English Camp for High School No. 2--Fun Activities!

Imagination plays a great deal in learning

Great learning, understanding and acquiring new knowledge (in all subject matters), to me, come from unlimited and broad imagination. Without great imagination, children won’t be able to learn, to grow and to change. In the conversation between Scott and Jane Goodall, an internationally renowned primatologist and the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, they mentioned about suffering (dukkha in Buddhism) in two elements: one is that we want escape things that make us unhappy, thinks that cause pain. The other one is our longing to be aligned with something greater than we are right now. This second thing is very important for us to recognize. Thus, the important thing is if you don’t strive to find it then life seems to lack meaning. Jane stated that our life is a series of attempts to get higher ad higher toward the goal, we can’t cope by ourselves. There is a real longing in people to reach up to this higher state of being. Yet, children these days seem to lack—connection with everyone else. Children in the West have so many things, from video games to cell phones, and yet they have a lot of loneliness and sense of anxiety. Children used to play and laugh and have fun and being creative, and they have a sense of connection with everyone else. We, as adults, seem to take all these things away from them. We are going to tell them they need a video game to be happy. Once children have grown up with the video games and the violent movies, it is very difficult to change their mind stream. Therefore, they need to be instilled the goodness or plant the seeds for goodness and peace—more meaningful and imaginative

Goodall stated about the state of togetherness and the tools for change that we needed to break down the artificial barriers we’ve created between the rich and the poor, between countries, between cultures, between religions, between ethnic groups, between countries, between old and young very often, and between humans and animals. If you imagine that I give you a seed and you take it to Tibet and you plant it, well, it will grow in Tibet only if it’s nurtured by the Tibetan people. And when the fruits come, they’ll be the Tibetans’ fruits. I can take a seed and plant it in Congo and the same will be true. When all these fruits and leaves blossom out there they will be something we all made together.” The Future of Peace,Page 325

The law of Dharma and the Learning of a second/foreign language...some connection there!?

After the read on The Future of Peace, I could not help but quesioned myself of the connection between the teaching of the Buddha and teaching English as a second or foreign language. During the discussion between Scott Hunt and Maha Ghosananda (known as The Ghandhi of Cambodia), Maha Ghosananda stated, “If you look down upon people, are very proud and haughty, your mind will become ignorant. If you are respect everybody, because the whole world is your house and all human beings are your mother. Then you will become very wise. You must have su, chi, po, li. Su means to listen, chi means to think, pu means to question, and li means to record. To listen, to think, to question, and to record, these make you become very wise. If you don’t have them you become ignorant. That is the law of dharma.” (The Future of Peace, p.175)

Dealing with Difficult People--extra seminar activity for university students

This seminar was initiated and aimed to help students with their lives after graduation, particularly to be aware of behaviors, what kind of people they are, and learn the "soft skills" through the teaching of Buddha . After spending and teaching them for three months, I found that they did not have any aim in their lives and did not know what to expect and how to deal with lives and negotiation at work. Thus, I kindly invited Dr. Janya Pookkayaporn, an expert in coaching and how to deal with difficult people, to give a special lecture on the topic of "How to Deal with Life and Negotiation after Graduation in the Midst of Economic Crisis"

Topics of discussion:
-Happiness at work
-Not Friendly Behaviors
-Dealing with Difficult People

What Gandhi can teach you about happiness at work?
So many of Gandhi’s teachings and life stories can be applied to our own lives and can help us find meaning and strength. Gandhi endured a lot of hardships and if we study those hardships we can derive the same truth from them that he did.

1. Making mistakes
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” - Gandhi
2. Understanding
“Hate the sin, love the sinner.” - Gandhi
3. Arrogance
“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” – Gandhi
4. Forgiveness
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Gandhi
5. Becoming a leader
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Gandhi
6. Grudges
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” – Gandhi
7. Being truthful
“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” - Gandhi
8. Peace at work
“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.” - Gandhi

