Practical information, tips, and advice on how to tap into the creative energies of learners and promote cultural competence and cross-cultural understanding
As a general aspect of my teaching practice, I group the students in the class into teams and let them work within the same team for one semester. The idea is to put together kids with various abilities, needs, and temperaments in an effort to encourage and support their collaborative learning through interaction and interdependence. … Continue reading Collaborative learning: fostering positive interdependence
Our last Show and Tell was about everyone's most treasured memories. As a warm up, in our third semester we formed teams according to the class each one of us enjoyed the most - Caterpillars, Ladybugs, Honeybees, or Butterflies. We made posters reminiscing the things we have done in the course of the past three … Continue reading Our Most Treasured Memories
While I was planning for the year-end reflection training, I was reading the book The Art of Coaching Teams: Building Resilient Communities That Transform Schools by Elena Aguilar. The book is a great source of team-building ideas and it did help inform some of the activities for the training I planned and implemented. I recommend … Continue reading ‘A Year in Perspective’ Training
What goes in an enjoyable, for both students and teachers, pre-school recital? What are some of the things you need to give prominence to when planning for and practicing your school play? Through some bitter-sweet trial and error, I concocted the 'successful preschool recital' meal. For the most part, every recital is a function of … Continue reading Recipe for successful preschool recital
as of 2020 My teaching philosophy showcases what my aspirations, values, beliefs, and objectives are as a teacher and mentor. It gives me direction not only when I enter the classroom but also when I interact with learners in an informal setting. It is in a state of constant transformation as it goes through regular … Continue reading Teaching philosophy and teaching interests
Culture invariably impacts our work. Deeply ingrained cultural practices translate into work habits. As Erin Meyer mentions in her book The Culture Map: "Cultural patterns of behavior and belief frequently impact our perceptions, cognitions, and actions." Whether because Japanese are taught to value hard work and self-sufficiency or due to the high living standard of … Continue reading Cultural Work Hacks
Everyone who works in a multi-cultural environment knows how enriching the experience is despite the increased risk of misunderstanding. And all those managing multi-cultural teams know that with the recruitment of people from diverse backgrounds who bring unique set of culturally-derived characteristics, skills, attitudes, and behaviours to the (pool) table, come things like an increased number … Continue reading Work Hard, Play Harder
Well-thought-out topics and meaningful references open the door to great presentations in the same way that communication leads to great possibilities for connection, discovery, and collaborative learning. This month’s topic of Helping somehow fell quickly into place. The things we’ve mentioned when sharing about our families, friends, books, and travel suddenly started to make even … Continue reading Well-thought-out topics and powerful references
Need, Relevance, Utility Our Sharing activities do more than connect the world of our students to the world of English, they validate each individual’s identity and demonstrate a sincere interest and concern in what they have to say. The Q&A session following any presentation reinforces the idea of being genuinely interested in others and showing … Continue reading Bringing the World to the Classroom
Back in 2016, with the help of friends and locals, I launched the "Mindfulness Through Photography" retreat to foster an appreciation of our natural and cultural resources. We successfully ran programs with local primary-school students, study-abroad university students, and travelers to Bali, Indonesia. On its surface, the project provides participants with practical training on how … Continue reading ‘Mindfulness Through Photography’ made its way to Japan
