TEMI Certificates

It is with honor and respect that TEMI awards certificates to the fine teachers who join us to elevate their teaching credentials to the next level. Upon completion of each seminar, teachers discover newly established confidence while developing the necessary know-how to improve their teaching skills and enjoy their classes more.

TEMI Seminar #1: Successful Methods & Tempo (the heartbeat of lessons)

Educational Concepts:

  • Entering/Leaving the Room/Warm-ups/Self-introductions
  • Manageable Challenges/Language Couplets (Q & A)
  • Commands/TPR/Soft Military
  • Hot Seat/Tempo/English Zone
  • Speaking time/Don’t Be a ROBBER!
  • EEE: Enjoyable English Experiences
  • Learn from Academics: Howard Gardner/ Multiple Intelligences
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Successful English Teaching Methodology Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet/TEMI lapel pin
Attendee Comment: “Helene, I know you’ve received hundreds of gratitude, friendship and honor from hundreds of English teachers. But still, and again, let me tell you that you are my mentor, star, goal and ideal. You are the one who woke me up, dug my hibernating passion form the frozen ground and shook my shoulders.”
Rika Kubota, Miyazaki

TEMI Seminar #2: Essential Materials & Formats That Work

Educational Concepts:

  • Challenge Books: Interactive English/Ch Bk & CD
  • Posters for Warm-ups & Reference:
    Fruit/Vegetables/Zoo Farm Animals/Daily English/Self-intro/Alphabet Fun/Cool Colors/Emotional Adjectives Body Parts/Good Jobs & One World Posters
  • Flash Cards for Vocab/Phonics/Grammar
  • Shitajikis for Reference/Apple Chips for Interaction
  • Free Study Workbooks for Progressing at Own Pace
  • Dictionary Activities with Vocab Champ #1
  • 1 2 3 Action: Dialogs
  • Fruit/Vegetables/Zoo Animals for Grab Bag
  • Color Beads for Preschool & Beginning Elementary School
  • Kids Notebook/Passport
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Essential English Teaching Materials and Formats Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “I was once invited to a TEMI seminar held at Waseda University and was moved by Helene J. Uchida’s teaching ability. There she was teaching, like a fish swimming in water. I felt she was born to teach.”
Kaichi Ito, President of the Japan Association of English Teaching in Elementary Schools, Tokyo

TEMI Seminar #3: Attaining Teacher Standard

Educational Concepts:

  • TEMI Principles/Teacher Presence
  • Formats (No need to write daily lesson plans)
  • The 4 F’s/Attire/What Is a Good Teacher?
  • Learning the Art of Doing vs. Explanations
  • Goals for Teacher Improvement
  • Easy-to-understand Language/Instructions
  • Is Something Missing?
  • Teacher as a Gardener
  • The Need to Be Liked or Respected
  • The Students Are Your Mirror
  • Videoing Yourself Teaching
  • Your Students Are Your Best Teachers
  • TEMI Teacher of the year
  • Learn from Academics: Stephen Krashen/Affective Filter
  • Seeing is Believing: Observation of a Little America Elementary School Advanced class
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Attaining Teacher Standards Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “Sohei and Helene put so much time, effort and love into the events. It is obvious that they enjoy them as much as we attendees do. Plus, the amount of information we receive is wonderful, very hands-on and useful.”
Leslie Nielsen, Yokosuka

TEMI Seminar #4: Games to Activate English

Educational Concepts:

  • The Goals of Playing Games in English
  • Watch Out! Level 1/Watch Out! Level 2
  • What Am I #1/What Am I #2
  • I Am #1, Sir/The Gesture Game
  • Giant Action Verb Cards/More Giant Action Verb Cards
  • Giant Emotional Adjectives FC
  • Pick-up-Sticks/Hedbanz/Hangman
  • Champion Counters/Jr High Question Box
  • Topic Triggers/Celebrity Quiz/Memory Lane
  • Learn from Academics: John Dewey/Learning Is Doing
  • Seeing is Believing: Observation of a Little America Elementary School Advanced class
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Interactive English Games Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “Meeting such enthusiastic teachers was a lovely experience. They helped me think there are many more things I could learn and do in my teaching. I’m grateful that you gave me this wonderful opportunity.”
Takako Nishinami, Okayama

TEMI Seminar #5: Elevating Student Standards

Educational Concepts:

  • Mutual Respect in the Classroom
  • Student of the Month/Birthday Certificate/Sempai Award
  • English Zone/4 R’s/Learning Pyramid
  • Graduation/Homework
  • Training Students the First Month
  • The Value of Recognition/Acknowledgment
  • Corrections/How & When to Correct in a Positive Way
  • Praise in Public/Criticize in Private
  • Sempai/Kohai/Task-based Activities
  • Student Teachers/Learn by Teaching
  • TPR/Delegating Tasks to Students
  • Learn from Academics: Larson/Grandma’s Law
  • Seeing is Believing: Observation of a Little America Elementary School Intermediate class
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Elevating Student Standards Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “I’ve always struggled to get students not to speak to each other in Japanese, but now they are so busy and concentrating on what they were doing; they don’t have time to! I’m so happy and excited being able to start something new. Your workshops always refresh me and have me coming home reinvigorated! I can’t wait for the next one.”
Tracey Yamamoto, Wakayama
Attendee Comment: “I’ve always struggled to get students not to speak to each other in Japanese, but now they are so busy and concentrating on what they were doing; they don’t have time to! I’m so happy and excited being able to start something new. Your workshops always refresh me and have me coming home reinvigorated! I can’t wait for the next one.”
Tracey Yamamoto, Wakayama

