new ALT seeks like minded people

[kabocha]

Hello,

I was going to write a rant about my experiences in the past few months as a new ALT but I've decided to can that. (There's plenty of time for that and it's all a bit depressing). Suffice to say I haven't been here long, have no qualifications apart from a brief TEFL course and am learning on the job. Some days I feel it goes well and I have been useful. Other days.. I don't.

Thanks to Englipedia and all of you for the worksheets, interesting ideas and general positivity(most of the time) about the job. It is inspiring and wonderful to find a group of people who care about what they do and a website full of ideas.

One question I have is whether there are government funded resources and how to get a hold of them. Actually I know there are I just want to know how to get them. Some schools seem to be on the ball and have these complimentary study aids, others don't. Is it a case of the larger schools having more money? I want to do what I can to make my JTE's life easier and the students lot a happier one.

Also is there any sort of training (apart from the 3 hours the company gave me!)that I can get without breaking the bank.
Keep fighting the good fight and have a good weekend.

[Otaku]

Hey Kabocha,

First of all, welcome to the forum! Second of all, I applaud you for getting TEFLly certified. I would dare say the vast majority of foreign English teachers in Japan don't have such certification.

Third of all, feel free to share more specifics about your questions. For example, if you say you work for Intercrap, NOVA, Global Partners, etc, it really doesn't matter because they can't track who you are on this forum. The only people who can even see your email/IP Address are me and two other administrators on the site. We are not affliated with any organization or company. We simply moonlight as volunteers during our free time at work/home. However, we take privacy very serious and NEVER share any kind of information that can track back to anybody. With anomitity, we feel people are more free to open up and talk about things/problems more freely. The only reason I mention any of this is because providing you with you information usually depends on your work situation.

I really hate to say this, but Every Situation Is Different.
-- I've known ALTs who have got it okayed by their schools to travel to Hokkaido during August (schools are out of session) and enroll in an intensive Japanese language course.
-- I've known ALTs who have received free time off from work to travel to other countries to build schools for poor children.
-- I've known ALTs who have received the entire month of August off in addition to their vacation time.
-- I've known ALTs who have had contracts directly with a BoE be able to attend JET-sponsored training seminars.
-- I've know of an ALT who received a small grant (100,000 yen) from the city he worked in (not the BoE, but actually City Hall) to build an ALT resource website for the ALTs working in the city (and no, I'm not talking about myself).
-- I've also known an ALT who quit their job for a year and moved to Tokyo to do research on some educational research because they received a grant from the government, and then returned to their ALT job the following year.

However, as far as ALTs, while still working as an ALT, I have never heard of such an ALT ever receiving government funded resources to either beef up their Japanese language skills and/or teaching skillz. I'm not saying there aren't any ALTs out there like that, but if there are, I would imagine they would be ALTs working within private schools and not the public school system. I could be wrong...

What exactly are looking to do? What kinds of grants are you looking for? Or are you simply looking to try and get more training as an ALT because you feel you were pushed off the deep-end with knowing how to swim?

[Paul]

The best training I have ever encountered here was OJT. And I dont mean to sound flippant when I say that either, there is only so much anyone can learn in seminars or training courses and it probably wouldnt even come close to actually prepare someone for the classroom environment.

Besides the research grants what are you interested in "learning" about the classroom?

[kabocha]

Hello and thanks for the replies.
There are resources such as blow up pics taken from the textbooks. I would guess that these might bring a little more interest into the class. I attend 2 schools one is very large and the other very small, both JHS. The large one has these cards and also materials such as vocabulary books which the students write in whilst listening to a cd recording. I hope that description makes sense. The small school does not have these materials which are apparently free. I wondered if anyone knew more about what study aids we could get for free. I will ask further at school but thought I'd start here if only to get the idea out.

With regard training, I agree that "on the job training" is invaluable. I think that's what Paul meant by OJT. My Tefl course lasted 2 days and really only made me realise how much more I needed to learn. I wondered if perhaps there were any seminars etc organised by the govt, local govt etc to try and improve the quality of their ALTs.For instance help wit planning lessns, how to teach students without using the natve language, games etc. Perhaps this is just naive wishful thinking.
My JTE said 2 days after I had started that he thought I was ready to teach. He hadn't seen me teach but clearly was keen for me to play an active role. Since then we have settled into a groove. He is good at what he does ( compared to my other JTE) and I do my job as tape recorder pretty good too. I wonder if this is the groove he wants to be in. He seems happy but always complains about how tired he is. I would be happy to do more but don't know how to go about teaching. Therefore I content myself with pushing ideas such as games and work sheets across to him and hope that with time things will become clearer to me. That is why I am looking to find training.
I did wonder about doing a longer Tefl course, but now in Japan it seems really expensive and of course it's a case of finding the time to do it.

