MAC&COMMUNICATION - Teaching without textbooks

MAC Radio 13, with Mike Matsuno

11/23/2021

Inspiring young Adults

Welcome to another series of MAC Radio.

I had a long family weekend so forgive me the weekday delay.

Today's topic is a bit different from what we had so far.

We had mostly teachers and creators working with children here.

Today I would love you to meet Mike, one of the first educators I worked with, after coming to Japan. 'Work with' is not really correct. As I was a little tiny chick, just looking up at teachers like him, to see how it all works.

Mike has mostly worked with university students and young adults, amongst others, as Vice President at the Japan Study Abroad Foundation . He was facilitator/advisor at the 'Ship for World Youth', and recently is teaching at several universities.

I think you will like this talk wherever you are, BUT for educators and

English teachers in Japan, make sure you watch, ASAP!

Mike Matsuno Links :
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeMatsuno
Website: https://www.goglobal.me/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikehmatsuno/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikehmatsuno
Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikematsuno/
Email address: mikematsuno@mac.com
Authored books: https://amzn.to/3HAwdIm
“Why? Study Abroad in the USA” English version (print and Kindle) Japanese version (Kindle) “Alaska Dream” English version (Print, Kindle & Audiobook)

If you have any questions, you can get in touch directly with Mike, me, or in the comments.

And if you are simply into Japan, make sure to check Mike's You Tube Channel!

Thanks for watching.

MAC Radio 12, La Maestra Loca for Mac&com

11/8/2021

Brainbreaks, GAmes, Self care, Positive mindset
and much more

Absolutely excited about today's guest.

LA MAESTRA LOCA.

If you have followed me you probably remember her; I have been inspired for years and have shared some of those inspirations on my blog as well, for example here, here or here.

There is not much to write, please please do yourself a favor and WATCH this

Then check the list below with all those links.

And to La Maestra Loca! Thank you so much for your time and all the ideas and thoughts you have been sharing.

Resources and links

Uju
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uju

Phonics Man
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOxxNlVz3M0EcR3vTKVwVlQ

Brainbreak:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUpzv8Cjm9L/

waiting list:
https://subscribe.lamaestraloca.com/LaFamiliaLocaPLC

Email list:
https://subscribe.lamaestraloca.com/la-familia-loca-plc-waiting-list

Instagram:
www.instragram.com/lamaestraloca

Website:
www.lamaestraloca.com

TPT: (with upcoming resources for other languages)
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Annabelle-Allen

And try try try

The most important thing with brainbreaks and activities is:
Try try try! Try them right away~if you put it on a shelf you will forget. We forget so quickly, don't we?!

And if you try, and they don't work with a group, but YOU yourself like it, try them again with another class. The point is 'Do YOU like it', ? as La Maestra states as one of the most important points of our conversation.

I put this into practice :
I found a brainbreak under the link of 'The phonics man' which just fits my school so well. It is around 'Gummibears' and if you have following me for a bit, you know that all of my students know and dance the Gummibear dance every year at our event.

Well, I did it with the first class>>>they were tired right away and were just going 'Why are we doing this? I want to stop' (6 , 7 year olds)
I tried next period with 8 year olds>>>It was better, but they still missed a bit of fun, no idea why.
Then I tried next class with 8,9 year olds and they were going crazy over it.

It would be lovely to get some comments .

What are your top 3 take aways from this interview?

Please share!

The day after Halloween for an english teacher in Japan

11/1/2021

Pajama day

Even though I didn't have a 'proper' event with a two hour program, I AM EXHAUSTED.

Well, even the kids had only a short time with me, the schedule was full from 1h30 till 6h30.
I was happy I had my kids helping me out.

COVID really sends new ideas and possibilities on the way.

As I mentioned in one of my last radios, this year I had my students come 'family by family', to Trick or Treat at my home.
During October I figured how absolutely curious the kids were about this 'event', so I added some small games in my 10 squaremeter backyard.

I made sure to tell the kids and parents many times 'it will be just 10 minutes /family', but last week I figured that kids that little have no idea how short 10 minutes are, and I was anticipating a load of tears and disappointment.
So, to avoid those, I created a walk rally (Scavenger hunt), they could play within their family.
And, last minute, I noticed I could do some simple 5 minute crafts, so they have something to take home.

We had the first rain in 10 days, when I woke up, BUT around 10 we had the bluest sky.

And so I think all of my little ones had joy,
and
oh oh oh, we had so many cuties.

A rabbit dressed as a bird from 'Demon Slayer', a poodle dressed as 'Ghostbuster'
A new born as 'Pokkemon', a 2 year old as the cutest 'Nezuko' I have ever seen.

And a load of cool and super beautiful, crafted costumes as well.

Give me some days to sort them.

Today is Pajama day!

MAC Radio No 11 ~Career changes

10/18/2021

Lindsay from APEC English Garden

Almost half a year ago we had Lindsay, as our first guest HERE!!!
If you want to review that episode mostly about teaching young kids, this is the link.

Now, Lindsay has been on a roller coaster, NOT ONLY since this talk, but honestly since I know her (which is meanwhile 6, 7, ??? years.)

From KG ESL teacher to University ESL teacher to self-employed school owner to full time manager for ESL in after school and KG and now, she has decided to take a huge step again.
Life seems to send her VERY straight messages, (that have had me quite worried about her several times) and today she talks about these stories without drama or exaggeration. And what decisions and conclusions she has drawn, and how she is getting the support she needs for these new steps.

A talk that shows without doubt, how interesting life for a passionate educator can be.
Don't miss it.
Questions and comments are welcome.
And if you are happy to share your own story ( I know you have a few) please get in touch.

