2011年1月21日金曜日
2011年1月5日水曜日
Top 5 Things in 2010 and Goals for 2011
I assigned this blog topic to my students, so I need to get busy and write this before 2010 becomes ancient history.
Basically my goal is to be a good father, husband, teacher, researcher, and learner. My parents are moving back to the USA from Japan this year, so I want to help them as much as possible as well.
As a father, I want to read to my kids almost every day and keep showing them a good example for how to care about and communicate with other people. Need to find good books. Recently he liked "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" a lot, so maybe I'll go for a few Roald Dahl books to start off. I also want to get Michael started on some kind of home school curriculum for English. Hopefully I will get a clearer idea of what kind of education plan will be best for my two kids...need to talk to many people and observe schools that have good reputations.
As a husband, I want to make more time for Megumi and I by getting a babysitter to get away from the kids. Of course, we have lots of fun with the kids, but we also talk about how it would be nice to have an OFF button...
As a teacher, I want to become more fluent in making interactive multimedia materials and designing class sites that help students collaborate on their learning as well as keep a record of their own development and goals. I used to mainly use Moodle for this, but I want to grow beyond Moodle to...currently I'm experimenting with a combination of Google Sites and student blogs, but interactivity and collaboration is a challenge. Also, I want to observe more classes of other teachers and exchange ideas more frequently.
As a researcher, I want to further explore the relationship between classroom study and the development (or lack of development) of confidence in foreign language communication, especially for formal oral skills such as presentations and discussions. I especially want to find out what it means to help students develop the ability to use critical thinking and solve problems in group settings with effective communication skills in English. What are the pathways to becoming an effective international professional and what foundations should be laid at the university level in terms of experience, knowledge, and attitudes as well as linguistic competence? I want to keep observing and asking my students at ICU. I wonder if I can build a more extensive website that deals with this issue...and perhaps start a doctorate program to help me focus my research.
As a learner, I need to keep learning many things in 2011...but I have a feeling I will be busy enough just learning more about the things above. Starting something new like an instrument or new language or cooking would be cool, but I'm not sure where I would fit it in.
And, for fun and relaxation in between, I want to keep running and working out, but marathon running, while excellent exercise and very easy to continue, is beginning to get a little old, so I want to find a team sport. Any recommendations?
- Bought a house! It is a small, simple house, but hopefully will be enough for a family with two quickly growing kids. Now I'm a proud member of the 30 year mortgage club. Our previous rented apartment was much too small, and so we needed to move. Fortunately we found this house near my workplace and the kids' schools, and things moved quickly and smoothly in November and December to result in our 12/20 move. Decorating and furnishing our new house is a lot of fun, but is scary to watch our kids scratch and stain walls and floors right away as they enjoy running around in it...
- Kept the kids bi-literate at their grade level. This was one of my main goals for 2010 and a continuous challenge. Michael, age 7, kept up reading one chapter a day, mostly with Magic Treehouse series books, and writing his diary of about 30 or 40 words almost every day. To make it seem fairer to him, Megumi and I also do the same, so our "reading time" and "diary writing time" have become family events. We want to continue that in 2011.
We were worried about Mei's English in January, but she started to go to English preschool in February, and now she is more talkative than her brother. She loves writing letters (in her own way), and is ready to start doing more systematic reading and writing. Hopefully Megumi and I will be able to help both kids at home and get started with some kind of online? curriculum for basic English literacy. More on the kids is here. - Ran the Tokyo Marathon and the Karuizawa half-marathon, both with personal bests or near bests, so I think I'm staying healthy and staying in shape.
- Took Michael to Seattle for an extended stay in the summer, and helped him feel comfortable learning with American kids in English.
- Made four academic conference paper presentations in Hanoi for Asia TEFL (Factors Influencing Learner Self-Confidence in EAP), Sendai for JACET (How to Do Critical Academic Discussion "CAD" Activities for Critical Thinking and Speaking Improvement) and Nagoya for JALT (Student Perceptions of Individual Conferences/Tutorials + How to Use the Workshop Method of Reading/Writing Instruction).
Basically my goal is to be a good father, husband, teacher, researcher, and learner. My parents are moving back to the USA from Japan this year, so I want to help them as much as possible as well.
As a father, I want to read to my kids almost every day and keep showing them a good example for how to care about and communicate with other people. Need to find good books. Recently he liked "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" a lot, so maybe I'll go for a few Roald Dahl books to start off. I also want to get Michael started on some kind of home school curriculum for English. Hopefully I will get a clearer idea of what kind of education plan will be best for my two kids...need to talk to many people and observe schools that have good reputations.
As a husband, I want to make more time for Megumi and I by getting a babysitter to get away from the kids. Of course, we have lots of fun with the kids, but we also talk about how it would be nice to have an OFF button...
As a teacher, I want to become more fluent in making interactive multimedia materials and designing class sites that help students collaborate on their learning as well as keep a record of their own development and goals. I used to mainly use Moodle for this, but I want to grow beyond Moodle to...currently I'm experimenting with a combination of Google Sites and student blogs, but interactivity and collaboration is a challenge. Also, I want to observe more classes of other teachers and exchange ideas more frequently.
As a researcher, I want to further explore the relationship between classroom study and the development (or lack of development) of confidence in foreign language communication, especially for formal oral skills such as presentations and discussions. I especially want to find out what it means to help students develop the ability to use critical thinking and solve problems in group settings with effective communication skills in English. What are the pathways to becoming an effective international professional and what foundations should be laid at the university level in terms of experience, knowledge, and attitudes as well as linguistic competence? I want to keep observing and asking my students at ICU. I wonder if I can build a more extensive website that deals with this issue...and perhaps start a doctorate program to help me focus my research.
As a learner, I need to keep learning many things in 2011...but I have a feeling I will be busy enough just learning more about the things above. Starting something new like an instrument or new language or cooking would be cool, but I'm not sure where I would fit it in.
And, for fun and relaxation in between, I want to keep running and working out, but marathon running, while excellent exercise and very easy to continue, is beginning to get a little old, so I want to find a team sport. Any recommendations?
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