You're right when you talk about being pushed off the deep end. I am in deep but it was me who jumped in. Now I'm here I want to know what I can do to make the best of it.

[jessen100]

He seems happy but always complains about how tired he is.

my JTE does too. then when he says hes tired, he does this rediculous gesture where he makes a fist and pats him self two or three times on each shoulder with with his right hand, slightly moving his head out of the way for patting clearence. I kind of want to ask him where he got this from, but i can imagine there might be a risk that he wont do it anymore, and i enjoy seeing him look wierd at least once a day.

[Paul]

I wondered if perhaps there were any seminars etc organised by the govt, local govt etc to try and improve the quality of their ALTs.For instance help wit planning lessns, how to teach students without using the natve language, games etc. Perhaps this is just naive wishful thinking.

Outside of keeping one's nose clean, or at least out of the local press, I dont think in my experience anyway, that the local government gives a hoot about anything to do with the ALT.

The best resource for information and assistance I think you have found, good ol' Englipedia. That isnt a joke either, because there are no real resources outside of what people find for themselves Englipedia I think came about at an opportune time because there are so many different sites and the information is so scattered about that it makes it very easy and convenient to come here and "one stop shop" to get the information you need.

How you present it is up to you.

Being nervous, feeling insecure, not knowing what to do, afraid your going to screw up and make yourself look and feel like an arse, you know like a bride on her wedding night. Are all part of the learning on the job.

The good teachers that I know manage to get over it, use their wit and go on. Hell I screw up often and keep in mind that many classes will come off as dud's the first time you do them. But you find ways to tweak them and make them better. When I first started out I felt like what the heck am I doing here.......but then realized right quickly that this job, depending upon how you make it, can one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling jobs around. I always like to say that schools would be great if there were no other teachers around besides me!

Also try to keep in mind as well not all kids in all classes are going to appreciate your presence in the classroom either and too many teachers I know that fail miserably is because they put too much effort in wanting their STUDENTS to be their friends. Sorry but I have no desire to try to make friends with a bunch of Japanese teenage boys and girls. If they become friends over time, that is a different story. Being friendly is one thing, and an important part of the job, but remember you are their teacher first.

Lastly I would also suggest that you keep expectations for yourself and your students low at the start. When you stumble it is much easier to pick yourself up off the ground after tripping on your shoelaces rather than falling off the top of Tokyo Tower.

[Otaku]

LARGE PICTURE CARDS - As far as I know, every JHS should have those big picture cards you have seen. I was in Japan for about a year before I first caught a glimpse of them. They were probably laying around but I was so shell-shocked with everything else at school, daily life, culture, etc that I don't ever recall seeing them. So, if one of your JHS really doesn't have such materials, I'm surprised. It's probably just the case of not knowing they have them. Worse case scenario, either borrow them from your bigger school, or scan the stuff and print it back out on a color printer.

TEACHING WITHOUT NATIVE LANGUAGE - This has and probably will be an ongoing hot topic in Japan. I think it comes down to...most older J-English teachers are too lazy to consider the English-only possiblity, and the younger J-English teachers don't know how this would be possible since they have never experienced this type of English-only environment in all the years they have studied English. If you or any of your friends back home have studied a foreign language, you've probably experienced or heard of an foreign language ONLY classroom. However, Japanese education seems to coddle their students more. You ever notice this, a J-English teacher using most of the English class to explain an English grammar point that you thought could be better explained in 5 minutes and then hands-on practice? There is a Japanese professor from a Tokyo University that compares the J-classroom to a fish in a 'fish bowl' vs. 'open sea'. A fish in a bowl is cared and provided for. They never have to worry about food or anybody attacking them. However, a fish in the open sea has to provide for itself. It has to learn fast to defend itself and actively learn how to feed itself. In other words, active vs. passive learning. An English-only classroom would require students to take a more active stance in learning but this style of teaching would go against the current status-quo style of teaching, and going against the grain, as you probably have already noticed, is a big taboo in Japan. The nail that sticks up, gets hammered down.

