If you've clicked here, your interest has piqued. You can succeed using The Bee at your English school. The most important step is the setup. So as soon as you become a member, start planning how you're going to implement The Bee.
I look around my school and see many materials I've bought at Eikaiwa fairs and school shops that I've never used. Don't let this happen to The Bee. You'll be missing out WAY MORE than not opening a box of flash cards.
Setup and Execute The Bee!
Every school is unique. So only YOU can decide how The Bee will suit your school. We will guide you now through the process and hopefully your will have the program setup in your mind or on a scratch piece of paper by the time your materials arrive.
Overall, let's remember the 3 parts to The Bee - Self-Study, Individual Tests, and Contest Season. How will you implement these 3 parts?
First of all, what is your timetable going to be? Basically, the program is designed to run from Golden Week to Obon. Some schools keep the testing going year round because their students demand it. When does your school want to start and finish?
Self-Study
The kids are studying during this time. In order to get those kids studying, you have to PROMOTE the program. You'll need to prepare a flier, explanation letters, application forms, and posters. You're not alone. We have templates on our NPOスペリングビーコンテスト Facebook Group Page available for download. Email correspondence for your requests are also welcome.
In the first year, you have to do your best and hype The Bee up to your students. You may give all students a copy of the Level A word list to give them an idea of the program. We have a yearly periodical you could download and display as well.
In following years though, you're setup will simply be changing dates on the materials and giving them back out. It's the easiest way to improve your school out there.
As the students study, you and your staff need to be ready to answer questions. This brings up a key component: EDUCATE YOUR STAFF. If they don't understand it, they won't be able to relay the process to students.
Some common questions are as follows:
"What is this Spelling Bee program?", "Is this a writing test?", "How much is it?"
In order to answer, your program must be setup. Let's set it up!
The main materials for The Bee are level lists, CDs, and worksheets. Of course, you want to reduce your work. So how will you distribute these?
Lists: Basically, we make these freely available to students. Eigo Day puts them out in ziploc bags attached to the hallway wall. Oyabaka has them in labeled, clear drawers. During the Spelling Bee season, leave them out somewhere and your work will simply be making copies when the list supply runs low.
CDs and Worksheets: Each CD comes with a worksheet. Distributing these requires a bit more planning because the CDs are meant to make the whole program sustainable for your school. So it's time to answer more questions.
How do you want to handle the CDs? Sell, rent, or lend/give away?
If you sell them, how much will you charge? Some schools sell the CDs for 500 yen each. Obviously over 26 levels, the cost will add up for the student. However, selling is a good option because parents may not be sure if their children can handle the program. Usually, you'll sell Level A and B. (This is why we recommend your initial 20 CDs be around 10 Level A CDs, 4 Bs, and 2 each of C, D, and E.) You or your staff will handle any sales transaction, of course.
You probably need to have a rental system available. If students do well on Level A and want to continue, they will run through the next few levels. We have rental card templates available for download. Purchase a standard pack of business cards and you'll have as many cards as you need. Eigo Day charges 1,000 yen for 5 2-week rentals. Staff handles the distributing and return of CDs. Oyabaka puts the CDs in the same labeled clear drawers with the lists. He rents them for 50 yen a week with a piggy bank and a sign-in, sign-out list. The staff there rarely touches the system. Once a student passes a level, they have no reason to keep CDs. You, the school, want to keep a supply on hand. So, actually, a rental system is the most sustainable system for CD distribution. You just need to decide how long they can rent them and for how much.
Lend: A few schools look at the 5,000 yen membership fee and realize it's so paltry that lending the CDs is fine. Some areas are little financially tight. If The Bee is free, they feel like they're getting some amazing service.
Nevertheless, you probably have realized that charging too cheap or free sometimes leads to abuse and distortion of true value. You'll be better off establishing The Bee as a program of value in your school.
Again, CDs are really a necessary part of the self-study process. The NPO includes 20 of them with each membership fee in order to make the whole program self-sustainable for your school - if you charge something for them. Please factor in the personality of your school and its client base when deciding how to distribute CDs.
Test Period
Testing requires your biggest commitment. You or one of your teachers must administer the test. Though one test takes between 2-5 minutes, you have to open that time period. So when will you give your first tests? You are setting a schedule, an easy task for an English school, right? 🙂 Do you want to do regular testing or set a few days on the calendar?
Some schools, like Oyabaka and Hilltop, do free, regular testing. They give participating students one test per month before or after their lesson. This is probably the easiest way. However, you will be limiting the kids who really attack the program. Other schools set a few free days. Eigo Day sets one hour on a Saturday in June and two weekday mornings in July (after school is out). You could just give tests by request. This choice leads to another decision.
Will you charge for your tests? Charging for a spelling test might seem like you are all about money, but it's necessary if you want to offer more tests to kids who are really into spelling. Set up some conditions. Eigo Day charges for tests outside of the set days, but gives cash back if the student passes levels. If you don't charge, unprepared kids and parents will ask to take tests and will fail miserably. (Teacher: "Spell 'fun'". Student: "y-g-m") It's not so funny when you've set aside time for them. If they pay though, they come prepared and almost always pass at least one level, usually two or more.
Pay testing could also come in a package deal. For example, add another 5-10 set Saturdays each with one hour of testing. Kids who want to participate in this package deal pay an extra 1,000 yen to join this "club". These students will have a deadline and a goal to study their current level.
Contest Season
Contests are not required, but they are icing on the cake. The Bee runs contests where every student starts at Level A regardless of how far they've progressed in testing. Students have to go back and review what they think may be easy at this point. The contests strengthen their phonics and spelling foundation significantly.
Do you want to include contests as part of your Spelling Bee program? If so, what kind? You could include your whole school by running class contests. School contests between participating students give you an annual educational event to look forward to, like Halloween or Christmas. Finally, the NPO Spelling Bee Contest plans intra-school contests. As an NPO member, your students have the right to join our contest. You can watch our videos of past contests on YouTube to get a good idea on how to conduct a contest.
As with the other steps, you need to decide if and how much you'll charge, what prizes you'll give, and when you'll have the contest.
We're Here to Help!
The NPO Spelling Bee Contest board is here to teach and help your school launch and continually improve this program. We want to build relationships with fellow schools and make our competitive advantages clear to potential students.
