Jim's weekend on the job - Tokyo

Delighted to report that I was involved with another training session for Cambridge Assessment English last weekend, as Team Leader for Kawaijuku JP026. On this occasion I was looking after A2:Key & B1:Preliminary levels

Speaking Examiner training team, July 2025 

I was annoyed that a couple of applicants didn't bother turning up (nor contacting us with an excuse/apology) as that robbed other people of the chance to join this otherwise fully booked event.

As it was, we had a very mixed group of English language teaching professonals join the team. Language school teachers,high school teachers, dispatch/ALTs, freelancers & directors of studies. Some people very new to the country, and other old-hands; some dedicated Tokyo-dwellers and others more transient - one participant actually living in Osaka made the trip especially. And six nationalities; more folks from Singapore & Atlanta Georgia than Yorkshire!

As ever, the various experiences of such a group only adds to the eventual outcome, with voices considering how to assess speaking tests vs standardised criteria; noticing different aspects of candidate output, removing personal bias/preferences; gaining exposure to other approaches & ideas...and also picking up best practice off each other in the interlocutor role, learning off each other & giving/recieving feedback.

It is never possible to cover everything an examiner needs to learn in the limited time available to us - a weekend seems like a long time, right? It isn't...Hence the very real need for all Speaking Examiners, globally, to recertify annually in order to build up layers or professional ability, fine tune perfomances and focus in more detail on certain aspects of interlocutor & assessor roles.

My next training session for Kanto area teachers will be Sept 20th, at B1:Preliminary & B2:First, which I'm really looking forward to!

My favorite pets - Bau and Alan

 I have had two dogs in my life. The first dog my family owned was named "Bau". Her name came from an animation named “Heisei Dog Bau’s Story”. She was a female Shetland Sheepdog. Although this breed is known for being intelligent and elegant, she often gave us trouble, such as eating mice or running away during walks. She had long curly hair, which made her difficult to spend the hot summers.

The second dog was named "Einstein," but we called her "Allan" for short. She was a female Beagle. Her floppy ears would flap, and her tail would wag every time she moved, making her always look cheerful—but she was actually quite moody. Beagles are the kind of dogs that want to play with others but can't make the first move. "Allan" also sometimes ran away during walks, which caused us trouble. She lived a long life, and we spent 16 years together.

Through my experience of raising animals, I realized how important it is to think about others and to be kind to them. I am truly grateful to our dogs Bau and Allan. That’s why I feel concerned about animals being displayed and sold in pet shops. The small animals you see in such displays are undeniably adorable. Raising animals bring us many joyful moments, but we must take responsibility for their entire life.  At the end of their lives, we will need care. I hope people make the decision to become an pet owner only after seriously considering whether they can care / treat it with kindness until the end of their life.

Kenshin's platypus project

Check out Kenshin's description of Australia's very shy platypus (an animal he's never seen( but we read about in an Oxford Read & Discover graded reader - we can travel in our minds!
 

Yushin's snow animal

Check out Yushin's after reading project! How cool is his snow animal (in the middle of summer - we're melting!)

 

Postcard from Sydney, Australia

 

Hi everyone at Luna!

I arrived in Sydney in the middle of winter, but the weather is beautiful! I stayed near the fabulous Harbour Bridge in a traditional little hotel above a pub...perfect!

I took a ferry to Manly, across the harbour and had delicious fish & chips on the beach. The view of the Opera House from the boat was magnificent!

I'm going to see a rugby match tonight, then travel south to see my brother's family. hope you are not missing me too much?

Jim

Let's talk! Students with after reading projects

We think these two young learners really do speak for themselves! 

 

Smashing phonics on a desktop!

 You got the idea straight away...

You know your letter sounds, and your homework was great...letter writing is spot on and your pronunciation is just right. But the other student in the class is absent today & I really do NOT want to move on until they can also get the input to proceed. So instead of doing this at home (which is tough, because you need a parent to help you on a PC (or use their device & find the link from Google Classroom)...lets have some fun in-class, so you can read/spell/pronounce all the words you know, set a high score & gain confidence with not only your English, but peripheral tech skills too!

Check out this task (and you can choose various ways to play & also use a number of print options too) as a review 'game' for CVC words with central /e/ from Oxford Phonics World 2. Piece of cake to make (but no need, I aleady created stuff for all chapters for the first three levels!) and many ways to implement one-to-one, group work, books open or closed, asynchronous, in class or at home!

Hazuki talks about...her chimpanzee

 

Although we do not have chimpanzees native to Japan, we do have loads of monkeys up in the hills, and famously a monkey onsen in Nagano prefecture, which is a very popular tourist attraction

This is Hazuki's after reading project, where the task was to write about her favourite wild animal (and sketch it) then narrate using Chatterpix on (my) iPhone. As you can see & hear, a really good expansion beyond a graded reader, and a piece of work to be proud of.

Milking a glossary with Wordwall

Making the most out of even the simplest graded readers!

Familiar vocabulary recycled in any good graded reader series, but the secret is to make sure students can actually read and spell the words, use the vocabulary flexibly (not just recognise a particular picture & blurt it)!

We love using the various applications/games that wordwall offers, with the added twist of PC skils (mouse/keyboard), letter recognition (upper/lower case) & QWERTY layout (not a linear ABC from the poster on the wall). Have a go yourself here, and consider all the ways your learners can recycle, drill, revise (you know, the deadly sins of teacher talk!) both at home, or in the classroom when a buddy is absent.

Project Platypus - creative Kana

Check out Kana's fantastic artwork! Truly the best artist I think I've ever had in my English classroom...put her mind to Australia's most shy creature and also narrated her description of it, as an after  reading project (using Chatterpix). I love this app, as it is personal yet maintains our students' privacy :)

How would you rate Kana's work (I'm at A++)?

 

 

Chalk man makes a come back - "This is me!"

We returned to old school project work recently, breaking out the chalk to add some reality to the 'our bodies' topic in Everybody Up 1...we 'traced' each other (as well as the Big Boy himself) in our car park and added details to profiles (importantly, eyes, ears, fingers.... AND pants!).

Good PR as mummies got out of cars/off their phones to ask what we were doing - "This is me!"..."This is my head, these are my legs" etc. Lots of laughs and genuine engagement, even for the artistically challenged (like Jim!)

Big Boy + Little Learners!

Where's my neck?

 

 

 

 

Yukihi's snow animal

 

Check out Yukihi's lovely after reading project - created with Chatterpix in a matter of minutes. Student's own design on paper, descriptive writing & then reading own work fluently :)

The news headlines (late June, 2025)

 A feature in The Guardian Weekly news magazine is a round up of global headlines ("Global Report") which I've been using to create a regular quiz on Wordwall - a matchng task which requires skimming and scanning reading techniques, as well as a good grasp of colloquial language & newspaper headline jargon, and flexibility with synonyms & geography. All-in-all, a jolly good challenge.

You, dear reader, do not have the articles to hand - so how well up on the news have you been keeping?

This particular challenge is from the end of June, 2025.

https://wordwall.net/resource/95023891