Getting your BOE to Say Yes!
You would like your students to have the best experience to learn English. Team-teaching resources are out there, and you found Eigo Ganbare that has taken that time and effort in its contribution to Japanese public schools for over ten years. Eigo Ganbare helps students gain confidence to speak English. So how do you go to your BOE and get support?
Here are some tips to help you get support directly from your school and make a positive difference!
1. Don’t just ask for PERMISSION, ask for SUPPORT.
Explain why ALTs need to be equipped with modern team-teaching resources that will help your school and your JTEs. Remind them of the true value of “team teaching” and explain all other educational opportunities.
Then, explain why it would make you comfortable to use resources from Eigo Ganabare to assist you in creating your lesson activities and that it has added supplement value to the MEXT elementary/junior high schools’ textbooks. Include the cross-cultural aspect as a proposal of encouraging students to have fun learning English by establishing a liaison relationship with some schools abroad via a pen pal project. Phrase it like Eigo Ganbare offers those initiative supports, especially tips on how to partner with schools abroad that have students learning Japanese.
2. Explain the benefits of Eigo Ganbare in terms of real-life stories.
Entrance exams and eiken are B-O-R-I-N-G! But, by having your students participate in communicative lesson activities in groups and a pen pal project integrated into all English classes (like I did when I was ALTing in Japan), then your school will have the opportunity to witness successful students’ testimonies. Your students get to use English in a practical way and build new friendships outside of Japan. They get “cool” omiyage and won’t feel bad about making English mistakes because it is just part of the learning experience of becoming fluent in another language. If your students say “the pen pal project isn’t homework”, then it has become a game changer!
3. The Microgrant Initiative Grant for Current JETs.
Eigo Ganbare is proud to share about the Microgrant Initiative Grant for current American JETs. It provides JET American ALTs of about $200-$1,000 to introduce American culture and team-teach the English language to students in the classrooms. It is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. If you are in need of paid team-teaching resources to assist you with your classroom teaching ideas, I encourage you to apply for this grant.
https://www.usjetaa.org/programs/us-microgrant