Little bit about me

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English teacher

English is a language, not a school subject. That’s my philosophy as an English teacher. My main focus in teaching is the practical  use of English. That also applies in grammar teaching as well which I simplify as much as possible. I work in a junior and senior high school in Japan.  I used to live in the US as a child and learned my English there. I came back when I was 9 years old then I spent the rest of my school years in a regular school in Japan. I did attend English classes but frankly I didn’t need to learn much to get by. As a result, I became a teacher who can speak English but didn’t really understand the language. Therefore I learned the English grammar through my teaching experience. I hope to share my view and method through this blog.

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Returnee

As a teacher, I support  returnee students at school. I, myself, used to live in a small town in Ohio,U.S from the age of 6 to 9.  There, I went to a local school on weekdays and learned Japanese in a Japanese school on Saturdays. That’s how I learned my English. When I came back to Japan, I went to a local school in Okayama.  After graduating from a university in Tokyo, I became an English teacher.

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Badminton

Though I had no experience, I became in charge of the badminton club. Through experience, I learned about badminton and how to coach it. I believe, as a non-athlete coach,  I can provide ideas for people like me. 

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Learnning

Learning is fun. It makes life rich. I wasn’t aware of that. I thought, as a teacher, my job was to lead students to get good scores for university exams. This changed, luckily, when my school changed its policies of education. There I learned ideas such as NVC(Non Violent Communication), Pattern Language, Talent Focus, Quest Reading which I practice in my everyday lessons at school.

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Money and Learning

Learning run by fear makes learning less fun. Then as a teacher, I needed to learn a way to teach my students how they can live. Get good grades. →Go to ”good” university. →Work in a ”good” company. This seems to the subconscious fear in students and the very reason for making learning less enjoyable. To tackle this problem, I have started to learn more about money. The more I know, the more it gets interesting.

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A Father

To become a father of two adorable children just simply changed my life. Though my wife takes care 80 percent of the house work, I try to contribute as much as I can. Cleaning, laundry, babysitting, cooking, I do bits and pieces of everything, needless to say none of them is accomplished as my wife. For a busy couple, technology helps us get through our daily life.

Music, Digital, Panda

Things that I love. No particular reason. Just because. 

I’m a music lover, I can’t imagine living without music. After GLAY, a Japanese rock band, made a great effect on me, I’ve been consciously together with music. 

Digital. New technology just thrills me. Even though I may not  have any situation of taking advantage of it, technology drives me. 

Pandas. They’re just simply cute and adorable. There’s something about that “I don’t really care. I’ll mind my own business,”  attitude on them. No worries, just curiosity.