NCC volume7---July Photos

1. Indiana Soldier & Sailer's Monument
2. Cubs Game --- we lost.... super sad
3. Relay for life --- i walked all night
4. NCC graduation --- i wanna wear gown!!!
5. Universitry of Notre Dame（in IN) --- the building was gold☆

NCC volume6---June

North Central College
Volume 6 --- July

　 Our summer vacation is from the beginning of the June to the beginning of the September. Almost all of the students went back to their houses right after the finals for part time jobs, so only a few students who are taking summer classes are here at North Central. At first, I was thinking about working on campus, but I did not get a job, because I thought I should do lots of things that I can do only in the United States during the summer. Basically, I did four things from the beginning of summer until now.
First, I went to Chicago to look around the city and went to famous places: Navy Pier, Lincoln Park, Six Flags, The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, Cubs games, The University of Chicago, etc. During school terms I hardly could go to Chicago because I had lots of homework to do, so even if I live close to Chicago I did not know about Chicago well. Especially during summer there are lots of events or festivals in the city so I could enjoy walking around and know about Chicago.
Second, I went on a trip to the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan to visit my friends and stay with them. I used Amtrak and bus to get there and stayed in their homes with their families. It was a great opportunity to see other states and try different food or see famous places. Especially in Indiana I met Amish people and tried their food and saw their houses; it was a great experience.
Third, I babysat a couple of times for people who were introduced to me by my host mother and my friends. Once, before the kid went to bed she asked me to read a book. So I read the book for her and she said, “Your English is different,” and she read the book for me. It was my best memory. I did not have lots of opportunities to spend time with little kids before especially foreign kids, so it was very good time.
Forth, I joined Camp Tawanchi, which is a camp for elementary school students, and I taught about Japan to 30 students for 2 hours. I told the basic information of Japan, taught how to use chopsticks and make paper cranes, and made some Japanese foods. They asked me lots of questions about Japan and they became interested in Japan so I think it worked very well.
At first I was really worried about the summer because I was the only exchange student who stayed here during summer and the International Office closed. I did not know what I could do and I thought I would be bored. However, through the help of my friends I have really enjoyed my summer. Now I am in Indiana. I will visit Canada soon with my friend by car. She is a Japanese major and she is really interested in going to Iwate. I wrote that many Japanese major students prefer to go to Tokyo or Kyoto and they are not interested in Iwate. But she said to me, “I want to see real Japan not like a big city like Tokyo or Osaka”. I was very happy to hear that. After I come back to Iwate, I hope I can do something for the students who come from North Central as they did for me and I hope many students are interested in Iwate.

NCC volume6---June Photos

NCC volume5---May

North Central College
Volume 5 --- May


１　World Relief
Every year more than 7,000 refugees come to the United States to escape from war, torture and persecution. They have no food, money, job, or friends, they may not be able to speak English; they have absolutely nothing. As you can imagine, this is a huge burden on the refugees.
The World Relief center located in Aurora, it works work with churches, individuals, and community groups in providing a range of services to the refugees and immigrants living in Dupage or Kane County. According to the website, World Relief provides the refugees with many services such as self sufficiency aid in their transition from their country to the U.S., a child and youth project helping the family and children cope with their new life, a human service liaison, meaning helping them attain access to public benefits, counseling, adequate education in order to learn how to be more self efficient, citizenship and immigrant services, transitional housing, and helping the families build a relationship with volunteers and churches. Each service helps these immigrants and refugees in adjusting to their new life.
I am working with the refugee K-3 kids after school from 3:15 P.M to 5:15 P.M at Davis Church located in Aurora every Monday. Basically I am helping with their homework, singing English songs, and playing word games to help their development of English.
Helping the refugees not only makes me a better person, but I also get the chance to be there and see how the children live their life. It gives me an idea of what they went through to be here today with us in the United States. I hope that in the near future more volunteers take time to help the refugee kids and their family as well for the better life here. A little help can make a difference in the refugee’s life. In Japan we do not have opportunities to know about these problems well, so I hope I can inform my friends. Definitely, I will continue this volunteer work until I go back to Japan.


