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My Holiday Plea

By Jon OaksDec 24, 20190 Comments
Earlier this week, I had lunch at a business I know is not Christian-owned, but they have some of the best Christmas decorations of any restaurant I've been to yet this season. They do it because they want to support their Christian brothers and sisters who do celebrate Christmas. They could easily instead say things like, 'This is not a Christian-owned business. We will deny service to those wearing Christmas-themed clothes as it goes against our beliefs.' But, instead, they choose to support one another and their community regardless of their beliefs. I am reminded of how many businesses I've…
Korean Adoptee
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Distribution of my Facebook Friends’ Names

By Jon OaksDec 24, 2019
The other day I was talking with my friend Matt, and he said to me that he thought I knew a lot of people with names starting with “J.” I thought that was a bit strange, but started looking through my Facebook Friends list out of curiosity, and sure enough, Matt was right. The distribution of my Facebook Friends’ Names is below: Then he claimed that he felt that most of my friend’s names began with a “J.” As you can see, the highest is “J” with 43, followed by “S – 35,” “M – 32,” “D – 31,” and…
Statistics, Teaching
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Student Success in Accelerated Classes

By Jon OaksNov 11, 2019
I’m in a Facebook Group in which there was a question about student success in courses with compressed or accelerated schedules. At my college we offer all of our online courses in the 8-week format and we also offer some of our on-campus classes in a 12-week ‘late start’ format. However, I believe the length of the class is not the only factor that affects student success in a course. Course Size Our online classes have a cap of 22 students and on-campus classes have a cap of 35 students. Academic Dishonesty Due to the increased opportunity for academic dishonesty…
Departmental Issues
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The New Push for Online Courses

By Jon OaksNov 04, 2019
At my college, there has been a push to add additional sections of many online courses due to increasing demand. There are many reasons for this new push for online classes, including  recent changes in our placement test scores. Now more students are placing into Beginning Algebra than into Intermediate Algebra. Although generally in a time in which college enrollments are typically declining, the additional classes would be welcome, this new push for online courses has raised many concerns: How should online courses be assigned to faculty? Before every semester, faculty select their classes. Sometimes it is not possible to…
Departmental Issues
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Academic Supports for College Students with An Autism Spectrum Disorder

By Jon OaksOct 28, 2019
I’m in a Facebook Group in which there was a recent discussion about what to do about a student who has type 1 diabetes, autism, a learning disability, an emotional disability, and very poor eyesight. The student can do the required coursework but is often disruptive in class. The instructor is doing everything to the best of her ability to accommodate the student but asked for suggestions as to what else she might be able to do. I found some references that I thought might be helpful, and thought it could be beneficial to others to share the resources here…
Departmental Issues
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LGBT History Month: A Salute to Dan Choi

By Jon OaksOct 26, 2019
I recently found out that it is LGBT history month, which got me thinking about what this means to me as a Korean and as an adoptee. This year was the 20th year of Seoul’s gay pride march. And although I was not in attendance, I was in Korea during the 2nd annual Incheon Queer Culture Festival. Last year’s festival in Incheon did not go off without incident, and so it feels good to know that there is progress being made toward tolerance, even if it is slowly. The News Lens documented some of the progress in their February 2018…
Korean Adoptee
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My Experience Learning Korean

By Jon OaksOct 25, 2019
This summer, I was a student in the Short-Term Korean Language Program at Ewha University. Although I learned a lot, the pace of having classes and field trips from about 9 am to 5 pm every day, combined with needing to do at least 10 hours of studying a night, was too much for me. The program was terrific, and I was able to read, write, and speak some Korean by the end of the class. However, I just was not ready to take the 5-hour final exam at the end. I don't consider this a failure, as I accomplished what I…
Korean Adoptee
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Do you want me to translate that for you?

By Jon OaksOct 22, 2019
On Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at about 5 p.m., I was at Peepo's Subs & Shawarma at 10890 Beech Daly Rd, Taylor, MI 48180. I asked for chicken shawarma and rice. The employee told me that the only way that I could order that is if I ordered 'Peepo's Plate, a.k.a Peepo's Bowl, which their menu describes as 'Turmeric Rice topped with your choice of Africano Meat, Tomatoes, Lettuce & drizzled with our Homemade Ranch.' So, I ordered the 'Peepo's Plate' and asked for it with chicken shawarma instead of Africano Meat, tomatoes, no ranch, and add pickles and Fattoush…
Korean Adoptee
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The Benefits of Online Office Hours

By Jon OaksSep 19, 2019
I recently read a post in a Facebook Group by a math instructor who described her office hours as "throwing an hour of my life away every week." This comment upset me much. I have an average of one student show up for my online office hours each semester. However, I never feel that holding office hours is a waste of my time. I feel that holding online office hours has helped to increase overall student satisfaction in my courses. From the student perspective, I believe there is something psychological about knowing an instructor is available to help, even if…
Uncategorized
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Student Engagement In and Out of the Classroom

By Jon OaksNov 25, 2014
On November 7, 2014, I attended the ETOM Conference at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron, MI. One of the underlying themes of this year conference was student engagement in and out of the classroom. As an instructor who hasn’t taken classes in quite some time, sometimes I forget how difficult it is to be a student in the 21st century. Between the rising cost of college, the changing nature of technology, and the demands at home, it is often a struggle to engage students in the classroom. This conference helped give me a different perspective of how I…
Uncategorized, ,
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