2012年8月5日日曜日
2012年8月1日水曜日
The joys and surprises of teaching kids...
This summer, I'm teaching English to kids for a few weeks.
It has been quite a while since I taught English to kids, and it has been fun but full of a few surprises, both good and challenging.
I have two classes 2nd graders and am almost done with the first two week and will be finishing up with a performance for the parents on Friday. By my request, I have the lowest two classes in terms of English learning experience. Some have a bit of English background (in school or conversation classes, I suppose - hope to survey that) but most could not respond to "What's your name?" or "How old are you?" when they started.
The Good
The Challenging...
Of my two classes, one group is a teacher's dream. Very cooperative and eager and work together well. My other group...has issues, mostly due to one single student who is disruptive. I won't go into too many details, but I've had to remove the kid from the classroom and send him to the director. The saddest part of this is that the kids who want to have fun and learn English suffer because everything is interrupted by a need to intervene in trouble happening. The good side of this is that I'm learning how to head off such problems with classroom management and discipline systems such as a yellow/red card.
From next Monday, I'll have two new groups and I'm sure I'll have new discoveries of the wonders of helping kids realize that learning a foreign language can be fun.
It has been quite a while since I taught English to kids, and it has been fun but full of a few surprises, both good and challenging.
I have two classes 2nd graders and am almost done with the first two week and will be finishing up with a performance for the parents on Friday. By my request, I have the lowest two classes in terms of English learning experience. Some have a bit of English background (in school or conversation classes, I suppose - hope to survey that) but most could not respond to "What's your name?" or "How old are you?" when they started.
The Good
- Students have had good reactions to most of the songs, games, storybooks and thematic project activities I've tried on them. For most of my ideas, I'm indebted to my sempais in the program, especially my fellow 2nd grade teachers. I learn so much from talking in the teachers' room and observing their preparation and classroom setup.
- I love the look on the kids' faces when we do storybook time. Their eyes wide and curious and reacting (not all, but most). That is really something.
- The natural communication effort. The program has an all-English policy, and I only use English and don't let on that I speak Japanese. I love the effort that the kids make to understand and communicate. They are confused at times, but it forces them to make use of the natural communication strategies that they have, and they DO it. We do fine in class, and don't worry about the small things. It is amazing how much they pick up when they need to come to me and ask for things they want for their craft project "Mark, may I have a piece of purple paper please??" This is from kids who have basically never studied English ever before. In 10 days, they learn to get what they need with short phrases.
- The openness to try to use English pronunciation as it is, even if they can't do it so well. In songs and in our simple interactions, the use English as they hear it. This is the way all foreign language learners should ought to start to study. They have trouble saying my name, for example, because the /r/ phoneme in /Mark/ eludes them. I get a variety such as Makku, Maku, Maakru, but none of them are Japanese. They are trying to approximate the English sound, and with enough input and practice, I am certain they will internalize it. Along the same line, they struggle with the word "girl", with some saying guru, some gulo. That variation is a beautiful thing because they don't take the short-cut and Japanese it as "ga-ru". I hope to get some of this on audio from their final presentations.
The Challenging...
Of my two classes, one group is a teacher's dream. Very cooperative and eager and work together well. My other group...has issues, mostly due to one single student who is disruptive. I won't go into too many details, but I've had to remove the kid from the classroom and send him to the director. The saddest part of this is that the kids who want to have fun and learn English suffer because everything is interrupted by a need to intervene in trouble happening. The good side of this is that I'm learning how to head off such problems with classroom management and discipline systems such as a yellow/red card.
From next Monday, I'll have two new groups and I'm sure I'll have new discoveries of the wonders of helping kids realize that learning a foreign language can be fun.
My 2nd year teaching "Leadership English" for Global Leadership Studies
Last year's 2011 GLS program was an excellent experience (link), and I was very excited about doing the 2012 program.
Here's the website for this year: http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gls/
This year was equally good, and perhaps even better in some ways.
First, I want to congratulate the fellows for their dedication and final performance on the group project presentations. It was a pleasure working together with these experienced Japanese business professionals and non-Japanese graduate students to help them present their ideas for reinvigorating a simulated Japanese company by initiating various global expansion projects.
As with last year, the GLS Leadership English module was focused on activating the ability to communicate persuasively regarding critical issues in English. We did discussions, debates, negotiations, and presentations at a pace of about 7 hours per week. It seemed like the participants enjoyed and benefited from the training that we provided.
