Mamiko's 23

Thing 24 Online Gaming

2008-04-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am teaching Japanese old and new games in my Japanese 2C class. I am teaching traditional Japanese games such as Otedama, Ayatori, Kendama, and Darumasan ga koronda.
Students are going to talk about Japanese video games and other games. One thing I have discovered when I was doing the assignment for this class was Japanese goo site.
This site has Japanese dictionaries, news, music and games. Some of the games are free and can be viewed at school. So we did "Puchin game" today. My score was "17" and the students' highest score was "90". There is no comparison, and students are much better than me. It is fun to play if you have nothing to do, I have to admit. There are some educational games that students can learn some Japanese, too.

http://game.goo.ne.jp/

ようこさんへ

2008-04-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

イーメールありがとうございます。はい、とうほうしんきは、韓国のグループだと知っていますが、生徒がこのグループをとても好きで、日本語を使っているかぎり、それでも良いという事にしました。この学校の日本語のクラスの生徒皆、日本のjポップが、大好きなんです。

Blog of the week

2008-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

I feel very tired because of many things are happening around me. But I should not forget" bogging". It became so important to have this computer. This computer is my best friend now. I don't think I can live without this computer. This is my lifesaver. This is my dictionary, my lesson plan, my how to book and the entertainment. I have just finished the week of J-pop. (Japanese pop music) Students did presentation on J-pop music using this computer and the projector. It was GREAT. Do you know anything about the music band called "TOHOSHINKI"（They are Korean but they sing in Japanese)? I learned so much about Japanese pop music from my students, such as” News"," Mika Nakashima" "Nobody knows" and other music. A lot of students want to learn Japanese because they like this pop culture. (Some of them will even tell you the differences between American pop music and the Japanese pop music.) Not only the students, I enjoy learning about Japanese popular music. And being able to watch these singers sing in Japanese and dance help us learn more about Japan. In the beginning of the year, I decided to learn more about technology and I did it. Students are also using more technology in the class.

Thing 22. Ebooks and NetLibrary

2008-03-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

How to Use NetLibrary E-Books.
http://www.oclc.org/netlibrary/demo/
I have decided to go to the library to learn how to use NetLibrary. It seems to be very simple to use. I watched this demo video .
You can go to www.mplib.org and go to Netlibrary. Now I should try this. 1. You have to log in.( You type your name and Your library card number.) 2 You go to the main page. 3. Select the E book you want to read. I selected "African-American Art" and looked at the book and read some of the pages. It is pretty simple. Someday, all the students will use ebooks as their textbooks and they do not carry the heavy textbooks. This was my first try to use E-books and I have to learn more.

Thing 11. All about Google

2008-03-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

We learned about google "Documents" today. It was quite interesting. I decided to go to "Google" and checked other Google features. I liked the "google map". I typed my address and I checked the map and saw the picture of our street. Then you can go up and down the street and see all the houses around. It is just like I am driving the street. Only when the streets are outlined by blue, street views are available. Then you can drag the street view to look around. I checked our old house in San Francisco. It did not have the street picture so I could not see the house that clearly but it was fun.

Thing 36. Social Networking

2008-03-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are the things I found out from my daughter about facebook and myspace. She tells me that facebook makes it really easy for her to keep in touch with her friends outside of the state and outside of the country. She can talk to her friends from when we lived in San Francisco, talk to her friends from Edina, and even talk to her friends who do not live in the United States. On her facebook she also has applications such as games where she can compete with her friends. She showed me that one of the applications, dogbook, made it able for our dog Lily to have a mini-facebook where she can have normal facebook friends and dogbook friends.(dogbook friends????) She also has photos of our dog in her albums so that our other daughters(who are in California) can see Lily. (See above picture) She also showed me that there are two ways of talking with friends one on one. There is a public way where you write on their wall and there is the private way where you send them a message. She tells me that on myspace it is harder to find the people you are looking for and that the layout is very different. She tells me that myspace is more like a blog because you choose the color of your font, your background, and the type of font or background you have. She tells me that you can also join different networks. She belongs to her schools network and when she decides which college she is going to she will then join that network as well. My daughter's name is Natalie and she is very resorceful about this topic. And she loves her facebook.

