Yesterday I went to Sue Middle school and we had the 9th grade students write short messages to all their classmates and teachers in English, similar to how American kids write messages in a yearbook.
Each student was given the equivalent to an "autograph" page, but in Japan the have a special name for this item called "yosegaki."
The 9th graders at Sue Middle school have the best English I've ever come across in students before. They all wrote original messages and tried to put real meaning into them. At least the girls did. It was precious.
"Do your best in highschool!"
"You are always bright. You make me bright:)"
"Don't forget me"
"Stay cheerful!"
The boys' messages were hilarious. One boy wrote the same thing on everyone's cards:
"I love AKB48" (a Japanese girl band) "I love baseball. Goodbye."
"Don't worry.
Nevermind"
"You are interesting. I wish you happy future"
"I love you. Let's get married" (written to another boy)
This class is always fun. It'll be very sad to see them graduate in March.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
A new tool for making beautiful flashcards
In middle school we have started learning how to use 進行形 (shinkoukei) aka how to attach "ing" to verb endings in order to describe actions one is doing presently. We did this by having them first look at various pictures, then at Aurora Sensei's ridiculous gestures, and then finally, having them form sentences like "She is cooking" and "You are eating."
The other day I found an application on my iPhone that is wonderful for helping me find a lot of great pictures to use in class.
It's called WallpapersHD. You can browse through thousands of wallpapers, Most of which are quite beautiful and applicable towards flashcards for class. Especially the ones that depict popular cartoon or superheroes. You can click here to see some of the other ones I've been using.
Brown Bear Brown Bear!
Today I taught animal lessons to the kids at Sue Nursery School. I read them Eric Carle's picture book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See?" Eric Carle's books are wonderful for teaching English to Japanese kids because the words are simple and the pictures are captivating to the kids. Also, the kids can repeat the words fairly easily and get more into the story when you add gestures as you say it (like making binoculars out of your hands when you say "what do you see?")
I've found a great way to review flashcards with my preschool kids just before ending class. All I have to do is promise them a present if they can say all the cards in a big, loud voice. All of my kids immediately straightened their posture, got quiet, and said each flashcard with the loudest clearest voice they could. Then I had them all put out a fist in front of them so that I could put a small sticker on their hands. I also told them I'd be especially happy if they could say thank you once I gave them the sticker, so they all gave me a nice, "tank you!"
The kids there are hilarious. I could probably devote a whole blog to the cute things my kids do and say.
After ending class, as usual, all the kids wanted to give me a high five. This time however, one of the kids gave me a handshake, so all the other kids wanted to do it too. So I started giving each kid a hand shake, but one little boy was a little hesitant and blurted out, "Don't take my sticker OKAY?" as I reached for his hand. Only after consenting to his demands did I receive his handshake.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween!!!!!!
I've had a ton of Halloween lessons and activities going on this past week! It's been wild fun, but wicked exhausting!
Japan doesn't really celebrate Halloween. They know what it is, but don't do anything special for it besides maybe a little decoration. Therefore, I decided to bring Halloween to them at school.
First I had halloween lessons with my preschools. They are sooo adorable! Like last year, I had one class make cat masks and we took a group picture. For the other classes, we learned words like "Black Cat", "Pumpkin", "Ghost", etc. and played various games. So fun!
For elementary school, I wore my Tinker Bell outfit to school for the whole day. I can't tell you how many teachers and kids I surprised. The looks on their faces were pretty priceless! During class, I did a powerpoint presentation about Halloween in America. Then we played games.
The first game involved putting your hand in black mystery boxes, which had different "body parts" inside. Of course, they weren't really body parts, but different food items with the same texture as follows:
eye balls- round taro (sato imo)
tongue- devils tongue (konyaku)
ears- bamboo shoots (take no ko)
fingers- sausages
toes- ginko nuts (ginan)
hair- bean noodles (haru same)
nose- jello (konyaku zeri)
The kids were pretty grossed out touching them. They had to guess what the body parts really were and write their guesses down. Some of them had a pretty difficult time guessing!
The second game was a toilet paper mummy wrapping contest. First team to finish wrapping a mummy won. Got some great pictures this way!
On Friday I went trick or treating with a bunch of cute little kids dressed up as witches and pumpkins. Since Japan doesn't really do trick or treating, the instructor of a private English tutoring school organized a trick or treating route to a bunch of stores along a road in Hitoyoshi. Each store gave a package of treats to the kids for them to divide before they went home. It was a nice idea, but the road chosen was way too busy with cars! I spent half the time fearing one of the kids was going to get run over. But the kids got a lot of treats to bring home, so I'm glad I got to help out. I was the only one who wasn't in a witch costume:P
After the trick or treating event, I went to a Halloween party at Amanda's house. It was pretty fun, but I was sooo exhausted the next day. I really don't like staying up all night!
