Working With ALTTO by Nicholas J. Wilson

by Nicholas J. Wilson

Foreward by David L. Hayter: It has been a great pleasure to have Nicholas J. Wilson (or Nick as we call him) join the ALTTO team. 

His time working with our team hasn't been the longest but his impact has been immense. Since he started working with us this year, he has done a lot to support the team by heading up our monthly newsletter, working on the new website, assisting with projects, sharing valuable ideas, giving timely feedback, and implementing new systems to make our work better/easier.

Below is his entry in our "Working With ALT Training Online" blog series. Please join me in welcoming him to the community!

Hi everyone, I’m Nicholas J. Wilson of ALT Training Online. I never had the chance to formally introduce myself so I'll take this opportunity to do so.

I moved to Japan in 2016 and have had since then the lucky chance of working for a great ALT dispatch company (a needle in a haystack!) active specifically in Nagano Prefecture that provides continuous professional development through the year in the form of general training days, in-school workshops and specific one-on-one class observations.

When I started teaching back in 2012, I was in the middle of writing my Master’s Degree thesis and had already received training during the Cambridge CELTA course. While both had given me the necessary skills and knowledge to identify learners' needs, I was still lacking the necessary field experience to successfully apply what I had learned, so the training and suggestions I’ve received from my trainers really did make a difference in transforming me from someone who knew things to someone who could teach things.

During my time (4 years – and counting) working in public schools I’ve had the chance of meeting many other less fortunate ALTs complaining about the lack of training from either their dispatch companies or town’s BOEs.

While some of them weren’t interested in seeking further professional development, many understood their weaknesses and wanted to improve but simply didn’t know how!

The education system is always evolving: teaching in Japan has currently moved towards a student-centered style, putting an end to those never-ending classes where students used to passively listen for hours to their teachers while in fact daydreaming.

Recent changes brought by the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT), one of them being recognizing English as a real subject, requires HRTs and ALTs to engage the classroom in what’s called TEAM TEACHING, a practice that involves working together by planning, discussing contents and then teaching accordingly in synergy, constantly switching roles throughout each lesson according to who would be better suited to support or lead specific activities.

In light of this, many BOEs have recently updated their guidelines for hiring ALTs and are now looking for candidates who can understand Japanese classroom dynamics like never before, thus putting an end to the idea that ALTs are just “tape recorders” or “dancing monkeys”.

Unfortunately, the lack of funds and training resources many dispatch companies and BOEs suffer from prevents them from providing new teachers with the necessary knowledge to succeed in the classroom.

The consequences are dire: in a country where ALTs grow in numbers but not in quality, students are the unfortunate victims, losing years of potential education that might have changed their approach towards the world, cutting their chances to succeed in a global society.

Our mission with the ALT Training Online project is to empower ALTs by providing the necessary set of skills many can’t access and create an equal starting point for all teachers in the country with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all children in the country can receive the same level of high-quality English instruction whatever the school, whoever the teacher.

My role in ALTTO involves powering up the platform in order to meet our users’ needs. The “Monthly Trainer” newsletter service which began in March was only the first step towards a new age for the project.

I'm currently working on the new website, an evolution towards a more user-friendly interface which will definitely make things easier to find. Then there's another secret project which will really make the difference. So stay tuned for more!

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up.

Never miss another blog again! Click here to sign-up for our newsletter, "The Monthly Trainer," to stay up to date with everything ALTTO has to offer.

End Of ALT Training Online? by Nathaniel Reed

by Nathaniel Reed

Bio: Nathaniel Reed started his ALT journey in 2014. He was mid writing a dissertation for an MA in Linguistics and it struck him that there was no training for this new job. Even low-level jobs have some kind of training to help you do the job effectively, and teachers are dealing with people’s lives.

These thoughts gave birth to ALT Training Online (ALTTO). 

Quickly realising that ALT pay is the same as when the current ALT system started in 1987, he knew that this training must be free. Thankfully there are a lot of helpful souls in the world, even the leading scholars on language education in Japan, so piece by piece it started to build - this blog will take you on the journey so we'll stop there for now.

With a house and two incredible children, every day is full of surprises and happiness for Nathaniel. We are all on a journey though, growing and evolving who we are on a daily basis.

Let today guide your thoughts in some way to be thankful. Who knows, you may even feel like joining the ALTTO team and improving the quality of what we’re doing. It would be great to hear from you.

Around 6 years have passed since the birth of ALT Training Online. After writing an MA dissertation on the roles of ALTs I couldn't help but let go of the burning question: why didn't I receive any teacher training (pre- or in-service?) when I got the ALT job?

With no coding or web development skills, but an ambition to provide high-quality, free training to thousands of ALTs, my mission began.

Alas, hundreds of dollars out of pocket and many aspects of the site needing an update I face a crossroads – redesign it completely or let the thousands of weekly users down. 

