Staying Sharp for the Summer

For my last day at my practicum in Japan, I wanted to leave my students thinking about the importance of keeping their minds sharp when they are on break from school. The objectives of my lesson were for students to demonstrate understanding of what a sharp mind means by orally providing examples about how they use their working memory, particularly in the context of what they will do this summer.

I began my lesson with asking students, “What will you do this summer? What are your plans?” As expected, the students mentioned their vacation and camp plans. However, I wanted my students to ponder how they could continue learning sharpening their minds. I then asked, “What does the word ‘sharp’ mean?” The students said things like “a pointy edge” or “when people look nice.” I told the students that you are sharp when your minds are mentally alert and can understand things quickly. It is crucial that students stay sharp over the summer break so that they continue improving their skills and bring new knowledge for the new school year.

People’s brains need to practice and review what they have previously learned in order to remember things over a long period of time. The brain has a short-term memory, a working-memory, and a long-term memory. I told students that a lot of information we learn gets stored temporarily in our working memory, which means that we have to work hard to remember it and make it into a long-term memory.

Students turned and talked with each other about ways to stay sharp over the summer. They discussed how they can keep their reading and writing sharp this summer by reading and going to the library, as well as writing stories about their adventures. Students also talked about doing fun science experiments or art projects. Teachers and students have to remember that learning never stops, and can be found in many contexts.

Teaching Methods Collaboration After-School

Nishimachi International School is not only extremely dedicated to teaching its students, but also teaching its teachers. Every Wednesday, faculty participates in school-wide presentations on diverse teaching methods that they have experimented with in their classrooms. I luckily prac on Wednesdays, so I have been able to observe how teachers from different grade levels and subjects areas can introduce teaching strategies that are universal to education. Teachers usually collaborate in pairs or a team to experiment with strategies in their classroom, and then work together to share their findings via presenting student work and using google slides for showcasing data. At Nishimachi, teachers share their knowledge with each other and thus foster a community of educators who are passionate about trying new things and taking risks.

One presentation I found really enjoyable was on the learning process of typing on a computer. A 5th grade teacher spoke about the new program called TypingClub, which is a website that allows students to practice their typing speed and accuracy skills for free online. Teachers can make class accounts for students and immediately see their progress. The 5th grade teacher uses TypingClub in her class, and pointed out that her students like to compete with each other, as well as herself – making learning all the more fun. Interestingly, the program does not differentiate its typing levels by grade-level, so students can learn at their own paces.

Another presentation I enjoyed was how teachers at Nishimachi implemented creative workshops in their classrooms. The presenters gave us visitors individual ipads to watch a video about the structure of the workshop. The video emphasized  the importance of students learning to be curious. That is, students need to develop metacognition skills on not only developing curiosity about a particular research topic, but also learning the steps involved for creating a research project of their choice. Students first must think of a researchable question, then conduct research, create a presentation, and share their research with their classmates. I was even able to see how my SP conducted her creative workshop with the 2nd graders - I viewed the students’ presentations that ranged from samurai and Japanese trains all the way to presentations on architecture, soccer, and horses. While some students made google slides presentations, others made poster boards and games. Overall, students were extremely excited to be “research experts.” The creativity workshop is important because it proves that students can learn, and are willing to learn even more, when they have some choice in the content. I really valued being able to see the workshop firsthand and learn through the faculty presentations.

In some ways, the weekly teacher faculty presentations are creativity workshops in their own right. Teachers get to decide what aspect of student learning they want to research about, and then become experts in technology programs and other student learning strategies (readers’ workshop for instance). It is so crucial for teachers to learn what each other is doing in the classroom, so more schools should host such teacher presentations.  

Teaching Personal Narratives & Descriptive Lang with Cultural Diversity

I was able to teach my 2^nd grade students about personal narratives while also connecting with their cultural backgrounds. I showed the students a slide show of pictures from my trip at Mt. Takao – a famous mountain in the Tokyo region – as I read my personal narrative about my climb up the mountain. I wanted my personal narrative to focus on a small moment I have had here in Japan so that my students could connect with my experience. About half of the students in the class are Japanese students, while the remaining are half Japanese/ White, half Japanese/ half African, and White. The topic of Mt. Takao connected with the students’ cultural backgrounds because students could see pictures of the mountain’s beautiful landscape and religious shrines that are part of Japan’s narrative. Japanese students were able to see their own cultural practices, while the international students were able to learn about them. 

As I showed students the slideshow of pictures, I read them my personal narrative. One of my objectives for the lesson was for students to demonstrate understanding that a personal narrative is an entertaining experience that happened in the past, consisting of different events. Students were able to directly visualize the events in my narrative – the start of my climb, the shrines, the statues, and finally the view at the top. Another objective of my lesson was for students to identify “showing” vs. “telling” language in my narrative. I wrote sentences such as “the sun’s rays made the trail even glow,” and “My legs were suddenly able to switch from walking to running!” Students were able to recognize that in the former sentence, instead of simply writing “the weather was nice,” I showed that the weather was nice by describing what the sun made the mountain look like. In the latter sentence, identified that I was showing my new energy for climbing the mountain, without just saying “I had more energy.”