２　First Exchange student from North Central
Hey! All of members of the English department!! Rejoice at the GOOD news!!! The first exchange student from North Central College is coming to our University!!!! (Yeeeeeh☆)

Name: Amy Butcher
Sex: Female
Age: 21
Grade: Junior
Major: Japanese
Minor: East Asian Study
Interests: Viola, Gospel, IWATE
Favorite movies:Serenity, LOTR, Donnie Darko, Love Actually, Harry Potter, The Dark Crystal, Ladyhawke, UHF, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Moulin Rouge, Watership Down
Favorite books:Dune, LOTR, The Dark is Rising Sequence, Ender's Game, Harry Potter, The Things They Carried, The Once and Future King

☆★Short Questionnaire★☆
Q1. How long are you studying Japanese?
I am studying Japanese 2 years.
Q2. Why were you interested in Japan?
I like challenging hard things. Japanese is totally different from English so I wanted to try. Also I am interested in Japanese culture.
Q3. What do you want to do in Iwate?
I want to see 石割桜.
I want to try わんこそば.
I want to make many friends in Iwate.
I want to try various kinds of fish. I love Sushi!
Q4. Do you have any concerns?
I want to make many friends in Iwate University, but I cannot speak Japanese well. So I am worrying about whether I can make friends or not. Also I want to do some kind of job, like teaching English to little kids or something like that.

☆★Message from Amy★☆
はじめまして。私はブッチャー・エミーです。三年生です。せんこうは日本語と東アジア学です。私のしゅみはビオラをひくことと、歌をうたうことです。私はドッググルーマーです。５年やっています。早く日本に行きたいです。楽しみです。友達をたくさんつくるぞー。やったー。

This is a GREAT opportunity for us to practice English with a native English speaker, make an American friend, and share Japanese culture to foreigner. I am so excited to meet her in Iwate University. She is a Great and Sweet girl and she wishes to make many friends in Iwate! I want her to make many Japanese friends and enjoy feeling cultural differences as I am doing here.

NCC volume5---May Photos

World Relief

NCC volume4---April

North Central College
Volume 4 --- April

１　Spring Class
This term I am taking 4 classes: Speech Communication, English as a Second Language, Group Process, and Oriental Brush Painting. I want to tell you about what I am learning in Speech Communication and Group Process.
First, is Speech communication. I am studying about public speaking skills that include research, preparation, and evaluation of speeches. According to the syllabus, this course will:
・ Help students become more effective oral communicators;
・ Increase the student’s understanding of speech communication as a means of influencing human behavior;
・ Aid the student in reacting logically and spontaneously to different types of communication behavior;
・ Enhance the student’s listening skills through study and application of critical listening theories;
・ Help the student understand and practice theories of selecting, analyzing, evaluating, organizing, developing and communicating information, evidence and points of view;
・ Prepare the student to be an ethical communicator.
We have 2 exams, and 5 presentations (Impromptu, Narrative, Informative, Persuasive, and Special Occasion). We also need to turn in the outlines of presentations, a critique, and a listening assignment. Last week I gave a Narrative speech for 7 minutes and I spoke about the cultural differences I experienced on my first day in the United States. I think I used my time well and developed my characters and the plot of the story. Also the speech had strong entertainment value. But my reflection is that there was no building of tension, because all examples were of equal weight. Next week I have an Informative speech, and I am thinking to talk about Japanese food. I want to select materials carefully and use them correctly.
Next is Group Process. This class introduces me to the formal study of group process, taking communication as the central variable. According to the syllabus, as a result of this course:
・ You should be able to identify the most important communication exchanges in a group.
・ You should be able to define the concepts and terms that help explain these exchanges.
・ You should be able to move beyond the textbook analysis to make informed, appropriate and responsible decisions about participating in group.
We have ample opportunity to develop group discussion and decision making skills through interactive exercises and projects like group exam, group paper, group service project and a “fishbowl” activity. Today I had a group exam, which consisted of multiple choice and true or false questions. We met many times to prepare for this exam so it was not so bad. As a group service project, we are going to join World Relief which is the organization to assist refugees, who have fled war, torture, and persecution. Every Monday we will work as after school homework club tutors and help children from K-3 study English and other subjects. Also we are thinking to gather old, unwanted picture books and sell them for donation.
I am enjoying my classes a lot because I am really interested in the classes. In winter term it was hard for me to read textbooks and follow the classes but I am used to studying hard and my English improved so it is not a torment any more. I hope I can do well on my Informative Speech next week.


