For today's lesson, I had a student who I was just meeting for the first time. So, naturally, it was a good opportunity to practice self-introductions. After we got the student's one point from last time out of the way, we went through self-introductions. I was very happy to find that this student was very enthusiastic and was eager to practice speaking especially. Following brief self-introductions, it was like she was interviewing me! She would continually ask me follow-up questions after I would answer her questions about my school life back home.
She then wanted to guess which country I was from, upon eliciting some clues from me. She first guessed England, then Germany, but then when I finally gave the easy clue (Maple) she realized I was from Canada. Normally this brings about a "Ohhh, Canada is nice!" kind of response from students. However, this student got quite excited as she has plans to go to Toronto, Canada in a few months to study English.
She asked me more and more questions about Canada and about Toronto. And I would ask her questions about why she chose Canada and Toronto, in particular. She would struggle to ask these questions, so I would help her along by writing the questions on the board as she went, and she would eventually be able to properly ask the question to me.
Also, as we continued through this conversation, we would go through certain vocabulary that she would like to learn, and she asked many questions related to how to say things as well. Overall, we went through a lot, Sse took a lot of notes, and she still seemed genuinely excited to keep learning English by the end of the lesson. Since we were covering so much ground and so quickly, I hadn't had the chance to look at the clock, and when I did I noticed we were over time already. So I quickly put up the new one point, and with little help she was able to give a very relevant example. "I'm looking forward to going to Canada because I have never been to another country before."
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A 25-day pickle...
Today for my first lesson, I had a single student who, I had found out just before the lesson, writes comedy. By the end of the lesson, I realized how funny he was (in the good way). We began with his one point from last time: I have to work 10 days in a row. Following my prompt, the student was able to quickly catch on and say it. I asked him if he had ever had to work 10 days in a row before. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had. But I was surprised to hear him say that he worked 25 days in a row before, and 14/15 hour days at that. He then went on to explain the reason for this, and it was quite interesting to hear about. This also lead to the explanation of a few vocabulary questions and common word choice ones which were related to his story. It was great that he was so eager to get across his story without me having to ask him too many questions.
Following this we went onto a discussion about food and drink. He told me about how he likes most foods, except Japanese pickles, because he thinks they smell bad. I asked him more questions, and later he told me about how his father's good was as a pickle-maker! That just might explain the dislike of pickles. We went over some more explanations of related vocabulary and phrases that arose during our conversation. I then segued into the Restaurant routine with him and finished off with another one point. By the end of the lesson he had written down a lot of notes and he seemed to be happy about it. Me too!
Following this we went onto a discussion about food and drink. He told me about how he likes most foods, except Japanese pickles, because he thinks they smell bad. I asked him more questions, and later he told me about how his father's good was as a pickle-maker! That just might explain the dislike of pickles. We went over some more explanations of related vocabulary and phrases that arose during our conversation. I then segued into the Restaurant routine with him and finished off with another one point. By the end of the lesson he had written down a lot of notes and he seemed to be happy about it. Me too!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Basics, basics, basics...
This last week I've been using the present continuous lesson from the Smith's School of English curriculum with as many of my students as their study plans will allow. The interesting thing about this particular lesson is that it contains a staggering amount of vocabulary for the sake of practicing the central grammar point. I find this to actually be the most rewarding part of the lesson. The task of switching a verb from standard present tense to present continuous is rather mechanical with few exceptions. As such, most students can master it in a controlled environment after seeing only a few examples. The sheer volume of vocabulary however gives even a higher level student a run for their money.
As usual I start out with a review of the one point from the students previous lesson. This helps to break the ice as usual and establishes a link of trust between the student and I. After that I can transition right into the present continuous lesson plan. Each step of the lesson is tiered with a well paced learning curve for students who are new to the material. For students who are more familiar with the material I can easily skip intermediary steps right into the more complex activities.
This lesson has plenty of logical stopping points so no what pace the student moves through the material it's pretty easy to transition into a routine review when I see we are nearing the end of the lesson. I always pick a routine that the student has practiced before and go through either the hint bar or the questions depending on their level. With a few minutes left in the lesson I move into the new one point and practice it a bit before bidding the student farewell. I had fun exploring this lesson and I'm looking forward to exploring another as deeply next time.
As usual I start out with a review of the one point from the students previous lesson. This helps to break the ice as usual and establishes a link of trust between the student and I. After that I can transition right into the present continuous lesson plan. Each step of the lesson is tiered with a well paced learning curve for students who are new to the material. For students who are more familiar with the material I can easily skip intermediary steps right into the more complex activities.
This lesson has plenty of logical stopping points so no what pace the student moves through the material it's pretty easy to transition into a routine review when I see we are nearing the end of the lesson. I always pick a routine that the student has practiced before and go through either the hint bar or the questions depending on their level. With a few minutes left in the lesson I move into the new one point and practice it a bit before bidding the student farewell. I had fun exploring this lesson and I'm looking forward to exploring another as deeply next time.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The good ol' days
Today's lesson started out with a review of last weeks one point as always here at Smith's School of English. The student had reviewed it well. I could tell because he used it so naturally when i presented him with an opportunity to do so.
