of-Practice and Creativity: Theory & Implication.[Electronic version]. 社會教育學刊.
(http://www70.psy.fju.edu.tw/sfwang/paper/COPcreativity.pdf)
3. http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml
4. NatlAgEducators(2008, May 16) Youtube
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=be_k4BH2EvU&eurl=http://beverlyw.blogspot.com/search/label/annotation
5. http://naae.ca.uky.edu:8080/clearspace_community/index.jspa

revised issue paper

The reason why I choose Community of Practice as my topic is because that I want to know whether participate so many activities are worthy or not.

There are so many extracurricular activities held in NCU every semester. Including clubs, camps and the activities of their own departments. Almost every student has the experience of participating extracurricular activities. Some people would even have two or three extracurricular activities at the same time. They would sleep at an exaggerate time like four or five o’clock in the morning for preparing for an activity.

I have experienced about four activities after I was received in NCU, including three camps and a activity of my department. A camp held for children studied in elementary school is the first extracurricular activity in my freshman life. For me, it was very special to hold activities, because I just joined the activities and did not know how the activities from zero to a real one. But after so many activities, I feel confused. Because I just feel tired and do not know what I have learned and got. Maybe I did not sense the growing of myself. But I still have some problem about my mind, I do not know why should pay so much and get nothing. Sometimes I would even think that it is waste of time, but I do not want to stay in the dorm all day and play computer. Is it the only motivation for me to join an activity?

I have asked some people who have much experience about activities. They told me that I have to change my mind and build my mind. During the preparing period, it is normal for me to feel tired. But after seeing the happy face of those students who came to join this activities, you would feel that everything is all right. Now I am preparing a camp for freshmen in English department, I hope that I can get new touching!
Review the activities your school offers and listen to other students' experiences to find an activity that meets your needs. Think about your interests, abilities, and time — is your sister tired of playing chess with you? Do you wish you had more computer time? Are you tired of shooting hoops alone? Are you looking to meet friends or get support? Do you need to increase the appeal of your college application? Don't limit yourself to the familiar — try something new.
Think about different roles within groups that you might want to try — president, captain, participant, leader, support person. Each role is important. Being president teaches you leadership and management skills, but involves more responsibility; being a member gives you structure and is less stressful. You can also lend your skills in areas that are needed, such as using your financial skills to be a group's treasurer.
Recalling those activities I have joined and compared with the idea of communities of practice. When I joined those activities, first, we have a leader, and usually there is a secondary leader. Then the leader would divided us in some different groups, all the groups have their specific things to do. And about a week or two, we have to report to the leader what we have done in those days. Each group can be called as a community of practice. When we make discussions, we have the same goals, because we want to achieve the goals, we can make up our minds to make all things in order or even perfect. And take my learning in college as an example. In college, we have many discussions in classes. During the discussions, the members would have brainstorming. All members can share their own opinions and thoughts. And other members even can overthrow what you said, but they have to make their opinions reasonable and make you think their ideas are more constructive than yours. We can get some new ideas through our discussions, those ideas that we may never think of, or because of this idea, our brain would flash into other more interesting ideas.
Sometimes, communities of practice would face a problem that is people may think they are peripheral guys, they may think they are abandoned or have uncomfortable feelings when they participate CoP. Why do those feeling would come from? When we participate in a group, at first, we may be appointed what we have to do by authorities. If we are be appointed some jobs that we think not important at all, or not related much to the core. We may think that whether our authorities think we are not able to do more difficult one.
I have those feelings when I participated in activities. When those bad feelings came to my mind. I would tell myself that what I do today may help me someday during my life trip. And all the experience I have gone through can be a lesson to me. Even though sometimes, I would think that authorities did not respect me, because of this reason, I really want to make all the things in order or even perfect to make other people know that I am the person you want.
The article I put in research and annotations mentioned there are so many choices can be seen in school. It may be overwhelming, but getting involved in new activities with new people is a fun way to challenge yourself. No matter what choice we take, we all have to get involved in what we joined. Because of involving, we can learn what we want to learn. Therefore if we did not pay much attention or not care at all, we got nothing. We all want to get benefits from those extracurricular activities we joined. When we joined those extracurricular activities, we get the chance to explore our physical creative, social, political, and career interests with like-minded people.
Besides, if we want to difference between people, it is a good way to join clubs. Because of joining clubs, we have the opportunities to meet people who are different from you. Those programs can bring youth together. By doing this, we can also learn how to make friends and talk with those people when we first meet them. That is to say how to conquer the nervous when we first step into an unfamiliar place. We can learn other skills we won’t learn in the classroom. On the other days, we may use those skills when we are in working.
I searched on the Youtube about communities of practice. I found this video. (http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=be_k4BH2EvU&eurl=http://beverlyw.blogspot.com/2008/10/community-of-practice.html)This video is mainly discussing about a community of practice in the Internet called NAAE. The narrator is a teacher, so she took educators as an example. She said educators had questions, problems, and great ideas, but they don’t have many channels to share or ask for help. NAAE created a place in the Internet for educators ask each other questions, post resources they want to share with the friends online , help connect each educator.
We all know whatever questions or problems we have , there probably another educator there who has answer or advice. But without NAAE CoP, they don’t know who you are and when you need help. Through NAAE community of practice, they can get together, and discuss together. It is organized, so it’s easy for you to find what you want.
The narrator, Carol, a high school teacher, she has taught for four years. She wants to open some new classes not in her speciality-planting, she wants to know how to teach well, and not let her students in chaos. But she can’t anybody to help her by her side. Then she thinks of community of practice. She posts questions there. In NAAE, she finds so many materials about planting , there are so many advices , and someone even upload worksheets, which Carol can share with the whole class. Because of this, she does a great job in the class. After a semester, she even sets up her own blog for planting.
Even though this video is very like advertising, it reminds us how importance community of practice is. Through our life, no matter what careers we take, we all have problems to ask. Therefore, community of practice in the Internet is a good way for us to let our questions have answers, we can also get other people’s experience, later we can even share our own experience. And in the Internet, those people are from so many different countries. We would not limit ourselves in one corner, special life experience can make our life more colorful.
Communities of Practice is still confusing in Taiwan, so Ministry of Education starts a plan about how to make innovation and knowledge management connected with community of practice. Creativity and innovation have become more and more important, if you are a guy with those talents, you have the advantage to compete with others. But the education in Taiwan now seems not put much emphasis on social education, this make our children know how to study but do not know how to jump out from books. Due to this reason and the force of globalization, Community of Practice is used to stimulate our total creativity and innovation capability.
Many multi-national companies have used CoPs to develop their advantages of competition. Although enterprises are an important part in our society, we can not let our children to know how to progress their ability of social education until they go to the society. It is too cruel and late to know.
When we are in schools, we have to know what things happened around the world, and we have to make our knowledge renew everyday, so we have to keep learning new ideas.
During our life, we have so many chances to meet different people, when we are in different Community of Practice, I think all of us have to seize the opportunities to know the people from dissimilar domain.

