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J-LEAP FOLLOWUP TRAINING IN SAN DIEGOJANUARY, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #99
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OFJAPANESE

2015 J-LEAP FOLLOW UP TRAINING IN SAN DIEGOBYLESLIE OKADA ROBERTS
The beautiful weather in San Diego was theperfect venue for our year 5 Follow Up
Training. 10 ATs (assistant teachers), 3 trainers,
1 advisor and 2 Japan Foundation
representatives, 1 from Japan and 1 from Los
Angeles, gathered for 3 intensive days oftraining from November 17th – 19th at a hotel inthe heart of downtown. We were near theGaslamp Quarter and within walking distanceof the convention center, where this year’s
ACTFL Conference was held.
The training outcomes for the first two days were focused on two separate but related topics.
On the third day, 1 AT (assistant teacher) from the year before, and 1 LT (lead teacher) also fromthe year before, came to lead several one hour sessions covering topics of interest to thecurrent ATs.
Prior to attending this training, the 10 ATs were paired with another AT teaching at the samelevel, for the most part. The pairs were asked to decide on a structure or function they will beteaching with their LT (lead teacher) after the training is over and they return to their site.
On day one, Yo Azama sensei, our main trainer, did an all day session on the creation ofstandards-based lesson plans and how to implement the grammatical structure they decided
upon through the creation of a context for using that structure. The purpose of using a context
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is to get away from direct grammar-based instruction. He taught the ATs to create input
activities, moving from simple to more complex, using the 3 modes of communication throughcommunicative activities.
The following morning, the pair of ATs wererequired to teach a lesson for 15 minutes of thestructure they decided upon for the training,demonstrating what they learned from Azamasensei’s instruction. The ATs and Azama-sensei
created a rubric to determine how well theytaught their lesson. After each demonstration
lesson, the pair received feedback fromeveryone and shared how they thought they
did and what they could have done differently.
Each lesson was recorded and uploaded toGoogle drive, where everyone attending thetraining had access.
After the demonstration lessons on day two, Leslie Roberts, with the help of Mari Maruyama,
led a session on Classroom Management and Classroom Control. We compared differences
between behaviors in a classroom in Japan versus behaviors in a classroom in the US. The ATs
shared behaviors they were surprised by after being in their classrooms in the US.
We discussed the importance of teaching the correct behaviors in the Japanese classroom andpracticing those behaviors with the students. It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach thesecultural behaviors in class so that when the students go to Japan, they would not beembarrassed. It is important for students to know why they must observe certain rules, such as
taking off your hat (respect), not eating or drinking in class (not appropriate), not chewing gum(not appropriate and difficult to pronounce Japanese with gum in ones mouth), not walking infront of the teacher while he/she is talking (rude), not throwing things (inappropriate, rude), etc.
We were unable to cover every aspect of classroom management, but raised the awareness ofstressing Japanese cultural behaviors, which will help in managing the behavior of the class.
The group shared and practiced techniques forgetting the attention of the students, how toget students to switch from speaking English toJapanese, and how to address discipline
problems. We also discussed the importance ofsetting boundaries for students, but the valueof letting students know you care about themand letting them know when they have done agood job.

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Many classroom control issues arise when transitioning from one activity to the next. We
stressed pacing and giving clear directions along with modeling the activity. The pairs of ATs
were assigned to demonstrate one of the activities they created in Azama-sensei’s session andteach it to the group. Among the group, we had ‘students’ who were discipline problems andthe ATs teaching the activity had to discipline those students using strategies we covered inthe session. Each activity was recorded and feedback regarding the teaching of the activity as
well as how they handled the discipline issues was given to each pair. The pairs shared how
they thought they did and what they could have done differently.
The morning of the last day of training, the ATs were asked to reflect on the training and list 3
points they learned, list 1 point the ATs will have difficulty implementing and 1 point the ATs still
did not understand. The purpose of this activity was to clarify and answer any questions theATs may have about any aspect of the training before returning to their assigned sites.
Hitomi Kameyama, a year 4 Assistant Teacher,with the help of Shunji Iwasaki, another 4thyear AT, came to conduct sessions on topics
such as “Idea Share and Materials Swap,”“Sharing Strategies That Worked: I Need Help
With…,” “Moving Toward Independent Living,”“Ideas for AT’s Summer Project.” TomoeNakamura, a year 4 LT (lead teacher)conducted a session with her AT, Hitomi
Kameyama on “What Can You Do To Help
Promote Your Program.”
The training ended with Mari Maruyama sharing Japan resources, reviewing policy and having
the ATs complete an evaluation.
Every year, we schedule the Follow Up Training in the same city as ACTFL in order for the ATs
to be able to attend the National Conference that year after the training. Next year’s Follow Up
Training will be held at Boston, where next year’s ACTFL will be held. Come join us!

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