Tarren Dei's page

I sure wish I had even the slightest smidgen of Tarren's experience. <snipped for length>

Oh, you sciency types with your love of anecdotal evidence and intuitive leaps. ;-)

I've taught students from a wide variety of majors and have been impressed with some from different fields and startled at the empty-headedness of some from different fields. I'm surprised that you don't see these idiots in your classes in other fields, because I have.

That being said, it does seem hard to attract scientists and mathematicians to education and, in some cases, those with an excellent grasp of science or math have a lot of trouble with the communication skills required to manage a class while guiding them (without railroading them) towards deeper understandings of phenomena.

Still, it strikes me as a bit lazy to argue that "school is dumb because teachers are stupid." I made that argument in grade 9 and I realized it was immature even then.

On the Education of Teachers:

Some of you mentioned that you had found education students to be intelligent adn witty and engaging. I sincerely hope that is the norm, as my experience was like others, where the education students represented the low end of the intellectual scale. A friend of mine who was getting her Master's in education was nearly brought to tears by how vociferously her classmates complained about an assignment to write a half-page paper. Numerous other anecdotes abound.

I don't recall many other defenses of teachers than my half-hearted one. I wrote ...

[In the thirteen years I've been teaching teachers, I've found most teacher-candidates to be either (1) diligent, clever, and slightly conservative with excellent study skills (the majority); or (2) intuitively brilliant, left-leaning, and with not so excellent study skills (a minority). (The latter can be a pain but they are fun to have in class discussions.)

The majority of teachers that I've observed were good students who liked school and wanted to go back there. I don't think that makes the best teacher. I would prefer to see schools staffed by people who think that schools could be improved. I was annoyed by the complaints about workload from my students in education until I took into account the amount of time they spent observing or teaching classes as part of their practicum.

I think part of the problem lies in the way teachers are educated. While working as a TA in a lab class for future science teachers, I witnessed the collegiate science instructor demand that a student take off his tritium-painted watch, put ii in a can and stack books around it so everyone wouldn't "get cancer".

I'm not sure how teachers are educated where you're from, the Stick, but in my experience students preparing to be high school science teachers would study science classes from the science department. The education department may have a course on science pedagogy but we would mainly be responsible for their courses on childhood development, school policy, and pedagogy.

Sadly, I have found educational departments to be primarily concerned with politics, agendae and pedagogy (a term I have grown to loathe), rather than concerned with producing good teachers.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Politics? Most university departments are concerned with politics, particularly when dealing with other departments. 'Agendae' is kind of vague. 'Pedagogy' -- yes, that's our job.

Education departments, often becoming the scapegoats of the perennial discussion on the declining academic abilities of this year's crop of first year students in all the other departments, come into these meetings of faculty with our collective tail between our legs. (If you guys in the other departments would just admit you're not attracting better students, you might lay off us a bit.)

I think serious (and painful) reofrm is necessary by the teaching profession before teaching teachers serves society again. I see it more and more serving its own members, adn that disturbs me, not just for my son, but for all (okay, most of) our children.

The medium being the message, reforming the teaching profession is going to be short-lived unless you re-imagine schools. You could replace every teacher in the school system with creative and intelligent people from different professions, and within a couple of years, they'd have rediscovered exactly the way we're doing it now. Transformations of schools don't start by blaming teachers; they end that way because it's easier than offering solutions.

Nik aka Nicephora wrote:

I cant help but be proud that even Neil used my pic to inspire his work

check it out on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmCgV_ncjM

Jenny as supergirl oh my.

For $20,000 no less... http://www.nealadamsstore.com/Supergirl-painting_p_469.html

Wow. You should totally buy that, Jenny.

Now, I can actually do stuff that requires me to go places and interface with the local human population, as opposed to sitting in my room weeping, or otherwise venturing out into the cold, dark night to see if I can score a free bag of Fritos from the vending machine. Hooray and huzzah!

Cute trick. Now you can feign normality for as long as it takes.

Hey Tarren, looks like Ergrin Stonefist's brother-in-arms Mijanor is going to Carrion Hill. Should be interesting to say the least. Just an FYI.

I wish him luck. Hope the DM lasts longer ;-). Ergrin was fun but I won't be taking any more new PbPs on.

Tarren Dei wrote:

Charlie Bell wrote:

It occurs to me that somebody might see my avatar and draw the quite mistaken conclusion that I am IRL some kind of skinhead neo-nazi. I shave my head because razor blades are still cheaper than haircuts, plus the wife likes it.

It occurs to me that somebody might see my avatar and draw the conclusion that I am IRL 2400 lbs of uncastrated male bovine. They would be correct. Would I steer you wrong?

