June 2017.
Prepositions 1 at on from to in as 1. He goes _________________________ work every day. 2. He is sitting _________________________ the chair. 3. This book is different ______________________ that book. 4. My money is ______________________ my pocket. 5. The picture is ___________________ my pocket. 6. I come ______________________ America. 7. The come _______________________ France. 8. I am ___________________________ Canada. 9. I don’t work _____________________ Sunday. 10. There are cigarettes ______________________ the box. 11. Tom gets up ________________________________ 7:00. 12. He goes to work _______________________________ 7:30. 13. I wait for the bus ________________________ the corner. 14. He lives ____________________________ Tokyo. 15. Joe lives __________________________ Nakano dori. 16. I live _______________________________ Nakano. 17. I live far ________________________________ school. 18. Our car is the same ___________________________ your car. 19. My car is different ______________________________ his car. 20. We are ____________________ class. 21. The clock is _____________________________ the wall. 22. Put your hat ______________________ your head. 23. I will go to Italy _____________________________ July. 24. I sleep well _____________________________ night. 25. I’m standing ____________ front ________________________ the blackboard. 26. She is __________________ big Monday, April 10, 2017.
Teaching Essay In my work I have to write a new ‘Teaching Essay’ at the start of every school year (April), which is the start of my yearly one-year contracts. It’s a drag, really. How often do I have to say (basically) the same things? How many ways can I say the same things? Every year I ask the Japanese staff to describe to me what they want. I don’t really need them to, I am just hoping that they might phrase it differently in the belief that the way they phrase it might help me / give me direction to reshape the same old essay anew. I don’t want to work at home. I did that for years, knocking myself out, spending a small fortune of my own money on classroom materials (excellent materials!) that no one every provided. So I don’t want to do that. All my work has to be done at school. When my last class is finished I am totally finished. Unlike Japanese teaches I can immediately walk out the door. My non-class time is totally my own. It means that whatever I do has to be easy/simple enough that I can walk to my desk, find something to teach in less than five minutes and understand immediately how to use it and how long it will take. After years of experience, it’s not possible for anyone to pay me enough money to work at home. (Well, maybe it is still possible if the sum is big enough.) Right now I greatly enjoy the fact that my obligations are limited to teaching lessons - period, end of story. I don’t take attendance. I don’t administer tests. I don’t write report cards. I don’t meet parents. I don’t attend school events. I don’t attend staff events. Oh, at one time and another I did all these in the past, but no more. When the final bell goes I’m out the door and my time is my own with no obligations to anyone. On to other things. I am intent on presenting my students with practical English - listening, speaking and writing that they can use in their lives, and things that truly reflect real life situations in English-speaking countries - situations they themselves might encounter if they are tourists, or homestay students, study abroad students, and even right here in Japan if they interact with foreigners here. In addition, it is important to me that my lessons and materials are functional, meaning that they can be used with different levels of students with minimal alterations, used easily, and with minimal preparation. I mean, ready-to-go lessons that reflect real language for real situations. Each year I plan my lessons to progress in a certain sequence that I think is important and that builds on itself over time. I want my students to be happy in class and at school. Towards that end, it is very important to me that I enjoy myself, too. If I don’t enjoy myself, I doubt that the students can, either. More important than grammatical perfection is simply communicating their ideas. Successful communication is more important than how pretty or polished it is. I habitually find that the best students (or, the ones that I enjoy the most) are the outgoing personalities who at least try to speak, even if their speech is not perfect, than quiet youngsters who demonstrate superior accomplishment or aptitude on paper. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games approaching I know that the Japanese Ministry of Education has a goal for 50% of high school graduates to successfully achieve Eiken grade 3 or higher, and that schools are failing in this goal. I hope that in cooperation with Japanese English teachers I can help more students achieve this goal. I also know that already Japan is experiencing a tourism boom. With greater numbers of foreign tourists than ever before it is increasingly useful and desirable for Japanese to wield at least a minimum of face-to-face communication without fear. I want my students to enjoy themselves - at school and in life. I want them to make the most of their time. Principle virtues include: enjoy yourself; work hard; make the most of your time; be helpful; and, don’t judge others. Friday, September 30, 2016.