Thing 23. Technorati, Tagging, and Del.icio.us

2008-03-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

I went to Delicious site and learned about "Social Network". I can share bookmarks with other people. I should be able to post entries to my blog too. I need to learn more about that. Then I went to "google.com "Documents". I watched You tube video about the google document and I tried to create some document. It makes sense to have "one document" which multiple people can view and edit. I thought when we have Japan Bowl, we (the Japanese teachers) can make Japan Bowl questions using google document. I felt that I have so much more to learn.

Thing 18.One Student Thing

2008-02-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

My third year students know so much about Japanese music and Japanese bands. One of the students said, " I read Panic Channel’s blog everyday". So I asked how she does that. She taught me this.”Yaplog.jp” Try going to "yaplog.jp. You can find free blog site with a lot of cute pictures. And, Yes, you have to be able to read Japanese.
I am going to check it out. Some of the Japanese musicians are writing blogs and my students are reading them and learning Japanese. It is amazing that students can learn so much from Internet. Yes, and the students reading these Japanese blogs are very smart students.

Web. Page

2008-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

I went to EBSC database and tried to create a "Web Page". I chose the background color and typed some text. I did not have enough time to finish so I went home and tried to continue. But I could not open my page and I could not do anything at home. So, next day at school I tried again and it worked. I was not sure what I was doing but finally I kind understood what that search box is. Most of my Japanese classes, we do not do research. So I chose my 4th year IB class and listed all the students' IB research topics. Their topics are like "onsen"(Japanese hot springs). "Bon odori", "Naruto" and "Namie Amuro". I typed "bon odori in that search box and I found two articles and one book on Bon odori. I read the outline of the article. These articles will not be helpful for the student. I did the similar things for "onsen". I found one article that might help my student. If I were writing a research paper, for the social science class or history class, this web page will be great, I thought. When I was in school, I never had this and I spent many hours looking for books and articles in front of the card catalogue.( Wow I am old.)

Blog

2008-01-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

I learned how to adjust the voice and the sound for my i movie today. I feel pretty good about that. I learned from Peggy. Since I don't know much about the computer I always ask questions. I even ask some basic things like how to copy the link. Jamie and Jason helped me for that. I made the power point presentation about the Japanese school and used if for my class. I thought it worked well. Showing the real pictures of Japanese school, uniforms, students, classrooms, lunchtime and some school events really help for students to understand the culture. I have learned the following things after making several power point presentations. 1. The slide show should not be too long (20 pictures maximum). Dark room and long slide show are not good things for the sleepy students. 2. Always give students some worksheets and students have to find the answers from the show. 3. Ask questions, wait and after students answer give them the correct answer. 4.Find the interesting pictures.
5. Give students enough time to take notes during the slide show. I am still learning but I am getting better.

Thing 26. Digital Image Collections

2008-01-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

I went to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit on Saturday. There was a long line to buy a ticket and to enter, but I did not mind it so much. I rented the audiovisual help for $6.00. It is always nice to have some audio explanations about the paintings and the artist. Frida Kahlo's life was short but was amazing. I enjoyed going to the Walker Art Center and seeing the Frida Kahlo's paintings. I found the site, which show some of her famous paintings.I also checked the Minneapolis Institute of Arts collections and Metropolitan of arts collections on line. I like going to the museums and seeing arts. It is nice to be able to see some of the arts on line (although you do not get the real excitement of seeing the real thing). Minneapolis Institute of Arts has a teacher's day for the Japanese exhibit on March. Is anyone interested?
(Thank you Jamie.)

http://calendar.walkerart.org/canopy.wac?id=3156

Blog with an animated gif

2008-01-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to try this. This is my new pet, " kingyo". I learned this from Marcia. My next project is to edit my students' Fashion Show video using Imovie. I don't know how yet.

