Week Two: Nagano & Iida City
Oct 5th, 2008 by principalsharon
During the second week of our visit, groups of sixteen educators go to different cities in Japan. My group will be visiting Iida City in Nagano Prefecture.
10-19-08
We arrived in Nagano in the early afternoon and went to lunch at a Soba noodle restaurant. Soba noodles are popular in the area. We then visited Zenkoji Temple. The temple is the third largest in Japan and is the respository of the oldest Buddha in Japan.
10-20-08
Today in Nagano we visited Shinshu University where we met the faculty and learned about teacher training at the University. We were also treated to a short concert from Music majors who sung traditional Japanese songs and played the Koto, a traditional Japanese instrument. We then traveled to Iida City in the same Prefecture. Nagano is a very mountainous Prefecture, along the way we saw the South and Central Alps. Upon arriving at Iida we met the newly re-elected Mayor and the school superientendent.
Today we visited Iida High School. This school has approximately 900 students and is a Senior High School. Senior High Schools have students in grades 9-12. Iida High School is the top rated school in the city. While we were visiting, others from the community and parents were also visiting the school. I visited several English classes and observed mathematics and science classes as well. We ate lunch with the International Club. The school has many after school clubs that focus on a particular interest. We had a very good discussion with students and found that many were focused on the upcoming Entrance Exam. Students study very hard for the Entrance Exams and many attend “cram” schools that help them prepare.
Finally, before departing we were treated to a caligraphy lesson by a master teacher at the school. Students from the Caligraphy club assisted us. I wrote the character for “believe”.
10-25-08
Today we checked out of our hotel in Iida City and went to our host family’s home. See week three for details on my home stay.
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Dr. Williams,
Thank you for answering our questions. We have enjoyed looking at your pictures and reading about your adventures. We would like to know if they dance in Japan? Ms. Andrea from Art Smart was here today and we enjoyed dancing the cha-cha with her. We are looking forward to going on our field trip next week to see the Luna Negra performance which is filled with dancing. We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Mrs. Gonzalez’s First Grade Class
PS~ We miss you!
Thank you Mrs. Gonzalez’ class- I miss you too.
To answer your question- they do dance in Japan. I haven’t seen the children dance much, but we have seen the traditional Japanese theatre dances. The high school students said that they do not have school dances or a prom, but that they dance at home.
See you soon!
Dr. Williams,
My second graders have enjoyed looking at your pictures and learning about your trip. Here are a few of the questions that they had: 1) Does Japan have a President like the United States? 2) Do you like the food there? 3) Do people in Japan celebrate Halloween? 4) Is the clothing a lot different than what we wear?
Thanks,
Mr. Scott’s Second Graders
Konnichiwa!
Thank you for your questions.
1. Japan has a Prime Minister, which is somewhat similiar to President, but more like the Prime Minister in England and other European countries. The current Prime Minister is Taro Aso, he was elected recently.
2. I like some of the food I’ve tried including yakitori (grilled chicken and vegetables on small skewers) and tempura (batter-fried seafood and vegetables). I’ve also eaten pizza, McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme doughnuts!!!
3. People in Japan love Halloween. They do celebrate it here, but I’m not sure if they go “trick-or-treating”.
4. The clothing is the same! Some school students wear uniforms like we do, and some do not.
See you soon!! Work hard for Mr. Scott Sensei.
Dr. Williams,
My Kindergarteners have been learning about maps and globes and saw where you were in relation to where we live. They wanted to ask you how you got there and how long it took you to get there. We look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks!
Ms. Hunter’s Kindergarteners
Hello Ms. Hunter’s class! Thank you for your questions.
I first traveled to Chicago, Illinois to board the plane for San Francisco, California. The plane ride from Nashville to Chicago took about 1 1/2 hours. The plane ride from Chicago to San Francisco, California took about 4 hours. The next day, we traveled from San Francisco, California to Tokyo, Japan. That plane ride took about 10 hours. We flew over the Pacific Ocean.
Can you find those places on your globe?
See you soon!
Have you seen the kindergarten classes?
Hello Ms. Finney,
No, I have not seen the kindergartens. Kindergartens are seperate from elementary schools. Elementary schools are for 1st-6th grades. Jr. High is from 7th-9th grade and Sr. High is from 10th-12th grades.
Thanks for your question- take care!
Hello Dr. Williams,
It’s great to hear and see about your Japan experiences. I’ll share this with some of my students!
Angela Bennett-Shelton
We loved talking with you this morning! The class was so excited! They enjoyed the pictures you sent and are eager to have you back with us. You answered our questions this morning, but they do want to know if you have ridden a high speed train and, if so, how fast was it? Also, we noticed an old “green board”. Do they not have white boards? We thought you looked very happy in the last photo. You ARE coming back, aren’t you? See you soon. SS
Thanks Mrs. Stolz’ Class! You asked very good questions. I did ride a high speed train from Tokyo to Nagano. The top speed of that train was about 160 miles per hour! In the schools we visited they still have chalkboards and don’t have any computers in the classroom- very surprising to me.
Take care and I WILL be back next Monday.
Good afternoon, Dr. Williams:
How long is the school day in Japan? Also, do they have
school over the weekend? Any PTOs? Thanks.
Chris Hall,
PTO
Thanks for your question Mr. Hall. The school day in Japan is about the same as in the United States. Students do have a chance to spend extra hours in after school clubs and in the upper grades they study on their own for several hours after school, especially when they are studying for the entrance exams. They have entrance exams to Senior High School and entrance exams to enter College. Some students go to school on the weekends for study sessions, but in general students have Saturday and Sunday off.
Japanese schools do have PTOs. We actually met with a group of parents that were representatives of their PTOs. They stated that the participation rates for PTOs were almost 100%. They don’t really do fund raising events like we do, but support the schools in other ways including making donations.