annotation4

http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml

From this article, we can get some definition of community of practice. When we first know a topic, we have to know what the definition of this topic is, we can start our research. Because of this reason, I search some materials about the definitions of community of practice.
First, Bonding by exposure to common problems.
There are many shades of definition of this concept, but the author define it as "a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge." Like French club or English communication club.
Secondly, Common practices and language
"Communities of Practice" is a phrase coined by researchers who studied the ways in which people naturally work and play together. In essence, communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and interests. In pursuit of these goals and interests, they employ common practices, work with the same tools and express themselves in a common language. Through such common activity, they come to hold similar beliefs and value systems. I think when you join this kind CoP, you can find what you want.
Thirdly, Commons sense of purpose
There are many communities of practice within a single company, and most people belong to more than one of them. Most of us belong to more than one, and not just on the job: the management team; the engineers, some in your company and some not.
Fourthly, Members evolve more creative practice
A community of practice is "a diverse group of people engaged in real work over a significant period of time during which they build things, solve problems, learn and invent...in short, they evolve a practice that is highly skilled and highly creative."
Last but not least, from water coolers to commitment. More than a "community of learners," a community of practice is also a "community that learns." Not merely peers exchanging ideas around the water cooler, sharing and benefitting from each other's expertise, but colleagues committed to jointly develop better practices.

annotation3

Sy-Feng Wang,Kai-Ming Chen(2002,DEC.)Community-of-Practice and Creativity: Theory & Implication.[Electronic version]. 社會教育學刊.


