I was told to be ready to have a self introduction lesson when I first came to Japan. It was 1998, I couldn’t just look up online for some photos to insert into a powerpoint and show that in class. I couldn't google anything that summer of 1998, let alone to get ideas for self introduction lessons. I did, though, go around my hometown and took some snapshots to bring. With the developed photos in my bag I got on the plane with plans to do my best in class. The self introduction lesson I remember most clearly now was the one that failed. I went into the class at this small junior high school in the mountains, one where a few months later would be surrounded by 3 meters of snow. As I started talking I could sense the kids had no idea what I was saying, and maybe not much interest, as well.  Finally, when the class was over, I thought the JTE would give some advice at best or be upset at worst, but all he said was, let's do it again in our next class.

I recently observed a veteran teacher who we just hired and he did this lesson quite well, though I wonder how I would have done with the ability to create a powerpoint and show it to the class. So, yes, even though it is possible to successfully do this kind of self-intro lesson I have known some teachers who think self-introduction lessons are, successful or not, not important and a waste of time. I disagree, however. A mentor of mine once mentioned that the teachers most remembered were those who shared some bit of themselves with their students. So I always think it is good that students know a little bit about me.

But how can I guess what they want to know? Although I know I can do a much better job with a self intro lesson today today than I did in 1998, just like what I found interesting in my hometown probably was not interesting to my students in rural Japan at the time, what I find interesting today might not interest my junior high school students today. I realized the way to ensure students find out something they are actually interested in, and also make this a much more interactive activity, was to have the students ask questions about what they want to know about me rather than me telling them what I think is interesting about me to them.

To me, this has several benefits. First, since it is more interactive it keeps the students in the class more involved. Even if they are only listening, they are much more interested to see how I answer their classmates' questions rather than just talking to them. Second, it lets kids ask questions they are interested in. 

Third, and maybe the most important point, is it allows me to talk to the students at their English level.  One of the disadvantages of asking EFL students to ask questions is they are not going to be able to ask all the questions they may have but if they can’t understand me in English from the start it will be difficult to build a trusting relationship in English. By keeping the first class in English and asking and answering questions at their level lets them make a direct connection with me right away with information they are interested in learning in English 

This lesson also acts as a quick level check for the class as a whole and for individual students.  Depending on the size of the class, I try to get every student  to ask a question, which allows me to quickly learn if they are shy or outgoing, if they are strong at English or weak, etc. If it is a one off substitution that isn’t a major concern, but if I am their new teacher for the year, it lets me learn a lot about the class in a short amount of time.

Although I mainly now do this lesson with junior or senior high school students, I have done it at university classes and even small group adult business English lessons. Below are a few examples of some questions and what I do with the questions.

This is from a high school class where I was the substitute for the day. I made it into a quiz and gave students two choices per question.

This was at a class for university students planning on going abroad, so this activity also doubled as a way to prepare students for small talk when they would meet new people. After I answer the questions I put students into pairs and/or small groups. Each group has a small game board and some dice. They roll the dice and when they land on a number they have to answer the question that corresponds to that number.

This is from the first class of this year with the second year students I teach at my junior high school. I do sometimes tell students, especially older students, that they can't ask Yes/No questions but not this day.

English teachers in Japan often tell themselves that one reason students don’t progress is that they are afraid to make mistakes. But are we as teachers just as willing to make mistakes ourselves?

I taught English at public elementary schools in Tokyo in the early 2000s. Teaching English at elementary schools was still experimental at the time and so I was responsible for creating all the lessons I was teaching. I had excitedly prepared all the materials for this interactive lesson that I thought would just mesmerize the students. From the moment the bell rang, however, there was just no response to anything I did that day. I was really down and depressed after that class. I asked the homeroom teacher who I co-taught the class with at that school why the students were so unresponsive and he just said the culture festival was coming up so students were really tired preparing for that. Thinking back, the lesson probably wasn't as great as I thought it was but from then on I have kept an eye on what students are doing outside class while thinking about either the yearly curriculum or an individual lesson.

When I think of language learning mistakes I have made, though, I always come back to one I made when I was living in Niigata as a JET program participant. As you may know, Niigata is snow country. But I grew up on the coast in California, which is defenantly not snow country, and I had only actually seen snow just a few months before coming to Japan. So during my first winter I was glued to the TV trying to figure out weather forcasts. One day I saw on the TV the term 大雪, which means heavy snow. I knew 雪, or snow, was pronounced yuki. I thought the 大 (big) would be pronounced like 大学 (university or daigaku). I was in a meeting a few days later at the local board of education and I said it will be daiyuki. Everyone looked puzzled until they started laughing after trying to understand what I was trying to say. My JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) who was in the meeting explained that it was pronounced ooyuki not daiyuki.

I am sure students are afraid of such an experience. I can’t say I was in good spirits myself immediately after making that mistake, nor am I everytime I make mistakes in my daily life.  When making a mistake in the classroom, though, I try to keep in mind that even the smallest error is, in addition to giving the students a chance to correct their teacher while also being able to teach their fellow students something, an opporunity to show them making mistakes is not something to be embarrassed by but rather an opportunity to learn something new. If we as teachers are willing to show our students that it is okay to make mistakes hopefully they will see the value in taking risks and making mistakes as they progress on their English learning journey.