Thing 6 Use the Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator

This starts with Step 1 Question Teacher’s job: The goal is to generate interest in a topic and guide the learner to generate a question that can be researched and answered. The guides have things like exercises, guiding questions and standards. I think it is very useful when you assign a research project. I have to read a little more and have to study this. We also did excises of evaluating a research project assignment today at the class. I don't usually give a research project assignment but it is good to know these things.

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

I checked the lesson plans by subject area. There is no "world language" subject so I checked language arts and Art. I went into Art, checked "visual arts”, "foreign language" and 9-12 grades, I found "Japanese Woodblock Prints" Lesson. WOW.
Students will study the Ukiyo-e from its early beginnings to its height in the late 1800s;learn about the techniques and development of this process. And students will create their own Ukiyo-e. If I could work with the art teacher, I would love to do that.
I have worked with an art teacher before and students made "Netsuke"(little clay objects) . Although, the art teacher worked more than me, it was fun. I don't want to sound being "old" but it is nice to be able to find lesson plans, in this little magic "Mac Book".

December Blog

I have learned how to make I movies using photographs from other teacher. I tried it and I made a short movie. I am not so sure about the details of how to make it but I got the general idea. I also learned how to add second color to the slide show.
I added phonetic guide to my Japanese program so that all the kanji characters can have the phonetic guide on top of kanji.
I am tired and I need to go to bed now.

Thing 16 MnLINK

"Your Minnesota public library card is your key to a world of information." It is true. You just need to type in your long numbers on your back of the library card. I need to tell my IB students about this and I should check that how many students have the library cards in my class.

Thing 12 Other Search Engines

Here is what I did. I googled, Search Engines. I found Search Engine from across the world. And I found Japan. I clicked Japan and I found several Japanese search engines. I am excited. ATTAKA NAVI (which has a lot of photos) BAIDU( This may not be good for the students) GOO (GOO has good dictionary, Japanese weather and Japanese free on line games) ISCLE (It lists main Japanese newspapers and you can listen to Japanese music, free.) These search engines are good if you can read Japanese. My 4th year students might be able to use some of these.

Thing 13 Subscription Databases

(Kaiseki, Japanese style food)


I studied the databases that school districts offer and the Minneapolis Library offer. My students collected information using the databases such as ABC CLIO and Grolier Online to do research on Japan. I just finished teaching the first trimester and I asked the students. "Tell me the hardest thing you did in my class." Some said the research project, which was done by using the databases. (“And No Googling.") Interesting. I thought students shoud have learned this in social study class or English class long time ago. I don't usually assign students a research project in English. So I learned a lot from this experience, too.

Blog of the week

I like using my computer now and spend a lot of time in front of this. I have used my I tunes and I put my Japanese CD music in here so that I can use J pop music for my slide show. I organized my Japanese pictures in this I photo album. My daughter said that I am addicted to the computer. Yet, I still don't know so many things and if one little thing goes wrong, I don't know how to fix it.　　　I should also add that some students presented the Japanese research project by PowerPoint presentation. This is the research project that we( Marcia and I)worked together. That was a nice surprise for me since I did not give students much time for this project.

Thing 3 and Thing 9

Kyoto Heianjingu

I have added the feed to my blog. Thank you Marcia. Marcia helped me to do both thing 3 and thing 9. Now I have a feed to my blog and I can show the streeming video to my class. I could not have done this without Marcia. I am still not swimming by myself. I need the floating device to survive in the computer world.

Thing 4 Get to Know Your Public Library

(Himeji Castle)
YES, I did visit Minneapolis Public Library and spent more than 1 hour there. I wanted to know more about the databases that my students can use for my Japanese classes. I found out that you need to have the library card to use their databases and of course you need to have St Paul Public Library card to use their databases. I don't have the St Paul Library card so I have to get one (or I have to go there). I heard (from the Reference person at the desk) that if you have the St Paul Library card, you could still use Minneapolis Public Library's databases after you type in your St Paul Public Library's card number on line.
Another thing I found out is that MPLS Library has the Manga Club, called "Tomodachi", which meet like 5 times and talk about your favorite manga and Japanese culture and enjoy Anime movies. (I will give this information to my students.) I did not find much about the reliable databases for students studying Japanese. I need to inquire about this in different places, I guess.

Database Exploration(blog)

We evaluated the database today. We checked, ABC CLIO, Grolier Online, Sirs Research, Gale, Ethnic Newswatch and some other ones. If I were a science or history teacher I would definitely use these databases but I noticed that there are not enough information on Japanese subjects. If the research topic is something worldly famous you can find information on that easily, but if you are looking for something very Japanese and not that well known, it is very difficult to collect data by using only the database listed on that page. Am I missing something?

My level three students and Power Point presentation

My level three students are wonderful. I gave them an assignment, which involves planning a trip to Japan. Some groups did a skit, some made regular presentation and others chose a PowerPoint presentation. Four groups did PowerPoint presentations, which were all excellent. Thanks to the new equipments I got, whole class enjoyed the show. Students are so creative and they can come up with such fresh new ideas. They are the best friends with the Japanese famous singing group, they are riding on top of the “Shinkansen”(bullet train), and they are soaking in “Onsen (hot spring) in their “PowerPoint world”. I can only say good things about this class. Getting this computer and the projector may be the best thing happened to me this year. And of course, I have the best students.

Thing 5 Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

(Harajyuku, I am with COSUPURE girls.)

