Most of the time, I write about my own students, but today I wanted to share some snippets of moments I've had with others.
It's very hard to form a bond with other students, as there is a limited amount of interaction we have with them. On some occassions we have seminar lessons, but mostly it's just a hello or a wave. Sometimes we'll greet, while I have classes through the window. Over the past few weeks I have managed to bond with several other students from different teachers purely by our continuous 2 min conversations in the lobby. From sharing with me their school life stories, showing me cute stickers or accessories or even making funny faces with each other. It's really fun and I look forward to these small interactions.
One particular student "R" and I have bonded while she does her homework after class and waits for her mom. I normally have an open gap at that time and we often chat about small things and before I knew it, a small bond had begun to grow. Last week, she told me about her birthday coming up and how excited she was. I really want to surprise her with a small gift. I hope she has a great day, filled with presents, fun and lots of love.
- Khanya (Kay) Sensei
Today I would like to highlight a 1st grade student who has gone through a drastic change.
Since the start of the year, this student and I have not been a perfect match, their level fluctuates widely between their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, and learning the best way to communicate with them has been difficult. In return I have found myself having less patience for this student than I would normally like, which is not fair to them.
However, since making some changes to my classes, this student has changed their attitude quite a bit, they understand better, cooperate more, and during parent observations last week they were The most active in class, clearly and loudly answering each question in front of mom and showing what they were really capable of. I want to encourage these changes to stick, because this student has the potential to go from the middle of the pack to an exceptionally advanced student who leads all their classmates by example.
These changes have made me step back and think about how I view each and every one of my students, and I want to continue to see this kind of wonderful growth in each and every young person in our school.
-Jordan Sensei
みなさんこんにちは。
今回は高校生のレッスンのお話をいたします。
高3のAくん。すでに準1級を取得しており、理解度がとても高いです！
アミティーで使っている文法のテキストもほぼミスなく…
準1級を持っているので、希望する大学の英語試験は満点扱い！！
しかし、レッスンの中でも共通テストや大学別入試の練習は一切欠かせません！
レッスン外でも個別で大学の入試対策だけを何度も何度もしてきました！
努力は実る！希望の大学目指して一緒に頑張りましょう！
福田
Over the past few months, things have been going through a series of changes, ups and downs, highs and lows. With the influx of new students and the shifting of students, there has been a sense of turbulance. I find myself almost overwhelmed, however an encounter with one of of my baby students, made me realize that everything happens for a reason and that this was a step in the right direction.
Baby K, has a very particular attitude and is very insistant on the things she wants, when she wants them and how she wants them. For the most part she has been dictating the flow of the lessons, given that she tends to get very upset. Coaxing would work however, she would only repeat and engage when she was in the mood. Which is understandable, she's a baby. She was also reluctant to say please or thank you. I felt like I was failing as a teacher. Until this past lesson, she was even more chatter than usual and hugged me. We were holding hands, and she repeated almost everythig I said. Including things like "What's that?" or "So cool". She even called for me by name in the lobby. "Hat, Fish, Colours" were some of the she was saying. She allowed me to guide the lesson and she was saying "please, thank you and here you are". Her mother and I, were so pleased. She didn't jump to tears, but understood when I asked her to do something first, before we did what she wanted.
The right direction, feels very nice, I must say.
- Khanya (Kay) Sensei
A New Face, A New Perspective
Classes have changed throughout the year, that`s nothing new.
This week`s change brought with it a perspective shift.
a new student, Y, has joined my 4th grade class, taking class with R, who has studied alone so far this year.
Up until now, I had viewed R as a very good but not exceptional student, very confident but struggling in grammar.
with the addition of Y, who works very hard but is still very shy, I have realized how much progress R has made.
Topics and Vocabulary have to be simplified but R can hold a reasonably complex conversation and engages well, even listening and understanding fast spoken English for the most part.
This isn`t to discount Y, who has come into a new class with an established dynamic and a high challenge level, and is keeping up well, he speaks when prompted and joins in and gives his best effort for every challenge I set.
Both students serve as a good contrast for the other and bring in new possibilities for lessons, I look forward to seeing both grow further in the future.
