Workshop C: Building a Curriculum and Staying Organized

Basics on Scheduling Monthly Schedule Term Schedule Yearlong curriculum Year events Weekly Schedule

School Year in Japan Spring Beginning of school year *Entrance ceremony for Freshman Cultural Festival (sometimes) Summer longest vacation for students Mid July-End of Aug Autumn Cultural Festival & sports Festival (sometimes) Winter School Trip for 2 nd year Entrance examination for college

Term Schedule Oh no!! It’s in all kanji!!!

Term Schedule 1 st term April Mid July 2 nd term September Mid Dec 3 rd term Jan Mid March Opening Ceremony 始業式 Mid-term Exam 中間試験 / 考査 / テスト Final-term Exam 期末試験 / 考査 / テスト Closing ceremony 閉会式 Check your own schedule (p.20)

式 しき Shi-ki Ceremony

Tips  Entrance ceremony nyugakushiki 入学式  Opening ceremony shigyoshiki 始業式  Closing ceremony shigyo-shiki 始業式 When PTA comes  Formal Clothes

Events  Athletic Meeting 運動会 Undo-kai  Sports festival 球技大会 Kyugi taikai In Field / Gym Sports-wear * 全校集会 / 学年集会 会 → ask JTEs whether ALT need to attend what to wear where they meet Jeans?

Weekly Schedule Teacher’s name

Scheduling Classes How many times does each class meet? Make sure to keep it even What topics do you need to cover? When is the test? Do you have any business trips? When? Which classes will not meet?

Before you make your curriculum….. Ask Your JTE! Is this class academic or cultural? What skills are students focusing on? (communication only, writing, etc.) What is the curriculum for the non-TT class? Do you use a textbook or original lessons? What responsibilities does the ALT have? (Planning, test making, management, etc.)

Textbook – Easier; use the textbook themes to create fun lessons No textbook – More difficult! – Choose themes you like, and teach lessons about them – For example…if you choose the theme “food,” you can have a lesson describing food, a taste test lesson, a restaurant lesson, etc.

Lessons should build on each other Use similar themes, vocabulary, and grammar Try to repeat points used in earlier lessons Connecting Lessons

Goals What are your personal goals for the class? How do those goals meet JTE’s goals? (example: JTE wants to finish textbook; ALT wants to make students comfortable in basic conversation…how do these goals work together?) Please remember, you are the assistant. JTE’s goals are more important. You can measure your goal with an assessment

Basics on Assessment Why we assess – to decide what to teach/review next. – to measure/report on what was learned. To check our students learning or performance and to check the effectiveness of our curriculum

Types of assessment Formal Assessment written graded “objective” there is only a single correct answer T/F, multiple choice, matching Informal Assessment performances portfolios peer/self evaluation rubric “subjective” there are many ways to be correct Essays, opinions

Assessment Tools Test (multiple choice, matching, fill in the blank, essay) Rubric (scale to make subjective scoring objective) Student Portfolio Observation Student Reflection

Troubleshooting Be flexible! There are constant changes to your schedule Deal with it! Always update your JTE if YOU make any changes to your curriculum or anything else

Questions?

Group Activity You have a class with no textbook! In a small group, choose a theme for the semester. What lessons will you teach? You have 6 classes this semester. What is your assessment? – Test? – Long term project? – Conversation?