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Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee or tea, relax, and settle in. I know that I’m never short with words on this site, but I believe that this is going to be the longest post. As I’m now flying back to the US, it feels like this is the conclusion to a book. The acknowledgments section is joining in. It's a real party over here. :)
Conclusion
After my experience with how much time it takes to craft some sort of writing each day, I’ll never look at serious blogging casually again. Because I encouraged participation, both before I left by soliciting questions people wanted answered about Japanese culture and throughout in the form of comments, the blog was a dynamic medium. Because I was using multimedia formats and responding to 
reader interest, it became progressively harder to draft it in Microsoft Word then simply paste into the Blogger site. I also realized that I underestimated the ease of WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) software. I have a new-found respect for people who follow tightly prescribed formatting rules for fonts, type size, picture placement, etc. Frequently, “what I saw” on my compose screen was substantially different from “what I got” in the preview window. Some days, more time was spent on formatting than content. I’ve also learned that you see the world around you differently when you have an “audience.” I don’t know how many conversations among JFMF participants began, “Wait until the people on my blog read about this…” I also had this in the back of my mind, which was perfect for this trip, an educational venture. At the same time, I can see how documenting your life and your thoughts becomes an exercise in narcissism and self-promotion. I think it feeds into these tendencies, and also keeps people from experiencing the moment they’re in.
So, my (unsolicited) advice to you is two-fold. 1. Don’t embrace something just because it’s new. 2. Don’t fear some
thing just because it’s new. Simply being new isn’t a value judgment; new things aren’t in and of themselves dangerous or safe, worthwhile or worthless, good or bad. If you come across something that interests you, take the time to learn about it and decide for yourself if it’s worth your time. Before this trip, I had never blogged, and before October 15th, I had never commented on anyone else’s blog. (Yes, I actually prefer to lurk in the background of blog reading...) As much as I’m going to miss recording my experiences (and the experiences themselves), I’m very much looking forward to a computer-free weekend with my husband and parents when I return. Then, I’ll be back on track and tech-friendly Monday morning. I will be writing a few more posts and encouraging a few more caption contests.
One last paragraph before I step off my soapbox. (Ah the perils of a captive audience---oh wait, you're free to skip ahead or stop reading anytime I’m boring you.) I’m relatively certain that I’m the youngest person on this trip. That’s probably because the application a
sked for applicants who’d been teaching 2 or more years. In my application, I was honest about my lack of teaching experience. I said that I was new to my job but that I loved it and was planning on spending many years in school libraries. I also said that I brought the enthusiasm of a student, one who’d been working in graduate school for two years so she’d be able to have the job she had just begun. Thank goodness I didn’t let the “requirement” stand in my way; after this year, there’s no more JFMF. (Which is a huge loss to teachers and students across the United States!) As the Japanese like to say to their students, “Find your purpose, find your heart.” Whatever it may be, as Thoreau said, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.” For me, as a travel opportunity and an educational experience, this opportunity was priceless. (Although it's amazing how the incidentals on an 'all-expenses paid trip still add up quickly!) Personally, I value travel highly, and I am so glad that I spent this summer traveling the states. There were at least 2 attendees from each state, and I felt like I had a logical starting point for conversation when I knew something about their hometowns. You live in Champaign; I ate in a great restaurant there. You went to grad school at Berkeley; on the Fourth of July, I was playing wiffleball near the campus. Wisconsin? I just mail ordered apples from there. I understand that not everyone values travel the way that I do, and that's fine. I just encourage everyone to try to surround themselves with things and people that make them happy and fulfill them.
Acknowledgments
And now I’m down from the soapbox conclusion and ready for acknowledgments. Thank you Mrs. Klein for sending the initial email last fall. Without you, I never would have heard about JFMF. Thank you Mr. Snodgress, Mr.Lisk, and Ms. Gunst for recommending me. Whatever you wrote must have been great. Thank you Mrs. Orr for proofreading my application. I know that lots of people take advantage of your proofreading skills. Thank you Mrs. Pullen, Mr. Snodgress, Mrs. Wolcott, and Dr. Watts for supporting t
his professional development opportunity and allowing me to miss classes for most of the month of October. I will definitely utilize what I’ve learned. Thank you Tech Office, Mrs. Potwin, Library Monitors, Mrs. Bermudez, and Mr. Whelan for keeping the library running at base level while I’m away. Thank you Ms. Heap for the promotional hoopla you’re so excellent at. Thank you to everyone who offered advice about Japan and overseas travel, especially Mr. Yanelli, Mr. Moran, Ms. Spector, and Mr. Whelan. I have an adapter and lots of related reading thanks to you. Thanks to everyone who wanted to collaborate on a lesson about Japan or who sent me on an information-finding scavenger hunt throughout my stay.
