A Thanksgiving Reflection
I decided to get off at Morse School and walk to my work at Boston University this morning. The bus driver passionately greeted me “Happy Holidays” on the way out. I replied, “You, too. Thank you.” He was a middle-aged man, with a mustache and some gray hairs. He is not white, but not black either. I guessed he was from Eastern Europe. I usually take Harvard shuttle bus from Johnston gate at Harvard Square to BU campus. All the shuttle buses serve round trip from Harvard Sq in Cambridge to Longwood Medical Center in Boston. There are two routes, though. M2 shuttle goes along Massachusetts Avenue and passes Kenmore Square. M2Express turns at Putnam Square and passes BU bridge. I used my Harvard ID to take either one to get to BU campus.
So, this morning, I felt like walking longer than usual, and took M2Express. After got off the bus, I walked up to BU bridge. I like the scenery from this bridge. This nice crispy morning, not too cold – I guess the temperature was around 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Celcius – and thin white puffy clouds floating in the sky. From the bridge, I can see a tranquil Charles River and its running tracks in the back of BU campus. No many leaves left on trees that line up on the river bank. A male holding a water bottle run on the track under the bridge. He run a bit fast like chasing a bus. I would like to run like that, but I guessed I would passing out after a mile or at the most, two miles. A homeless man pushing a full-loaded cart blocking one lane of the street on the bridge, the fast lane it was. The cars behind him did not even bother to honk. What a nice day. Tomorrow Thanksgiving Day. So, everyone seemed take it easy.
I looked the sky, and gleamed into the Citgo sign, two light brown towers between Marsh Chapel – the landmark of BU campus – and Photonic Center building. They looked grand and humble at the same time. They are not big, but magnifying the essence of academic excellence and soul searching. They are not arrogant, but opening themselves to admiration and criticism. Call it epiphany, last night was realized the call for teaching, sharing my knowledge with others, inside me. In one of that towers, in room 318 of School of Theology building, I taught an introduction research class for Master’s degree students. There were 23 students in the class. Their ages were ranging from late 20s to late 40s. One of them has an MBA degree. Almost half of them are Asians. The topic of the class was Descriptive Statistics, in particular statistical concepts such us mean, median, mode, nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio, and correlation. There was one problem: we supposed to watch a movie about mean, median, and mode, but I didn’t know that it was scheduled for next week. Prof. Mary Shann was in South Africa until next week, so nothing I could do. I must teach the students the concepts in that movie. I told my advisor Prof. David Whittier about this problem and he said: “Accessibility, teachers need easy to technology.” Yes, exactly. I added that in my study, constant accessibility did not guarantee teachers would use technology in their classroom. Yesterday, I submitted Chapter 4 and 5 of my dissertation to David. Oh, yeah, also Appendix and Bibliography. I replaced the previous versions that I submitted last Thursday because in the weekend I found that two variables were correlated significantly. A fatal mistake if I did not revise research findings and conclusion. “What inside the technology is also important,” I said. Content that matched with teachers’ need, he replied. Teachers’ capability was also important, I responded. Teacher’s control, he added. Well, my conversation with David that night was like wrapping up my experience in teaching a class and the frustration of using technology in the classroom.
I passed BU Academy building and then walked onto George Sherman Union building. Three Greyhound buses lined up in the curb. “New York” was on the sign box of the buses. I saw many heads inside the buses. I guessed they were BU students who wanted to be home during Thanksgiving holiday. It was 8:30 A.M. and the buses were ready to leave Boston. I kept walking, now passed the Marsh Chapel. The wide sidewalk was empty. I could see all the way through Burger King and School of Management. Not many cars parked on the curb. The parking meters were like a distanced fence of Commonwealth Avenue. A Boston College bound subway car passed. The cars were almost empty. I love holidays. No busy traffic, less noise. It offers tranquility and provides an atmosphere for reflection and contemplation. Happy Thanksgiving.
