AKITA JALT meetings in 2006
picture album page 1- the first meeting of 2006
(pictures of April 2006 meeting below)

February

"First I will explain what a drama approach is; what it might entail.
Second What is 'learner autonomy'; what do we understand by it?
Then I will talk about shared principles on autonomy and drama..."

"How do we practice drama and autonomy? We need some warm-ups as groundwork...
I'm going to show you 3 projects. 1) Erm... 2) A Romantic Dinner 3) Final Project..."





Guest speaker: Steve Brown
current national JALT president
Date: February 25th, 2006
Title: A Drama Approach in an Autonomous Learning Environment
& JALT Open Mike
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Yugakusha (next to Akita Red Cross Hospital)

14 people attended.


After the session some participated in a dinner at a Japanese restaurant near Akita Station.




9 people attended socializing at the dinner, which went on for 4 hours.

Chapter Report (to be printed in The Language Teacher) Guest speaker: Steve Brown AKITA - February 2006 -A Drama Approach in an Autonomous Learning Environment - Steve Brown, Konan Woman's University. Drama in the language classroom is often thought of as just a series of 'techniques' or 'fun activities' aimed to get students actively using the language, but it can be so much more. In this presentation, Steve Brown linked the theory and practice of a drama approach to the area of learner autonomy, arguing that the two areas make an extremely effective combination in the language classroom. He gave a practical demonstration of how such an approach can be used at the university level, by dividing the audience into pairs and handing out split-dialogs. He also showed videos of a project done by his students. The final portion of the presentation was called 'JALT Open Mike' where everyone had a chance to ask questions, suggest ideas and share their concerns, complaints and opinions with Professor Brown in his role as JALT National President. Reported by Stephen Shucart

AKITA JALT meetings in 2006
picture album page 1- the 2nd meeting of 2006
(pictures of February 2006 meeting above)

April












Guest speaker: Martha Clark Cummings
Date: April 22nd, 2006
Title: A writing workshop for teachers with stories to tell
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: AIU (Akita International University)
Room: B-103

15 people attended.

Chapter Report (to be printed in The Language Teacher) Guest speaker: Martha Clark Cummings AKITA - April 2006 Language Learning Histories - Martha Clark Cunnings This talk was an attempt to cram a weeklong workshop into two hours. It was for anyone who had a language-learning story to tell. I'm sure this type of workshop works quite well when it has the proper length of time. But it was condensed so that some of the main points had to be gone over too rapidly. By employing a series of exercises, using the techniques of published writers, the presenter, who writes fiction and non-fiction, guided the participants through the writing and sharing of their stories. The workshop had three main goals. The participants should have learned how to bring their stories alive through writing and sharing. After first brainstorming about language learning in general, the participants spent the rest of the time writing a few paragraphs about a significant language learning experience they had, then sharing it with their partners. After that the writing was further expanded and then it was shared with a different partner. This was a sponsored talk, but the advertising for the MA/TESOL course was non-intrusive Reported by Stephen Shucart

more pictures
go to JALT photo album 40

go to pictures of the meetings in 2005
go to pictures of the meetings in 2004
go to pictures of the meetings in 2003
go to pictures of the meetings in 2002
go to pictures of the meetings in 2001
go to pictures of the past meetings (1998 - 2000)
Akita JALT

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