It's quite a size now, there’s a lot of content, so the work would take a while….

On an ALT's salary with a mortgage and two children, the decision should be quite simple, but I'm really struggling with the choice.

I’d hate my own children to go to school and get a low-quality education because the teacher wasn’t trained.

The emails ALTTO receives from individuals in need of help and all the positive comments we get have been on my mind for over a year…...

Unfortunately though, it's adios to ALTTO and ALTopedia….

Just kidding!

I've been learning to code and the ALTTO team is growing - so the site is getting a makeover!

New features are in place and we're launching two new modules: ‘Vocabulary’ by Dr David Coulson at Ritsumeikan University and ‘Speaking’ by Richard Graham from Genki English – but this is just the start.

David Hayter is as motivated as ever to keep the wide-ranging guest blogs coming – from Vietnam.

Jake (an established coder) is excelling on the ALTopedia resources site, keeping it maintained and arduously updating resources everyday.

We've new affiliations too, and are being advertised outside of Japan with our new partners, including JET (big thanks to all of them).

The big news……(drum roll)….. is the latest member of the ALTTO team, Nick. He's been working incredibly hard to prepare 'The Monthly Trainer'; an email newsletter that’s just the right length with content covering all areas of the ALT world: what's coming up in your schools, teaching tips, teaching English in English….. one of the major changes the Course of Studies schools are sent is requesting from April 2020 - the timing of The Monthly Trainer couldn't be more perfect.

We're working hard to launch the new site sometime in April – so check our Facebook group for the new link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/alttrainingonline/

Sign up right now for The Weekly Trainer, (first edition end of March 2020): https://mailchi.mp/4150701561cf/altto

Join us and make ALT lives better.

You’re still here - great. Read on...

You may know that online courses (in general) have a completion rate of around 10% according to most studies. You may have started one or a tonne of courses online yourself (I’m working my way through 4 at the moment). The ALTTO course/website is no different, although some modules are getting 100% completion rates, interest leaves some users with completion rates of around 20%.

We’ve listened to your feedback, re-reviewed the practice of learning online and have completely changed how the free ALT training course looks - how you the user can develop skills to use in the classroom, whatever your learning style.

It’s much more interactive now. Not just long texts to read with reflection questions - modules are made up of shorter units, a range of media is used, plus interactive features and various questions styles are used to make being an ALT much more enjoyable.

We’re updating the modules too. The three previous categories: Contextual, Teaching and Professional Development are being expanded!

We’re also taking away unpopular modules that didn’t seem to fit people’s interests. We’ve listened to and taken on board suggestions, and then searched far and wide for writers.

We know that the resulting new modules, and whole new course, will deliver exactly what you want and need to make not just make you more confident and better teachers, but also dramatically enhance the potential of your students. 

How would you make ALTTO and Altopedia better? Join the team and make it happen!

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

Never miss another blog again! Click here to sign-up for our newsletter, "The Monthly Trainer," to stay up to date with everything ALTTO has to offer.

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html

Working With ALTTO by Steven MacWhinnie

by Steven MacWhinnie

Bio: Steven MacWhinnie is a lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin University and a doctoral candidate at the University of Leicester. 

He has been living and working in Aomori since 2007, first on the JET Programme, then as an Eikaiwa school owner and part-time university lecturer.

His research interests include motivation, engagement, and language awareness. He has published articles on motivation and engagement and is now working on understanding how students use language in the completion of tasks.

I have been helping with proofreading for ALTTO since 2017. Although at that point I was no longer an ALT, I was curious about what ALTTO had to offer.

Back when I first came to Japan to teach as an ALT, there was nothing in the way of solid training.

ALTs were generally left to sink or swim, local BOEs might provide training of some sort, but generally, there wasn’t much in the way of support. I was excited to see that ALLTO was planning on developing modules that would support ALTs new to Japan.

I’d like to elaborate a bit on why I decided to offer to help with proofreading the modules. Back in 2007 when I first arrived in Japan, even the orientation conference in Tokyo didn’t provide much information on what was actually expected of ALTs.

The little information that was given was mostly focused on telling ALTs to not get into trouble. There was no real education on being an educator.

Looking back at my own experience as an ALT, I can’t say I was particularly good when I first arrived. I was very lucky to have worked with some talented JTEs who took the time to teach me how to be a teacher. I was lucky to be able to understand Japanese and be willing to adjust my teaching style as I learned new things about teaching.

ALTTO now has modules providing in-depth detail about different aspects of teaching, what I spent nearly 3 years learning by trial and error is now readable in a few hours.

While my own experiences are rather different (I worked in a rural area), the module on what to expect and how a typical day might go would have been useful information to have when I started.

