Taking action on professional development
This paper outlines some of the activities which have been developed by members of the English Language Institute (ELI) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) as part of a Professional Development (PD) Committee. The committee is comprised of numerous sub-committees which include: a writing circle that provides feedback on staff members’ academic papers; a reading discussion group in which staff come together to discuss academic papers; a teaching discussion group in which various practical issues are discussed; peer workshops: presentations which harness the expertise of colleagues; peer observations: a structured process for observing lessons, being observed, and exchanging feedback; and social events including marathons and family activities. This collaborative work outlines how each of the sub-committees operates, discusses the professional benefits to be gained from such activities, and provides practical advice on how similar PD opportunities could be made available at other institutions.
An Etiquette for the Nonsupervisory Observation of L2 Classrooms
Earlier discussions of an etiquette for classroom observation imply that a supervisor who observes a second language (L2) classroom in an official capacity poses more serious concerns for a classroom teacher than a person who visits for some other reason. Several writers suggest that a supervisory relationship between a classroom teacher and a visitor/ observer can be more unsettling for the teacher than one that is nonsupervisory. There is evidence, however, that visitors who are non-supervisors sometimes provoke anxiety in the lives of L2 teachers and their students. While not always recognizing this concern, programs of L2 teacher preparation encourage pre-service and in-service teachers to visit and observe classes being taught by their peers. Under such circumstances, visitors who are not supervisors sometimes lack necessary skills for observing in an unobtrusive manner. For this and other reasons, the problems that nonsupervisory observers pose in classroom settings need to be examined directly. The present discussion addresses visitors to L2 classrooms who are the colleagues and peers of both pre-service and in-service classroom teachers. The article's premise is that a non-supervisor's visit can be just as problematic for a classroom teacher as a supervisor's. Following discussions of the complexities of these relationships and possible solutions, illustrative guidelines for classroom visitation/observation etiquette are presented.
Researches on Structural Factor Involvement in Oral Tribology
This study is focused on two ceramic materials, D.SING (Ivoclar) and VM13 (emphasis the VITA TN), frequently used in restorative dentistry practice and it comes to complete a full set of results obtained by the authors over several years of research on oral tribology with main influence on oral health. In this way there are involved more specific structural aspects of dental restorative ceramic materials quality as is shown in [1].