I would like to write about a certain very special new student of mine at Smith’s School of English in Fuse who is an absolute pleasure to teach!
She is so focused on the lesson, she asks for time to write down everything on the board, especially the new vocabulary words, she does her [...]
Just earlier today I received an email from a former student of mine who is currently living and working in New Zealand and she absolutely loves it!
I keep in touch by email with countless numbers of students but just today I realized how many “international” pen pals I have developed while teaching at Smith’s School [...]
I don’t know if this has been mentioned on the soapbox before but it just occurred to me this afternoon while teaching a class at Smith’s School of English in Fuse.
I guess when people read about teaching English at Smith’s School of English, or anywhere else in Japan for that matter, we just assume that [...]
This is a country which I have not had the pleasure to visit yet though I know several of my fellow franchisees have visited, especially given the amount of holidays we have here at Smith’s School of English, and it seems to be a very popular destination for Japanese people as well.
Just today at [...]
February 24, 2008 – 10:39 pm
Yesterday we had our first Osaka regional franchisee seminar of 2008.
It was nice to see some older familiar faces of franchisees that have been around for years and also to meet a couple of new franchisees who joined us recently by purchasing developed schools!
A big welcome to:
Smith’s School of English in Kamishinjo and
Smith’s School of [...]
February 24, 2008 – 9:52 pm
I recently had my first experience at a triple trial in Horie! Talk about a full house!
I was a bit nervous not knowing what to expect or how I would conduct this lesson and gauge their levels within the allotted time.
In they came at 8pm, three young ladies, obviously long time friends who were [...]
February 23, 2008 – 3:57 am
I am a bit slow sometimes to update my soapbox here, though I always have a list of things to write about; however I recently received a big motivator to log on here and write.
A few days ago at a trial lesson at Smith’s School of English in Fuse I asked my student how she [...]
February 12, 2008 – 12:40 am
And maybe you are too…
And I’ll bet there are numerous other franchisees out there who have acquired this same name in their areas too.
It seems that after being seen in my school area for years now, passing out flyers, shopping, etc… many of the locals greet me by the name
“スミスさん”
They just assume I am Mr. [...]
January 31, 2008 – 4:50 am
I was getting the lesson plan and picture cards ready for my 7pm class when the door bell rang once and in came the cheerful lady.
“Hey, how is everything going?” I gestured her in and moved to the fridge to get her usual glass of orange juice.
“Pretty good! I had a very rewarding afternoon!” She [...]
January 4, 2008 – 2:10 am
In a recent posting by Al Bartle at Smith’s School of English in Okamoto he made reference to some of the challenges all of us face in the classroom in helping our students to improve their English and specifically he mentioned pronunciation which is definitely a challenge, especially when trying to change the sometimes deeply [...]
January 4, 2008 – 1:14 am
ちっとも見当がつかないよ。
全然［さっぱり］分かりません。／見当もつきません。／全く考え付きません。
Here at Smith’s School of English we use a loop type lesson format which includes teaching our students what we call a “One-point” at the end of every lesson. It’s basically a useful expression which they can memorize and immediately begin using.
http://www.sse-franchise.com/soapbox/category/english-lesson-plans/
I always encourage my students to use what they have learned as much [...]
November 1, 2007 – 1:27 am
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here; I’ve been a bit busy these days.
I guess running three schools will do that to you, but all is going well and I’m enjoying watching each of the three schools grow.
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/kamishinjyo.shtml
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/fuse.shtml
October was a great month for each location!
The weather was great for handing out flyers and [...]
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” [...]
August 31, 2007 – 1:42 am
After recently reading a posting about a BBQ event with students by a fellow teacher at Smith’s English school in Kyobashi I realized that I had neglected to write about my own BBQ event!
http://www.sse-franchise.com/soapbox/200708/31/pic-a-nic-time/
This event, unbeknownst to most of the students, also happened to fall on my birthday!
Well, if no one was going to throw [...]
August 15, 2007 – 7:55 pm
Not for us here at Smith’s School of English!