The two most interesting sessions were when the participants made short speeches and led Q&A regarding the topics:
1) (Week 1) What is one thing you want to change or improve in your current company or department?
and
2) (Week 3) What is the most valuable idea that you picked up from the various lectures, coaching sessions and English sessions?
The ideas such as the need for more global, entrepreneurial initiative in their companies, or the need to reduce the fear of failure and increase the amount of frank opinion exchanges between team members or with superiors was very impressive.
In addition, the improvement from Week 1 to Week 3 in terms of
1) English communication ability,
2) confidence in presenting and supporting ideas, and
3) self-awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and needs for continuing effort in weak areas
was tangible and a encouraging result of the efforts that they had made in the 3 week live-in immersion program.
I wish I had taken videos of the Week 1 and Week 3 speeches so that the participants could see their progress. I will recommend that for next year along with the possibility of creating an online file of comments and feedback for each person, filled in by coaches, English instructors, the person himself or herself as well as peers.
Once again, it was a pleasure everyone!
Here's the website for this year: http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gls/
This year was equally good, and perhaps even better in some ways.
First, I want to congratulate the fellows for their dedication and final performance on the group project presentations. It was a pleasure working together with these experienced Japanese business professionals and non-Japanese graduate students to help them present their ideas for reinvigorating a simulated Japanese company by initiating various global expansion projects.
As with last year, the GLS Leadership English module was focused on activating the ability to communicate persuasively regarding critical issues in English. We did discussions, debates, negotiations, and presentations at a pace of about 7 hours per week. It seemed like the participants enjoyed and benefited from the training that we provided.
The two most interesting sessions were when the participants made short speeches and led Q&A regarding the topics:
1) (Week 1) What is one thing you want to change or improve in your current company or department?
and
2) (Week 3) What is the most valuable idea that you picked up from the various lectures, coaching sessions and English sessions?
The ideas such as the need for more global, entrepreneurial initiative in their companies, or the need to reduce the fear of failure and increase the amount of frank opinion exchanges between team members or with superiors was very impressive.
In addition, the improvement from Week 1 to Week 3 in terms of
1) English communication ability,
2) confidence in presenting and supporting ideas, and
3) self-awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and needs for continuing effort in weak areas
was tangible and a encouraging result of the efforts that they had made in the 3 week live-in immersion program.
I wish I had taken videos of the Week 1 and Week 3 speeches so that the participants could see their progress. I will recommend that for next year along with the possibility of creating an online file of comments and feedback for each person, filled in by coaches, English instructors, the person himself or herself as well as peers.
Once again, it was a pleasure everyone!
2012年7月17日火曜日
Does Japan fear a philosophy of "enjoying life"?
An article titled "The Pursuit of Real Leisure" in the Japan Times today by SCOTT NORTH Professor of Sociology, Osaka University leads to the question above.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120717hs.html#.UATEtnD6J7c
The article is one part of a series of opinions regarding the issue of overwork in Japan. I think most Japanese will agree that Japanese companies tend to believe that taking long vacations or leave or leaving on time at 5pm in order to enjoy life would violate the company culture and make it difficult for employees who try to pursue "leisure" to stay in the company.
Why is that? Despite changes in the labor law, apparently the situation has not changed very much. As the graph below shows, workers in the EU have a much better situation in this regard.
Personally, I think the core cause of the lack of time off in Japan may be a fear that a prioritization of leisure over work would lead to a loss of profitability or prosperity. Those who enjoy life too much will be doomed to poverty or a loss of competitiveness. It would be interesting to see a survey about such fears, with data broken down into different generations.
And so...is such a fear justified? Obviously, there must be a balance between a stress-filled culture of overwork and an excessive pursuit of leisure, and Japan has yet to find it. I would say that efforts still need to be made, especially by the top management, to give workers more time off to enjoy life--perhaps the company leaders need to start a shift in their mentality with some coaching about leisure for themselves. Perhaps the bureaucrats in Japan's ministry of labor need the same.
As a teacher, I also hope to see improvement in the work life balance for Japan's public school teachers. I have heard the time burden for work is excessive in many schools. Is it difficult to impart a love of life and a philosophy of "work to live" to our students when we are not practicing it ourselves, right?