Oh, also, Hitler.

I always thought your avatar indicated you were full of b~@##*&~.

That too.

Oh, and I always thought your avatar had a "Aren't I pretty. Please, please, ride me" vibe of desperation coming off of it.

Many congratulations. Children are jewels in the hand of God.

Oh, and polyhedron's in the hands of babies are something completely different. Put the dice away, man.

Nicolas Quimby wrote:

Even if we assume that all eight contestants got the exact same number of friend/family votes...

I'd be curious to know, if the other contestants wish to share, what (if anything) they did to garner support outside of the Paizo forums?

I'll share the tricks I used to help Jesse - click on the spoiler for the long-winded marketing campaign ideas.

** spoiler omitted **...

You did all that for your husband? Sounds like Jesse won before the contest began. You're a lucky man, Jesse. ;-)

It occurs to me that somebody might see my avatar and draw the quite mistaken conclusion that I am IRL some kind of skinhead neo-nazi. I shave my head because razor blades are still cheaper than haircuts, plus the wife likes it.

It occurs to me that somebody might see my avatar and draw the conclusion that I am IRL 2400 lbs of uncastrated male bovine. They would be correct. Would I steer you wrong?

Oh, also, Hitler.

I haven't had as much time as I would like to participate in these forums, Jim, but I think you've put together some very impressive work and I'm really rooting for you.

Many congratulations. Children are jewels in the hand of God.

Okay. Another question. Do other racial modifiers get applied? If I beast shape into a monkey, do I get the +8 to acrobatics?

Creatures with a climb speed gain +8 to climb skill checks. If you gain a climb speed through Beast Shape, do you also gain the +8?

Tarren Dei

It depends on the language. Assuming a missionary is from the USA or Canada and a native English speaker, their first stop will be the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. They will study there roughly 14 hours a day, every day, for a number of weeks dependent on the difficulty of the language. It can range from 8 weeks for those learning Spanish or French, to 13 weeks for those learning Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Finnish. Once they are in-country, they continue with daily language study. This is at the direction of the Mission President (a volunteer priesthood leader who oversees proselyting in a large geographic area), and generally ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours a day. They will do this every day until they come home 2 years later.

Teaching is primarily oral, with a few visual aids. Written texts and pamphlets are left with the investigator (person hearing the lessons) to read and ponder in-between lessons.

The language study is a mixture of rote memorization and natural learning. While most will argue that one method is superior to the other and vice versa, I think that a mixture is the best. A great deal of emphasis is placed on a missionary developing their own teaching 'voice,' but formal lesson texts are available for those who wish to memorize something when their language abilities are still developing. As far as daily conversation and interacting with locals, this was very free-form. A new missionary is paired with a senior companion who guides and assists them in their study (generally making sure they don't embarrass themselves).

Most of a missionary's day is spent in natural conversation with native speakers. My mission heavily emphasized door-to-door and street contacting, so I spent upwards of 10-12 hours a day initiating conversations with locals. That kind of intense immersion produces VERY fast results. Also, I was blessed to have numerous companions who were Japanese natives. So even during mealtimes or when the workday was finished, I...

Yes. Many, many thanks. I needed to know this.

Tarren Dei, I studied Japanese.

Great.

I heard from my buddies overseas that this involved several hours a day for several months. How many hours for how many months?

Was the teaching mostly oral or did you have a written text?

Were you expected to listen and repeat or did you have to figure out what to say and how to say it?

Was there time each day to speak with a 'native speaker' of the language in free conversation? How much of the day?

I'm just trying to get a grip on what method was used.

Also, how comfortable were you / are you speaking Japanese after the program?

::also arms himself with a sawed-off shotgun::

After you, Quimby.

::puts on his tinfoil hat::

That only works against real aliens.

I understand that it is the way it is, but as a contestant without a day job I still felt kind of bad about it. It seemed like I had all the time in the world while other contestants were squeezing in furious writing sessions whenever they could.

Did you try painting yourself up like an alien and kidnapping Neil? 'cause it could work.

Hey Jenny, can I please borrow one of your outfits? Don't want to disappoint my fans, er, fan. Cool, one day I might have my very own stalker!

S.

I'm NOT stalking you, Stefan.

...

Could you please turn that light back on?

... No, the one near the bed.

Too funny.

Anyone think I would get a thread of 450+ posts going if I posted photos of myself topless?

:)

Yes.

What if Neil had been hit by a truck or captured by aliens? Would Paizo have said "Well I guess we won't have a RPG superstar module?" Or would they have said "Aw crap, well we have his rough draft and can flesh it out," or, "Well quick, get someone from the Top 8 on the phone and see if he can turn his project in."

