Saturday, September 30, 2006

September Wrap-Up

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity and change. The transition from teaching online community college courses in the U.S. to face-to-face university courses in Japan has gone smoothly. Even though we had been away from Japan for a couple of years, in many ways, it seemed as though we had never left. Although I must admit, there have been some suprises! During English I class last week, I asked the students to underline all the transition words in their process paragraphs and I watched as many of them reached into their pencil cases for their rulers! Then, I said to myself, "You're not in Ohio anymore!"

Anyway, here is an overview of September's professional development activities. I hope to have time to write more about each of these! After being away from Learning with Computers for about a month, I am happy to say that I'm back to doing my best at following along with the weekly tasks and helping to moderate messages. These friends continue to amaze with their creativity and friendship! Also, JACET, Japan Association of College English Teachers, held its annual conference on our campus. I attended several presentations, including those given by Donald Freeman and Jack Richards. Then, if you haven't already had a chance, please check out the podcasts produced by my colleagues, Edgycation(see previous post). Now our days are filled with teaching, office hours, meeting with students, grading papers, and the everyday work of being teachers. So, I'll do my best to keep this blog updated regularly!

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