２ International Club
In April we have three international club events: Pancakes around the World, Six Flags and a Canoe Trip.
We had Pancakes around the World on April 9 at a Methodist church. The pancakes ranged from Europe (Russia, Sweden), Asia (Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, India) and America (USA, Colombia, Mexico). All pancakes were served with special jams, syrups, and fruit salad for only 5 dollars. All proceeds benefit the international scholarships at North Central College. We made Okonomi-yaki without seafood or meat for vegetarian. Okonomi-yaki was totally different from other country’s pancakes so it was very popular. Of course, we used Okahuku-souce and mayonnaise.
Six flags is a theme park which is located in the north-west part of Illinois State. We are looking forward to going to Six Flags and the Canoe Trip.

NCC volume4---April Photos

I want to tell you guys about how wouderful city Chicago is.
Chicago is a sister city of Osaka, and the population of the city is 2,900,000(The population of Osaka is 2,600,000). And Chicago is three times larger than Osaka.
Chicago is famous for skyscrapers. The highest tower is Sease Tower(You can see it on the right side of this picture). The height is 443m, and it is the third highest building in the world and the highest building in the United States. There are 110 floors and 12000 pople is working in the tower! The third highest building of Chicago is John Hancock Center. I went to there this week. And I took this picture from the top floor (floor 100) of this building! The night view was AWESOME!
I told you that Chicago is famous for skyscrapers. There are first, third, and fourth highest builings of United States in Chicago:D And the desigh of the buildings are so unique.
Chicago is also famouse for museums. I hope I can tell you about the museums soon.

NCC volume3---March

North Central College
Volume 3 --- March

１　Host Family
In the end of January I asked the International student adviser to find my host family, because I wanted to spend weekends and breaks with an American family. She found a nice host family for me. My host mother’s name is Rose. She is a nice woman and she is like my real mother. We usually meet twice a week. We do various things: cooking, going shopping, practicing English pronunciation, going to the church, etc. She taught me lots of things and helped me a lot. Through my host mother I made many friends of other generations. These days she asked me to do babysitting in her friend’s house. At first I hesitated because I cannot speak English well and I had never done it before. But she recommended it me because she thought that babysitting would be a nice experience for me and I can learn about American family life. The children were 3 and 8 years old girls. I made dinner for them, played with toys, and read stories before they went to bed. It was a nice experiment for me. Like this babysitting experience, after I met her I could do many things that I cannot do only staying on campus and hanging out with my friends. I hope I can tell them about Japanese culture too. I took lots of Japanese traditional stuff from Japan like Origami, Yukata and picture books. Next week I am going to make Sukiyaki for them. I hope I can tell them about the beauty of my country Japan.

２ Spring Break
　My spring break was awesome. I did lots of things. I visited my friends’ house in Ohio, and Indiana. I stayed at my host family’s house and had a home party and babysitting. I visited the famous places of Chicago and watched a Broadway musical called “Wicked”. The break was only 10 days, but it was full break for me. Many other International students spent their break in various ways. One of my Korean friend visited San Francisco, and an other Taiwanese friend visited New York. After the spring break we talked about Naperville where our campus is located. Naperville is very high class society so we think we were looking at the only good part of United States. But when we went to other parts of United States, some places were totally different from Naperville. There were many poor people or gangs and it was dangerous. We were amazed to see these situations and we realized how safe Naperville is. I hope I can see many things and meet many people during my stay in United States.

３　Spring Term
In winter term I took Education, Ceramics, and ESL. This term I am going to take ESL, Speech, Group Process, and Oriental Brush Painting. Winter term was my first term, but I am used to the life so this term I am going to take four classes to challenge myself. I really wanted to take Education classes but all of classes require field work and the content is too specific about the American Education System. Last term I took an education class, general part was very useful for me, but some part like making Portfolio for teacher’s certification I could not attend the activity. And I thought I should improve my English before I take 200 level classes. I want to try educational classes next fall term again.
To take American Educational Class, I realized the different points. At the beginning of the class we learned how to deal with cultural diversity and language diversity. In Japan we have never been told about those kinds of things. I thought this aspect is so American apple pie.