After the one point we began discussing phrase cards 1 through 5. The student came right out and said he really enjoyed these phrases and told me that these are great for expanding his "range" in English and that the phrases themselves seemed very practical. He would do his best to define the phrases using different terms, use them in sentences, and pose questions to me using the new phrases. This provided a lot of talking practice for him and eventually led to him telling me that he used to own a coffee shop. You never know where the natural flow of conversation will take you!
He described this as a really great period in his life, a fond memory if you will. I could tell how sincere he was by the nostalgic look in his eye. He told me all about how he used to enjoy talking to the customers and filling their cups with coffee. He had about 11 staff members that worked with him there and it all sounded very fulfilling to me. Now he is retired and enjoys a more relaxing daily life but it was rather touching to watch him reminisce that way. When time was up we finished up with a new one point and said our farewells until next week.
After the one point we began discussing phrase cards 1 through 5. The student came right out and said he really enjoyed these phrases and told me that these are great for expanding his "range" in English and that the phrases themselves seemed very practical. He would do his best to define the phrases using different terms, use them in sentences, and pose questions to me using the new phrases. This provided a lot of talking practice for him and eventually led to him telling me that he used to own a coffee shop. You never know where the natural flow of conversation will take you!
He described this as a really great period in his life, a fond memory if you will. I could tell how sincere he was by the nostalgic look in his eye. He told me all about how he used to enjoy talking to the customers and filling their cups with coffee. He had about 11 staff members that worked with him there and it all sounded very fulfilling to me. Now he is retired and enjoys a more relaxing daily life but it was rather touching to watch him reminisce that way. When time was up we finished up with a new one point and said our farewells until next week.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happpy New Year!
Wow! 2009 is here and we have a whole new year to look forward to here at Smith's School of English. As expected, most students seem to want to talk about what they did over the Christmas and New Year holiday as well as ask me questions about mine. Be fore we get into that though i make sure to establish a one point at the beginning of the lesson to make it clear the lesson has indeed started. I do my best to make this a smooth transition and get it in right away but if the student is excited about something before I can even get a word in I don't mind letting the one point go until they say what they wanted to. After all, In a conversation lesson practicing speaking is the point right? I wouldn't cut a student off when they are practicing excitedly just to fit my time schedule.
After establishing the one point we practiced asking and answering basic and expansive questions based on the subject of the recent holiday. This takes a lot of discipline on my part so as not to do all the talking myself. My job is to evaluate the students' questions and answers while offering support where needed. Some times it's easy to lose yourself and take over the conversation but I keep control for the sake of the students' practice time.
After that bit of fun we so a bit over review in a more structured fashion in the form of a routine. It's a nice way to start the year off since students are often so familiar with the lesson structure. After being gone for nearly 2 week a bit of familiarity can be a relief I'm sure.
With the review finished an no time left we finished of with the first one point of 2009. Welcome back!
After establishing the one point we practiced asking and answering basic and expansive questions based on the subject of the recent holiday. This takes a lot of discipline on my part so as not to do all the talking myself. My job is to evaluate the students' questions and answers while offering support where needed. Some times it's easy to lose yourself and take over the conversation but I keep control for the sake of the students' practice time.
After that bit of fun we so a bit over review in a more structured fashion in the form of a routine. It's a nice way to start the year off since students are often so familiar with the lesson structure. After being gone for nearly 2 week a bit of familiarity can be a relief I'm sure.
With the review finished an no time left we finished of with the first one point of 2009. Welcome back!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Hot Spa..
When I didn't see my 8pm student in the lobby this evening, I was a bit worried because I remembered him mentioning his wife having some medical condition last time in class. Anyway, it was a great relief when he walked into Smith's School of English Kyobashi 10 minutes later.
Naturally, I asked him about his wife and he was surprised that I remembered our conversation but also happy to tell me that everything was fine and in fact he and his wife took a 2 day trip just last weekend to one of the most famous onsen (hot spa) places in Japan -- Kinosaki! Having been to Kinosaki once in summer myself, I was more than happy to compare notes with him. We had a great conversation about Kinosaki and hot spas in general, I was even invited to Oita since my student was originally from there and his family still lived there! During the conversation, I used the questions from Japan Sea routine without actually informing him of what I was doing, but he did extremely well and got plenty of practice out of it without knowing. Nice conversation AND abundant practice, double bonus!
We then proceeded to the item part of the lesson, which was about passive voice. I pretty much just followed the lesson plan till practice 1. When we went through the passive voice quiz activity, we had a good laugh about each other's lack of Japanese history and sports knowledge, but hey, we were here for an English class! We had so much fun that I didn't even realize that the minute hand was pointing at 45! I had to bring my class to an end by introducing a one-point:" If you go to...., I recommend you to...." As I expected, he had no problem giving me an example once I told him what "recommend" meant. I assured him that I would listen to him and try out the foot spa next time I went to Kinosaki!