With a lot of help from Leslie, Rachel and Jason, I set up my Web Page. I could not have done it without help. I am still thinking what I should put in my page. I did "Contact" " My schedule" and "Assignments" I would like to put more things like resources that students can use.

Thing 21 You Tube and More

I hate to admit this but I did not know about You Tube till my student told me about this. One day my student said to me,
"Have you watched "Hana yori dango"? I had no idea what she was talking about. "Hana yori dango" is a Japanese TV drama; the story came from "manga". And that student showed me how I can watch this Japanese drama on You Tube. Now I am hooked on You Tube. You can watch various Japanese TV show on You Tube. Believe or not, students are learning a lot of Japanese by sitting in front of computer. My IB student talked about famous dog called "cyuuken Hachikou" in her IB test. She also learned about this by watching You Tube. Her Japanese was very good. It is amazing how young kids learn things these days. Especially when you are learning foreign language, You Tube (or other similar things) helps. I will explore other video services later on.

Thing 15 Collaboration

I brought my students to the library last Monday. Marcia planned a very nice activity for the students. Students chose Japanese city and looked for the information such as population, weather, main industry, history, and famous places. They also have to write the source and citation. This time, students seem to be more comfortable to use database and look for the information. One funny answer I saw was the answer for the question." How will I travel there from St.Paul, MN? One group wrote: airplane - source( common sense). I started laughing.
Marcia did such a nice job teaching students how to find the right information. We are planning another lesson next week and the collaboration is working. Thank you Marcia.

日本 アイヌ村北海道 Ainu Hokkaido

Thing 10 Copyright/Plagiarism

Most of my students know the meaning of the word "plagiarism." According to the survey we took, 24 students out of 30 students knew the meaning of plagiarism. That is pretty high percentage of students, knowing the correct answer. All of my students (except 2 students) are ELL. So they know that they cannot copy some one else's writing, and pretending that is your own writing. But when I see some of their research papers, it is evident that they copied something without citing the sauce. I don't usually assign a research paper in English, so "plagiarism" is not a big problem in Japanese class, yet we have to teach students how to do it right. According to the same survey, 20 students out of 30 know the meaning of the word, copyright, (the legal right to reproduce, publish, or sell the contents and form of a literary, musical, or artistic work.) Again we have to teach students to cite the sauces. Especially, you forget to cite the sauces for pictures and photos. We have to put empashis on teaching responsible use of information.

Exchanging ideas

We had a departmental meeting last week. I showed my power point presentation at the meeing, although my slides are vary basic ones, I felt pretty good about being able to do so. The topic was how to introduce new words. It was interesting to find out other teachers are also using power point presentation to teach languages. Jason(our Spanish teacher) is using the computer every day. We( me and Jill) mentioned about this class and what we are doing in the class. A lot of people showed the interest. Jill also talked about her Spanish class learning about how to do the research. We are always too busy to share the ideas so I really enjoyed this meeting.

桜

日本に行った時の桜の写真です。　浜離宮公園から船で浅草に向かった時とりました。
写真が、ブロッグできるかどうかためしてみました。　

Sakura

Blog of the week

We tried to teach students how to use data bases effectively last Monday but I am not sure that we did it right. We asked students to find the information on Japanese native animals and food using the databases. Students were not allowed to use Google search. It was hard to find the information on those subjects. I also use "google search" a lot and I am not used to use other sauces. Yes, I use books and the reference sauces but I myself have to learn how to find the correct information using computer.
As for the computer and the projector, I am using them a lot by doing power point presentation. I use them when I introduce new words and new sentences. It is fun to make interesting slides. The pictures I took in Japan became very useful.

Computer Class

I took a class called , Computer Basics, I wanted to take power point class and i photo class but I couldn't because of Harding's conferences and other things. I would like to learn how to do power point presentation in the classroom. Although, I am doing power point presentation in my class, I still don't know alot of things. I got a cart, locks and the speakers, I just need to learn more about computer.

Thing 5 Research Calculator

Thing 5

I have learned that you can use the "Research Project Calculator". You go to http:www.elm4you.org/research/ And type in the due date. You will find the five steps 1.Question 2 Gather 3 Conclude 4 Communicate 5 Evaluate with the due date for each step. This may be hellpful for doing IB research paper. I am going to read about this and study more. It is a tool which creates a timeline for the research paper.

日本語でブログをできたらいいですね。ほんと。まみこ

Thing 1

What are you talking about? Understanding information. I have learned how to create your own blogs.

Thing 3

I tried to write my blog in Japanese and I was successful. I am still not good at using the computer. ( I call myself "cave woman") Today I took my students to the library and Marcia did some lesson on how to do research. My first step to work with the librarian(or media specialist?). I am also taking the "basic computer skill class", next week. I am LEARNING. Last night, I tried to make power point presentation using some pictures. I made 4 slides with Japanese sentenses. But I need more help on doing this. And I need some one who is VERY PATIENT who can teach me how to do so.

Thing 2

We watched the short video called,” Shift Happens."(I liked the video.)Next topic was "21st Century Literacy" We had discussion about that. We learned about 3 Rs, talked about Pre test and the Post test, Research Project Calculator, and how to use the new computer.(Help! Help! Help!) It is too much. Here is a quote, I remember,” Children are native to cyberspace, we as adults are immigrants." Here I am, an immigrant(or non native speaker) adult, learning "cyberspace." It is not easy to catch up with all the technology related things. That is my " blog" of the day.