One of my personal goals for my role in the school involves increased collaboration between classroom teachers and me, and I think JFMF is going to prove very productive in helping me work towards that goal. I’m also grateful to the JFMF selection committee, the trip organizers, the other teachers who taught me how education “really works” in much of America, and the Japanese government for allowing access to government officials and schools and for supporting me in a style way above my means. And, last but not least, thank you to everyone who read my blog and shared in th
is experience with me. I didn’t know any other participants when I stepped off the plane, but I never felt like I was out of the thoughts of my family, friends, and colleagues back in the states. Despite being an ocean away, I felt like this trip brought me closer (or back in touch!) with many of you.
In some way that’s meaningful to you, embrace the spirit of the Atlas Initiative. Show curiosity and care for the world around you!
(Thank you Karen for the suit. I got so many compliments on it. I kept saying to people that I had nowhere else to where it, and they said it looked like a great 'dinner suit.' I don't know where they go to dinner, but "dinner suit" is not in my vocabulary. I was also told to wear it for my presentation next Friday. It seems just a tad overdressed, but we'll see. I'm considering it...)
(If you're following the blog and received something like 10 notifications about this post, it's because it keeps showing up fine in preview but changing my formatting when it posts....grrrrr!)The little kids at the elementary school were so excited and I took so many photos, I felt like had to post right away. I wanted to wait before I wrote about Nagamine Junior High and Tomishiro Senior High School. Curriculum is prescribed by the national ministry at the elementary and junior high level, but I hoped to hear from teachers assigned to other prefectures before writing about my school experiences, to limit my generalizations to their applicable comparisons.
Out of the three schools, the junior high school was my favorite. (Just like I love the Saint Stephen's middle school students and their energy!) Little kids are excited no matter who visits; you have to work a little harder with preteens. Yet I found them intensely curious about my life and about life in America. They wanted to practice their English, or pantomime, and I'm sure we were a huge distraction to whatever lessons teachers were attempting to teach. In their free time they asked similar questions to what our students might ask. "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you have a cell phone?" "Do you like school?" While I'm not going to say that they were always focused in 
class, they always had an intensity about them that I appreciated. 80% of the junior high students are involved in clubs, like sports (super-competitive, plus they only play one sport year round), brass band, and engineering (robotics, technology, and solar car competition). The clubs meet Monday through Friday after school through dusk, and they also meet on Saturdays! Another co-curricular program sounded a lot like Saint Stephen's IQ program, cultural trips to other parts of the country and work experience days with local businesses. The reasoning behind the work days, however, is quite different. As I mentioned in describing the elementary school, we visited a poorer area of Japan. The school instituted the work days help students make knowledgeable decisions about work, since high school is not mandatory. Last year, 4 students of 198 graduates chose not to attend senior high school, either because they didn't pass an entrance exam, couldn't afford the fees, or weren't interested.
If you haven't looked at the slideshow yet, now's the time to do so. (Separate email in order to comply with privacy laws) My group members kept commenting, especially in the junior high, about the deteriorating condition of the school building. It's only 29 years old, but the humidity has not been kind to the structure. I didn't think it was bad; the building was very clean, just not aging well, and in keeping with the style of many schools I've seen in tropical areas. But depending where you're from, like the big box brick schools of the American midwest, I guess it could be jarring.
The motto of the senior high school we visited is “academics and sports.” (I think this says quite a bit about the type of school that we visited.) The administrators said that their school is a lower-performing academic school, but “they are nice and good students.” The school fo
cuses not just on scholarly learning, but also guides the students in life choices. The school operates on the principles of diligence, cooperation (the principal said something here about “healthy bodies, healthy minds” but I’m a slow note taker, so I didn’t get more than that recorded), creation, and producing functioning adults. The school offers three tracks: sports (for athletes and future gym teachers), IT (for university and vocational students), and academics (for smarter students who are willing to take two extra classes, one before school and one after.) I’ll be bringing back a copy of the curriculum and the three year plan for anyone who is interested in learning more about the specifics of the academic system. The school has a college and career office. While the administrators stressed student interest and individual attention, most of the work of this office is completed in group sessions. After graduating, 60% of the students attend university and 10% find jobs. The school’s biggest challenge is helping the other 30% of the students find a purpose in their lives.