CoP is still confusing in Taiwan, so Ministry of education starts a plan about how to make innovation and knowledge management connected with community of practice. Creativity and innovation have become more and more important, if you are a guy with those talents, you have the advantage to compete with others. But the education in Taiwan now seems not put much emphasis on social education, this make our children know how to study but do not know how to jump out from books. Due to this reason and the force of globalization, CoP is used to stimulate our total creativity and innovation capability.
Many multi-national companies have used CoPs to develop their advantages of competition. Although enterprises are an important part in our society, we can not let our children to know how to progress their ability of social education until they go to the society. It is too cruel and late to know.
When we are in schools, we have to know what things happened around the world, and we have to make our knowledge renew everyday, so we have to keep learning new ideas. This article takes P&G as an example. P&G uses community of practice as a way to identify and expand their new way of research and development. CoP plays an important role in this company.
However teams and communities are two things, communities can be used on the Internet, that is to say, on the virtual way. For example, electronic community and Network Learning Community, so we students can get on the Internet and take a look at those communities and even join in. by joining those communities, we can make friends from many different countries and learn what we can not learn in schools.
I joined a activity held by ASUS, a famous computer company, this semester. It is called campus CEO. In CEO, I met so many people with the same interest as me. We can discuss the surveys in the market or the product we are ready to make a research on. This is a really special experience during my college life, I think everyone can have a try in what they have interest in.

annotation2

This video is mainly talking about a community of practice in the Internet called NAAE. The narrator is a teacher, so she took educators as an example. She said educators had questions, problems, and great ideas, but they don’t have many channels to share or ask for help. NAAE created a place in the Internet for educators ask each other questions, post resources they want to share , help connect each educator.
We all know whatever questions or problems we have , there probably another educator there who has answer or advice. But without NAAE CoP, they don’t know who you are and when you need help. Through NAAE community of practice, they can get together, and discuss together. It is organized, so it’s easy for you to find what you want.
The narrator, Carol, a high school teacher, she has taught for four years. She wants to open some new classes not in her speciality-planting, she wants to know how to teach well, and not let her students in chaos. But she can’t anybody to help her by her side. Then she thinks of community of practice. She posts questions there. In NAAE, she finds so many materials about planting , there are so many advices , and someone even upload worksheets, which Carol can share with the whole class. Because of this, she does a great job in the class. After a semester, she even sets up her own blog for planting.
Even though this video is very like advertising, it reminds us how importance community of practice is. Through our life, no matter what careers we take, we all have problems to ask. Therefore, community of practice in the Internet is a good way for us to let our questions have answers, we can also get other people’s experience, later we can even share our own experience. And in the Internet, those people are from so many different countries. We would not limit ourselves in one corner, special life experience can make our life more colorful. Take me for an example, when I have questions, sometime I would go on the PPT(BBS) to present my questions.
After watching the video, I have checked the Internet, NAAE.( http://naae.ca.uky.edu:8080/clearspace_community/index.jspa). It is a really fantastic website. So many different regions are posted, it seems like no matter what your question is, you can find your answers there, so when you have problems, go ahead and have a try.

annotation1

Bored? Looking for a new challenge?
You can watch basketball, baseball, track, gymnastics, tennis, aerobics, volleyball, and weight lifting on ESPN, or you can get out and enjoy them by joining your school team. Not into team sports? There's French club, the debating team, chess club, student government, radio, newspaper, yearbook, environmental club, computer club, and more.
So many choices can seem overwhelming, but getting involved in new activities with new people is a fun way to challenge yourself. Here are some basics and benefits of getting involved.
Benefits of Extracurricular Activities
So what's in it for you? You get to explore your physical, creative, social, political, and career interests with like-minded people. You'll find friends: Trying something different may bring you in contact with people you didn't know who share your interests and curiosity. A club or group also can be a great way to meet people who are different from you. Lots of youth programs bring people together with those who are different as a way to break down the barriers between people.
Participating in extracurricular activities helps you in other ways, too: It looks good on college and job applications and shows admissions officers and employers you're well-rounded and responsible. Specific activities help with specific goals — if you want to teach language or get a bilingual job, being the president of the Spanish club shows the depth of your commitment.
The most basic reason for joining a club or team is that it gives you something better to do than staring at the wall, wandering the hall, or napping all afternoon. People who are involved and engaged are less likely to become addicted to bad habits, like smoking or drinking.
Finding the Right Activity for You
Review the activities your school offers and listen to other students' experiences to find an activity that meets your needs. Do you wish you had more computer time? Are you tired of shooting hoops alone? Are you looking to meet friends or get support? Don't limit yourself to the familiar — try something new.
Think about different roles within groups that you might want to try — president, captain, participant, leader, support person. Each role is important. Being president teaches you leadership and management skills, but involves more responsibility; being a member gives you structure and is less stressful. You can also lend your skills in areas that are needed, such as using your financial skills to be a group's treasurer.
How to Get Involved
Ask questions of the activity advisor before you join. Some things to ask include:
Age. You may have to be a certain age or in a certain grade to join an activity.
Fees. Do you have to pay to join? How much? Are there fees for outings, uniforms, costumes, or other expenses? You may be required to help raise money.
Physical. If you're joining a team, you may need to take a physical. Talking with your family doctor may help you decide whether a team is a good choice for you.
Grades. Many groups require a minimum GPA to join.
Time. If you're involved in competitive sports, you need to have the time to practice and compete. There's also the time it takes to get ready emotionally for a game, and the time you spend getting pizza with the team after games. Too Much of a Good Thing?
It's easy to join one too many exciting activities. Ask as many questions as possible before you join. Sit down with your school schedule, work schedule, and other activities and try to map out what's realistic. Are you taking a class this semester that requires extra studying time? Do you need to focus on grades? Does your bus only come once an hour by the time practice is over instead of every 15 minutes? Will you have time to eat, sleep, and relax? Everyone needs downtime. If an activity adds lots of stress to your life, it's not for you.
Once you've joined an activity, if you feel stressed out, reconsider। It's important to keep a balance between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, a job, social life, and your health. If you join a club and need to quit for any reason, talk with the advisor or coach. Be direct and polite and explain your situation and feelings. Sometimes it's just not the right match for you or it's too time-consuming. Perhaps you can participate in a less time-consuming way or rejoin later. You won't be helping yourself or the group if you frantically do homework during a competition or fall asleep during practice. Saying "no" can be the most mature and responsible thing to do.

