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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 11:21:43 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 13, 2015 11:21:43 GMT 9
I know this isnt the PA forums.......sorry.
We have two SDCs a year. They tend to be divided into one which has a distinct focus on teaching and one which doesnt.
Now, I SMACKDOWN every single year to give the second SDC an equally strong focus on teaching as stuff which isnt teaching because it is for teachers. I was not present for the last planning meeting where they planned the second SDC but there isnt even one teaching related workshop in the presentation. The theme has been decided as life and goals.
Possible topics include: (These are copied as written in the minutes) Budget Traveling Soft Skills (basically social skills) + Work Skills Time Management Japanese Job Market Versus Overseas Workshop Health in Japan - Eating the Right Foods and finding gyms Japanese Speech Showcase
I really dont understand how these things make people be better ALTs.
I know that many ALTs leave in a year and stuff but it just seems so self indulgent and contrary to what we should be doing at SDCs.
I majored in language teaching so I really really see it as important and its one of the very few things I can do even a bit well so it annoys me when ALTs do things which strike me as terribly indulgent.
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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 11:37:12 GMT 9
Post by dosanko on Nov 13, 2015 11:37:12 GMT 9
Those themes sound like something that should be covered in the prefectural orientation...
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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 11:49:50 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 13, 2015 11:49:50 GMT 9
Those themes sound like something that should be covered in the prefectural orientation... Our prefectural orientation is two days and is stuuuuuuuuuuupidly overloaded with content as is especially because it happens straight after they get here. But they are to a certain extent and also I totally agree. Could you provide some ideas of the kinds of stuff you guys do at SDCs? It woudl really help me out.
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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 12:00:28 GMT 9
Post by dosanko on Nov 13, 2015 12:00:28 GMT 9
Those themes sound like something that should be covered in the prefectural orientation... Our prefectural orientation is two days and is stuuuuuuuuuuupidly overloaded with content as is especially because it happens straight after they get here. But they are to a certain extent and also I totally agree. Could you provide some ideas of the kinds of stuff you guys do at SDCs? It woudl really help me out. Unfortunately our SDCs are planned by the prefectural BOE and it never changes from one year to another, so it gets extremely boring for ALTs in their 2nd year and above, apparently. But we basically have a workshop based on what the CLAIR provides us as guidelines of what SDCs are suposed to focus on (team-teaching, developing student motivation, effective use of textbooks, working as a one-shot ALT, and so on, all divided by HS/JHS/ES) and the workshops are done by current ALTs and JTEs. ... well, we SAY that we prefer workshop leaders to be a pair of an ALT and a JTE, but that doesn't always end up being the case so sometimes ALTs present on their own or with a partner ALT. We also have an 意見交換 section and I have to lead that, too, and I'm actually looking for ideas on that as well. Last year I basically just had them sit in groups and share the lesson/activity plans they brought with them. That was apparently pretty useful according to the surveys and we're doubling the time for it this year (and now I don't have to do my presentation!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!! SO happy with this). But what I gathered last year is that generally what helps the ALTs the most is peer advise and opinions, so, the 意見交換 serves them justice.
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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 13:19:16 GMT 9
Post by songbanana on Nov 13, 2015 13:19:16 GMT 9
We have other conferences that are not technically SDC, which CIRs also attend, and that's where we do the kind of stuff that Researcher Irish mentioned. I think it's important to set different goals for different gatherings so you can decide what is appropriate content. Like you said irish, SDC should be about teaching, especially if JTEs also attend. The goal of our regional meetings is building community and a local support network. The goal for our spring 研修会 is "refocusing and planning for the next year," so we do leaving procedures, professional and personal development, goal setting, group discussion, etc. Honestly it's boring and repetitive to have multiple teaching-only-focused conferences per year because 1) people who are actually being inventive in their classes need time to come up with new ideas and test them out before presenting them 2) people who don't have the freedom or responsibility to plan (inventive) lessons don't have anything more to contribute 3) people who aren't as independent in Japan (because of low language ability, isolated from other JETs, coworkers aren't as helpful, no car, don't get how Japan does stuff, whatever) actually do benefit from talking about "life"-related topics. Having a happy, 充実d lifestyle ALT does make them a better ALT because they are more involved in their community and more knowledgeable about Japan. I can tell you about the kinds of activities we do at SDC or the other conferences if you want as reference.
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SDCs
Nov 13, 2015 19:59:57 GMT 9
Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 13, 2015 19:59:57 GMT 9
For reference, our SDC (which just ended) this year has three committee-led sessions:
1. a team-teaching discussion where ALT-JTE pairs have to plan a lesson around a provided theme and then talk to pairs from other schools to see how it varies based on different situations 2. a problem-solving discussion modeled on the PA conference where people get the ALT and JTE sides of the same issue and have to figure out how to reconcile them 3. a team-building exercise, basically the same as 2 but the ALT-JTE pairs have to act out the problem scenario
everything else is done by 2年目以上 ALTs: workshops (which mostly cover teaching/workplace 人間関係, though we had one on self-studying Japanese) and the Teaching Bazaar where presenters set up tables and whiteboards to show off their 教材 and the other ALTs walk around and check it all out.
since you sent me your SDC 資料 last year I'm sure I could send you ours if you want.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 9:22:54 GMT 9
Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 16, 2015 9:22:54 GMT 9
We have one SDC a year but they pack a lot into it. Most of it is teaching related, but maybe 20% is not. Last year I did a workshop on cultural fatigue, and every year they have Care and Feeding of the Introvert ALT which is always a popular one.
I'd say overall we can divide the workshops into three sections: specific teaching ideas and advice (phonics, an elementary school games fair, using technology, lesson planning, etc), pedagogical workshops (classroom discipline, task-based teaching, strategies for teacher development, dealing with level gaps, etc), and lifestyle workshops (the aforementioned ones as well as Japanese self-study, etc). There are also panel discussions, one for SHS ALTs and JTEs and one for JHS/ES ALTs and JTEs.
I found that I usually attended a fairly even mix of workshops. Going to all in one category would get repetitive and boring. Everything is run by 2年目以上 ALTs except a keynote speech and the panel discussion, which is moderated by the PAs (but the panelists are ALTs and JTEs of course). They try to get JTE co-presenters for as many workshops as possible with medium success.
