Ashippun, Wisconsin TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit focused on teaching equipment and tools. When I started teaching English in a classroom in Mexico, all I had was a whiteboard, markers and a course book. I was able to send word documents to the school to print out for students. We spent a lot of time trying to talk, and both I and students wrote on the whiteboard. Sometimes we sang songs, and I brought my husband in to play them on his guitar. We didn't even have a CD player. It was a pretty austere environment, and I was really shocked when I moved to Japan to see how many resources teachers used. The teachers use a blackboard, magnets, flashcards, pictures, powerpoint presentations and more. In classes, I have shown videos and played games that involved real material from my travels and my home country. It has been really wonderful to use all of these materials, plus worksheets (so many worksheets!). However, I do feel there is a significant difference in the amount of talking time students have here versus in my classes in Mexico. There is a big emphasis on language learners in Japan to learn reading, writing, listening and speaking all in one. However, listening and speaking often gets the least amount of attention. Classes are often primarily taught in Japanese, and teachers say students feel shy to speak. I would like to learn how to use materials without getting too caught up in them and forgetting to speak naturally. I would like to learn what essential tools (like dictionaries) to always have in the classroom, and to encourage students to use a lot.