Two Teachers Talking

From Ditto to Download - Part 1. We've come a long way since the days of the wonderfully banana scented blue ditto handouts to digital downloads. Or have we? What's the reality of digital information sharing in 2013 Japanese university classrooms?

Does English matter? Immeasurable expense, time, energy spent on learning and teaching English...is there a point? Does anyone care? Why should they?

Off the rails and into the sky. In an attempt to retain sanity in the madness of the semester's end, we invite world traveller Prof. Alison Kitzman of Kinki University to discuss vacations: kinds, destinations, getting good intel, the teacher's spin on getting away, and the changing nature of leisure time. Start packing. (Yes, the same Alison Kitzman to whom I am very happily married).)

The Grading is Nigh. That big cloud on the horizon? The grading that awaits you with that final wollop at the end of the term. We talk about what we do to try to minimize the pain.

Time management. OK, you've got 90 minutes. Go. Different ideas about ways to think about, approach, and tweak time management. Never mind that we always go over our one-hour podcast limit. Never mind that this is getting posted late.

Teachers under attack. Looking at the big country across the pond, we examine the many ways teachers in the US are being set upon, and consider what it might mean for us here in Japan. Teaching to the test, anti-intellectualism, erosion of teacher autonomy - the list is long. We also interview a retired Chicago area high school teacher, who shares his first-hand observations in an interview at the end of the podcast. Like this blurb, the podcast is a long one.

The full-time / part-time divide - Part Two. No better example of "greener grass syndrome" can be found than the PT-FT teacher divide in the little world of English education in Japan. Today we look at the lot of the full-time teacher. Mind the elephants.

The full-time / part-time divide - Part One. No better example of "greener grass syndrome" can be found than the PT-FT teacher divide in the little world of English education in Japan. Today we look at the good and not so good in the world of the part-time teacher. Next, we'll look at the full-time side of the fence.

Sometimes, kids end up in our classes that for a number of reasons, just shouldn't be there. Sometimes, we just need to learn how to teach them. How can we tell the difference? How do we proceed?

A look at the beginning of a new school year: what we did right, what we did wrong. Again. As we say in Chicago, wait till next year.

As the new year begins, a look at exactly why it is that we keep teaching, year after year, in spite of the obstacles and frustrations. And, a happy anniversary to us: Two Teachers Talking is one year old. And...Mickey Mantle.

Getting your mind right before buying your new notebooks, sharpening your pencils, and taking care of the other million things that need doing before you walk into the classroom on the first day.

Change. The only constant. Your textbook this year may be the same as last year's and the year's before, but everything else in the world around it has changed. Tony and Charles look back at almost 50 cumulative years of teaching in Japan.

Sorting out the cognitive and affective filters that the teacher and student bring to the classroom experience. The case for multiple universes in the classroom.

Language and culture - inseparable, we know. What to do when personal convictions and native cultures clash. Sorting out language instruction and cultural relativism.

Every class needs a syllabus, but what does that mean? Drudgery or useful tool?

Grades. The end of the academic year. Converting a semester or year's work to a number between zero and One hundred. What's fair? What's practical? What makes sense? Is it vacation time yet?"

Looking back at 2012: mistakes made, lessons learned, forgotten, and re-learned. As they say in Chicago, "Wait till next year."

With grading right around the corner, Tony and Charles talk about spreadsheet basics and tips.

What we say we do, what we think we do, what we do. Tony and Charles come clean. What really happens when we close that classroom door.