４　I think …
I think I do not know everything about Japan. When I take part in Japanese table I am asked about Japanese culture every time. They asked me why Japanese people say we do not have religion. They asked me the population and area of Iwate, Morioka, and Japan. They asked me the origin of Japanese traditional events like Setsubun, and Hinamatsuri. Every time I cannot give exact answers. When I asked about the population of Chicago or the origin of St. Patrick’s Day, etc to my friends almost all of students can answer. I realized how I do not know about my own country and culture.

NCC volume3---March Photos

Birthday Party!!
Today is my roommate's 20th B-Day!! Woooo :D We decorated our room and went dinner :)

NCC volume3---March Photos

My Host Mother
She is sooooo KIND and NICE!!! She is like my real mother :) I meet her twice a week! We cook together, we go shopping, we go to the church, we do lots of things!!

NCC volume3---March Photos

Spring Break
I visited one of my friend's house during spring break. He is a Japanese major and he went to Kyoto as an exchage student. So he can spenk Japanese very well. He learned 能 and 茶道 in Japan!! I watched his 能, it was amazing. (I could not believe!!!) He knows about Japan much more than me :) A couple days ago I was asked about Japanese religion, but I could not answer at all. I need to know about Japan more...
Why do Japanese say, "I don't have religion" when they are asked about their religion???

NCC volume3---March Photos

Farewell Party
One of my Japanese friend is going back to Japan for graduation ceremony... So we did the Farewell Party for her!! We rented a party room of Chicago style pizza restaurant! And we ate awesome pizza and did games like Big Booty and Mafia!! It was so amazing time :D
I will miss her a lot...

NCC volume2---February Photos

CHICAGO(>_<)



















International Festival☆
I tought how to make paper cranes and did acchimuite-hoi.



I made a huge paper crane with International club members!!!



International club members!!!



My best friends I have met here at North Central.

NCC volume2---February

North Central College
Volume 2 --- February


１　Dorm
There are 11 dorms on campus.
・ Kimmel Hall
- Many International students are living in this dorm.
- There are private showers, toilets, and kitchens.
・ Peter & Paul Hall
- I am living here. There are no international students, but I can spend time with American students and can make many friends, so I think it is good for me to live here.
・ Student village
- Many Japanese students are living in this dorm.
・ Seager Hall
・ Rall Hall
・ Geiger Hall
・ Townhomes
・ Seybert Hall
・ Ptterson Hall
・ Ward Hall
・ Blue House
※ Room Features:
Air-Conditioning, TV, Network/Internet connections, twin bed, desks, chairs, dressers, window blinds, room phone, sink. Many international students ask roommates to share a fridge, microwave oven, DVD player, etc. And we can also borrow bath & hand towels, sheets, pillow, bedclothes, etc, from the International Office.
※ Building Amenities:
Washers and dryers

I am living in Peter & Paul Hall with my roommate Katie who is really nice, kind and funny. We are all good friends, so we often plan birthday parties, watch movies, and go outside to eat Japanese and Chinese food. I really like spending time with my friends. We are planning to do volunteer work together and send valentine’s cards to soldiers who are going to Iraq.
But sometimes it is difficult to live with American girls. For example, they are all night owls, so they make noise at midnight. I have to get up early for a morning class, so they annoy me. At first I hesitated to ask them to be quiet, and endured every night. But this week I tried to ask them to keep silent after 12. As a result, they acceded to my request willingly. They speak their mind plainly and also they want friends to speak their mind plainly. At first I felt a loss but now I decided to say my opinion clearly to my friends.