It will be interesting to see what the fellows in my professional training session have to say about this.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120717hs.html#.UATEtnD6J7c
Why are Japanese unable to feel that they are "working to enjoy life", rather than resting to work? Why do people seem to feel they are "living to work" rather than "working to live"?(From the article" "Today Japanese, like many other denizens of industrial societies, live to work. Nearly everything is a job to be done and our jobs define us. Japanese universities are filled with "intellectual workers." We value only that which requires struggle and hard work.In this functional perspective, leisure is useful only insofar as it enables workers to work more. Moreover, much of what Japan calls rest is overpriced imitation of Western leisure, such as overseas travel, or sports, such as skiing and golf. The rest is mere entertainment, in which the machinery of amusement and media of mass distraction train the populace to be inattentive consumers.Real leisure, on the other hand, is free, conscious activity that takes our lives as its object. In Pieper's vision, leisure enables appreciation and contemplation of the divine; it is stillness and quiet in which we can see truths and apprehend the mysteries of existence."
The article is one part of a series of opinions regarding the issue of overwork in Japan. I think most Japanese will agree that Japanese companies tend to believe that taking long vacations or leave or leaving on time at 5pm in order to enjoy life would violate the company culture and make it difficult for employees who try to pursue "leisure" to stay in the company.
Why is that? Despite changes in the labor law, apparently the situation has not changed very much. As the graph below shows, workers in the EU have a much better situation in this regard.
Personally, I think the core cause of the lack of time off in Japan may be a fear that a prioritization of leisure over work would lead to a loss of profitability or prosperity. Those who enjoy life too much will be doomed to poverty or a loss of competitiveness. It would be interesting to see a survey about such fears, with data broken down into different generations.
And so...is such a fear justified? Obviously, there must be a balance between a stress-filled culture of overwork and an excessive pursuit of leisure, and Japan has yet to find it. I would say that efforts still need to be made, especially by the top management, to give workers more time off to enjoy life--perhaps the company leaders need to start a shift in their mentality with some coaching about leisure for themselves. Perhaps the bureaucrats in Japan's ministry of labor need the same.
As a teacher, I also hope to see improvement in the work life balance for Japan's public school teachers. I have heard the time burden for work is excessive in many schools. Is it difficult to impart a love of life and a philosophy of "work to live" to our students when we are not practicing it ourselves, right?
It will be interesting to see what the fellows in my professional training session have to say about this.
2012年7月9日月曜日
2012年7月2日月曜日
Guam 2012 Family Trip
We were able to take a few day off and fly to Guam for some nice R&R.
Highlights:
1. The beautiful Tamon Bay and Ipao Beach area. Such calm beautiful waters, and not crowded at all in the off season of late June. Great for kids to snorkel!
2. The pools and activities at PIC. Great staff! Michael and Mei loved the water walk, slides, and game times. They didn't really go for the Kids Club, so we weren't able to send them off all day and relax like Megu and I planned to...but it was fun playing with them in the pool and beach. Highly recommended for families with kids, and only a little trouble with rowdy drunk hotel room neighbors shouting in the middle of the night.
3. Fishing with Michael. Like last year, he kicked my butt! Michael = 8 fish. Dad = 4 fish.
4. Doing very little for a week (just a few hours of online work I had to do for two or three days). Not going anywhere. Just swimming and relaxing.
5. Tony Roman's ribs. Mmmmm. The local Chamorro food was good too, but I would still vote for the ribs as best. The sashimi from the fish we caught and ate on the fishing boat was also exquisite.
Highlights:
1. The beautiful Tamon Bay and Ipao Beach area. Such calm beautiful waters, and not crowded at all in the off season of late June. Great for kids to snorkel!
2. The pools and activities at PIC. Great staff! Michael and Mei loved the water walk, slides, and game times. They didn't really go for the Kids Club, so we weren't able to send them off all day and relax like Megu and I planned to...but it was fun playing with them in the pool and beach. Highly recommended for families with kids, and only a little trouble with rowdy drunk hotel room neighbors shouting in the middle of the night.
3. Fishing with Michael. Like last year, he kicked my butt! Michael = 8 fish. Dad = 4 fish.
4. Doing very little for a week (just a few hours of online work I had to do for two or three days). Not going anywhere. Just swimming and relaxing.
5. Tony Roman's ribs. Mmmmm. The local Chamorro food was good too, but I would still vote for the ribs as best. The sashimi from the fish we caught and ate on the fishing boat was also exquisite.
登録:
投稿 (Atom)