Thursday, May 31, 2012

Professional Learning Community

DON'T imagine the staff room where you eat lunch with your fellow school staff.  Since most teachers eat their lunch in the classroom, it is quiet there during lunch time.  The staff room in Japan is larger than ours.  It is mostly separated from the hallway with a heavy sliding doors. An indescribable and almost mysterious air of dignity and respect seeps out through the crack of its entrance.  Instantly you would notice 20 or more desks and chairs, depending on the number of teachers, grouped by the grade level. Each teacher has a desk which is a metal office type.  For Japanese teachers, there is one office desk in the classroom and another one in the staff room.  You can work in either place.  But you have to serve tea to the senior teachers in the staff room if you are a younger teacher.  Of course I always preferred working in my classroom without serving tea for someone.  When a student visits a certain teacher in the staffroom, he announces at the door, "Please excuse me.  I would like to visit Mr. Yamada, please," with a lowest bow.  The teacher nearby would say, "You may."  Then this student responds, "Thank you very much," walking over to Mr. Yamada.  At the front end of the staff room is the big white board filled with busy schedules, yet they are not so scattered.  You might be thinking, "But you were in Japanese school many years ago.  Things must've changed."   My latest visit to the public school in Japan was two years ago.  It was same old same old.  People love their tradition there.  They love to show and receive respect the ways people have been doing for a long time.  Perhaps, though, they have more reasons to keep ancient routines than tradition.

Right in front of the white board, principal, assistant principal, and the curriculum head teacher, and business staff are sitting to start a staff meeting.  The assistant principal usually runs the meeting.  "Principal, please give us the initial message for us prior to the meeting," the assistant principal would say.  "Well, this year has been a tough order to protect our children from the common cold.  Please take care of yourselves by washing hands and gurgles as well," the principal ends his speech.  The assistant principal follows the agenda like; 1. Report from the school discipline committee, safety committee, academic committee, parent involvement committee, etc.  2. The planning for the upcoming open lessons in the professional development guided by the curriculum head teacher.  3. Sports Event instruction designed by the event committee, etc.  There are so many branches instead of the principal dictating approach.  Many different committees work together and collaborate with other committees to make their school run well.  The principal looks like he's almost about to fall sleep, therefore.  It takes forever to complete the all items in the agenda.  Though, there is no grouching even after 5:00 pm.  Their respectful and collaborative system is great, however, the lengthy meetings made me think, "Can we be more practical and productive?"  I even didn't have any kids to pick up from the daycare, but my time after school was valuable.  It was so unnatural to me just sitting and listening to the endless arguments over little things.  It seems like teachers had difficult time compromising.  I wanted to go back to my classroom to plan my lessons for tomorrow.  By the way, there is a teachers' meeting every morning for 10 minutes in addition to the weekly staff meeting.  While teachers are meeting in the staff room, children are working on their morning tasks independently.  Except some six graders are helping first graders most of the time, and 15 minutes of morning time is quiet without any supervision.  We cannot do it here in the U.S.

On the first staff meeting I attended in the U.S.  it was held in the library.  There were little tables and chairs nicely organized.  This room was like a Munchkin house.  The attendees are all larger than my size, and some of them are triple larger than me.  How could they fit in these munchkin chairs?  I hesitantly sat on the chair where Barbara asked me to sit.  Luckily, my bottom fit on the munchkin chair.  The young principal came in joyously and greeted to the staff from the door and walked directly to our table that has no more chair.  To my surprise, the principal started talking by sitting on the table!  If it's not a culture shock, what is?  Sitting on the munchkin chair is a shocking enough, but on the munchkin table?  I tried to look at his eyes, but only thing I could see was his nose holes from this position. At least I got a couple of lessons; A little rudeness is acceptable here (People even don't think it is rude anyway).  And I, as a monkey, should do as the other monkeys do.  I also learned quickly that I have to make my own coffee here.  But I didn't have to make coffee for anyone else.

Teachers kept interrupting (participating) the meeting, however, the direction was always coming from the principal.  There was no wonder why they want to share their comments and ask questions so often.  Among seven different buildings where I have worked in the U.S., only one school had staff lead staff meeting.  A few committee was functioning routinely and collaboratively like Japanese schools.  I was very amazed at this possibility.  Yet their meeting was dismissed by 4 pm most of the time.   Staff in this school even don't know Japanese style; it means staff lead system is not necessarily originated in Japan.  No matter which countries you teach, genuine educators seem to know the significance of Professional Learning Community.  And they make it happen. Together.  Furthermore, the effective Professional Learning Community is not designed by a single party.  The healthy and transparent communication between administration and staff is essential and rather critical because the relationship will soon be made with its success.  Teachers are no longer intimidated by knocking on the principal's door.  The principal should be a leader rather than a boss who can listen, guide, share, and organize a team cohesively.  Trust and respect are going to be built upon that fundamental relationship.  Once it's made, it will be as sturdy as pyramid, if not, Samurai Castle, not like a munchkin chair.   Dignity doesn't have to be on the special heavy sliding door.   Dignity is something you can feel during the first couple of dialogue you exchange among staff on the day you step into the school.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Morning Meeting

"Who do you think is the worst learner in the Winnie the Pooh story?"  I throw a question to my students. 
"Tigger.   He never stop bouncing.  He is distracting himself from learning and other people.  Too hyper is not appropriate as a good learner," one student replies.  Everyone agreed.  "Eeyore is always depressed and tired.  If you are sick, you cannot learn well," one student makes a comment.  I elaborate, "Do you remember when you are sick?  You had no energy to do anything.  No wonder why you have to stay at home when you are sick."

