@Sakuragi Kouminkan 6th Floor Kitchen
2:00-5:00pm 
RSVP Recommended

Matt Shannon featuring Brad Semans: The Five Senses Workshop- An Experiential, Learner-Led Event 

Important Note: This event will utilize a kitchen facility to enable its labs. Please RSVP to ensure that your space at the sinks, tables, and fretboards is accounted for. Brad has arranged for a ¥6000 package for those who wish to purchase and use their own ukulele during the workshop. Please contact us before March 10th to take advantage of this opportunity.

Abstract:
Get your hands dirty with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in this curated event: we’ll learn better ways to talk about (and enjoy) chocolate, let our nose start a conversation, outsource our brains with wooden blocks and dice, and learn to play the ukulele. It’s ok, there will be elementary and junior high school students helping you along the way. Oh yeah, we’re going to finish with an ice cream lab, toppings and discussion to follow.

CLIL engagements lend themselves to intrinsic motivation, and it is our goal that you may experience this, rather than “learn about it.” In such environments, you will find your job as an educator to be move away from the teacher and towards an enabler of independently-driven learning. 

Bio:
Matt Shannon is an educator, cultivator, and curriculum developer, based in Saitama, Japan. He has helped place student work at the edge of space, given lectures on why we need to think about the ocean when we’re looking for good ideas, and is a long-time fan of Mr. Wizard. He is president of the Saitama chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching.

Brad Semans develops curricula and trainings for the Saitama City Board of Education. He also owns and operates an English teaching service specializing in content based lessons for the purposes of developing functional bilingualism. His interests include application of theory to the classroom and playing ukulele in lessons. 

Hiroya, Haruki, Ayaha, Yu, Ao, Kotaro, and Minato have all studied a variety of subjects through English and are all ukulele enthusiasts.

Masa Tsuneyasu
Pre-reading activities for university students with low proficiency

Warm up activities play an important role in activating students’ schemata. Well-prepared lessons and easy-to-follow steps enhance students learning. This workshop will explain (1) lesson procedures, (2) pre-reading activities, and (3) students’ responses. Active participation as well as feedback of attendees is most appreciated.

Bio:
Masa Tsuneyasu is a lecturer at Utsunomiya University. She received her B.A. and M.A. with TESOL at the University of Utah and is currently a doctoral candidate. Her research interests include the relationships between individual differences, willingness to communicate, and proficiency

Alexander Procter
Using YouTube in the Classroom

YouTube can be an incredibly powerful method of engaging students. This talk aims to make it easier to use YouTube videos in your lessons, and addresses some of the practical issues teachers might have.

Bio:
Alexander Procter has over 11 years of EFL teaching experience in Japan. He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and is therefore qualified to teach in schools in England and Wales. He currently teaches at Kasukabe Kyoei Junior High School. His interests include collaborative learning and CALL.

Michelle Martinie
Organic Apples to Apples

This talk will explain how high school students can use the English vocabulary they have already acquired to make their own games. The two games that will be covered are, “The Picture Game,” and, “Apples to Apples.”

Bio:
Michelle Martinie is a second-year JET Programme participant who enjoys learning about languages and making art. She teaches at Kasukabe East High School and Miyashiro High School.

Rebecca Ros
How to Pen to a Pen Pal.

Writing a letter in English can be a scary prospect for Japanese High School students. This presentation and proposed project aims to break down the daunting task. Taking things right back to letter structuring, and simply asking ‘what should I write about?’ The intention here is to encourage a style of writing from the students that is rarely practiced: free writing. Breaking away from the strict grammar based style of English teaching that dominates 90% of the curriculum, writing letters can be a fun and harmless way to give writing a makeover, turn it into an enjoyable task, and perhaps allow the students to make some friends in a land far from their own.

Bio:
Rebecca Ros is a Drama and Theatre Arts graduate from Goldsmiths, University of London, now working as an Assistant Language Teacher for JET at Koshigaya Nishi High School and Koshigaya Kita High School, with occasional, but incredibly rewarding, visits to Koshigaya Tokubetsushien Gakkou.

John Finucane
WordPress

Why I love WordPress and how I use it.

Bio:
John Finucane is an EFL Professional.  He is the President and co-founder of さいたま市教育家会 (SCE). He edits the Journal of Saitama City Educators (JSCE).  His interests are writing, teacher training, event planning, debate, critical thinking and LEGO. Find out more at John-Finucane.com

Brad Semans
Attention!

In this short workshop a continuum of ways in which teachers hold students attention will be presented and briefly discussed. Participants will then profile their own teaching and share this profile with the group.

Bio:
Brad Semans has more than 10 years of experience teaching in a wide variety of situations here in Japan. For the last three years he has worked as Saitama City’s Head ALT Instructor, leading a team of ALT Instructors to develop curricula, train teachers, and improve language education in the City. His research interests include application of SLA theory to teaching young ELLs, effective teacher development, and teacher accountability.

Teaching Critical Thinking Skills
John Finucane

A workshop about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to students as EFL learners, how to get started, and how to practice. We will discuss what skills are needed for critical thinking and debate. We will learn some simple classroom exercises for introducing debate. We will do some activities create specifically to teach critical thinking skills.

