Day 44: English Testing
As soon as I slid open the door to the tatami room, the dogs rushed in and jumped all over me. They are very friendly little dogs, and really quiet too. It is hard to hear them coming, so they can really sneak up on you. After breakfast, Misaki, Misato, and I took a taxi to school. The kids take a taxi to school everyday, and get a ride back home from Yoko. Taking public transportation is possible and would be cheaper, but it is a complicated series of buses and subway lines.
This morning's Notre Dame television broadcast, hosted by none other than Junpei Hotta, focused on a fifth grade boy with muscular dystrophy. When this boy entered Notre Dame, he could walk, run, swim, and play just like all of the other kids. Unfortunately, over the past five years his condition has deteriorated and he is in a wheelchair now. This boy is a joy and an inspiration to everyone around him. Last year, he actually swam over one meter during the swim in the sea. 
From what I hear, the swim last year was especially emotional given his determination, will, and the way his mother ran into the water to congratulate him. Today's television show was actually a news story from a local television station. They arranged for the boy to meet his hero, one of the Hanshin Tiger's baseball players! He met the player, spoke with him, and then watched the game with his family. The news crew documented the story of this incredible boy so that all in Kyoto could be inspired by him.
Afrela and I had to make some copies for today's classes. I created a rubric, which fascinated the English staff here, for evaluating the students English speaking skills. Afrela and I pulled the students out of class one by one and tested them individually on some common English phrases. We used pictures as prompts for the kids to recall the phrases they have been studying. We tested only the fifth graders, who have been studying English for five years at Notre Dame. Therefore, I expected some degree of fluency amongst them. The trend I observed during the testing was that most of the girls are more proficient in English than the boys. This immediately reminded me of something Mr. Yukita told me in my first week here: the fifth grade boys are hard to teach English to. The reason behind this fact is that the fifth grade boys are forced to study for junior high entrance exams, leaving some of the less vital things, like English, by the wayside. The girls, on the other hand, do not need to study for entrance exams because they will be attending the Notre Dame Junior High. Notre Dame has schools at every level, but only the elementary school is open to both boys and girls.
I had lunch today with the other teachers in the English Department. Mr. Yukita wanted to discuss the annual English competition held each October at Notre Dame Elementary. Of course, I will not be here for that competition, but it was still an interesting meeting. We also started to talk about the Gion Festival, which is coming up on July 17th. It is the largest festival in Kyoto, and I am lucky that I will be able to experience it. We got on the subject because one of the students from Notre Dame Elementary was selected to be the hero of the Gion festival. I am not sure of his duties, but I know it is a great honor. The astonishing thing about it is that he actually has to pay to be in the festival. "How much?" you might ask. The boy's family has to fork out a whopping two million yen for his participation!! That is almost $20,000 he has to pay!
After lunch Afrela and I tested two more classes of students. During the last period of the day I made arrangements for tomorrow morning's ND television show. Sister Maria was supposed to plan the show for tomorrow, but she was happy to hand it over to me because she is so busy with the third graders testing. I will be taking over the TV tomorrow morning in a program called Independence Day, so that I may share the history and joy of the Fourth of July.
After school I helped out with the Advanced English class. We cut out paper designs, wrote wishes on them, and hung them on a piece of bamboo tree. At the time I was not aware of the significance of the activity, but I looked it up afterward. Hanging the wishes, known as tanabata, on the bamboo tree is one of the activities of the Star Weaver festival on July 7th. It is a celebration of two storied lovers, Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair), who were separated and are only allowed to meet once a year. The festival celebrates the meeting of these two stars in the sky. I hope I will get to experience more of the holiday.
Before the Arai's picked me up, I went for another practice swim in the pool. This time I swam 750 meters in 30 minutes. Next time I will shoot for one kilometer or more. At home I worked on the powerpoint and materials for the Independence Day television show. It will be a great show, and I am in charge of it all! For dinner we had some chicken, salad, bread, and beer. Yoko and I talked for a while over some Hennesy on the rocks. We talked about a lot of different things. She speaks very good English, because she went to school in the United States from the ninth grade. Before bed I watched an episode of Law and Order on my computer; I always watch Law and Order back home. Tomorrow is looking to be a great day, and it will be the eve of July 4th in Wisconsin.