Another student shares, "Pooh Bear is not so smart because he always puts his head in the honey hole.  He should think about something else."  A laughter fills up in the classroom.  Another hand is up.  A student starts, "I think Pooh Bear could be a good learner because he asks lots of questions."  With several nods, a girl adds, "But he can't be a good learner as long as he is thinking about honey."  "Yeah, his focus is always on honey, not his good questions."  I jump in, "Tell me more about it."  He continues, "Well, if you think about your dinner while a teacher is giving an instruction, you will miss the important information.  Pooh Bear is losing his learning opportunity by thinking about honey."  Wow.  What an amazing discussion in the third grade. 

I facilitate, "So if he gets a "honey" thought off from his mind, could Pooh Bear be a great learner?"  "YES!"  All of us pretend to pick up the extra meat from the imaginary plate and put them on our cheeks and bellies.  We are in unison, "I am Pooh Bear, the best learner.  I will ask a lot of questions.  But I will never think about honey today." 

Perseverance

"がんばれ!" (Ga-n-ba-re) In the shivering winter cold playground, I heard my classmates cheering with this word behind me when I was about to quit doing double circles with my jump rope.  While most of my friends already show the beautiful double circles with their jump ropes at least 10 times in a row, my rope always ended up tangled in one of my feet within 3 times.  My tear held really tight right behind my eyes.  A six years old girl's teeth are tightly together covered by closed lips.  Did I say, "I can't do it."?  Did I throw my jump rope away and collapsed on the ground?  Did I wish to say or do these?  These actions were not options in our school.  One of the three school mottoes was "Perseverance".  I kept telling myself, "Ga-n-ba-re!" until I finally cleared my rope.  Then, I called out "Ga-n-ba-re!" to another friend who is still jumping endlessly.  That is one of the normal P.E. scenes.  If not for P.E., you would hear this word from every teacher in daily basis and you would see this word in your notebook if your work is not decent in schools in Japan. 

Imagine the similar scene in your school when you teach.  As a teacher, you wouldn't be surprised that quite a few kids are whining how difficult this task is, complaining why they have to do it, then, concluding, "I can't do it."  For instance, easy things like memorizing math facts, young children get overwhelmed really quickly.  During independent reading time, "It's too hard," a boy cries with his just right book in his hand. 


According to Google Translate, definitions of this word are here; try hard, insist, persist, insist on, stand firm, hold out, try one's best.  Anther expression of Perseverance is 根気 (konki) in Chinese characters, which is as same as the school motto.  Kon means a root.  Ki means spirit.  As you can see, perseverance is built like a tree.  Sturdy and healthy foundation grows into incredible tree as a result.  Needless to say, perseverance is a part of the culture in the East.  Chinese perseverance is even more strict.  臥薪嘗胆 (Ga-shin-shou-tan) expresses its severity.  A story behind it is that one soldier from the losing army finally escaped from the danger, and found a little cottage.  He slept on the hard fire logs that give his back tremendous pain.  The pain reminds him of the revenge for his father.  He also licked the liver of the bear so its bitterness kept reminding him of the shame of loss.  This life style continued until finally the soldier revenged his enemy. Many stories like this  extreme example told me that perseverance is not just a word, but one of the ways of people's lives in Eastern countries.  People in Asia, at least as I know, have literally survived in the bitter, violent, and unfair history of many more centuries than the American history after Columbus. 

On the first day of my internship in Idaho, Barbra told me, "There is no such word, "Ganbare" here in the U.S.," half jokingly.  Barbara was familiar with Japanese culture and language because of her missionary experiences.  I wasn't so certain what she meant over 20 years ago, however, I began noticing what she was telling me as I increased students' contact time little by little.  A lack of perseverance is what I hear in the American children.  For over two decades.  I hear the same thing over and over.  Kids 20 years ago grew up to be parents of kids now.  What are we, teachers, doing?  Many scholars suggest to import curriculum from Asian countries because they score really high in math year after year.  Perhaps there must be some success stories.  What I would like to argue is that direct import might not be a solution because we don't have the same culture and background history.  Their curriculum fits in their style doesn't mean it fits in ours right away.  There should be some accommodation and adjustment to make it work.

I have learned that a kitchen timer works for students with less attention span in most cases.  Kids seems to show better academic performance for a certain time when they know that the ending is coming. Unlimited perseverance is a torture for them, however, limited perseverance motivates young students in my previous classrooms.  Basic math fact drills can be done with a kitchen timer.  The latest technology enable to put both of them together.  Xtramath.org gives your children pure drills for a limited time every day.  The program will stick with young children until they master four basic math operations.   Perseverance is still the requirement, however, you don't have to practice it in the same way other countries do.  You don't have to sleep on the fire logs.  You don't have to feel the pain.  We melt good things in the pot.  We are good at it since Columbus.








Friday, May 25, 2012

Show, Not Tell

Open your arms and legs really wide.  Bend your knees a little bit like Elvis.  Then shout, "Show!' Immediately hunch your body and put your indent finger in front of your mouth, then whisper with a sassy tone, "Not Tell."  Now you feel, "Show, Not Tell" in the writing elaboration.  (See the OSPI Writing Elaboration Module)  Show, Not Tell is one of the scenes in the writing elaboration module that have been hiding in the corner of my mind up until just recently.  Shame on me.  Well, I decided to think positively and teach it in my class this week.  "When it's found, it is the time to start."