２　Class
Students here speak their mind. When they cannot understand what the teacher is saying, when they have questions, or when they have other ideas, they always speak their mind. So class often consists of heated debate. And they never withdraw until they understand. In Japan it is usual to listen to professor’s lecture silently, but here if we do not say our own opinion, it means we are not interested in the class and we are bored. So every professor gives me a chance to give my opinions in the class. For example, in education class my professor sometimes asks me about the Japanese education system, or lets me compare Japanese and American education system. It was really hard for me at first, but now I am happy because this means that I am a member of the class, and can give my friends other viewpoints of Japan. My next goal is to give my opinions without being asked by professors.
We have a large quantity of homework. This week I have to write two papers, to read hundreds of assignments, to prepare for mimic moral teaching, and I have a quiz. It takes a long time to complete my assignments. This is natural in USA. So the library is always full of students. And they study hard by competing with each other. I realized that our job is studying hard, and I thought their diligence is a good example for us to follow. Last night I talked with my friends about tuition fees. My friends said to me, “In the USA some students work a couple years to save money before they enter the colleges, and some students borrow huge scholarship for college by themselves. So we desire good quality of education, and we study hard.” I thought they are independent from their parents, and by paying money by themselves they can make a strong effort.
I really feel the lack of my computer skills. I have never used Power-Point in my class before, and also teachers seldom use it. Here many teachers use it and we have to use it for our presentation. And also I did not have enough knowledge of how to use excel. So to complete my paper I had to learn how to use Power-Point and excel at first. It is usual to have enough computer skills here, so I am really surprised. I thought I have to acquire the ability to use computers well as soon as possible.
I think the students of USA are a little untidy, because they eat and drink during classes, and they chew gum even if they are doing presentation. I thought Japanese students have virtue, so I am proud of our attitude toward classes.


３ Future Student
One of my friends will go to Iwate University next fall term. She is really excited to go to Iwate. North central College has partnership with some Japanese Colleges: 青山学院大学, 神田外語大学, 京都学院大学. Tokyo and Kyoto are very famous cities so many students like to go to there, but they do not know about Iwate and also they have negative images about Iwate. So many students who are studying Japanese hesitate to go to Iwate. I was really sad when I heard about that. I want them to come to my University and learn many things. I do not know how to express my feelings, but I think we can work actively with international students to make positive images of our University. I hope the exchange student program positively affects many students and we can continue this partnership actively.

NCC volume1---January

North Central College
Volume 1---January


１　Class
This is my class schedule for winter term.

credit
schedule
Class size
Content

English as a Second Language 2
MWF 12:00-13:10
5
To communicate with native speakers and write papers in correct English, we are doing various things. For example, reading a short story and making a summary, listening to news, doing words game, etc.

Introduction to Education
TTH 8:00-9:50
32
I learned about the tasks and rules of being a teacher, the knowledge teachers need to have, effective teaching, the complexities of teaching, the characteristics of professionalism, etc. Remembering the Illinois Professional teaching Standards is especially challenging.

Ceramic
S 8:00-12:15
12
I learned how to make bowls and vases using a wheel this month. Next month we are going to make ornaments with clay, and go to a museum.

At first, I was taking three classes: English as a second language, Introduction to Education, and Cultural regions of the world. But it was too tough for me to understand what the teachers were saying and hard to complete all of my assignments. I have to read hundreds of textbook pages a day, complete my papers, and prepare for presentations and quizzes… Therefore, I decided to drop geography, and take a ceramics class for fun. To understand the classes, I tried many things.
① Sitting in the front row(in front of teacher’s desk)
② Going to professor’s office after the classes
③ Making friends who are taking the same classes
If I ask help, many people give me advices and help me. Nowadays I can understand my classes and complete my assignments and get good scores, and I also can make time to sleep and talk with my friends. Next term, I want to take more challenging class, like Cultural regions of the world.


２　Daily life
・ Japanese club
Japanese club is organized by students who are studying Japanese. They are doing many activities to learn about Japan and study Japanese every Wednesday.
For example:
- We watched “紅白歌合戦” eating Mochi.
- We did origami and karaoke.
- We went to Japanese supermarket and made Japanese food like Okonomiyaki and Nikujyaga.
- We are going to do Setubun-Party next Wednesday.
I was surprised at the students’ earnest attitude toward studying not only Japanese grammar and vocabulary but also culture. I thought we can also do something to know about foreign countries in our University.