I agree that those topics listed should mostly be in the prefectural orientation, but alas. I do also agree with songbanana that I wouldn't want too many purely-teaching based conferences, for the same reasons. Our SDCs are fairly good, overall (some of the workshops bomb but that's the fault of the presenters, not the PAs) but even so every year it gets less and less useful. But I think that's the nature of the beast. Having a second teaching-based conference might burn people out even quicker. Although - how long are these conferences? If they're just one day each I think it's okay to do teaching in both.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 11:41:48 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 16, 2015 11:41:48 GMT 9
Thanks for all of the responses. So it seems that you guys do a bit of non-teaching stuff and mostly teaching stuff besides songbanana who has one teaching focused SDC and one 研究会 which seems a little bit like what the stuff up there says. I take a really hard line stance on stuff like this I guess. I have no problem with there being a bit of non-teaching related stuff because the last SDC was all teaching (to a certain extent) however, the list up there is taking the pee. There are two SDC a year and they are a day each. I dont think it is too much to ask for someone employed as an ALT to come and listen to workshops about teaching for two days out of a year. There is a huge amount of depth in the educational field (most of what I studied I found to be nonsense) so I think saying having multiple teaching focused conferences a year causes burn out is not something that I think should happen. I always find the highest rated talks at SDC are ones that are really self indulgent for the ALTs, where they get to bitch and moan or set goals for the future (something I feel like is not my responsibility), anything that involves them not learning how to teach. There was a talk a couple of years back that was like........EVERYTHING YOU GUYS THINK IS RIGHT AND ALL ANYONE ELSE HAS EVER SAID ABOUT EDUCATION EVER IS WRONG I hated it and they ate it up...... I guess if I cant argue for more teaching, or something which justifies a group of teachers getting a day off of school then I should petition to change the name because its not a Skills Development Conference as is, its just a navel gazing, group hug meet. The above topics dont make it seem like it will be that but it will turn into that.........
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 12:05:19 GMT 9
Post by songbanana on Nov 16, 2015 12:05:19 GMT 9
Researcher Irish Honestly the complaints you raise about SDC could just as easily apply to CIRs. Look at the forums--how many threads are work-related and how many are life-related? How many are us びtちんg and moaning about things we can't change? CIRs don't plan our own conferences, but how many times do you go to the translating/interpreting workshops at Mid-Year Chaos? Personally even though a good chunk of my job is translation, I don't go to the translation workshops anymore because I want to learn new skills, see what others are doing, and round out my skill set. I find the forums helpful professionally and personally because I think it's important to be able to get feedback from people in the same situation. If you want to call this "indulgent" then fine, but if you're going to argue that ALT conferences should solely focus on teaching, then you should at least be as strict with CIRs and not participate in the General Discussion threads. Sorry if that comes off as ranty, but as someone who actually did work as an ALT and who does enjoy running SDC, I see a lot of hypocritical びtching about ALTs from CIRs. You can do two one-day workshops about teaching for sure, but if you come at it from the attitude of "anything not directly related to teaching is a waste of time" it's not going to go over well with your co-planners. What I've worked towards over my time in this job is to try to make things more practically applicable and focused on a clear goal/objective, not just for the whole conference like I mentioned before, but for each item of the conference as well. As a result we've gotten steadily higher ratings on SDC/other conferences each year, and each feels more productive and positive than ones I participated in years past. For example, in order to prevent group discussions from turning into a kvetch session, I've turned them into "guided" discussions by giving each group a set of topics to discuss and putting a spin on the wording that forces the conversation to be about practical solutions rather than abstract "talk to your JTE" advice. If you walk around the groups or you solicit sharing at the end, you can enforce that direction and eventually people will catch on and self-monitor (or at least びtch at the after-party instead). If you have a thing on goal-setting, you can do personal and professional goals, and suddenly it's work-related. Sorry if that sounded ranty, I'm hungry.
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Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 16, 2015 13:16:45 GMT 9
No, two days of teaching related conferences isn't that much. I agree that if the previous SDC was just one day, there really should be teaching stuff in the second one.
But you have to remember that it's run by ALTs and you're just going to get other ALTs' perspectives. It isn't a professional course, it's a workshop run by your peers. So yes, every conference is going to be similar to a certain extent. This causes burn out. Also - I can't remember what prefecture you're in, but how many ALTs are there? If it's not that many, that sense of burn out is going to happen even sooner. Our SDCs have like 130 ALTs between the prefecture and the city, some of whom have degrees and lots of experience teaching and give great presentations. Even then there's burn out.
Also. A LOT of ALTs have very little opportunity to do any actual teaching. At my junior high school, it wasn't so bad as being a human tape recorder and my JTEs were good at utilizing me and actually team-teaching - but I never did lesson plans. I had no power in class. I was 100% an assistant (as it should be). I tried a couple of times to implement activities outside of the main curriculum but it was always "we don't have enough time because of tests." I gave up after that. And a lot of ALTs have it even worse than I did. At least I got to do my own thing at elementary school - in my city now, the ALTs only go to JHS, and from what it sounds like it's very much a human tape recorder situation most of the time.
In a situation like that, of course ALTs aren't going to be intersted in doing teaching workshops. I went to a lot of workshops that I thought were theoretically very interesting and I would have liked to implement a lot of those things into my own classes. But I couldn't, because ALTs don't have power. And it gets frustrating to sit in workshops, thinking "oh this is really cool - but I know I can't use it" all the time.
Frankly, I think it's stupid to put new CIRs in a PA position. How are you supposed to be a PA if you haven't ever been an ALT and don't understand what it's like? And - and I'm not blaming you for this at all - I can tell that you don't know what it's like to be an ALT.