Naturally, I asked him about his wife and he was surprised that I remembered our conversation but also happy to tell me that everything was fine and in fact he and his wife took a 2 day trip just last weekend to one of the most famous onsen (hot spa) places in Japan -- Kinosaki! Having been to Kinosaki once in summer myself, I was more than happy to compare notes with him. We had a great conversation about Kinosaki and hot spas in general, I was even invited to Oita since my student was originally from there and his family still lived there! During the conversation, I used the questions from Japan Sea routine without actually informing him of what I was doing, but he did extremely well and got plenty of practice out of it without knowing. Nice conversation AND abundant practice, double bonus!
We then proceeded to the item part of the lesson, which was about passive voice. I pretty much just followed the lesson plan till practice 1. When we went through the passive voice quiz activity, we had a good laugh about each other's lack of Japanese history and sports knowledge, but hey, we were here for an English class! We had so much fun that I didn't even realize that the minute hand was pointing at 45! I had to bring my class to an end by introducing a one-point:" If you go to...., I recommend you to...." As I expected, he had no problem giving me an example once I told him what "recommend" meant. I assured him that I would listen to him and try out the foot spa next time I went to Kinosaki!
Spirit of the season.
Here at Smith's School of English we have students of all levels. They range from true beginners to confident vets looking to maintain their exposure to English. Today's lesson was with a set of particularly high level students. This means to me that the lesson could really go in a lot of unplanned directions. I always prepare a lesson regardless of student level but I'm always ready to abandon that lesson plan in the even that the students pull me in a different direction of interest.
With that in mind I started out by reviewing the one points from their previous lessons. This went smoothly and the students all came up with their own original phrases with only a bit of support from me. After this I moved into a review of some key questions from the Smith's routines. I facilitated this by asking them to discuss each others weekends and ask expansive questions of each other. Once they successfully demonstrated use of all the questions I had expected of them we moved into a discussion topic as an Item.
Not unexpectedly, something interesting came up in the course of discussing their weekends. One student remarked that she sees many Japanese customers buying Christmas presents at her shop and this struck her as odd since most Japanese people aren't practicing Christians. What an interesting topic! We went on to discuss what Christmas means to each student and what it means to them. We also discussed how they perceive Christmas not only in Japan but in western countries. They had lots of practice using English and had some pretty interesting stories to tell! Before I knew it we had finished the lesson and it was time for a new one point so we finished with that.
With that in mind I started out by reviewing the one points from their previous lessons. This went smoothly and the students all came up with their own original phrases with only a bit of support from me. After this I moved into a review of some key questions from the Smith's routines. I facilitated this by asking them to discuss each others weekends and ask expansive questions of each other. Once they successfully demonstrated use of all the questions I had expected of them we moved into a discussion topic as an Item.
Not unexpectedly, something interesting came up in the course of discussing their weekends. One student remarked that she sees many Japanese customers buying Christmas presents at her shop and this struck her as odd since most Japanese people aren't practicing Christians. What an interesting topic! We went on to discuss what Christmas means to each student and what it means to them. We also discussed how they perceive Christmas not only in Japan but in western countries. They had lots of practice using English and had some pretty interesting stories to tell! Before I knew it we had finished the lesson and it was time for a new one point so we finished with that.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Catching up on last week.
Today's first lesson was enjoyable. This student and I have quite a long history so we were happy to see eachother again. We dispensed with the one point rather quickly since he demonstrated understanding easily and he had some things he wanted to tell me. I was happy to listen as a friend and at the sime time keep an ear out for possible mistakes or confusion on his part that i could help him out with later on. I always make a point to let students finish their thoughts completely in a natural flow. Then, once they have finished, put some example sentences up on the board for them to fix themselves. This way I can be sure I' ve drawn their attention to weak points in which they need to improve and at the same time I have given them a chance to express themselves in natural conversation without making them self conscious. Its all about building confidence.
While he told me about recent events in his life I made sure to toss out some questions from the Smith's School of English curriculum routines. He responded well.
After that I went through a "Let's Talk" article with him about relationships. It spurred some interesting extended conversation and questions on his part. We continued to go through the questions until there was no time left in the lesson. I introduced a new one point and asked him to prepare some examples for the next lesson. See you next week!
While he told me about recent events in his life I made sure to toss out some questions from the Smith's School of English curriculum routines. He responded well.
After that I went through a "Let's Talk" article with him about relationships. It spurred some interesting extended conversation and questions on his part. We continued to go through the questions until there was no time left in the lesson. I introduced a new one point and asked him to prepare some examples for the next lesson. See you next week!
