I think students have a natural desire to learn. The youngest students seem to have the most desire to learn. In the older classes, many students are not interested in learning one subject or another. As teachers, I worry that we maybe destroying that desire.
Everyday we need to examine our teaching methods. If we are doing something that takes away desire, we need to change it.
Our job is to help students be as successful as possible.
What do you think?
Last night it was raining at my apartment. It was raining pretty hard. I heard many loud noises outside. They sounded like explosions.
I went outside on the balcony to see what was making the noise. There were many bright explosions. Someone was launching fireworks near my house.
I was very surprised. I always thought that fireworks couldn’t be launched in heavy rain. There were a lot of fireworks. They were very beautiful.
I think a school near my home was celebrating their culture festival.
Did you know that fireworks could be launched during heavy rain? Have you watched fireworks in the rain?
Two times each month, I teach an adult class at night. All of the students are young workers. They are very interesting people. They have many different jobs: librarian, Kindergarden teacher, web site designer, office worker, …
Whenever I teach this class, I get home very late at night. Also, I need to fill my time after work and before the class. Today, I hope to practice playing shakuhachi at a shrine. I am worried about the weather. It looks like rain.
If it rains, maybe I will go to a friend’s house.
Today two giant pumpkins will be carved into Jack o’ lanterns for Halloween. I have a very busy schedule, but I hope to see the event. Also, I am hoping to eat fish and chips at the restaurant where the event is.
Recently the weather has been getting cold at night. I will remember to dress warm.
Today I ate lunch with a new teacher. It is always fun to meet the new teachers because they have fresh eyes for Japan. They see things in a different way from teachers who have been in Japan for many years.
We went to my favorite restaurant and ordered the lunch special. It is always very delicious. The owner also gave us a salad with salmon to welcome the new teacher.
Later I went to calligraphy class to practice writing. It was a good day.
Sunday I went to an after school club (学童) in the countryside. We were making mochi and selling it to the neighbors as a fundraiser. We used a stone bowl and wooden mallets to pound the rice. It was very chewy and sticky.
We were happy that the weather was so sunny and warm.
The children helped a little, but mostly they played. Some of them learned about how to split wood with an axe.
Inside we had pork soup, mochi, onigiri, senzai, and fried eggs on shrimp crackers. I ate too much.
Saturday I took a trip to Takasu in Gifu prefecture. There was a party at a condo on Saturday night. About 30 people were there and we had a potlatch dinner. Everyone stayed up very late. I only slept about three hours.
Sunday we went skiing. The weather was very beautiful and the snow condition was good. On the way home there was a traffic jam, so we got home very late.
My back muscles are a little sore today, but I feel pretty good.
Today I told my Tuesday night class about this blog, so I need to start writing again. I am so happy that I brought my pots, pans, and knives to Japan this month. Tonight we used them to make pasta carbonara. It was very tasty. We also made a soup from the latest Kurashi no Techou. It was also very good.
Sunday afternoon I went to a classical guitar concert with my friend. One of my students was playing in the concert. He is very talented.
The opening act was Kami Fuusen. They were very amusing. A choral group also performed. They sang Sampo from “My Neighbor Totoro”. I like that song a lot.
After the concert we had lunch near Daimon. I had a very tasty shitake soup.
Today I taught a special class at an English tea house. Because tomorrow is Easter, we learned about traditional games played on Easter. Our favorite Easter activity is the Egg Hunt.
Easter eggs are made by hard boiling eggs and then coloring the shells. Often we make pretty designs on them. Usually we try to use pastel colors. We think that pastels are very fitting for the Easter season. It is the time when soft, beautiful flowers are starting to bloom, and grasses and plants are sprouting.
For an egg hunt, one person hides all of the eggs. I hid them in the garden of the tea house. Then all the guests search for the eggs. We had a lot of fun. I wore a pink shirt and a sky blue linen jacket.
The weather was warm and sunny, so I drove to the class with my sunroof open.
君の為に 