On Monday, we spent the morning visiting Yamaguchi University. The president of the university took us on a tour of the school, and we saw professors teaching different subjects. We saw a music professor giving a flute lesson to one student. I think she may have felt shy when our big group of 16 teachers, plus our host guide, a translator, and the university president all filed into the classroom and stood watching her as she was being taught. I know it would have made ME feel nervous to have such an audience of strangers; but she just went on doing what the professor was instructing her to do. She was a beginner at the flute, the professor told us, but already very good at playing both violin and piano. She wanted to be a music teacher, though, and she decided to take flute lessons because lots of Japanese students like to play band instruments in school, rather than violin or piano, so she wanted to be able to teach them.
Music lesson at Yamaguchi University
The most interesting part of the visit was when we met with some professors and some students in the university's teacher education department. They explained how they trained teachers for teaching in schools in Japan, and then we sat around small tables with the college students in the program, and asked each other questions about what schools are like in each of our countries. The college student I was sitting beside spoke just a little English, but with the help of the translator, and some paper and pencils, we were able to have a good conversation. She wanted to know what schools were like in America. When the session was over, we exchanged email addresses so we could email each other. She said that her email username was Japanese for "I like ducks." I think should tell her about Memphis' famous Peabody ducks when I email her, and attach a photograph I took of them this summer.
We drove to the city of Sanyo Onoda, where we will be staying for the next several days. We went to city hall for a meeting with the mayor, who made a speech welcoming us to Sanyo Onoda and telling us about his city. We were each given a gift of a pretty hand towel, wrapped in gift paper that was decorated with 2 patterned paper origami cranes attached to the front. Somebody took the time to carefully fold 32 cranes for those beautifully wrapped welcome gifts! A newspaper reporter took a picture of this welcoming ceremony, and the next day there was an article about our group in the paper.
Here is our group with the mayor of Sanyo Onoda
The next morning we went back to city hall, where we had discussions with the school superintendent, and some parents of children who attend schools in the district. We learned a lot about their school system, and a new kind of lessons they are doing that are helping to improve the students' test scores. The best part of the day, though, was after lunch. We visited a senior citizen community center, which has a pottery club called "Rakuwaen." To be a member of the Rakuwaen club, one must be aged sixty or older. But for our visit, club members gave us each a chance to made a piece of pottery, with demonstrations of how to make a cup, a pot, or a square dish. I made a simple square dish, and wrote the Kanji characters for "Japan" inside it for a design. Some of the people in our group are art teachers, and made some very pretty and interesting designs. The fun part was getting to play with clay, and meeting the Rakuwaen club members who were there helping us all and showing us techniques. There must be other types of craft clubs at the community center, because in another part of the building we saw a display of beautiful handmade items made by the community center members.
A member of the Rakuwaen club shows us how to use a tube to mold a cup.
LeAnne, a reading coach from Florida, gets help from a Rakuwaen club potter. She is making this mug for her father, who lives in Tennessee. Guess what sports team he is a fan of?
Our group of JFMF teachers and the Rakuwaen club, in front of the community center.
