An English Question

As I am a teacher of English, I talk about English a lot. Since I work with and teach people from all different cultural and textbook backgrounds, questions about English come up often. I love it. So here's a question for you:

Do you ever say "in back of"?

Not "in the back of" but "in back of", meaning the entire phrase functions as a preposition?

Plagiarism

We've all heard the word. We've all heard how rampantly it is occurring in universities. But do you have to deal with it?

I do, and I must admit it's one of the hardest parts of my job.

In some cultures, plagiarism is not an issue. For example, let's look at Chinese culture and the process of writing a paper. For a Chinese person, if you are doing research and an expert says something, there is no reason to paraphrase or use your own words because you are not an expert; there is no way you will be able to say it as well as her. When we, Westerners, find something that an author wrote extremely well and don't want to change as to not lose its effectiveness or strength, we use quotations. But in Chinese culture, there is no reason to change anything and no need to reference those whose ideas are being used in a paper.

Yet, I do not teach within Chinese culture. I teach within Western culture, and using someone else's words or ideas without citing them is seen as wrong, Illegal, STEALING. So, I must teach and mark from that perspective. But when and how do grace and mercy play a role in this?

Plagiarism is defined as three or more words that are not your own. [Reference for this coming - it's on a handout sitting on my desk!] How much should I let go? Should a student be given another opportunity to write a paper that originally contained plagiarism? How many opportunities should that student get in each class? Should I give any grace at all? A university professor is not going to care if you come from a different culture OR going to care about how long you have lived within Western culture. Since I am preparing students to enter university in two months, should I care? We have been learning and talking about plagiarism at least once a week, every week, since this semester began. For a professor, plagiarism is plagiarism and warrants nothing but an F. Should it not be the same for me?

Does anyone have any answers?

Work = Ropes Course?

This summer I'm teaching three classes which combine Canadian culture, computers, and academic learning. (I think it's hilarious that an American is teaching Canadian culture - especially since Canadians think Americans know nothing about Canada.) One of the perks of teaching this class is getting to do all kinds of fun activities besides in-the-classroom lessons. Later we'll be going blueberry picking, but yesterday we were out on a ropes course.


The students were great. Some of them were SOOO nervous but they conquered their fears and made it across the broken bridge. A team of two always went across together and it was interesting to see how the first person always took control to help the second person (me above) get across.


Trust me, being first (above) was more difficult.


It was a great day with my students.
I'm going to miss them when we leave.

Just Another Day on the Job...

For those of you who don't know, I'm working as a cook. My area is the forno oven - similar to one of the Italian dome ovens that's heated by wood, often used for cooking pizzas. I make pizzas, roasted chicken, barbecue ribs, cajun chicken, roasted potato salad, spinach dip & flatbread, naan, and desserts. Anyways, most days are pretty uneventful and safe.
Not this evening, though.

Got to work this evening, threw a log into the fire, and grabbed the metal paddle that is used to reach food that's too far in the oven to reach with tongs. To my hand's surprise, the paddle was HOT! My hand let go of the paddle (that had been hanging on the wall), which of course meant the paddle fell, hit my head, and then clamored to the floor.

My hand and face HURT. The manager who noticed me stooped next to the sani-bucket with my hand in it told me I was bleeding, but all I could feel was stinging. Eventually I was taken to the back, shown the deep cut near my eye, given burn cream to rub into my hand, and sent to a walk-in clinic.

The first words out of the doctor's mouth - after I told him what happened - were "You are lucky." He said that three or four more times. "You could have lost your eye."

Praise the Lord for keeping me safe. Yeah, my right palm and fingers are burnt (I'm one-finger typing right now with my left hand), I have two big burn marks on my face, and two cuts that have been glued together (the manager at Earl's thought I was going to need a stitch or two), but I have two eyes that can both see.

Oh - why was the paddle hot? One of the other cooks had cooked something and forgot to take the paddle out. It was in the oven for 15+ minutes. He eventually took it out using towels and hung it up on the wall - not thinking that the next person to come along wouldn't know it was so hot.