Newbie
My 8pm on Thursday was a basic level student who had only been here with Smith's School of English Kyobashi for 2 weeks. Before the class, I had chatted with the previous teacher and was told that the new student was a bit shy. I decided not to do anything too challenging and try to keep the atmosphere nice and friendly to him.
After greeting him in the lobby and offered him a nice cup of hot tea, I showed him to the classroom. I spent a few minutes introducing myself and getting him to talk about himself a bit, which I knew shouldn't be hard as he had done it with the other teacher in the very first trial lesson. As expected, he was relived and happy to use the sentence patterns and some new vocabulary he learned earlier to introduce himself. I gave him a big thumb-up after his introduction since the kid really did a great job applying what he learned from his trial here.
We then went over his previous one-point, and proceeded to the Routine part of the class. Since he had done routine 1 once, I thought it would be a good idea to review and consolidate. I also prepared some picture cards from Time 1 for him to string together "John's Day" using the stretching skill taught in routine 1.
I then introduced him to the item of the day, "ordinal numbers". This lesson is always good for basic level students because it provides a lot of activities and students get a lot of chances to practice. Once I wrote down some ordinal numbers on the board and listed the 3 major usages, it was time to put the knowledge in use. I pulled out the curriculum activity book and basically followed the practice and development part of the lesson plan.
By the end of the 45 minute-lesson, the shy new student was no where to be found, instead I found myself giving a one-point to this smiley chatty university boy! It surely felt good to be the teacher who improved the confidence of your students!
After greeting him in the lobby and offered him a nice cup of hot tea, I showed him to the classroom. I spent a few minutes introducing myself and getting him to talk about himself a bit, which I knew shouldn't be hard as he had done it with the other teacher in the very first trial lesson. As expected, he was relived and happy to use the sentence patterns and some new vocabulary he learned earlier to introduce himself. I gave him a big thumb-up after his introduction since the kid really did a great job applying what he learned from his trial here.
We then went over his previous one-point, and proceeded to the Routine part of the class. Since he had done routine 1 once, I thought it would be a good idea to review and consolidate. I also prepared some picture cards from Time 1 for him to string together "John's Day" using the stretching skill taught in routine 1.
I then introduced him to the item of the day, "ordinal numbers". This lesson is always good for basic level students because it provides a lot of activities and students get a lot of chances to practice. Once I wrote down some ordinal numbers on the board and listed the 3 major usages, it was time to put the knowledge in use. I pulled out the curriculum activity book and basically followed the practice and development part of the lesson plan.
By the end of the 45 minute-lesson, the shy new student was no where to be found, instead I found myself giving a one-point to this smiley chatty university boy! It surely felt good to be the teacher who improved the confidence of your students!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Question, question, who's got the question?
Today's second lesson was with a slightly higher level set of students. Three students in the lesson means there is basically unlimited chances for student to student interaction. I always make sure to take advantage of this to ensure a high student talk time and a low teacher talk time. Two of the three students share the same one point so I had 2 one point's to contend with total. By having each student come up with their own example for each of the one points we ended up with 6 nice example sentences that led to some additional questions by the students, and some nice opportunities for student to student questioning.
After that we moved on to a lesson on questions. This encouraged the students to ask questions of each other and of me as well. I made sure to keep my answers succinct so as to reduce teacher talk time. If hey wanted to know more about my answer they were welcome to ask further expansive questions all they wanted, but I wasn't going to give it away for free. They had to ask for it. I encouraged the students to give at least two statements in answer to any question asked of them. This pushed them beyond their normal safety zone of the short simple answer and into some new material. That's where the learning can occur.
The students had many questions for me about how to give the answers they wanted to. I encouraged them to try on their own, and then supported with board work when necessary. After that we reviewed some questions from from a Smith's School of English Routine and finished off with a new one point. Asking questions is hard to to so i was glad the students got so much practice with that skill today!
After that we moved on to a lesson on questions. This encouraged the students to ask questions of each other and of me as well. I made sure to keep my answers succinct so as to reduce teacher talk time. If hey wanted to know more about my answer they were welcome to ask further expansive questions all they wanted, but I wasn't going to give it away for free. They had to ask for it. I encouraged the students to give at least two statements in answer to any question asked of them. This pushed them beyond their normal safety zone of the short simple answer and into some new material. That's where the learning can occur.
The students had many questions for me about how to give the answers they wanted to. I encouraged them to try on their own, and then supported with board work when necessary. After that we reviewed some questions from from a Smith's School of English Routine and finished off with a new one point. Asking questions is hard to to so i was glad the students got so much practice with that skill today!
Hard core review.
Today's first lesson was with 2 very low level students. After going over the one points from the previous lesson and having each student practice the other's examples i asked them to practice some very basic, natural conversation about what they did last weekend. This exercise was a join review of the Past 1 Item and of the basic routine 1 questions. They used vocabulary that they had previously learned and I was able to guide them with questions that they were familiar with. It was a pretty strict exercise, I wanted to make sure they really understood what was being asked of them and how one would answer naturally. In the end we had a board full of nice example sentences that the students were able to then use in turn to describe not only the activity that brought up the example in the first place, but a myriad of other things they had done last weekend as well.
