On Sunday, 30 March at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine’s Inamori Memorial Hall, join us for a morning of tips, tricks, and activities from primary and secondary educators in and around Kyoto.
- Date: 30 March 2025
- Time: 9:00 – 12:00
- Online option: YouTube LIVE (register for this event to get the link)
- Location: Kyoto Prefectural University, Shimogamo Campus, Building 8 (Inamori Memorial Hall), Room 209 (Access information at KPU’s website HERE)
- Language: English
- Participation fee: Free
Register for this event HERE! (Google Form)
Abstracts
The Litterless Campaign: How a 3-year TBL initiative was implemented into a high school English curriculum
Edward Escobar – Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School
From 2022 to 2024, two high school classes part of a partial English immersion course in Kyoto participated in a world-wide project supported through UNESCO and the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) called “The Litterless Campaign”. During this 3-year initiative, the two classes participated in a number of scaffolded tasks to raise awareness about different waste-management practices in various countries. Each class took turns presenting their findings to the other class over the course of three years, coming to conclusions on best practices based on their observations in their home country Japan, and from surveys and observations conducted in New Zealand and Canada while on a short-term study abroad excursion. Students then used this information to participate in a Model United Nations conference focusing on the crisis of pollution and waste around the world. This presentation introduces the structure of the initiative and how it was implemented into a high school curriculum.
Does Speed Equal Success? Examining the Relationship Between Writing Fluency and TOEFL Results
Benjamin Robertson – Kousen Catholic Junior High School & Senior High School
This study investigates the impact of speed writing activities on students’ writing fluency and their performance on the TOEFL writing section. Over a three-month period, a group of six high school students participated in structured speed writing sessions, with their words per minute (WPM) tracked across practice intervals. To assess the potential relationship between writing fluency and TOEFL performance, students completed a questionnaire and participated in interviews at the end of the study, providing insights into their experiences and perceived improvements. The presentation will detail the methods used to track progress, including WPM calculations, comparative analysis of writing samples, and any correlation between fluency gains and TOEFL writing scores. Trends observed across different age groups will also be highlighted, along with practical recommendations for integrating speed writing into English language instruction. This session is designed for educators interested in the relationship between fluency and assessment and fostering students’ writing development.
Teaching With Picture Books
David Wybenga – Kyoto ETJ
What can you do with a picture book? Share a good story, teach about the world, motivate with some life lesson or moral, inspire a discussion, teach or practice new words or a sentence structure, change the routine, set up an activity. I will introduce a number of useful picture books for teaching English to children. As time allows I will demonstrate some activities to go along with those books, and materials that can be acquired or constructed. I can answer questions about picture books, and introduce an ongoing resource for more information, which participants can also contribute to.
A COIL Project: Philippine-Japan Exchange
Celeste Beboso – Kyoto Prefectural Yamashiro High School
With the rise of technology and globalization, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) has emerged as a promising pedagogical approach for fostering global citizenship and intercultural understanding. A project leveraging on the principles of COIL’s advantages was then launched to provide a valuable experience for students while strengthening bilateral ties between the Philippines and Japan. This was featured as one of the selected cases of JET-ALT initiatives in Kyoto Prefecture by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) in 2023. This online language and culture exchange activity hosted over 20 participants annually from a Prefectural High School in Kyoto and a partner institution in the Philippines from 2022-2024. The synchronous meetings were designed to provide Japanese students with a platform to interact with global English speakers, learn about other cultures while sharing their own, foster open-mindedness, and develop cross-cultural communication skills. Conducted with a number of breakout room sessions, student presentations, and collaborative activities, student feedback indicated a significant interest in communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds and to experience a more immersive interaction.
Classroom Positivity After COVID-19: Strategies for Promoting a Supportive Learning Environment
Samia Haseeb Khan – Mukogawa Women’s University
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education worldwide, impacting students’ social, emotional, and academic well-being. As schools return to in-person learning, creating classroom environments that promote positivity, resilience, and overall well-being is crucial. This talk will explore strategies to support students through key psychological theories, including Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism (1978), which highlights the role of social interaction in learning; Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943), emphasizing emotional well-being as the foundation for academic success; and Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset Theory (2006), which focuses on building resilience through challenges.
In this session, I’ll also share specific exercises I’ve implemented in my classroom since the pandemic, such as mindfulness activities to help students manage stress, team-building games that promote collaboration, and emotion-sharing circles that create a safe space for students to express their feelings. I’ll also discuss using gamified learning to boost engagement and motivation, while focusing on social-emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-informed teachingto support students’ emotional needs.
By applying these theories and strategies, educators can create a classroom environment where students feel supported, engaged, and empowered to thrive academically and emotionally in the post-pandemic world.
Black-out poetry: A way to trick your teenage students into reading!
Harmony Martin – Kansai International Academy
Some students seem unwilling to read in English. With such students, sometimes tricking them into reading is the perfect solution. How to do so? Allow them to scribble or draw or mark all over the passage you want them to read. Students’ creativity and artistic skills are put to use when you let them make Blackout Poetry. Everyone can be a Blackout Poet; no artistic talent is required. Students of mine as young as 13 years old (second year of junior high school) have willingly read passages in textbooks with enough focus to be able to later recall and summarize the passage. The students believe they simply get to draw or otherwise show their unique creativity; they seldom notice that they have reached my goal for them — they read and understand English passages they wouldn’t otherwise feel any desire or need to read. In this session, I will explain what Blackout Poetry is, show you some examples, give details about how it encourages students to (am I allowed to use the phrase ‘trick them into’?!) not only read, but to read for comprehension, and even to build their vocabulary in the process.
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