As I worked for 5 years as an ALT, I saw many ALTs come and go, and I listened to what the JTEs had to say. Even now, I have friends who are JTEs and they often bemoan the lack of education for new ALTs who come to Japan. While I can’t directly speak to the situation now as I am not longer working as an ALT, I remember that many people came to Japan to work as ALTs more as a way to see the world and they weren’t particularly interested in developing their skills as teachers.

I doubt that the situation has changed significantly, but I do know that for the ALTs who come to Japan and want to be more than a tape-recorder and actually teach, ALTTO provides a lot of important resources for those individuals. A friend at the BOE has often commented that the ALTs who come really need more training resources.

Even the ALTs who seem interested in developing themselves as teachers, don’t have access to good training tools.

Even very basic information is lacking. For example, a new ALT went to visit an elementary school. He was asked to teach the alphabet. In the US at least, most would start by showing a picture of an apple, and saying a /æ/ apple. This isn’t wrong, but it only served to confuse the children in the class who were using a different system, learning a as in ant (ɛənt). This simply goes to illustrate the severe lack of training for new ALTs who arrive in Japan.

As I said above, I am no longer an ALT. This might raise the question of why I still decided to volunteer to be a proofreader for the ALTTO project. I work now as a university educator, partly in the training of English teachers. I also worry about the skill level of incoming freshmen students. I am a long-term resident of Japan and I care very deeply about developing not only the English skills but the global sensibility of Japanese students.

Part of that process is by providing students with competent educators who are knowledgeable and able to impart that knowledge.

If ALTs are effective teachers, I suspect that students will become not only better at the English language but see the value in English as a global means of communication.

For these, among other, reasons I am happy to volunteer my time to try and help this excellent project succeed. The only way forward is through more education, both for ALTs and for their students.

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html

Working With ALTTO by David L. Hayter

by David L. Hayter

Bio: David L. Hayter is a teacher and freelance writer based out of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

He first gained experience in education by working as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan from 2014-2019. Although he primarily taught junior high school, he has taught all the grades from kindergarten through ninth grade.

During his time as an ALT, he worked in 11 junior high schools, 2 elementary schools, dozens of kindergartens with hundreds of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to teach thousands of students.

Aside from teaching, his other duties included training and managing new ALTs, designing and delivering teacher training workshops, and performing other duties for his local Board of Education (BOE).

Outside of work, he actively volunteers in his community, enjoys playing video games, loves to cook, trains hard, is working on a new podcast/blog, and helps run the ALT Training Online blog.

Working with ALT Training Online (ALTTO) has been one of the most positive experiences in my life, both personally and professionally. The skills I have gained and the relationships that came from it have helped me tremendously.

The first time I came across ALTTO a few years ago was completely by accident. The board of education I was working for provides one month of in-house training every August for new ALTs. As veteran ALTs re-contract throughout the years, they are expected to teach the newly arrived ALTs how to teach in Japan (it's easy, right?).

A simple Google search for "ALT training" led me to the site and my mind was blown. It was like finding cheat codes for a game!

This was the first time I had come across a website dedicated to making ALTs in Japan better teachers. Best of all, there was no charge for any of the information!

What really drew me to the site is that it was made for ALTs, by ALTs.

These weren't articles published for journals or posts about the struggles of one ALT. It was a systematic plan for what ALTs need to know in order to do their job well made by a community.

The site covered a lot of information and had opinions/information from many different teachers. The modules are also backed up with extensive research for those who really want to do a deep dive into ALTing.

Other sites and resources dealing with education and teacher training in Japan usually had some other kind of angle. This wasn't the case with ALTTO.

To me, it seemed like other sites affiliated with the government were trying to portray teaching in Japan in a certain light. Other private sites were more focused on trying to sell a product/service.

After pouring over the site for a few hours, I noticed that there was a call for proofreaders.

I was getting into blogging and writing so I figured this would be a good way to help the cause, become a better teacher, and gain some transferrable skills all at the same time!

Initially, I offered to be a proofreader. After getting in contact with Nate (the founder of the site), he asked if I would like to take over the blog part of the site. He saw the work I was doing on my own blog and thought I could help out. This eventually led to me helping with other areas of the site like social media.

My work with ALTTO has led to opportunities to write for education blogs, be a guest on podcasts, and interact with professionals all over the world.

Although my time teaching in Japan has come to an end, the things I've learned working with ALTTO continue to help me for the rest of my life.

Companies and schools are looking for workers who are not only good at their job but are also skilled in collaboration using technology.

While my main motivation for helping with the site was to improve teacher training and education in Japan, it's very true that this kind of experience does look GREAT on a resume.

Looking back over the past years, I never thought something I started doing during my downtime in October of 2017 would turn into a community of ALTs making a difference in Japan and across the world.

In closing, I'd like to give a big thank you to Nate, the team at ALTTO, all of our blog contributors, our readers, and everyone involved in the ALTTO community. Our work wouldn't be what it is without you!

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html