After a rigorous review I moved them into some new material. I don't normally recommend doing review before introducing new material, but the class just flowed that way today. I made sure to keep he introduction of the new item light in comparison to the previous activity. Always good to leave the lesson feeling light and unburdened. This portion was highly structured so the rules were very easy to follow. After showing a few examples the students caught right on and we had a blast.
We finished up with a new one point. Today I used "I have a lot/nothing in common with (A). For example, (B). I gave a few examples and asked the students to demonstrate understanding. Once I was satisfied that they understood I asked them to prepare some examples of their own for the next lesson and sent them on their merry way.
After a rigorous review I moved them into some new material. I don't normally recommend doing review before introducing new material, but the class just flowed that way today. I made sure to keep he introduction of the new item light in comparison to the previous activity. Always good to leave the lesson feeling light and unburdened. This portion was highly structured so the rules were very easy to follow. After showing a few examples the students caught right on and we had a blast.
We finished up with a new one point. Today I used "I have a lot/nothing in common with (A). For example, (B). I gave a few examples and asked the students to demonstrate understanding. Once I was satisfied that they understood I asked them to prepare some examples of their own for the next lesson and sent them on their merry way.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Long time no see.
Today I'm cover for another teacher who requested the day off so I'm here earlier than usual. The best news there is that I get to meet up with some students that I haven't seen in a long time. 2 students actually. They expressed that they were really surprised and happy to see me after such a long time. I felt good about that. After getting reacquainted a bit and calming down we did a review of last weeks one points. I like have each student take a shot at making an example sentence from the other students one point, even if they haven't seen it before. They usually get a pretty good idea from the example provided by the student who learned it in class last week. If not, I lend a hand.
After that went continued on to an Item which was perfect for pair work. They asked and answered each others questions while I listened to pronunciation or grammar errors. Once they seemed to have the hang of it, I added a few expansive questions so they could be more open ended in their answers. We also did some practice with the questions from routine 1 in order to give them a review.
This was a fun lesson and the time went by rather quickly since every one was in such high spirits. Before we knew it, it was already time for the one point! They came up with some examples on the spot which I was pleased about. I asked them to also come up with a new sentence for next week and bid them farewell. Hope to see them again soon!
After that went continued on to an Item which was perfect for pair work. They asked and answered each others questions while I listened to pronunciation or grammar errors. Once they seemed to have the hang of it, I added a few expansive questions so they could be more open ended in their answers. We also did some practice with the questions from routine 1 in order to give them a review.
This was a fun lesson and the time went by rather quickly since every one was in such high spirits. Before we knew it, it was already time for the one point! They came up with some examples on the spot which I was pleased about. I asked them to also come up with a new sentence for next week and bid them farewell. Hope to see them again soon!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Have a nice weekend!
My 5pm student today was probably one of the best English speakers here at Smith's School of English Kyobashi. He had double lessons scheduled today, since I knew his 6pm would be with 2 other students, I thought it might be a good idea to give him as much attention as possible for his one-to-one lesson with me.
As he walked in my classroom, I greeted him cheerfully and asked if he had any plans for the long weekend. His face lit up and happily told me that he would be going out with his girlfriend to Kyoto. Since I myself was planning on visiting Kyoto on Monday, I was eager to get some recommendations from a local. He was more than happy to share his previous trips in Kyoto and started telling me all the best spots for different seasons as well as his personal top 10 list of Kyoto shrines and gardens. From there we also had a great conversation about the similarities and differences in Chinese and Japanese temples, gardens and cultures.
It was fantastic to have such a enlightening conversation with a student and find out interesting information about Japan and Japanese culture, while at the same time, I did not forget that I was in the middle of an English lesson. He was almost fluent in English, but like many, he still made small grammatical mistakes. I jotted down 4 mistakes that he made during our conversation and pointed them out at the end of our class, which I thought he appreciated very much.
Well, I am going to take my student's advice and check out the Kyoto Botanical Gardens for the weekend then!
As he walked in my classroom, I greeted him cheerfully and asked if he had any plans for the long weekend. His face lit up and happily told me that he would be going out with his girlfriend to Kyoto. Since I myself was planning on visiting Kyoto on Monday, I was eager to get some recommendations from a local. He was more than happy to share his previous trips in Kyoto and started telling me all the best spots for different seasons as well as his personal top 10 list of Kyoto shrines and gardens. From there we also had a great conversation about the similarities and differences in Chinese and Japanese temples, gardens and cultures.
It was fantastic to have such a enlightening conversation with a student and find out interesting information about Japan and Japanese culture, while at the same time, I did not forget that I was in the middle of an English lesson. He was almost fluent in English, but like many, he still made small grammatical mistakes. I jotted down 4 mistakes that he made during our conversation and pointed them out at the end of our class, which I thought he appreciated very much.
