Archive for November, 2007
Wikis for English teachers
On November 13, 2007 in Resources
I thought introducing you to some resources for ESL teachers would be a nice follow up to our recent interview with Chris from Chris’s English School.
Why Wikis? Well, wikis are wonderful.
While some of these may not be as extensive as Dave’s ESL Cafe or have as much practical advice as RisingSunofNihon’s ESL Archives, for example, they are good resources. And as they are wikis I believe they have the potential to be great resources, because YOU can contribute too 
The wikia JET wiki:
http://jet.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
EFL Geek’s Wiki:
ESL lesson plans on Wikibooks
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ESL/EFL_Lesson_Plans
Why Daily J may need more pictures and widgets - an interview with Chris from Waikiki2Yanai
On November 12, 2007 in Interviews
Yesterday we found out what makes Chris a serious language teacher. We’re back again with him today to enjoy some of that Chris Ballard humour that makes him seriously funny.
Daily J: What motivated you to start your site?
Chris: As a lifelong sufferer of ADHD (Attention deficit Hyper-activity Disorder) I kept seeing blogs that were so boring it was what I imagine the 5th
level of hell is like.
People with my disorder can’t be expected to focus without pictures and widgets and all the things that make blogs blogs.
Its not a “diary” weird Internet people…it’s a blog!!
Hmm. Maybe that’s what Daily J needs to spice things up a bit…
Daily J: What is the mission of your site (i.e. how are we going to take over the internet?)
Chris: We (The ADHD community) are massive in size and we have enormous influence. Fast food drive thru’s, 10 second sound bites, 24hr news, TiVo, etc etc. Do you think “patient” so called “regular” people brought those goodies? Nope…that was us and we are just getting started.
Being an upper-echelon member of said community has put me under the prying eyes of the N.S.A , so any further “takeover” comments could put us both in unnecessary danger.
I hope you understand.
Daily J: What is your favourite post so far?
Chris: The most recent “Best Party Yet” is the most fun I have had yet and it has 8pics? and maybe 10 words<<<<I gotta stay true to my people!!!
Daily J: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers about?
Chris: My left elbow hurts and I’m not sure why?
Daily J: Also if you could give us a little profile/background that would be good too.
Chris: I came , I saw, I changed the game.
Good times. A BIG thank you to Chris for the fun interview. Keep inspiring young minds!
And thank you everyone for reading.
That’s all for today
Daily J
Trying to improve the blog’s navigation and other user-friendliness
On November 12, 2007 in Announcements, Suggestions Please
Hi All.
I’ve been tinkering with some wordpress plugins that should help make the blog easier for you to use.
“Previous” and “next” links have been added to the bottom of the main page.
Next on the list:
- add links to move to previous/next posts inside of post pages
- reply notification (so if you leave a comment and someone replies you will be notified by email)
- tags (instead of only categories)
Is there anything else you would like to see on the blog.
We LOVE suggestions!
What makes Chris Ballard a serious language teacher - an interview with Waikiki2Yanai
On November 11, 2007 in Interviews
Yesterday we kicked off our interview with Chris from Waikiki2Yanai and found out why he likes running a website. Today we’ll take a look at how he got into teaching, what he likes the best about it, and why sometimes a teacher has to cut the fat.
But first let’s meet the class:
Daily J: How did you get into teaching and more importantly how did you start your own school?! That is pretty impressive!
Chris: I first started with a school I will not name for fear of appearing petty. (Eiko School based in Hikari) and a dragon of an owner who’s name escapes me (Michio Muranaga)
She has since divorced and changed her last name. (Gee, divorce? what a surprise!)So then I went solo because well…I can do it better.
That’s hilarious! She reminds me of an old boss of mine.
Daily J: What is the best part of teaching English for you?
Chris: Second only to the parents, I as a teacher have an enormous chance to shape their future to impart knowledge and confidence and to enhance their lives (more friends and job opportunities abroad) by giving them the ability to command the English language.
Daily J: I noticed your post about the 2007 purge. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Did you have a lot of adult students taking classes just as a passive hobby (I had my share of those in the past…)? It sounds like you enjoy teaching children more. What is the best part of teaching children (their energy)? Btw, I thought what you said in this post about “shaping young lives” was really touching.
Chris: I take my job very very seriously. Adults are filling their free time. I could go on and on but that says it all really. I had a class last May that requested we stop taking monthly tests on idioms/phrasal verbs etc. That we had studied in class.