book review

This book provides students a very systematic procedure which they could follow along while writing without further confusing questions. And it is a good book for students who learn about composition writing. When they have any questions about writing, it seems that they can use this book very conveniently. Teachers who teach composition could profit by this book, too. Instructors can even learn something from this book. They could instruct their students along with the book so that they can both gain something valuable. And it is actually quite different from other writing books because it contains many details that students may have in writing. And since it illustrate its contents clearly, teachers may skip some simple parts that student read by themselves and explain more difficult chapters. And it fuses many aspects of writing, too. For instance, it contains the forms of writing of movies, paintings, etc. This book contains all sorts of genres of writing and different materials we may write about, from literature, visual arts and film.

We can follow the tips which have been given to us in the book. And the professional writers’ articles (as examples harmonizing with each chapter’s theme) enlarge readers and students’ scope of horizons, which inspire them to work harder by maybe imitating them in the first place. After being familiar with professional articles, students may use them to begin their own original work since they are really masterpieces. It provides students essays, which encourage students to write as good as them and sympathize them since they make similar mistakes. We also think there is another key point the book teach us from the basic theory. For example, it mentions how to summarize an article. As a matter of fact, this is the first step to learn how to write a good composition.

From these student essays, we can know how to revise our problems, just like our discussion in class before, we compare two articles and then we can notice which one is better. And when this book talks about paintings, it would give us many paintings for students to practice. It provides students with essays, which encourage students to write as good as them and sympathize with them since they make similar mistakes. What’s more, this book is endowed with vivid illustrations helping readers understand its words. Its wording and typesetting are impeccable with different colors and sizes of words. We think in the book, it provides many question to think after reading the article. And it is very important because we can realize some points which we ignore before. We find that the questions the book provides after the article are the key point.
Questions make/force us to think, and to reflect. They would also sharpen our interpretative skills. There is also another good point. In the book, it has a "remember column.” It can remind us of some writing tips. Also, sharing is quite important in the writing pedagogy. Students' own thoughts and teachers' are interacting if they share thoughts with each other. In conclusion, we think that this book is very good in general.