-Jordan Sensei
みなさんこんにちは！
今回は小学校低学年プライベートレッスンのお話をいたします。
小2のSくん。体を動かすことが大好きで、レッスン中も積極的に体を動かしながら発話をしています。
今回はcan/can'tの文章発話で、動詞の絵が書いている紙を隠して探し出すアクティビティをしながら練習していました。
数をカウントするときの英語はもちろん、まだ隠し終わっていないときに"Not yet!"という風に発話をしてくれました！
また、"Here you are." "Thank you."は当たり前に発話しています！
これからも日常会話で使う英語も積極的に学んでいきましょう！
福田
We often overlook the small steps forward in favour of the giant leaps. These almost invisible steps get overshadowed
that we forget to acknowledge all the little bits and pieces we have accumulated along the way.
Every little bit counts, especially when learning. Over the last week, I have watched the tiny steps students
have made towards their langugae goals.
From my baby students saying their frist words like "hat, apple, banana, book or gentle". Enthusiastic Dads getting ready to learn with them: "I'm ready Sensei!" Energetic elementary school students telling me "I'm great and hungry" or the older ones laughing and saying "you are Ticky-Ticky Boom Boom, mango deluxe" (When someone is acting silly in class).
Junior Highschool students making jokes and giving eachother nicknames like "Gra-gra Fa" (Great-grand father or "Shy Boy". Highschoolers having hilarious banter while playing English card games "this game is rigged". The mature adult students explaining their views about sports popularity: "I don't really consider these types of things".
All these tiny steps keep adding up, week by week. Month by month and soon they will yeild wonderful success!
It is a truly humbling and rewarding experience, watching it all take place.
- Khanya (Kay) Sensei
Computers are fantastically useful things, but learning to use them can be difficult.
Every Wednesday I teach a computer class for elementary students, and each of them has made so much progress I`m blown away.
`M` is a proud student who doesn`t like to admit she needs help, but she has slowly warmed up to asking me for hints and ideas, and because of this she has been able to reach challenge levels with fun activities she would have otherwise missed, and these challenges have improved her typing a lot! She used to have a lot of trouble matching upper and lower case letters together or finding them on her keyboard, but now she is getting almost perfect scores on typing challenges.
next to her is `S` who is a wonderfully creative student but isn`t fond of Writing, she especially loves music activities and so we have agreed that if she can get a full score on writing challenges, she gets to play the music game as many times as she wants, she still has trouble matching some letters, but she is showing a lot of progress and looks forward to classes.
after that is `Y1` and `Y2`, Y1 has built an impressive vocabulary very quickly this year and has a fantastic memory, I glance at his notebook sometimes and see page after page after page of words, in phonic groups, or grouped by meaning. and any Spelling challenge that comes up, he completely aces, getting perfect score in typing challenges on the highest difficulty.
Y2 is clever and sweet, she is quick to understand instructions and excellent at writing, but reading still challenges her a lot, so I have been pushing her to focus on reading the instructions out loud and working with her on pronunciation, she has blown me away in the Geography challenge, pulling together some very long, difficult to pronounce country and city names.
All in all, the group is absolutely wonderful, they`re energetic and come with their own challenges, but each works incredibly hard to show what they can do.
-Jordan Sensei
みなさんこんにちは！
本日は、小学校高学年、プライベートレッスンの参観についてお話いたします。
小6のKくん、プライベートレッスンなので、いろんな話を英語でしています。
お昼に何を食べたか。週末何をしたか。その日習った国に行きたいか。そこで何をしたいかなどなど…
過去形を積極的に使って、英語で返答してくれています！
文章作成もスムーズに！
そして、文章の読みはほぼ100%一人ですべて読めます。素晴らしい！
今回は家族についてのお話だったので、お母様と、一緒に暮らす家族だけでなく、おじさんやおばさん、親戚まで話を広げてもらいました！
プライベートならではの参観でしたね！
引き続き読み練習、頑張りましょう！
福田
Yesterday was the last day of Parental Observations!
Thank you to all the parents and guardians who took the time to come and observe our lessons over the past two weeks.
It has been a pleasure having all of you in our classes! While some of the students were shy and nervous about it,
I know they were thrilled to show off what they have learned since the last vist!
We hope that everyone was pleased with the progress the students have made, as much as we are.
Learning a new language is very challenging and the students do their best, every lesson!
Thank you for coming over and having fun with us.
We look forward to having you over for another visit next year!
- Khanya (Kay) Sensei
