As a Native English Teacher (NET) and Assistant Language Teacher Instructor (ALT-I), I produced and delivered training modules for employees of the Saitama City Board of Education. These lectures and workshops were instrumental in my development as a teacher, and perhaps in developing Saitama City's English education as a whole. These training sessions were given at the Saitama City Institute of Education.
Curriculum Q & A - A quiz from Sakura Ward
June 2013 - Produced for the June Monthly Meeting of ALTs
Tasked with encouraging better study habits and a critical understanding of the curriculum among our faculty, the teachers from Sakura Ward administered an evidence-specific quiz to all ALTs. Where might we find the guidelines for adjusting a lesson plan? In what situations would combining lessons be appropriate? What does it mean to assess a student's merit and potential, and what are some existing rubrics that would support that task?
Models, Experience, and Coffee Breaks, or, A few words about team-teaching
November 2012 - Produced for the November Meeting of ALTs
A humorous, direct, and interactive training module driving home three points - that every second is a model; that good feedback and assessment demands incorporation from the beginning of a lesson plan; that as Saitama City teachers we Show, Include, and Involve our students in every lesson; and that "we practice what we preach" with each other and our Japanese Assistant Teachers. This was one of my best presentations, given at near-fever pitch, and with a positive and LOUD response from our faculty.
The powerpoint presentation accompanying this lecture can be found here.
Minami Ward Research Project: ECAD Promotion - Newsletter and Bulletin Board Recipes
March 2012 - Produced for the March Monthly Meeting of ALTs
This ensemble presentation featured the works of all Minami ward ALTs and their research into promoting the goals of the ECAD program, student work, and community news in English. The straight-forward guide included a full-color "Recipe Book" for recreating the newsletters and bulletin boards featured in the presentation, as well as reviewing the "Spinach" or Hou-Ren-Sou (報告 / 連絡 / 相談) framework for introducing, reporting, and negotiating these projects over time.
A formal explanation of the research project and its resulting Recipe Book can be found here.
Creating a Positive Atmosphere for Debate
November 2011 - Produced for the November Meeting of ALTs
Teachers and students alike encounter debate lessons in the third year of junior high school. It is not a riddle to be solved, it is a chance to integrate existing skills and unify them under one clear goal. This training module, longer than most, covered the debate program in total - by seeing how each of our component skills builds onto the larger whole, and then seeing examples of them at each step, teachers will know concretely both where they are expected to start, where they will finish, and what it will look like along the way - and then after that, how to do it as smoothly as possible. As the greatest indicator of student success is teacher motivation, we found this approach to encourage our teachers to be the best approach as a whole.
The goals of our individual lessons; the strategies necessary to complete argument outlines and practice rigorously; the methods we may use to support classes as they pursue a task over multiple lessons; the means to assess and judge the winners of a debate; the things to keep in mind as we address this large topic within the physical confines of our school - this is what we covered.
On a personal note, this was one of my best-received presentations that I have ever given.
Presentation available here, and the accompanying outline here.
Overview of ECAD
April 2011 - Produced for the 2010-2011 School Year Training
Prepared a thirty minute interactive presentation covering the origins to present-day execution of Saitma City's 潤いの時間 program and its English Communication Abilities Development (ECAD) component. Combining humor and realia, my supervisors remarked that it is perhaps the best visualization of the program as a whole yet seen.
Improving Verification Reports (w/ David Bailey)
January 2011 - Produced for the Winter ALTI Training Seminar
David Bailey and I were asked to assess the problems and opportunities within our Verification Reports - a document used by each ALTI for each completed lesson module that explains how we needed to modify a lesson to accomplish our lesson aims and goals. We identified and streamlines the tasks common to all teachers in order to maximize the time budget for the differences specific to each of our schools. We reminded our faculty that these reports are in fact read by humans, and that it's OK if you didn't find a concrete example of a lesson activity somewhere else in the student's school life. More than anything, in all cases, be complete in your reports.
Grade 2 Lesson 5 Brainstorming
June 2010 - Produced for the June Monthly Meeting of ALTs
A workshop for teachers to see that the Saitama model of brainstorming-categorizing-mapping-numbering before a speech is readily achievable in a single lesson. This speech was given in a time when the idea of brainstorming and mapping still felt knew and uncomfortable for many of our teachers. My, how things have changed!
