September 30, 2007 – 8:35 pm
I think holding events for students outside the classroom is important. Students can have the chance to meet students they may have not met before, use their English outside the classroom and above all, have lots of fun! On top of that, I can have fun too doing stuff like eating delicious food in [...]
September 30, 2007 – 5:24 am
First, congratulations to Sue Six on her first trial.
Today I got two emails from my previous students. One who is studying for six months in Canada and one who is now in Sydney for about the same time. They are both doing well, making friends and getting use to using English everyday for [...]
September 29, 2007 – 9:29 pm
I recently wrote about my experience going through the curriculum training with Gavin at the Smith School of English Tsuruhashi a couple of weeks ago. It was a bit of a refresher course in terms of the routines and whole new experience with regard to the new items and all the expanded material. [...]
September 29, 2007 – 4:26 am
Today, on day six of being open ~ and of course it was day six because my name is Six and things happen in sixes or on the sixth or 16th or 26th, at 6:00 or some multiple or divisor of six. But I’m not obsessed about it at all ~ today, I finally had [...]
September 27, 2007 – 2:42 am
I love to be seen out and about in Koenji. It all starts when I wake up in time to be at the designated spot where I decided the night before to hand out fliers. I really enjoy it very much and believe that it has another great benefit as an exercise routine. Who needs [...]
September 27, 2007 – 12:38 am
Two days ago I lost a student but…Smith’s School of English Kyobashi gained one!
Two days ago I walked into Smith’s School of English Horie and began checking my faxes which arrive on a nightly basis from head office.
Typically it’s only the following days schedule but from time to time there is a “Student Status Update” [...]
September 26, 2007 – 7:54 pm
Last year I made the decision that, although I had enjoyed my time as a Smith’s school owner professionally and financially, it was time to do something different. I found 2 teachers, one for each of my schools, that I could entrust the cumulation my six years in the Smith’s system, and returned to [...]
September 26, 2007 – 1:01 am
Summer is gradually winding to a close and now we look ahead to cooler evenings and a bite in the air!
In addition to the excellent Smith’s curriculum, one way to get and keep students is to make a connection with them. Asking about their hobbies and interests is one way to do this. One of [...]
September 25, 2007 – 5:37 pm
Yesterday, Tuesday, I also did not think I had a very good day. It was the first day of my English school being open (hooray!), but… no fanfare, and no students. Every time a fax came through I looked up hoping it was news of a trial student. Well, that didn’t happen. But I did [...]
September 25, 2007 – 7:23 am
I had a bad day today. Well, at least I thought I did…Nothing seemed to go right, although it was all “right.” I just didn’t realize it… Later I remembered what I used to do here in Japan. I used to work for another eikaiwa, one that is in deep trouble right now, one that [...]
September 25, 2007 – 1:38 am
Everyone! Take a look at your calendars for September and October! You’ll see that THREE Mondays are taken out for holidays! Of course this is great for many, but your Monday students might worry about getting their lessons in!
Encourage all your students to ask for and take their make-up lessons. They [...]
September 24, 2007 – 2:10 am
ET: I hadn’t seen this student in a while since she had been taking business training for the past few months. So, understandably, she could not remember her previous one point. We instead did a bit of chatting about her training and the short vacation that she took last month. I was [...]
September 24, 2007 – 12:54 am
Almost every night, I walk four blocks from my apartment to go to The Rink bar/restaurant, because I don’t like to cook, and the food there is great. The atmosphere is relaxed and laid-back, and everyone who goes is likely to talk with everyone else. No one feels particularly obligated to remain in the seat [...]
September 23, 2007 – 8:33 pm
So, what does it take to be the owner of your own successful school? Well, it doesn’t take too much money but it does take willpower. Now, not everyone has the willpower that he/she thinks he/she does. I asked myself “Do you want to enjoy teaching English? Do you want to [...]
September 21, 2007 – 6:41 pm
Today marks an important milestone in the life of my Smith’s English School-Kofu. Today I completed the 3-day training with Gavin ~ many many thanks! It was fun, I learned a lot, and you gave me great feedback. Especially I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do flyers, both with and without you. (deep [...]