School Vocabulary for Japanese 1. Principal 2. School office 3. Classroom 4. Teachers’ room 5. Health room 6. School library 7. Hallway 8. Entryway - enter / exit 9. School shoes 10. Vending machines 11. Drinking fountain 12. School uniform 13. Toilet - washroom / restroom / bathroom 14. Stairs - upstairs / downstairs 15. Gym (Gymnasium) 16. Schedule 17. Bulletin board 18. Report Card Monday, May 2, 2016.
Teaching Essay There are four things that are most important to me in teaching. First, I have to have fun and enjoy what I am doing. If I am not enjoying myself then something is wrong. Second, I try to enable the students to enjoy the class. The first contributes to the second because if the students see that I am enjoying myself then I think they are likely to have a positive attitude, and hopefully enjoy it. Third, I try to make my lessons functional, meaning that the students should have a realistic chance of accomplishing the lessons’ goals in the allotted time. Fourth, the content of the lessons should be efficacious, meaning that the language ought to be realistic everyday language that they really can use when meeting English-speaking foreigners, or traveling in an English-speaking country, or listening to English-language music or watching English-language movies - things that they might really do in their real lives. After that I think about the four language elements: listening; speaking; reading; writing. My lessons start with the student as the center of conversation and then grow out in concentric circles from that base. Students should be able and encouraged to talk about themselves since they are their own best topic. They are experts on their lives, their school and their country, which makes these the best conversation lessons. I try to avoid arcane figures of speech and keep the target language simple, direct, streamlined. In addition, my presentation style is calculated to be slow, repetitive and easy for students to listen to and absorb. A native English speaker hearing me might think that I have a speech impediment when actually I am deliberately using a calculated style. I don’t like to relinquish control of the class. I want to be in control, directing the students. Some think the ideal classroom is one where the students are in control of their environment and their learning, setting their own goals and pace, and this is what is called a student centered education. But I feel my Japanese students are not ready for that because the knowledge and language gaps are such that they cannot lead themselves into English. I have to draw them in using my personality and my tailored materials. Human relations are important to me. Once I meet students - new students especially - we have a relationship. I know that my students have expectations: that I will always be in class at the appointed time; that I will be happy and energetic; that the lesson will be fun and easy. I do not want to disappoint them. I want them to be happy they are studying English. June 2015.
Students and their technology When I was a student I took notes on loose leaf binder paper with a blue ballpoint pen. I wrote so much for so many years and held the pen so tightly that for many years I had a tell-tale callous on my right middle finger. We didn’t use computers back then. Desk top computers were not invented until I began university and even then it was only engineering students who used them. I don’t know what they used them for. I studied typing on a manual typewriter in high school and I used an electronic typewriter throughout university. That typewriter was the greatest, most useful and valuable Christmas present I ever received. There was no Internet or Facebook, no blogs or web pages, no cell phones or smart phones, no GPS or satellite maps, no instant messaging or digital photography. Photocopy machines used a special acetate paper rather than simple bond paper and ditto machines using blue alcohol based ink were still common. On Wednesday, June 10, 2015 I saw something interesting at a public high school. The walls of the classrooms are glass panels opening onto the corridor, so I could clearly see into every classroom as I walked down the hall. On this particular day I had just finished a class and was walking back to the elevator to return downstairs to the teachers’ room when I noticed a girl in a classroom that had just finished a science lesson. I watched her take a picture of the blackboard with her smart phone. She wasn’t taking a selfie. Instead of taking notes in a notebook or on loose leaf binder paper today’s students are just taking photographs of the teacher’s notes on the board and then studying from those. Maybe Canadian students do the same? It seems kind of lazy to me, but maybe it’s ingenious. Maybe it’s an inevitable feature of technology in students’ hands. I was introduced to Japanese students’ method of using their smart phones at school when we were studying a lesson on School Subjects and I began asking them about their schedules. I was surprised to learn how many do not know their schedule. Only a few know for certain what they have the next class after mine. At the start of the school year in April each is provided with a paper schedule. They quickly take a picture of it and store it in their phones to consult regularly and then they throw the paper copy in the trash. Except for the fact that cell phones and smart phones are not allowed at school in the first place I’m not criticizing it. I was only surprised by the sight of the girl taking a photo of the blackboard. Maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe while sitting in the train during her daily commute having a photograph of the teacher’s notes in her phone makes it easier for her to study or revise while commuting. Whatever works. Tuesday, March 31, 2015.
