Character education

Recently I actually had to stop a class to address student behavior--a very rare occasion.

Having overheard--quite coincidentally--the teachers discussing the issue during the recess break before I taught the class, I was thankfully more aware of the classroom dynamics than I might otherwise have been and also was somewhat mentally prepared to deal with the situation that arose.

A student was consistently louder than the other students and they (the other students) found it very irritating. Their feelings were quite obvious as most of them were holding their hands over their ears when that student spoke too loudly for their liking (which was most of the time, apparently).

Usually I'm fairly loud and energetic when doing the "teaching words" portion of a class (i.e. I say words/phrases/sentences and the students repeat them), but, being conscious of the class atmosphere, this time when I did my "three times fast" repetition (e.g. "Apple. Apple. Apple, apple, apple!"), I purposely said it in a whisper. I was trying to gently hint to that student to lower his volume and also trying to defuse some of the tension with the other students.

Unfortunately the student only lowered his voice for the three times fast portion and went back to being noticeably louder than everyone for everything else. Some of the other students, frustrated/irritated, started saying "urusai!" (meaning "you're loud/noisy!" with a "shut up!" connotation) to the student. I let it pass once or twice, but then it wasn't just one or two students saying it once to let off steam, it was multiple students saying it repeatedly.

So I stopped the lesson and said something along the lines of (all in Japanese):

You know, if you always hear the people around you saying "urusai, urusai," you may stop wanting to speak. So please think about how your words make people feel and maybe ask in a nicer way, like "Could you please speak a little more quietly."

Also, I think it's great to be excited about English and to speak in a genki way, but it's also important to pay attention to the feelings of the people around you. Please look around and maybe contain your excitement a little if you see that it's bothering the people around you.

After that the atmosphere got a little better. The student did speak a little less loudly--sometimes. And the other students refrained from angrily saying "urusai"--for the most part.

I'm sure it will take quite a bit more time for the class dynamics to settle down, but judging from the looks on the students' faces while I was speaking, I think that they were at least really listening to what I was saying. And I can only hope that they were able to understand what I was trying to tell them.

My intention wasn't to scold them. I wanted to encourage them to think more about each other's feelings and to show more consideration and kindness to each other.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk with the teacher who was in the classroom at the time that I was giving the talk. I would've liked to have heard her opinion as to whether or not what I said was appropriate/beneficial in that situation.

(I also regret that I probably wasn't able to express my feelings as clearly as I wanted to--in general I'm not good at expressing myself when put on the spot, and my Japanese also still isn't up to par... )

I'll be at the school again this week, so we'll see how the atmosphere in the class is... I really hope I won't have to give a similar talk again...

Filling out the national census form (国勢調査調査票)

In Japan, a national census (国勢調査 kokusei chousa) is done every five years, and one is being done this year!

Every household should have received a form sometime between September 23rd and 30th. The forms should be filled out and returned by October 7th either by mail (in the small envelope) or in person (in the large envelope) to the official census staff who will come to collect it.

Here's some information (slightly tailored to JET ALTs) to help you fill out the form:

[Edit: Hah! The Japanese government actually created translations and explanations on how to fill out the census form in English, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese! You can download/read the PDF files here: http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kokusei/index.htm Oh well. It was good Japanese translation practice for me, at any rate! =P]

Section 1: 氏名及び男女の別 (Full name & gender)
氏名 (Full Name) 男 (Male)　女(Female)
They want your name just to make sure that your information hasn't been submitted elsewhere. The data won't be kept, so it (probably) doesn't matter if you write your name in katakana or English.

Section 2: 世帯主との続き柄 (Relation to head of the household)
世帯主又は代表者 (Household head, hereafter HH)
世帯主の配偶者 (Spouse of HH)
子 (Child)
子の配偶者 (Child's spouse)
世帯主の父母 (HH's parent)
世帯主の配偶者の父母 (HH's spouse's parent)
孫 (Grandchild)　
祖父母　(Grandparent)
兄弟姉妹　(Sibling)
他の親族　(Other relative)
住み込みの雇人　(Live-in employee)
その他 (Other)

Section 3: 出生の年月 (Month & Year of Birth)
明治(Meiji)　大正(Taisho)　昭和(Showa)　平成(Heiwa)  西暦 (AD)
年 (year) 月(Month) - For Jan-Sep, just the single digit is fine 
If you don't know the Japanese year (Showa, Heisei, etc.) for your year of birth, you can just select 西暦 and write 19-- (You can also look up the Japanese equivalent in your JET Diary!)

Section 4: 配偶者の有無　(Marital status)
未婚(幼児などを含む） (unmarried [also for children, etc.])
配偶者あり (married)
死別 (widowed)
離別 (divorced)

Section 5: 国籍 (Nationality)
日本 (Japanese)
外国 (Other country)　→　Remember to write the country name in the box!

