Category: Uncategorized

  • MEES – 2016 Pre-Conference Dinner and Bento Information

    BENTO LUNCH BOX ORDERS

    We would like to start taking orders for prepared Bento lunch boxes for the conference. They will be 500 yen and prepared by our university’s own cafe staff. I have attached a photo of last years bento. Unfortunately, vegetarian bentos are not available.
    Please request your bento order with us by WEDNESDAY, MAY 25th.

    Be advised that there are no convenience stores / restaurants within walking distance of our campus, so please remember to bring something with you to eat if you don’t plan on purchasing a bento lunch. In this case, we recommend that you bring lunch with you on your way here in the morning so you don’t have to drive around during the hour lunch break.

    There are drink vending machines on campus.

    Also, complimentary coffee, tea, and snack food will be made available throughout the day.

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    PRE-CONFERENCE INFORMAL DINNER PARTY / NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY

    Come and join us for a fun and relaxing dinner the Saturday evening before the MEES conference ! Make new friends and share ideas over some drinks & eats! Details are listed below, but we do ask that those planning to join us PLEASE LET US KNOW BY WEDNESDAY, MAY 25th so that we can confirm numbers with the restaurant (please also let us know if you prefer vegetarian dishes). Its the same spot for those who joined us last year.

    Thanks & hope to see you all there !!

    Date: Saturday, May 28.
    Time: 6:00pm~
    Place: La Plaza-tei, Hachinohe (らぷらざ亭 八戸) (Izakaya-style restaurant that specializes in local dishes !)
    Address: 13 Muika-machi, Hachinohe
    Fee: ¥2,500 (drinks not included) Vegetarian dishes are available for those that request in advance.
    Here is a link to restaurant home page with a google map:

    http://ra-plazatei.com/map.html

  • MEES 2016 Call for Presenters Deadline

    Only a few weeks left until the deadline passes. Pass it along!

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  • Autumn Meetings Report 2015

    Hi everyone. It has been quite the hectic autumn season, and I am late with the meeting reports, so I’m going to combine them both here in one article.

    Andy Boon – September 27

    On September 27 we had another amazing visit from Andy Boon. He talked to us about how teachers can be more reflective in how they approach their teaching style, and methods we as teachers can use to self-analyse our performance. One such strategy was having another co-worker listen to our reflection,not making any judgements, and summarizing what we told them,  allowing us a moment of self-reflection. Overall, Andy’s ideas for teacher self-evaluation and reflection were very helpful.

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    Andy’s second talk about on Negotiated syllabuses.  This is a method of planning a course curriculum involving  the students themselves in the planning process. This allows the students to be more involved in guided learning and add their own input.  He cautioned that it can be tricky to have the student help you plan a syllabus on the first day of class when curriculums are usually supposed to be set way before then. However, if it can be done, negotiating syllabuses with the students can be a rewarding experience. Personally, I applied this to my community English class with amazing results. Thanks again for two more amazing talks, Andy!

    Louis Carlet – October 25

    This snippet form Wikipedia is probably the best way I can introduce Louis.

    “Louis Carlet is the general secretary and founder of Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (“Tozen”), a union representing both Japanese and migrant workers, including foreign language teachers, bank and newspaper workers. Tozen is the only foreign-led amalgamated union (godo roso) in Japan.”

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    Louis came to Morioka and gave us a presentation about the current state of employment in Japan. While things are grim, he spoke to us about his history in fighting for employees with his union, and how most foreign employees in Japan could benefit from union representation.  In fact, his stories highlight that many  foreign workers in Japan are simply unaware of what their rights are under Japanese Law. His talk was eye-opening, and he answered many questions from the concerned people who came to listen. We want to thank Louis for coming up and giving his presentation.

     

    Reported by Jason Hill

    All photos ©2015 Jason Hill