Welcome!
Today I finished teaching classes for the 2011-12 school year! My Intro to
Research & Presentation students have just finished their final
presentations. This school year is toast. It’s all done. Water under the
bridge. History. Been there done that. That’s all she wrote, Th-th-that’s
all folks!
Yataa!
I made it.
Now on to work-at-home mode until April. I have several big projects and
some other duties to complete, but it will be nice to be on my own
schedule. Interesting job…
A shaky day at work
I’m on the “shink” to Nagoya, where I’ll be teaching tomorrow at Chukyo University. Although I have two more Fridays there, my classes at Togaku end on Monday, January 16th. It has been a very busy week, mainly because I’ve had to wrap up classes, mark papers, and get my grades in. Basic end-of-term teacher stuff. Things are going well over all.
The only shake-up came today during the afternoon when I suddenly heard my cell-phone shrieking. It was that unmistakable earthquake warning sound. My co-worker Clair and I were in the TK office, but nothing was happening. Then slowly the building started to rumble and then sway a bit. We were on pins and needles for a few seconds, wondering if the shaking would build up or wind down. Fortunately it soon subsided, and life went back to normal. That’s life in the big city! Turns out the quake was a 5.7 and didn’t do any damage. I’m grateful for that! This kind of occurrence has become a part of life these days.
Our pool gets new flooring:
Went into swim practice yesterday at my wife’s pool for the first time in 2012 and was greeting with a new scene: bright yellow flooring had been installed over the New Years’ break. As you can see when compared to the previous blue/orange combo, it’s a much livelier atmosphere now. The color was my wife Shinobu’s choice; she persuaded her boss to go with yellow over his choice of gray. Judging by the new look, I’d say that choice was a good one.
My hard-working wife
Shinobu was promoted to the #2 position at the Yatsuo B&G pool, where she has worked for the past several years. This means she has to do a lot more work for the same salary as before. Not complaining; it’s just a fact and a natural result of having more responsibility.
For example, she worked yesterday on a national holiday to get the pool water heated in time for today’s opening. It still hadn’t reached the optimal temperature by closing time, so she had to go in at 6am this morning to get the job done. This sort of extra duty is par for the course for my hard-working wife!
I’m very proud of the work she is doing at her pool. The place is a bustling community center these days, open to people of all ages. She has organized all sorts of swimming classes and events. She’s coaching a small team of competitive swimmers and during her breaks works with Luke. Needless to say, the pool’s finances are doing quite well, a reflection of the hard work Shinobu and her staff have put in.
TFiJ26: Papa gets a new job
Great news! I have a new job. From April 1st I’ll be working full-time at Toyo Gakuen University, near Tokyo. My schedule runs from Mondays thru Thursdays, so that will enable me to come back to Toyama each weekend and during the spring, summer and winter breaks. I’ll be a long-distance papa for the next few years, it looks. This is a huge change for us, and I’ll be writing about it in more detail in the weeks to come. For now, check out this diary-style video which chronciles the day I went for my interview. You’ll see what it’s like to travel across Japan by train, take a tour of the Togaku campus, and hear my thoughts on what happened after the interview. Please ask me questions or leave a comment below!
Obama mania hits Japan
Wow, what a day yesterday! It seems like the entire world was watching and celebrating Obama’s inauguration, the new American Renaissance. Here in Japan is no different. From the hula-dancing “Obama Girls” in the fishing villiage called Obama ( it means “small beach” in Japanese), to the latest bestselling book, a collection of Obama speeches meant to help you study English, the new American president is top of the news. News outlets are doing lots of “person in the street” interviews, and here in Toyama City, a reporter came to my school yesterday afternoon to get the reaction of the American teachers (me and my colleague Susan, who is from Hawaii). After being asked all sorts of Obama questions, the reporter asked if the other foreign staff could join us in a group photo, which you can see below in this article from today’s Toyama Shimbun:
From left to right are: Stephen (from the UK), Kevin (above him, from Canada), me, Susan, Lee (from Canada), and David (from New Zealand). The caption reads, “Here are some local foreign teachers reading about Obama’s inauguration ceremony.” When we saw this photo this morning, we had to laugh because of the way the reporter staged the shot. Of course we don’t read this newspaper! Still, it was a goof. We were having a good time cracking jokes about how contrived the situation was. Here is a rough translation of the article. The headline says, “Chance to change history- Happiness spreads as President Obama begins his term in office”. That centered vertical title says, “Teachers from America and other countries based in Toyama ponder the impact on the economy and foreign affairs.” The first part of the story mentions comments from teachers working in Toyama. Then the good part:
An instructor at TCFL, Gerald Talandis Jr., watched the ceremony live on TV at 2 am. “Obama’s message is one of empowerment- that people can do anything they want if they work together”, he said. “His inaugural speech was very positive. People accept Obama because he comes across as a sincere, passionate person. I expect him to rebuild America like before.”