September 20, 2007 – 8:39 am
I tried a new one point at the beginning of the lesson “For me, I was impressed when I (A)”. I made a few examples for her to follow and then she replied by saying “For me, I was impressed when I first met my Smith’s English teacher Craig”. I said “Wow! [...]
September 19, 2007 – 5:11 pm
Last night I tried out my new routine on two red students. I had written this routine back in May after returning from my trip to Hawaii where I visited my son and his family. I tried this one time before and discovered it was too long and difficult for most students to complete. I [...]
September 19, 2007 – 4:17 am
I just came out of a lesson where idioms were the game. What kind of game, you ask? A story-telling game! I wrote the idioms on the board, and asked the two students to try and explain what they meant. They guessed a couple, I explained the rest, and then the game was on. All [...]
September 18, 2007 – 8:46 am
Christmas Party 2006
In December 2006, Smith’s Kyobashi School invited Smith’s Tsukaguchi School to their Christmas party (photos http://www.smithweb.co.jp/sub/tsukaguchi/sub5.shtml) . The party was held at a restaurant called Garb Dressing in Kyobashi, Osaka. I attended with some students, a friend of a student and my wife. There were teachers and students from some other [...]
September 18, 2007 – 2:22 am
My first lesson of Saturday was with 3 students. Two of these were red level regulars, paired with an orange student who has been very busy for the last two months.
E.T.
This meant that the orange students had their one-points fresh in their minds, and gave thanks to a friend and sister for being helpful during [...]
September 17, 2007 – 11:53 pm
I just finished my lesson with a man who is well known at Smith’s School of English Kyobashi. Not only is he a very talented singer (having played some demos for myself and fellow teachers in the lounge), but he also seems to be quite skilled in the field of acting. He always [...]
September 17, 2007 – 4:26 am
Recently the cutest little thing happened at both my Smith’s School Kotoen and Fukushima Franchises. At both schools, I was working on a supplementary practice lesson which reviews and solidifies the use of present perfect continuous tense in daily usage.
Both students had commented several times that they thought the tense was very difficult and [...]
September 17, 2007 – 4:18 am
My school is located in a residential area of Sagamihara and to my disappointment, no “signage” is allowed outside of my building. However, all is not lost in that area of advertising. I put a Smith’s flag on my veranda (my area, my space, so no complaints from the residents) about a year ago, and [...]
September 16, 2007 – 5:31 pm
On Saturday a mother and her daughter stopped by to check on a trial. I was near the end of a lesson but did not think that I could do a trial in less than 15 minutes, so I called the staff and gave the mother the phone to set up a trial time [...]
September 16, 2007 – 4:00 pm
On Thursday, my curriculum and start up materials arrived; on Friday, my table and chairs were delivered and set up. On Wednesday I will receive my business cards and that first sweet set of flyers, and Gavin will also arrive to conduct the initial three-day training. Last night I went to my favorite bar here, [...]
September 16, 2007 – 4:10 am
A week ago I ordered and received two Smith’s Flags that I could put outside my new school premises here in Otsu. I was able to put one outside the entrance of the building and the other adjacent on the main road.
The flags themselves are great. I didn’t realize how big they would [...]
September 15, 2007 – 12:20 am
Today I was ready to teach the item ‘ making requests ‘ to a brand new English school student. As there was no one point from a previous lesson I decided to explore the student`s level a little by getting to know him.
Very soon I realized that the lesson that I had planned to do [...]
September 14, 2007 – 11:06 pm
ET
My usual Saturday afternoon student was right on time today. She came into the classroom looking really cheerful. Apparently, one of her old friends had contacted her out of the blue (I made a point of teaching her the new expression ‘out of the blue’) for a class reunion. So, she used [...]
September 13, 2007 – 4:05 am
As soon as I noticed my next student in the lounge, last week’s lesson flashed through my memory. I remembered it being quite energetic, and that student in particular had made a comment at the end of the lesson. She had thanked me for the lesson and had said that she had had [...]
September 12, 2007 – 11:50 pm
There are many great things about owning a Smiths English school franchise but right up there has to be the relationship you develop with your students. In the three years I’ve been a franchise owner many of my best friends started out as students. Last month for example, I went to watch a [...]