Skills Development Conference 2013
The 2013 Skills Development Conference (外国語指導助手の指導力等向上研修) was held on October 28th-29th at the Prefectural Education Center in Tenno.
Details
- Check in: 9:30-9:50
- Dress: Business Attire (formal)
- Incredible SDC Book
What to bring
As always, there is a bed and shower provided for you but virtually nothing else. Make sure to bring:
- A towel(and a small towel for the onsen) and toiletries
- Athletic Shoes and a change of clothes if you plan on using the gym
- Money. There is no ATM at the Center
Dinner Party
A dinner will be held by AAJ on the 28th from TBA.
Presentations
Conducting the Classroom and the Clear Sky Companion PR: Russell Kabir
Call and response lies at the core of human communication and its celebration. Naturally, teaching and speaking a foreign language is very much a performance. Innovating on the paradigm of Total Physical Response (TPR) comes a method for "conducting the classroom" with a musical quality. In this presentation, you will experience this intuitive approach to teaching English by getting into your children's shoes. Develop skills that encompass basic vocal training and syllable stress recognition. Discuss the characteristics and history of the English language and discover practical solutions for overcoming native language interference. Finally, contribute to a homegrown project called "The Clear Sky Companion," a supplementary reference manual of words from the "Sunshine" and "New Horizon" texts that documents useful mnemonics and media to create linguistic awareness.
Making the Most of Your Time on JET PR: Josh Drewry
This presentation will take a look at different to make a positive
impact on your school and community. Topics explored with the group
discussion will be: Skill Development Conference, TEFL Grant, Tokyo Orientation, ALT Opinion Exchange, International Exchange Activities, Leadership.
Elementary School Activities PR: Jon Stimmer and Kenny Grant (1st), Mackenzie Vile (2nd)
As the focus on English education in Japan grows, ALTs and JTLs are teaching more often at elementary schools. This presentation will introduce activities and team teaching strategies for 1-6th grade elementary school English. This presentation will be especially helpful for those who will be working with 1-4th years where no textbook is required, and you may be asked to take a leading role in the design of their curriculum. This presentation has been designed to help give you a variety of activities, strategies, and insights that can help in the elementary classroom setting. We will also demonstrate a number of games and activities that can be tailored to suit a variety lessons in the 5thand 6th grade text Hi Friends. JHS and SHS teachers are also encouraged to attend as well!
Communicative Language Teaching PR: Taylor Fustin and Randy Umetsu
Many Japanese students are very skilled when it comes to reading and writing. However, we often find that they are lacking when it comes to communication. How can we help build our students' communication ability? Come to this workshop and find out. This workshop is all about Communicative Language Teaching and preparing students for real life communication. It will cover the theory of teaching language through communication along with applicable activities and lessons that can be used within our classes.
Junior High School Activities PR: Todd Shaw and Stephanie Hupp
There is a high probability that you are a JHS ALT! So come to this workshop and learn about all the various kinds of activities and lessons you can do in your JHS. It is a great opportunity to learn some new ideas and find out what other JHS teachers are doing in their classrooms! If you would like to help with this presentation, then please contact Todd or Taylor.
Senior High School Activities PR: Josh Drewry and Jonathon Morris
This is an awe inspiring workshop that focuses on Senior High School. The presenter has recently moved from JHS to SHS. He will share his insights into the similarities and differences between the schools. He will also provide us with activities and ideas that transitioned well. JHS ALTs are also welcome to attend since many lessons can easily be adapted to different levels.
Getting into the Mind of Your ALT PR: Jon Stimmer and Madeline Horan
This workshop will talk about ways to form great relationships with your ALTs, so that we can enjoy working with our ALTs, and deliver the best team teaching experience possible for our students. In addition, this workshop will also discuss how to use ALTs effictively in English education as well as using your ALT as a means of creating international experiences in the classroom.
Classroom Study
This year there will be two presenters in each room. They will each share an activity from one of their everyday lessons. This activity will focus on either communication or literacy. As a group we will look at the goals and objectives of each activity, how they went about executing the activity, and how we could use it within our classrooms. The workshop is meant to facilitate discussion on the way we teach and the activities we use within our own classes.
Phonetics and Phonology PR: Sean Corrigan
An introduction to phonetics and phonology - linguistic studies concerning the sounds of human language. We will examine in detail how the human mouth produces sounds, how we can reliably notate those sounds, and the effects this has on second language acquisition.
Fun Facts about Japan PR: Taylor Fustin and Randy Umetsu
Have you ever wondered why your apartment doesn't have insulation? Or why everyone here is skinny compared to the rest of the world? Randy and Taylor have often wondered about it. There is a lot of unclear and anecdotal information that floats around. So Detectives Randy and Taylor got together and hunted down the facts. This presentation is all about answering those why questions that we all wonder about. If you have any questions you would like to specifically have answered, then please email Randy or Taylor.
What to Do in Your English Club PR: Jessica Fast and Michael Li
Many of us are given English clubs to run at our schools, but it's
easy to run out of ideas, or to have no ideas about what to do with
these small groups of interested students! This workshop will present
different activities that work that you can do with your English club
- one-time, as well as some long-term projects for your students to
work on and improve their English.
Effective Team Teaching PR: Michiko Sugita and Marsha Tongco
This workshop will be led by two amazing teachers, Sugita-sensei and Marsha-sensei, from Yuri Senior High School in Yurihonjo City. They will present their effective team teaching techniques and teach us how we can become better at team teaching. This workshop will be helpful for both newcomers and experienced teachers!
See also
| Skills Development Conference | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-Year Conference | 2008 • 2009 • 2010 | |||||||||
| Skills Development Conference | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||
