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Kay Irie and Rachelle R. Meilleur discuss issues and events of interest to the LD SIG Rachelle: Last month we talked about the use of portfolios both in and out of the classroom, and with another school year (almost) over the problem of evaluation and assessment is one that I always struggle with to improve. … Read more

New Year Talk on the Potential of E-portfolio Kay Irie and Rachelle R. Meilleur in dialogue Kay: あけましておめでとうございます！Happy New Year! It’s exciting to start our monthly dialogue on Talking Points at the start of a new year with you, Rachelle. よろしくお願いします。 Rachelle: Happy New Year to you too, Kay! I’m excited to be a part … Read more

Below is a list of contact information for some organizations that plan to provide relief to victims of the typhoon, called Yolanda in the Philippines. This list is from The New York Times, which does not certify the charities’ fund allocations or administrative costs. More information about giving, for this and other causes, is available … Read more

Gearing up again: Reflection and goal-setting Alison: The summer is over and it’s time to get ready for the second semester. For me, this time of year is very important for reflection and goal-setting. Now is the time I like to reflect back on what happened in the previous semester: what went well, what didn’t … Read more

BOOKWORMS 2 Alison: Last month, Chika and I were talking about how, as bookworms ourselves, we strongly believe that extensive reading can play a very important role in our students’ language development. As I mentioned then, it maybe isn’t the only way to learn English. Students could learn English through extensive listening and speaking, for … Read more

Bookworms Chika: Recently, I introduced one of my classes to extensive reading using the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) series. We started by reading one of the beginner-level stories together in the class. The Haircut is very popular, I hear, in primary schools in the UK and I realized that ORT includes various phrases and expressions … Read more

Opening Doors to Professional Self-Development Alison: With the rainy season upon us, the spring semester is now more than half-way done. I find that there is no better way to restore my flagging energy levels than to go to a conference. I was lucky enough to attend the PanSIG conference in Nagoya on May 17-18. … Read more

Memorable, Meaningful Memories Chika: For this month’s discussion, Alison and I have chosen to talk about the teachers that made the strongest impressions on us when we were students. Reflecting on my student life, one of the most vivid memories is of Kamimura-sensei, the vice-principal in my old elementary school. My first encounter with him … Read more

First Class of the Year Alison: Now that the cherry blossom is out, it’s time to start gearing up for the start of a new academic year. I always approach the first week with mixed feelings: regret and apprehension that I haven’t had or made enough time to prepare, but also excitement about the chance … Read more

THE POWER OF WRITING Chika: The other day, I was talking with two of my colleagues about learning English and the skills we liked the best. One said she liked listening, while the other said reading was his favorite skill. Hearing that they both preferred receptive skills, I told them that I liked writing the … Read more