Accompanying handout available here.
June 2013 - Produced for the June Monthly Meeting of ALTs
Tasked with encouraging better study habits and a critical understanding of the curriculum among our faculty, the teachers from Sakura Ward administered an evidence-specific quiz to all ALTs. Where might we find the guidelines for adjusting a lesson plan? In what situations would combining lessons be appropriate? What does it mean to assess a student's merit and potential, and what are some existing rubrics that would support that task?
Models, Experience, and Coffee Breaks, or, A few words about team-teaching
November 2012 - Produced for the November Meeting of ALTs
A humorous, direct, and interactive training module driving home three points - that every second is a model; that good feedback and assessment demands incorporation from the beginning of a lesson plan; that as Saitama City teachers we Show, Include, and Involve our students in every lesson; and that "we practice what we preach" with each other and our Japanese Assistant Teachers. This was one of my best presentations, given at near-fever pitch, and with a positive and LOUD response from our faculty.
The powerpoint presentation accompanying this lecture can be found here.
Minami Ward Research Project: ECAD Promotion - Newsletter and Bulletin Board Recipes
March 2012 - Produced for the March Monthly Meeting of ALTs
This ensemble presentation featured the works of all Minami ward ALTs and their research into promoting the goals of the ECAD program, student work, and community news in English. The straight-forward guide included a full-color "Recipe Book" for recreating the newsletters and bulletin boards featured in the presentation, as well as reviewing the "Spinach" or Hou-Ren-Sou (報告 / 連絡 / 相談) framework for introducing, reporting, and negotiating these projects over time.
A formal explanation of the research project and its resulting Recipe Book can be found here.
Creating a Positive Atmosphere for Debate
November 2011 - Produced for the November Meeting of ALTs
Teachers and students alike encounter debate lessons in the third year of junior high school. It is not a riddle to be solved, it is a chance to integrate existing skills and unify them under one clear goal. This training module, longer than most, covered the debate program in total - by seeing how each of our component skills builds onto the larger whole, and then seeing examples of them at each step, teachers will know concretely both where they are expected to start, where they will finish, and what it will look like along the way - and then after that, how to do it as smoothly as possible. As the greatest indicator of student success is teacher motivation, we found this approach to encourage our teachers to be the best approach as a whole.
The goals of our individual lessons; the strategies necessary to complete argument outlines and practice rigorously; the methods we may use to support classes as they pursue a task over multiple lessons; the means to assess and judge the winners of a debate; the things to keep in mind as we address this large topic within the physical confines of our school - this is what we covered.
On a personal note, this was one of my best-received presentations that I have ever given.
Presentation available here, and the accompanying outline here.
Overview of ECAD
April 2011 - Produced for the 2010-2011 School Year Training
Prepared a thirty minute interactive presentation covering the origins to present-day execution of Saitma City's 潤いの時間 program and its English Communication Abilities Development (ECAD) component. Combining humor and realia, my supervisors remarked that it is perhaps the best visualization of the program as a whole yet seen.
Improving Verification Reports (w/ David Bailey)
January 2011 - Produced for the Winter ALTI Training Seminar
David Bailey and I were asked to assess the problems and opportunities within our Verification Reports - a document used by each ALTI for each completed lesson module that explains how we needed to modify a lesson to accomplish our lesson aims and goals. We identified and streamlines the tasks common to all teachers in order to maximize the time budget for the differences specific to each of our schools. We reminded our faculty that these reports are in fact read by humans, and that it's OK if you didn't find a concrete example of a lesson activity somewhere else in the student's school life. More than anything, in all cases, be complete in your reports.
Grade 2 Lesson 5 Brainstorming
June 2010 - Produced for the June Monthly Meeting of ALTs
A workshop for teachers to see that the Saitama model of brainstorming-categorizing-mapping-numbering before a speech is readily achievable in a single lesson. This speech was given in a time when the idea of brainstorming and mapping still felt knew and uncomfortable for many of our teachers. My, how things have changed!
Accompanying handout available here.