TL;DR - a lot of the job of an ALT has literally nothing to do with teaching. Therefore only teaching workshops are useless and frustrating. Not for all ALTs, but for a significant enough number that you should be aware of it.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 13:35:01 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 16, 2015 13:35:01 GMT 9
Researcher Irish Honestly the complaints you raise about SDC could just as easily apply to CIRs. Look at the forums--how many threads are work-related and how many are life-related? How many are us びtちんg and moaning about things we can't change? CIRs don't plan our own conferences, but how many times do you go to the translating/interpreting workshops at Mid-Year Chaos? Personally even though a good chunk of my job is translation, I don't go to the translation workshops anymore because I want to learn new skills, see what others are doing, and round out my skill set. I find the forums helpful professionally and personally because I think it's important to be able to get feedback from people in the same situation. If you want to call this "indulgent" then fine, but if you're going to argue that ALT conferences should solely focus on teaching, then you should at least be as strict with CIRs and not participate in the General Discussion threads. Sorry if that comes off as ranty, but as someone who actually did work as an ALT and who does enjoy running SDC, I see a lot of hypocritical びtching about ALTs from CIRs. You can do two one-day workshops about teaching for sure, but if you come at it from the attitude of "anything not directly related to teaching is a waste of time" it's not going to go over well with your co-planners. What I've worked towards over my time in this job is to try to make things more practically applicable and focused on a clear goal/objective, not just for the whole conference like I mentioned before, but for each item of the conference as well. As a result we've gotten steadily higher ratings on SDC/other conferences each year, and each feels more productive and positive than ones I participated in years past. For example, in order to prevent group discussions from turning into a kvetch session, I've turned them into "guided" discussions by giving each group a set of topics to discuss and putting a spin on the wording that forces the conversation to be about practical solutions rather than abstract "talk to your JTE" advice. If you walk around the groups or you solicit sharing at the end, you can enforce that direction and eventually people will catch on and self-monitor (or at least びtch at the after-party instead). If you have a thing on goal-setting, you can do personal and professional goals, and suddenly it's work-related. Sorry if that sounded ranty, I'm hungry. Hmm you made a couple of points. 1. The General Discussion thing Don't get me wrong. ALTs can bitch and moan wherever they want and whenever they want. We absolutely do it here. I do it here every day. I definitely am not trying to be self righteous in that regard. However, I think we would both think it would be ridiculous if there was a deai workshop or a game of Are you a Gaikokujin at Mid-Year Chaos. Its not comparing like with like. 2. Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again I dont really get the Mid-Year Chaos point. I believe that all the Mid-Year Chaos lectures are relevant to someone's job as a CIR. I mean the nature of what a CIR is makes it extremely difficult / nigh on impossible for someone to plan for everything and the flexibility of our positions gives at least some of us the opportunity to put forward new ideas and events. In that respect while some of the lectures could do with a refresh (the lady who does the business manners lecture has been giving the same talk since I arrived) I think they are all pretty damn work related (or at least the theme is. If they stray off its always in my experience tended to be the fault of the speaker).
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 13:59:54 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 16, 2015 13:59:54 GMT 9
No, two days of teaching related conferences isn't that much. I agree that if the previous SDC was just one day, there really should be teaching stuff in the second one. But you have to remember that it's run by ALTs and you're just going to get other ALTs' perspectives. It isn't a professional course, it's a workshop run by your peers. So yes, every conference is going to be similar to a certain extent. This causes burn out. Also - I can't remember what prefecture you're in, but how many ALTs are there? If it's not that many, that sense of burn out is going to happen even sooner. Our SDCs have like 130 ALTs between the prefecture and the city, some of whom have degrees and lots of experience teaching and give great presentations. Even then there's burn out. Also. A LOT of ALTs have very little opportunity to do any actual teaching. At my junior high school, it wasn't so bad as being a human tape recorder and my JTEs were good at utilizing me and actually team-teaching - but I never did lesson plans. I had no power in class. I was 100% an assistant (as it should be). I tried a couple of times to implement activities outside of the main curriculum but it was always "we don't have enough time because of tests." I gave up after that. And a lot of ALTs have it even worse than I did. At least I got to do my own thing at elementary school - in my city now, the ALTs only go to JHS, and from what it sounds like it's very much a human tape recorder situation most of the time. In a situation like that, of course ALTs aren't going to be intersted in doing teaching workshops. I went to a lot of workshops that I thought were theoretically very interesting and I would have liked to implement a lot of those things into my own classes. But I couldn't, because ALTs don't have power. And it gets frustrating to sit in workshops, thinking "oh this is really cool - but I know I can't use it" all the time. Frankly, I think it's stupid to put new CIRs in a PA position. How are you supposed to be a PA if you haven't ever been an ALT and don't understand what it's like? And - and I'm not blaming you for this at all - I can tell that you don't know what it's like to be an ALT. TL;DR - a lot of the job of an ALT has literally nothing to do with teaching. Therefore only teaching workshops are useless and frustrating. Not for all ALTs, but for a significant enough number that you should be aware of it. I have previously worked as an ALT in Tokyo. I have taught French and Japanese back home as like a main teacher and my teaching was very much informed by my experience as an ALT. I loved it very much and learned a huge amount. I am very very aware of all of the problems ALTs face from that experience. I was in a huge amount of different schools, some with no control in the classroom and some where it was just me. There are things you can do in an ALT workshop that is not specifically teaching but still kinda teaching. Obviously as ALTs its important to teach about culture. How to teach culture is important. For those ALTs that dont have any input in lessons you can talk to them about what they can be doing outside of lessons? Are there after school clubs, English clubs etc. How can they maximise English use outside the classroom etc. You can teach about the Hidden Curriculum, which is a reallly fascinating area of Education Theory which is really great to know and is relevant for anyone working in a school regardless of role. Are they given a minute or two at the start of class or end of class? How can they maximize that time to maybe gain more You shouldnt make such a strong statement like the one in bold. You may think my opinions are self riteous, condescending or just plain wrong but I have some experience with this so my opinions are relevant (just as much as yours).
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 14:27:59 GMT 9
Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 16, 2015 14:27:59 GMT 9
I'm sorry, I was not aware of that. Your opinions are indeed very valid and relevant, but you came off as extremely condescending towards the ALTs in your prefecture - none of what you said sounded like something a previous ALT would have said. I stand by that. I've seen a fair amount of ALT-bashing on this forum. I've mostly stayed silent since I'm not interested in a SMACKDOWN, but I think it reached a boiling point in that post. I apologize for my assumptions and rudeness.
However, I don't think that your experience changes my point - the fact that some ALTs are simply not given the opportunity to do any actual teaching, even culture, even just a minute or two in the beginning of class. I know one ALT with an English club at their school. One. As for other school clubs, some schools actively tell their ALTs to leave as soon as their contracted time is done and that they are not welcomed in clubs. Lot of ALTs try to reach their students with English boards, but many schools don't even give space for that.
Now, this isn't the case for the vast majority of ALTs. Most people have some sort of space in which they can connect with their students, even if it's not in the classroom. I'm just saying, ALTs who care about trying to teach but can't are going to be frustrated by not being able to use the information given. ALTs who don't care... well, they wouldn't use it anyway.
I was saying that as an example of why people might be uninterested in teaching workshops, but that doesn't mean that you should give up on the conference. I agree with you that you should be doing topics relating to teaching. Who were the people who came up with those topics, who are doing the planning? I just went back and reread them... and yeah, a couple of them (budget traveling? really?) seem ridiculous for a work conference. But some, worded a bit better and with more focus and a clear objective (like songbanana said), I don't think would be completely useless.
Time Management - the biggest time problem most ALTs have is having too much of it. So talk about how people can use their downtime. This is where you can bring up the outside of class stuff.