Section 6: 現在の場所に住んでいる期間 (Length of time you've lived in your current location)
出生時から (From birth)
1年未満 (Less than 1 year)
1～5年未満 (From 1 to less than 5 years)
5～10年未満 (From 5 to less than 10 years)
10～20年未満 (From 10 to less than 20 years)
20年以上 (Over 20 years)
(If you were living in your current location but were transferred, traveled, or lived elsewhere for over 3 months before returning, please calculate the length of time from when you returned, e.g. 3 years in the house, half a year overseas, 5 years back in the house = 5 years)

Section 7: 5年前（平成17年10月1日)にはどこで住んでいましたか (Where were you living 5 years ago? Oct 1, 2005)
現在と同じ場所 (same location as currently)
同じ区・市町村内の地の場所  (within the same area/city/municipality)
他の区・市町村(other area/city/muncipality)　→　住んでいた場所を記入(please record the place where you lived) 都道府県(prefecture)　市郡支庁city/district　区町村 ward/municipality
外国 (foreign country)

世帯について (About your household)
(1)　世帯員の数 (Number of Household Members)　
総数 (Total)　男 (Male)　女(Female)

(2)　住居の種類 (Type of Housing)
持ち家 (own house)
都道府県・市区町村営の賃貸住宅 (Public-owned--prefectural/city, etc. rental housing)
都市再生機構・公社等の賃貸住宅  (Urban Renaissance Agency or other government/public corporation rental housing)
民営の賃貸住宅 (privately owned rental housing - apartments, mansion complexes, etc.)
給与住宅(社宅・公務員住宅など) ([company/state-]provided housing)
住宅に間借り (rental housing, e.g. renting a room in someone's house, etc.)
 →  If any of the above, continue to (3) and (4)
会社などの独身寮・寄宿舎 (company, etc.-provided dormitory for single employees; boarding house; residence)
その他 (other)

(3) 住宅の建て方 (type of building)
一戸建 (House)
長屋建(テラスハウスを含む) (row housing, e.g. duplexes, townhouses)
共同住宅 (Apartment/"Mansion" complexes)　→ 建物全体の階数 (Total # of floors in the building) 住んでいる住宅のある階 (The floor you live on)
その他 (other)

(4) 住宅の床面積の会計 (Floor area)
Don't include veranda/balcony or separate storage space (e.g. a storage locker outside) measurements

電話番号 (phone number) - you may be asked to clarify things

Section 8　教育 (Education)
在学中 (currently in school) / 卒業 (graduated)　
小学・中学 (elementary/junior high school)
高校・旧中 (high school)
短大・高専 (junior college/technical college)
大学・大学院 (university/post-grad)

未就学 (preschool)
幼稚園(yochien: kindergarten; preschool)
保育園・保育所 (hoikuen/hoikusho: day care center, nursery school)
乳児・その他 (still in nursing/other)

Section 9: 9月24日から30日までの１週間に仕事をしましたか (Did you work during the week from Sep 24-30?)
少しでも仕事(収入を伴うもの)をした人 (If you worked even just a little [things earning income])
主に仕事 (You worked)
家事などのほか仕事 (did housework or other related work)
通学のかたわら仕事 (attended school and worked)
→ Complete sections 10 ~ 14

少しでも仕事(収入を伴うもの)をしなかった人 (If you didn't work even a little [things earning income])
仕事を休んでいた (vacation from work) → Complete sections 10 ~ 14
家事 (housework) → Survey ends here
通学 (attended school)→ Complete sections 10 & 11
その他（幼児・高齢など） (other [infant; senior, etc.]) → Survey ends here

Section 10: 従業地又は通学地 (Location of Work/School)
住宅(住み込みを含む) ( house [includes live-in employees])
同じ区・市町村 (Same area/city where you live)
他の区・市町村(other area/city/muncipality)　→ 都道府県(prefecture)　市郡支庁city/district　区町村 ward/municipality

Section 11: 従業地又は通学地までの利用交通手段 (Main mode of transportation to work/school)
徒歩のみ - On foot only
鉄道・電車 (railway/train)
乗合バス (bus)
勤め先・学校のバス (work/school bus)
自 家用車 (personal car)
ハイヤー・タクシー (taxi)
オートバイ (motorbike)
自転車 (bicycle)
その他 (other)
(If your mode of transport changes from day to day, to write your MAIN/regular mode of transportation only. If you use more than one mode of transportation, e.g. drive to train station, train, then bus, fill in all applicable forms of transportation. If your going and return modes of transportation differ, fill it in based on what you use to go to work/school.)