So that’s a rough translation. I actually said a lot more than that, and more eloquently (I thought), but most of it got lost in translation, I guess. I’m not totally sure if this translation is spot on or not, but it’s close enough. Anyway, just thought you’d find this interesting. Oh, and one more thing: My sister Vi, who lives in DC, attended the historic event. Here is a link to the photos she took. I had a great time showing these to my students today in class! They really enjoyed seeing a real participant’s point-of-view on the entire thing. Great job, Vi!
Papa gets published
Here is some good news: My first ever research article has been formally published! I’m very psyched. The article is entitled “Web 2.0 in the ELT classroom: An introduction”, and it was published in the JALT2007 Conference Proceedings. It’s all about how teachers can make use of some very cool online resources and technologies for improving the way they teach and developing their professional skills. This article is based on a presentation I gave a year ago at the annual JALT conference of language teachers in Tokyo. While the article only appears online, still- a publication is a publication, and it’s a good start for me. I am interested in this area of teaching and learning, so this piece was part of my overall effort to develop this interest into a marketable skill. I really want to be a university professor, so publishing is part of what I need to do more of in order to get that kind of job. To download the full article, just click here. In case you are not interested in reading the entire thing, here is the abstract:
With the rapid development of the Internet, emerging technologies are reshaping the context of web-based information and creating numerous opportunities for enhanced classroom practice and professional development. Blogging, wikis, podcasting, and social networking are a few examples of so-called Web 2.0 technologies that language teachers are currently exploring. While early adopters have made impressive use of these new tools, many ELT instructors remain on the outside looking in—wanting to know more, but overwhelmed by the rapid pace of change. This article challenges the assumption that only those already in-the-know can keep up with educational technology. For educators new to the Web 2.0 evolution, clarity and direction is provided through defining Web 2.0 in layman’s terms and introducing key technological concepts such as folksonomy, RSS feeds, and syndication. In addition, a theoretical foundation for a technology enhanced pedagogy is outlined, one that places Web 2.0 within a social constructivist and connectivist context. Finally, an overview of relevant technologies applicable to ELT is provided, along with successful classroom usage models and links to online resources.
Does this make sense to you? If not, ask me some questions by leaving a comment below.
My busy mornings
Hey, instead of a video clip, I have something new this time: a “Voicethread” featuring photos and commentary from a typical morning at our home. Voicethreads (from Voicethread.com) are a new and cool way of sharing photos. Not only can you hear (or see, if I had used a video camera) me, but you can also leave text, audio, or even video comments (if you have a camera attached to your computer). So, have at it, folks! Click the big triangle play button below and check out how I spend my busy mornings. Click the Comment button to leave your own words or voice. Lets see if we can get a bit of a dialog going!
Papa made this
After ALOT more work than I thought, I’ve finally finished editing and posting all of the New Zealand study trip videos. To make them easy to see, I’ve embedded a video player below. Scroll through all the clips on the right, then click on any one you want to see. I don’t actually appear in many of them, but you do often hear my voice from behind the camera. At the very least you’ll get an idea of what my “work” was like during our trip. Alternatively, you can see the whole lot over at our Blip.tv webpage.
I’m very glad this project is nearly behind me. All I have left to do is create and burn the DVD, which I’ll give as a present to all the participants. Its taken a lot of effort to get this done, but I have really improved my video editing and blogging skills. I will put this new knowledge to good use in the coming school year with my video class students, some of which went on the NZ trip with me.