We were not given the same amount of freedom to wander the halls and classes of the high school. In fact, we only got one period on our own; otherwise, we saw part of a computer class and part of an English class. Unfortunately, many of the students that we did see seemed bored. (While I’m not going to claim that the junior high students were always paying attention, it’s because they were talking or otherwise engaged in an activity, not because they were sleeping.) We found out, however, that many of the more motivated students attend one of the other, more highly-respected, high schools in the city. Even clubs, for which Japanese schools are renowned, are not as active at Tomishiro because many students have to work after school.
In both the junior and senior high schools, we noticed what we would consider old-fashioned, teacher-centered, teaching methods. (It turns out this is indeed representative of schools in prefectures of schools across Japan.) The teacher stood at the blackboard and lectured
. Students sat in their rows of desks, listened, took notes, and completed worksheets. I wondered if this was the case because we visited a poorer district, but this is true across Japan. I was going to write here about technology in the classroom, as you might imagine, it’s nothing like technology use in US schools, but expect a later post about this...
I greatly enjoyed both my days in the schools! The above should be seen as a comparison and description, not a judgment. I'd love this to be the beginning of a discussion of different education styles and different ways of learning. I've learned so much on this trip and in visiting the schools! With all of the traveling I've done, I've never been able to get an inside view of education in that area. We were welcomed with open arms, and I feel like I made some wonderful connections with students and teachers.
Before I left, Ms. Groelle asked me about the college counseling process in Japan. At the time, I knew nothing about it, but in talking to university and high school administrators, and university and high school students, I feel like I've learned a lot about the process in Japan. Fir
st off, senior high school (10-12) is not required in Japan. 98% of students do go on to either high school or vocational school. Because high school is not mandatory, it is not free and admission is not guaranteed. Which means that when you're in 9th grade, you face an entrance exam for high school, and where you go to high school largely determines where (or whether) you'll go to college. So the students are beginning the process earlier and with little guidance. Better high schools send their students to better colleges and have more individualized counseling programs. They also have more difficult entrance exams, so they only accept the better students. The college process isn't starting off with a level playing field.
Also, many students want to go to school close to home. Family is much more central than in the US, and students want to be able to be with their families on festivals and holidays. Also, many students live at home while attending college. (I think in general I'm speaking more for the more rural and remote prefectures. All bets are off for Tokyo-all of the small groups have mentioned that people in their prefecture talk about Tokyo as if it were another world.) If students do not live at home, they do not have roommates. In Japan, you live with family or you live alone. According to one student I spoke with, the hardest part of his adjustment to his study abroad year last year was sharing a washroom and refrigerator with three other boys.
Back to the process---it strongly relates to the entrance exam. Students live in fear of this exam throughout their teen years. They're told from the time that they're young that this test will determine their future. They put much more weight on it than we put on the SATs. Teacher recommendations are taken for some colleges, but admission is not decided based on them.
The university students also mentioned the "motivation problem" I wrote about in an earlier post. They said because Japan has such a low birth rate, universities are now less competitive than they once were. Students don't have to work so hard for admittance. The economy is also hurting their motivation. It used to be that if you went to a good university, you would get a good job upon graduation. You'd stay in that job throughout your career and be cared for in retirement. Now, young people are having trouble being hired; Japanese culture only recently introduced the idea of lay-offs in bad economic times. Graduates are facing competition from experienced workers who have lost their jobs. Another problem with motivation is that grading in universities is notoriously easy. 
Students are motivated to work to get in college, but less motivated to study once they're there. The ideal model used to be to work hard in school, get a good job and work towards a better income. That paradigm has collapsed. College counseling is a recent phenomenon. Counselors are not just college counselors though; they're college and career counselors. Japanese society does not push students towards higher education; they push people to "follow their passions" or "find their purpose." Sometimes this involves college, sometimes not. These counselors help students find something that "they can dedicate themselves to." Counselors are more heavily used in poorer areas; rich parents want to brag about their children and the good universities they attend. They send their teens to "cram school," night and weekend test-preparation academies. Poorer families can't afford cram school, so students use the resources available to them with their school tuition. Still, applying to colleges is still largely a family decision, and students fill out the college application (or applications-applying to more than one school is increasing in popularity for students who don't mind moving away from their families) and send it themselves.