All that being said, I do teach with a young 26 year old JTE who uses about 90% English in his classroom. He is part of a small number of teachers who are trying to slowly change the way of teaching in Japan. However, like I'm sure you know, the wheel turns slow over here...

SEMINARS - There are a lot of seminars provided from teachers, but these seminars are usually only for J-teachers. I'm going to go out on a limb to say this, but ALTs are an after-thought to teaching. Despite all of us having a 4-year degree, we aren't viewed as 'real' teachers, rather more as an international flavor to the foreign language class. What's interesting about the whole situation, with the exception of ALTs who work for dispatch companies or Eikaiwas, JET and private ALTs often times plan, organize and present seminars for JTEs for the purpose of leveling-up their English skills. But, as far as seminars to help ALTs actual improve themselves as teachers, those are usually sponsored by JET or done on the municiple level. I kinda look at the situation like this...

ALTs are like after-market car accessories. Japan's English education system is like the off-the-line factory car. While it's cool to have the bells & whistles of a sleek stereo system or slick turbo charger, a tape player and the factory engine will get you by. But why stop the metaphor there, after-market accessories are geared to fit a range of off-the-line factory cars but often don't, and when things need to be tweaked for installation, it's usually the after-market item rather than the J-English system.

DEEP END - I think the best way to make the most out of getting thrown into the deep end is to self-study. When I came to Japan as an ALT in the JET Program, I was a sponge ready to soak up everything. The problem I found was there wasn't much to soak up. I had to take a proactive position and actively go out and do a lot of self-studying about the English system over here, Japanese culture, the role of the ALT in the classroom, etc. There's not much 'water' out there to soak up because the job we do usually turns over in 1-3 years. With little to none job training, I dare say it takes an ALT about that much time to get their feet wet in this job and by that time, they finally realize this job has a glass ceiling and start to make plans to transition back to their home country. The mere fact that there is virtually no job training and the people who the information usually go back to their home country before they dispense what they have learned, pretty much guarantees a lot of useful information is being thrown away before people get to absorb it. Hence, taking a proactive stance and scavenging the internet and EFL/ESL websites looking for any information to do your job better. I can tell you this, most to all of the information I know about the J-culture, J-English system and teaching over here has come from teaching myself how to teach and in the process making a lot of mistakes along the way.

Finally, like Paul mentioned, the Englipedia forum is a pretty good resource for questions and discussions. It's not affliated with any organization or prefecture, hence doesn't usually talk about prefectural-related topics and doesn't need to be PC in regards to suggestions/advice. While the people here don't PhD holders, what we do have that can never be gotten any other way is years of experience working in the field.

I hope that helps some...

[jessen100]

Japan's English education system is like the off-the-line factory car.

its a bit of a stretch to git it this much credit imo.
i think that if there were no ALTs in japan the english here would be in much worse shape.

[Otaku]

I guess you have never bought a new car. 9 times out of 10 there's always a problem with the car. So, the car company offers a warrantee, a.k.a. ALT. We are brought to fix the problems. However, the problem is the way we are told to fix the problem, "We must follow the textbook."

I can't count how many times 'this accessory' has wanted to tell the JTE where they can stick the textbooks.

[kabocha]

Thanks again for the replies. Very interesting.
It seems to me very important that this experience is not lost when people return to their home countries. Englipedia is valuable as a vehicle to record and share this. I wonder (without having the answer) whether it's possible for ALTs to organise their own seminars. This all takes time and money I know but it would be a good way to improve the standing of the ALT and the standard of English education.
Is this a non starter?

[jessen100]

that revised analogy sounds a little better.

analogy aside, new cars are an economically unsound investment compared to used ones, according to my mother. since shes pretty intelligent, i will probably never buy one.

[Paul]

Thanks again for the replies. Very interesting.
It seems to me very important that this experience is not lost when people return to their home countries. Englipedia is valuable as a vehicle to record and share this. I wonder (without having the answer) whether it's possible for ALTs to organise their own seminars. This all takes time and money I know but it would be a good way to improve the standing of the ALT and the standard of English education.
Is this a non starter?

DEVILS ADVOCATE HERE! Please dont take this personally........

What benefits beyond your getting to pick other peoples brains for ideas are you going to propose to other ALT's to get them to participate and see any value to cooperate? Is it just a "feel-good" let's talk about class ideas and share experiences kind of thing? People can find all sorts of informative sites on the net' without having to pay to get information they can get for free.

