It's Okay to Fail

Every once in a while, I have a good idea (lol). Also, every once in a while that good idea doesn't turn out exactly as I want it to. Take, for example, today's 1st grade elementary class.

When I was a little younger (college days), I learned this fun little activity that I'll call the "Belly Haha" game. Starting with one person lying on the floor, the next person places their head on the first persons belly, and the line continues like that. The first person laughs "ha," the second laughs "ha ha," and so on. The goal is to get to the end of the line with each person properly laughing their number of "ha's." If at any point laughter gets out of control, the team has to start over.

If you can imagine this properly, the childish nature of the activity and the fact that the rules indicate "don't laugh" makes it hard not to laugh. It's really fun, it builds a little bit of trust (placing one's head on another's belly is kind of intimate) and it can be refreshing (laughter works wonders!).

So I explained this activity to the 1st grade homeroom teacher before class and she seemed to like it. In class, we practiced our numbers first, did some general review, then broke the class up into two teams (thank goodness for having pretty much even number of girls and boys). Me and one of the not-shy boys showed the class how it was done - they all started laughing! So once they lined up, we started the activity. But it wasn't going as planned.

First of all, little belly doesn't move as much as my example belly, so there was less motion to cause laughing. Second, some of the kids are kind of shy, so some of their laughs were almost inaudible. Third, not everyone gets along in the class, and when it came time for certain boys to laugh, they were too distracted with a minor squabble to remember their number.

All in all, it was a good effort and I think with a little more maturity, the game could be pulled off pretty well. That's why I'm thinking of using it in a junior high school class if I think the kids could use a good laugh.

Christmas Cards

For the past two weeks at my schools, we have been making cards for the holiday season. Today, I visited my small school for my weekly English lesson. Below are some cards made by two of my 3rd grade elementary students.

A (Last) Day at School

Several weeks ago, after an elementary school lesson, one of the teachers at my small school told me that two of the boys were leaving Higashi. Their father was getting transferred for a work assignment and they would be gone by September 18th. As luck would have it, I was scheduled to be at that school during the boys' last week, so I would have plenty of time to say my goodbyes.

The thing about these two boys is that their father is American, so they're English comprehension is well above that of the other students. They didn't speak much or any English to me, but when I talked in class, they often understood what I was saying and would help the other students out. I will miss their funny Japanese interpretations of English...and of my "accent".

For their last week, there were a few special events to bid them farewell. We played basketball and kickball. After the kickball game, the brothers were presented with hand-made mementos, to remember their friends at the school. The boys even made short speeches, and both of them teared up. It was touching to see that their short time at the school had been so good for them.

I made sure to have my camera with me, and took pictures whenever I could. I thought five days would be a long time, but it was over before I knew it.