No. They didn't. And after I blew all that money on green paint. We're just going to have to try something else Matthew.

[threadjack]Have any Mormon members of this board ever taken language training for doing their evangelical work (I'm not sure of the correct term) overseas? I met a lot of Mormons in Korea and their Korean was quite impressive. I have some questions about the methodology used. I believe it was quite similar to what we used to call 'the army method'.[/threadjack]

My votes in alphabetical order:

Benjamin Bruck — The Peerless Menagerie of Ashpanjara Isle
Matthew McGee — False Tomb of the Crawling Pharaoh
Jim Groves — Seven Towers Observatory
Richard Hunt — The Green Barrow

My predictions:
The Watcher is the one to watch next round.

Yeah, man; you know the link? I'll check it out, warm up with a computer maybe...

I used to enter through www.alleykatzden.com but it seems to be slow in loading. Maybe it's gone.

You could go in through http://games.yahoo.com/. Check it out and we'll have a game sometime this week?

Plus my brain is tired. It doesn't work as well as it used to.

Yeah, I haven't played in at least six months. Still, if you're game sometime...

You'd be in Dallas.

I could school your ass in chess face-to-face.

Hmmm. That's tempting. You ever play games on Yahoo Chess? I could teach you a few things.

EDIT: I have, in fact, become gainfully employed since last year at this time when Derek tried to tempt me down to Texas by describing the bikini clad women outside his apartment. I'm living in Quebec.

Tarren Dei wrote:

VagrantWhisper wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

VagrantWhisper wrote:

For the record though, although I'm Canadian, I think I actually stood up for Americans at some point in this conversation ;)

That would make you and I the two Canadians not watching the game.

Oh I'm watchin!

Just figured I'd check in between beers and commercials. I have to get my brain wrapped around a tie game with 28 seconds left.

It's so lonely being the Canadian who doesn't like hockey. ...

That's not a treasonable offense is it? Sorry, I don't know much about Canadian law.

I left the country from 1995 to 2004 during the purge.

Tarren Dei wrote:

Twin Agate Dragons wrote:

Tarren Dei wrote:

What's a guy to do?

Stoke the fire. Walk away (tell her you going t o get a drink), then go back to her. Put your arms around her and start kissing her nape. Whisper in her ear that you love her.

That should win her over for nookie.

Not if Kim Yu-na or Lee Ho-Suk are on the ice.

Do an exotic dance for her then. Yes, while the TV is blaring.

Are you trying to get me hit or laughed at or both?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Sorry, great game Canada, congrats, he he.

I went upstairs to watch the end. For a moment, I thought I sensed the presence of testosterone but then things returned to normal. I just lack that sports gene.

Tarren Dei wrote:

What's a guy to do?

Stoke the fire. Walk away (tell her you going t o get a drink), then go back to her. Put your arms around her and start kissing her nape. Whisper in her ear that you love her.

That should win her over for nookie.

Not if Kim Yu-na or Lee Ho-Suk are on the ice.

Tarren Dei wrote:

VagrantWhisper wrote:

For the record though, although I'm Canadian, I think I actually stood up for Americans at some point in this conversation ;)

That would make you and I the two Canadians not watching the game.

Oh I'm watchin!

Just figured I'd check in between beers and commercials. I have to get my brain wrapped around a tie game with 28 seconds left.

It's so lonely being the Canadian who doesn't like hockey. ...

What is it about women and sports? Sports, sports, sports, ... it's all she ever talks about. I want dinner; she's watching hockey. I want nookie; she's watching short track speed skating. What's a guy to do? Am I right?

For the record though, although I'm Canadian, I think I actually stood up for Americans at some point in this conversation ;)

That would make you and I the two Canadians not watching the game.

VagrantWhisper wrote:

taig wrote:

Thanks for bearing with me. :)

Likewise ;)

Let me add my appreciation for listening, VW. I think I can safely say Taig speaks for many of us on this issue, and it was frustrating feeling misunderstood or being cast as unwelcoming, judging, prude, sexist, American (!?), when in fact you're probably looking at some of the people who are quickest and most consistent when it comes to welcoming new folks to Paizo -- and Jenny responded in a great spirit to the request, as have many just ordinary folks. Or seemingly ordinary. ;)

Oh, cut it with the navel gazing.

* goes back to staring at Jenny's navel *

All right, this sock puppet thing is getting too much, time for me to fess up!

I created a number of elaborate fake accounts with alternate personae in order to trick people to perform a number of actions.