Work Skills - talk about how to fit in in the Japanese 職員室, connect with teachers, and try to wrangle a little more influence for yourself.
Job Market - well, not specifically teaching related, but since this is a spring conference and there are lots of leavers I think it's not a bad topic to have even in an SDC. We have a specific leaver's conference where this gets discussed, but if your prefecture doesn't have one then it may be appropriate here.
If people really wanted to do things like travelling and health, make them into booths. That's a big part of our prefectural orientation - we have about an hour and a half for new ALTs to wander a booth area. This is where the majority of the non-teaching content from orientation is introduced.
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Graeme Howard
Dead Stargod
always movin
Posts: 1,411
CIR Experience: 4th year
Location: Gifu
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Post by Graeme Howard on Nov 16, 2015 14:38:48 GMT 9
I'm sorry, I was not aware of that. Your opinions are indeed very valid and relevant, but you came off as extremely condescending towards the ALTs in your prefecture - none of what you said sounded like something a previous ALT would have said. I stand by that. I've seen a fair amount of ALT-bashing on this forum. I've mostly stayed silent since I'm not interested in a SMACKDOWN, but I think it reached a boiling point in that post. I apologize for my assumptions and rudeness. I have nothing in particular to add to the ongoing conversation, but if you notice any instances of ALT-bashing please point it out and tag me. I imagine some of what you've seen has just been us making our usual classless jokes, but mean-spirited bashing of any kind will not be tolerated.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 14:53:04 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 16, 2015 14:53:04 GMT 9
I'm sorry, I was not aware of that. Your opinions are indeed very valid and relevant, but you came off as extremely condescending towards the ALTs in your prefecture - none of what you said sounded like something a previous ALT would have said. I stand by that. I've seen a fair amount of ALT-bashing on this forum. I've mostly stayed silent since I'm not interested in a SMACKDOWN, but I think it reached a boiling point in that post. I apologize for my assumptions and rudeness. However, I don't think that your experience changes my point - the fact that some ALTs are simply not given the opportunity to do any actual teaching, even culture, even just a minute or two in the beginning of class. I know one ALT with an English club at their school. One. As for other school clubs, some schools actively tell their ALTs to leave as soon as their contracted time is done and that they are not welcomed in clubs. Lot of ALTs try to reach their students with English boards, but many schools don't even give space for that. Now, this isn't the case for the vast majority of ALTs. Most people have some sort of space in which they can connect with their students, even if it's not in the classroom. I'm just saying, ALTs who care about trying to teach but can't are going to be frustrated by not being able to use the information given. ALTs who don't care... well, they wouldn't use it anyway. I was saying that as an example of why people might be uninterested in teaching workshops, but that doesn't mean that you should give up on the conference. I agree with you that you should be doing topics relating to teaching. Who were the people who came up with those topics, who are doing the planning? I just went back and reread them... and yeah, a couple of them (budget traveling? really?) seem ridiculous for a work conference. But some, worded a bit better and with more focus and a clear objective (like songbanana said), I don't think would be completely useless. Time Management - the biggest time problem most ALTs have is having too much of it. So talk about how people can use their downtime. This is where you can bring up the outside of class stuff. Work Skills - talk about how to fit in in the Japanese 職員室, connect with teachers, and try to wrangle a little more influence for yourself. Job Market - well, not specifically teaching related, but since this is a spring conference and there are lots of leavers I think it's not a bad topic to have even in an SDC. We have a specific leaver's conference where this gets discussed, but if your prefecture doesn't have one then it may be appropriate here. If people really wanted to do things like travelling and health, make them into booths. That's a big part of our prefectural orientation - we have about an hour and a half for new ALTs to wander a booth area. This is where the majority of the non-teaching content from orientation is introduced. The vast majority of peeps in my prefecture have all been extremely chill, normal peeps who have posed me no problem and got along ok allowing the occasional odd person (just because we are in Japan and that happens. Happens amongst us CIRs too) and maniac. Of the lectures above, budget travelling, the one about finding a gym and the one about Japanese Speech Contests are either selfish or indulgent and thats my opinion now and it would have been when I was an ALT. PAs have a massive role in information provision and I have been asked where doctor's clinics, gyms, libraries and everything under the sun is and I will happily give that out but at an SDC you should be learning how to do your job better. If you dont have that freedom then that sucks. Its really tough but when the JTEs come that is when we SMACKDOWN for you to have a bigger role and SMACKDOWN we do. Added to that list can be Time Management and Work Skills: Their idea for time management was how people can use their time to do things which have nothing to do with JET and prep for future unrelated careers, absolutely nothing was brought up about helping the school or the wider community through internationalization. Nothing. The work skills one was brought up from the same angle. How can I further my photography while on JET. Ehhhhhhhh that doesn't sound like my job to help you to do that. Please go away. Another suggestion which we have had previously and which the person in question fought extremely vigorously for was a workshop where we just ask everyone to come into an empty room and just allow them to create for an hour. Just to sir and be for a while. That one was shut down by a former ALT. I was so glad he took that one because it had been a stressful meeting and I difinitely would have gone overboard. Anecdotally, from my interactions with the 60 odd peeps here about 1/3 at best are interested in being better teachers and Im sure that that has a lot to do with the awful situations they find themselves in and that is really sad. But just because they are in bad situations doesnt mean that they change the course of the SDC and make it into something which isnt about, helping them be ALTs, or something that doesnt even try to make them better ALTs.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 14:56:45 GMT 9
Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 16, 2015 14:56:45 GMT 9
No, no - not mean-spirited. If it got that bad I would say something. More along the lines of "this one ALT is annoying me, haha ALTs are annoying."
