Day 21: Open School Day
This morning I tried some Japanese Kellogg's cereal with breakfast. It was pretty good cereal, but definitely different from the Kellogg's in the United States. We also had some homemade banana bread, fresh fruit, and cooked sausages for breakfast. Yet again, Notre Dame Elementary had school on a weekend. Today is Sunday and we are having a sort of "open house" day for prospective students and their parents to visit the school and observe classes. It is a big day for the school and the teachers, considering that they need to promote the school and encourage new students to enroll for next year. When I arrived at school I put on one of my suits, so as to look a bit more professional; the Japanese overall are very formal people and I want to make a good impression on our visitors.
We had a morning staff meeting to discuss the events of the day. There was a bit of tension in the room, which is understandable given the significance of the day and the high demands put on the teachers. It was decided that, due to cooler temperatures today, there would be no swimming classes. I think the school was looking forward to sharing their awesome facilities with the visitors, but the students health is more important. Sister Beatrice first apologized for her upcoming absence during her trip to America. Sister Beatrice tried to ease the tension in the room and inspire the teachers to relax and have a fun day.
Mr. Yukita and I taught three English classes together today. The lessons were PowerPoint based and I was a fairly large part of each lesson. The English department at Notre Dame Elementary focuses on having two English teachers in the class at one time. The lessons involve a lot of dialogue between the two teachers, offering direct observation for the students. The students also speak and listen to English phrases. Today we some fun activities. In one activity I reviewed opposite descriptive words with the students: big/small, hot/cold, heavy/light, hard/soft, near/far, etc. The game involved me giving the students hints about a mystery object. It is big, hot, yellow-colored, etc. The students could ask me questions if they spoke English. One student asked, "Is it shaped like a circle?" What a great question! Yes, the mystery object is shaped like a circle. After all the hints were given, I gave each group a minute to confer with each other before sending one representative to the front of class to whisper the answer in my ear. The teams either guessed the object correctly (the Sun), or incorrectly. It seemed to me that the parents and students observing were having a great time! At one point there were parents around the entire room and more peeking in through the door. I was glad that I was a part of such a great event, showcasing the greatness of Notre Dame Elementary.
After some intense morning lessons I had some tea with some other English teachers: Mr. Yukita, Afrela, Miko, and a Professor from Notre Dame University next to our school. Usually I just listen in on the discussions, but I spoke with the professor quite a bit. He was very interested in my situation here in Japan. When asked what level I will be teaching back in America I gave the usual response, "Junior high." He smiled and told me that he thinks I would be a good elementary school teacher; he videotaped our lessons today. I am not sure if it was the typical Japanese flattery or sincere remarks from a professor in the field of Education. Either way, it was a lovely comment. In all sincerity, I love teaching elementary school here. Perhaps I should not eliminate elementary school as an option for me.
After school, the Pieczulewski's had planned a trip up to the top of Mt. Hiei, the largest mountain in the Kyoto area. We met up with another Notre Dame elementary family and took a railway car up part of the steep incline. The rest of the way up we switched to a cable car, which gave us a much better view! I was glad they had planned the trip, since I see Mt. Hiei every time I look out the window or go outside. On the top of the mountain there is a very nice garden filled
with flowers and Claude Monet paintings. Some parts of the garden were designed to look like the gardens that Monet painted. One in particular is the beautiful wooden bridge which crosses the frog pads, similar to Monet's painting of a Japanese footbridge in 1899.
We all went home together and had some pizza from Dominoe's, but the menu was still quite Japanese. We had four different kinds of pizza: squid, broccoli and shrimp; tomato and basil; shrimp and asparagus; zucchini and eggplant. The pizzas were different, but they were still very good. During the discussions at dinner I realized that I was eating with one person who attended MIT, and another who attended graduate school at Harvard. They are some smart guys! Paul, the one who went to Harvard, invited us to his father's house in Nagano. I may go visit them depending on how much time I have to travel after student-teaching at Notre Dame.
We had a morning staff meeting to discuss the events of the day. There was a bit of tension in the room, which is understandable given the significance of the day and the high demands put on the teachers. It was decided that, due to cooler temperatures today, there would be no swimming classes. I think the school was looking forward to sharing their awesome facilities with the visitors, but the students health is more important. Sister Beatrice first apologized for her upcoming absence during her trip to America. Sister Beatrice tried to ease the tension in the room and inspire the teachers to relax and have a fun day.
Mr. Yukita and I taught three English classes together today. The lessons were PowerPoint based and I was a fairly large part of each lesson. The English department at Notre Dame Elementary focuses on having two English teachers in the class at one time. The lessons involve a lot of dialogue between the two teachers, offering direct observation for the students. The students also speak and listen to English phrases. Today we some fun activities. In one activity I reviewed opposite descriptive words with the students: big/small, hot/cold, heavy/light, hard/soft, near/far, etc. The game involved me giving the students hints about a mystery object. It is big, hot, yellow-colored, etc. The students could ask me questions if they spoke English. One student asked, "Is it shaped like a circle?" What a great question! Yes, the mystery object is shaped like a circle. After all the hints were given, I gave each group a minute to confer with each other before sending one representative to the front of class to whisper the answer in my ear. The teams either guessed the object correctly (the Sun), or incorrectly. It seemed to me that the parents and students observing were having a great time! At one point there were parents around the entire room and more peeking in through the door. I was glad that I was a part of such a great event, showcasing the greatness of Notre Dame Elementary.After some intense morning lessons I had some tea with some other English teachers: Mr. Yukita, Afrela, Miko, and a Professor from Notre Dame University next to our school. Usually I just listen in on the discussions, but I spoke with the professor quite a bit. He was very interested in my situation here in Japan. When asked what level I will be teaching back in America I gave the usual response, "Junior high." He smiled and told me that he thinks I would be a good elementary school teacher; he videotaped our lessons today. I am not sure if it was the typical Japanese flattery or sincere remarks from a professor in the field of Education. Either way, it was a lovely comment. In all sincerity, I love teaching elementary school here. Perhaps I should not eliminate elementary school as an option for me.
After school, the Pieczulewski's had planned a trip up to the top of Mt. Hiei, the largest mountain in the Kyoto area. We met up with another Notre Dame elementary family and took a railway car up part of the steep incline. The rest of the way up we switched to a cable car, which gave us a much better view! I was glad they had planned the trip, since I see Mt. Hiei every time I look out the window or go outside. On the top of the mountain there is a very nice garden filled
with flowers and Claude Monet paintings. Some parts of the garden were designed to look like the gardens that Monet painted. One in particular is the beautiful wooden bridge which crosses the frog pads, similar to Monet's painting of a Japanese footbridge in 1899.
We all went home together and had some pizza from Dominoe's, but the menu was still quite Japanese. We had four different kinds of pizza: squid, broccoli and shrimp; tomato and basil; shrimp and asparagus; zucchini and eggplant. The pizzas were different, but they were still very good. During the discussions at dinner I realized that I was eating with one person who attended MIT, and another who attended graduate school at Harvard. They are some smart guys! Paul, the one who went to Harvard, invited us to his father's house in Nagano. I may go visit them depending on how much time I have to travel after student-teaching at Notre Dame.
posted by Ryan Harkins at 9:17 p.m.
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