Two Teachers Talking

ボクです！¡Soy yo! C'est moi! To ja! Это я! 나야! Tôi đây! 是我！ມັນແມ່ນຂ້ອຍ! So, really…how does the language we use affect…everything? Tony and Charles dive off the deep end. Luckily, they have some help from Maria Minohara, student at Osaka University, who shares her insights on bilingualism, personality, persona, and society. (And apologies to Maria and listeners for the poor recording quality of the interview.) Mentioned: Ivana Paz, "How the Language I Speak Changes My Personality" https://humanparts.medium.com/how-the-language-i-speak-changes-my-personality-73a1c19a49a7 François Grosjean, "Change of Language, Change of Personality?" https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-bilingual/201111/change-language-change-personality François Grosjean and Aneta Pavlenko, "Psychology Today blog, Life as a bilingual" http://www.francoisgrosjean.ch/blog_en.html Nairán Ramírez-Esparza, Samuel D. Goslinga, Verónica Benet-Martínezb, JeVrey P. Potterc, James W. Pennebakera, "Do bilinguals have two personalities? A speci

We all have more things to do than time to do them. We talk about trying to manage all the things we need to, want to, or are expected to do. Spoiler: no magic app will solve all your task management problems. Also, apologies for the poor audio quality; not up to our usual standards, but TIME MANAGEMENT issues didn’t allow a re-recording.

From time to time one needs to step back and take account of what you do and don’t have control over. When you realize the things that are bugging you most are things beyond your control, what do you do? Mentioned: Text Expander https://textexpander.com The Flintstones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstones Previous Episodes http://twoteacherstalking.com: - 12, 13 Interviewing and Hiring - 51, 52 School Culture - 53 Failure by Design

Motivation. No, not yours. The students’. How do you motivate students–or should you have to? Peering into the opacity of the student mind. Mentioned: You Are Not So SmartPodcast (YANSS), Episodes 52, 53, 55 https://youarenotsosmart.com Two Teachers Talking: Episode 67 Japanese Exceptionalism Episode 53: Failure by Design Episode 51 and 52: School Culture Internet Content by Language http://tony-silva.com/eslefl/whyenglish.html Us and Them, Silva http://tony-silva.com/usandthem/usandthem.html Geography of Thought, Nesbitt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geography_of_Thought

We’re all pretty much obligated or resigned to shooting for the middle with our classes. How do you accommodate the student whose abilities far outstrip his/her peers? How about the one who just believes his/her do? Mentioned in the podcast: Tony Buzan and Mind-Mapping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Y4pIsXTV0.

So, you landed a teaching job. Sit down, kid, let us tell ya couple things. We dig deep for ideas, tips, shortcuts, and insights that might have helped us in our early teaching years. (Give us a break…that was a long time ago.) Here’s your chance to learn from our many, many mistakes.

After a short discussion about the start of the new academic year, Tony and Charles continue their discussion on study abroad. This month, they look at the challenges students might face when living and studying abroad…and when returning to Japan. Mentioned: Paris Syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome Us and Them http://tony-silva.com/usandthem/usandthem.html Three Study Abroad Programs http://tony-silva.com/files/3StdyAbrdPrgs1998.pdf

Dicussion of the direct and indirect benefits of living and studying abroad along with some brainstorming on preparation strategies and tips. Next month we’ll talk about potential problems and downsides along with the challenges of re-entry. Mentioned: Why English and Which Kind? Hours studied by university students

Choosing the right tool for the job–not always as simple as it sounds. We talk about tool essentials, the process of adding tools that best help us finish the job, and the danger of being seduced by new technologies. Oh, and fetishes.

Description - Happy new year! 明けましておめでとう! With the new year beginning and the academic year ending, Tony and Charles discuss the task of making and scoring final exams, as well as whether or not there’s a place for the final exam in today’s educational world. See the "Final Exam Checklist" at http://twoteacherstalking.com .

Winding up the year with a return to the podcast premise: two teachers sitting around talking shop. A look back at 2018, a look ahead, and the eternal question: Where are the answers? Mentioned in the podcast: Citation Machine citationmachine.net

Maybe the most boring episode yet–but it's for your own good. Backup strategies that will save your butt. Securing student information, correspondence, and work, and keeping it private. Grab a cup of joe.

No matter how great the idea, any attempt to “change things” is bound to upset somebody and meet with resistance. So, how do you up your game without drawing the ire of “we fear change” muckety-mucks? Tony and Charles discuss their strategies for stealth teaching.

The question of whether or not homework “works” is not a binary proposition. What makes a “meaningful” assignment, how does one approach crafting one, what questions need to be asked, and what considerations need to be made.

We all know 90 minutes is not enough. (It’s too much, too, but that’s another topic.) Web pages can provide an extra channel of information and communication between you and your students, as well as serve as a planning tool and a record of what’s been done in class. Plus, it's the perfect answer to “I was absent.”

The world makes no allowances for your lesson plan. Earthquakes, typhoons, death, divorce, illness, heartbreak, ICE, all find their way into your classroom. So, Teach, how do you handle that?

Special guest interview with Prof. Alison Kitzman of Kindai University in which she tries to unpack Bloom’s Taxonomy. A glance at this graphic before listening will be VERY helpful: http://bit.ly/bloomrose.

Besides being an English teacher, you’re a teacher. So, besides English language skills, what are the things you try to impart to your students? Tony and Charles go through their (partial) lists, from manners to finances to joy.

The one thing each of us needs more of this or any other time of the year is time. We do a bit of a deep dive to find where we can (or can’t) shave some seconds or minutes from our routine teaching tasks. (See http://twoteacherstalking.com for links).

While the “why” of foreign language education is always among the elephants in the room, presentation skills offer the student relevant, powerful tools that have real, practical value and use. If you can change people’s minds, you can change the world. That’s why it’s important to get this one right. Or, at least one of us thinks so. So, how important are presentation skills and how do we teach them? Turns out to be a long one. And Tony apologizes in advance for his lapses into vulgarity.