But still, as someone who still feels like an ALT sometimes it can be disheartening to see.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 15:07:55 GMT 9
Post by CaptainSeery on Nov 16, 2015 15:07:55 GMT 9
The vast majority of peeps in my prefecture have all been extremely chill, normal peeps who have posed me no problem and got along ok allowing the occasional odd person (just because we are in Japan and that happens. Happens amongst us CIRs too) and maniac. Of the lectures above, budget travelling, the one about finding a gym and the one about Japanese Speech Contests are either selfish or indulgent and thats my opinion now and it would have been when I was an ALT. PAs have a massive role in information provision and I have been asked where doctor's clinics, gyms, libraries and everything under the sun is and I will happily give that out but at an SDC you should be learning how to do your job better. If you dont have that freedom then that sucks. Its really tough but when the JTEs come that is when we SMACKDOWN for you to have a bigger role and SMACKDOWN we do. Added to that list can be Time Management and Work Skills: Their idea for time management was how people can use their time to do things which have nothing to do with JET and prep for future unrelated careers, absolutely nothing was brought up about helping the school or the wider community through internationalization. Nothing. The work skills one was brought up from the same angle. How can I further my photography while on JET. Ehhhhhhhh that doesn't sound like my job to help you to do that. Please go away. Another suggestion which we have had previously and which the person in question fought extremely vigorously for was a workshop where we just ask everyone to come into an empty room and just allow them to create for an hour. Just to sir and be for a while. That one was shut down by a former ALT. I was so glad he took that one because it had been a stressful meeting and I difinitely would have gone overboard. Anecdotally, from my interactions with the 60 odd peeps here about 1/3 at best are interested in being better teachers and Im sure that that has a lot to do with the awful situations they find themselves in and that is really sad. But just because they are in bad situations doesnt mean that they change the course of the SDC and make it into something which isnt about, helping them be ALTs, or something that doesnt even try to make them better ALTs. Maybe the speech contest one is about trying to motivate people to improve their Japanese? I don't know, I don't get that one and I'm stretching here. Travelling and gyms are obviously completely unrelated and it's crazy that they were even proposed. I don't know how much control you have over this conference. Based on your reaction to this planning session I would guess not much. I don't know what your situation is in this so saying this probably sounds condescending and like I'm don't understand your situation, but I would say: say exactly what you're saying here to the planners. Emphasize how this is a work conference and topics have to be work related. That should be common sense, but say it over and over until it sinks in. Once the topics are decided, emphasize to the presenters that they need to stay on topic. If need be, get the Japanese PAs on your side. I think people see JET PAs as peers but Japanese PAs more like bosses and are more likely to listen to them.
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SDCs
Nov 16, 2015 19:14:40 GMT 9
Post by ザ・penguin54 on Nov 16, 2015 19:14:40 GMT 9
Frankly, I think it's stupid to put new CIRs in a PA position. How are you supposed to be a PA if you haven't ever been an ALT and don't understand what it's like? And - and I'm not blaming you for this at all - I can tell that you don't know what it's like to be an ALT. I have a negligible amount of ALT experience and I don't feel like it much hampers my job as a PA, especially since most of the SDC planning is done by ALT PA and a committee of ALTs. Most of my PA work is Eternal Overlordistrative in nature and only requires Japanese ability, general event planning skills, and a knowledge of the bureaucracy of the JET Program. So I'm not sure I agree with this. I do think that PA positions are better off being filled with current JETs than new ones. but they don't need to be ALTs in my view, and in some ways I feel like my CIR experience has actually served me better by giving me knowledge of how ザ・行政 works.
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Post by songbanana on Nov 17, 2015 9:14:28 GMT 9
I have a negligible amount of ALT experience and I don't feel like it much hampers my job as a PA, especially since most of the SDC planning is done by ALT PA and a committee of ALTs. Most of my PA work is Eternal Overlordistrative in nature and only requires Japanese ability, general event planning skills, and a knowledge of the bureaucracy of the JET Program. So I'm not sure I agree with this. I do think that PA positions are better off being filled with current JETs than new ones. but they don't need to be ALTs in my view, and in some ways I feel like my CIR experience has actually served me better by giving me knowledge of how ザ・行政 works. I'd say that ideally you should have an ALT PA and a CIR PA for this reason. The ALT PA, or a PA with ALT experience, is the best person to do SDC and any other teaching-related conferences. My experience as an ALT has informed so much of what I do and know now that I don't know how people without any ALT experience do it (dosanko comes to mind, yikes!). But CIRs usually have higher language ability and a solid understanding of how to get 行政 things done, which is why they make good partners with an ALT PA. Maybe this is what CaptainSeery meant? Also this is why I wish they hadn't taken down the PA forums because now there's just this thread and the FB group I made so there's pretty much nowhere to talk about SDC stuff with other people actually in charge of planning it >:( Thanks Graeme Howard, I really appreciate the backup. There is less ALT-bashing than when I first joined the group (also since "I'm vegan but I eat ALTs for breakfast" nate has left us) Researcher Irish My point about the forums is that we've seen plenty of CIRs refuse to contribute to their community because it's outside work hours, and we all cheer it on with "get that daikyu." So how can we fault ALTs for taking more than they give to the JET experience? And with Mid-Year Chaos, a good chunk of us (I heard this more last year than this year so far, to be fair) were purely looking forward to meeting up, not necessarily to the conference at all. You get a little boost of motivation and camaraderie, then go back to your placement and slowly sink back to normal. It's the same for ALTs, except they have to actually organize and present at their conferences, instead of just show up like we do. So I think we should expect as much from ALTs at conferences as we do from ourselves. I can see that there are some legitimate concerns you have about the general attitude of SDC/-like conferences, and I definitely agree that even if ALTs don't have the freedom or training to do what they want in class, they should want to learn about teaching techniques and want to contribute to their school outside of the classroom and community as a whole. But as you can tell from how CaptSee and I reacted, assuming that ALTs don't want to isn't going to get you the result you want. I think you might be more successful if you approach it from the angle of assuming that ALTs do want to learn and contribute, but perhaps don't know practical ways how, and that's where your experience as an ALT and your familiarity with the Japanese workplace can come in. One workshop we did at pref. ori in August was "I didn't get the memo," and it was about all those times where you feel like you didn't get the memo on something ("today is suit day? why did no one tell me? why is everyone in the gym?") and even I learned some strategies to stay on top of things so I could contribute instead of just playing catch up.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 10:48:57 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 17, 2015 10:48:57 GMT 9
