Back to School is our annual spring one-day mini-conference which aims to share ideas on a wide range of topics to help everyone start the new school year on a positive note. It’s one of our favorite events of the year.
This year’s plenary session is by Yuko Nishiyama & Stephen Dalton:
“Two years since 3/11: Where are we now in the healing process?”
Although over two years have passed since 3/11, the disaster continues for many. Both those struggling to remain in Tohoku and others who have evacuated have done their best to carry on, but challenges abound. Yuko Nishiyama will describe her path from housewife and mother in Fukushima to community activist in Kansai. Through her Minna no Te project she is reaching out to the local community to lend support to those most directly affected. Stephen Dalton, will describe how his Service Learning class of foreign and Japanese students have assisted “Minna no Te” while also learning language and culture.
Yuko Nishiyama is a native of Fukushima who lived for seven years in North America, earning a BA in linguistics from Iowa State University. Upon returning to Japan she worked in Sendai and Tokyo as a translator and Eikaiwa manager. She and her husband settled in the city of Fukushima to start a family, but 3/11 shattered their plans. Out of health concerns, she and her three-year-old daughter evacuated to Kansai while her husband has continued working in Kanto and Fukushima. In Kansai she founded the community action project “Minna no Te”, devoted to meeting the information and social needs of the 700+ evacuees now living in Kyoto and many of those left behind in Fukushima.
Stephen Dalton, an Associate Professor at Osaka Gakuin University, teaches Economic History and Intercultural Communication to foreign exchange students, English to Japanese students, and Service Learning to both. A native of the USA, he previously held posts at the English Studies Institute and the English Language Program at the University of California – Berkeley.
This year’s regular and poster presentations:
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Ryoko Aino – Hato: onigiri for the homeless (poster) Jason Bartashius – 3/11: The Latest Chapter of the Filipina Migrant Experience in Japan |
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Sylvain Bergeron – Lesson Design Strategy within a Team Teaching Approach |
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Harry Carley – Blogging: The Write Tool? |
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Harry Carley –ALT Opinion: Hi Friends, Eigo Friendly? |
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Gretchen Clark – Braining up vocabulary study (poster) |
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Stephen Dalton – Service Learning: Improving English and Helping the Community |
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Jeanette Dekker – Fun with Reading |
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Sean Gay & Michael Iwane-Salovaara – Excel 101: Starting and Expert MS Excel Tips for Teachers |
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Craig Hagerman – Developing Moodle modules |
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James Jenson – Phoneme Acquisition Studies and the EFL Classroom |
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Sayuri Kang – Do you know about Koreans living in Japan? |
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Julia Kimura, Aaron Bucky, & Mary Kawai – Introduction to the General Union (poster) |
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Alison Kitzman – What Students Prefer: Topics for Optimal Motivation |
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Wes Lang – Fun activities for practicing follow-up questions |
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Amy Larson – Basic Characteristics of English Writing |
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Amy Larson – Unlocking the Limits of Children’s Songs |
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Arthur Lauritsen – Using the True Stories series in a lesson |
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Matt Lucas & Myles Grogan – Topic selection and writing fluency Stella Maxwell, et al. – The I-Chat Experience: Authentic learning using energizing, targeted and interactive games |
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Steve McCarty – Bilingualism for Language Teachers and Parents in Japan |
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Stuart McLean – Improving ER research: time on task, and accurately measuring reading and comprehension |
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Stuart McLean – Preliminary results from JALT sponsored research investigating Japanese university students’ vocabulary size (poster) |
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Stuart McLean, Nicholas Hogg, & Brandon Kramer – The effectiveness of Word Engine over an academic year |
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Matthew Michaud – Recipe creation and output: Getting more out of the typical food unit (poster) |
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Misuzu Okada – What does “competence” mean? |
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James Rogers – On how to create a paperless class with computer technology |
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Cameron Romney – Comparing Business English and General English textbooks |
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Tony Silva – First Impressions, Final Evaluations |
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Lisa Theisen – Simple Speeches for the Start of the Semester |
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Josh Wilson – Build Engagement with Peer Interviews |
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Brian Wojtowicz – Lesson Activity Ideas and Assessment Procedures: A Reflection |
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Andrew Woollock – Postmodern epistemology and notions of truth in the content classroom |