Do you want to network with other ALT's in your area? You can do that at your local izakaya can't you?

Also consider the fact that unless you as the organizer are going to subsidize participation monetarily what benefits are participants going to get from a seminar of their peers.

Got a friend that got released after 9 years, not because of anything he did, he was great, liked by most everyone, a hard worker, dedicated everything anyone could ask of an ALT bt shit-canned non the less. Why, you might ask? It's because he was "there" too long, nothing more nothing less. I face the same future as well. Personally I am considering options, but that is also the nature of the work. Stability is a major job concern, and why should I pay to hear you discuss ways to make the job better when down the road EVERYONE loses their jobs for some inane reason or another. That is the reality.

The roles of ALT's haven't changed that much over the years and most of the material or activities that are done in the classroom are pretty much the same hamburger with different toppings. Once in a while a tofu or fish burger comes along but it's still pretty much the same ground beef, just mashed together with a different pair of hands. Oh the people that eat the darn burgers have changed a bit too, in that they no longer are able to tell the difference between ground chuck and top sirloin in most cases.

DEVILS ADVOCATE OVER here......
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I understand your desire to want to prepare yourself for what you are going to face in a classroom environment, however beyond some similarities of culture each class and teacher has a flavor all it's own, and no amount of talking or training can prepare you for what a class is going to be like. There are too many variables that come into play.

ALT's are disposable, mostly because from my experience, is not due to their abilities or lack of for some, but because their is no way they are going to get hired in the public school system full time (permanently) because those teachers are Japanese Government (GS) employees. Unless you are a Japanese citizen and can pass the "official" exam you will always be disposable and an outsider. Sorry but that is the reality.

While wanting to try to raise the standing of ALT's is commendable the reality is that it "ain't ever gonna happen in the current environment in Japan."

Question for you here.....besides your wanting or desiring the "standing" part what concrete reason could you give me, or convince me to want to come and participate in a seminar or training with other ALT's?

[Paul]

that revised analogy sounds a little better.

analogy aside, new cars are an economically unsound investment compared to used ones, according to my mother. since shes pretty intelligent, i will probably never buy one.

That's why I lease our cars..........

[Otaku]

One seminar I could bring to the seminar venue is: PHONICS - WHERE TO BEGIN AND HOW TO TEACH IT TO J-STUDENTS.

When I lived in Niigata prefecture, I taught a seminar at a JET-sponsored mid-year conference. I taught this seminar for two years. Each year the seminar was packed out. The room was only supposed to house 40 teachers, but it was packed out with about 65 ALTs/JTEs, sitting on tables and the ground. It was so popular, I asked if the following year I could be put into a small auditorium. The response? The organizors of the conference the following year actually implemented a 'strict' guideline: No more than 40 teachers in one seminar. Why? Because they wanted all the seminars to have about the same number of people attending each seminar. Lame, huh?

Anyways, the point being is that ALTs and JTEs alike are hungry for practical and ready-to-use knowledge about their job that they can easily implement into their classrooms to help make English more interesting and easier-to-understand for their students.

If you could organize a teaching conference with about 4-5 GOOD seminars, I think teachers would be jumping at the bit to attend. The problem is like Paul said, who is going to organize such a conference and oversee which seminars are selected for presentation?

I have run across similar conferences in the past, usually done by larger English companies (not dispatch companies) but have disregarded them mainly because:
1. it would take a lot of money simply to attend even if there wasn't any charge to attend the conference (travel expenses, hotel, food, etc)
2. why should I spend 40,000 yen to attend a conference to hopefully improve my teaching skills when there is a glass ceiling in the ALT occupation?

[Shamisen]

::::TOP-DOWN:::::
Im sensing a real negative "give up because its useless" vibe in this thread, but unfortunately I agree.
Trying to improve the ALT situation would mean changing some fundamental things like standardising the roles, limits and expectations of ALTs across Japan. To do this, you would have to have a senior position in the Japanese government or at least in your local BOE. To do that you have to be a Japanese citizen. An example of standardising would be :
The ALT is responsible for teaching communucation-based lessons, which are not in the textbook and use the skills of listening and speaking.
I mean you'd think this one is obvious right? But how many of us spend 40 minutes of class standing at the back of the class while JTE talks about stuff (in Japanese probably) and 10 minutes reading out the textbook (listen and repeat)? Then IF this standard was implemented, it would have to be enforced by the BOE, as in having the JTE or us filling out timesheets recording what was done in the lesson etc.
OR
a standard might be:
Every school will have a full time, full benefits position Native English Speaker who is absolutely responsible for all ALT-taught english lessons in that school. They will keep detailed records of students progress in English and report these back to the BOE monthly.

