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From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teachers Kim Moon, and received no editing from the college.

It’s Friday! It has been another great week at the junior high school, but today we spent our time at the Nishinomiya Higashi High School. I was super excited to work with the high school students today to see how much English they knew. Most of the students were able to answer basic conversational questions, which was super fun! We first met the principal and received a tour of the school. The students became distracted as we walked by their classrooms. The students at this school were equivalent to 10th-12th graders in the United States. We interacted with each grade for half a period. The 3rd year students (12th grade) were working on listening comprehension. While the teacher played the passage, we would help the students pick out the main points in the story. The 3rd year students were a joy to work with, since their English skills are a little more advanced. However, they were a little shy in the beginning. The 2nd year (11th grade) students were all preparing for their midterms and working on grammar and pronunciation. During our time with them, the teachers asked us to read their passages with them so they could hear a native speaker instead of their CD. We all felt very privileged by this offer and the students enjoyed working with us a lot. We spent the last half period with the first year (10th grade) students, who were working on reading fluency and pronunciation. We participated in an echo read, during which we really focused on pronunciation. It was sad to leave since we only got to spend one day with them. However, it has been a great opportunity to see a wide range of students from elementary school to high school to understand the English language education here in Japan.

After saying our “Good-byes” to the principal, teachers, and students at the high school, we all headed to LaLaPort mall for lunch. Finally, we found a McDonalds and a Mister Donut! Most of us got some food that tasted a little less fishy! During lunch a nice Japanese man came up to us and attempted to speak English. He was so sweet and really tried hard, but was unable to use enough English so that we knew what he was saying. He disappeared for a few minutes and came back with an orange for us, which was one of the best oranges that I have had since we have been here. He was kind enough to take a selfie with us and departed saying something in Japanese. We all enjoyed our free time this afternoon wandering around the mall, exploring the city more, and taking a little nap! A few of us found some great souvenirs for family and ran into another Japanese man with a USA hat, who acknowledged us.

This evening we were fortunate to spend some time with a few of the local teachers here. First we went to have dinner at a ramen restaurant. This was by far some of the best ramen I have ever had! It is definitely better than the top ramen all of us college students know so well. We enjoyed talking and getting to know the teachers here better. I was super excited to learn about the ALT (assistant language teacher) positions as I might come back to teach English for a year. Then we all went to participate in some Japanese karaoke! We all got to sing some classic karaoke songs and enjoy each other’s company. All in all week 2 here has been wonderful and we cannot wait to enjoy more of Japanese culture in our final week!

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by Dr. Salsbury and received no editing from the college.

Today was our second day at Imazu Junior High School

We started the day by observing the boys’ and girls’ PE classes. The girls played volleyball and invited some of us (those with proper gym shoes) to play along. Meanwhile, in another gym, the boys practiced the high jump. I was struck (a) by the lack of competition among the kids, and (b) by the organization of the groups. With just a single word or phrase from the teacher, the kids formed their groups, moved to their places, and participated in the activities. Everybody participated, and the happiness in the gymnasiums was palpable.

Next, we moved to a history class. We were greeted (in English) by the history teacher whose hook for the lesson on leadership was to show on the projector (in English) the question “Who is this?” He showed a picture of Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter, turning to us (standing in the back of the room) and asking politely if we could identify them. Next, he showed several funny pictures of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe (eating a donut, making a funny face, and smiling). The kids loved it! After this hook, he shifted register (and language) and began his lecture on 19th Century Japanese leaders.

The other classes we observed were Industrial Arts (a class on communications technology – from cups with strings to iPhones), biology (plant roots), and music (the kids practiced a choral piece). We took notes on classroom structure (activities, groupings and student/teacher roles). In our afternoon seminar, we heard presentations from classmates on (a) the changing roles of women in Japanese society and (b) the different levels of formality in Japanese. The discussions were rich, personal, and relevant to what we’re experiencing in our relatively short time here.

