1. Back in September my junior high schools had their sports festival…now it’s the elementary school kids’ turn.

    I couldn’t have chosen better background music for this myself.

  2. These were the winners for today’s class! The students were learning to use “which” and so I had them write questions on a slip of paper. Then I mixed the papers up and handed them out randomly and the students answered whichever question they got. Soo tell me…which man do YOU woman?

    These were the winners for today’s class!

    The students were learning to use “which” and so I had them write questions on a slip of paper. Then I mixed the papers up and handed them out randomly and the students answered whichever question they got.

    Soo tell me…which man do YOU woman?

  3. Tale as Old as Cold Pizza Unfortunately this caption makes no sense because I couldn’t fit the pizza shop in my six-phrame summary…sorry Pietro and sisters! (And sorry to everyone else who didn’t make it in, I’m sure you’re heart broken). But here’s the story!…or at least the simplest version of the story I could create for my junior high school students.

    Tale as Old as Cold Pizza

    Unfortunately this caption makes no sense because I couldn’t fit the pizza shop in my six-phrame summary…sorry Pietro and sisters! (And sorry to everyone else who didn’t make it in, I’m sure you’re heart broken). But here’s the story!…or at least the simplest version of the story I could create for my junior high school students.

  4. In Japan the school year ends in March, so things at school are coming to a close. I will still teach most of the same students when the new school year begins, however, my third year junior high school students will be moving up to high school. Here is my good bye message to my 3rd years at Chida Chuu-gakkou. It is hard to tell a group of people how much you love them and how much they have changed your life in one sentence…especially when you are limited to simple English. I hope these kids know that I mean this in the most sincere way possible. I hope life is good to them :)

    In Japan the school year ends in March, so things at school are coming to a close. I will still teach most of the same students when the new school year begins, however, my third year junior high school students will be moving up to high school.

    Here is my good bye message to my 3rd years at Chida Chuu-gakkou. It is hard to tell a group of people how much you love them and how much they have changed your life in one sentence…especially when you are limited to simple English. I hope these kids know that I mean this in the most sincere way possible.

    I hope life is good to them :)

  5. A few minutes after I got to work yesterday, one of my fifth graders came shyly into the staffroom. She walked up to my desk and handed me a small “Toy Story” envelope, and then hurriedly bowed and shitsureshimasu-ed her way out of the room. The picture above is what was inside the envelope. I read the letter first. Not only does it mean a lot to me because of the nice stuff she said, but also because I know how hard she must have worked on it. Fifth grade is the first year my students study English, and so getting a note with words that aren’t fruits, colors, or sports was quite impressive. Even with help, this would have been a lot of work. It’s so sweet she took the time to do that. After reading the letter, I looked to see what else was in the envelope, expecting (and maybe hoping) it was candy. What I found was a million times better: 630 yen (about $7). I don’t want you thinking my fifth grader was trying to bribe me for a good grade in English, so let me explain why she gave me the money. In order to do this, it requires a little information about the musical I’m in. Many of you have seen pictures of the musical on facebook, but beyond that don’t know much about it. The purpose of the musical is to raise money to build a school in Papua New Guinea. The schools built by the tribes in PNG need to be rebuilt every 3 years because the materials start to rot, but the schools we build there last much longer. At the end of each musical performance we explain our goal to the audience and ask for donations. In order to demonstrate how even a small donation is useful, we explain that 2,000 yen (or about $20) is enough to pay a child’s educational expenses for a year. Now you see why the 630 yen was so sweet. Even though it was just a few coins, it was all she could give. I remember being in 5th grade and how big of a deal $7 was back then. I’m sure this felt like a big sacrifice for her, but she was willing to do it in order to help other kids have more opportunities. I’m proud to know her.

    A few minutes after I got to work yesterday, one of my fifth graders came shyly into the staffroom. She walked up to my desk and handed me a small “Toy Story” envelope, and then hurriedly bowed and shitsureshimasu-ed her way out of the room.

