Jim's other classrooms...a Cambridge Saturday in Tokyo

Chuffed to bits to run out of chairs & tables for this #B1Preliminary pre-session briefing, and to catch up with a whole roomful of the #Kanto #speakingexaminer team on match day! Very foolish to not read JP026 guidance/advice in advance…and to not give
Keiko Ohashi your full attention when she’s offering ‘advice’!


And a very satisfactory afternoon ensued with 320 or so candidates cheerfully engaged. Great to see.

(Teach English in Tokyo? Feeling professionally left out? 2 seats left in next weekend’s #B2First & #C1Advanced SE training gig…)

A leader worthy of respect - Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern

Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern who I admire was female political leader of New Zealand in 2017-2023. In October 2017, at the age of 37, she became the Prime Minister of New Zealand, making her the youngest female head of government in the world. In 2018, her first baby was born and the vice prime minister took over politics during her six-week maternity and parental leave. I’ve seen her being interviewed on TV after putting her kids to sleep or breastfeeding. It's easy to imagine that the Prime Minister whose schedule is planned by the minute, must be really tough to raise kids and make time for family.

Her leadership earned New Zealander and international recognition in response to unprecedented crises, including the 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings and the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly during the pandemic, she implemented speedy and decisive measures, such as early border closures and thorough testing systems.

In January 2023, she fully retired from politics. It is said that she faced difficult situations like opposition movements against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, economic downturns, as well as excessive pressure as a female prime minister. Also, she wants to prioritize time with her family.

I think gender equality isn’t about women becoming like men, and is created in a society that things can keep going no matter the situation. I hope we live in a time when everyone has a chance of becoming prime minister even if you’re not super tough and have no enough time.

Zombies in Tokyo - book reviews from Matsumoto

Did you enjoy this story?

SAWA: Yes, I did, because I could choose the storyline myself. I didn't get tired of this story because there were many characters.

Who are the main characters? Can you describe them?

TAISEI: I am the main character. I am a genius because I didn't become a zombie.

Where does the story take place?

YUKI: It takes place in Tokyo, the biggest Japanese city. It has 10,000,000 people

Which ending did you like the most?

YUKI: I like the ending when I keep going to find a safe area and find food. We didn't die.

TAISEI: I like the ending when Maru's whole family and me survived, beacuse we are safe and we didn't die.

SAWA: I lke the ending when everyone in Tokyo became a zombie at the end. Everyone in Tokyo was happy & smiling, because they didn't have to work.

Which ending didn't you like?

SAWA: I didn't like the ending when I died, because the police shot me. I didn't want to die.

YUKI: I didn't like the ending when I went home, but I met children zombies and I died.

TAISEI: I didn't like the ending when I became a zombie and was killed.

The aim of the game - is not gaming...students speaking up for fun

Talking about food - Tummyache!

As you can see, our young learners are coping with a board game in a foreign language, with books closed/heads up, having a great time and managing without support! On top of that, drilling, drilling, drilling!

They're talking to each other, helping/supporting/correcting each other (no teacher involvement here at all, unless asked for!) and competing hard! Language already 'onboard' from Everybody Up Starter - training wheels off & fluency in full flow.

Crazy Chefs & Happy Learners

Second shake of the dice = we followed up a week later with Crazy Chefs (thank you orchard toys, a rare game made for five players rather than four) and as you can see in the video, all students involved pretty much the whole time...including listening to peers & remembering the 'script', rehearsing responses & memorising new words; addressing the listener face to face while asking & answering questions - and acknowledging responses with an extra conversational politeness - "Here you are" - "Thank you" - "You're welcome" (lifted straight out of one of the delightful chants in the text book. 

James's Journey of Change

At the beginning, James is a lonely and unhappy boy. After his parents die, he lives with his two aunts. They are very mean to him and do not look after him kindly. Because of this, James is always scared and does not have much confidence. As his two aunts do not allow him to go to school, he also has no friends and feels very lonely.

However, James starts to change after he met a mysterious old man.

Due to the magic seeds, a peach begins growing big. He goes inside the giant peach and meets the insects. They become good friends and help him during those journeys. From them, James learns that having friends and helping each other are very important. He also learns that everyone has different good points, and they can work together to solve problems.

