Blog Room in Happy Days

My Strengths and Weaknesses as English Teachers

2006-07-28T09:33:00.000+09:00

First, I learned various things to be an English teacher in this class. The most useful thing was Mr.M's lecture. His lecture taught me many things. I'll never forget them.
And yesterday, in the last class, I discussed our lesson plans with my friends. I made it about "if" section. Briefly, they are as follows.
1) Warm-up
・Talk with friends
-Hello. / How are you?
-What will you do tomorrow?
2) Review
・Review, "will"-Because I think "will" is necessary to make "if" sentences.
3) Introduction of New Materials
・Give a situation and example
-Tomorrow is the school sports. If it rains tomorrow, they will be put off.
・Repetition
・Explain how the structure is formed
4) Practice
・Play games -pair works(One says "if" section and the other says the next sentence.)
5) New Words
・Practice
-parking area
-brokebreak
-arm
-if
6) Reading
・Read textbooks
・Give two sentences
-You're free now. / Please help me.
-You like it. / I'll give it to you.
7) Consolidation
・Review, "if"
I got much advice from my teacher and friends. From what I heard, it had better put 4) Practice before 7) Consolidation because it is very difficult for children. I was satisfied of it.
Here, I'm stating my strengths and weaknesses as an English teacher I now think. They are as follows.
☆Strengths☆
I think I could arrange for teaching practice. For example, I learned to write lesson plans and relax even in public because I practiced again and again. I couldn't say anything as I froze up in public before, so I'm glad that I came not to tense. It was also very useful for me to teach English to pupils in elementary school. I think this class brought up me. By grace of this class, I can get confidence. Thank you.
★Weaknesses★
I'm still anxious a little because until now I've taught English with my friends, so I've not taught by myself yet. In teaching with my friends, I became bold, but next only one!! And then I must pronounce more loudly and gesture more clearly. Children like pleasant activities, so I have to devise the content of activities.

Thinking About Group Work

2006-07-13T17:22:00.000+09:00

When I was a junior high school student, we often had a group work. For example, when we played a game, we made groups and we competed every group. And when we read textbooks, we did determining each part or did one after the other.
The things going wrong I think were that there were a few people who didn't do it, they were almost boys as far as I remembered, and they made much ado whenever we played games and so on. It was really disgusting!!
I think it is important to have a group work, but it will fail unless we teachers grasp the state of the class. So, we must know it. And we should develop such lessons as children are interested in. Or we should work on all of them to participate in the activities. I want to make lessons they enjoyed and I wish they loved English more!!

Teaching Grammar

2006-07-06T17:38:00.000+09:00

I think it is most difficult to learn "Relative Pronouns（who, which）" in grammatical items because I hear that many people are poor at it and I think it is difficult to know the difference between Relative Pronouns and also to connect clauses to antecedents in translating sentences.
If I teach it, I will do as follows.
1) Post pictures to show the situation, and give two sentences "The man is sitting." and "He is reading a newspaper."
2) Write the sentences on the board.
3) Say "The man is sitting." and "He is reading a newspaper." and ask the students to repeat it phrase by phrase.
4) Connect two sentences using "who".
⇒The man who is reading a newspaper is sitting.
5) Say "The man who is reading a newspaper is sitting." and ask the students to repeat it phrase by phrase.
6) Explain how the structure is formed.
7) Ask the students to copy it.
8) Give other situations and examples: "The children are brothers." and "They are playing soccer."
⇒The children who are playing soccer are brothers. etc.
9) Write the other sentences on the board.
10) Say "The desk is dirty." and "It is in the corner." and ask the students to repeat it phrase by phrase.
11) Connect two sentences using "which".
⇒The desk which is in the corner is dirty.
12) Say "The desk which is in the corner is dirty." and ask the students to repeat it phrase by phrase.
13) Explain how the structure is formed and the difference between "who" and "which".
14) Ask the students to copy it.
15) Give other situations and examples: "The book is interesting." and "It is thick."
⇒The book which is thick is interesting. etc.
16) Put the jumbled questions.
17) Consolidate the class.
That's all. Thank you.