I have a negligible amount of ALT experience and I don't feel like it much hampers my job as a PA, especially since most of the SDC planning is done by ALT PA and a committee of ALTs. Most of my PA work is Eternal Overlordistrative in nature and only requires Japanese ability, general event planning skills, and a knowledge of the bureaucracy of the JET Program. So I'm not sure I agree with this. I do think that PA positions are better off being filled with current JETs than new ones. but they don't need to be ALTs in my view, and in some ways I feel like my CIR experience has actually served me better by giving me knowledge of how ザ・行政 works. Researcher Irish My point about the forums is that we've seen plenty of CIRs refuse to contribute to their community because it's outside work hours, and we all cheer it on with "get that daikyu." So how can we fault ALTs for taking more than they give to the JET experience? And with Mid-Year Chaos, a good chunk of us (I heard this more last year than this year so far, to be fair) were purely looking forward to meeting up, not necessarily to the conference at all. You get a little boost of motivation and camaraderie, then go back to your placement and slowly sink back to normal. It's the same for ALTs, except they have to actually organize and present at their conferences, instead of just show up like we do. So I think we should expect as much from ALTs at conferences as we do from ourselves. I can see that there are some legitimate concerns you have about the general attitude of SDC/-like conferences, and I definitely agree that even if ALTs don't have the freedom or training to do what they want in class, they should want to learn about teaching techniques and want to contribute to their school outside of the classroom and community as a whole. But as you can tell from how CaptSee and I reacted, assuming that ALTs don't want to isn't going to get you the result you want. I think you might be more successful if you approach it from the angle of assuming that ALTs do want to learn and contribute, but perhaps don't know practical ways how, and that's where your experience as an ALT and your familiarity with the Japanese workplace can come in. One workshop we did at pref. ori in August was "I didn't get the memo," and it was about all those times where you feel like you didn't get the memo on something ("today is suit day? why did no one tell me? why is everyone in the gym?") and even I learned some strategies to stay on top of things so I could contribute instead of just playing catch up. Im not saying ALTs are fundamentally bad at their jobs or that they dont want to learn, thats not what I am saying although it sounded like that. I said that like a majority dont care about teaching but I think a large amount of that is born out of the restrictions of being an ALT if your school doesnt use you. I really really really disagree with all of the points that you made in the first paragraph. I mean sure a lot of us look forward to the meeting up around Mid-Year Chaos more than the conference itself. That is human nature and Im not saying ALTs have to care more than us or not be allowed go out and get absolutely hammered after a conference and look forward to hang out. They, nor us, are under any obligation to be crazy looking forward to being trainined. My point is if you look at the list and explanation of topics I gave the problem is that the topics are not trying to be what they should be. The nature of the ALT and CIR positions are fundamentally different. ALTs are supposed to teach right? Whether they actually do that or not is up to the school. I hope they do. A well used, good ALT adds a lot. CIRs have extremely nebulous job descriptions and it would be impossible for them to plan for that one CIR in our prefecture who works at a university and interprets once every six months for a professor. You can say ALTs have unique situations too, which is true, but the fundmental job description is more over arching than that of a CIR. It just is. In my opinion an SDC for ALTs with no teaching in it is just wrong. I feel that the indulgence (and I am sticking to that word because I feel it is appropriate) is borne out of a feeling of helplessness on the part of many ALTs. CIRs can also be indulgent but it doesnt manifest itself in our conferences. Many ALTs feel that well if Im not being used shouldnt I just be working on my photography, postgraduate applications etc. etc. Thats absolutely fine. You should improve your prospects for your future on your down time. Its commendable in my book but at an SDC nope, not my job, dont care. Do you want a reference? Cool. Ill do that. Do you want to give me some photos to pretty up the blog? Yeah cool. Put a copyright mark on it? Sure no problem. Devote a portion of the conference to creating art for an hour? No absolutely not, never, nope. One of my biggest annoyances though (and its part of the reason I was pissy with Seery) is when the ALTs discount my experiences entirely because they forget I was an ALT. They are like, oh that's Shane being きびしい because CIRs dont get ALTs. Just because I disagree with you doesnt mean I dont get you. At every planning meeting it is literally me versus 10 people and its an amazing rarity when anyone takes my side in a small way. That shows that I have to give leeway because democracy. And I am a firm believer that if 10 people think you are wrong, you are probably wrong, at least a little bit so I moderate myself slightly. My only saving factor is being PA so I can at least have a bit of sway with the ALT PA who is the good cop in our good cop bad cop dynamic. We have done stuff like the things you suggested before. They have gone down well/not well depending on the group/presenter.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 11:25:17 GMT 9
Post by songbanana on Nov 17, 2015 11:25:17 GMT 9
Im not saying ALTs are fundamentally bad at their jobs or that they dont want to learn, thats not what I am saying although it sounded like that. I said that like a majority dont care about teaching but I think a large amount of that is born out of the restrictions of being an ALT if your school doesnt use you. I really really really disagree with all of the points that you made in the first paragraph. I mean sure a lot of us look forward to the meeting up around Mid-Year Chaos more than the conference itself. That is human nature and Im not saying ALTs have to care more than us or not be allowed go out and get absolutely hammered after a conference and look forward to hang out. They, nor us, are under any obligation to be crazy looking forward to being trainined. My point is if you look at the list and explanation of topics I gave the problem is that the topics are not trying to be what they should be. The nature of the ALT and CIR positions are fundamentally different. ALTs are supposed to teach right? Whether they actually do that or not is up to the school. I hope they do. A well used, good ALT adds a lot. CIRs have extremely nebulous job descriptions and it would be impossible for them to plan for that one CIR in our prefecture who works at a university and interprets once every six months for a professor. You can say ALTs have unique situations too, which is true, but the fundmental job description is more over arching than that of a CIR. It just is. In my opinion an SDC for ALTs with no teaching in it is just wrong. I feel that the indulgence (and I am sticking to that word because I feel it is appropriate) is borne out of a feeling of helplessness on the part of many ALTs. CIRs can also be indulgent but it doesnt manifest itself in our conferences. Many ALTs feel that well if Im not being used shouldnt I just be working on my photography, postgraduate applications etc. etc. Thats absolutely fine. You should improve your prospects for your future on your down time. Its commendable in my book but at an SDC nope, not my job, dont care. Do you want a reference? Cool. Ill do that. Do you want to give me some photos to pretty up the blog? Yeah cool. Put a copyright 和和和和 on it? Sure no problem. Devote a portion of the conference to creating art for an hour? No absolutely not, never, nope. One of my biggest annoyances though (and its part of the reason I was pissy with Seery) is when the ALTs discount my experiences entirely because they forget I was an ALT. They are like, oh that's Dustin the Turkey's Presidential Campaign Manager being きびしい because CIRs dont get ALTs. Just because I disagree with you doesnt mean I dont get you. At every planning meeting it is literally me versus 10 people and its an amazing rarity when anyone takes my side in a small way. That shows that I have to give leeway because democracy. And I am a firm believer that if 10 people think you are wrong, you are probably wrong, at least a little bit so I moderate myself slightly. My only saving factor is being PA so I can at least have a bit of sway with the ALT PA who is the good cop in our good cop bad cop dynamic. We have done stuff like the things you suggested before. They have gone down well/not well depending on the group/presenter. I think that the only reason Mid-Year Chaos stays mostly on task is because CLAIR directly plans and runs the conference, whereas SDC is run by ALTs themselves, so the topics are more democratic. The reason I brought up the forums and Mid-Year Chaos is because I think that if CIRs were in charge of running our own Mid-Year Chaos, it might look different. CIRs have "indulgences" too and these would be more visible if we planned Mid-Year Chaos ourselves, and as an example of that, I bring up our self-run forum, which is relevant to work sometimes, but sometimes it's not, and we're OK with that. (Even some of the Mid-Year Chaos presentations go well/not well depending on the group/presenter, and that's never going to change I think...) I agree with you that things that clearly aren't work-related shouldn't be at SDC, but if you divide it into one teaching-related SDC and one soft-skills-building/community-support-building conference, would that help? And I really don't mean to get preachy, but I think that part of the reason ALTs forget you were an ALT is because you use words like "indulgences" that make it sound like you're being condescending to ALTs. Even Seery and I were put on edge because the "I get you" part of "I get you but I disagree" isn't coming through. I hate to tone police but I honestly think that emphasizing that you understand and are on the ALTs' side might make your advice sound like it's coming from the inside, not attacking from the outside.