Boston University, Charles River Campus, November 24, 2004
I decided to get off at Morse School and walk to my work at Boston University this morning. The bus driver passionately greeted me “Happy Holidays” on the way out. I replied, “You, too. Thank you.” He was a middle-aged man, with a mustache and some gray hairs. He is not white, but not black either. I guessed he was from Eastern Europe. I usually take Harvard shuttle bus from Johnston gate at Harvard Square to BU campus. All the shuttle buses serve round trip from Harvard Sq in Cambridge to Longwood Medical Center in Boston. There are two routes, though. M2 shuttle goes along Massachusetts Avenue and passes Kenmore Square. M2Express turns at Putnam Square and passes BU bridge. I used my Harvard ID to take either one to get to BU campus.
So, this morning, I felt like walking longer than usual, and took M2Express. After got off the bus, I walked up to BU bridge. I like the scenery from this bridge. This nice crispy morning, not too cold – I guess the temperature was around 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Celcius – and thin white puffy clouds floating in the sky. From the bridge, I can see a tranquil Charles River and its running tracks in the back of BU campus. No many leaves left on trees that line up on the river bank. A male holding a water bottle run on the track under the bridge. He run a bit fast like chasing a bus. I would like to run like that, but I guessed I would passing out after a mile or at the most, two miles. A homeless man pushing a full-loaded cart blocking one lane of the street on the bridge, the fast lane it was. The cars behind him did not even bother to honk. What a nice day. Tomorrow Thanksgiving Day. So, everyone seemed take it easy.
I looked the sky, and gleamed into the Citgo sign, two light brown towers between Marsh Chapel – the landmark of BU campus – and Photonic Center building. They looked grand and humble at the same time. They are not big, but magnifying the essence of academic excellence and soul searching. They are not arrogant, but opening themselves to admiration and criticism. Call it epiphany, last night was realized the call for teaching, sharing my knowledge with others, inside me. In one of that towers, in room 318 of School of Theology building, I taught an introduction research class for Master’s degree students. There were 23 students in the class. Their ages were ranging from late 20s to late 40s. One of them has an MBA degree. Almost half of them are Asians. The topic of the class was Descriptive Statistics, in particular statistical concepts such us mean, median, mode, nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio, and correlation. There was one problem: we supposed to watch a movie about mean, median, and mode, but I didn’t know that it was scheduled for next week. Prof. Mary Shann was in South Africa until next week, so nothing I could do. I must teach the students the concepts in that movie. I told my advisor Prof. David Whittier about this problem and he said: “Accessibility, teachers need easy to technology.” Yes, exactly. I added that in my study, constant accessibility did not guarantee teachers would use technology in their classroom. Yesterday, I submitted Chapter 4 and 5 of my dissertation to David. Oh, yeah, also Appendix and Bibliography. I replaced the previous versions that I submitted last Thursday because in the weekend I found that two variables were correlated significantly. A fatal mistake if I did not revise research findings and conclusion. “What inside the technology is also important,” I said. Content that matched with teachers’ need, he replied. Teachers’ capability was also important, I responded. Teacher’s control, he added. Well, my conversation with David that night was like wrapping up my experience in teaching a class and the frustration of using technology in the classroom.
I passed BU Academy building and then walked onto George Sherman Union building. Three Greyhound buses lined up in the curb. “New York” was on the sign box of the buses. I saw many heads inside the buses. I guessed they were BU students who wanted to be home during Thanksgiving holiday. It was 8:30 A.M. and the buses were ready to leave Boston. I kept walking, now passed the Marsh Chapel. The wide sidewalk was empty. I could see all the way through Burger King and School of Management. Not many cars parked on the curb. The parking meters were like a distanced fence of Commonwealth Avenue. A Boston College bound subway car passed. The cars were almost empty. I love holidays. No busy traffic, less noise. It offers tranquility and provides an atmosphere for reflection and contemplation. Happy Thanksgiving.
Boston University, Charles River Campus, November 24, 2004