Teaching Essay At the start of every school year in Japan (April) I am required to submit a brief essay (minimum 300 words) about my Teaching Philosophy along with other documents - passport, Resident’s Card [formerly the Alien Registration Card], personal seal (if I have one) - when I sign contracts with the various public schools where I work. Each year the essay has to be re-written because schools want a fresh, new essay. I know they do because in the past I have re-submitted the same essay as the previous year only to be asked to write a new one once my subterfuge was discovered (several months into the school year). It is not a difficult task - 300 words is hardly an essay, more like a letter. But it is tedious because my teaching ideas change so little or so slowly that writing a new essay each spring means inventing a new way to say pretty much the same thing over and over again. That is not strictly true, of course, because I certainly do change, physically and mentally, over time, so I have to find a way to express that point while remaining true to my core ideas. * The Japanese Ministry of Education’s goal for English education is to see half of high school graduates successfully reach Eiken Grade 2 or pre-2 levels. This calls for an English education program that enables students to express themselves by producing meaningful, content-filled English. Hopefully, communication that contains meaningful content connects language study on the one hand with students’ natural curiosity on the other hand, and that will motivate them to keep learning. To produce meaningful, content-filled English students need active and regular practice: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The assistant language teacher’s role is diverse, involving conversation practice with entire classes, explaining vocabulary and grammar. My job as a foreign English teacher in public high schools is to focus on listening and speaking. In addition to being a source of authentic English, I am also an unofficial ambassador. That requires not just professionalism on my part, but also that I be a role model. I want to help improve both cultural interaction and awareness among my students and give them a motive to use English. I want them to have fun, and I want to have fun in their company. Having worked in Japan for many years already, it is important to me that my lessons are simultaneously relevant and functional. Working in Japan allows me to discover new models of teaching. As a language teacher I hope to contribute to internationalization by stimulating the students’ interest in the English language and by nurturing an awareness of foreign cultures. I am confident that by being employed as an ALT, my teaching skills and past experiences will positively influence the students themselves, and the students and I will benefit from our experience of each other. The role of an ALT requires patience and an easygoing nature. I always speak slowly and clearly with students and try to be sensitive to the dangers of miscommunication. Similarly, I try to be especially careful communicating with the school staff. I think I understand from many years’ experience how Japanese schools operate, and I try to use intercultural skills to work in harmony with the school culture. March 2015.
American Business Alphabet A - All laundry detergent B - Bubblicious bubble gum C - Campbell's soup D - Dawn dishwashing liquid E - Eggo waffles F - Fritos chips G - Gatorade sports drink H - Hebrew National hot dogs I - Ice ice manufacturer J - Jell-O gelatin desserts K - Kool-Aid drink L - Lysol cleaning solution M - M&M's chocolate candies N - Nilla Wafers cookies O - Oreo cookies P - Pez candies Q - Q-tips cotton swabs R - Reese's peanut butter cups S - Starburst fruit candy T - Tide laundry detergent U - Uncle Ben's rice V - V8 mixed vegetable juice W - Wisk laundry detergent X - Xtra laundry detergent Y - York Peppermint Patties Z - Zest Soap |
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