During the journey, James and his friends have many difficult and dangerous situations. James starts to think about what he can do to help everyone. He comes up with good ideas and becomes more active. Through these experiences, he becomes braver and more confident.

James also learns more about himself. He finds that he can think of good ideas and help others. At the end of the story, James is not a scared and lonely boy anymore. He learns to believe in himself and understands the importance of friendship.

The cake speaks!

What a cool way to finish off a graded reader! Personalised project after reading "The Cake Machine" (an OUP Read & Imagine book) where she listed ingredients and took ideas from the text...then put her own creation together in text - guided writing with prompts/questions from the teacher (and some spelling help for new vocabulary not in in the glossary). 

As I've previously written here, I love the Chatterkids app to record student voices with their original artwork, to anonymise their output...this reduces stress/panic! They can also practice & re-record (critique & edit themselves, or speed up delivery/polish pronunciation & intonation, to the thirty second barrier.

What do you think of Yuri's cake and her description of it? 

 

Two frozen shoulders and maximum TPR? A work around :)

As you can see, it is not hard to motivate pre-primary/kindergarten students to get up and dance! 

The beauty of having built-in video content with digital text books now = the content is a click away. My role? Well, with two frozen shoulders at the moment, I'm not the most dynamic TPR (Total Physical Response) teacher/leader, so I'm limiting the amount of pre-teaching involved here! I try to get out of the way as quickly as possible - as you can see, the children actually love the challenge of trying to 'keep up' and imitate the moves they can see (here, actions for wild animals, eg 'snap, snap' for the crocodile) ... and also usurping "Oh NO!" as loudly as possible for every reaction (never mind - it's funny!).

Having kindy kids seated most of the time, and in small groups works for me - I can move around the room & monitor/correct/encourage bookwork. It gives them space for their stuff, and unlike last year when I was confronted with two, long parallel lines looking forwards & forever knocking crayons off their tables, instead addressing their peers & being able to share/compare/help/comment. And I can make the 'front' of the classroom anywhere I like; bluetooth speaker etc I do not have to be tied to the whiteboard area. 

As this song is 'new' to the kids, the less confident ones are going to be reticent at first, but they've got buddies to copy...and they'll all shout to want to do it again (not teacher insisting they do it better!) - they want to maximise movement time and show off, be louder, get even more moves (ie learn the song...their objective not mine!).

And not overplay - leave the chance to re-visit this song next time dangling there - anticipation...the ideal & 'yay' ice-breaker that they really want to participate in :)

 

Postcard from...Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 My first time visiting Amsterdam!!

The beautiful canals and iconic architecture make city so uniques and charming!

I'm especially glad I finally got to visit the Anne Frank house - it was something I'd been looking forward to for a long time. And of course seeing many masterpieces by Rembrandt and van Gogh made the trip even more special :)

Today I'm going to Barcelona!

Teruki

Journey on the Giant peach

James had very happy life until he lost his parents at four years old. After that, he is lonely, unhappy, and mistreated by cruel Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker.

First, the giant creatures are terrible to him, but he feels nice to hear somebody laughing and feels happy to hear “We won’t hurt you. You are one of us now” and thinks that they are his new friends. Also, James learns that the creatures are important and nice. Farmers and gardeners need earthworms and ladybirds to help them grow plants and to help them by eating horrible little insects that eat their plants. Spiders can make soft hammocks and the strongest string in the world. Grasshoppers can make music.

Throughout the journey in the Giant peach, the creatures and James trust each other. While he faces some troubles such as sharks, storms, and the Cloud-Men, he can make decisions　to solve problems and helping his friends. The creatures trust James and do their best to do James’ plans.

After the journey, James always opens his door of the Giant peach and talks about his adventure on the peach for hundreds of children. He is never sad and lonely again because he has all the friends in the world.

I think James is always kind but is braver before the journey.

An American Folk hero - Johnny Appleseed

 John Chapman is a folk hero in America. In American stories John is cool and kind, and he plants apple seeds. In this picture he is wearing brown clothes and he has long brown hair. His friend is Abraham Lincoln. He doesn't have enemies. 

Posted for Kokona