Well, I am going to take my student's advice and check out the Kyoto Botanical Gardens for the weekend then!
Recovery!
Today's first lesson was a huge relief to me. Why? Simply because the student showed up for his lesson. This student has been having an alarming amount of heart complications recently. When he doesn't show up for a lesson I know it's one of two things: He is in the hospital getting some sort of proceedure done or... I don't want to think about it. But, as I said he showed up to the lesson today and I was glad to see he was alright.
After checking his one point I decided to use some Smith's Routine questions to find out about his condition. As it turns out as of Monday this past week the treatment he had been undergoing finally resulted in a successful recovery! I was really glad to hear it. He had been going to the hospital nearly every day for emergencies but he told me it's been almost a week since he's needed to go. What a relief!
After the question and answer review we moved on to an item where we discussed bad habits using Gerunds and Infinitives. The mood of the lesson was extremely light and carefree. We had a lot of laughs. We finished off with a new one point and I bid him farewell. At the end of the lesson I said, "See you next week." He responded "Yup, see you then." I was glad that for the first time in weeks i could believe with out worry that he really will be here.
After checking his one point I decided to use some Smith's Routine questions to find out about his condition. As it turns out as of Monday this past week the treatment he had been undergoing finally resulted in a successful recovery! I was really glad to hear it. He had been going to the hospital nearly every day for emergencies but he told me it's been almost a week since he's needed to go. What a relief!
After the question and answer review we moved on to an item where we discussed bad habits using Gerunds and Infinitives. The mood of the lesson was extremely light and carefree. We had a lot of laughs. We finished off with a new one point and I bid him farewell. At the end of the lesson I said, "See you next week." He responded "Yup, see you then." I was glad that for the first time in weeks i could believe with out worry that he really will be here.
Questions
I started my afternoon shift with 2 lovely orange level students today. As usual, they were both right on time for the class and happy to be here at Smith's School of English Kyobashi.
After the pleasantries, I directed them to the board where I had written down their one-point from the previous lesson, "I am sick of... because...". It didn't take long for both of them to give me an example since both girls did their homework nicely. I then introduced the item of the day, an intermediate lesson "Questions". From their lesson reports, I knew both of them had done this particular lesson about half a year ago, and it always helps to review!
I first asked my students to tell me the "wh" question words that they knew, and wrote them down on the board one by one, and like most people, they forgot "how", which I then added to the list. Instead of following the lesson plan exactly, I decided to let these two be creative and ask each other questions using the "wh" words on the board. This went a lot better than I had expected. One of the girls started with a yes or no question "Will you visit a shrine on New Year's Day next year?", with a "Yes" from the other student, their dialogue just went on! By the end of it, I found out that one of them was taking a one-day bus trip to Shimane with her friends from work, and the other was visiting a local shrine with her family as she had done in the past 25 years!
We then moved on to the practice part of the item, where students were required to ask 3 types of questions to find out what animal card I was holding in my hands. After going through all the new vocabulary from the activity, the game began! It was great to see how much they both enjoyed this activity which probably reminded them of childhood memories, how excited they got when they guessed the right animal, and most importantly, they got to practise asking so many questions while having great fun!
It was definitely a lesson to remember for both me and my students.
After the pleasantries, I directed them to the board where I had written down their one-point from the previous lesson, "I am sick of... because...". It didn't take long for both of them to give me an example since both girls did their homework nicely. I then introduced the item of the day, an intermediate lesson "Questions". From their lesson reports, I knew both of them had done this particular lesson about half a year ago, and it always helps to review!
I first asked my students to tell me the "wh" question words that they knew, and wrote them down on the board one by one, and like most people, they forgot "how", which I then added to the list. Instead of following the lesson plan exactly, I decided to let these two be creative and ask each other questions using the "wh" words on the board. This went a lot better than I had expected. One of the girls started with a yes or no question "Will you visit a shrine on New Year's Day next year?", with a "Yes" from the other student, their dialogue just went on! By the end of it, I found out that one of them was taking a one-day bus trip to Shimane with her friends from work, and the other was visiting a local shrine with her family as she had done in the past 25 years!
We then moved on to the practice part of the item, where students were required to ask 3 types of questions to find out what animal card I was holding in my hands. After going through all the new vocabulary from the activity, the game began! It was great to see how much they both enjoyed this activity which probably reminded them of childhood memories, how excited they got when they guessed the right animal, and most importantly, they got to practise asking so many questions while having great fun!
It was definitely a lesson to remember for both me and my students.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A lesson in love.
Today's lesson was with two high level students. We started out with a review of their respective one points. I asked each student to demonstrate understanding of their own one point from the previous lesson, but of their partner's one point as well. It's a fun exercise.