We finished the afternoon with class preparation for next week. The school lent us copies of their English course texts for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students. They’re hoping we can prepare 2-3 activities at each grade level to supplement the lessons in the texts. It’s great to be collaborating with each other and with the Nishinomiya teachers as we prepare these lessons.

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by graduate student Jerimiah Sataraka, and has received no editing from the college.

“The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote these words in the Maroon Tiger, an Atlanta, Georgia college campus newspaper back in 1947. And they have never been more relevant and true than today.

While flipping through the 9th grader’s English language textbooks, I came across an English language lesson they’ll soon have around Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” Rosa Parks, and racism during the Civil Rights Movement. Granted they didn’t include the word racism in their textbook, but they had images of segregated water drinking fountains and highlighted some stories of racism. Say what?! I wondered how the students at Izamu Junior High School would react to this part of USA history. This is a textbook that is used across the school district, so 9th graders across the district would be talking about this. What questions would the students have and how would teachers answer them?

Hands down my favorite part of this experience has been interacting with the students. From the ones who seem to be disengaged or shy to those who are very excited to see us and want to ask a million questions a minute; every interaction has been memorable. We usually do introductions with a new group of students in class and students seem to have some difficulty saying “Jeremiah,” but after a few tries, they get it. We practiced interviewing each other and helped the students practice their verbal English speaking skills.

This got me thinking about their future lesson on Dr. King. How much of their lesson would be focused on the facts regarding the Civil Rights Movement, how much would be focused on enunciating specific English words, and how much would be on developing empathy and understanding racism?

This led me down a path to asking a question about racism in Japan. Did it exist? If so, how did it function? And how did it impact schools? These questions were the central focus of my presentation during our seminar today, which happens after we spend time in the Japanese classrooms. From presentations on gender norms in schools, to learning how the Japanese number system works, and to my presentation on racism in Japan and schools (i.e. especially focused on the experiences of multiracial Japanese called “hafu”), we spent some time having critical discussions on what we’ve observed in classrooms and researching other topics related to Japan and schools.

Going back to Dr. King’s words, I hope that not only will the Japanese students learn the “hard facts” about the Civil Rights Movement and develop empathy and understanding regarding human rights, but that students in the USA will also be learning about this.

Race and racism are prevalent parts of our society. Whether we as educators choose to acknowledge the ugly parts of history and help future students develop empathy and “good moral character” so that history is not repeated will depend largely on our schools and educational systems. Schools are sites of socialization- this is a huge observation I’ve made in Japan during the week and a half we’ve been here. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be sites of liberation. There is hope for the future, and I caught a glimpse of that in a Japanese 9th grade English language textbook.

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teacher Maria Garcia, and has received no editing from the college.

Today was our last day at Nauro Junior High school. We arrived at school early so that we could say goodbye to all of the staff before class. We then went to teach two classes and observe another.

We taught the kids a simple dialogue that had to do with introducing themselves to people. We then taught them questions they could ask people to get to know them better. Some questions we taught them were “What is your name?”, “What sport do you like?”, “Where are you from?”, and “What color do you like?”. That’s just to name a few questions.

Next, we had them break off into “lunch groups” and had them ask us questions about ourselves. Once they got to know us better, we had them introduce us to the class. We then ended class with a little geography lesson on the United States to give them an idea of where each of us is from.

After teaching and observing, we went to say our final goodbyes to some teachers and the principal of Nauro Junior High. Mr.Sasaki, the principal, gave us a little gift bag that came with a pen and a super cool pin that has a symbol of Nauro Junior High School on it. Lastly, some of us posed for a selfie with Mr. Sasaki. What a cool guy!

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teacher Kierstin Laisne, and has received no editing from the college.

