PIGATE's first entirely online gathering

This post showcases slides from PIGATE's March gathering (2020.03.14). Previews of slide-building in progress were available the week leading up to PIGATE's first entirely online program. 



The gathering took place in a Zoom meeting room with screen sharing from remote presenters. 

Amplifications and revisions of slides continued afterwards. 

Follow-up questions, reflections, and suggestions are welcome in comments on this blog post.

Except as otherwise noted, slides in that compilation are licensed under a 

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 

International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). 

Please attribute adoptions or derivations [of the slides] to The PIGATE 英語授業学研究会 2020.03.14.

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Sneak preview of PIGATE's Special Summer Session

PIGATE's Special Summer Session (SSS)

Tentative schedule (as of 2019.07.05)

09:30 Preparation and sign-in (30 min.)
10:00 Opening remarks (10 min.): Paul Beaufait
10:10 IPS, Part 1 (45 min.): English pronunciation challenges for English teachers
10:55 Break (10 min.)
11:05 IPS, Part 2 (45 min): Tactics for teaching oral expression
11:50 Lunchtime (60 min.)
12:50 CPS, Part 1 (45 min.): Favorite picture books and stories to share
13:35 _Kitemiran_¹ and _shitemiran_² sharing time (15 min.)
13:50 CPS, Part 2 (45 min.): Experience and tips for learning and teaching with stories
14:35 Break (15 min.)
14:50 Working Papers (_kiyou_) workshop (45 min.):
Reflections, projections, & progress reports;
Preparation and collaboration time; &
Submission guidelines & deadlines.
15:35 Session summary: Mr. Nobuyuki Takaki (15 min.)
15:50 Closing remarks (10 min.)
Membership matters
Newsletter contributions
Other announcements:
Annual General Meeting (AGM), 2019.09.14
Other
16:00 Clean-up (10 min.)
16:10  Steering committee meeting (20 min.)
Presenters and PIGATE members are welcome to attend the committee meeting!

____________________

¹ Why don't you come and see this?

² Why don't you try this and see?

If you would like to take part in this month's session, or to join PIGATE, please fill out one of our short online info. collection forms (https://goo.gl/Hpe9pd). 

David Ockert's slides on Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Many thanks to David Ockert for visiting Kumamoto in September and leading a workshop on SDT for PIGATE! He granted permission to publish his slides not long after the PIGATE newsletter went to print. There are 16 plain vanilla slides (line by line builds) in the Google slideshow below.

If you have comments or questions about any of the topics in his slides, or reflections on any of the tasks that David presented last month, please feel free either to spell them out in comments on this post, or to voice them at the next monthly PIGATE gathering–this coming Saturday, 13 October, 2018.

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ASCD Express 9.02 - The Why, What, and When of Assessment

ASCD Express 9.02 - The Why, What, and When of Assessment (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013b)

That newsletter article caught my eye this morning in a list of website bookmarks after discussion at an English Café gathering yesterday, in which participants ... considered ... [among other topics]: 

• Assessment practices in elementary school English-as-an-additional language learning activities slated to become mandatory coursework in the next few years (GU, n.d), and 
• Roles of assistant or partner classroom teachers in occasional or routine team-teaching. 

The article is an adaptation of Tomlinson and Moon (2013a, pp. 19-21), in which the authors described assessment of, for, and as elements of differentiated instruction. Tomlinson and Moon argued for assessments to identify differences in: 

• Individual learners' readiness to learn, 
• Their individual interests or passions, and 
• The learning modalities that individuals prefer (2013b, What to Assess, ¶1).

Tomlinson and Moon also outlined various types of assessment to use before, during, and after instructional units, namely: 

• Pre-instructional assessments,
• Formative or ongoing assessments, and
• Summative assessments (2013b, When to Assess, ¶1).

The article concluded with examples of, and purposes for, combinations of formal and informal assessments. Regarding informal assessments in particular, Tomlinson and Moon asserted:

Informal assessments are useful in giving a teacher a sense of what makes a student tick, providing a big-picture look at how the class as a whole seems to be faring at a given moment, and amassing a growing sense of how specific students work in particular contexts (2013b, When to Assess, ¶2).

The first few examples of informal assessments that Tomlinson and Moon mentioned in their article resonated with remarks that the English Café convener made yesterday with regard to what a team teacher could do when not directly involved in instructional activities.