From Phonics to Literacy

Brad Semans


Methodologies for teaching EFL students reading have advanced a lot in Japan over the last 20 years. However, there is an expansive gap between texts and programs aimed at teaching the basics (phonics/word recognition) and those aimed at managing and manipulating content (reading for specific information/summarizing a passage). In this presentation a teaching style developed to remedy this will be presented, discussed, and tried.

Soryong Om
Teaching and Learning English in Cambodian High Schools: Challenges and Prospects

English was introduced to high schools in Cambodia as a foreign language component of the high school curriculum in 1992. Despite some significant progress since its inception, the teaching of English has, however, faced considerable challenges in terms of class size, methodology, syllabuses, enthusiasm, students・proficiency level, and learning environment. Many high school teachers seem complacent about the way they teach English, for they believe that as long as they stick to the syllabuses which were adopted by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports for all high schools, they have achieved their course goals. Also, many students take a carefree attitude towards English learning. As a result, they end up having enormous difficulty with English communication despite six years of English study, from grade seven to grade twelve. This paper will identify the challenges that impede the progress of English teaching and learning in Cambodian high schools and look at the chances of its success in an attempt to revitalize the ELT field in high schools in particular and in Cambodia as a whole.

Bio:
Om Soryong is currently the deputy head of the English Department of the Institute of Foreign Languages, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He holds a Master’s Degree of Science in Instructional Design from Southern Illinois University, USA and a Graduate Diploma in TESOL from the University of Canberra, Australia. He has been involved in curriculum/syllabus design and development and teaching English as a foreign language in the Bachelor of Education in TEFL and Bachelor of Arts in English courses at the Institute of Foreign Languages for more than 10 years. His areas of expertise include teaching methodology, translation, curriculum development, and instructional design. He has a special interest in learner motivation and the use of humour in the classroom. He is also a member of the CamTESOL steering committee.

Brad Semans
Mini-immersion: Content, instruction, and young ELLs

Mini-immersion, the inclusion of short content-focused segments within the framework of typical conversation classes, gives teachers and students a chance to step completely out side of the box. The importance of teaching both BICS and CALP has been thoroughly demonstrated and this teaching technique facilitates a balance between the two in a common EFL setting: extracurricular English lessons for young ELLs. In this workshop, attendees will be presented with arguments for using Mini-immersion. There will also be chances for the audience to discuss and apply the technique. Finally the presenter will discuss the effects of Mini-immersion and show samples of language produced by students of Mini-immersion. For teachers of young language learners this workshop will provide an engaging avenue for instruction as well as new paths to assessment of student performance and the effectiveness of instruction. For students, Mini-immersion is an excellent way of developing autonomy in young learners.

Bio:
Brad Semans has taught in Japan for more than 9 years now. He is the Head ALT Instructor for Saitama City and also runs a successful private tutoring service catering to elementary aged students with advanced language abilities. Brad is also the assistant editor of the Saitama Journal of Language teaching and has authored a host of articles and papers that no one in their right mind would publish, so they didn’t.

The JALT Omiya Chapter is proud to be one of the organizations taking part in this year's Nakasendo Conference . Representing JALT Omiya this year are Jun Harada and Bradley Semans. 

-Jun Harada's presentation entitled 'Let's Delve into the Minds of 'Bad' Students: Alternative TESOL will take place from 2:10~3:00 in Room B.
-Bradley Semans' materials swap is titled 'Dave Pilkey in the Classroom (or 'Who the heck is Dave Pilkey?') will take place from 3:10~4:00 in the Gathering Room.

NAKASENDO is an ever-expanding, multi-organizational English conference based on mutual support and collaboration. Inaugurated in 2008, it is both an annual event as well as a year-round cooperative online exchange. Our specific aims include:

1) helping teachers gain awareness of what is happening at all levels of English education, not just their own

2) supporting young teachers’ organizations that have proven dynamic and innovative in our field

3) improving relations and exchange opportunities between Japanese and foreign teachers of English

This year’s annual event, Nakasendo 2009, will be held on June 28th at Tokyo Kasei University. Our theme, “Paths to Learning” offers an engaging day of professional development through collaboration. In addition to our line-up of presenters from participating organizations and our ”Learning Paths”　materials swap, we are delighted to host Dr. Kensaku Yoshida, a formidable voice in our unique EFL context, as our keynote speaker this year.

概要

飛躍的に成長している大会「中仙道」は、相互支援と共同研究を基盤に様々な英語の学会で構成・運営されており、2008年に発足して以来、年次大会を開催、オンライン上で情報交換を常時行っております。「中仙道」のユニークな目的としては、以下の通りです。１）日本の英語教育界において、自分たちが属するレベル以外でも何が新たに研究されているかをよりよく知る、２）英語教育の分野で設立された新しい学会で、ダイナミックで革新的な要素のあるものを支援する、３）日本人及び英語母語話者の英語教員のより良い関係を構築することです。今年の年次大会「中仙道２００９」のテーマは”Paths to Learning”であり、様々なグループが互いに学びあうことで、より良い英語教員として成長するための有意義な一日となると考えております。本大会においては、所属学会の代表者による発表と”Learning Paths”の教材に関する情報交換が行われるのに加えて、基調講演の講師として吉田研作先生をお招きしております。