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Graeme Howard
Dead Stargod
always movin
Posts: 1,411
CIR Experience: 4th year
Location: Gifu
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Post by Graeme Howard on Nov 17, 2015 11:35:46 GMT 9
I think we would do a comically inconsistent job of organizing Mid-Year Chaos. I remember a user on the old forum suggested that Mid-Year Chaos have some kind of "Understanding 行政 and Navigating Office Politics" workshop, which I thought was a fantastic idea that would benefit CIRs in just about every environment. If I was in charge of organizing Mid-Year Chaos, I would give that the okay in a heartbeat. Then again, I would also okay "Starhunting for Freedom and GIL: A History of Dank CIRHP Memes" hosted by our hulemdo G-Rex
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 11:56:00 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 17, 2015 11:56:00 GMT 9
Im not saying ALTs are fundamentally bad at their jobs or that they dont want to learn, thats not what I am saying although it sounded like that. I said that like a majority dont care about teaching but I think a large amount of that is born out of the restrictions of being an ALT if your school doesnt use you. I really really really disagree with all of the points that you made in the first paragraph. I mean sure a lot of us look forward to the meeting up around Mid-Year Chaos more than the conference itself. That is human nature and Im not saying ALTs have to care more than us or not be allowed go out and get absolutely hammered after a conference and look forward to hang out. They, nor us, are under any obligation to be crazy looking forward to being trainined. My point is if you look at the list and explanation of topics I gave the problem is that the topics are not trying to be what they should be. The nature of the ALT and CIR positions are fundamentally different. ALTs are supposed to teach right? Whether they actually do that or not is up to the school. I hope they do. A well used, good ALT adds a lot. CIRs have extremely nebulous job descriptions and it would be impossible for them to plan for that one CIR in our prefecture who works at a university and interprets once every six months for a professor. You can say ALTs have unique situations too, which is true, but the fundmental job description is more over arching than that of a CIR. It just is. In my opinion an SDC for ALTs with no teaching in it is just wrong. I feel that the indulgence (and I am sticking to that word because I feel it is appropriate) is borne out of a feeling of helplessness on the part of many ALTs. CIRs can also be indulgent but it doesnt manifest itself in our conferences. Many ALTs feel that well if Im not being used shouldnt I just be working on my photography, postgraduate applications etc. etc. Thats absolutely fine. You should improve your prospects for your future on your down time. Its commendable in my book but at an SDC nope, not my job, dont care. Do you want a reference? Cool. Ill do that. Do you want to give me some photos to pretty up the blog? Yeah cool. Put a copyright 和和和和 on it? Sure no problem. Devote a portion of the conference to creating art for an hour? No absolutely not, never, nope. One of my biggest annoyances though (and its part of the reason I was pissy with Seery) is when the ALTs discount my experiences entirely because they forget I was an ALT. They are like, oh that's Dustin the Turkey's Presidential Campaign Manager being きびしい because CIRs dont get ALTs. Just because I disagree with you doesnt mean I dont get you. At every planning meeting it is literally me versus 10 people and its an amazing rarity when anyone takes my side in a small way. That shows that I have to give leeway because democracy. And I am a firm believer that if 10 people think you are wrong, you are probably wrong, at least a little bit so I moderate myself slightly. My only saving factor is being PA so I can at least have a bit of sway with the ALT PA who is the good cop in our good cop bad cop dynamic. We have done stuff like the things you suggested before. They have gone down well/not well depending on the group/presenter. I think that the only reason Mid-Year Chaos stays mostly on task is because CLIAR directly plans and runs the conference, whereas SDC is run by ALTs themselves, so the topics are more democratic. The reason I brought up the forums and Mid-Year Chaos is because I think that if CIRs were in charge of running our own Mid-Year Chaos, it might look different. CIRs have "indulgences" too and these would be more visible if we planned Mid-Year Chaos ourselves, and as an example of that, I bring up our self-run forum, which is relevant to work sometimes, but sometimes it's not, and we're OK with that. (Even some of the Mid-Year Chaos presentations go well/not well depending on the group/presenter, and that's never going to change I think...) I agree with you that things that clearly aren't work-related shouldn't be at SDC, but if you divide it into one teaching-related SDC and one soft-skills-building/community-support-building conference, would that help? And I really don't mean to get preachy, but I think that part of the reason ALTs forget you were an ALT is because you use words like "indulgences" that make it sound like you're being condescending to ALTs. Even Seery and I were put on edge because the "I get you" part of "I get you but I disagree" isn't coming through. I hate to tone police but I honestly think that emphasizing that you understand and are on the ALTs' side might make your advice sound like it's coming from the inside, not attacking from the outside. I mean you have changed your point though right? You said I couldnt make my point and still use the forums. I said the points were unrelated. Now you say you brought up the forums because it is representative of how we would plan a conference which I agree with but you changed the point. That may be true about the CLAIR helping keep MYCs on track but I feel like you are doing that thing where you are like well its fine because other people do bad things too, so you are being terrible and condescending and self righteous. If I was being the most arrogant, self righteous person ever it doesnt matter because you agree with my fundmental point, the SDCs should be about work or have a second one about soft skills etc. (I dont know what soft skills are). I feel like we agree a little bit, dont start out making an SDC nothing to do with work. If they want to have a conference about soft skills (still dont what what they are) then cool whatever, but they shouldnt kid themselves into thinking itll make them better teachers or that they are developing teaching skills. I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more tactful when actually talking to ALTs at the planning meetings. I am very like oh you know maybe how about this? And then they say no no, no no, and then Im like but emmmm this??? And they are like no no no no. I think we need this and then everyone agrees. I have never used the word indulgent in one of those meetings because God Bless Me I have a tiny bit more sense. But that is what I feel . They dont think Im arrogant and self righteous they just dont get why I dont like crayon time.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 12:00:57 GMT 9
Post by marudate on Nov 17, 2015 12:00:57 GMT 9
Soft skills could mean things like how to better interact with Japanese colleagues, navigate workplace politics, introduce ideas in ways they aren't likely to get rejected, skills for event-planning, etc. It doesn't mean they won't make you a better teacher. Teaching isn't just what you do in front of students, but the whole chain of events that leads up to that moment.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 13:07:24 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 17, 2015 13:07:24 GMT 9