The second teacher-student conference

In my second teacher-student conference, I found that I have some problems in my composition.
First of all, I would like to discuss about the problems in my midterm composition. I have to pay attention to the transitional words. Use transitional words to make my composition more fluently. Because if I do not use transitional words, my readers can not seize my opinions easily. Then, easy and baby words can not be used in papers, I have to check my words after I finished my compositions. I am writing about the formal paper, so I have to think twice before I use words.
And I still have two annotations waiting for me to finish them, not only annotations, I still have to give my group members some suggestions of their annotation. This
Friday(12/26), I have to print out my four annotations, peers’ suggestions and revised annotations.
Through this semester, I think I have learned much. For example, I would write my composition according to my opinions, and do not know how do my readers feel. But in this class, peers would come to my blog to read my compositions and give me some useful pinions. Like Ko would suggest me to put some more my own experience in my compositions to convince my readers, I think it is right. Because writer’s own experience can convince readers to believe in what I want to say. It also can give my readers that I take my own opinions seriously so I practice it. This reminds me of my topic- Community of Practice. And Dimitri would give me very useful materials to help me make my compositions more solid. For example: when I am writing about NAAE, a website where people can post their questions and other people who know about this would help them to solve those questions. Because of this reason Dimitri gave me so many websites connected to this kind platform. I feel shocked, because I never know there are so many this kind website in the computer, he really give me some special material which I need. Joyce would tell me to pay attention to my coherence, because if my compositions do not coherent together, my readers can not get what I want to say easily.
And how to make good use of the material in the Internet. This help me in many classes, because we students in English department always have many papers and presentations. Meanwhile, we need much material to help understand the topic we have to prepare, so if we know how to use the Internet well, we can get what we want. When we use those material, we can quote the experts’ opinions to support my composition, because most people believe in experts opinions, I have to use their opinions to support me.
I have noticed that when we finished our composition, we have to polish our language. For example, I would like to change some of the words that I always use. And I have checked the grammar problems of my composition, if there are still some problems in my composition, I hope professor can help me to point out.

COP definition

http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/definitions.shtml

From this article, we can get some definition of community of practice. When we first know a topic, we have to know what the definition of this topic is, we can start our research. Because of this reason, I search some materials about the definitions of community of practice.
First, Bonding by exposure to common problems.
There are many shades of definition of this concept, but the author define it as "a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge."
Secondly, Common practices and language
"Communities of Practice" is a phrase coined by researchers who studied the ways in which people naturally work and play together. In essence, communities of practice are groups of people who share similar goals and interests. In pursuit of these goals and interests, they employ common practices, work with the same tools and express themselves in a common language. Through such common activity, they come to hold similar beliefs and value systems.
Thirdly, Commons sense of purpose
There are many communities of practice within a single company, and most people belong to more than one of them. Most of us belong to more than one, and not just on the job: the management team; the engineers, some in your company and some not.
Fourthly, Members evolve more creative practice
A community of practice is "a diverse group of people engaged in real work over a significant period of time during which they build things, solve problems, learn and invent...in short, they evolve a practice that is highly skilled and highly creative."
Last but not least, from water coolers to commitment. More than a "community of learners," a community of practice is also a "community that learns." Not merely peers exchanging ideas around the water cooler, sharing and benefitting from each other's expertise, but colleagues committed to jointly develop better practices.

Revised Exam Essays

The article was “From tripod to Comes: A new metaphor for the language arts”, which had published in English Journal and was written by Baines, L. A.
Those years, some projects of writing have changed their focus on writing instructions from finished products to the processes of planning, composing, revising, and publishing. By doing this students can have the chance to meet different readers. Sometimes when students wrote articles they would forget that they have to satisfy different readers. Even though not all people would accept your ideas, students still have to do their best to convey what they want to tell their readers.
Teachers also can let students to write some different aims for different students. Those students would understand what they focus on.
Most advocates of writing would seem this as an individual conference and students can share what they have found in the classroom to their classmates. Through discussing, students can get other people’s ideas, and they can know that how to modify their own articles. Maybe students also can get inspirations through brainstorming. And because many students didn't read many literary forms, then teachers would like to show their materials in many different ways to help students better understand. By reading more and extensively, students can get what they have to get.
And we can not deny that the computers have become one of our teaching materials. Most newly teachers would teach their students with the help of the computers and students can also do writings in the computers. The teachers of composition may provide environment and media such as film, television, Internet, and CD-ROM. By the way, teachers also have to guide students how to use computers in the right way. And teach them how to use those resources. Because not all the resources in the computer are suitable for students, then teachers have to help them strain.
I think I agree some of the topics in this article. When we write articles we have to know what we want to tell our readers, and how to make our articles in organizations. We also need to know how to support our ideas, using some convincing evidence. During our process of writing, we have to know how to progress our articles gradually. And we can not only write, sometimes we can make some different forms to present our compositions. For example, we can try to write some poems or the life experience that we want to share with our readers. Very free, and we do not have to care much.
As Baines said, Computers do already become one of our important resources of learning. We do a lot of learning by computers. But we also have to have instructors to teach us, because there are so many resources in the Internet, not only excellent ones but some bad information. We have to learn how to choose those materials we can get. That’s why we need instructors, because not every student can differentiate what they have got from computers.
In my opinions, computers do help me during the journey of my English learning. For example I would use the Internet to listen to the English radios, such as Advanced and ICRT. As a student in English department, we always have to collect materials for my homework. And now I can not only go to the library but also search by the Internet. It is more convenient now.

