Hello, everyone.
As partner to Mark Smith in the Smith’s School of English company as well as a multiple Smith’s Franchise owner, I habitually read the SSE Soapbox and do so with great pleasure. It is obvious our Smith’s Franchise Team is very happy and that everyone enjoys their work very much.
Most of us like to write [...]
I just wanted to congratulate Heidi on finishing her first full year at my Smith’s School in Kotoen. Heidi has settled in very nicely and doing fine. Good job and I’m looking forward to another, even better year!
Martin
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Everyone, I just wanted to let you know that Michael starts semi-F/T as my manager at the Smith’s Fukushima school, just as Heidi is my F/T manager at my Smith’s School in Kotoen. Michael will attend the Curriculum Training Seminar on Routines at Head Office Thursday April 10th and I urge all of you [...]
I am pleased to introduce my new semi-F/T teacher, Michael Bosman from Australia to my Smith’s School in Fukushima. Michael is a professional teacher in New South Wales and I am very pleased to welcome him to the team. He will assume most of the teaching hours while Graham and I each keep [...]
At long last it appears winter is on the way out. That’s good news for all of us, in part because Japan is such a nice place to be in the spring. But also people will renew their feeling to study and learn and, considering the changes the industry has experienced in the [...]
February 25, 2008 – 7:23 am
Last week I started the ‘B’ section of the 1-points with a class I’ve been teaching for some time at my Smith’s School in Fukushima. It was refeshing and satisfying to hear the following direct quote produced by one of the charming students:
I prefer Smith’s School in Fukushima to other English schools because I [...]
February 17, 2008 – 7:25 pm
Valentine’s Day has come and gone once again and it always amazes me how much more intense the chocolate-buying process has become. I went into the special event floor of two major department stores and was completely overwhelmed by the number of women in the process of choosing the right chocolates for their favorite [...]
February 10, 2008 – 5:44 am
In reference to the Smith’s Curriculum 1-point, I’d love to work at my Smith’s School in Kotoen everyday but I can’t because my other Smith’s Franchise in Fukushima is also very busy and requires the same amount of due diligence.
Both of my schools are wonderful places to work at largely because of the wide variety [...]
January 31, 2008 – 7:06 pm
Already January is passing and we are well into 2008. It occurs to me how nice Kotoen is with its many cool shops, friendly locals and tasty restaurants. My Smith’s Franchise in Kotoen is just as comfortable. The two-classroom store is tastefully and warmly furnished and Heidi and I work with many [...]
November 7, 2007 – 2:29 am
Last Sunday we finally had our Welcome Lunch at Popura, the restaurant at Kangaku. Our group was made up of 2 teachers, 7 students, 2 husbands, a beautiful wife, and one much-talked about boyfriend! Unfortunately not everyone could come due to work and family commitments (some lucky students have gone on holiday to England!) [...]
October 11, 2007 – 4:47 am
One of the main reasons I love working at Smith’s Kotoen is the wonderful relationships I’ve developed with my students. Working at a smaller school, I tend to teach the same students every week, which makes it easier to track their progress. One of my students was so happy last week that she watched [...]
October 10, 2007 – 2:45 am
Though I’m usually based in Kyobashi, I’ve recently been filling for Martin over in Kotoen by teaching a few classes. As one of our franchise English schools it is perhaps one of the more unusual due to the way that the lessons are set up.
During my time there I had one particularly memorable experience 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 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 [...]
August 27, 2007 – 10:43 pm
Smith’s School of English Kotoen students have been very busy this summer, traveling all over the world.
One Student (of Billy’s Boot Camp fame) spent 10 days in Cairns, Australia. She and her husband explored the rain forest, went fishing, scuba diving and relaxed on the beach. But her favorite part was going [...]
August 25, 2007 – 5:24 am
At my Smith’s School of English in Fukushima, I feel very fortunate to have an extra large, 1.8m-long whiteboard and with many colored markers, it is an enjoyable mission to fill the entire board during the lesson.
One of my incredibly charming Monday night students has the most interesting study habit. She takes out [...]
August 16, 2007 – 4:44 pm
Maybe it’s astrological destiny, or maybe pure coincidence, but one of my students has the same birthday as me. We discovered this in our first lesson together. (her husband and my boyfriend are also both Leos!) Our birthday is Sunday so we decided to have a mini-party in our lesson on Thursday.
Birthday [...]
Recently, I met a student at my Smith’s Kotoen franchise for the first time. He is a mature, professional man and although I have met him only once, he seems to be very intelligent and quick to learn.
I started out a little different than usual as I had been informed this man has been [...]
To even out the throngs of summer festival revelers, the cities of Osaka and Kobe have had their Yodogawa and Meriken Park Fireworks festivals on the same night for the past three years. That was August 4th, last Saturday night if you didn’t get to either!
But the big question each year is [...]
Martin wrote recently about our newest student, who really appreciated our cheerful `Good morning`s`.
I`d like to write about why I appreciate my students.
It`s difficult when you take over a school that has been very carefully built-up and nurtured by two women who had to go home but that is what Martin and I have done. [...]
Today Heidi had a trial lesson at Smith’s School of English Kotoen which made us feel really good. A wonderfully charming potential student came in to meet with us. The reason she phoned up Smith’s for her Trial Lesson was because she liked the way we said, “Good morning! Thank you and [...]
I’ve been with Smith’s since the beginning. I used to have a high school job in Osaka, and when I met Mark Smith back in mid-1999, it was a simple decision to open my first part-time franchise in Koshien. I say part time because throughout the entire ownership of my first franchise I kept working [...]
I’ve done flyers and managed flyer teams at many stations in Kansai over the years, and Heidi and I had an experience the other day I just have to share with you. I’m hoping this story will motivate you to increase the revenue at your Smith’s School Franchise.
Kotoen Station is midway on the Hankyu Nishinomiya-Takarazuka [...]
Hi! My name`s Heidi, I`m originally from Australia but have somehow picked up a half-canadian accent in the last 2 years of teaching English in Osaka. I`ve just finished my first month working at Smith’s School of English Kotoen, and couldn`t be happier. I quit my last job for a number of reasons, but [...]
Hello, everyone! For those who haven’t heard, I’m the new owner of the Smith’s School of English Kotoen franchise. I bought it from out-going owners Jill and Janet in April , 2007 and am working hard to get it operating properly under my command. I have hired a full-time [...]
Hello, everyone!
Those who know me wouldn’t be surprised to see pictures of me with giant, cutting edge telescopes standing around everywhere. Neither would anyone be shocked to hear me talk about them like I was possessed nor roll their eyes to see me sitting in Star bucks with my third double espresso trying to solve [...]