ALT / ALTTO / Japanese Private School / Japanese Public Schools / JET / junior high scool / professional development

ALT Training Online: Free Courses for ALTs, Designed by ALTs

ALTTO is a free platform offering training courses for Assistant Language Teachers in Japanese school system. It provides practical, context-specific professional development in areas like classroom management, lesson planning, teaching listening/speaking skills, and supporting special needs students.

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25 July 2025

ALT / Elementary School / High School / junior high scool / professional development / teacher training

TPPT in the Real Classroom: Part 1 Building the Framework

Alan Granada is an ALT in Kanagawa, teaching English across elementary, junior, and senior high schools. He helps students build communicative confidence by starting from what they can already do and using Adrian Leis' Task 1-Present-Practice-Task 2 framework, or TPPT, to guide them through input noticing, flexible output supports, and interaction tasks that gradually increase…

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27 July 2026

Japanese Public Schools / junior high scool / research / teaching / technology in the classroom / working

The Concrete Ceiling: 5 Myths of the Japanese Education System

Behind the polished graduation ceremonies and the "Gambaru" spirit lies a structure that is failing its students, its teachers, and its own future. Here are five myths of the Japanese education system that we need to stop believing if we want to spark a real debate about change.

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3 April 2026

ALT / ALTTO / Community / Nathaniel Reed / research / teacher training

More Than an Assistant — A Book Born from a Community

A reflection on how the ALTTO community inspired More Than an Assistant—a book about ALTs, inclusion, and the evolving story of English education in Japan.

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12 November 2025

ALT / ALTTO / Community / Japanese Private School / Japanese Public Schools / JET / life in Japan / personal experience / professional development

A conversation with Real Gaijin

about the genesis and realities of Assistant Language Teaching with an experienced Japan hand You know the proverb, "Two heads are better than one"? Japan has its rendering, 1/3 better than the English expression: 三人寄れば文殊の知恵 San nin yoreba Monju no chie In other words, when three people come together, they achieve…

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15 August 2025

Activities / ALT

Side Jobs & the ALT Hustle – Why Fluency Through Conversation Works Outside the Classroom, Too

Let’s be honest. Most ALTs don’t just teach in public schools. If you’ve been around the ALT community for even a few months, you already know the real deal. Side gigs aren’t just common, they’re practically an ALT rite of passage. Maybe you’re picking up extra shifts at an eikaiwa, running…

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2 April 2025

Activities / ALT / teens

The Power of Questions: How ALTs Can Build Rapport, Teach Grammar, and Thrive in Japan

Happy spring! ALTTO hopes you are feeling refreshed and ready for a new school year in Japan. Nathaniel Reed, the founder of ALT Training Online, gives us valuable advice about asking our English learners the right questions. This is sneak peek of his new book, Fluency Through Conversation available on Amazon…

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26 March 2025

ALT / Bilingual / Community / JET / JHS / JTE / personal experience

Warm Words about Crossing Linguistic Lines

Let me first say to the people responsible for ALTTO / Agora: what you have put together is impressive and bodes well for EFL instruction in schools.  Many thanks.  For ALTs who have been in Japan for a relatively short time, what follows may not exactly be what you want to…

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11 December 2023

ALT / ALTTO / Community / professional development / skills development / Uncategorised

Start a New School Year with ALTTO Courses

With the start of the 2023 school year right around the corner, it's a good time for veterans to refresh their knowledge and skills and for newly recruited ALTs to learn about their new roles. To support you in your school experience, ALTTO offers course modules that provide insight into the…

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28 March 2023

ALT / Cultural Education / Uncategorised

Commandment 10 – Connecting Language and Cultures

ALTs are a diverse lot, not all coming from majority English-speaking countries and many cultures. When it comes to teaching about culture, you can draw on knowledge of your own, cultures you’ve encountered through travel, or stretch your own understanding of the English-speaking world. Engaging and Informing A simple and time-efficient…

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27 January 2023