Goodbye messages: hilarious and from the heart

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.

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.