----------- This phrase reminds me of a pathetic Japanese way of comfort to young women older than 25 years old.  If you are not married by age 25, you will be referred to as a left over Christmas cake.  Here is why.   People buy most Christmas cakes from the bakery on Christmas eve, so they should be empty by the end of the day; however, right next day, you might see one or two unfortunately forgotten pieces from this festive Western holiday uniquely adopted in the East.  These leftovers still look nice but couldn't go anywhere.  This is the most tragic Japanese metaphor of beautiful looking young girls who cannot be picked by anyone on Christmas eve.  In other words, the society expects girls should marry out to someone by age 25.  If you pass 25, you will be despised as lack of sold value.  A few of my friends who successfully married before 25 comfort me, "Don't worry.  When you find someone, that is the time to marry.  Don't rush."  I didn't rush, but I felt pretty annoyed by their "kind" words when I was 25 without a husband.  I would've said, "Show, Not Tell!"  So I decided to get out from them, hoping, no one knew what "Christmas cake" meant besides a real Christmas cake in the U.S.  Sure enough, not only did people not know about it, but also, I learned that not many American people buy Christmas cakes in the bakery.  Like a home-made pecan pie that Grandma Eleanor baked, it seemed like people prefer family recipes to the store baked goods.  That is when I finally found the comfort, so I decided that this is the place where I belong.

After the Show, Not Tell physical performance, my students started developing thinking bubbles over their heads, "What is Show, Not Tell anyway?"  I wrote on the chart paper, She was a kind person.  "Is it a Show or Tell?"  Two examples of Show, Not Tell were good enough prior to this sentence, in fact, every voices echoed, "Tell!"  One said, "It is too boring."  Another said, "You can find treasure with that sentence."  Yay!  3rd graders lead me to the direction I wanted to go.  "So, how would you make this 'Telling' sentence to the 'Showing' sentence?"  "When I fell down, she picked me up," one of the enthusiastic pupils shared.  I wrote "When I fell down" on the top of the chart paper and "She picked me up" in the half way down.  With a puzzling expression on my face, I threw another challenge to them.  "Hmmm, I wonder why you fell, how you fell, and where you fell."  You wouldn't believe it.  All of the hands, even a constant day dreaming student's one, shoot up immediately.  Our enthusiasm summed up into this "Showing" paragraph:

When I fell from the bike, I saw the blood on my knee.  I cried uncontrollably.  As soon as a lady noticed me from her house, she dashed out from the house with a first aid kit.   She asked me if I was O.K..  Then, her hands held my arms and pulled me up.

It is never too late.  Nothing should limit anybody's desire to learn no matter where you are or how old you are.  I am thankful to live in the country of freedom so I can continue to discover, learn, and share my passion with the next generation.  I will always show what's important instead of just telling it. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Math Talk

A Title teacher, Lisa, sent staff Dan Meyer's "Curriculum Makeover" video.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html?source=facebook#.T72L0MYRhkQ.facebook

Dan analyzes his high school students' lack of initiative, perseverance, and retention.  Surprisingly and somewhat agreeably, these elements all apply to the elementary school students.  It is not only in math, though.  In any activities and social interactions, it almost seems like students were born without initiatives, perseverance, and retention.  Good news is kids were not born without them.  Most likely our fast paced life made them act the way they act.  In other words, it is more like environmental cause.

Dan talks about some hopeful and helpful suggestions, too.  First, Dan suggests using multimedia to let students build the problem.   Multimedia enables students to make bridges between math concepts and the students' own life way easier than before.  Take advantage of it!  One photo or a segment of video will motivate their active participation.  Another example Dan showed in the video is the "shortened" question.  He eliminated most of the mathematical information and steps out of the problem.  The only part he showed to his students was the situation.  It gives students more opportunities to discuss the topic as a part of their lives.  Students are not required to be a math wiz, but a good communicator and team mate.  They are engaging into themselves into the subject by actively participating in the discussion.  The last suggestion is to be less helpful.  Let them talk.  Let them work.  Deeper students involvement will promote students' initiative, perseverance, and retention.

Then, I paused.  But, still, kids, especially in the elementary school, need to master basic facts....

There is a way students memorize multiplication facts in Japan, called, "九九" (pronounced Kuku) translated in Chinese characters as "nine/nine").  Practically, what they memorize is from times 1 to times 9.  If you have these facts, you can do times 10, 11, 12 without any problems.  It is not a song, but it is like a chant.  All 2nd grade students in Japan memorize multiplication facts with KuKu by the end of the year.  No excuse.  No exception.  If you miss this opportunity, you will fall far behind.  Stakes are high among parents of 2nd grade.  I have wondered how American students memorize multiplication without KuKu, so I googled it.  All the results were lame.  I visited the Kahn Academy website.  One of the comments under the "Memorizing Multiplication Table" video asks, "So how do you memorize multiplication facts?"  There are some replies that vary from making up songs to reading multiplication facts poems.  These variety of answers are not consistent and concrete.  These diverse suggestions seems like a reflection of our nation; a melting pot.  Too many individuals!  Maybe if Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber promote a multiplication song, kids all over the country would master multiplication facts in no time.  Really, I am dead serious. 

In the teachers' study group, Lisa shared some mental computational math games including multiplication.  The multiplication's development is from counting, skip counting, and to mastering.  There is some skip counting in Japanese math, however, the teachers there don't take too much time on it because most students memorize the facts fairly quickly.  The concept building comes after memorization.  For some Japanese students who delay cognitive understanding, memorization is a life saver.  They go up to the next grade level with at least math facts.  Chances are; they will experience the light bulb moment at one point of their schooling.  So they nail multiplication facts with KuKu very hard.  For those kids, memorizing song like KuKu is way easier than memorizing random numbers (for them) of skip counting.

