APET (Academy for Professional English Trainers)

I taught a 5-hour APET seminar three days in a row. They all carry different titles and are conducted for different purposes. APET (https://goo.gl/6z27xK) is the abbreviation of Academy for Professional English Trainers, and it is the name of the teacher training programs developed by the BizCom Corporation (https://www.bizcom.training/) of which I am a member.

The first one this week, held this past Tuesday, mainly focused on how to improve four English skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Participants focus on effective learning methods, and are encouraged to apply these methods when they teach their students.

The second one, held yesterday, was mainly about teaching methods. The particular focus was on how to make an easy transition from using Japanese to using English as a means of conducting a lesson. The new guideline stipulates that all lessons should be taught in English on the senior high level. The reality is, however, not all are comfortable enough to do so. One reason is that they have had good models shown to them. So in the seminar I demo a model lesson, and show how to make a transition from a traditional approach mainly taught in Japanese, to a new approach using only English.

The third one, which I taught today, centered around the theme of how to manage an English class all in English. I taught a model lesson for five typical classroom activities, and participants practice doing some of them. After the seminar, all teachers are armed with classroom English needed to teach most activities all in English, and they are also confident to teach a couple of them in English in the new semester.

One teacher, who came from Okinawa to take two seminars in a row, yesterday and today, said that she learned so much that she was eager to put into practice what she learned and practiced in the seminars.

I'm scheduled to teach altogether seven 5-hours seminars over a course of three weeks. Five down, and two more to go.

They are held next Thursday and Friday. Once they are done, I have a long-awaited summer vacation!

Meanwhile, I did some body weight muscle and cardio training to reset my motivation for the remaining seminars.

Teacher Seminar in Ibaraki Prefecture

I had a 5-hour seminar with 127 junior high school teachers today in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. This is the second year of a three-year project where all junior high school English teachers in the prefecture brush up their English to meet the recent demand for them to conduct their lessons all in English as designated by the new guideline issued by the Education Ministry.

The program of the second year is three-fold. The first is a kick-off seminar done by CEO of my company. The second is a follow-up seminar done by me. And the last is also a further follow-up seminar also by me.

The five-hour seminar today consisted of seven parts:
1) Training Review
2) TOEIC Reading Training
3) English Newspaper Training
4) TOEIC Listening Training
5) Daily Textbook Training
6) English Movie Training
7) Planning

Overall, most participants actively engaged in all activities, though from time to time some teachers looked tired from hard work that they had done before. I did my best to promote their active participation by asking questions, doing pair work, asking someone to come to the front and show a model for an activity with me.

They enjoyed acting out conversations after seeing my animated models, listened attentively when I gave theoretical explanations, and had good laughs when I joked.

The seminar finished ten minutes earlier than originally scheduled as requested by the organizer who needed to make a few important announcements before the participants were scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m.

At the end of my session, four teachers who spent more hours on self English training than others were asked to come up to the front and make speeches regarding how they made time in their already super-busy schedule. The other teachers were impressed and some said in their questionnaires that they were inspired by their speeches to cut lame excuses and just do it! I was so glad to see them positively influencing one another.

One of the organizers handed me the questionnaires that were collected, and offered me a ride to the station in his air-conditioned car as it was still hot outside. I accepted his offer with tremendous gratitude. If I had walked there, I would have been drenched with sweat life a scuba-diver who dove in a business suit.

On the express train back home I quickly ran through all the questionnaires. Most were positive, with a few constructive criticisms. I appreciated both. Good ones make me feel rewarded. Critical ones allow me to grow.

The last of the series of three seminars takes place on September 13. I look forward to meeting the teachers, and hearing reports of how they made good changes over the course of a month and a half following the second seminar.

How I Make a Living: Teaching

For those who are kind enough to read my blog posts on and off, I will probably look like someone who only runs, bikes, and eats sushi. While there is some truth in it, the great majority of my life has been, and will continue to be dedicated to my profession: teaching. Today I would like to share with you something I do every Saturday in order to help Japanese learners of English improve their English--a brief footage from a one-hour open seminar for beginner-level & intermediate learners of English in Japan.