Midterm

Those years, some projects of writing have changed their focus on writing instruction from finished products to the processes of planning, composing, revising, and publishing. Teacher can let students to write some different aims for different students. Those students would understand what they focus on.
Most advocates of writing would seen this as a individual conference and students can share what they have found in the classroom to their classmates .Because many students didn't read much literary forms, then teachers would like to show their materials in many different ways to help students better understand.
And we can not deny that the computer has become one of our teaching materials. Most newly teachers would teach their students with the help of the computers and students can also do writings in the computers. By the way ,teachers also have to guide students how to use computers. And teach them how to use those resources.
I think I agree some of the topics in this article, because computers do already become one of our important resources of learning. We do a lot of learns by the computer. But we also have to have an instructor to teach us, because there are so many resources in the Internet, not only excellent help but some bad information. We have to learn how to choose those materials we can get.
Beside the Internet, we can also use computers to see film, television. By those videos, we can get some inspiration. We can use computers to see a movie, than maybe this movie would change our life. Or we can get the chance to see a perfect article that may change our thinking, and we can also learn how the writer wrote this article. Later days, when we write articles or compositions, we can quote some of their thinking to make our article more beautiful. But remember do not copy.

Reflections

After the conference, I think that my topic communties of practice is something like participation. And COP can not only practiced in the companies bu also schools. But there a little difference between them.

First,when we discuss something in school, it is more like chatting. And we would not care how much time we spend. But in firms, we did care about efficiency. We have to carry out a profitable case for the firms.

Second,during the discussion. Sometimes, some people can not find their position then they may think they are not in the nucleus. Because of this, some people would think they are not important, they may give up what they have to do, or do this carelessly. From this, we can know that when we held a discussion we have to tell everybody what they have to do definitely and let them know that everyone of them are important to this disscussion!

In fact,no matter what we do,we have to participate with our all heart, even though we are not in the nucleus.

Community-of-Practice and Creativity: Theory & Implication

Sy-Feng Wang,Kai-Ming Chen(2002,DEC.)Community-of-Practice and Creativity: Theory & Implication.[Electronic version]. 社會教育學刊.


CoP is still confusing in Taiwan, so Ministry of education starts a plan about how to make innovation and knowledge management connected with community of practice. Creativity and innovation have become more and more important, if you are a guy with those talents, you have the advantage to compete with others. But the education in Taiwan now seems not put much emphasis on social education, this make our children know how to study but do not know how to jump out from books. Due to this reason and the force of globalization, CoP is used to stimulate our total creativity and innovation capability.
Many multi-national companies have used CoPs to develop their advantages of competition. Although enterprises are an important part in our society, we can not let our children to know how to progress their ability of social education until they go to the society. It is too cruel and late to know.
When we are in schools, we have to know what things happened around the world, and we have to make our knowledge renew everyday, so we have to keep learning new ideas. This article takes P&G as an example. P&G uses community of practice as a way to identify and expand their new way of research and development. CoP play an important role in this company.
However teams and communities are two things, communities can be used on the Internet, that is to say, on the virtual way. For example, electronic community and Network Learning Community, so we students can get on the Internet and take a look at those communities and even join in. by joining those communities, we can make friends from many different countries and learn what we can not learn in schools.

What is NAAE's Communities of Practice?

This video is mainly talking about a community of practice in the Internet called NAAE. The narrator is a teacher, so she took educators as an example. She said educators had questions, problems, and great ideas, but they don’t have many channels to share or ask for help. NAAE created a place in the Internet for educators ask each other questions, post resources they want to share , help connect each educator.
We all know whatever questions or problems we have , there probably another educator there who has answer or advice. But without NAAE CoP, they don’t know who you are and when you need help. Through NAAE community of practice, they can get together, and discuss together. It is organized, so it’s easy for you to find what you want.
The narrator, Carol, a high school teacher, she has taught for four years. She wants to open some new classes not in her speciality-planting, she wants to know how to teach well, and not let her students in chaos. But she can’t anybody to help her by her side. Then she thinks of community of practice. She posts questions there. In NAAE, she finds so many materials about planting , there are so many advices , and someone even upload worksheets, which Carol can share with the whole class. Because of this, she does a great job in the class. After a semester, she even sets up her own blog for planting.
Even though this video is very like advertising, it reminds us how importance community of practice is. Through our life, no matter what careers we take, we all have problems to ask. Therefore, community of practice in the Internet is a good way for us to let our questions have answers, we can also get other people’s experience, later we can even share our own experience. And in the Internet, those people are from so many different countries. We would not limit ourselves in one corner, special life experience can make our life more colorful.
After watching the video, I have checked the Internet, NAAE.( http://naae.ca.uky.edu:8080/clearspace_community/index.jspa). It is a really fantastic website. So many different regions are posted, it seems like no matter what your question is, you can find your answers there, so when you have problems, go ahead and have a try.