The games Lisa is using is hands on and motivational for kids.  10 minutes of daily game time will help develop their number sense for sure.  Perhaps these kids who are exposed those games might memorize multiplication facts easier since they have a more flexible brain.  I would like to try some of these games in my class soon and see how the students respond.  Prior to starting these games, there are some challenges to solve like management and routine.  Learning always excites me.  I would love to see something new.  I cannot wait for a discussion with Lisa and our team about the students response and reflection from new games!  In the mean time, I am about to write a letter to Gaga.....

Monday, May 21, 2012

Thank You Campaign

Reading along the substitute teacher's report, I just couldn't stop myself asking, "Why?"  Here was the incident:  Student A claimed that Student B kicked Student C during recess.  My substitute teacher interviewed A, B, and C.  The interesting comment from C was "Student A barely touched me."  He even didn't seem to care whatever A is complaining about. "So why?"  Don't you think it's interesting to learn how desperately A wanted B to get in trouble?  Would A get benefit from it if B got in trouble?  Why was it so important for A to complain against B while the "victim" C was not complaining.  Why doesn't A leave B and C alone?"  Without solving this psychological mystery, I couldn't start our Monday.  So I threw the topic to the morning meeting.  "I think what you are describing is 'someone minding somebody else's business.'"  Yes, the students knew that concept.  "What are the examples?"  Our list was getting larger.    Yes!  "Why do you think people mind others' business?"  After 10 minutes' of idea exchanges, finally someone stated, "I think some people are seeking attention."  AHA!  Now I got it.  "Do we really have to get attention in the negative way?"  Immediate "NO" echoed from all of the students.   I observed their puzzling expression on their faces was becoming light bulb ones .  That's when I announced about the "Campaign Thank You".  Give attention to classmates by saying "Thank you," so they would feel good each other.  It was the simple enough rule.  I assigned one student to tally how many thank you's their teacher (ME!) make in the morning.

Greeting is very essential in Japan.  In many schools, a teacher and some students stand by the gate, and greet "Good Morning," to coming students.  They even bow.  This promotion is school wide from 1st grade to 6th grade.  When children walk into their classroom, they also greet eachother.  There is unique promotion program which is called, OASIS, オアシス, in Japanese.  オ (pronounce Oh) represents "O-ha-yoh" (Good morning) , ア(pronounce Uh) "A-ri-ga-toh" (Thank you), シ(pronounce shi) "Shi-tsu-re-i-shi-ma-su" (Excuse me), and ス(pronounce soo) "Su-mi-ma-se-n"(I'm Sorry).  Teachers explain to students, "If you do OASIS in our school, you will feel just like being in an oasis.  An oasis is the only spot you can find water in the desert.  You will get refreshed and satisfied.  Don't you want to be a part of team to create an oasis in our school?"  During the OASIS campaign, assigned six graders stand inside the "Oasis zone" in the hallways of the building and in the 1st graders' classrooms to promote school effort.  Six grade leadership is extraordinary in any elementary schools in Japan.  During the lunch time, a student leader announces which grade is doing a great job on their campaign of OASIS.  A principal in my school used to complain that kids don't make eye contact or say good morning.  Yes, greeting is supposed to be a habit, however, if not, we have to do something about it.   A school wide greeting campaign would promote a positive and cheerful school learning community.

"You said 'thank you' 41 times in the morning,"a student reported.  Kids looked at each other surprised. "Wow!" they exclaimed in unison. "That's the amount of positive attention YOU gave me." I said.  The students looked even more proud.  The afternoon task was for the students to use "thank you" among themselves.

At the closing meeting, I asked them, "Did you say thank you more than before?"  There were big nods everywhere.  "How do you feel?"  Student A said, "I felt good when someone said thank you to me."  I facilitated, "Did we prove that we can get attention in the positive way?"  The answer was "YES!"  I am about to ease my thirst with my camels in the middle of desert.


Sunday, May 20, 2012

How to Motivate

With a cup of coffee in her hand, she started.  "When I was in third grade, I was so motivated by the "things" that teacher negotiated with me," continued my mother-in-law at the Saturday breakfast table across from me.  This conversation started just because my 6-year-old was sent out for the timeout because of her sassy attitude.  I told her to come back when she was ready as a regular routine.  "I was always asking my teacher, 'what are you going to give me for the next task?'  It doesn't make me grow up to be a bad person.  So the 'if you do this, I give this to you' technique is totally acceptable.  Can you just say, 'I will give you hot cocoa if you stop being grumpy?'" she concluded.  I argued, "I am not sure I want to promote bribery for my kids or students.  It is not ethically correct.  Incentives don't have to be 'things'."

A lot of teachers in the U.S.schools have pizza parties, gummy bears, free recess etc, for incentives.  These are not common in Japanese schools.  It is rare to throw parties just because students behaved in classroom. Japanese students don't get gummy bears because they did homework.  However, the school recognizes an extraordinary achievement in the special certificates written in traditional calligraphy at the school assembly.  You would be called your name because your painting was outstanding in the school painting contest week.  When you get up to the stage, the principal reads every single word, hands out this special certificate to you.  You show respect with a deeper bow than the principal when you receive a certificate with both hands.  Students have more opportunities, such as jump rope contest, choir contest, dodge ball tournament, etc throughout the year.  Students enjoy being appropriately and respectfully acknowledged their achievement by the top of the school while every student is watching you as audience.  A definite cultural difference between Asian countries and the U.S. is evidently considered in these examples.  Asian students are raised to be respectful for older people specifically in language.    Everything their teachers says is highly valuable so disobedience is not the option for students.  Most kids avoid being in troubles.  Why?  Because students prefer to look the same.    Most kids don't want to get any attention in the negative way.  Blending in the group is such a big issue.  A Japanese proverb says "Nail  is struck out." If you appear different to others, you would be punished, so don't even think about it; that is the message I learned in my school.  That concept made me vulnerable, yet a part of me was still desiring certain recognition, so as a young student, I got confused. 

