Learning to Teach Better

I have not received an email with week 4 recordings/PDF. Can you please verify?

In some ways the idea of perfect understanding from week 1 and the use of L1 in the classroom go hand in hand. The use of L1 is one area where I was most vulnerable just starting out. I had a tendency to want the students to perfectly understand instructions. Being new to a language barrier environment myself, as a newly arrived limited Japanese speaking person, I was constantly asking the pair teacher to translate the instructions. Fortunately for me a co-worker (with whom I still work) showed me a better way. The point from the lecture that struck me the most was: "if it saves time that can then be used for activity in English" Yes, I would rather the students spend 15 minutes using the grammar point than trying to overcome a large comprehension barrier. As an assistant language teacher in Japan, I have worked with teachers across the L1 spectrum. I will say that the best, most responsive students/classes were with teachers who limited use of L1. In my experience in...

Hi all, sorry to be a late addition to the discussion. I had a friend visiting from Canada and was off hosting and gallivanting around Japan a bit. I enjoyed session 2 (and found myself trying to type in replies) but don't regret the opportunity to enjoy a 50 year old Yamazaki whisky. But back to work! First off, I love the present perfect activity tied to elicit certain expressions.... definitely borrowing that one. Secondly, I sure wish I had attended this course 18 years ago. Some painful missteps as a young teacher could have been avoided by these lovely tips. As a teacher of young learners (now) I find that if I distract them by "disguising" the oral activity with an active game. Even with new students, I find it very successful to divide a class into two or three groups and play a version of musical chairs (slightly more chairs than half of the students), except that each round is an introductory question (how are you, age, birthday, etc). Standing students ...

One activity I did that may partly apply to the "flipped classroom", was when studying superlatives. They had to pick a couple adjectives from a list and research at home natural wonders, World Heritage sites or modern buildings to fit the superlative. (8th grade students) Then the following week, they mingled and shared in pairs to fill out their empty spaces on their master sheet of adjectives. I actually learned some things and the students all did their homework.(which I took as an indication of their interest.)

Good morning all, Originally from Canada, I have been living and teaching in Japan for the past 19 years. My visit to Japan was only intended to last 1 year but to my surprise, I discovered I actually liked teaching and was becoming quite happy! I started off as a middle school ALT. After seven years I became discouraged at the tired ideas of the old complacent teachers (a minority, but more influential than the young vigorous ones) and the lack of support for foreign teachers (I grew tired of being treated as a "CD player"). I moved to Elementary schools and enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy of the kids. Unfortunately more and more schools wanted the teacher to stay all day, every day, regardless of English lessons, and it did not fit my schedule. Basically I was not happy to be paid as part time but work full time--so I started my own school. I primarily teach young learners--last year of kindergarten to 6th grade, but also have junior and senior high school students a...