List of PIE News Below:
- PIE SIG/Brain SIG
- PIE SIG Podcast Episode 8 Episode 8: Just Beyond the Comfort Zone with Educator Heather Kretschmer!
- Introducing a NEW PIE SIG Podcast Series: PIE SIG Podcast+ Tom Robb
- Composition Research Project Call for Participation
- Information on the PIE in Nagoya 2025 Conference Conference (Joint Publication) Call for Papers
- Selected Photos and Information on PIE SIG Connected at JALT2025!
A. PIE SIG/Mind, Brain, and Education SIG Joint Publication Call for Papers
The PIE SIG has contacted the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education to collaborate on another issue like we did in 2024, and 2025. (see https://www.mindbrained.org/december-2021-drama/) and they agreed to do so on one or more issues this academic year:
- Filmmaking and Podcasting (September 15 for the October issue) — One member, Sean Toland, has already volunteered to submit an article.
- Up to 5 PIE authors — Earlier submission has a better chance of being selected.
B. PIE SIG Podcast Episode 8 Episode 8: Just Beyond the Comfort Zone with Educator Heather Kretschmer!
How to stretch your comfort zone as a teacher and as a student?
That is the question explored in Episode 8: Just Beyond the Comfort Zone with Educator Heather Kretschmer https://jaltpiesig.org
We encourage you to:
– Listen and follow the podcast on your preferred platform
– Leave a rating or comment to help others discover it
– Share the episode with colleagues interested in performance in education
New episodes will be released monthly, featuring educators who use performance to make teaching more engaging and effective.
Thank you for your continued support of the PIE SIG — Darren Kinsman, Host and Producer, The PIE SIG Podcast.
C. Introducing a NEW PIE SIG Podcast Series: PIE SIG Podcast+
In the first episode of this new podcast, focusing on interviews connected with PIE SIG events. In this first episode, listen to an interview with Dr. Thomas Robb, Plenary Speaker for the PIE SIG February STEAM conference in Okinawa. Dr. Robb, the first JALT VP, is the current Editor of TESL-EJ, and Chair of The Extensive Reading Foundation.
PSP+ Episode 1: 2026 STEAM Conference Preview with Dr. Thomas Robb23:51
D. Composition Research Project — Call for Participation: A research project proposed by the PIE in Okinawa Feb. 21-22 conference
Plenary Speaker: Tom Robb, (Professor Emeritus Kyoto Sangyo University, Editor-in-Chief, TESL-EJ.org Chair, The Extensive Reading Foundation https://erfoundation.org)
The research proposal was sent to me to ask for teachers willing to participate their composition class students for an AI use in measuring how well students implement AI feedback. (See below for more details.) If you are interested in volunteering your composition classrooms, reply to this email with your Name, school name, and number of students in your class.
RESEARCH PROJECT DETAILS: Many people agree that Grammarly is quite helpful in improving one’s writing, but when it comes to students, the corrections that Grammarly makes are often not noticed. They just click, click, click until the errors have all been corrected. What I’m considering is building a mechanism for students to be able to review their errors and then study them, with a brief quiz (recorded by the system) to see how well they have learned from their mistakes.
What I’ve done so far is this:1) I took a piece of student writing and subjected it to Grammarly. I took a student text from https://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/writing_samples.html (Grade 9 level 3)2) I took the original writing AND the Grammarly checked version and had ChatGPT make a “before-and-after” listing of all changes. This is used by each student to study the errors.3) ChatGPT then creates an M/C quiz based on the errors which is placed into Google Forms where they take the quiz
Here was the result. Obviously, if the object is to get 5 good questions, we would have to ask ChatGPT to generate more and then select the seemingly good ones.
This entire process would be somewhat time-intensive if done manually, but software could easily be made once we see that it improves the students’ writing. A control group could also be used that works with the same texts but does have the error analysis or quiz component.
E. Information on the PIE in Nagoya 2025 Conference
PIE SIG 3rd Annual Nagoya Conference was an intimate conference that was filled to the brim with high- quality presentations, many from new PIE presenters! You can see photos of the event HERE. The Report is HERE. More photos coming on Flickr
F. PIE SIG Connected at JALT2025!
At JALT2025 in Tokyo, the Performance in Education (PIE) SIG had a solid presence, engaging educators interested in drama, voice, and movement in language teaching. The PIE Forum was MCed by PIE SIG founder and Conferences Chair, DavidKluge. He commented that “the room was small and many of the forum presentations were workshops that required movement, so the room was always filled with excitement and laughter. It was magical.”
Over three “Meet the SIGs” sessions, our table drew steady interest. Attendees asked questions, copied our podcast QR code, and 4–5 people committed to joining the SIG! Several also expressed plans to present or attend our upcoming conferences in…
Nagoya https://jaltpiesig.org/3rd-annual-pie-in-nagoya-conference/
and Okinawa https://jaltpiesig.org/pie-sigs-okinawa-steam-conference/
The Sunday forum brought together 7 panelists and about 6 participants in a small, interactive space. Workshops kept everyone active:
- Ashley Ford-Mihashi: Voice for mood + group reading of a scary story
- Brian Gallagher: The physical side of pronunciation
- Gordon Rees: Voice projection with practical tips
- Dawn Kobayashi: Using tableaux to stimulate writing dialogue
- Kevin Bergman: Total Physical Response workshop
- Kim Rockell: Percussion and expressive movement
Interested? Listen to the PIE Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/2520024/website/background/edit
Join the SIG or get involved in Nagoya, Nagano, or Okinawa Conferences.
Nagoya https://jaltpiesig.org/3rd-annual-pie-in-nagoya-conference/
and Okinawa https://jaltpiesig.org/pie-sigs-okinawa-steam-conference/
Cheerz,
David