References

General Union [GU]. (n.d.). MEXT's 2018/2020 "New Course Of Study In Foreign Language Education" Plan. [Retrieved 27 March 2018 from] https://goo.gl/sBjXpo

Tomlinson, C. A., & Moon, T. R. (2013a). Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Tomlinson, C. A., & Moon, T. R. (2013b). The why, what, and when of assessment. Assessment and Differentiation, 9(2). http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol9/902-tomlinson.aspx

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Personal and professional language development

This post displays Google slides [and references] from part two of the PIGATE gathering on March 10, 2018. The presenter's blurb for the program that day read:

In this workshop, participants will make, share, and refine self-assessments, then project and reflect on goals and resources for additional personal and professional language development.

(PIGATE meeting agendas, 2018.03.10)

To find out about what ensued, please ask one or more of the language teachers who took part, ...

... or post questions in comments on this post, where all of the participants can respond.

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Sesame Street: Alphabet Songs Compilation | Learn the ABCs!

At our gathering last Saturday, questions arose regarding how and when to help young English learners recognize, recall, and write letters of the alphabet.

For example, with regard to a presentation on dyslexia, participants wondered where the small letter D came from, and why it was so different from the big D.

Though I'll leave reporting details of the session to others who attended or presented, I would like to share a clue to the origin of the letter D:

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

https://goo.gl/cG7rVN

I'd also like to point out a new video from Sesame Street (2017.09.08) offering musical alternatives to traditional ABC songs. Like most songs of this ilk, it focuses on capital letters.

What impressed me the most was the searchable transcript (lyrics) that you can display from the menu under the "..." button below the lower right corner of the YouTube video on site.

Select, "Open transcript," in the pop-up menu, then choose, "English - CC (English)," at the foot of the transcript window, for closed captions (rather than the auto-generated transcript).

Video source: Sesame Street's Back to School playlist

https://youtu.be/XWZ-iA3HMOU

Below are a couple of snapshots of the transcript display with the timecode toggled either ON (at 00.01) or OFF (at 03:29 of 12:50). If you click on the images below, you can see details.

Alphabet Songs Compilation [+ transcript {00.01/12.50}]

Alphabet Songs Compilation [+ transcript {03.29/12.50}]

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PIGATE's Special Summer Session (2017.08.12)

This post provides a preview of slides in the works for Saturday's big event. It also includes a Tweet feed display for the Twitter hashtag #higopigateSSS.

Tweet about it: #higopigateSSS

Relevant comments and questions are more than welcome!

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Classroom practice: Using instruction checking questions (ICQs)

This post showcases a presentation that Taishi Kaneko (KU, Fac. of Educ., M2) used for a demonstration and discussion of instruction checking questions (ICQs) at the PIGATE gathering earlier this month (2017.05.13). Taishi began to develop his interest in ICQs while studying overseas last year.

If you have comments or questions regarding ICQs and their use or potential, please feel free to spell them out in comments on this post. Suggestions of and pointers to related resources also are welcome.

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My Club Activity by Ms. M. Kamioka (KGU, Engl., 4th yr.)

This post showcases a presentation that Misaki Kamioka, a 4th-year student in the English department at KGU, delivered to the PIGATE gathering in the KGU Learning Commons earlier this month (2017.05.13).

It is a pleasure to be able to share Misaki's slides for viewing by PIGATE members who were unable to attend her presentation in person. It also will be a pleasure to have her, her classmates, and her peers take part in future PIGATE gatherings.

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Gems from Jemma's presentation, 2017.03.11

This post showcases a couple of videos that Jemma Gallagher played or mentioned in her presentation on mindfulness in education to the PIGATE gathering on March 11, 2017. Afterwards, she also shared links to a couple of related resources.

Mindfulness Story (English vers.) 

Source: Jonathan Haggard (YouTube, 2015) 

https://youtu.be/T2D1SsIZDx0

Mindfulness Story (Japanese vers.)

Source: Jonathan Haggard (YouTube, 2015) 

https://youtu.be/KQlLSPzfCFc

Shunkoin's website

• Shunkoin Temple, Kyoto, JP
• http://shunkoin.com/ 

Experimental Buddhism (Nelson, 2013)

Jemma also pointed out John Nelson's book Experimental Buddhism (2013), in which he wrote about that temple and its head priest (http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9072-9780824838980.aspx). Perhaps once she settles into her new job and postgraduate studies, she will agree to write a brief review of his book for a PIGATE newsletter.

