My Share & Bonenkai

Our chapter had its third annual December My Share meeting. Each member shared an experience or impression about their teaching from 2008 that was memorable. One junior high school ALT talked about how he tries to help students understand the pronunciation of difficult consonants, using word pairs such as "white rabbit" - because the letter "r" begins with a "w" position. Another member, who has his own school, explained how Kim Horne's presentation in September 2008 had made him reflect on how he relates to students - that the simple act of good eye contact makes an important difference. Another teacher, who teaches at a university, said Atsuko Takase's presentation on extensive reading in June 2008 had helped him a great deal in his work. He has been using extensive reading for a while, but until hearing Ms. Takase's talk he had never heard of actual research results on that type of learning method. Other members shared their impromptu experiences and questions about how to improve their teaching. After the meeting, most of the members went to a restaurant together for a bite to eat. It was an enjoyable and fitting end to 2008 for Hamamatsu JALT chapter.