One of my favorite examples of showing language was that “Statues of different deities stared directly at me.” When I read students this, I showed them a picture of the statues. Some students smiled because they recognized the cultural significance of the statues, while some asked questions regarding what a deity is. I asked students, “Can statues really stare at you?” I told students that I wrote the statues stared at me in order to show how I believed that they were somehow telling me to persevere up the mountain. Students were able to grasp that descriptive language is about showing one’s feelings and even breaking away from reality. After the lesson, students started writing their own personal narratives with descriptive language. I was pleased that one student wrote that he “felt like a fish” and “was in a blue world.” I could tell that the student was describing how he felt in water with making comparisons and describing the scene outside just telling his reader that he was in water. The students overall achieved the objectives of my lesson and were excited to write their own personal narratives. I’m excited to see what they’ll have accomplished at my next visit!  

Classroom Management

I’ve found the management of my classrooms at North Melbourne Primary to be very similar to the management of the classrooms I’ve been in in the US. My prep and year 1 classrooms each have about 20-25 students and one head teacher. In my early weeks, I noticed that not many of the teachers have consistent assistant teachers in the classroom, which is something I was used to seeing at my old elementary school in NY. Despite there only being one teacher, both classrooms function very well and utilize their set guidelines and expectations on a daily basis.

These sets of guidelines and expectations are depicted in posters and signs around the classroom, some of which the teachers have established themselves and some of which the students and teachers created together. This took place in my year 1 classroom, such that the students and teacher came up with a list of expectations for behaviors and actions that should and shouldn’t be displayed in the classroom. I’ve noticed this in classrooms back home, and I really like the concept because it shows the student’s that their opinions and feelings are valued, and overall creates an atmosphere that encourages collaboration. My Year 1 SP will often refer to this co-created list of expected behaviors when a student or the class is out of hand in order to manage the classroom behavior. In addition to these sets of guidelines, both teachers use a warning/disciplinary system by giving different warnings to specific student’s inappropriate behavior before actually punishing them. I’ve noticed that they typically start off with a verbal warning, proceed to writing a name on the board, markings next to their name (such as an ‘x’) for more moments of disruptive behavior, and finally a punishment, which usually involves missing playtime. Yet after the student(s) has/have been reprimanded, my SPs always talk to them just to explain why their behavior bothered the teacher, and ask them how they can improve their behavior in the future.

After reflecting on classroom management, I recognized the importance of communication between the students and teachers when managing the classroom. When it comes to establishing classroom rules and expectations, communication is key. I’ve seen both my SPs at North Melbourne actively communicate goals, expectations, feelings, and rules to their students and though the kids may not cooperate right away, they learn and know a little better the next time.

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity at a Japanese International School

This semester in Japan, I am teaching at the Nishimachi International School located in Motoazubu,
Minoto, Tokyo. The Nishimachi International School is quite unique in Japan, as students and teachers
alike come from diverse backgrounds. 50% of the students hold Japanese citizenship, as well as 50% hold
dual or multiple citizenships. 45% of the students even hold U.S. citizenship (Nishimachi’s website:
https://www.nishimachi.ac.jp/page.cfm?p=507). It is well known that Japan is 98% ethnically Japanese, so
it is very special and encouraging to see Japanese and international students learning together. The school
is quite welcoming and students have freedom to collaborate with their peers during classwork. Unlike the
majority of Japanese students in the nation, Nishimachi students do not have to wear school uniforms.
Students’ freedom to have a choice in what they wear is just one example of how Nishimachi is unique in
terms of celebrating students’ diversity, differences, identities, ethnicities, and languages.

At Nishimachi, classes are taught in English. I teach in both a second grade and first grade class.
Particularly in my second-grade class, I have noticed that the native Japanese speakers switch between
English and Japanese with each other. Usually the native speakers will speak Japanese if they are excited
about something or if they need to ask one of their classmates a question. It is amazing how quickly the
students can switch between the two languages. Surely some of the main reasons are that some students
are biracial and speak both Japanese and English at their home. Also, English is a means of teaching
instructional content. In other words, English is the means by which students learn math, social studies,
science, and of course reading and writing. Students are learning and using English to learn about issue in
their world and as a tool for expressing themselves. Recently, students wrote poems based on a drawing
of a boy outside. I was overjoyed by how well the students developed their writing with descriptive
language, similes, and metaphors. In a nation where English is “learned” mostly through rote
memorization and grammar, it is spectacular that students at Nishimachi can learn English in creative and
expressive ways.

Nishimachi teaches students according to linguistic diversity by teaching Japanese to all students. In each grade, students attend a different Japanese class according to their ability level. For the most part, native speakers are in one class and students new to the language are in different classes. I think that it is great that international students learn Japanese at such an early age; they can use Japanese to meaningfully communicate with fellow Japanese students, as well as Japanese people in their communities. Learning Japanese surely offers more opportunities for children to become more linguistically responsive to their Japanese classmates. All students at Nishimachi are learning an additional language in one way or another, and, as a teacher, I have to consider the needs of both native Japanese speakers and native English speakers. I have to make sure that the content is accessible, yet also challenging.