PIGATE's Special Summer Session: August 13, 2016

This post ... includes ... a slideshow introducing PIGATE's Special Summer Session [SSS] at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, August 13, 2016. [It also may display recent earmarked Tweets about or related to the SSS.]

You can find the working agenda for this year's SSS in the PIGATE calendar on the Calendar of Events page of The PIGATE Blog. Directions to the SSS venue are on the Meeting Location page.

Tweet about it: #higopigateSSS

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PS: Here are a few snapshots from the SSSession.

Thanks to Misato for rounding up delicious boxed lunches from RanTen in Mashiki-machi!

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Social Media for You and Me? (summary)

Social Media for You and Me?

A reflective summary

by Paul Beaufait

First of all, I'd like to thank the directorate and membership of PIGATE for the opportunity that Mr. Hirotaka Terada and I had to make an extended presentation about social media for PIGATE, at Kumamoto Gakuen University (KGU) on June 11th, 2016. It was encouraging to see how determined the director, Mr. Nobuyuki Takaki, and other members of the group were to resume PIGATE-style grassroots teacher development activities, in spite of severe consequences of earthquakes in Kumamoto. I'd like to extend special thanks to Prof. Joseph Tomei for making arrangements for the PIGATE group to meet at KGU in both June and July.

In the aftermath of the tremors, which necessitated cancellation of the PIGATE gathering in May, it was a challenge to plan and develop contributions for a joint presentation entirely at a distance. Though Terada and I had exchanged a few ideas face-to-face after the meeting in April, we depended completely upon internet communication technology (ICT) from then until we met again at KGU a few minutes before the June meeting began. So this had become an opportunity to both explore and employ handy and useful online media in collaborative presentation development.

Beyond 1) basic email service (Gmail) underpinning our initial contacts and endeavours, 2) a social networking service that both presenters use regularly (LINE), and 3) a shared Google presentation around and on which to collaborate; possible social media upon which to focus our presentation were virtually uncountable (see: The Conversation Prism 4, 2014, below).

Image source: https://conversationprism.com/

Our shared Google presentation, now public on the PIGATE Blog (2016.06.12), included pretest and posttest items to assess audience members' knowledge and beliefs with regard to the nature of social media and uses of them. Pretest responses, the presenters hoped, would lay a foundation for a working definition of social media. Initial discussion of personal and professional purposes rounded out common characteristics of social media that Obar & Wildman (2015) had identified, namely:

• Internet-based applications (apps),
• User-generated content,
• User- and group-specific profiles for apps or websites, and
• Networking services facilitating connections amongst users and groups.

As had a couple of PIGATE members who'd responded to the Monthly Special prompt for the Dec. 2015 newsletter (No. 267, 2016.01.01, pp. 27-28, https://goo.gl/mQ6Dio), Terada expressed a preference for online communication via LINE (Free calls and messages). So the presenters used LINE for Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoiP, https://goo.gl/D4YMBG) calls to talk through research and development of their presentation, as well as for text messages to arrange and follow-up on those VoIP calls.

Terada's findings reflected extended discussions with twenty classmates and friends, who'd used mainly LINE, Facebook, and Twitter, and to a lesser extent Instagram. Those discussions explored various merits and demerits of social networking service (SNS) use, as well as trouble that users or their friends had encountered. In a nutshell, Terada found such SNSs useful for one-way distribution of information, yet problematic when responses were desirable or necessary.

Beaufait pointed out benefits of social media use that the Online Learning Consortium (2016) had reported for online instructional programs, in particular potential for:

1. Learner engagement (and retention),
2. Instructional effectiveness–achieving desired learning outcomes, and
3. Provisions of career and educational support services.

Beaufait also called attention to passive (automatically collected) and active (individually produced) data found in so-called digital footprints, or virtual representations of our real-life selves (Oglethorpe, 2012). Such footprints may work either against or for job-seekers, professional program applicants, or students in general. Beaufait noted that, in the eyes of some schools, "A Google search result is your portfolio" (Leigh Blackall, Teaching and learning online [TALO] Google group mailing list, 2016.06.01, emphasis added).

Discussion periods throughout the presentation explored numerous questions–many more than possible to answer in-session to everyone's satisfaction, for example:

• What's social about social media–if people use them merely as tools for broadcasting personal information, rather than for facilitating and promoting educational exchanges or socially responsible endeavours;
• What changes may be taking place in attitudes and practices with respect to privacy and control of personal information in highly-interconnected online communities, groups, and networks; and
• What can we as educators and language learners do to maximize benefits and minimize risks of social media use, for both personal and professional purposes, as well as for students–young ones in particular, whom we may serve as trail-breakers, role-models, guides, or coaches?

