University of San Diego Tokyo Program 2016: June 29: Allison Sciarretta

While visiting Tokorozawa High School, I was very impressed by the sense of community that exists between the teachers and students. One of the classes we walked into was an English class, and the teacher was so full of life and energetic while teaching. It was very obvious as soon as I walked in that this teacher was effectively engaging his students by continuously making jokes and moving around the classroom. It was quite refreshing to see a teacher so willing to bring laughter and enjoyment to the classroom, since I feel that seems to be lacking in many of the American classrooms that I have observed. I also noticed that the teacher pushed his students to speak in English, even when they seemed nervous and hesitant to do so. Although I would feel uncomfortable speaking a new language in high school, I also feel that discomfort is often when the most learning occurs, so the discomfort that they experience may actually be beneficial in the long run.

After visiting the high school, we went to the teacher development center and had the opportunity to learn from a Japanese schoolteacher who taught us about Japanese lesson study. This part of the day stood out to me the most, because after reading about Japanese lesson study from our book, I was excited to learn more about it from a local teacher. While he was describing his teaching, I was taken aback at first when he said that he carefully chooses what students to call on during the lesson. My first instinct as an American was to assume that that was wrong, because you would be allowing all students to have the opportunity to speak. However, after listening to the speaker, it suddenly all made sense to me. I began to think back to my own learning experiences, and how I could apply this new information to my future teaching style.

I recognized that learning from your peers is an extremely useful tool. Not only are you learning the information from someone that is similar in age and experience to yourself, but it also empowers students to recognize that they can do it too. The speaker stated that he calls on students when they know the answer, because they can provide useful knowledge to their peers. However, he also made sure to recognize all students’ abilities and to praise their achievements. I was also inspired when the speaker showed us the newsletter that he writes for his class every week, in which he features student’s abilities and takes pictures of their work to show all of the classmates. I would love to do this in my own classroom, because it is an amazing way to celebrate the students and their abilities while also deepening the feeling of a classroom community and showing your students how much you really care about them.