Research and Annotations

Bored? Looking for a new challenge?
You can watch basketball, baseball, track, gymnastics, tennis, aerobics, volleyball, and weight lifting on ESPN, or you can get out and enjoy them by joining your school team. Not into team sports? There's French club, the debating team, chess club, student government, radio, newspaper, yearbook, environmental club, 4-H, drama, choir, photography, Students Against Destructive Decisions, jazz band, Business Professionals of America, computer club, and more.
So many choices can seem overwhelming, but getting involved in new activities with new people is a fun way to challenge yourself. Here are some basics and benefits of getting involved.
Benefits of Extracurricular Activities
So what's in it for you? You get to explore your physical, creative, social, political, and career interests with like-minded people. You'll find friends: Trying something different may bring you in contact with people you didn't know who share your interests and curiosity.
You can get involved with groups as a way to get support from other students with your background, such as Latino or Jewish clubs. A club or group also can be a great way to meet people who are different from you. Lots of youth programs bring people together with those who are different as a way to break down the barriers between people. Mark, a senior who lives in Washington, DC, discovered this when he volunteered for a group that uses baseball as a way to bring special-education kids and kids with disabilities together with regular kids.
Participating in extracurricular activities helps you in other ways, too: It looks good on college and job applications and shows admissions officers and employers you're well-rounded and responsible. Specific activities help with specific goals — if you want to teach language or get a bilingual job, being the president of the Spanish club shows the depth of your commitment.
The most basic reason for joining a club or team is that it gives you something better to do than staring at the wall, wandering the hall, or napping all afternoon. People who are involved and engaged are less likely to become addicted to bad habits, like smoking or drinking.
Finding the Right Activity for You
Review the activities your school offers and listen to other students' experiences to find an activity that meets your needs. Think about your interests, abilities, and time — is your sister tired of playing chess with you? Do you wish you had more computer time? Are you tired of shooting hoops alone? Are you looking to meet friends or get support? Do you need to increase the appeal of your college application? Don't limit yourself to the familiar — try something new.
Think about different roles within groups that you might want to try — president, captain, participant, leader, support person. Each role is important. Being president teaches you leadership and management skills, but involves more responsibility; being a member gives you structure and is less stressful. You can also lend your skills in areas that are needed, such as using your financial skills to be a group's treasurer.
How to Get Involved
At the beginning of the school year, teachers and principals often have a list of activities to join or make announcements — for example, your history teacher may be the debating team advisor. Look on school bulletin boards and in the school newspaper. Ask friends what they like. Join right away or wait to see how your schedule will be and join later.
Ask questions of the activity advisor before you join. Some things to ask include:
Age. You may have to be a certain age or in a certain grade to join an activity.
Fees. Do you have to pay to join? How much? Are there fees for outings, uniforms, costumes, or other expenses? You may be required to help raise money.
Physical. If you're joining a team, you may need to take a physical. Talking with your family doctor may help you decide whether a team is a good choice for you.
Grades. Many groups require a minimum GPA to join.
Time. If you're involved in competitive sports, you need to have the time to practice and compete. There's also the time it takes to get ready emotionally for a game, and the time you spend getting pizza with the team after games. Team members are often responsible for setting up for a game or helping in other ways. Clubs can meet as infrequently as once every other week, but some teams have practice every day after school and meets on the weekend.
Each school is unique with its own array of offerings, but if you don't find what you want, try a community center or volunteer for a local nonprofit organization or business. Also consider organizations like Youth in Action, a group for teens who want to participate in service projects.
Too Much of a Good Thing?
It's easy to join one too many exciting activities. Ask as many questions as possible before you join. Sit down with your school schedule, work schedule, and other activities and try to map out what's realistic. Are you taking a class this semester that requires extra studying time? Do you need to focus on grades? Does your bus only come once an hour by the time practice is over instead of every 15 minutes? Will you have time to eat, sleep, and relax? Everyone needs downtime. If an activity adds lots of stress to your life, it's not for you.
Once you've joined an activity, if you feel stressed out, reconsider। It's important to keep a balance between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, a job, social life, and your health. If you join a club and need to quit for any reason, talk with the advisor or coach. Be direct and polite and explain your situation and feelings. Sometimes it's just not the right match for you or it's too time-consuming. Perhaps you can participate in a less time-consuming way or rejoin later. You won't be helping yourself or the group if you frantically do homework during a competition or fall asleep during practice. Saying "no" can be the most mature and responsible thing to do.