Japan doesn't really celebrate Halloween. They know what it is, but don't do anything special for it besides maybe a little decoration. Therefore, I decided to bring Halloween to them at school.
First I had halloween lessons with my preschools. They are sooo adorable! Like last year, I had one class make cat masks and we took a group picture. For the other classes, we learned words like "Black Cat", "Pumpkin", "Ghost", etc. and played various games. So fun!
For elementary school, I wore my Tinker Bell outfit to school for the whole day. I can't tell you how many teachers and kids I surprised. The looks on their faces were pretty priceless! During class, I did a powerpoint presentation about Halloween in America. Then we played games.
The first game involved putting your hand in black mystery boxes, which had different "body parts" inside. Of course, they weren't really body parts, but different food items with the same texture as follows:
eye balls- round taro (sato imo)
tongue- devils tongue (konyaku)
ears- bamboo shoots (take no ko)
fingers- sausages
toes- ginko nuts (ginan)
hair- bean noodles (haru same)
nose- jello (konyaku zeri)
The kids were pretty grossed out touching them. They had to guess what the body parts really were and write their guesses down. Some of them had a pretty difficult time guessing!
The second game was a toilet paper mummy wrapping contest. First team to finish wrapping a mummy won. Got some great pictures this way!
On Friday I went trick or treating with a bunch of cute little kids dressed up as witches and pumpkins. Since Japan doesn't really do trick or treating, the instructor of a private English tutoring school organized a trick or treating route to a bunch of stores along a road in Hitoyoshi. Each store gave a package of treats to the kids for them to divide before they went home. It was a nice idea, but the road chosen was way too busy with cars! I spent half the time fearing one of the kids was going to get run over. But the kids got a lot of treats to bring home, so I'm glad I got to help out. I was the only one who wasn't in a witch costume:P
After the trick or treating event, I went to a Halloween party at Amanda's house. It was pretty fun, but I was sooo exhausted the next day. I really don't like staying up all night!
Monday, October 4, 2010
tweets
車を売りましたよ。売れない恐れがあったけど、買い方といい折衷できました。運転できないと不便な時が確かにあるんだけど、自転車だけで通勤していると健康にいいしガスの料金とか貯金できるし、それにだれかがどこかに乗せてもらうといい話もできる。最初心配していたけど、今は車がないほうがずっといいと感じっている。
I sold my car. I was scared for a while when it looked like the buyer was backing out, but we were able to work out a good negotiation.
By commuting to school by bike, I keep healthy, save on gas, and can have good conversations with people who give me rides on occasion. Although i worried about whether I could get by without a car at first, now I think it's so much better not having a car.
今、物販の話です。東京の青年団全国大会に行けるためにジュースやそばなどの商品をたくさん売れないといけないらしい。販売はいやだなぁ！でも、しょうがないからする。
Now my young adult group is talking about fundraising by selling goods. In order for us to go to Tokyo for the national culture festival dance competition, we have to sell things like juice and soba. I hate fundraising! But I guess I have no choice . . .
岡原小学校で今年の運動会を見ている。前の生徒が私の名前を覚えて声をかけてくれて嬉しいわ。
Now I'm watching Okaharu Elementary's sports day. The kids remember my name and call on me all the time! It makes me happy.
後期斉唱を歌った時にちょっと泣いちゃった。岡原と上小学校の子どもと先生たちをずっと忘れられない。
When the kids sang the Okaharu school song, I got a bit teary and nostalgic for the "old" days. I don't think I can ever forget the kids at ue and okaharu elementary.
I sold my car. I was scared for a while when it looked like the buyer was backing out, but we were able to work out a good negotiation.
By commuting to school by bike, I keep healthy, save on gas, and can have good conversations with people who give me rides on occasion. Although i worried about whether I could get by without a car at first, now I think it's so much better not having a car.
今、物販の話です。東京の青年団全国大会に行けるためにジュースやそばなどの商品をたくさん売れないといけないらしい。販売はいやだなぁ！でも、しょうがないからする。
Now my young adult group is talking about fundraising by selling goods. In order for us to go to Tokyo for the national culture festival dance competition, we have to sell things like juice and soba. I hate fundraising! But I guess I have no choice . . .
