Brent's Blog

A big THANKS to Donna Tatsuki for sharing this link to a blog entry from the NY Times about research on the psychological benefits of writing and editing our own stories.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/writing-your-way-to-happiness/?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=1

A big thank you to Jason Hill for writing up a review of my talk at Iwate JALT. I enjoyed meeting with teachers in Akita and Iwate, and look forward to future trips.

http://iwatejalt.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/content-focused-language-instruction-brent-a-jones/

I came across this documentary about Aaron Swartz when I was looking for examples to show my documentary filmmaking students. I remember reading/hearing about Aaron and his various social causes, but did not realise that he committed suicide due to the pressures of being indicted by the government. I hope more people are touched by his story and get involved.

http://documentary.net/internets-boy-story-aaron-swartz/

Sent to me by Aeric Wong. We may be using some of this stuff in our study skills course for first year students.

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-skills-we-wish-were-taught-in-school-but-usuall-1622414148?utm_campaign=socialflow_lifehacker_facebook&utm_source=lifehacker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

We are keeping our eyes on this to see what changes this will actually bring.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/03/30/issues/osaka-embraces-english-reformation/#.U-2q9LyzVop

Historic Film Clips

https://www.youtube.com/user/britishpathe

A friend sent me this link about student-led projects. I would like to experiment with this.

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/07/this-is-what-a-student-designed-school-looks-like/

Overview of note-taking.

http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/how-to-take-notes-strategies/#ixzz37DIsL4xk

A well-done Prezi on using CEFR “can do” statements in a self access center for students learning Japanese. I would like to visit them and see first-hand what they are doing.

Came across this blog post on informED. Several good ideas to encourage engagement.

http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/25-ways-to-create-a-sticky-lesson/