TEMI Seminar #6: Interactive English Presentations & Songs

Educational Concepts:

  • Placing Students in the Spotlight
  • Self-intro/My Family/Show & Tell/My School/My Dream
  • Talent Show/News Program with TV Commercials
  • Motivating Students Through MANJIRO
  • Songs: Make New Friends/Are You Sleeping/Kookubara
  • Boomdeadah/Dona Nobis/White Coral Bells/Fire’s Burning
  • For Health and Strength & Daily Bread/Row Your Boat
  • Learn from Academics: Melvine Levine/Success Is a Vitamin
  • Sempai/Kohai/Task-based Activities
  • Student Teachers/Learn by Teaching
  • Seeing is Believing: Observation of a Little America Elementary School Intermediate class
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Interactive English Presentations, Songs & Activities Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “Helene’s passion was affectionately felt as she meticulously took us through all the steps outlined and intermittently paused to elicit responses, comments, questions and what we had to say along the way.”
Winfred Quashie, Iwate

TEMI Seminar #7: Behavior/Rules The Classroom/Atmosphere

Educational Concepts:

  • Tour of Little America/Room Logistics
  • A Classroom Is a Home/Posters/Music/Maps/Pictures
  • Entering/Leaving the Classroom (with a smile)
  • Students Are Guests in the Teacher’s Domain
  • Respect for Property/Teacher/Classmates/Self
  • Rules/ the Need for Consequences
  • A Sound Curriculum Controls Behavior
  • Lessons control behavior/The Meaning of No
  • How Strict is Strict?/Stopping the class
  • The Circle of Behavior
  • Slow Learners/Fast Learners
  • Manners Count
  • Behavior Is Energy in Transit
  • The Classroom Is the Perfect Place to Make Mistakes
  • Learn from Academics: Rosenthal’s The Pygmalion Effect
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Discipline: Behavior and Rules Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “It was a great workshop because it was not only a teaching/learning time but also a sincere discussion between the teachers, from teacher to teacher, about the real problems we face with our jobs.”
Mariana Senda, Tokyo

TEMI Seminar #8: Goals for Students & Teachers Parent Observation & Consultation Holidays/Happyokais & Special Events

Educational Concepts:

  • Teacher Goals/Goals for Students
  • Videoing Yourself Teaching
  • Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas
  • Valentine’s Day/St. Patrick’s Day
  • Ice Cream Shopping in the summer
  • Supermarket Shopping in the spring
  • Talent Show/Happyokais
  • Parent Observation
  • Teachers Sharing Ideas
  • How These TEMI Seminars Helped Me Which Academic Educator Had the Biggest Effect on My Teaching?
Upon completion of seminar, attendees receive:
  • TEMI Goals for Teachers and Students/Holiday activities Certificate
  • TEMI Reference Booklet
Attendee Comment: “TEMI introduced me to Little America and its well-founded teaching system. It was a perfect match for my school and there has been no looking back since. Even for schools with their own system in place, the TEMI seminars offer valuable advice for teachers seeking to improve their teaching ability.”
Regis de Lavison, Fukushima

Teachers who complete TEMI Seminars 1-8 are qualified to become TEMI MASTER Teachers. This valuable and final seminar is always held in November.

The TEMI MASTER TEACHER SEMINAR is a workshop consisting of presentations given by the candidates. All presentations are discussed and critiqued by fellow Master Teacher candidates, current Master Teachers and our founders. The preparations and requirements consist of the following:

  1. Presenting a one-page paper on what your English teaching principles are.
  2. Presenting a list of what your goals are for your students and yourself
  3. Making a presentation on how you successfully incorporated two TEMI methods/concepts in your classroom
  4. Showing a 5-minute video or DVD of you teaching a class
  5. Sharing one success story about one of your students or classes
  6. Reading articles from TEMI Teacher Library: Daily Yomiuri, Teachers’Helper & ELT News: http://temi.or.jp/teacher-training-library?lang=en
Attendee Comment: “Every day we are teachers in our classrooms, so it is nice to be a student for a day and learn from so many bright and gifted people. I cannot wait for the next one”
David Chandler, Osaka


TEMI Master Teacher Benefits:

Attendees who successfully complete the requirements for TEMI Master Teachers will qualify for the following:

  1. Recognition for having completed the full TEMI Teacher-Training Program and being spotlighted on TEMI website with a link to your website.
  2. The opportunity to be a TEMI seminar presenter/trainer in your area (with the approval of the TEMI Board of Directors)
    * Completing our TEMI Presentation Training Program
    a. This six-hour training program will take place upon request.
    b. Training program is free of charge.
  3. The opportunity to be a Little America Book Store presenter in your area and/or Sales Partner through your own network
    *Completing our Little America Book Store Training Presentation Program
    a. This three-hour training program will take place upon request.
    b. Training program is free of charge.