Day 3: Yokohama 1st School Visit, Yokohama Middle School

We visited a Junior High "Middle School in the morning. From the rail station we passed a small building for bicycle storage. There were no Bike locks, not one.

We then hiked up about 4 flights of 20 stairs!!! This is the Elementary school near by. The school we visited had the same type building.

Later we learned that this area is very Middle Class, with one or both parents working. There taxes pay for the school system. 

Hydrangeas growing wild!

We met with the school Principal and the Yokohama school Board President, instructional leader, and head of all 500 teachers in there system (she was a Canadian transplant by marriage/divorce, but loves Japan and chose to stay and live).

As we left they pointed out there Welcome sign made for us.

First there's the exchange of business cards. Custom dictates you accept the card with two hands and bow. They say "I am so and so." You should accept the card and take a moment to read their name (if the cards translated) and "admire it." Comment if you think the cards nice. Then give you card the same way, words facing the receiver. 

Japanese business cards. After receiving a card Do Not put it in our pocket or write on it. Keep the cards on the table in our of how your seated at the table to better "reference" people's names.

I'm practicing my Japanese and I greet everyone in the card exchange with:

"Haji-me-mash-ite, Joanne K. desu" 

-allow Me to intro myself, I am ...

"Dozo yoroshiku"

 - nice to meet you

Afterwards, some people squeel or say "ahhhhh very good Japanese" in AWE!! Japanese is hard, I memorized phrases by associating them somehow, but The Japanese are seeing we can learn a little Japanese too. 

The pancake for our snack. We ended up on Day 5, asking the kids what we should take home to our own children, and this pancake is what they recommended.

Everywhere in Japan you take off your outside shoes and put on slippers or indoor shoes. These are the kids shoes storage lockers.

Kids artwork. 

Summer vacation for all the schools is taken for 100 days. Kids and families use this time to visit areas of Japan.

School nurses office. In CPS nurse float from school to school, and staying 1-2 days a week (so dont get sick when shes not there) she had a dedicated room. Nurse and Principal of the school:

Typical student working. They were all very shy. The younger grades were lively and enthusiastic, not so much in the upper grades. this is a "special education room." The 3-sided blue shield has a student sitting in the middle. Apparently he doesnt like alot of stimulation, so he is "shielded from others." As we progress thru the schools we will hear more about special education. But it doesnt seem - to me, a non-education person - that they truly treat special needs like ADHD, or autism. Instead there special needs is blindness and hearing impaired. We also heard of kids in the special ed room because they "don't get along well with other" or "they are being bullied." To us it seemed kids who "don't conform" are in Special Education rooms.

Classroom sizes range. But they try to have less then 40 kids in a room. The principal here thought the US had 10 kids in a classroom, and the 3 schools we represent from the U.S. vary, but are roughly 20-30 kids per room (which in American standards we feel is still too high).

Student mural in the outdoor center of school garden. 

Just to compare, this is Husbands school mural and garden (which as Principal he secured a grant for the "learning garden, using the Socratic method to teach sitting outdoors on the large rocks (in the middle). Then a year later he secured funding for the mural. 

I took this picture at the end of the day in the Principals office. When they received us they had chilled green tea waiting and a plastic wrapped pancake (we ate in the room, 2 pancakes sandwiching a jam nutty filling, we ended up saving our for a snack).

We met right away, but I took this photo at the end of our visit. Japanese love doilies (on the leather couch back). Isn't this a retro 70's ish office? The cabinets reminded me of my dad's office in Chicago at International Camera Repair shop. Heavy metal cabinets are throughout the building. The fridge was so 60's. Those doors in the center back slide open, as do most doors in the building.

We arrived at the school, put on slippers, and came into the Principals office. We go they a little fuss about where to sit, and we settle on the couches. They had the table set up and moved us to "more comfortable seating." So we sit down to start the meeting. This is a cultural and educational exchange right? So the Principal hands us a school informational packet IN JAPANESE KANJI. He ruffles while talking through his cabinet, and then and then beings us his Mt. Fuji sight seeing pictures. (At the start if our meeting!!) I think he was nervous, maybe he never had visitor from another country. And we're introduced as almost "dignitaries," so I can understand the nervousness, and tremendous pride in his country. Here are pictures of his pictures. We won't be visiting Mt. Fuji on this trip, so we did appreciate his photo montage.

At the end of the visit I took these pictures of his 8x10 copies. We realized he didn't know how to start the discussion. Our guide recommended the standard Japanese meeting style: let's do introductions, tell about where we work, and then discuss.

Smooth sailing after that. At the end of the visit (which was punctual in every way..) he said he wished he had more time to talk and exchange information on the schools. We arrived at 10:, talk until 11:, so at 10:55 we finished a comment and stood to tour the school until 12:, when we took a taxi to the next school.