Learning to Teach Better

Some of the things that struck me from the first session: Making the best use of class time. This really hit home for me from this week's session. Our students have classes once a week for 45 or 50 or 60 minutes. During that time there are a lot of things we have to do. One of my boss's strategies that he has tried to train us all in is how to make transitions between activities learning time as well. This involves giving students jobs to do that teachers normally do, having students repeat instructions before doing them, and having students listen to a series of instructions, remember them, and then complete them. Personalizing activities. This just makes so much sense! I think sometimes it's a natural thing to do. Very young learners are not shy (or polite) about showing you when they're not interested in something. They just kind of crawl away. Personalization helps connect them to the material and keep them engaged. But one thing that I just thought of that hadn...

Konnichiwa, everyone! My name is Anne, and I'm waving to you from rural Japan, where I have lived for alllllllmost one year teaching very young learners (ages 2 and up). I have been teaching since 2002, mainly in South Korea and recently in Japan. I am here because I want to teach better, get new ideas and learn new ways to use old ones, and help my littles be more comfortable with their English-speaking selves. I’m also interested in creating non-competitive activities and other strategies to help learners who need a different class structure. In my non-teaching time, I do freelance writing and proofreading and study Japanese. One of these days I’ll have free time, and then I’m going to read the piles of books that keep stacking up, do some baking, and take long bike rides. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to learning together!