・ International Club
International club is organized by international students. In North Central College, there are many international students from Korea, China, India, England, Mexico, Russia, etc. We had a New Year Party, and now we are planning an international festival. Japanese students are going to wear Yukata, make some Japanese food, and teach Origami and how to write names in Chinese characters. Through this club activity, I can meet various kinds of people, so I can learn many things.
I thought Korean and Chinese students speak English much better than Japanese students. They can communicate with native speaker well and their pronunciation is far better. Someday, I want to ask my friends about how to teach English in their country. They will give me good advice, and I will be able to compare the differences between how to teach and learn English in other Asian countries and Japan. I want to bring these experiences to my teaching.

I read a book ★ December 13 , 2005

TOEFLテスト　TOEICテストと日本人の英語力

～資格主義から実力主義へ～

I think to master English is important for us because we need to use English as a tool of international communication. So it may be natural for many Japanese to take many kinds of English certificate examination. But when we take an examination, the most important thing is not getting good score, but getting essential communication ability to maintain our own idea through the study for English certificate examination. To be a real good communicator, we have to have our own idea and do persuasive negotiation making the best of our awkward English. Why we study English? Is it to get good score for our promotion or entrance? It can’t be reason. I think it is important to get real ability for our goal　ｂecause what kinds of English we need is depend on our future. Otherwise we will not be able to study English efficiently and actively and be a good communicator. I said to myself why I am studying English. It is not to get capacities, but for my future students. I want to be a glamourous English teacher, and teach many students not only grammar and content of textbook but also culture and custom of many countries because I want students to like English and be positive communicators. For my goal, I have to study English respecting its culture. Thus the first step to start studying English is thinking why I try to study English and what I want to do using English. I learned this idea from this book.

I thought we should do many communication activities to grow up good communicators. Because when I was junior high school student, I hardly did communication activities and I was always studying grammar at English class, so I could not communicate with others. But I found Japanese students should study grammar more in comparison with other Asian Nations. So I changed my idea: it is important to keep the balances of 4 skills.

Cram School ★ October 19, 2005

Teaching Practice at cram shool

To readers
I was teaching English at cram school to prepare my teaching practice in junior high scnool. I thought there are mamy differeces between cram shool and junior high school. So I want to introduce how to teach English at cram school.


① Greeting
② Home room (10 minutes)
Taka attendance.
We have to give students useful imformation about the entrance examination.
We have to make a good atmosphere to make students study hard.
We check students' homework. If students forgot doing homework or bringing their
notebook, students have to show the teacher the notebook next time.
③ Test 1 (20 minutes)
We do test to check whether they could understand the grammar which they learned last week or not every week. (5~10 questions, from homework and workbook) Teacher asks each students how many questions you could solve. (80％～：pass)
④ Explain new material (20 minutes)
Writing the points of new material, we explain the grammar.(Students have to take notes quickly. Students speak nothing.)
⑤ Laboratory (40 minutes)
Every student have workbook, and students have to solve the question inside stated time. We check how students did in the labotatory.
⑥ Test 2 (30 minutes)
We do test to check whether they could master the new grammar or not. (15~20 questions, from workbook, 80%~:pass)
⑦ Greeting


The differences between junior high school's English class and cram school's.
① Don't use English in the classroom. (Explain in Japanese)
② Deductive instruction ＞ Inductive instruction
③ Presentation⇒Practice⇒（×Production）
④ Writing!! (×Speaking, Reading, Listening)
⑤ Goal: To take good score. (×To communicate with foreigners in English)
⑥ Only teachers are speaking.
⑦ Make a point of grammars.
⑧ Don't do any activities.