กัลยาณมิตรธรรม 7 ประการ

-ปิโย = น่ารัก มิตรที่ชวนให้อยากไปปรึกษา มีความสบายใจเมื่ออยู่ใกล้
-ครุ = น่าเคารพ มิตรที่ประพฤติดี ประพฤติชอบ
-ภาวนีโย = น่าเจริญ น่ายกย่อง มิตรที่มีภูมิปัญญาแท้จริง เป็นผู้ปรับปรุงตนเองเสมอ ควรเอาอย่าง
-วตตา จ = รู้จักพูดให้ได้ผล รู้จักชี้แจงให้เข้าใจ รู้ว่าเมื่อไหร่ควรพูดอะไร และอย่างไร
-วจนกขโม = อดทนต่อถ้อยคำ มิตรที่อดทน ไม่ฉุนเฉียว ไม่นินทา ไม่วิจารณ์
-คมภีรจ กถ กตตา = อธิบายเรื่องที่ล้ำลึกได้ มิตรที่ทำให้เราเข้าใจเรื่องที่ยุ่งยากซับซ้อน
-โน จฎฐาเน นิโยชเย = ไม่ชักนำในอฐาน มิตรที่ไม่แนะนำเรื่องเหลวไหล หรือชักจูงไป ในทางเสื่อมเสีย

Not Friendly Behaviors:
-Warrior--Knows only one way to solve problems: by yelling and being aggressive.
-Unloader--Anger on a safe source. Might be angry at something else but vents anger on the person being talked to at the moment.
-Guiltmaker
-Child--Throws tantrums: yells.
-Blamer--Interested in finding fault than solving the problem. Most likely to ask to speak to a supervisor after the the problem was solved.
-Survivalist--Scared of what will happened if the problem isn’t solved. May whine and have difficulty shifting into a problem solving modes
-Parent--Patronizes, talks down to others. And uses insults. May use sarcasm.
-Pretender--Pretends not to be upset but will most likely tell friends about the university’s badservice.
-Gunny Sacker--Scared of what will happened if the problem isn’t solved. May whine and have difficulty shifting into a problem solving modes

Dealing with Difficult People:
1. Tank--Don’t counterattack or offer excuses, let them vent, hold your ground, demand respect.
2. Sniper--Call them on their sarcasm and have them explain what was really behind their comment; be honest and tell them their comment was rude and unkind
3. Grenade--Don’t show anger, let them vent, tell them you take their concerns seriously, give them a chance to cool down.
4. Whiner--Listen but don’t get drawn into their complaining; focus them on specific solutions; shift to problem-solving mode.
5. No Person --Don’t rush them or try to persuade them they are wrong; acknowledge their concerns and input.
6. Know-it-All--Acknowledge their expertise and competence, make your statements appear as if they are in agreement
7. Think-They know-It-All--Give them attention; be patient; don’t embarrass them.
8. Nothing Person--Try to draw them out; ask them specific questions without making them fell they are being attacked
9. Yes Person-- Encourage the person to be honest; make it safe for them to say no.
10. May be person--Help them learn decision-making skills; reassure them about the decisions they make; let them know it’s OK to take risks.

Feedback from students after the seminar:

"I got the knowledge about how to negotiate with other people. Somebody hard somebody easy to negotiate. I got ideas from example when Dr. Chanya said. I can solved the problem from my colleagues when I work in the future. I knew and remember about the moral of how to be a good friend. In the future in can face with other problems"-- Saowakhon Rattanarat

"I got many methods to behave or control myself follow the right way and hae learnt how to behave and stay with other in workplace or social life. When we have problems in workplace. The siminar gave me the ways or solutions to figure it out."--Suriyaporn Pariyat

Teachers are like signposts...

The Buddhas do but tell the way, it is for you to labor at the task.
– The Buddha


Eknath's thought on the Buddha's statement,

Spiritual teachers are like signposts pointing the way to immortality, but it is we who must make the journey. This is quite reasonable. After all, when we pass a signpost on the freeway, we don’t expect it to get into the driver’s seat and do the driving while we lie down in the back to take a nap. On the first half of the spiritual journey, we cannot expect other people to pick us up and carry us along. It is up to us to meditate regularly, and practice the allied disciplines.

Sri Ramakrishna says that the first part of the trip is the “way of the monkey.” The little baby monkey has to hold on for dear life while his mother swings from tree to tree. If the little one loses his grip, he’ll fall and hurt himself. But the second half is the “way of the cat.” The little kitten just sits there on the road looking cute and helpless, saying, “mew, mew, mew,” and the mother cat picks it up by the scruff of its neck and takes it to safety. It is only on the second half of the journey that we are carried by a power higher than ourselves.