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How teaching in Government schools can be different

10/4/2021

What I learned as a teacher in Government schools

I worked in government schools for over 10 years.
What I learned here as a teacher is a lot.

Today's radio is related to one part of this, ~~~Homework.

Last week I did a Facebook Live on '3 things that changed completely for me -thanks to- COVID' and one of them being
the way I assign homework,
the way kids hand them in
and the content of homework.

Thank you for listening and asking questions, and those of you who haven't watched it yet, try to give it a go, and check, maybe before listening to the radio here on my FB Page:

After the Live I got the following questions, which inspired me to talk a bit about the difference of
'teaching in government schools<>teaching in my own private school'

I know there are lots of other options, like
teaching in afternoon schools
teaching as an employee in a private school,
etc etc

but today I focus on government<>own private school
and
here are the questions I got:

I’d really like to know more about HW you set. 1. Do you give the younger kids a sheet with the parts of the story written on it so they can only draw? 2. Can they come up with the story ending in L1? 3. What if there is a child who never does HW. 4. What HW would you recommend for 2nd graders in government school. It's their second year of English 1 X week. Their parent ask for HW but they're used to worksheets and memorization of words without context. I'm new to the school and looking for the best ways of setting HW. I can use WhatsApp to send videos for input, that's all I've been offered so far..

📻＞＞＞＞＞

I hope I have answered all of the questions.

For those who have no time to listen.
My short answer is:

No homework in government schools!

Let me know if you have additional questions, in the comments HERE or ON FB!

Looking forward to chatting again, next week!

Ready, Set...

7/26/2021

From Highschool student to Game Creator

Timothy Hill, from Hillside English shares his journey from coming to Japan as an exchange student, over lots of backs and forwards to becoming the creator of 'Ready Set Eigo Card Game'.

It was such an inspiring, interesting talk, and I promise you, this time, you won't hear much from my side.

Gems and ideas, adventures and a philosophy about teaching kids, just suiting my own so much.
I put a few of his ideas into practice right after the interview, and Wow, IT IS AMAZING!

Don't miss it.

📻

📻📻📻PLAY

0-9minutes
Who is Timothy and how did he come to Japan?
A funny story about the first visit in Japan.
9~14minutes
How did Timothy start to become an English teacher>>>and a school owner
15 minutes
Timothy's idea about teaching
17minutes~
Which ages do we enjoy most and why, and...
19 minutes~25minutes
about 2, 3 year olds
organizing classes and 'quality of life' and class sizes
25minutes ~
penmanship, writing and why/how Timothy started making own materials
30minutes~
The becoming of Ready, Set, Eigo Card game
50 minutes,
the word I didn't remember:
circumlocution

Learning from failures

7/17/2021

...this is one thing Frederic Daudu in Cambodia is talking about in this week's MAC Radio.

MAC RADIO 8

I met Frederic when he participated in my teacher course a few years ago.
I was surprised about and admittedly flattered, getting so many hearts thrown at my rather straightforward and challenging homework.

After that, and especially after COVID hit I have watched Frederic on his Tic Tok channel.
Link 1

and

Link 2

(I think the second one is for adults and tourists)

I know nothing at all about Tic Toc, but this really made me smile. I can see how he loves his students and all the people around himself, and how they love him.

I am sorry the sound is a bit weird in the beginning, we figured this out after a while, so if it is just too bad for your ears, jump to the second half of the chat.

As always there are quite a few hands on ideas and lightbulbs!

Meet
Frederic here:

📻

Which of these topics we talked about was most interesting for you?

*Who is Frederic and why, how did he move to Cambodia.
*Experience and especially failures when trying to open a language school (several times)
*A project that finally really succeeded
*How to make short videos and quizzes to teach phonics, for kids.>>
*Why and How did Frederic start TikTok.
*Covid situation in Cambodia, and Frederic's personal experience with Covid.

Teaching with Rory's Cubes

7/13/2021

This week is a week without a guest, and I just want to throw in a few ideas on teaching, using Rory's cubes.

It is a topic I could talk about endlessly; today just a short sweet tip, for ~I think under~ ten minutes.

And please look forward another great guest talk next Monday!

📻MAC RADIO 7

How to get kids enjoy talking in front of an audience. MAC　RADIO 6

7/5/2021

Guest Talk with Chris from 'Trinity School Japan'

Another great talk with Chris from Trinity School Japan, again from Matsuyama in Shikoku. Thank you so much!

2 weeks ago, we had Philip Older, and we had a great talk you won't want to miss, in case you haven't listen, click here!

Matsuyama people, you don't know how lucky you are to have two such amazing schools around there.
And Matsuyama really isn't that huge! Amazing.

Today's talk is full again with hands on valuable tips on "parent days", and on "kids performing in front of an audience", the ups and downs and the path there.

Enjoy!

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Some encouraging words for our speakers are always very very welcome．
I think that sharing ups as well as downs is really important, but unfortunately many teachers are not ready for that, as it needs courage. I will contact YOU next, to be my guest😉

MAC Radio 5~ Lesson planning on the go

6/28/2021

How to plan lessons in relax mode

Today I am on my own again, so a short session with some special ideas from myself about lesson planning.
The question teachers ask me most often is:

'Where do you find the time'

I don't have more time than others, nor do I have fewer chores than others.

Actually I think my brain developed a strategy to do many different things, BECAUSE I was so busy and had only few people to help me out for example, with child care while working. No family or friends to ask for baby sitting, three kids between 4 and 9
and 2 jobs ~that was the situation when I started my school.

Hope you get an idea of what I mean with 'Lesson Planning in Relax Mode', when listening to this short concrete example. It just happened last weekend.

Enjoy,

📻📻📻📻📻　PUSH PLAY

Have a Lovely week and

STAY SAFE