Today was a super relaxed day! We spent the morning at Naruo Junior High again, where the students we taught gave us messages and drew us pictures on the lessons from last week. Some pictures were super pretty but all of the comments were adorable and made our day! Then we made our way to the conveyor belt sushi restaurant which was surprisingly cheap for all of us and was really good. We made our walk back to the hostel after spending 2 or so hours in the “hot room” and had some time to chill out. For dinner, some of us made our way to Freshness Burger, a restaurant one of our Japanese coworkers recommended. Finally, we ended the night doing laundry, going for a run, and finding out that Hulu doesn’t work in japan! Hopefully tomorrow will have a better ending!

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teacher Angela Ferrier, and has received no editing from the college.

More adventures today in Kyoto! We started the day off early and navigated the train system all on our own. We first ended up in downtown Kyoto where we walked to a gorgeous temple, then wandered down hanami-kogi street. During our wanderings, we stumbled upon a festival in a park and caught sight of an end to a traditional Japanese wedding. We strolled through nature and then we went on the trains again to find the bamboo forest. First, a few of us walked into a stunning temple and garden then found our way to a bamboo grove. It was another successful day in Japan!

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teacher Sandra Larios, and has received no editing from the college.

Today was an adventure filled day! We had the amazing opportunity to travel to Osaka today! It was such an amazing experience! Out first stop was the temple, which was really beautiful and fun to explore! We were able to go all the way to the 8th floor to get a bird’s eye view of Osaka! (Below you can find images) after the temple, we went to go explore another temple. We then made our way to the fine arts museum, which turned out to be a lot smaller than expected, but it was still fun. We got told that we out hand fans were too dangerous so we had to put them away! It was so hot today! Later on, we stopped by a Japanese garden which was just absolutely breathtaking! All in all, we did a lot of walking and experienced a little of the culture Osaka has to off!

From time to time, participants in the college’s study abroad to Nishinomiya, Japan, led by Tom Salsbury, will be giving updates on their experiences. This one was written by preservice teacher Gracie Lee, and has received no editing from the college.

Wow! What another exciting day in Japan! I still can’t believe that we’ve been in Japan for nearly a week!

Some of us began the morning with a run and climbing stairs at 5:30 a.m. After the run, it was time to get ready for the school day.

Today’s adventure at the schools would be slightly different as a school assembly would take place in the morning. It was mind-boggling to see 700 students be so quiet and aligned perfectly in single file lines.

Each student was attentive and on task as the principle gave a speech about cyber-bullying. Although we could not fully understand the message, we did hear the principle say “is it true, is it necessary, and is it kind?” to the students. His message was powerful to the students.

After the assembly, it was time for us to teach our lesson! We have been modifying and improving our “Cha Cha Slide” lesson since our first time teaching it. Today, we modified our Cognitive Content Dictionary to make it more purposeful for the second year students. We also decided to allow the first year and second year students time to draw their own picture for each word as art is prevalent in their culture.

After our lesson, we headed back to the Hostel only to find out it was closed for construction. So, we all went our different ways waiting about 4.5 hours to pass by so we could get back into the Hostel and rest before the baseball game. Although I am extremely picky about the foods I choose to eat, I was adventurous as I tried some new pastries and meat. I must say that it was rather delicious and I was missing out! Enjoying new foods, the sun and the culture helped make the time go by quickly. It was amazing to see how quickly and punctual the Japanese culture is with tasks as the construction was complete when we arrived back at the Hostel.

At the Hostel, we relaxed for a bit and then we got ready for our first Japanese baseball game! It was an experience we were looking forward to. It was great seeing the fans, players, and experiencing the atmosphere. The crowd definitely made the experience worth remembering. Some of us even got to talk to some of the people who live there! They sure were a blast, cracking jokes with us. It was really cool to see the balloon ceremony during the seventh inning. One of the people there helped me and Kim blow up our balloons to the country’s standards before they were released. As we were leaving the game, we all felt like rock stars as fans were high-fiving us on the way out. Let’s just say it was an experience that we will never forget!

As we head back to the Hostel, we are all worn out from the day’s activities. It was another great day in Japan and we can’t wait to visit the elementary school tomorrow and enjoy a dinner party with the teachers!