（cartoon taken from http:www.artie.com)
http://www.artie.com/

Thing 14 Reliable Online Resources

2008-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

In November, we evaluated the databases such as ABC CLIO, Grolier Online, Sirs Research, Gale, Ethnic Newswatch and some other ones. These are the reliable online resources. Public Library and ELM have the lists of reliable online resources. Most of the students are not used to use these reliable online resources and they are depending on too much on Googling. I have to know more about Reliable Online Resources in Japanese. This is my next assignment.

Thing 17 One New Thing

2008-01-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

I am not sure about this one” new" thing because it may be an "old " thing for other people. I discovered that making an iMovie using the regular photographs is better than making a slide show. First I used the pictures in iPhoto and put all the pictures in the clips (in the iMovie). I arranged the pictures and made fun transitions and created the titles. I chose the music and recorded my own voice. (You can choose a topic and teach a lesson. We cannot find substitute teachers who speak Japanese so this movie thing is great.) Editing takes time but it is fun. Then I exported the project to iDVD. I chose the theme and burned on DVD.

1/9/08 Blog

2008-01-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

We talked about wiki (type of website that allows users to add, remove,or otherwise edit and change most content very quickly)and Copyright. Lindsay’s presentation was amazing. I thought I wish I could do that. I am just getting a little better with computer but I have not improved my computer skills that much. Discussion about copyright was interesting.
Especially now, everybody is using Internet and so much information is there. It is hard to know what is "legal" and what is "illegal". The bottom line is." Taking and using someone's property without permission is wrong." We have to teach that to students.

Thing 7 Get to Know the Research Project Calculator

2008-01-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

I was reading Marcia's blog that reminded me to write about Thing 7. My first trimester group did some research on Japan and we taught them about the Research Project Calculator. It is a good tool for them to teach organization skill. They are gone now and I am teaching different classes. I have also finished the survey and the papers are sitting on my desk. Although it was just a trimester, I could see students learned more about research and responsible use of information. I should have chosen Japanese Level 3 class, which is a whole year class, but I chose this class, because most of the students are 10th grades.

あけましておめでとうございます。

2008-01-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

謹賀新年　平成２０年　ことしもよろしくおねがいします。A Happy New Year!
I am working on my iMovie now. I used the pictures that I took in Japan and created a movie. I have the background music and I even recorded my own voice but one problem is that I don't know how to burn it on DVD. Does anyone know how to do it?

P.S. I think I know how to do that now, you have to go to iDVD and choose a theme and burn on the DVD. My daughter helped me and she said, " It is not that hard." It was hard for me.

Thing 6 Use the Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator

2007-12-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

"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

2007-12-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

(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

2007-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

(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)

2007-11-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

(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

2007-11-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

Thing 10 Copyright/Plagiarism

2007-11-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-23T18:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

Blog of the week

2007-10-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-10-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

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

Thing 3

2007-10-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Mamiko's 23

Thing 24 Online Gaming

ようこさんへ

Blog of the week

Thing 22. Ebooks and NetLibrary

Thing 11. All about Google

Thing 36. Social Networking

Thing 23. Technorati, Tagging, and Del.icio.us

Thing 18.One Student Thing

Web. Page

Blog

Thing 26. Digital Image Collections

Blog with an animated gif

Thing 14 Reliable Online Resources

Thing 17 One New Thing

1/9/08 Blog

Thing 7 Get to Know the Research Project Calculator

あけましておめでとうございます。

Thing 6 Use the Teacher Guide to the Research Project Calculator

Thing 8. Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy

December Blog

Thing 16 MnLINK

Thing 12 Other Search Engines

Thing 13 Subscription Databases

Blog of the week

Thing 3 and Thing 9

Thing 4 Get to Know Your Public Library

Database Exploration(blog)

My level three students and Power Point presentation

Thing 5 Create and Maintain a Teacher Web Page

Thing 21 You Tube and More

Thing 15 Collaboration

日本 アイヌ村北海道 Ainu Hokkaido

Thing 10 Copyright/Plagiarism

Exchanging ideas

桜

Sakura

Blog of the week

Computer Class

Thing 5 Research Calculator

Thing 1

Thing 3

Thing 2

日本　アイヌ村北海道 Ainu Hokkaido