Clips I haven’t posted on this blog yet include the following: Punting on the Avon (a very relaxing ride on the main river in Christchurch), Akaroa day trip (where we went swimming with dolphins), Farm visit (to an actual working sheep farm), Farewell lunch (chronicling our last day of classes), Studying at King’s Education (some scenes of what academics were like for our students), Inside Christchurch Cathedral (a look inside this gorgeous city landmark), Christchurch parks (a photo slideshow), and Wine tour (where Mr. Kawahata & I explore the wineries of Waipara Valley). This last one is very cool! I really learned a lot about wines on this excursion. Anyhoo, if you check out some of these video clips, please leave me a comment! Aciu labai!
Back home from New Zealand!
UPDATE: (4/5/08) I‘ve just refreshed all of the video clips in this post with bigger and clearer versions. Check out all my my hard work from the past two weeks!
I finally got back home from New Zealand on Monday, March 10th. It was a very smooth journey, and I can’t speak highly enough about Singapore Airlines. The planes were modern and comfortable, and the built-in video on demand system made the time fly by. We left Christchurch at noon on Sunday, then flew nearly 10 hours to Singapore. I measured time in movies and TV shows… “Okay, only two movies left…” This really helped! I would get up and walk around between shows, and I really enjoyed catching up on some films I hadn’t seen. While at Changi Airport I managed to get in a workout and a shower at a gym there. What a huge place that airport is! It’s a massive shopping mall. At 1 am we boarded our flight to Osaka. This was the hardest part of the trip because for us it was really 5 am! We had pulled an all-nighter, so once we got on the plane, everyone fell instantly to sleep. From Osaka to Toyama was a six hour bus ride, so by the time we got back at 3pm, it was the culmination of a 36 hour journey! Smooth and long… I took the next day off (yesterday) and got some rest.
Overall the trip was a great success. We had only a couple of minor problems, and they were dealt with quickly before they became bigger trouble. A couple of students didn’t get on quite well with their homestays, but that is par for the course. After a tough first week, my health improved a lot, and I started to really enjoy my time. I think I made the best of it, but I also spent too much money eating out. I couldn’t resist, as there were so many great restaurants to choose from.
During the mornings I worked on getting an article ready for (hopeful) publication in a language journal here in Japan, in addition editing videos of our afternoon activities. I still have a few more of those to go, but for now I’ll just post four of them. I don’t really appear much in them, but if you are interested in what I was up to, give them a look. They are not long and have been edited with short attention spans in mind:
Activity 2: Christchurch gondola This was a very nice thing to do early on in our trip, as it gave everyone on our group a great overview of the entire area. Christchurch is on a plain that is right next to the Banks Peninsula, an area of land formed six million years ago by volcanic eruptions. After a short ride up a 500 meter hill, you can see the entire area. Very nice!
Activity 3: The Maori experience One thing we learned on this trip was that New Zealand is a very young country, as countries go. It was settled in 1850 by folks from England. Of course they weren’t the first people on that land, the Maori were. At the Willowbank Wildlife Centre, on the outskirts of Christchurch, we could experience a bit of Maori culture by taking part in an interactive tour through a old-style village inhabited by Maori actors. They really brought the experience to life! We learned a lot, for sure.
Activity 4: Antarctic Centre Did you know that Christchurch is considered the “gateway to Antarctica?” It’s true. Next to the airport they have this massive complex of offices where countries that have bases down there (USA, NZ, Italy, Japan, etc) work to prepare expeditions. Planes loaded with supplies and scientists take off from there all the time. To involve the public, they created this fascinating visitor’s center that is an excellent example of “edu-tainment.” It’s part academic lecture and part theme-park thrill ride. And there are penguins- lot’s of penguins! Very interesting, and lots of fun!
Activity 5: Horseback riding This was a simple and relaxing activity- getting out into the countryside nearby Christchurch on the back of a horse. Personally I found the experience a bit boring, as I have ridden a horse before and wanted a bit more freedom to move where I wanted. However, almost all of our students had NEVER ridden before, so I was glad for the highly controlled (and safe) way the trek was handled.
Okay, so that’s it for now. I’m currently working on some more video clips, and I’ll get those posted when I’m done.
