Event Report, Okinawa Chapter July 2018

Things got off to a rough start on Friday the 20th of July as Typhoon number 10 approached Okinawa. All but two presenters were able to reach OIST seaside house on Friday night. Those that did make it sat in the lobby as the weather took a turn for the worse with wind and rain while eating pizza and catching up.
On Saturday morning participants gathered in Chura hall for a healthy breakfast before the activity display began. Dayana Ismail, Jacob Ornellas, Rafael Karganilla, Jon Victorson, and Jade Ho: enthusiastic and upcoming teachers presented exciting activities they use with their students. We were off to a great start despite the bad weather.
After a delicious lunch prepared by the wives of the officers, research based presentations started. First, Grant Osterman explained how novelty can be used to motivate students. Then George MacLean showed how google forms can make the collection of homework, more efficient, more accurate and more appealing to students. After that, Yuka Kannari spoke on the effect of teacher’s questions on students. To close the day, Chih Hao Chang shared his research on private English tutoring. Our final presenters from Taiwan and Australia arrived.
With the typhoon warning lifted, participants gathered to watch the beautiful sunset in Chura hall before eating another home cooked meal.
On July 22nd, the event became open to the public and a number of participants started arriving during breakfast. The first speaker of the day, Hui-Chun Hsieh, shared how students used the recourses at a learning centre in Taiwan. After that, Mark Sawyer explained very convincingly how literature can be used to teach students inter cultural competence. Later Eric Figueroa and Moe Masano made a delightful presentation on the use of Quizlet live to motivate students at UTS in Australia.
Participants finally got the chance to leave OIST seaside house for lunch before making their way to OIST’s main campus to have lunch with a view at the Cafe in the central building.
After lunch, the keynote speaker: Curtis Kelly blew the audience away with an inspiring workshop on dealing with difficult students. After which, Masanori Tokeshi showed how pre-serive English teachers felt about their English level after 4 years of study. Max Diaz then took the floor to share some ideas on how to better prepare English teachers in program like that of the JET in Japan or EPIK on South Korea. Bojan Brink then compared Academic Debate and Parliamentary style debate at the implications for teachers.
Finally, Curtis Kelly held a final workshop on the kinds of problems faced by learners.
Everyone attending left with a huge smile. Despite many last minute changes being made for the typhoon. All seemed to agree. It was a great success and everyone is excited about the same event next year.