There were many differences between junior high school's English class and cram school's. Today, many students go to cram school after school or weekend, and they are studying like this. I have never gone to cram shool, so I can not understand the feelings of students. But many students say that we will not be able to pass the entrance examination if we come to cram school and study grammars. The idea of students confused me. Gami (V)o￥o(V)

Student Teaching ★ October 6 , 2005

★☆ Teaching Practice ☆★

To readers
This is my analysis of Unit 4&5 in New Horizon English Course 3 (U4&5 in NH3, for short) and my opinion about teaching English at junior high school. They are based on both my success and failure during my teaching practice this summer, so I’m very happy if I receive any comment.
（ I realizad a lack in my knowledge of English and imformation about other countries and my country. Especially, my pronounciation of English is greatly different from that of native speakers. So I thought that I should learn not only teaching methods and English grammar, but also phonetics and intercultural communication more during university students. I want to try my best and improve my speaking and listening skills of English and know about foreign countries more and see the beauty of my country, Japan!! (V)o￥o(V)　）

1. successful points
① Classroom English
I almost used English in my class. Because I thought that it is absurd to use Japanese when students try to study English, and I wanted to give them as many changes as possible to listen to English. Classroom English is very useful in teaching English, and I thought it makes good atmosphere of English classroom and encourages the students to speak English.
I thought that even if students could not understand our classroom English, we had better not use Japanese to explain the words. Because students have power to guess the words which they could not understand. So we have to let students use their imagination and ability to guess.
ex)
・Demonstrate-------------- U4 p.46 "raise"
・Use the real thing--------- U4 p.44 "fan"
・Draw or Sketch----------- U4 p.51 "line"
・Antonyms------------------ U4 p.53 "expensive" ⇔ cheap
・Synonyms------------------ U4 p.46 "loud" ≒ big
・Verbal explanation------- U4 p.47 "thirsty" → If you want something to eat, you are hungry. If you want something to drink, you are thirsty.

② Study about sound
Students have few chances to study about sound in this textbook. So I tried to let them study about sound each time when we checked the new words.
ex)
U4 p.44 fan-fun
U4 p.46 raise-rise
U4 p.47 thirsty [th] ... etc

③ A lot of care to students' activity
There were many kind of students in the classroom. So there were some pairs who could not do their activity well( because they hated each other) in each class. When I noticed the trouble, I stopped doing pair activity and changed group activity in the next class. But to do group activity was worse than pair activity, because the chances to speak English decreased by doing group activity. So next class, I went to the pair and did the activity with them. As a result, they could do pair activity with me. If I did not notice this situation, they won't do the activity during my class. I thought that it was important to see students' activity carefully.

④ Warm-up
I did criss-cross for warm-up before presenting the new material. Students enjoyed this game, and their speaking and listening skills were improved day by day. I gave them questions from textbook(new words, grammar, dialog). So Students were watching their textbook for preparing this game before the class. I thought that to make good atmosphere of class is very important. After this game, the atmosphere of my class was wonderful. So I could teach smoothly.

⑤ P.P.P
Studnts study English to use English, so the goal of the class is not to master the grammar or to practice hard. The goal of the English class is to use the new material by themselves. That is why, it is important for us to make the lesson plan like "Presentation→Practice→Production", and make time to produce.
ex)
U5 p.55 ”間接疑問文(an indirect question)”
Goal: To talk with your partner using indirect questions and know about your partner.

⑥ Gather students' worksheet.
I gathered students’ worksheet every day to check･･･
・spell(There were many mistakes which students could not notice.)
・Who could understand? Who could not understand?
・What was difficult[easy] for them?
・What kind of mistakes did they make?
I could notice many things from students’ worksheet. So I could modify and devise my lesson plan for next class, and make better one.


2. Bad points(changes for the better)
① Deductive instruction ＜ Inductive instruction
I explained students new material in Japanese using grammatical language on the blackboard. The students who like English could understand and satisfied my teaching, but this explanation is maybe hard for some students who hate English. I should give students more examples concluding the new material, and let them notice and guess about the new material without boring explanation. And all students may study it naturally.

② evaluation words
My pet phrase was “OK”. One of an English teacher advised me that you should make the differences between ”Are you OK?” and “That’s OK” , and use more evaluation words like “good, excellent, good job, great “. So I made list of evaluation words in my mind and tried to use these words. ( A: Excellent! , B: Great! , C: Good job! , D: Good! , E: OK! )

③ worksheet
I almost used English in my class, but I made work sheet in Japanese.
ex) 氏名、組、番、学習日
I could put many words into English.