As things are, ALTs and not even required. Its up to the BOE whether they want one, and entirely up to the JTE in class how the ALT is used. thats why everyones situation is so very different.

:::::BOTTOM UP::::
I think that trying to improve things through training and learning from each other at the grassroots level (ie not from an "on high" govt. position) is somewhat like learning how to fly stunt planes - doing turns and choreographed formations - in order to work as a cabin attendant on a 747. No matter your skill, when you enter the 747, you may realise that it is the pilot who will fly the plane, while you serve drinks and smile at people. IF that pilot gives up the stick and lets you drive - GREAT! stunt fly away! (and it does happen) but most of the time, the pilot has a very large schedule that was given to him by higher ups, and gosh darn it, he is GOING to get to Cincinnati by 5pm.

(not only that, but when he's not flying the plane, he probably runs the ticket counter, organises the passenger travel itinerary, and writes each passenger personalised thank you notes after each flight. (the せいかつ　のーと　which teachers write in) He is just not thinking about stunt flying with all the other stuff he has to get done.)

::::COMMUNICATION with JTE:::::
The best thing an ALT can do, is communicate closely (hows your Japanese skill?) with the JTE and make it clear that on certain days you will be in control of the class completely. Otherwise, the JTE will assume that they are teaching the class, and you are just ... there...
Youd have to explain to them what they must do/not do for you, and when, and how much to help you during the lesson. If your JTE understands English well, they can translate what you say for the kids. If not, theres a good possibility that the kids wont understand what your saying at all, get bored and give up. Also some teachers might take offense to someone telling them how to run their class, or they might blow you off completely and say "Thats a great idea, but I have to finish unit 3 by next week. Sorry." No matter how talented or skilled you are, it boils down to whether the JTE is gonna blow you off or take you seriously.

:::::TRAINING COURSES:::::
I have gone on training seminars run by my dispatch company, and found them quite useless. Instead of a highly knowledgable person sharing their insight and tips to the rest of us.... we were all told to share what we know with each other. And nobody really knew anything - especially the ALTs who has only been there a year or so. It was the blind leading the blind.

Well obviously SOME people knew some things, but the way it was run, (japanese style) those people would stay quiet out of "politeness" and not wanting to outshine any older teachers at the table. We had a bunch of embarrassed shy adults afraid to say anything until the oldest person inevitably took charge and guided us down a safe path ie.. how to teach the easiest lesson. (animal names) We all knew how to teach this of course.. because its easy...and the methods shown were old fashioned and boring (the way we had all been doing it for the last few years becasue we didnt know any better). The whole table was in agreement of course since we were in our comfort zone, but we didnt learn anything exciting or new by this method. maybe other tables had a better time, but my experience was a joke.

To convince me to come to a seminar, you would have to show me that
1. I would learn what I need to know from someone who knows what they are doing.
2. The things I learn will be able to be used in the class ie whether JTE cooperates or not.

ps.. what I would like to learn is how to use mind control techniques to change my JTEs.... how to go over their heads and get the BOE to be on my side and enforce some standards! Then again, Im so done with this job I couldnt care less.


kabocha - your enthusiasm is a wonderful trait

[Otaku]

Kabocha, this is an example of a training seminar:

http://www.eltnews.com/news/archives/2009/06/oneday_certific.html

[jessen100]

I have gone on training seminars run by my dispatch company, and found them quite useless.


kabocha - your enthusiasm is a wonderful trait

i did that yesterday!

but it was for elementary school teachers, so it may have not been totally useless. But felt like it to me.

[Meat]

I have gone on training seminars run by my dispatch company, and found them quite useless.


kabocha - your enthusiasm is a wonderful trait

i did that yesterday!

but it was for elementary school teachers, so it may have not been totally useless. But felt like it to me.

Of course it was useless! (And quite painful.)

Stompy seems to think Grover quit, which is why we were stuck with the balloon.*
*(Names changed to protect the innocent.)

