Posts Tagged ‘Japan’

The Star Festival: Teaching Tanabata in English

Jul 8th, 2010

Part of the series: EFL Makeovers July 7th is Tanabata, or the Star Festival, in Japan. Legend says that Orihime (a weaver, represented by the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (a cowherd, represented by the star Altair) are allowed to cross the Milky Way to meet each year on the seventh evening of the seventh month [...]

Long Ago Lessons in a Japanese High School

Jun 16th, 2010

by Barbara.

12 comments

Part of the series: Lessons Learned from Students Back with the ink was barely dry on my MATESOL, I had a group of students from whom I learned many, many lessons. This post is about three of those lessons… The setting: A once-a-week English class at a high school in Japan, in the mid 1980s. [...]

30 teachers from 16 countries (and counting!)

Apr 19th, 2010

by Barbara.

24 comments

Earlier this month, I awoke to a lovely message telling me that Teaching Village was the TEFL Site of the Month. While always thrilled to get an award of any kind, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t sure what this award was for (I’m still sort of new to this blogging business). [...]

Whatever gets them through the door (by Daniel T. Kirk)

Mar 16th, 2010

by DanKirk.

12 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know Over the last twenty-three years, I have taught English to people in every demographic category other than homeless people. Over that time, the issue that continues to pique my interest is their motivation for carrying their feet across the threshold of my classroom. I have [...]

Flap Books: A Simple Secret for Student Support! (by Lesley Ito)

Mar 4th, 2010

by LesleyIto.

6 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know I think what every teacher needs to know is this simple secret to successful ESL/EFL classes: Students can accomplish so much more if the lesson has proper support. It is very difficult for students, particularly at the EFL level, to stand up in front of [...]

Love, Kindergarten Style

Feb 12th, 2010

by Barbara.

4 comments

This year, my kindergarten class liked each other a lot, in song and craft.

Teaching English at a Japanese Academic High School (by Tomo Wakui)

Nov 25th, 2009

by Barbara.

14 comments

Part of the series: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL My teaching History Hello. My name is Tomoe Wakui. Please call me Tomo. I am a high school English teacher in Niigata, Japan. I am very happy to have this opportunity to introduce myself here in Teaching Village. Let me explain my teaching history [...]

What I’ve Learned from My PLN (November 14, 2009)

Nov 15th, 2009

by Barbara.

9 comments

(Note: If this is the first post you’ve read in this series, and you’re mystified by the PLN acronym, start with What’s a PLN, anyway?) The seven guest authors for the “Front Lines of EFL” series have been the members of my personal learning network I’ve shared with most intensively in the past few weeks, [...]

I’ll Show You Mine if You Show Me Yours (by Steven Herder)

Oct 11th, 2009

by StevenHerder.

21 comments

Part of the series: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL Committed to learning After 20 years in the EFL classroom, I still learn new things all the time. Certainly, here in Japan, the students are completely different than they were back in 1989; in those days, they all sat up straight, had their hair [...]