Young students I have been working in the U.S. Schools tend to get attention in positive and negative.  Although positive acknowledgement make you feel accomplishment which is a natural human satisfaction, I didn't understand why someone needs to get attention by making wrong choice until I learned children's psychology.  In some cases, only attention they know is to get in trouble because sadly those kids haven't known love and comfort at home.  I was saddened when I learned that fact in the class in college.  Moreover, it was even more shocking and challenging, when I had to go through with these kids in my own classroom.  In addition to the cultural difference, look at the dynamics and range in socioeconomic gap between East and West.  The differences must be expected.

My third grade teacher, Mr. Lucky Sun used the unique incentive system using a hand made certificate.  When there was no computer and copy machine, teachers used to make curriculum by their own hands.  I have a tremendous admiration for those teachers and their endless hard work back then.  Mr. Lucky son's creation was 3x3 hand written and hand printed certificate.  He decorated its border with some ivy pattern, so it really looked like a "mini" certificate.  A"certificate" is the special recognition for students no matter how small it is."  To promote students discussion, he started handing out his handmade certificate for those who contributed the opinions more than 10 times a day.  Each desk had a calendar like checklist to keep track of own daily record.  Since Mr. Lucky was the most strict and loudest teacher, the certificate given from him was so special to any of us.  Additionally, he made more certificate size varied from 4x5, 5x6, 6x7, and 7x8.   His promotion system was not so easy, though.  You have to earn 3x3 certificate five times prior to moving up 4x5 certificate.  The pattern continues until the largest size.  It was very difficult to get a 7x8, but it was not impossible.  Mr. Lucky Sun's way was revolution in the norm of "don't appear differently". Mr. Lucky Sun is the only Japanese teacher who used "Earning Privilege" system with concrete materials during my schooling.  All other teachers expect students do good and obedient in any occasions, otherwise you will be punished.  If you visit principal's office only once, you would be a history of your town for the rest of your life.

After 20 minutes, my daughter finally decided to come back to the table, with still somewhat grumpy face.  Just right before my mother-in-law opened her mouth, I invited my daughter to my side and hugged tightly and whispered, "I love you."  She looked at me and said, "I love you, too."  I tickled her a little bit so she can get ready to sit down by her grandma with a little social smile on her face.    My mother-in-law won.  Our princess was not grumpy any more, sipping her cocoa.  But her hot cocoa was already cold.  She seemed joyous being each others company again at the table after all.  The hot cocoa's temperature reminded her the lesson she just learned.  The loving, caring, and trusting relationship can be the motivation for children.  The self problem solving empower them at the same time.   That says, motivation is not necessarily the bribery or punishment. It is about the relationship that has developed in the mutual respect.  Her grandpa was watching his granddaughter's beautiful smile behind his glasses over the newspaper and mumbled, "It worked, didn't it?"



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Soul of Language

My 8th grade teacher, Mr. Turtle, told us about 言霊 (Kotodama), translated in English, "Soul of Language".  "Language coming from your mouth carries your soul.  When you have a certain message you want to convey, you talk to the person or people.  Your words have spirit that is the desire of internal connection with another person."

Mr. Turtle was a science teacher.  Another dimension of his job was a top teacher in the School Discipline Committee who took care of the Gang-Member-Wanna-Be Students.  It might be difficult to imagine that Japanese students misbehave or be disobedient in school.  Since Japanese alcohol, Sake, has been closely existing with people's lives through the culture and history, it is an easy access to anyone. Needless to say, Sake is made out of rice.  It was a natural invention based on geographical reasons.  Many of religious ceremonies and celebrations, such as New Years, people drink Sake to purify the spirit.  Some even say Sake is good for your health.  Adults allow their kids to explore this traditional alcohol since they were very young.  Consequently, the problem becomes a nightmare for some families.  Another bad habit in teenagers is smoking.  It's, too, easily to purchase through the vending machine just like a can of Coca Cola.  Nowadays, the regulation and authorities sound more strict than before.  The Gang-Member-Wanna-Be Students smell different to the regular middle school students.  It was pretty evident that they smoked behind the school building.  Boys in the group wear larger sized uniform.  Inside of their jacket, an amazingly colorful and artistic yet scary  tattoo like dragon was stitched.  Mr. Turtle somehow learned all about hot scandals from smoking to stitches before anyone knew.  He got them and beat them as if that was the only way he could correct their wrong choices.  I wasn't in that group, in fact, I followed the school uniform code obediently.  My long hair was braided, my ribbon was tied toward my neck, my skirt covered only my knees, and white socks were folded in thirds.  If one thing I did wrong was homework.  Mr. Turtle's homework was to copy next three pages of science text book including pictures, graphs, and maps.  I knew I was in trouble when my bottom was beaten by the broom.  His story about his son also terrified us.  "My son has a hearing problem in his left ear, because I beat him once."  I wasn't courageous enough to disobey him. I even didn't think about taking any risks. 