For Today's item I used techniques learned in Smith's training to direct a guided conversation between the students. They talked about the pros and cons of meeting people on the internet and potentially dating them. This included their own personal opinions about the pros and cons of such a practice. It was interesting to listen to from my perspective and I was able to support their English practice with both grammar and vocabulary along the way. A question and answer session at the end wrapped this round up nicely.
After that I reviewed them on routine 8 by telling them a story in short bursts, then asking them to ask me questions to get me to continue the story. They didn't always use the questions I expected but as long as they were logical and grammatically correct it was alright.
At the end of the lesson I presented the one point, "I don't mind..." which brought up the difference between "I don't mind," and "I don't care." This kind of nuance can be tricky even for high level students. We didn't have enough time to break it down in great detail today so the students will prepare example sentences to be discussed at the beginning of their next lesson. Now they have something to look forward to!
For Today's item I used techniques learned in Smith's training to direct a guided conversation between the students. They talked about the pros and cons of meeting people on the internet and potentially dating them. This included their own personal opinions about the pros and cons of such a practice. It was interesting to listen to from my perspective and I was able to support their English practice with both grammar and vocabulary along the way. A question and answer session at the end wrapped this round up nicely.
After that I reviewed them on routine 8 by telling them a story in short bursts, then asking them to ask me questions to get me to continue the story. They didn't always use the questions I expected but as long as they were logical and grammatically correct it was alright.
At the end of the lesson I presented the one point, "I don't mind..." which brought up the difference between "I don't mind," and "I don't care." This kind of nuance can be tricky even for high level students. We didn't have enough time to break it down in great detail today so the students will prepare example sentences to be discussed at the beginning of their next lesson. Now they have something to look forward to!
Hobbies
It was a busy evening at Smith's School of English Kyobashi yesterday, and I started my evening with a class of 3 red and green level students.
Mr S had cancelled his classes the previous week for his painting exhibition, so I naturally asked him about his exhibition once all students settled down comfortably in their chairs. He was very excited about it and eagerly showed us many photos of the exhibition as well as his two paintings. We were all very surprised by the excellent work and the other two students had a lot of questions for Mr S, which was fantastic because at their level, the purpose of the class is for them to communicate with each other and with the teacher. Since painting was only one of Mr S's many hobbies, I had no problem getting Mr S to talk about his other hobbies, and the conversation went on smoothly to the different hobbies the other 2 students had.
We all had such a good time that I hated to bring the class to the end.
Mr S had cancelled his classes the previous week for his painting exhibition, so I naturally asked him about his exhibition once all students settled down comfortably in their chairs. He was very excited about it and eagerly showed us many photos of the exhibition as well as his two paintings. We were all very surprised by the excellent work and the other two students had a lot of questions for Mr S, which was fantastic because at their level, the purpose of the class is for them to communicate with each other and with the teacher. Since painting was only one of Mr S's many hobbies, I had no problem getting Mr S to talk about his other hobbies, and the conversation went on smoothly to the different hobbies the other 2 students had.
We all had such a good time that I hated to bring the class to the end.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Abandoning the lesson plan.
Today's lesson was fun not only in the usual way, but also because the students pushed it in an unexpected direction. We were doing the Smith's School of English Item lesson, Frequency 1 when the students began asking extra questions about the word "almost". It can be a bit difficult to use since it is grammatically different from the Japanese equivalent.
We took turns creating example sentences with the appropriate pair word for almost. For example, almost always, never, anyone, no one, anywhere, nowhere, every time, every day, etc. The students were very interested and after a few examples they understood the concept quite well. They enjoyed making up their own examples and I was happy to see them demonstrate their understanding.
After that we went into a review of a routine and finished with a one point as usual. After the lesson I reflected on how pleasant it was to expect the lesson to go one way, and have it go in a completely different direction. I guess even when you plan the lesson you never can tell quite how it will go so it's go to be ready to flex!
We took turns creating example sentences with the appropriate pair word for almost. For example, almost always, never, anyone, no one, anywhere, nowhere, every time, every day, etc. The students were very interested and after a few examples they understood the concept quite well. They enjoyed making up their own examples and I was happy to see them demonstrate their understanding.
After that we went into a review of a routine and finished with a one point as usual. After the lesson I reflected on how pleasant it was to expect the lesson to go one way, and have it go in a completely different direction. I guess even when you plan the lesson you never can tell quite how it will go so it's go to be ready to flex!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Entertaining a foreigner
There are a significant number of high level students who have no problem expressing what they think or reading through a difficult piece of news material, but choke at it when asked to explain Okonomiyaki to a first-time foreign visitor in Osaka. This lesson is designed for such students.
