Posts

Exercise for your Brain

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Please watch the video and answer the questions before class. How did you rate this video? How much physical exercise do you do? How do you feel about exercise? What do you think about "grant writing"? What are the short-term brain benefits from exercise? What are the long-term brain benefits from exercise? What are the minimum requirements? How can research maximise the good benefits of exercise for the brain? Can this video help you? Could this video help your students or co-workers? Please think of some questions to ask me about the video or exercise in class.

Talking to Strangers

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Please follow the link below, watch the TEDtalk and answer the questions below. https://www.ted.com/talks/kio_stark_why_you_should_talk_to_strangers How did you rate this video? Is it culturally acceptable, in Japan, to talk to strangers? Do you talk to strangers? Why are strangers perceived to be dangerous? Have you ever been a complete stranger somewhere? If so how did you feel? How do you feel about "fleeting intimacy"? Why is it easier to be open and honest with strangers? What are Kio Starks five ways to interact with a stranger? Which of those ways would be most natural for you? What would stop you interacting with a stranger? Now think of some questions to ask me in class. 広告  私の生徒とエイセット英会話の生徒のために、このブログを作っています。たいてい、生徒は大学の先生とか博士課程の学生です。もし、京都で個人レッスンが欲しかったら、エイセット英会話に連絡してください。個人のSKYPEレッスンも出来ます。 http://www.a-set.jp/lesson/university.html 075-585-8222 info@a-set.jp 大学生のための英語のレッスン 最近学生は大学で英語をよく使うので、英語を勉強したいが、個人レッスンは高いです。だから、大学生の場合グル...

Ageing

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Please watch the video before class and make a short presentation about it for class. Then think of ten questions to ask me about the video.   Ageing   It is eighteen years since I came to Japan. I was thirty-six years old and believed that I was at my mental and physical peak, but I thought the same when I was twenty. Now that I am nearly fifty-five years old, how have I aged mentally and physically? I feel that I am as sharp minded as I was when I was twenty, but I know it is because I use my brain.  Every day I practice Japanese, play chess and try to learn something new. There is an English saying "use it or lose it"; I use my brain so it stays sharp.  But physically I am not as fit as I was eighteen years ago, but that is more to do with lifestyle than ageing.  I could never be as fit as I was at twenty, but if I ate less, drank less and exercised more, I would be much healthier.  I think there is one wonderful aspect to ageing, the thirt...

Loving School

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Please watch the video below and answer the questions Do you believe that generally children like school? Why or why not? Why do you think that classrooms have not changed much in seventy years? How would you set-up a classroom? Do you think teachers should release their power and make their classroom's more student centred? What are your thoughts about the "genius hour"? What is purposeful technology? Do you know of any project based applications for learning? What is your opinion about "cell phone hotels"? Should schools block You Tube? Why or why not? Does social media have a place in the classroom? How important are student's digital footprints for their life chances? How can the walls of a classroom be broken down? Prepare a short talk about a favourite teacher from your past and the classroom that they taught from. Think of five questions for me about my experiences in classrooms. 広告  私の生徒とエイセット英会話の生徒のために、このブログを作...

Powerpoint Presentations

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Please watch the video and answer the questions How do you rate this video?  Have you ever been bored by someones powerpoint slides? If so, why?  Do you believe, if you give a badly designed powerpoint presentation, your audience will forget 90% of the content? Why or why not? What is your opinion of this Dr John Medina quote," If companies would have as little respect for business as they have for presentions, the majority would go bankrupt "? Why is one message per slide better than two or more? What is redundancy effect and how can it be avoided? How is size important in powerpoint slides? Why is the use of contrast good for your powerpoint slides? Why is white bad? What is the maximum amount of objects that should be on one slide?  How many slides are best for a good presentation?

Books

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Please watch the video and answer the questions.   How do you rate this video? As a non-native-speaker, how do you rate Lisa Bu's English? Do you know of any books banned in Japan, but available in other countries? How do you feel about comparitive reading? Have you ever read the same book in two languages? Do you believe it is important that a dream comes true? Are books always with you? How do you feel when you read in English? Now think of a book or a pair of books and prepare a five minute presentation about those books to give in class. Please think of five questions to ask me about books.

Longevity

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Please watch the video, then answer the questions.  How do you rate this video? Why do you think men are more likely to die, at any age, than women? How many centenarians do you know? What is your impression of Villagrande? Why do you think more and more people are living a solitary life? Why is having good close relationships the second strongest predictor of a longer life? Why is social integration the strongest predictor of a longer life? Why are face to face communications better than digital ones? Why do you think that hearing someone speak, causes us to believe they are more intelligent, than reading something they wrote? Why are women more likely to prioritise their social activities than men. Now please prepare a three minute talk about how we can improve social connections in the modern world. Think of five questions to ask me about this video or it's theme.