岡原小学校で今年の運動会を見ている。前の生徒が私の名前を覚えて声をかけてくれて嬉しいわ。
Now I'm watching Okaharu Elementary's sports day. The kids remember my name and call on me all the time! It makes me happy.
後期斉唱を歌った時にちょっと泣いちゃった。岡原と上小学校の子どもと先生たちをずっと忘れられない。
When the kids sang the Okaharu school song, I got a bit teary and nostalgic for the "old" days. I don't think I can ever forget the kids at ue and okaharu elementary.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Touchy!
For some reason, all of my kids below 5th grade get so excited when I give them high fives. Especially preschool.
Today twenty-fivish 3 to 5-year-olds swarmed around me with their little hands swiping in the air shouting, "tachi, tachi!" I feel two small arms wrap around my legs. Looking down, I see two beady eyes staring straight back up at me accompanied with a big grin. Meanwhile, the little rascal next to her is jerking at my pants pocket, getting dangerously close to pulling them down.
To be fair, I try to make sure I touch each little hand waving my way. However, I quickly loose count of which ones I've high-fived, as many of the little monsters insist on touching my hand again and again. I can't escape! Then they ask me to raise my hand higher so that they can try to jump and touch it. I can't help but think about they way I used to tease my cat the same way with a piece of string. My cat, however, never giggled and never shouted, "bye bye!" or "thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou!" ten times fast as I left the room.
Today twenty-fivish 3 to 5-year-olds swarmed around me with their little hands swiping in the air shouting, "tachi, tachi!" I feel two small arms wrap around my legs. Looking down, I see two beady eyes staring straight back up at me accompanied with a big grin. Meanwhile, the little rascal next to her is jerking at my pants pocket, getting dangerously close to pulling them down.
To be fair, I try to make sure I touch each little hand waving my way. However, I quickly loose count of which ones I've high-fived, as many of the little monsters insist on touching my hand again and again. I can't escape! Then they ask me to raise my hand higher so that they can try to jump and touch it. I can't help but think about they way I used to tease my cat the same way with a piece of string. My cat, however, never giggled and never shouted, "bye bye!" or "thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou!" ten times fast as I left the room.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
i love first graders
I work at two elementary schools, one middle school, and four preschools as an English teacher for Japanese kids. I live in Kuma-gun, which is a part of southern Kumamoto Prefecture surrounded by mountains. In this region, they speak a dialect called "Kuma-ben." It's similar to Kumamoto-ben in many ways, but apparently there are a lot of differences too. As I continue living here, I learn more about this interesting dialect little by little through the conversations I have and hear around me.
February 26th, 2010
Today I was at one of my elementary schools, preparing materials for my first class in the staff room. The vice principle was talking to the receptionists in the doorway near my desk. I wasn't really listening until I heard the vice principle say this:
どぎゃんしてかむとう？
I would never have understood this phrase when I first got here six months ago! However, in standard dialect, I've come to learn that it translates to this:
どんなふうにかむの？
Or in English, "In what way do you bite it?" I wish I had heard more of the conversation, but I had to go to class.
*****
Today I went to the post office during lunch break so that I could apply for the Sakura marathon. Unfortunately, there was a downpour. When I came back, a bunch of first graders were in the hallway, getting ready to clean the floors with their little rags. When they saw me they started screaming, "Aurora sensei, I saw you!" Then they asked me (and I have no idea how this idea got in their heads), "Did you go to America by bike?" I laughed and answered, "Of course! I went there and back just now!" Even though I said it sarcastically, they all gasped and said, "really??!" "No way!" "Wow!" I love first graders.
February 26th, 2010
Today I was at one of my elementary schools, preparing materials for my first class in the staff room. The vice principle was talking to the receptionists in the doorway near my desk. I wasn't really listening until I heard the vice principle say this:
どぎゃんしてかむとう？
I would never have understood this phrase when I first got here six months ago! However, in standard dialect, I've come to learn that it translates to this:
どんなふうにかむの？
Or in English, "In what way do you bite it?" I wish I had heard more of the conversation, but I had to go to class.
*****
Today I went to the post office during lunch break so that I could apply for the Sakura marathon. Unfortunately, there was a downpour. When I came back, a bunch of first graders were in the hallway, getting ready to clean the floors with their little rags. When they saw me they started screaming, "Aurora sensei, I saw you!" Then they asked me (and I have no idea how this idea got in their heads), "Did you go to America by bike?" I laughed and answered, "Of course! I went there and back just now!" Even though I said it sarcastically, they all gasped and said, "really??!" "No way!" "Wow!" I love first graders.
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