④ Make a clear goal
At first my plan was too ambitious because I wanted to mix writing, speaking, listening and reading. So every activity did not work well. I thought that it is difficult to use four skills only 50 minutes, and I understood that to focus and make clear goal is very important to make a effective activity.

I thought that the most important things is to communicate with students and know them. If we counld not make good relationship, we will not be able to make good classes. I do not know what kind of teacher is a good teacher, but I believe that the teacher who tries to understand students is a good teacher.

Assignment 12 ★ July 3 , 2005

Reflection on Team Y's lesson
Good points of their resson
・ They could exploit the textbook well . Their introduction and short play based on the dialogue of the textbook . I found that it is possible for us to do lessons without making many handouts or charts . Many of groups were forgetting to exploit the textbook , and we tried to make something new , so we took much time to prepare the class . We learned many points of teaching grammer , so we tended to forget to use textbook effectively . Next time , I want to try to use the textbook more usefully .
・ Their warm up was very good !! Team A's lesson and Team Y's lesson were related , so it was important to confirm his knowledge and prepare before teaching the new materials . What is more , they could imply the content of their lesson in their introduction , so the introduction had aspects of both confirmnation and notice . ・ When they read the dialogue of textbook , they tried to use Backward Build-up Drill . It is difficult to read for beginners to read a long line of the dialogue , so I thought this method was effective .
The points they might try doing differently in the future
・ I thought they should take the time to practice new words and dialogue . It is hard for beginner to remember how to pronounce and the meaning of the words within such a short time .
・ He confused the difference between he and she when he did check test . Teachers taught the meaning of new word in Japanese , so we thought that he could understand the meaning , but he could not understand the difference . I thought it is important to confirm beginner's understanding . They might try using students as examples or talking about familiar topics .
ex) He is my father . He is Mr. Koizumi .
She is my mother . She is Ms . Aiko .
She is Yuka / Yukiko . (As point girls)
He is Taku / kyounowanko . (As point boys)

Assignment 11 ★ July 2 , 2005

Reflection on Team KMKM's lesson
☆Greeting☆
☆Introduction☆
・ We tried to say something that students can understand to warm up , using map , pictures , name cards . But introduction is difficult for him . (?) I realized that he could understand our name and home , but he could hardly undertand about age . However , I think we could get student's interest about new material , and use student's imagination and ability to guess the material .
☆Goal☆
・ We spoke today's goal too quickly . Maybe he could hardly understand what he is going to learn today . We should speak more slowly and comfirm his understanding .
・ I thought that our goal was too difficult for beginners to get over . We might demand too many things . He is real beginner of English , so to ask name and age and telephone number mey be really diffiult for him . We should think from bigginer's point of view .
☆Practice(Number)☆
・ We should practice more slowly , and we should take more time to practice with his partner or group . He could say with other students , but he could not say numbers by himself . It took time to remember how to say numbers . We should wait until he can remember , otherwise he will be unable to do interview smoothy .
☆Short play☆
・ When we did short play , we spoke too quickly . So I thought it was hard for him to understand the content of our short play . We should repeat the dialogue . Our good points of short play are to use our body , change our voice , use real character . And we did same pattern of conversation three times . Maybe junior high school students will be interested in this short play .
☆Practice(Key words)
・ We should practice more . We should practice with not only all class members but also his partner or group . He needed more time to master and remember the thress sentences .
☆Interview☆
・ We tried to mix writing , apeaking , reading , listening , I thought our idea of interview was very good . Because this activity has aspects of both real and drill , and students could produce language with meaning and other members could attend to the message . But we should take more time to do this activity , because he could not ask all of his group members .
☆Check test☆
・We also tried to mix four skills . Check tesk was balanced well . When we check the answer , we should do repetitions and confirm their knowledge . We could celebrate one of our member's birthday !! Congratulation !!!
☆Greeting☆

I remembered my first Spanish lesson . I was nervous at first , because I hardly understood what thacher was speaking . I had both hopes and fears , but fears were much bigger than hopes . I thought he will have same feeling with me . The hurdle which we have to get over to learn something new is very very high , it is beyond our expectations . I really remembered and the feeling of students who try to study somethig new . I want to think about the feeling of beginner , and plan the lesson next time .