Week 9 - Midterms Week

This week, the middle school and the high school had their midterms. The high school students had midterms for three days in a row and the middle school had midterms for 2 days in a row. It is interesting that from middle school this style of testing it used and I began having tests all in one week just when I started college. The past weeks especially have been quite stressful as my online classes have bombarded me with homework. I have spent the entire weekend working on homework for two weeks now. Hopefully after my midterms are over as well that the load will lighten a bit.

                                      (We are learning the old Japanese script in calligraphy)

We had two normal days of school and the rest were work days while the students were taking their tests. There is a lot of pressure it seems and some kids looked somewhat worn out from all of the studying they have been doing. There was one day of class where many students in different classes were asleep! Usually this is sort of rare.

                                                             (Taken around school)

I also experienced a disagreement between teachers on methods to use for a certain lesson. With this experience, it is not only the teaching aspect but there is also the part where the teachers must collaborate and work together, as with any job. This can be difficult when all of the teachers have certain ways they like to use best and each teacher feels more comfortable with different methods. One teacher is in charge of the lesson plans and there was some sort of mix up with the goal of the lesson plan.

I did more research on these types of issues between native english teachers and Japanese teachers. In the article, "Exploring Literature  on Professionalism: Reflections from Language Teachers in Japanese Universities" by Tomoka Sato remarks "As for their status in the university, the position of English language teachers in language centers is blurry (in a third space), so they require collaborative relationships with administrators and academics (professors) to move forward". I have also gotten this feeling after being here for two months now that foreign teachers are kind of in a different system within the Japanese system. Some cultural rules that Japanese teachers must follow are not necessarily required by foreign teachers. There may be different expectations and ways of teaching preferred, making it difficult to collaborate sometimes. I think it is great though that there is the opportunity to work with people who have different cultures and trying to find a way to compromise and create a plan together.

(My hometown team, Kansas City Royals, are in the World Series after 29 years. It is funny to see Japanese TV show views of Kansas City as they never really mentioned it before this!)

Week 8 - Sports Day & Middle School from Nebraska

On Saturday, we had Sports Day at school. We had been practicing for it all week. Basically, for a whole school day we are outside on the field and the students play various sports and compete against each other. During the first half, I participated in the "deka pantsu" race where you and a student try on gigantic pants and run to the finish line together. Then I helped out with the laundry basket event where I had a laundry basket on my back and a mod of 1st years threw balls at me to try and get them into the basket. I was also put on the white team for the tug of war and my side won! It was pretty rough on the hands pulling on a rope. I also participated in the ball toss (try to get a ball into a small basket that is raised high in the air).

I participated in the teachers rely against the 1st years. We were second the entire race until the end, and we got second to last. At least we weren't last! After we had lunch and the middle school students are parents came from Nebraska the day before. They would also compete with us.

                  (The turf grass sticks to your shoes so everyone looks like they have grass shoes on)

We played the ball toss game again and we jump roped in a figure 8 like manner. It was really hard to get the timing of the jump rope down at first but eventually we got it. Sadly, the teacher's team got last place. Lastly, we participated in an obstacle race which required that we rode on little tiny bicycles, do hurdles, crawl under a net, and hop in a potato sack in the finish. The whole time I was worried about riding the bike since it is too small for my legs to fit but actually the potato sack part was the hardest. The middle schoolers from Nebraska seemed like they were having a great time and so were we. We watched various other events such and it was quite entertaining. There is one game where the students work as a 4 person group with one on top trying to pull off peoples' hats. Overall, by the end of the day in the heat and sun, we were beat!

                           (Wish I could show more pictures but they all have students in them!)

On Tuesday, we have another Typhoon come through. It came early in the morning so we had school start late. The middle school students from Nebraska and the parents came to school for a packed day of ceremonies, classes for the Japanese students to practice interviewing the U.S. students, a calligraphy class, a Japanese class, lunch mingling with Japanese teachers, and saying goodbyes to their home stay families. After school, we headed over with them to tour Sky Tree (very high tower)

                                                                  (Welcome Ceremony)

              (Because the typhoon cleared out the sky, we could see Mt. Fuji from the calligraphy room)

                                                              (Lunchtime mingling)

 I had been to Sky Tree once before 2 years ago. I was in charge of watching and guiding 4 middle school students in the giant mall under Sky Tree even though I did not know the area super well. I had a fun time chatting with the kids about what they noticed about Japan and I loved to hear what kind of questions they had. It is really great they could have this kind of positive experience vising another country from this age!

Week 7 - Typhoon

A typhoon hit Japan and the area we were in on Monday. Since we have been here, a volcano erupted, there have been earthquakes, and a break out of dengue fever causing many of the parks to close down. Because of the typhoon, there was no school. The typhoon did not hit where I was at too bad. I went outside for some of it to see what was happening. The wind was very strong. I saw peoples towels get knocked off balconies, trees swaying, people holding umbrellas that break, cones falling, the wind carrying things onto the street, and heavy rains. By noon, the skies where clear again and the air felt clean. It was also strange how it felt like I had stepped into a tropical country when I went outside after the typhoon left.

 

Sometimes it is difficult to motivate the kids to get there work done but there are some methods we used to get them interested and going. One thing that seems to work quite well is using games that require teamwork and with a little once of peer pressure. Other times, we have students write their names on the board and put a star next to their name after they finish one section of whatever we are working on. With this method, even the kids in the class who are less motivated do their work as they do not want to be the only one left behind.

                                                                  (View from School)

Sometimes I feel bad for the students as they all have to take English where as in middle school in the U.S. we had some choice in what we wanted to learn. At my school, we could chose from Spanish, French, and German, but here there is no choice really. I am sure this may be one of the reasons some students are unmotivated to do their work sometimes.

After looking at the paper, "Is English a nuisance or an asset? Japanese youths' discursive constructions of language attitudes" by Akihiro Sato, he explains, "promoting more positive
knowledge about English in this vein may well be effective in helping allow positive meanings and experiences for individual learners." I think this is very important and I am glad that all of these students get to have an experience going to the U.S. in the summer of their 3rd year of middle school. The 3rd years who have been to the U.S. seemed to have become more involved with English after coming back compared to the 2nd years who have yet to really have the chance to have a home stay in the U.S.

Week 6 - Setsumei Kai

In the 8th grade classes we have been working on a pen pal project. All of the 8th graders get a pen pal from a middle school in Nebraska. We have been working on writing letters and making photo I.D. cards. Some students started getting their pen pal's I.D. cards from Nebraska and letters. Some classes do well when they get the I.D. cards which basically has a photo of their pen pal and information about their pen pal on it. Some classes, students get very excited. All you hear is uncontrollable laughter and kids shouting, your pen pal is so cute!

Since I can understand most Japanese, it makes it difficult sometimes to hear what the kids say. There is still an image of the U.S. here that everyone has blond hair and blue eyes. With this stereotype comes the comments that come along with. We try to explain before we had out the cards that not everyone is blond hair and blue eyed and some may have a different skin color or hair color. It is hard for the students who have pen pals with Asian features. I hear some students say, I don't want a pen pal from ___ country! Or maybe my pen pal is an exchange student from a different country. I try to explain to the students that like me, these kids were born in the U.S. most likely and are not from these other countries they mention. I am glad they are doing this project as it gives them a chance to learn more about the U.S. since they will visit next year and we can crush the stereotypes beforehand.

During the weekend, we had out first "Setsumei Kai" which basically means Explanation Meeting. It is where parents and prospective students come to learn more about the school as well as get a tour. I wore a blazer to school and we went to the auditorium. I helped hand out drinks to incoming parents and teachers along with 3rd year students who handed out pamphlets and towels. There was a presentation about the school and accompanying speeches. Afterwards, we went back to Ambition Hall where the English classes are held and had tours for all of the parents and students that came for the meeting. Some of the children are shy to say hi, but it is interesting that all of the students that go to the school get over than quick with all the foreign teachers and interns that come here.

                                               (One of the English conversation classrooms)

Week 5 - Time Off

After the Culture Festival, we had some days off from school. We went to visit Senshu University, the school I studied abroad at 2 years ago. The old international dorm we used to live in was now under renovations and a brand new International dorm had been built. We met with some of the teachers I had two years ago and I was glad they still remembered me! There was a welcome party for the new exchange students and they all had to do a self-introduction in Japanese. We ate snacks and I talked with some of the exchange students and other university students there. Afterwards, we went to the International dorm and we had tea and chatted more. Around dinner time we went to get sushi at the place I used to go to a lot years ago! It was really nice to be back and it made me miss as well as remember the time I had then. : )

                                                                      (My Old Dorm)

                                                                  (The New Dorm)

                                                                (At the welcome party)

Also, during the mini break, I went to Tokyo Disney Sea for the first time! Since it was a week day, there were not many people there. It was a very nice park and I was able to ride almost every ride and go to most attractions! It started drizzling a little towards the end of the day, making the lines even shorter! The longest I had to wait was maybe 45 mins. Compared to when I went to Disney World when I was a freshman in high school, this time I had a much better time. In the past, I was not able to ride more than 3 rides since all of the lines were so long!

Japan takes Disney to an all new level! There are popcorn buckets in the shapes of Disney characters that people wear around their necks. Since Halloween was the next event coming up, there were Day of the Dead decorations and parades everywhere. Disney in Japan has their own special characters,a teddy bear and a teal colored cat. Almost everyone carries around a stuffed animal or key chain of one of these characters. When I saw the price of these in the stores, they were so expensive! I was shocked so many had bought them for that price (like $40.00 for a stuffed animal) and multiple ones too. Also, many groups that come there where matching outfits and hats. Everyone is a little dressed up in Disney apparel and fun colors. There are lots of Halloween specials, like the "Black Gyoza" (dumpling) and skull shaped rice.There are also special flavored popcorn you can get in only certain areas such as milk tea, curry, and strawberry flavored popcorn.

                                                                                                  (Infamous bear and cat)

Week 4 - Culture Festival

The week leading up the the Culture Festival, all of the classes in the school were busy getting ready and setting up for the Culture Festival. I was so excited I could finally see one and it was amazing to see of the kids working hard creating decorations, setting up their classrooms, working as a team, and being creative. We watched them build booths, make signs, and more! The school turned into a colorful and art covered place within a matter of three days!

Saturday, September 20th - Culture Festival Day 1

We got to school around 8:30am when the festival started. We walked around and got some snacks from a 3rd year high school group. Then we went around to some of the different booths of the grades we have. We made fans with 2nd years, watched a play by the 2nd years, and watched a puppet show by the 3rd years. We also tried green tea cakes and dango.

We walked around and visited the high school English club and looked into random rooms. There were a lot of people there from all over! We also listened to a concert, a taiko performance, and a musical (busiest show at the school) by the Sports Class from the high school that we also teach. We made bookmarks in the Calligraphy room as well.

At the end of the day, we waited in line for food made by the high school 3rd years. By the time we got to the front of the line, everything was sold out! We waited in other food lines and those were also sold out! In the end, we ended up not being able to try much food since they sold out very quickly!

I couldn't believe how much work was put into this and how amazing all of the rooms looked!

Sunday, September 21st - Culture Festival Day 2

We made sure that right when we got there to go around and taste all the foods we couldn't the other day! We got takoyaki, yakisoba, waffles, and yakitoridon! We were so full and everything was pretty good.

We also visited the tea ceremony club and had some tea with Japanese sweets. We visited many of the 1st years and 2nd years classrooms.

Around noon, the exchange students from Nebraska and others came from Senshu University and we met at the calligraphy room. We then walked around as a group and had a tour of the school.

Overall, I had a great time and I wish schools in the U.S. did this as well. It is a great event to teach teamwork and collaboration. It allows the kids to be creative and organize an event for others to see!