[Paul]

::::TOP-DOWN:::::
Im sensing a real negative "give up because its useless" vibe in this thread, but unfortunately I agree.
Trying to improve the ALT situation would mean changing some fundamental things like standardising the roles, limits and expectations of ALTs across Japan. To do this, you would have to have a senior position in the Japanese government or at least in your local BOE. To do that you have to be a Japanese citizen. An example of standardising would be :
The ALT is responsible for teaching communucation-based lessons, which are not in the textbook and use the skills of listening and speaking.
I mean you'd think this one is obvious right? But how many of us spend 40 minutes of class standing at the back of the class while JTE talks about stuff (in Japanese probably) and 10 minutes reading out the textbook (listen and repeat)? Then IF this standard was implemented, it would have to be enforced by the BOE, as in having the JTE or us filling out timesheets recording what was done in the lesson etc.
OR
a standard might be:
Every school will have a full time, full benefits position Native English Speaker who is absolutely responsible for all ALT-taught english lessons in that school. They will keep detailed records of students progress in English and report these back to the BOE monthly.

As things are, ALTs and not even required. Its up to the BOE whether they want one, and entirely up to the JTE in class how the ALT is used. thats why everyones situation is so very different.

In effect what you are suggesting here is making the ALT position a permanent position within the Japanese school system. While I dont disagree with you I would like to point out one very major roadblock to any "full time" "full benefits" positions here.

You have to be Japanese, not as in an ethnic Japanese, but take on Japanese citizenship to get hired for any public positions AND you would have to pass the governments civil service equivalency tests that teachers take.

Yet even colleges and universities here have offered tenured positions to foreign professors however those are rare to say the least. But those teachers are not government employees if I remember correctly.

All JHS and ES tenured teachers are, civil servants, so there would have to be a system wide change in hiring practices and the ALT's themselves would also have to be willing to adapt and work within the current Japanese system too.

A nice thing to contemplate or dream about but nothing that is going to happen in our lifetimes I would be willing to bet.

[Paul]

::::COMMUNICATION with JTE:::::
The best thing an ALT can do, is communicate closely (hows your Japanese skill?) with the JTE and make it clear that on certain days you will be in control of the class completely. Otherwise, the JTE will assume that they are teaching the class, and you are just ... there...
Youd have to explain to them what they must do/not do for you, and when, and how much to help you during the lesson. If your JTE understands English well, they can translate what you say for the kids. If not, theres a good possibility that the kids wont understand what your saying at all, get bored and give up. Also some teachers might take offense to someone telling them how to run their class, or they might blow you off completely and say "Thats a great idea, but I have to finish unit 3 by next week. Sorry." No matter how talented or skilled you are, it boils down to whether the JTE is gonna blow you off or take you seriously.

This has to be the most common concern or complaint that I have ever heard about teaching as an ALT in a Japanese school. The teachers do not, for most part anyways, in my experience, make or take time to communicate with the ALT's and there is little if anything anyone can do about this. It's just a part of the job.

If you are lucky enough to have JTEs that are fluent enough in English to communicate with you great, but one also has to keep in mind that there are plenty of JTE's that also do not like having ALT's that communicate in Japanese either. Even though their English isnt up to par. It puts pressure on some of them just having an ALT that is functionally billingual in English and Japanese and they are put off by it and often complain that the ALT shouldnt use any Japanese at all in the school environment.

So being able to communicate in Japanese is a double edged sword in some ways.

I think the bigger problem, generally speaking here......very generally...... is that there is literally no tangible way to show or "prove" that the presence of the ALT has improved the abilities of the students in the class. Ok there are exceptions, the Story Contest kid, or the Speech Contest one, or the rare one that goes overseas because of your influence as an ALT. However those cases are extremly limited. At least the JTE's can point to tests scores on written tests to show any progress or otherwise that their work produces.

Maybe I am jaded in how I see things from my point of view, yet I do believe that to actually show some evidence of communicative success would be a necessary part in any improvement in an ALT's situation at any given school.

[bum1]

I can point to test scores before and after my arrival. Paul I don't know if history goes back that far for you...

[Paul]

I can point to test scores before and after my arrival. Paul I don't know if history goes back that far for you...

[Otaku]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm under the firm option that my presense alone, aura if I may, in the classroom increases my students English abilities exponetially, especailly thier speling.

[bum1]

The gaijin aura is a powerful one. The dark side is strong in you I see....

[Paul]

It's gotta be the heat.

Either that or we all cant wait for summer vacation to get here soon enough!