We all believe in working hard in order to achieve positive results but finding a balance between work and play is equally important, and we take our play time very seriously here at Smith’s School of English! http://www.sse-franchise.com/calendar2007.shtml
I have been looking forward to this year’s [...]
Well I guess it’s about time for an update to my testimonial here.
I am now 33 years old and I am running three schools.
http://www.sse-franchise.com/testimonials/t27.shtml
Smith’s School of English Horie http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml
Smith’s School of English Kamishinjo http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/kamishinjyo.shtml
Smith’s School of English Fuse http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/fuse.shtml
I just wanted to post a short story here about something really special which [...]
I first started helping Alex at his Smith’s School of English Horie School last Christmas.
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml
As I am terrible with directions, I am always a bit nervous about going to a franchise school for the first time. It turned out that my worry was absolutely unnecessary because Smith’s School of English Horie School was probably [...]
That’s right! I’ve achieved my goal of having three Smith’s School of English schools!
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/kamishinjyo.shtml
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/fuse.shtml
If you’ve read any of my former postings here you are already aware that I have been working toward this goal for some time now.
http://www.sse-franchise.com/testimonials/t27.shtml
Well, on July 1st, 2007 I officially accepted the challenge at Smith’s School of English [...]
I just read a posting by a fellow franchisee, Al Bartle over in Okamoto, about receiving an omiyage from a student recently.
If you’re not sure what “omiyage” means, then check out Al’s explanation here:
http://www.sse-franchise.com/soapbox/200707/04/nice-omiyage-or-souvenirs-from-a-student/
I hadn’t thought of writing about omiyage but after having read Al’s post I realized that I often receive omiyage from [...]
I have wanted to take a trip around Lake Biwa for several years and this past Sunday I was finally able to. I had heard that it was beautiful, especially the northern part, but without a car it would be pretty inconvenient.
http://info.biwako-visitors.jp/biwakonotabi/english/menu.html
Well, a few weeks back one of my students mentioned to me that [...]
I woke up in a great mood this past Tuesday! The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect! You really appreciate those kinds of days if you know what the weather will be like in about a month or so when the hot humid summer begins.
I had recently run an advertisement in [...]
Just wanted to share a story that a student shared with me last week and I thought it was pretty cool. Others here have mentioned how we Smith’s School of English teachers become close friends with our students and since we see them often it allows us to learn more about our students lives [...]
As I’ve mentioned in past postings I’m interested in continuing to add schools to my small portfolio and this morning I had the chance to meet with Mark Smith and ask for advice over a couple of cappuccinos at Garb Dressing, a local café in Kyobashi which features great desserts! http://www.garb-dressing.com/
I had been looking [...]
I previously posted something about this but I felt I should post it again to drive home the strength of being part of a system such as ours.
Last week at Smith’s School of English Horie I had two trial lessons book in through absolutely no effort of my own.
On Thursday night at 9pm I [...]
Recently the weather has been getting warmer and we all know what to expect in about a month or so when the mercury will be around 30 degrees Celsius every day and the humidity around 100%. http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa081901a.htm
A couple of days ago while riding the subway between my 2 schools I saw this English teacher [...]
Today in class at Smith’s School of English Horie School I again experienced the power of being part of a large group all working together for a common goal.
This is defined as T.E.A.M here at Smith’s School of English.
“Together Everyone Achieves More” http://www.sse-franchise.com/team.shtml
I had a Trial Lesson at 1pm at my Smith’s School [...]
A couple of days ago I received a call from Gavin to let me know that one of my students at my Smith’s School of English Horie school had called up the head office to quit my school from July of this year, but that during that phone call she went on and on with [...]
I recently had a chance to travel during the Golden Week vacation, and I wanted to share a quick story about what it means to be part of a system that is always available to back you up no matter how unique the situation.
I had wanted to visit my relatives in Romania and Italy for [...]
Hello, my name is Alessandro but most people call me Alex. I’m the owner of both Horie and Kamishinjo Smith’s School of English franchises. I also teach at both schools. This soap box has been set up for me to air my thoughts about teaching English and living in Japan. I [...]