This morning's Notre Dame television broadcast, hosted by none other than Junpei Hotta, focused on a fifth grade boy with muscular dystrophy. When this boy entered Notre Dame, he could walk, run, swim, and play just like all of the other kids. Unfortunately, over the past five years his condition has deteriorated and he is in a wheelchair now. This boy is a joy and an inspiration to everyone around him. Last year, he actually swam over one meter during the swim in the sea. 
From what I hear, the swim last year was especially emotional given his determination, will, and the way his mother ran into the water to congratulate him. Today's television show was actually a news story from a local television station. They arranged for the boy to meet his hero, one of the Hanshin Tiger's baseball players! He met the player, spoke with him, and then watched the game with his family. The news crew documented the story of this incredible boy so that all in Kyoto could be inspired by him.
Afrela and I had to make some copies for today's classes. I created a rubric, which fascinated the English staff here, for evaluating the students English speaking skills. Afrela and I pulled the students out of class one by one and tested them individually on some common English phrases. We used pictures as prompts for the kids to recall the phrases they have been studying. We tested only the fifth graders, who have been studying English for five years at Notre Dame. Therefore, I expected some degree of fluency amongst them. The trend I observed during the testing was that most of the girls are more proficient in English than the boys. This immediately reminded me of something Mr. Yukita told me in my first week here: the fifth grade boys are hard to teach English to. The reason behind this fact is that the fifth grade boys are forced to study for junior high entrance exams, leaving some of the less vital things, like English, by the wayside. The girls, on the other hand, do not need to study for entrance exams because they will be attending the Notre Dame Junior High. Notre Dame has schools at every level, but only the elementary school is open to both boys and girls.I had lunch today with the other teachers in the English Department. Mr. Yukita wanted to discuss the annual English competition held each October at Notre Dame Elementary. Of course, I will not be here for that competition, but it was still an interesting meeting. We also started to talk about the Gion Festival, which is coming up on July 17th. It is the largest festival in Kyoto, and I am lucky that I will be able to experience it. We got on the subject because one of the students from Notre Dame Elementary was selected to be the hero of the Gion festival. I am not sure of his duties, but I know it is a great honor. The astonishing thing about it is that he actually has to pay to be in the festival. "How much?" you might ask. The boy's family has to fork out a whopping two million yen for his participation!! That is almost $20,000 he has to pay!
After lunch Afrela and I tested two more classes of students. During the last period of the day I made arrangements for tomorrow morning's ND television show. Sister Maria was supposed to plan the show for tomorrow, but she was happy to hand it over to me because she is so busy with the third graders testing. I will be taking over the TV tomorrow morning in a program called Independence Day, so that I may share the history and joy of the Fourth of July.
After school I helped out with the Advanced English class. We cut out paper designs, wrote wishes on them, and hung them on a piece of bamboo tree. At the time I was not aware of the significance of the activity, but I looked it up afterward. Hanging the wishes, known as tanabata, on the bamboo tree is one of the activities of the Star Weaver festival on July 7th. It is a celebration of two storied lovers, Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair), who were separated and are only allowed to meet once a year. The festival celebrates the meeting of these two stars in the sky. I hope I will get to experience more of the holiday.Before the Arai's picked me up, I went for another practice swim in the pool. This time I swam 750 meters in 30 minutes. Next time I will shoot for one kilometer or more. At home I worked on the powerpoint and materials for the Independence Day television show. It will be a great show, and I am in charge of it all! For dinner we had some chicken, salad, bread, and beer. Yoko and I talked for a while over some Hennesy on the rocks. We talked about a lot of different things. She speaks very good English, because she went to school in the United States from the ninth grade. Before bed I watched an episode of Law and Order on my computer; I always watch Law and Order back home. Tomorrow is looking to be a great day, and it will be the eve of July 4th in Wisconsin.
posted by Ryan Harkins at 10:39 a.m.
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