Surprisingly, every story he told us was logical and made sense to my early teen years opposed to my fear of Mr. Turtle.  "Soul of Language" was the most memorable one that I have been passing on to my students year after year.  "Even if your word has soul, it doesn't necessarily and automatically seep into the person's blood.  If you don't see the eyes, the soul will pass over their heads, just like that."  Mr. Turtle put his right hand over his head and made the quick karate chop motion from top of his head to down.  "Soul only goes into to another person only through eyes.  That is why you have to look at the person when you talk.  That is when you successfully communicate and feel the sense of understanding each other."

Less than 10 years from that time, I was in the teacher's lounge sitting as a brand new teacher.  7th grade science teacher in his 40's looked really happy to have young (and cute!) teacher.  This mentor teacher of mine started talking to all 7th grade students in the first assembly.  "See Story.  You guys think you are listening to someone because someones voice vibrates into your ears, however, that is not listening.  You have to look into eyes when you listen to someone.  Only way you can understand someone is to look.  You must see the story." 

Lectures like this cannot be seen around here where I live.  I wish the inspirational speech could be included in the common core.  If it's not once a week, at least once a month,  some administrators or teacher leaders consider starting some "human-to-human" talk like this in regular bases.  What a treasure it can be that young children are going to grow up with.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Professional Development in East

A Life Long Learner...  It caught my attention in the textbook at college.  Sadly, as a sassy teenager, I cunningly passed the test, then let go of its importance.  Shame.  It is also true that many teachers tend to show "I- know-it-all" attitude. Their long time teaching experiences and dedication should be highly respected, however, learning should never end under the reason of having long years of experiences.  Whether if you are a teacher or not, your leaning opportunities will happen until your last day.  How many educators would think in this way?  I observe a lot of grumpy, obnoxious, exhausted teachers here and there.  I know the reasons.  But instead of complaining, why don't we focus on creating the learning culture together?  If we want to promote this concept, a life long learner, to the students, teachers must be proactive and responsible for their own learning.

When I was teaching in Japan (I assume it's still the same) the professional development was designed by a teacher who is the highest seniority, ready for the assistant principal exam in a few months.  The professional development/school improvement are all teaching and learning based on the school's annual educational goals, for example, the effective instructions that  promote students' individual needs in mathematics.  There is no lecture style one-man- show of  research and pedagogical studies like we often do here.   Their focus was purely evident on the improvement in teaching and effective lessons for students.  Each grade level teachers are assigned the month they show the presentation.  Prior to your presentation month, the grade level teacher would gather and discuss about things like who would be the main presenter for the sharing, who would test-run before the presentation day, what kinds questions would promote student's participation and achievement, and which students would be the best study sample in this particular unit.

A Japanese citizen is known to be respectful to older individuals which include even only one year older than you.  I was 24, another teacher Mr. Tamagawa was 24, and the lead teacher, Ms Fukuoka was 41.  This particular year, our group was so connected because we all graduated from the same college.  The teamwork started very naturally, although, needless to say, everything the lead teacher said is what we had to do.   Another interesting fact is that though another teacher and I were the same age, I was one grade level senior than him because he failed the college exam one year.  At school, he did everything for us from serving tea to making copies just because he was youngest.  Mr. Tamagawa volunteered for the main presenter, I did the jump start teacher.  With Ms. Fukuoka's lead, we developed the unit lessons, which was not hard at all.   The Japanese standards and text books are well designed together under the government inspection.  We tweaked the questions and developed some graphic organizers for students to understand clearly.  During my lesson, Ms. Fukuoka and Mr. Tamagawa observed our lesson so we could tweak the precise questioning and teaching techniques.  Also, we discussed about more and better strategies that help target students, high, middle, and low.

On the presentation day, all teachers from school visited Mr. Tamagawa's classroom.  This afternoon was no school for students.  After his lesson, all teachers were at the table with green tea and snacks, discuss about his lesson, the lesson development, the process, and reflective through to the next lessons and units.  This is another part of Japanese culture, while younger ones must respect older ones, older ones are allowed to criticize younger ones.  Ms. Fukuoka and I, though, successfully defended Mr. Tamagawa because lesson he showed was the one we all planned together.  The acknowledgement empowered me in the early teaching carrier.  That was the day, too, paying off for Mr. Tamagawa of serving tea and making copies.  After 5 pm, teachers went out for the celebration party with Sake.  After party was another Karaoke party.  Japanese teachers' bond is created by lots of parties.  In addition to the school sponsored professional development, Ms Fukuoka was willing to mentor us.  She brought the theater project.  She was the lead, I took the music, and Mr. Tamagawa took the props.  Our play, Wizard of Oz was recognized in the Tokyo Theater Contest. 

I like this school wide approach because it makes sense.  Teachers must learn from other teachers by sharing ideas, observing, being observed, and designing lessons. If you are the life long learner, your students will sense it.  You can convince to your students to become a life long learner if you are the one.  I would like to be humble as I used to be.  And I would like to be proactive as an experienced teacher.  I choose to be a life long learner. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Feelings Matter

"Mrs. H, you look happy at the end of the day," a blond short hair recalls.  I didn't know how to respond for a second.  "I think I try to look happy in the morning," I finally replied.  "Well, still, (you look) happier now than in the morning."  "OK, I am trying really hard tomorrow morning.  You will tell me if I am doing good job on that tomorrow, won't you?  Have a great evening."  We high-fived each other and departed to each direction.  To be honest, I was delighted that a little girl noticed my internal change and smiled.  Of course, everybody is happy after school, even if you like school so much.  But it is more than that.

Yes, I have been in a positive mode after a week long professional development, and telling people about being positive.   Being positive is contagious, as is negative.  If you are in the bad situation, you have to break through.  We, teachers, feel often guilty when our classrooms are not running well or test scores are less than others.  But do we really have to?  My answer is "Not me."  It is surely important to tackle with every day challenges, however, "guilt" is not the feeling you keep.  Think about it in this way; would feeling of guilty solve your problem that you are facing?  That is the similar phrase I use with my students.  "You sound like you are complaining about this problem.  You may continue complaining as long as it helps to solve your problem."  A frustrating face looks at me and says, "What do you mean?"  I explain, "Well, what do you think will help you solve your problem?"  No matter how young or old, solution is often inside of your self.  Many people just don't know how to use it.  Only a little shift of your feeling, you can guide yourself to the positive side of your life even if you are in the difficult situation.

Here is another story.  Before I gave math assignments to my students, I gave them options of working inside or outside in the sunshine.    "As long as you work independently, you can work outside on the grass," I announced.  About 30 minutes, two students broke the silence.  Kids went inside to finish their work until their recess.  I handed a note to these students.  It says, "Stay by the wall during recess."  One of them said, "I think it's an appropriate punishment."  Another student said, "I agree."  I had hard time keep myself calm, instead of jumping up and down and yelling, "YES!!!!"  This is the positive energy float I am talking about.  It is contagious. 

Maybe that's why I look happy at the end of the day.  Or other heartwarming episodes summed up my day.  Feelings Matter.  Be Positive.  Smile often.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Accept Who They Are

There are some frustrating moments while teaching.  Perhaps it is about the students.  Sometimes it is about teachers.  Often it is about the system.  Feeling of frustration occurs just because you are afraid of losing control.  It is a tragic human nature.  A kind of control is necessary for the best practice in the classroom, of course.  It is often challenging to get along with a certain population of people harmoniously. 

Recently I leaned a trick to reduce from this stress.  Simply accept who they are.  If someone is opinionated, accept it. That is his strength.  As a wise teacher, use them, instead of control him because you will not be able to change his personality anyway.  And it is not what you want.  Many people know that collaboration and teamwork maximize the productivity in their tasks.  Know why?  Because they are happy.  There is no frustration.  What if there is an obnoxious team member?  I will say to you, "Accept who he is."  Then, you would approach to that person, "I know it might be a difficult for you.  Shall we take a break to get some fresh air?"  Letting him talk is a great idea, too.  May be with a cup of camomile tea.  Pretty soon, you would find yourself relaxed.  In other words, there is no sweat in your hands.  There is no wrinkles between your eyebrows.   When you look tense, he gets even more obnoxious.  If you show your compassion, you can find a little sign of invisible agreement or spiritual connection. 

Look at the mirror.  And say, "Accept who he is."  If you see your smile, you are actually controlling the situation.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Seek and you will find

"Seek and you will find..."  On the farewell card, the assistant principal's handwriting was the traditional Japanese style.  The inspirational impact of each letter is beyond its artistic value.  Sadly, over 20 years ago, I had no clue what it meant and what to do with this phrase, simply because I wasn't Christian. I groaned.  What I didn't realize was that I have been in the process of searching during that time.  A high school world history teacher once said, "You wouldn't notice if you were in the transition period.  People after that time period could name it as a 'transition period' by analyzing the historical events."  True, I have been in the long transition period.  Thinking back, although it is not a world famous historical transition, I was searching, searching, and searching for what I was really looking for.  As I leap over each hurdle, I experienced a taste of accomplishment, such as internship, graduate school, teaching jobs,  National Board, citizenship, and curriculum related committees.  Every accomplishment turned out to be another challenge that makes me in the situation where I have to be ready for another hurdle.  In other words, it has been so difficult for me to feel the concrete satisfaction or confidence.  If you say it is just because of my personality, it might not be far off.  But why do I have to constantly leap hurdles, over and over, while others are totally relaxed?  Funny, but I kept searching for my answer.  Thanks to the technology, researching activities became easier over the years.   

About one year ago,  I was frustrated about my lack of knowledge, lack of communication, and lack of opportunities particularly in writing.  One day, a teacher addressed me, "What do you think about this writing curriculum?  The curriculum department is looking into this right now.  Take a look, and tell me what you think."  Here is a heavy stack of brand-new curriculum in front of me.  I turned page by page, thinking, "It looks good, but is it good enough?  Is this a solution for our students' writing improvement?  Is the district going to spend a big bucks to purchase it while I am not sure it is good?"  I visited and asked several teachers these questions.  Everyone shrugged her shoulder in one way or another, "I don't know."  I wondered, "So, does it mean you don't even want to discuss about it with me?" I was too shy to ask that question directly.  After a few shrugged shoulders, I was e-mailing to the State Writing Assessment Specialist about my frustration and concern,  hoping she was familiar with this new curriculum and could answer my questions.  A few weeks later, I got an e-mail from her, "Can I talk to you on the phone?"  

One year later, I flew all the way to the Mid West where scares travelers (not local folks!) with an occasional twister alert.  I was sitting on the same table with her along with four other professionals in literacy.  In addition, there were people representing for the State contracted writing assessment company.  The traditional Japanese calligraphy appeared in my head, almost out of the blue.  "Search it shall be given".  This was what he wanted to tell me.  And I did, although it took me a long twenty years.   I was given the opportunity by a fairy god mother.  As the story goes, once upon a time, the fairy god mother found Cinderella.  Why?  Although Cinderella was a hard worker, she couldn't be successful or happy in her life because of one fatal reason.  Lack of opportunity.  In fact, her destiny climbs up to the top of the mountain with a dramatic tempo after she has the magic wand swung over her head.  I, too, am a lucky person who was found by the fairy god mother and given the opportunity.

What an incredible one week!  All of the scattered dots began to connect one another.  When a student comprehends and enjoy feeling of togetherness of the story, his literal knowledge reflects on the writing with elaboration that creates "wholeness".  Literacy is the beautifully and cohesively tied knot of reading and writing.  The meaningful and delightful reading experiences open the door to the creative writing world for young students.  The Common Core is going toward that direction.  That is exciting itself, but I recall the Japanese Literacy curriculum.   The Japanese Literacy instruction has seldom separated reading and writing.  Particularly for writing, their method is to utilize mentor text in the most part.  Using the voice, dialogue, unique openings, and etc, they are introduced and applied along with the mentor text, so that students see the picture in their mind of where they are going to reach.  Memorizing two different Japanese alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana, is hard enough, students must master a few hundred Chinese characters, Kanji, in each grade level; however, an efficient and effective instructional strategy helps Japanese students successful.  I couldn't have noticed or thought of that when I was teaching in Japan.  

The magic wand that swung over my head had surely more power than Cinderella's.  My fairy god mother should be proud of my new chapter.  Seek and you will find.  

This is the special thank you note to Nikki.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Math-Lesson-Plans.com

My frustration in math standards, instruction, and resources was at the peak a few years ago.  Classroom teachers knowledge levels varied, yet, no collaboration wasn't observed.  To me, the Japanese system seems to work in any nation-that was the initial reason I decided to create lesson plan's website back then.  I studied, again, the Japanese math curriculum.  At the same time, my study became at the point where I could emerge it into the State Performance Expectations.  My hard work was paid off.  Finally I uploaded some 3rd grade unit lesson plans.  I am not a professional web designer, if you allow me to make some excuses, but I did pretty good, I thought. 

Now I am facing good news and bad news.  The most exciting news is the common core standard is coming up!  Wow!  That is the exciting news.  Most of the text book companies have been working on their projects for a few years, so they are prepared.  As long as school districts purchase the product, we, the teachers don't have to struggle to fill many holes and gaps any more.  It has been tough years for teachers, at least in my school, pulling many different resources from here and there.   While we spent all our time and energy to complete the math curriculum and assessments, the administrators didn't seem happy at all, which really discouraged the teachers.  In addition, the work demand was beyond our control.  Several teachers broke down under the stress and pressure. I am hoping introducing the common core can be a solution in this situation. 

The Japanese Education Standard has been consistently governed by the Department of Education and Sports after the WWII.  The school district selects one of the government's approved text book companies.  These companies' products are already thoroughly inspected by the professionals.  No one doubt about the holes even if they exists. The teacher's job is to deliver the content efficiently in the classroom.  Not only math, it also includes literacy, science, social studies, music, arts, and PE in the Elementary School.  In fact, one of teacher's preparations is a complete knowledge of every standard in every subject in every grade from 1st to 6th.  All Japanese Teacher-Wanna-Be's madly study and cram all the information into their brain before their teaching exam in their region.  I hope teaching prep colleges, here in the U.S., start training students for common core standards before their graduation.

Here is bad news for me.  I have to adjust or even re-create the lesson plans based on the common core since my lesson plans are aligned mostly with current standards which will be "old".  I guess most of my summer time will be well spent on this.  All in all, it won't be totally bad news except for my personal work load at my satisfactory level.  Actually, the common core will bring efficiency and focus in the daily instruction.  Best of all, teacher will appreciate its sophistication and simplicity, just like my website, math-lesson-plans.com


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

TLC

My new colleagues from the State Project last week (hopefully I get to work with them again) taught me TLC.  They didn't teach me directly, however, I absorbed the importance of TLC from them.  I was empowered by how these phenomenal teachers talk, act, laugh, and share.  Although this is my very first experience in this project, I didn't feel any intimidation because of their TLC.  I was cared yet respected by loving and caring characters of the team members.  It is evident these ladies enjoy giving TLC to their students in their classroom.  Being part of the team is a great comfortable feeling I haven't felt for a long time.  It is true that confidence and comfort make a difference in learning.  Their students are so lucky to have them.  I said good bye to myself of past, and decided to be a caring person.  This is only day 3 after my return to school.  But my message seems like it is seeping slowly through my classroom, too.   One student couldn't focus on the book at his level.  I sat down by this student who has constant troubles. I wrote a note and put it on his desk quietly while the others are reading.  "I respect you because you respect me.  Will you be willing to work with me?" With this note, I quickly made another note that has the page numbers of the book.  He started reading, marking off the page numbers on the other note.  I hope my students start noticing the internal shift in my mind.  Tender Loving Care is a phrase I learned a long time ago.   I thought I knew about and I thought I have been doing TLC.  The reality is that it just started sprouting in my teaching career.  Quiet and powerful message.  This is a special thank you note for my new friends, Nicole, Heather, and Tara.  They even run as fast as a cheetah!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Think Aloud

Time has come!  I have to think aloud about all thoughts in my mind.  Great experiences like meeting fantastic people and learning new things encourage me to speak up.  My career in education started in Japan, now in the U.S.  I have to be a bridge between two countries or beyond.  That's what I feel like right now.  That's the strength I found in my blood.