Posts Tagged: elementary school

ESL — 2 Comments
26
Feb 07

Walk the dinosaur

When I was a kid, thirteen to be exact, Was (Not Was) released a song called ‘Walk the Dinosaur’, which was a huge hit in 1988. It’s one of those songs you don’t forget, and I tend to sing it to myself every time one of my elementary school students chooses the ‘dinosaur’ from a bunch of stamps I use for homework and rewarding the kids at the end of each lesson.

Today, in my 4th-6th grade class, without prompting, the kids all started singing the song along with me, and after the first time, they all wanted the ‘dinosaur’ stamp, and we kept singing the song! I found it hysterically funny that a group of Japanese kids, who weren’t even born when Walk the Dinosaur was released, would not only find it funny, but actually make a conscious effort to remember the words and sing it aloud with dinosaur gestures!

If there’s a lesson to be learned from this, it would be that children do pick up on teacher ‘chatter’, that is the things an ESL teacher says to him or herself during a lesson which the kids aren’t expected to understand. I often talk or sing to myself when I teach…”Now where did I put my pencil?”, “Wow, he actually did his homework this week.”, “Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep them wagons rolling… Rawhide!”

When you say the same things repeatedly every lesson, directly or indirectly, children remember. So, today’s tip is to be aware of what you’re saying, make sure you say it every week, and in a few months your kids will be saying it, too!

Japan — No Comments
11
Nov 06

Copycat Japanese

The Japanese have historically been known for copying things and making them better, call it reverse-engineering if you like. In fact, one of the main reasons they started learning English was to understand scientific journals for this very purpose.

This trend extends to fashion in which brands such as Louis Vuitton are so popular, it seems everybody here owns an LV bag or purse. No-one seems to mind having the same thing as everyone else, which in my opinion defeats the purpose of spending so much money on something which should be unique.

Of course, every sports team needs an American-style nickname such as the ‘Giants’ or the ‘Dragons’; new houses are designed like their western equivalents; and if you don’t dye your hair brown, well you’re just not… erm… Japanese!

The list goes on and on, and I guess there’s no harm in adopting other cultures as part of your own, but this trend of mimicking others has a twisted side…

The Japanese media, as with most countries, thrives on bringing bad news to the public’s attention, but sometimes I find the level of detail alarming. I first noticed this a few years ago when I watched a report about a growing number of burglaries. The report told viewers when the robberies were taking place, typical buildings which were targeted, why they were targeted and how the burglars gained entry. I watched and thought…”Blimey! These guys are geniuses!” If I had any desire to, I could have used that advice to start my own crime syndicate!

Recently in the news there has been a spate of child suicides. School children, mostly elementary and junior high students, who have taken their own lives as a result of bullying. I’ve talked about the lack of discipline in Japanese schools before, and this latest news highlights the possible affects of a lack of punishment. What is striking of course is that after the first suicide got national media attention it was quickly followed by similar cases occurring across the country. Sure, it could be coincidence, but I doubt it.

The dilemma here is that the problem of bullying needs to be made public, but there is always the risk that people will copy what they see on the news, and with a population of 128 million people, there will always be someone who does.

Last week, an anonymous student wrote a letter to the minister of Education threatening to commit suicide on school premises on November 11th if bullying wasn’t stopped at his or her school. With no way of determining which school that student attends, the whole country is waiting anxiously for an update as the deadline passes.

Needless to say, a few days after that letter was sent, the Education minister received another similar letter from a different student! Hmm… I wonder where that idea came from.

All I can say is I hope the Japanese media don’t hear about the 22-year old man in England who tried to set off a firework from his bum, only for it to backfire and cause serious internal injuries! I wouldn’t want to see copycat cases of that!

ESL — 5 Comments
15
Oct 06

No discipline in Japanese schools?

One of my students is an elementary school teacher, and she loves talking about her job. Saturday was Dreamwork Day at her school so she was a bit tired by the time she came to class. “Dreamwork Day? Sounds fun!” I said, but then she explained that all the teachers had to clean the school to give the students a dream… erm… yeah, a clean school should encourage children to do their best to fulfill their dreams. I think that’s the point, anyway. Still, cleaning sounds more like ‘nightmare’ work to me.

She then told me that one of the teachers had stuck tape down the center of the corridors to make ‘lanes’ so the kids wouldn’t crash into each other, and we launched into a debate about whether they should walk on the left or the right. She said that in Japan people walk on the right, facing the oncoming traffic. I argued that you should walk with your back to the traffic so that drivers can see you and have more time to react, just like when we see and pass a cyclist. Anyway, the argument was going nowhere so I asked why the kids bump into each other so often in the corridors.

“Oh, it’s because they run all the time” she said.

“Are you allowed to run?” I replied.

She then told me how the teachers tell the kids not to run, and if they do it repeatedly, then their homeroom teacher is informed. So, I asked what the homeroom teacher does about it. She said the kid will just get warned again, and again.

So I’m sitting there wondering if the bad kids ever get punished. Sure they get warned, but never punished? I asked if they are ever sent to the principal, or if they ever get detention, and she said “no, never”.

Hmm… It may be petty. They are just kids after all. However, when you have to start sticking tape on the floor so the kids that run are less likely to crash into each other, well, that just seems silly to me.

Should we turn up the radio so we’re less likely to hear the kids swear? Should we turn back the clocks so we won’t notice if the kids are late? No wonder crime is on the rise in Japan, and the foreigners usually get the blame for it. Go figure!

On a side note, it was my birthday yesterday. Happy birthday to me! Had some drinks, ate a cake and watched a movie about a horse…. oh it’s fun to be thirty-one.