November 10, 2007 – 10:40 pm
Every time I go overseas I always bring something back as a souvenir for the students. I feel this goes a long way in that students know that you think about them even when on vacation.
I don’t know whether due to this they are obliged to return souvenirs when they also go overseas, I’m [...]
November 1, 2007 – 6:12 am
I have been relaxing in England for the past few days. In that time Mark Smith, my wife and the Smith’s team have been doing their part in promoting our school here in Otsu. Obviously I’d like to be there to help out. But that’s the whole idea about Smith’s and its [...]
October 16, 2007 – 5:54 pm
Thanks Mark for a great informative meeting. I got a lot of good info from it that will be very benificial. Also met some great new franchise owners and had a few drinks afterward.
All in all very rewarding. Cheers!
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October 11, 2007 – 9:12 am
It’s very rare these days for me to hand out flyers. Smith’s have quite a few energetic guys and girls on call who can do it for me at a pretty good rate.
Anyway, I had a few hours free and thought I’d get out there in front of Otsu station and rub off [...]
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 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 12, 2007 – 6:50 am
A green level student attended my lesson today and as soon as he walked through the door he had a huge beaming smile on his face and said,”I’m on top of the world”. He had learnt this previously in an idiom class I taught about a month ago.
I replied, “So what’s the good news?” [...]
August 31, 2007 – 7:38 pm
1st time
They were humble beginnings at my first English school, money was tight and location was important. Near to the station was priority for me. Eventually a place became available a stone’s throw away from the station. The building itself wasn’t new. It looked liked it was built in the late [...]
August 12, 2007 – 9:00 pm
After a hard & enjoyable day’s work usually on Saturday evenings, I have the urge to indulge myself in the delights of one of my favorite Japanese cuisines (Yakitori) or side dishes with beer as others would say. In any case, I must admit I’m pretty hooked due to the wide selection of meats [...]
I had two office lady students in class today red and green levels. The Item of choice today was (May/Might)
One question of interest was…What might you eat after this class?
One of the students replied I might drop by Mister Donuts and pick up a few of my favorite doughnuts. The other student [...]
On my trips overseas I always make an effort to get souvenirs for my students. In turn they seem to be obliging in getting return gifts on their oversea trips too.
Recently, I have told students not to present me any more magnets as there is no more space on the fridge. I told [...]
I have a student here who has been studying with Smith’s Otsu school for over four years. I remember vividly when she first started and arriving with her mother for a trial lesson. At that time she was only 13 years old and wearing her school uniform. She was somewhat intimidated [...]
My Saturday’s at Smith’s Ohstu school are usually busy, and there are not many lessons that don’t have less than 2 students per class. On this occasion I had only one student, this is very rare so I took the opportunity to try the Let’s Talk About It book with her.
Her level is [...]
I had a student study today. She is rather special in that she is one of the first to start at my school back in 1999. She is now a married housewife. Back when she first started studying English she was an OL. After a few years got married and quit [...]
My school is in a 7 storey building. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors are for businesses, the remaining floors are for residents. I’m situated on the 4th floor. Most of the residents on the upper floors are salaried workers and a few students. A few weeks ago, it was a [...]
Through the years, I have had students come and go for all different reasons. Some join my school are through word and mouth.
Some years ago, I had one student who joined and then a week later introduced her friend, who in turn introduced her daughter and finally her father joined too. The [...]
Foreigners in Japan
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The same can be said about Japan. What attracts foreigners is its uniqueness. It isn’t hard to see westerners go to and participate in local festivals, drink vast amounts of sake and carry miniature shrines through the street. Dress up in [...]
Idiom Lesson part 2
Number of students: 2
Kind of student: OL (Office Lady) & Retired business man
A powerful course student joined the second part of this lesson, due to this I checked his file beforehand on whether he had studied these idioms before. He had taken the lesson 3 months previously, so I [...]
A Narrative Structure of The Idiom Lesson
The Benefits
High student talking time. No prepping. Active and fun interaction. Common idiom sentence building. Limited board work. Student to student course lesson manipulation. Board game play
Preliminary Information
Level: Advanced (Green/Yellow)
Class focus: Materials/Resources – Board game
Aims: to raise further awareness of the listener’s active [...]
Vocabulary Lesson part 2
Number of students: 2
Kind of student: Housewife & Secretary
A powerful course student joined the second part of this lesson, due to this I checked her file beforehand on whether she had studied these vocabulary words. She had taken the lesson 2 months previously, so I thought it would make [...]
A Narrative Structure of The Vocabulary Lesson
The Benefits
High student talking time. No prepping. Active and fun interaction. Popular vocabulary word building. Simple format board work. Student to student course lesson manipulation. Story telling. Board game.
Preliminary Information
Level: Advanced (High red onwards)
Class focus: Materials/Resources – Board game
Aims: to [...]
Phrase Lesson part 2
Number of students: 2
Kind of student: Office lady & High school boy
Both students turned up for my lesson and had prepared their homework for the class. I looked over their questions in their note books. Here are the students’ questions they produced:
High school boy
Have you ever broken into [...]
I’ll post a series here about three Item lesson styles intended for High level students as narratives. These aren’t full lessons start to finish, just this one part of the Loop: the Item. You can use my experiences here as a model for how to fit them into your own Loop. I’ll [...]
Hi, this is Craig. I’m the owner/teacher at Smith’s School of English Ohtsu franchise. I’m also the author of the Curriculum Items used throughout the Smith’s system. I’ll use this soapbox to share my thoughts about teaching and living in Japan and also to talk about using the curriculum! Have a [...]