Um…
I’m a TEACHER!
and your sitting in a CLASSROOM!!It was an epiphany for me, and they, along with all the others like them are gone.
All of my adults now are Japanese teachers of English. Their
motivation is high for obvious reasons.
Kids?
They ARE the future and my kids will have serious “juice” because of their personal confidence and multi language skills.
I for one think that Chris is an inspiration for all ESL teachers. How many of you wouldn’t love to cut a few of your slacker students?!
If you are going to be a teacher take a cue from Chris and be a SERIOUS teacher and make a REAL difference!
Okay, I’m off of my soapbox now.
Tomorrow will bring more Chris, so be here.
Your Daily J
Total Control - an interview with Chris from Waikiki2Yanai
On November 10, 2007 in Interviews
I am happy to give you today the first of our interview with Chris Ballard, Supreme Commander (ok, I made that up ) of his own language school - Chris’s English School - and blogger at waikiki2yanai.blogspot.com.
He has a real love for teaching and runs a tight ship (as one should! ). But more on that later. Today we are finding out why he loves blogging:
Daily J: What part of running a site is the most fun for you?
Chris: Total control. ( I have a massive superiority complex ) I honestly believe I’m the smartest person you or I have ever been amongst.
**Cough**
anyway…
I am constantly pushing the kids (not literally) and measuring them against themselves and their peers. I wanted to post a top 10 student list updated monthly and based on age v.s. ability on the net so, the blog was born.
Tomorrow we’ll be hearing about how he ended up starting his own school (I promise good times). So hurry back for that. In the meantime, be sure to check out waikiki2yanai.blogspot.com.
Murphy’s Law
On November 09, 2007 in Announcements
From Wikipedia:
Murphy’s law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance.
I’ve been “fighting fires” (fixing problems) all week and it has left me very behind schedule. Sorry all.
How are you? Drop me a line
Going for depth
On November 08, 2007 in DailyJ Mission, Suggestions Please
*An important post on the mission of this blog*
Besides reporting, the purpose of this blog is to build deeper relationships with the people behind what I call the “Japan-related web.”
I enjoy interviewing Japan bloggers and other people involved with the J-web (It’s a joy to talk to them about their sites and to see what makes them tick.)
But I don’t just want to shallowly (is that a word?) ask them a few questions, post an interview and move on. And I say that because I am afraid that is what this blog could unfortunately become if I do not go for depth.
Instead, I want to go for depth. Japan bloggers, I want to build a relationship with your Japan-related blog! I want to support and contribute to it. I want to watch it grow. And I want to help Japan bloggers build deeper relationships between each other so that we become a real community. And then I want to help that community collaborate and build a better Japan-related web, for the benefit of all Japan-enthusiasts!
Together let’s create a community dedicated to providing resources to help people with an interest in Japan. Let’s do it for the lost newbie foreigner in Osaka, the JET teacher in Kagoshima, the expat in Tokyo, and the Japanese-studies major in Australia. Let’s do it for the Japan-enthusiasts.
What I am talking about here is more collaboration and greater communication. I think that it is time to come together and discuss/brainstorm about the Japan-related web and how we can each contribute to its improvement.
If you want to “weigh in” and say something about this do so now in the comments!
Here are somethings that I am starting to do today toward this goal:
- I just created a folder on my Google Reader with all the feeds from the sites I’ve interviewed. I plan to read them as often as possible (hopefully daily) and participate on your blogs.
- The Japan Blog Matsuri
- Searching for, or starting, projects that make things better for Japan-enthusiasts. For example, wikibooks has a Japanese language textbook.
Any other suggestions, opinions, ideas?
Let me know
Japan Blog Matsuri - an update (or lack thereof…)
On November 07, 2007 in Announcements, JapanBlogMatsuri
Still awaiting a reply from Ken from WhatJapanThinks…
I hope it doesn’t rain on our matsuri 
When Harvey met Tyler - an update to our interview with Tyler MacNiven
On November 06, 2007 in Interviews
In our interview with Tyler MacNiven I mentioned that Harvey from JapanNewbie.com had made plans to meet up with Tyler and Ayumi. They did meet up and here is the pic (classic )
Harvey: Yeah we did meet up actually! Tyler and Ayumi were coming through Japan for some reason or another, and we had one memorable night of Oden and Karaoke. Good times!
I have a fever and the only prescription is more VIDEO!
On November 05, 2007 in Announcements
As we mentioned over on the Nipponster Official Blog, Nipponster has just launched Video Search!
So search, and watch Japan-related videos:
Search results page:
