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.
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.
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.
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