Advice to University Students about Teaching in Japanese Junior High Schools

2006-06-22T17:22:00.000+09:00

Today, I listened to Mr.M's lecture. He is a teacher in Japanese Junior High Schools. His lecture benefited me. The contents of the lecture are as follows. First, the important things for teachers are smiles, greetings, responsibility and common sense. I also think so because stern visages hold off children and if we keep quiet, they will make (mental) walls toward us and we may have our own way but for responsibility. Second, we learned the difference between elementary schools and junior high schools. I think it is the expert knowledge they have, for example, if they are elementary school teachers, they must have knowledge of all subjects, but if they are junior high school teachers, they don't have to do, in other words, it is enough to have knowledge of only one. And another is the length of the time they come in contact with children, I think. He said it was how to move students, this was the most important. Next, I learned the important things for class. He said it was setting goals the most. I also think so because we can let them know the contents of the class and it goes on wheels. So, here I sum up my main points for readers.
1) Smiles---because these relax children.
2) Greetings---because they open themselves to others.
3) Responsibility---so that we don't trouble teachers.
4) Common sense---so that we can answer when they question.
5) Setting goals---so that we show them the things they should do.
My image of Japanese Junior High Schools is very quiet. As they are shy, they seldom speak. So, I think it is important to make circumstances they can speak. And another is a little active, for they enjoy because English is the subject they haven't experienced yet. So, they are eager to study English. Of course, his students, I watched the video, were getting down to studying English, too. His class was very interesting for me. For example, I was impressed that he used HG's "フォー" to teach "who~?". I think this interests them in it and I want to imitate this.
Finally, dear Mr.M, thank you for lecturing to us today.

Welcome Party in English Course

2006-06-19T16:49:00.000+09:00

On June 14, we juniors held the welcome party for sophomores. It began at 7 in the evening. There were many many people in the party differing from last year. I sat on the table Ms.Yamazaki sat. I did nothing but talk with them because I was a weak drinker. For example, teaching practice, English classes and so on. I was very glad to make friends with them because I didn't have little opportunity to communicate with seniors. So, I want to talk with them more. In the first party, there were greetings of professors and introductions of sophomores, juniors and seniors. The party warmed up and it is no exaggeration to say it succeeded greatly.
And then we came to hold the second party in another bar. There were about half of people in the first one. We began to drink again and talk informally about mainly love. Eventually, the party ended at over 1 in the night.
I think I had a good time. And I would like to hold the party again.
Finally, dear organizers of this party, thank you very much!!

Please Tell Me WHAT TO DO

2006-06-09T17:29:00.000+09:00

I have to do the teaching practice in August. I'm majoring in education, elementary school course, so I must teach all subjects to children. That inclines me to anxiety. You know, I have poor subjects, for example, science, society, physical education and so on. Therefore, I'm worried about my teaching level. I have taught English as a part of the class, but I haven't taught any subjects yet. What shall I do? Please advise me what to do first.

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance

2006-06-08T18:04:00.000+09:00

Hello. Let me introduce my best experience. On October 31 ~ November 4, 2005, I had good experience, the volunteer experience at a nursing home. I met various people there. I want to treasure this meeting forever.
My group was five members and we took care of old people. The man who took charge of us was very kind and interesting, so we relaxed in a flash as if the tension by then were like a lie. We drew pictures, such as a self-portrait and portraits of our families, him and them, talked with them, made them have lunch and sang "Momiji", "Hurusato" and so on there. Everything was very precious memories to me.
I made friends with a blind lady. I didn't know what to do first, so I maybe bothered her, but she readily accepted me. I was very glad. I talked about myself, for example, my family, friends, dreams and so on to her. She seemed to have enjoyed listening to my talk. She also told me herself, such as her family, experiences and so on. I sometimes recall her even after that. This experience encourages me.
In addition, our group members sometimes meet. Last month, we called him and met to talk. Our party quite warmed up. I'd like to meet them and talk again. I'm glad I met them. I think this meeting is called "a once-in-a-lifetime chance"!!

Teaching Observation

2006-06-05T13:31:00.000+09:00

On Friday, June 2, I observed two English classes at Diamond Junior High School.
First, I observed the 7th grade's class. The goal of the class was that ①all students could introduce their families and friends using "This is~." or "He(She) is~." ②they could ask and answer about someone using "Is he(she)~?" ③they would notice their own mistakes and lacking points looking back to the language activities and improve it. The teacher instructed them almost in English and they all answered in English, too. I was very surprised by that because I couldn't speak English so much as them when I was in the 7th grade. She introduced the day's materials using pictures and a projector. They seemed to introduce the person in the picture they had prepared individually in advance to their neighbors. I think they could learn to introduce someone to someone. I also think it was good to use pictures they had had. From watching the class, I got a clue to make a successful English class. For example, first, we should pronounce correctly, clearly and loudly. And we should use the familiar things to them like pictures. Finally, the most important thing is that we should have them enjoy English!!
Next, I observed the 9th grade's class. The goal of the class was that ①they could do task activities using the present perfect(experience) ②they could understand the sentence patterns, meanings and uses of the present perfect(experience) ③they would notice their own mistakes and lacking points looking back to the task activities and improve it. This teacher also instructed them almost in English. The thing I was impressed in this class was the way of practicing the pronounciation of new words. First, he pronounced the new words with his students and then this time only the students did, finally one by one. I think they will be able to remember the words efficiently. They also practiced reading the text in various way. All of them seemed to be able to speak the present perfect. In this class, I found a clue to have a successful English class, too.