Fun activities at English Camp for high school students

Liberal Arts, Sripatum University, was hired by Rattanakosinsompoat-Saraya in Nakornpathom province to run an English camp for their students in the Gifted Program. There were about 80 students participating the camp organized by me, others faculty members, foreign teachers, and student staff. The camp was held at Sripatum University on March 7-8, 2009. The purposes of this camp initiated by the high school teacher were to help their students to become better in English and get exposed to a university setting. The camp was very successful because all of the students had a great time and learned more vocabulary words and practiced their listening and speaking skills. They enjoyed the games tremendously; therefore, I would like to share them with others.

Games Descriptions

“Fastest is the Winner”
Work with your team, and think fast!
Find words and the meaning to be the winner!

“Game Zone”
How good is your acting? You’ll need to mime the vocabulary for your friends to guess! Funny gesture and movements will help you win!


“Eng & Art”
How is your drawing? You will need to draw funny pictures about vocabulary for your team to win!
Unity, teamwork and enjoyment are the idea of this game!

“Find It”
Can you speak English? This game has you speaking and listening. Saying words clearly can help your team win! Work with your team and enjoy speaking!

“Don’t Stop the Music”
Can you sing? Enjoy English songs and music. Recognize lyrics and tunes and see if your friends can guess the songs.

“What is it?”
How good is your vocabulary? This game aims to test your vocabulary skills. You will be asked to look at some drawings and guess the vocabulary words.

Give me a name- Or “Hangman”
It is simply the hangman game. Each group has to compete over vocabulary hidden on the chart provided.

“Gossip Game”
This game is to practice your listening and speaking. One student in each group will hear phrases or sentences and has to pass them along to his or her friends by whispering and last student in the group will have to say it out loud correctly.

ร่วมยินดี "ครูในดวงใจ" (Award for teachers)

I just wanted to share my success with others. It was a ceremonial event for those teachers who were awarded a certificate of merit for teaching (or idol award for teachers)given by the Princess. It is in Thai since I have adopted the information from SPU websit (www.spu.ac.th). The English version will be translated soon!

ดร.รัชนีพร พุคยาภรณ์ พุกกะมาน อธิการบดีมหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม ร่วมแสดงความยินดีและเลี้ยงอาหารกลางวันแก่อาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม หลังได้เข้ารับพระราชทานเกียรติบัตร "ครูในดวงใจ" ประจำปี 2552 จำนวน 10 คน จาก ทูลกระหม่อมหญิงอุบลรัตนราชกัญญา สิริวัฒนาพรรณวดี จากจำนวนผู้เข้ารับพระราชทานทั้งหมดจำนวน 355 คน ณ ห้องบุษกร อาคาร ดร.สุข พุคยาภรณ์ มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุม เมื่อวันที่ 13 กุมภาพันธ์ 2552 ที่ผ่านมา

สำหรับอาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยศรีปทุมที่ได้รับคัดเลือกเข้ารับพระราชทานกียรติบัตร "ครูในดวงใจ" ประจำ 2552 จำนวน 10 คน ประกอบด้วย...

1 อ.เจียมจิต สุวรรณน้อย อาจารย์ประจำคณะนิติศาสตร์
2 อ.ประพาฬรัตน์ อำประเสริฐ อาจารย์ประจำคณะนิเทศศาสตร์
3 อ.ชลลดา สัจจานิตย์ อาจารย์ประจำคณะบริหารธุรกิจ
4 อ.ณัฐกมล ถุงสุวรรณ อาจารย์ประจำคณดิจิทัลมีเดีย
5 อ.ประนิธศรี สาริกัลยะ อาจารย์ประจำคณะบัญชี
6 อ.วันชัย จันไกรผล อาจารย์ประจำคณะวิศวกรรมศาสตร์
7 อ.ไพบูลย์ สุขวิจิตร อาจารย์ประจำคณะศิลปศาสตร์
8 อ.อนพัทย์ หนองคู อาจารย์ประจำคณะเศรษฐศาสตร์
9 อ.กนกวรรณ อุสันโน อาจารย์ประจำคณะสถาปัตยกรรมศาสตร์
10 อ.จีระวรรณ วิสายอน อาจารย์ประจำคณะสารสนเทศศาสตร์