Is it worthy of participating extracurricular activities?

There are so many extracurricular activities held in NCU every semester. Including clubs, camps and the activities of their own departments. Almost every student has the experience of participating extracurricular activities. Some people would even have two or three extracurricular activities at the same time. They would sleep at an exaggerate time like four or five o’clock in the morning for preparing for an activity.

I have experienced about four activities after I was received in NCU, including three camps and a activity of my department. A camp held for children studied in elementary school is the first extracurricular activity in my freshman life. For me, it was very special to hold activities, because I just joined the activities and did not know how the activities from zero to a real one. But after so many activities, I feel confused. Because I just feel tired and do not know what I have learned and got. Maybe I did not sense the growing of myself. But I still have some problem about my mind, I do not know why should pay so much and get nothing. Sometimes I would even think that it is waste of time, but I do not want to stay in the dorm all day and play computer. Is it the only motivation for me to join an activity?

I have asked some people who have much experience about activities. They told me that I have to change my mind and build my mind. During the preparing period, it is normal for me to feel tired. But after seeing the happy face of those students who came to join this activities, you would feel that everything is all right. Now I am preparing a camp for freshmen in English department, I hope that I can get new touching!

news synopsis

Revise version:
Everyone pay much attention to their homework.Even there are still some mistake. When we read news, we have to know what the news article want to tell us and what we can infer from the article.

This semester we read many news articles. We have learned much.According those news articles, we can know what happened around us. Not only us, but the earth.And we learn some way to analyze the news, to figure out the gist. Thanks for the teacher and the TA.

The New York Times

URL:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/us/02school.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

The discussion:Junk Food in School

Annta: What’s your opinion on selling junk food like candy, chocolate, drink in school?
Paloma: It’s will provide the percentage of obesity.
Beverly: If pupils have too much junk food in their daily life, they will loose their interests in vegetables.
Lisa: Besides, it can cause cancer.
Annta: Our future will die in ingesting too much junk food.
Paloma: Should schools sell junk food or not?
Annta: I think selling an average of snacks can be accepted. We can’t take away the students’ rights to have snacks.
Beverly: I still don’t agree that junk food is available in school.
Lisa: Due to the news, lots of children who like sweets get overweight easily. Therefore, the frequency of exercising decreases.
Paloma: I think that junk food is still being sold in schools, but schools should also teach them that eating junk food harms their health.
Beverly: We should promote that milk and vegetable are healthier than junk food.
Annta: Companies that sell snacks may argue with this politic that their benefit in schools have been cut down. So the government should think of other ways to help these companies.
Lisa: Also, these snack companies should produce snacks based on students’ health. For example, some factories were reported using trans fats just to save more money, and this is very bad.
Beverly: When they are producing those snacks, they should add more nutrients like Vitamin A and Calcium.
Paloma: The kitchens in schools should use Oliver oil instead of trans fats to fry food.
Annta: The problems of selling junk food in schools have been discussed for years, but haven’t got any solutions. Food factories should make some changes on the ingredient of their products, that way; the whole society will become healthier.
Lisa: Governments should take this issue really seriously. After all, these kids are the masters of the country in the future. The fatter they are, the weaker the country will be.
Beverly: Every one of us would become parents, so next time when we are having chips, we should think twice before we put them into our mouths.
Paloma: I think that junk food is fast to acquire and sometimes it’s delicious, but we still shouldn’t eat too much of it, and we cant’s take it as ordinary meal as well.

msn news

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21567822/

Summary:From the disaster continue happening aroud the world, we can know that the global warming is getting worse.Ad the sea levels are getting higher.It is true that the situation is getting worse, not exaggeration. But different people have different view toward the Global warming.Not only the sea level but also the creatures lived in the sea would be affected by the change of the temperature.With the soaring temperature, some places may face droughts.Because of the problem, some ski resorts began to use snowmaking capacity.The way to deal with the problem is needed.