I thought the push towards finding 'a purpose to dedicate your life to' was interesting. In the US, I'd say we strongly push seniors towards college. Do you think that's its emblematic of US stress on advancement and competition that has encouraged this mindset? I'm asking because what I kept hearing from people was that society needs mechanics, electricians, and "people for the hair house" (ummmm hairdressers). As we've already talked about Japan being a more group-oriented society and these professions are necessary for successful group cooperative function, do you think it's a fundamental difference in our worldviews?
reader interest, it became progressively harder to draft it in Microsoft Word then simply paste into the Blogger site. I also realized that I underestimated the ease of WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) software. I have a new-found respect for people who follow tightly prescribed formatting rules for fonts, type size, picture placement, etc. Frequently, “what I saw” on my compose screen was substantially different from “what I got” in the preview window. Some days, more time was spent on formatting than content. I’ve also learned that you see the world around you differently when you have an “audience.” I don’t know how many conversations among JFMF participants began, “Wait until the people on my blog read about this…” I also had this in the back of my mind, which was perfect for this trip, an educational venture. At the same time, I can see how documenting your life and your thoughts becomes an exercise in narcissism and self-promotion. I think it feeds into these tendencies, and also keeps people from experiencing the moment they’re in. 
thing just because it’s new. Simply being new isn’t a value judgment; new things aren’t in and of themselves dangerous or safe, worthwhile or worthless, good or bad. If you come across something that interests you, take the time to learn about it and decide for yourself if it’s worth your time. Before this trip, I had never blogged, and before October 15th, I had never commented on anyone else’s blog. (Yes, I actually prefer to lurk in the background of blog reading...) As much as I’m going to miss recording my experiences (and the experiences themselves), I’m very much looking forward to a computer-free weekend with my husband and parents when I return. Then, I’ll be back on track and tech-friendly Monday morning. I will be writing a few more posts and encouraging a few more caption contests.
sked for applicants who’d been teaching 2 or more years. In my application, I was honest about my lack of teaching experience. I said that I was new to my job but that I loved it and was planning on spending many years in school libraries. I also said that I brought the enthusiasm of a student, one who’d been working in graduate school for two years so she’d be able to have the job she had just begun. Thank goodness I didn’t let the “requirement” stand in my way; after this year, there’s no more JFMF. (Which is a huge loss to teachers and students across the United States!) As the Japanese like to say to their students, “Find your purpose, find your heart.” Whatever it may be, as Thoreau said, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.” For me, as a travel opportunity and an educational experience, this opportunity was priceless. (Although it's amazing how the incidentals on an 'all-expenses paid trip still add up quickly!) Personally, I value travel highly, and I am so glad that I spent this summer traveling the states. There were at least 2 attendees from each state, and I felt like I had a logical starting point for conversation when I knew something about their hometowns. You live in Champaign; I ate in a great restaurant there. You went to grad school at Berkeley; on the Fourth of July, I was playing wiffleball near the campus. Wisconsin? I just mail ordered apples from there. I understand that not everyone values travel the way that I do, and that's fine. I just encourage everyone to try to surround themselves with things and people that make them happy and fulfill them.
his professional development opportunity and allowing me to miss classes for most of the month of October. I will definitely utilize what I’ve learned. Thank you Tech Office, Mrs. Potwin, Library Monitors, Mrs. Bermudez, and Mr. Whelan for keeping the library running at base level while I’m away. Thank you Ms. Heap for the promotional hoopla you’re so excellent at. Thank you to everyone who offered advice about Japan and overseas travel, especially Mr. Yanelli, Mr. Moran, Ms. Spector, and Mr. Whelan. I have an adapter and lots of related reading thanks to you. Thanks to everyone who wanted to collaborate on a lesson about Japan or who sent me on an information-finding scavenger hunt throughout my stay.
is experience with me. I didn’t know any other participants when I stepped off the plane, but I never felt like I was out of the thoughts of my family, friends, and colleagues back in the states. Despite being an ocean away, I felt like this trip brought me closer (or back in touch!) with many of you.