Soft skills could mean things like how to better interact with Japanese colleagues, navigate workplace politics, introduce ideas in ways they aren't likely to get rejected, skills for event-planning, etc. It doesn't mean they won't make you a better teacher. Teaching isn't just what you do in front of students, but the whole chain of events that leads up to that moment. Oh ok. Then I guess they have a place in an SDC.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 13:25:26 GMT 9
Post by songbanana on Nov 17, 2015 13:25:26 GMT 9
I mean you have changed your point though right? You said I couldnt make my point and still use the forums. I said the points were unrelated. Now you say you brought up the forums because it is representative of how we would plan a conference which I agree with but you changed the point. That may be true about the CLIAR helping keep MYCs on track but I feel like you are doing that thing where you are like well its fine because other people do bad things too, so you are being terrible and condescending and self righteous. If I was being the most arrogant, self righteous person ever it doesnt matter because you agree with my fundmental point, the SDCs should be about work or have a second one about soft skills etc. (I dont know what soft skills are). I feel like we agree a little bit, dont start out making an SDC nothing to do with work. If they want to have a conference about soft skills (still dont what what they are) then cool whatever, but they shouldnt kid themselves into thinking itll make them better teachers or that they are developing teaching skills. I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more tactful when actually talking to ALTs at the planning meetings. I am very like oh you know maybe how about this? And then they say no no, no no, and then Im like but emmmm this??? And they are like no no no no. I think we need this and then everyone agrees. I have never used the word indulgent in one of those meetings because God Bless Me I have a tiny bit more sense. But that is what I feel . They dont think Im arrogant and self righteous they just dont get why I dont like crayon time. I haven't changed the point I'm trying to make, but I've added explanations as I've come to understand your position throughout this conversation. If your point was that ALTs didn't deserve to talk about things unrelated to work, which is how I interpreted it at first, then it seems a bit hypocritical to use the forums, right? But now that I think I understand your point as SDCs should be focused on teaching just as Mid-Year Chaos is focused on CIR work, and I've always been in agreement with that (who would disagree?). But I wanted to make the point not that "CIRs are also bad so it's OK that everyone's bad" but that it's not an issue of CIRs vs. ALTs, it's that the more democratically and loosely planned any conference is, the more likely each item is to veer away from the main goal. When the BOE plans SDC with an iron fist, it's always related to work. And CLAIR plans ours. Which is why I initially brought up the suggestion of setting strong goals for each conference.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 13:46:01 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 17, 2015 13:46:01 GMT 9
I mean you have changed your point though right? You said I couldnt make my point and still use the forums. I said the points were unrelated. Now you say you brought up the forums because it is representative of how we would plan a conference which I agree with but you changed the point. That may be true about the CLIAR helping keep MYCs on track but I feel like you are doing that thing where you are like well its fine because other people do bad things too, so you are being terrible and condescending and self righteous. If I was being the most arrogant, self righteous person ever it doesnt matter because you agree with my fundmental point, the SDCs should be about work or have a second one about soft skills etc. (I dont know what soft skills are). I feel like we agree a little bit, dont start out making an SDC nothing to do with work. If they want to have a conference about soft skills (still dont what what they are) then cool whatever, but they shouldnt kid themselves into thinking itll make them better teachers or that they are developing teaching skills. I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more tactful when actually talking to ALTs at the planning meetings. I am very like oh you know maybe how about this? And then they say no no, no no, and then Im like but emmmm this??? And they are like no no no no. I think we need this and then everyone agrees. I have never used the word indulgent in one of those meetings because God Bless Me I have a tiny bit more sense. But that is what I feel . They dont think Im arrogant and self righteous they just dont get why I dont like crayon time. I haven't changed the point I'm trying to make, but I've added explanations as I've come to understand your position throughout this conversation. If your point was that ALTs didn't deserve to talk about things unrelated to work, which is how I interpreted it at first, then it seems a bit hypocritical to use the forums, right? But now that I think I understand your point as SDCs should be focused on teaching just as Mid-Year Chaos is focused on CIR work, and I've always been in agreement with that (who would disagree?). But I wanted to make the point not that "CIRs are also bad so it's OK that everyone's bad" but that it's not an issue of CIRs vs. ALTs, it's that the more democratically and loosely planned any conference is, the more likely each item is to veer away from the main goal. When the BOE plans SDC with an iron fist, it's always related to work. And CLIAR plans ours. Which is why I initially brought up the suggestion of setting strong goals for each conference. Fair enough. There is a clear goal for this conference actually. I was surprised because our goal for every conference has always been team-teaching regardless of whatever nonsense peeps have tried to shoe-horn in. I wasnt at the meeting so I cant speak to what exactly this conference has as its goal. Im not much of a "give this a goal" type of person because if I hear to many words like soft skills, action items, goals, performance indicators etc. I glaze over but other people like em so whatevs. According to the minutes of the meeting we had (which I wasnt at): Goal: Many people use JET as a stop gap for life, while they figure out life. Many people are lost. This sentence is true. Doesn't sound like a goal to me but whatever. I think Ill eventually get to the point where I lose interest and stop SMACKDOWNing.
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Post by snell_mouse on Nov 17, 2015 13:49:44 GMT 9
This has been an interesting conversation and I don't really have anything to contribute, but - you are right, that is definitely not a goal, just a statement, haha.
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SDCs
Nov 17, 2015 13:52:17 GMT 9
Post by songbanana on Nov 17, 2015 13:52:17 GMT 9
hue yeah that's not a goal. And even "help JETs find their purpose in life" is not really a SMART goal. Sounds like the SDC planners need to treat it like planning a class, their students are going to be lost!
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Nov 17, 2015 13:59:44 GMT 9
Post by Researcher Irish on Nov 17, 2015 13:59:44 GMT 9
hue yeah that's not a goal. And even "help JETs find their purpose in life" is not really a SMART goal. Sounds like the SDC planners need to treat it like planning a class, their students are going to be lost! Whats a SMART goal (Do you see how much I actively try to avoid this language?)?
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