Reflection about My Lesson

2006-05-25T17:12:00.000+09:00

I met my group members and discussed what to do first in setting out to teach. And we decided to use a ball and Ganchan mascot. Our group taught "This is a ~.", "That is a ~.", "Is this a ~?/Yes, it is." and "Is that a ~?/No, it's not.". We were worried whether to use the textbook at first. After all, we decided not to use it because if we didn't use it, we thought we could teach them the core of today's lesson, such as "This is a ~." and "Is that a ~?". So, we forwarded the plan. First, I prepared Ganchan that I had made in home economics class and other people prepared the ball or pictures for this. As the plan of class, first we started in the Warm-up, Greetings. We decided to write pictures on the blackboard, Fine, So-so and Bad. Next, we thought about the Review. The ball and Ganchan would appear at this point. And then we thought about the Introduction of New Material. We had difficulty with this part. But we managed to do it by using the ball and Ganchan. And next, we thought about the Practice. In the Practice, we decided to play games. And in the New Words, we would teach Park, School and Hospital. Finally, we thought about the Consolidation.
I think the most successful part is the Practice because they all enjoyed playing games, while the least part is the Reading. To my great regret I didn't do the Reading. But I was very glad that all of them seemed to enjoy the class and speak the expression.
I would like to teach the lesson again in the same group because today's lesson was very very interesting for me!!

Analysis of My Language Learning Experience

2006-04-28T13:25:00.000+09:00

1) My most enjoyable language learning experience has been Teaching Practice. We went to Nakano elementary school and taught English to children last year. Our group taught the day then. They seemed to have been able to understand the pronunciation and enjoyed studying English. I was glad that they studied English pleasantly and said "We like to study English!". So, I could also enjoy studying English together with them. I'd like to go again.
2) My least enjoyable activity has been nothing in particular, but if you insist, it has been Dictation because I'm poor at listening. So, I want to practice the dictation listening to Western music and watching the foreign movie from now on.
3) My most valuable activity has been also Teaching Practice. As I said just now, teaching English to children was very good experience for me. That motivated me to be an English teacher. So, this experience of mine is still most valuable memories.
4) My least valuable activity has been nothing in particular, too. But if you insist again, it has been Reading Silently. Because I think that when we read English sentences, I'd rather read loudly than do silently. I also think reading loudly is the best way to study English. I consider it important to read loudly and listen by ears. So, I don't like to read silently.
5) In general, my language learning experience has been better, I think. Because I could study and experience many things. I'd like to put the things that I have experienced until now to good account. And then I want to enjoy studying English together with children. And as well as that, I wanna teach that Speaking English with someone is very important.

Story of How I Learned English

2006-04-20T16:13:00.000+09:00

It was 12 years old that I started learning English. I was interested in English at once. First, the running hands interested me and then the sentence patterns, too. And I got the English certificate(the 5 class).
Fortunately, everything was running well because I got the English certificates(the 4, 3, semi-2 and 2 class)!!So, I want to get the semi-1 class next. Therefore, I'll study hard. For example, I wanna read the English papers and listen to the Western music. Until now, I have studied using the textbooks and study aids and also I have ever read the English papers in English class. Differing from Japanese papers, I had difficulty in reading the English ones because the structures were very hard for me. But I learned many many things, too. So, if I have opportunities, I'd like to read it again.

※ The English certificate is 英語検定試験.

Self-Introduction

2006-04-20T15:34:00.000+09:00

Hello, I'm happy days!!
Please let me introduce myself.
I'm a college student and I study English.
I like English grammar very much, especially sentence patterns the best. Am I strange? I think that English grammar is very interesting. But my friends say that they hate English grammar. Oh, no!

By the way, I like listening to music, especially Road of Major. Do you know them? Their music makes me cheerful. Please listen to it. It is certain that you are absorbed in listening to it.

Of course, I must tell my dreams to you. I want to be an English teacher in the future. But I don't know what I have to do. Now for the time being, I'd like to study hard.

Finally, my favorite proverb is "A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance". So, I'm collecting character goods of "A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance". Do you know it? Please offer me to show it if there are people who want to see it. Thanks.