Section 12: 勤めか自営の別 (Type of Employment)
雇われている人 (employee)　
正規の職員・従業員 (regular (full-time) staff/employee)
労働者派遣事業所の派遣社員 (temp employee dispatched by a personnel agency)
パート・アルバイト・その他 (part-time/"baito"/other)
(Because our contracts are only for one year, ALTs are not regular employees, but in the category with part-timers, etc.パート・アルバイト・その他!)
会社などの役員 (company, etc. executive staff)

自営業主 (self-employed)
雇人あり (have employees)
雇人なし (no employees)

家族従業者 (employed by family??)
家庭内の賃仕事(内職) ("piece rate work"--work done at home for a wage (piecework, cottage industry??) - second job? )

Section 13:勤め先・業主などの名称及び事業の内容 (Place & Details of Employment)
勤め先・業主などの名称  (place of employment)
 e.g. ~市教育委員会の指導課 (~ City Board of Education, Guidance Section)
事業の内容 (details of employment)
e.g. 市区町村事務 (Municipal (city) employee) OR 都道府県事務 (Prefectural employee--i.e. high school ALTs)

Section 14: 本人の仕事の内容 (Job Description)
e.g. 外国語指導助手 (Assistant Foreign Language Instructor, i.e. ALT)

十和田駒フェスタ 2010 Towada Koma (Horse) Festa

第17回 十和田駒フェスタ 2010 Towada Koma (Horse) Festa
Date: Sat. Oct. 16-Sun. Oct. 17
Location: 十和田市中央公園緑地 Towada Chuo Park
Time: 9:00*-15:00
Events: Yabusame competition (horseback archery); show jumping competition; children's horseback performance

(*the Yururira Towada site says 10:00-15:00 in some places, but after double-checking the Towada Horseback Riding Club site, I'm fairly sure the yabusame starts at 9:00)

I went last year and really enjoyed it! Yabusame is definitely a must-see Towada event!!

(I'm quite torn as to whether or not to go this year since Ofukanai, a junior high school I visit a lot this year has their school festival (文化祭) on the Saturday. And Sunday is the Kirita Festival so I definitely will be there and won't be able to see the Koma Festa on that day...)

Walking around before the competition...

Yabusame

Show jumping (one of my Kirita students!)

Children's horseback performance

Feel free to check out my Facebook photo album Towada Horse Festa 2009 for more photos if you're interested, although it's mostly just more of the same. =P

Do nothing vacation

Sometimes it's important to take a holiday just to take a holiday. ^_^

When I first booked this Friday (tomorrow, Sep. 24) off, I was originally considering going to Hiroshima. Then I realized that I probably wouldn't have the money or energy to do so between my trips to Takayama in Gifu (night of Thu. Oct. 7th to Mon. Oct. 11th for the apparently fairly famous Takayama Matsuri!!) and Canada (Dec. 23-Jan. 5 for Christmas vacation, then again in Jan. 21-24 for a friend's wedding). And besides, I already went to Hiroshima once this year when my best buds visited in Mar.-Apr.

But I never got around to canceling my holiday request, and in the end I just decided that it'd be good to take a break.

And so far, so good!!

Today the only "productive" things I did were doing the laundry (a load of darks) and going to taiko practice. Other than that I wrote emails, went on Facebook, and read Koko Be Good and stated re-reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

Koko Be Good is the debut (full) graphic novel of Jen Wang (she has previously had short comics published in the first and second volumes of the Flight graphic novel series). I first became aware of Jen Wang's work back around 1999-2000 when I started reading her awesome awesome webcomic Strings of Fate (1999-2003) the archives of which are sadly no longer available online. =(

But anyway, Koko Be Good--buy it! From the inside flap: "Honest, wrenching, and sharply funny, Jen Wang's Koko Be Good is a stunning debut about human nature and the inhuman efforts we make to find ourselves."

The graphic novel is quite different from the original short comic of the same name (which you can read on her website, just look under Art→Comics)--but in a good way. For me it really resonated because, like so many of the characters in the story, I'm at a stage where I'm trying to figure out what I really want to do with my life. And seeing so many of my friends finding their paths and/or settling down and getting married/having kids, I feel a lot of self-imposed pressure to "not to get left behind or something." So the story really speaks to me and it's definitely a book I expect to be re-reading a lot (which is really important when you live in a tiny apartment with only a single bookshelf).

So yeah, back to my original topic...Sometimes it's really important to just take time to relax. This week, Kocho-sensei (at Kirita) mentioned that I've been less than "genki" recently and he asked if I've been really busy/working too hard. Right now actually isn't the busiest at work that I've been, but since I'm doing both Nihonbuyo (classical Japanese dance) and taiko (Japanese drumming) now, I guess I haven't had as much "do nothing" time to refresh myself as in the past, so I'm less energetic...

Plus, much as I hate to admit it, I *am* getting older. I really can't survive on just konbini bread for dinner and 4-6 hrs of sleep per night like I used to be able to...

But anyway, I'm definitely going to enjoy the rest of this long weekend by sleeping in, reading, surfing the net, taking naps, "studying" at my favourite cafe/restaurants and maybe even cooking!