Among the references for our presentation in the slideshow on the PIGATE Blog, I'd like to highlight Davis (2015) as the source for Web-guides for teachers (currently slide 54), and to double up on Couros (2011, 2013, 2016a, & 2016b). George Couros (@George Couros, https://goo.gl/0c4J1T) not only granted permission for use of a custom graphic in animation of Bringing community into classrooms (currently slide 58), but also has provided numerous examples and suggestions of ways to use Twitter for professional development purposes.

In wrapping up here, I'd like to encourage everyone, social media users and non-users alike, to review public pre- and post-session tweets here (https://goo.gl/s3K1lu). I also hope you'll take active parts in on-going and future conversations and explorations of potential uses for social media in additional language and professional network development–for both learning and teaching purposes.

Please allow me to close with thanks to all who took part in the June gathering, and a reminder from our presentation (Social media sufficiency, currently slide 62):

"[C]ollaborative conversations alone are often not enough to promote teacher learning and change. Teachers must try complex innovations, and reflect upon these implementations in order to extract from experience the knowledge that leads to improved teaching."

(Alderton, Brunsell, & Bariexca, 2011)

Paul Beaufait ボーフェ ポール

Prefectural University of Kumamoto 熊本県立大学

Version 20160729b

This is a revised version of an article that

originally appeared in PIGATE Newsletter 272 (2016.07.04).

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The PIGATE Calendar of Events page got a facelift!

The PIGATE Blog, Calendar of Events page got a facelift today; it now includes a display that looks like this:

A three-calendar mash-up in Agenda view

The piggy-pink listings on white backgrounds are from the PIGATE Events calendar, for which our own Taishi Kaneko became a co-moderator yesterday. The other calendar co-moderators are Tomomi Nishioka and Joseph Tomei.

Welcome aboard, Taishi! We're also looking forward to your debut as a new blog contributor.

The blue text listings are from a JALT NanKyu calendar that also appears in a similar calendar display on the NanKyu website, where the JALT member in the spotlight today is PIGATE's fearless leader, Nobuyuki Takaki! Congratulations to Nobuyuki for a perfect attendance record at PIGATE meetings for oh-so-many years.

The brownish listings on white backgrounds, as you've probably guessed, represent traditional and observed holidays in Japan. Though the image you see above is only a snapshot, clicking on the colored listings on the PIGATE Calendar of Events page will display whatever event details currently are available.

As always, if you have any concerns, questions, or suggestions with regard to posts on The PIGATE Blog, please do not hesitate to spell them out in comments on the posts, or to voice them at an upcoming PIGATE gathering.

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PIGATE & JALT NanKyu: Joint My Share, 2015.10.10

This blog post ... [was] a work in progress [that I began composing shortly after the October gathering]. In this post, ... [in] which there ... [have been] numerous [modifications and] amplification[-s] ..., please find embedded a presentation file that covered the PIGATE and JALT NanKyu Chapter joint event in October (2015.10.10) at KGU.

For anyone who missed the October session, [the presentation (Google Slides) embedded in] this post may provide a rough idea of what took place; for those who were able to attend, it should (eventually) provide additional information collected just prior to, during, or after the numerous presentations–10, all told.

Please stay tuned for updates and amplifications, not only in this post, but also in the presentation file itself. Comments and questions on this post are more than welcome.

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Teaching Ideas Exchange: October 10th, 2015–Call for presenters

PIGATE and the NanKyu chapter of the Japan Association of Language Teaching (JALT) are planning a teaching ideas exchange for the PIGATE gathering next month.

Image source: Pixabay (https://goo.gl/5163KH)
License: CC0 Public Domain / FAQ

As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to teach. This meeting will be a great chance to exchange ideas with other teachers from various teaching backgrounds and with a wide range of experience.

You can present a game, an interesting way to ... [teach] a language point, a book you often use, or any other useful tips you may have for your fellow teachers. We hope this will be a fun, informative and valuable experience for all who participate.

You can present in any format you wish: PowerPoint, a poster presentation or a demonstration. Your presentation should be between five and ten minutes.

(JALT NanKyu blog, PIGATE Meeting October 10th, 2015.07.23)

If you're interested in sharing your ideas, techniques or tips, please contact Sarah Faherty, the JALT NanKyu Program Chair, today!

