Workshop C: Building a Curriculum

and Staying Organized

Basics on SchedulingMonthly Schedule

Term ScheduleYearlong curriculum

Year eventsWeekly Schedule

School Year in Japan•Spring Beginning of school year *Entrance ceremony for Freshman Cultural Festival (sometimes)

•Summer longest vacation for students Mid July-End of Aug

•Autumn Cultural Festival & sports Festival (sometimes) •Winter　 　 School Trip for 2nd year 　 Entrance examination for college

Term Schedule

Oh no!! It’s in all kanji!!!

Term Schedule1st term

April

MidJuly

2nd term

September

Mid Dec

3rd term

Jan

Mid March

Opening Ceremony 始業式

Mid-term Exam中間試験 / 考査 / テスト

Final-term Exam期末試験 / 考査 / テスト

Closing ceremony閉会式

Check your own schedule (p.20)

式　しき Shi-ki

Ceremony

Tips Entrance ceremony nyugakushiki 入学式 Opening ceremony shigyoshiki 始業式 Closing ceremony shigyo-shiki 始業式

When PTA comes

Formal ClothesFormal Clothes

Events Athletic Meeting運動会 Undo-kai

Sports festival球技大会 Kyugi taikai

In Field / Gym

Sports-wearSports-wear

* 全校集会 / 学年集会会　→ ask JTEs whether ALT need to attend what to wear where they meet

Jeans?

Weekly ScheduleTeacher’s nameTeacher’s name

Scheduling Classes• How many times does each class

meet? • Make sure to keep it even• What topics do you need to cover?• When is the test?• Do you have any business trips?

When? Which classes will not meet?

Before you make your curriculum…..Ask Your JTE!

• Is this class academic or cultural?• What skills are students focusing on?

(communication only, writing, etc.)• What is the curriculum for the non-TT class?• Do you use a textbook or original lessons?• What responsibilities does the ALT have?

(Planning, test making, management, etc.)

• Textbook– Easier; use the textbook themes to create fun lessons

• No textbook– More difficult! – Choose themes you like, and teach lessons about them– For example…if you choose the theme “food,” you can

have a lesson describing food, a taste test lesson, a restaurant lesson, etc.

• Lessons should build on each other• Use similar themes, vocabulary, and grammar• Try to repeat points used in earlier lessons

Connecting Lessons

Goals• What are your personal goals for the class?• How do those goals meet JTE’s goals?• (example: JTE wants to finish textbook; ALT

wants to make students comfortable in basic conversation…how do these goals work together?)

• Please remember, you are the assistant. JTE’s goals are more important.

• You can measure your goal with an assessment

Basics on Assessment• Why we assess

– to decide what to teach/review next.– to measure/report on what was learned.

• To check our students learning or performance and to check the effectiveness of our curriculum

Types of assessmentFormal Assessment• written• graded

“objective” • there is only a single correct answer• T/F, multiple choice, matching

Informal Assessment • performances• portfolios•peer/self evaluation• rubric

“subjective” • there are many ways to be correct• Essays, opinions

Assessment Tools• Test (multiple choice, matching, fill

in the blank, essay)• Rubric (scale to make subjective

scoring objective)

• Student Portfolio• Observation• Student Reflection

Troubleshooting• Be flexible! • There are constant

changes to your schedule• Deal with it! • Always update your JTE if

YOU make any changes to your curriculum or anything else

Questions?

Group Activity• You have a class with no textbook! • In a small group, choose a theme for the

semester. What lessons will you teach? You have 6 classes this semester.

• What is your assessment?– Test?– Long term project?– Conversation?