[1-2-3] Skype Exchange Session 2: Introducing the history and features of KMJH

With this second Skype exchange with Toshi’s students, we experienced using English to introduce KMJH and Taichung, complete with a section of Readers Theater performance and the viral PPAP from Japan. Also, thanks to their counterparts’ hard work, we also got to know some fun facts about Japanese sports day, school festivals and clubs.

My students brainstormed some interesting topics to present, including Kuang Ming’s brief history, stories of the cornerstone (奠基石) and the Land Temple (土地公廟), lunch menu and lunch break, and even Principal Hu’s motto. They created mind maps to better materialize what they wanted to present. Furthermore, they also came up with relevant key vocab and expressions that were in line with their assigned topics and then completed their scripts and PPT slides.

The layout of my updated Skype turned out a bit messy. 10 minutes into the session, I still couldn’t find the “Share Screen” icon and that really gave me a fright. I was clueless and even more nervous after Skype crashed quite a few times. How horrifying it was! Luckily, it went back to normal all of a sudden so that we didn’t have to cancel it.

10 minutes before the end of the today’s meeting, I prompted my students to do a bit of their RT performance. The Wicked Witch and the Narrator reluctantly came to the camera because they were shy and blushed, but they did an amazing job by bringing the character alive with their perfect English pronunciation and intonation. Also, totally on a whim, I asked whether they would like to do PPAP for their Japanese partners, and so they did. We were all amused.

Of course, it still left a lot to be desired. For example, some students really have to speak up, and some talked too fast. Also, some of them were just reading their scripts. Despite all that, isn’t it the whole idea of this Skype English exchange, to provide an authentic environment for students to speak English and learn to appreciate cultural differences? For that, Toshi, let’s do it again, shall we?