    The picture above is what was inside the envelope. I read the letter first. Not only does it mean a lot to me because of the nice stuff she said, but also because I know how hard she must have worked on it. Fifth grade is the first year my students study English, and so getting a note with words that aren’t fruits, colors, or sports was quite impressive. Even with help, this would have been a lot of work. It’s so sweet she took the time to do that. After reading the letter, I looked to see what else was in the envelope, expecting (and maybe hoping) it was candy. What I found was a million times better: 630 yen (about $7). I don’t want you thinking my fifth grader was trying to bribe me for a good grade in English, so let me explain why she gave me the money. In order to do this, it requires a little information about the musical I’m in.

    Many of you have seen pictures of the musical on facebook, but beyond that don’t know much about it. The purpose of the musical is to raise money to build a school in Papua New Guinea. The schools built by the tribes in PNG need to be rebuilt every 3 years because the materials start to rot, but the schools we build there last much longer. At the end of each musical performance we explain our goal to the audience and ask for donations. In order to demonstrate how even a small donation is useful, we explain that 2,000 yen (or about $20) is enough to pay a child’s educational expenses for a year.

    Now you see why the 630 yen was so sweet. Even though it was just a few coins, it was all she could give. I remember being in 5th grade and how big of a deal $7 was back then. I’m sure this felt like a big sacrifice for her, but she was willing to do it in order to help other kids have more opportunities. I’m proud to know her.

  6. Here are some other good lines from the Valentines Day mad lib activity. See if you can guess which words my students wrote… “My favorite thing about you is your smile. It reminds me of music. I also like your monkey.” “My favorite thing about you is your fish. It reminds me of dogs.” “I hope someday we can talk together. That would be very beautiful. One of my favorite things about you is how you move.” “It makes me feel king when you help.” “My favorite thing about you is your mother.”

    Here are some other good lines from the Valentines Day mad lib activity. See if you can guess which words my students wrote…

    “My favorite thing about you is your smile. It reminds me of music. I also like your monkey.”

    “My favorite thing about you is your fish. It reminds me of dogs.”

    “I hope someday we can talk together. That would be very beautiful. One of my favorite things about you is how you move.”

    “It makes me feel king when you help.”

    “My favorite thing about you is your mother.”

  7. Tokamachi Yuki Matsuri! Over the weekend I went to the Tokamachi Snow Festival. Tokamachi gets the most snow out of anywhere in Japan, and so it’s a good thing they find something to do with it. Around the city were various snow statues: Doraemon, One Piece, snakes (seeing it is the year of the snake), and other cool designs. The most impressive sculpture was this huge pirate ship stage where we saw some Japanese artists perform. The snow stuff was cool, but between there and Ojiya I think I’ve seen enough snow to last me a life time. It was cool to see though, and fun eating ALL the festival food and hanging out with everybody.

    Tokamachi Yuki Matsuri!

    Over the weekend I went to the Tokamachi Snow Festival. Tokamachi gets the most snow out of anywhere in Japan, and so it’s a good thing they find something to do with it. Around the city were various snow statues: Doraemon, One Piece, snakes (seeing it is the year of the snake), and other cool designs. The most impressive sculpture was this huge pirate ship stage where we saw some Japanese artists perform.

    The snow stuff was cool, but between there and Ojiya I think I’ve seen enough snow to last me a life time. It was cool to see though, and fun eating ALL the festival food and hanging out with everybody.

  8. Happy Valentine’s Day!!

    I love pulling this video out any chance I get…so it was an obvious choice for a Valentine’s lesson :)

    For my first year Junior High School students I made a blank BINGO board and gave them each a copy. Then I played this video and while they watched they had to fill in the board with anything they saw (tree, boy, candy, love, etc.) After they had completed their BINGO boards, we went around the room and each student read a word they had written down. If the other students had that word on their board they marked it off.

    It was super simple, but my students really liked it. Thanks Jhana for the video BINGO game idea at the SDC :)

  9. Reason seven hundred of why I love my job: These boys always do a dramatic entrance when they come out to the hall to run dialogues with me.

    Is it unethical to fail all of my san-nensei students just so I can still be their teacher when the next school year starts?

  10. My gosh. I adore these kids.

About me

I have never been out of the United States-not even to Mexico or Canada-so things are about to get pretty crazy! Starting August 25th the pages of my passport are going to be a little less bare...and 111 days after that I'll be able to say I have sailed around the world!