My 6pm was a yellow level student who had exactly the same problem as mentioned earlier. So after we exchanged greetings and reviewed her previous one-point, I pulled out the thick chunk of Japanese word cards and explained to her what we were going to do. She recognized her own weakness as well, so when she saw the cards, she smiled and took a deep breath to get ready. Instead of asking her to match the English translations with the Japanese cards, from experience I knew it worked better if the student had to actually think of an appropriate translation for himself, and that was exactly what I asked my 6pm student to do. She went through the first few words without much trouble, and then came "takoyaki", "nabe", "yakitori", "anago" and "okonomiyaki". She laughed and joked that she wished she were not Japanese now. Anyway, instead of giving her the answer right away, I inspired her to come up with her translation by giving her hints and guiding her through the thinking process. This worked extremely well, by the end of the activity, she had no problem translating all the food cards into appropriate English, some were even better than the original ones, e.g. she described Okonomiyaki as a kind of Japanese pizza made from a mixture of finely cut cabbage, eggs, pork and flour, served on a hot plate with special sauce as well as seaweed and bonito fish flakes!
While it was the aim of this lesson to help her tackle with her weakness, I thought it would be too much if I spent the whole 45 minutes on it. After I complimented her on her great job of translating, I asked her what her favorite food was and any good restaurants that she'd recommend. Our conversation flew from there naturally and thanks to her, I now have a lot of good Nabe places to try out for the winter!
My 6pm was a yellow level student who had exactly the same problem as mentioned earlier. So after we exchanged greetings and reviewed her previous one-point, I pulled out the thick chunk of Japanese word cards and explained to her what we were going to do. She recognized her own weakness as well, so when she saw the cards, she smiled and took a deep breath to get ready. Instead of asking her to match the English translations with the Japanese cards, from experience I knew it worked better if the student had to actually think of an appropriate translation for himself, and that was exactly what I asked my 6pm student to do. She went through the first few words without much trouble, and then came "takoyaki", "nabe", "yakitori", "anago" and "okonomiyaki". She laughed and joked that she wished she were not Japanese now. Anyway, instead of giving her the answer right away, I inspired her to come up with her translation by giving her hints and guiding her through the thinking process. This worked extremely well, by the end of the activity, she had no problem translating all the food cards into appropriate English, some were even better than the original ones, e.g. she described Okonomiyaki as a kind of Japanese pizza made from a mixture of finely cut cabbage, eggs, pork and flour, served on a hot plate with special sauce as well as seaweed and bonito fish flakes!
While it was the aim of this lesson to help her tackle with her weakness, I thought it would be too much if I spent the whole 45 minutes on it. After I complimented her on her great job of translating, I asked her what her favorite food was and any good restaurants that she'd recommend. Our conversation flew from there naturally and thanks to her, I now have a lot of good Nabe places to try out for the winter!
Used to
This is a lesson from the Build-up level, but as it only focuses on one grammar point and offers a lot of practice, I sometimes use it with pre-intermediate or intermediate level students. Mr T at 7pm tonight usually shares his class with 2 girls who are slightly lower than his level, but he was by himself this time and I decided to give him something that required a bit of extra effort.
After I checked his previous one-point, I introduced him to today's topic by writing down "Used to" on the board. Mr T nodded as if he knew exactly what it meant, so I asked him to give me an example. It was then that I realised that he had got it confused with "be used to". I then explained the difference to him, and gave him an example sentence using a pair of haircut cards, "she used to have short hair in high school, but now she has long hair". He understood the difference quickly and I moved on to let him match up the picture cards in pairs and make sentences out of them following my example. Mr T had to stop from time to time to ask me for help regarding new words and expressions, but other than that he had no problem finishing the task.
I then decided to make the lesson more personal and conversational, so I turned to page 122 of the build-up activity book and started asking Mr T "Did you used to..." questions. It was interesting to find out that he used to work part-time in college at a fish market which he absolutely hated because of the horrible smell and early hours, that he used to go diving a few times a year but had to cut back to once a year now because his wife was tightening the purse string, and that he used to work overtime a lot but since the new governor cut the city employees' salary, he was out of his office once the clock hit 5:30pm.
Our lesson finished with a one-point example from Mr T, " I am looking forward to diving in Okinawa next year".
After I checked his previous one-point, I introduced him to today's topic by writing down "Used to" on the board. Mr T nodded as if he knew exactly what it meant, so I asked him to give me an example. It was then that I realised that he had got it confused with "be used to". I then explained the difference to him, and gave him an example sentence using a pair of haircut cards, "she used to have short hair in high school, but now she has long hair". He understood the difference quickly and I moved on to let him match up the picture cards in pairs and make sentences out of them following my example. Mr T had to stop from time to time to ask me for help regarding new words and expressions, but other than that he had no problem finishing the task.
I then decided to make the lesson more personal and conversational, so I turned to page 122 of the build-up activity book and started asking Mr T "Did you used to..." questions. It was interesting to find out that he used to work part-time in college at a fish market which he absolutely hated because of the horrible smell and early hours, that he used to go diving a few times a year but had to cut back to once a year now because his wife was tightening the purse string, and that he used to work overtime a lot but since the new governor cut the city employees' salary, he was out of his office once the clock hit 5:30pm.
Our lesson finished with a one-point example from Mr T, " I am looking forward to diving in Okinawa next year".
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