The event will be at Kumamoto Gakuen Daigaku [on] Saturday, October 10th, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Please check the Calendar of Events and Meeting Location pages for details.

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Shadowing for Improving Listening and Reading Skills (Fukushima & Lavin, 2013): A brief review

On June 13th, Mr. Taishi Kaneko (right) made his début as an emcee for guest speakers Mr. Hiroshi Fukushima (left) and Prof. Richard Lavin (center) at the PIGATE gathering in the KGU English Lounge. I hope we'll see and hear from them all again soon!

Mr. Kaneko introduced the guest speakers.

Along with a bit of historical and theoretical background, Mr. Fukushima and Prof. Lavin introduced two types of shadowing. The first focused learners' attention on the sounds of the target language, and the second focused on content–namely vocabulary, syntax (grammar) and meaning. 

PIGATE members had opportunities to try a little of both types. Then Mr. Fukushima reported on an on-going study to assess the effectiveness of shadowing relative to standardized test results. 

Prof. Takaki summed up the session.

Below are a couple of books on shadowing (Kadota, 2007, and Tamai, 2005) highlighted either in the presentation itself or in Prof. Takaki's summary. The other (Kadota, 2012), which I discovered today at Amazon, JP, appears to be a follow-up on the first.

• Kadota, Shuuhei. (2007). シャドーイングと音読の科学 [shadouingu to ondoku no kagaku: the science of shadowing and reading aloud]. Tokyo, JP: Cosmopia.
• Kadota, Shuuhei. (2012). シャドーイング・音読と英語習得の科学 [shadouingu, ondoku to eigo shutoku no kagaku: the science of shadowing, reading aloud and English acquisition]. Tokyo, JP: Cosmopia.
• Tamai, Ken. (2005). リスニング指導法としてのシャドーイングの効果に関する研究 [risuningu shidouhou toshite no shadouingu no kouka ni kan suru kenkyuu: a study of the effects of shadowing as a method for teaching listening]. Tokyo, JP: Kazama Shobou.

Though there seemed to be a general consensus among audience members about the potential of shadowing for dedicated individual language learners, a question remained about how teachers might adopt and adapt such practices for general classroom instructional purposes.

If you have other key readings to suggest, other questions about shadowing, or suggestions regarding shadowing and classroom teaching practices in particular, please feel free to spell them out in comments on this post.

Coming June 13th: Fukushima and Lavin on Shadowing!

Shadowing is a practice of repeating the words of a model just after they are spoken. It is used quite widely in English education in Japan, where it first became popular after simultaneous interpreters found it beneficial in their training. It is considered important for beginners, because it is helpful in learning pronunciation. It is also considered useful for more advanced learners, because the time pressure can help learners increase the speed of their reactions.

In this presentation, Mr. Fukushima and Prof. Lavin outline the history and theoretical background of shadowing, and then look at its uses in improving language skills. Mr. Fukushima reports on a study he is conducting, in which he is using shadowing to try to improve his TOEIC® scores. 

(Presentation abstract, revised, 06 June 2015)

Mr. Fukushima (right, below) has a Master's degree from the University of New South Wales (Australia), and is working on a Doctoral degree in the Graduate School of Letters at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto (PUK). Prof. Lavin (left, below) teaches in the Department of English Language and Literature at the PUK.

Their presentation will take place in the English Lounge at Kumamoto Gakuen University (bldg. 1, 1st fl.). For a map showing the location and info. about getting there, please see the Meeting Location page.

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May Pigate meeting

The monthly meeting of PIGATE, the Kumamoto teacher training group, co-sponsored by the NanKyu JALT chapter, was held on Saturday (9 May) at Kumamoto Gakuen University, Building 1, 1F English Lounge.

This month's meeting revolved around reading.

Mio Ebara discussed Canadian approaches to reading education that she saw in her one year stay there while she was studying TESOL and conducted a reading lesson using Cinderella.

Tomomi Nishioka discussed Ken Toyama's English Grammar textbook presenting a number of examples from the text.

Hisao Kobori introduced his use of Extensive reading at his previous JHS (Shichijo JHS) and his attempts at his new school (Koushi JHS).

The meeting closed with the traditional summary by Takaki sensei.

Next month will be Hiroshi Fukushima, a PhD candidate at Kumamoto Prefectural University and Rick Lavin, a professor at the university, talking about shadowing for listening. Hope to see you there!!