The list of fake accounts is:

Kruelaid
The Jade
Moorluck
Tarren Dei

And, most importantly, I created the fake persona of "James Jacobs" as a "Paizo staffer" to promote my seething hatred of dwarves and provide it with legitimacy. This one went really far, with public appearances and fake articles in Paizo Products.

I know my deeds are unforgivable, but I implore you to temper justice with mercy.

Get your hand out of there!

Oh, and you have some bills to pay.

Kruelaid wrote:

Radavel wrote:

Alex Martin wrote:

Kruelaid wrote:

Talking about bald, that's Kruelly on the left and Radavel on the right.

Ahh...the masters of disaster finally seen! Nice photo, fellas!

I'll say thank you for the absent Kruelaid who is lounging poolside at a very posh hotel as we speak.

More hot milfs today, too.

quit moving your head or they'll notice....

Pics or they're fantasies of a sock puppet.

Welcome Jenny.

We are all branding ourselves here, one way or another.

So don't sweat it.

Not all of us brand ourselves, kruelaid. Some of us are branded by others. And it hurts! I know you weren't thinking of bovine kind when you made that insensitive remark, but that's just it -- you weren't thinking!

Speaking of french stuff, I just picked up the most interesting coming- Order of the Dragon Guard. It's about a bunch of women who have to fight dragons because they are the only ones who cannot be sensed by the dragons and are immune to its aura of defilement. It just came out here in the US under Marvel Comics(7 bucks an issue!!!) and I'm sure you may have access to it up by your way. Maybe you could cosplay one of those characters?

Do you have a link? I think I tried to read that one in French. Either that or there's more than one French comic about virgins with big swords who fight dragons.

* summons threadjack *

Tarren Dei wrote:

Well, we've all played practical jokes that didn't end well. I once dressed up as a cop and knocked on the door of my dope dealing neighbours.

Did they shoot you?

Yes. I was reincarnated as a bull. I must have been very good in my past life to deserve this.

Hi All!

Having a crazy day but I took some time in my daily workout to snap this:

HI FELLOW PAIZONIANS!

Anyone recognize Nessa's Axe? :-)

Big Kiss

Jenny

Oh my.

You have a very beautiful axe.

This whole thing about sock puppetd stems...

Ahh, so that's the scoop.

Well, we've all played practical jokes that didn't end well. I once dressed up as a cop and knocked on the door of my dope dealing neighbours. Poor judgment often begins with, 'Wouldn't it be funny if ...?'

I would suggest that this thead be locked as it has clearly strayed into he said/she said therritory that will just lead to lot of in-fighting and bad feelings.

I'm not leaving until I see a witch's teat!

What I'm thinking: "Hip throw into the pool? No problem."

What Radavel's thinking: "Hot chick in the pool. Throw me in. Throw me in."

The regular posting community, especially the Off Topic Discussion crowd, was bombarded with a slew of 'new' posters claiming to be 'teenaged lesbian strippers' over the course of the past few months. At first we took it with a grain of salt, then the issue got a little out of hand, and several people, including myself, became increasingly disgusted with the sockpuppet shenanigans.

I completely missed that one. I ignore the OTD forum for one week and I poke my head back in and everyone's walking around looking shamefaced and embarrassed like they've just gone on a bender and woken up in their best friend's underwear.

Welcome to the boards, Jenny.

The store I shop at in the Eastern Townships only had 4 Paizo products last time I was in. Any tips on the best place in Montreal to pick up gaming supplies? (Preferably near the central terminal.)

Je souhaite que je pourrais ecrire en Francais mais mon Francais n'est pas bien encore.

Trogs...why did it have to be...trogs? ;-)

Weregeek.

TwiceBorn wrote:

And hey, Olympic athletes are people too... if they want to enjoy a cold beer on their own time after a sweet victory, then why should that be an issue?

The biggest issue I can see is what was pointed out on ESPN. That is that several memebers of the team who were drinking were not of the legal drinking age.

They weren't of legal drinking age in British Columbia. The drinking age in Quebec is 18. Marie-Philip Poulin is from Quebec and I think she lives there.

Let the women have their fun. They deserve it.

If you think this is all some crazy hoax and she's a sock puppet, you're entitled to that belief, but that doesn't excuse you from the rules of social etiquette, which include not repeatedly challenging someone's basic existence when they're trying to have a conversation.

But we can question our own existence, right? Our sanity? 'Cause I have a thread for that.

Y'all are welcome to believe whatever you want. I keep the bar at the same place for all posters, including pretty girls, and a bunch of texting-type posts, lots of giggles, and big kisses are well below that bar.

* Kisses the pretty pony *

(That avatar will soon be mine, Sebastian.)

Rall's there.