PresidentÕs Message
By Makoto Osawa
Recently there has been some inappropriate use of the school, so
please be sure to follow the basic items below:
As everyone knows, our relationship with Richard Secord School is
very important for our school. Please help out so that we can continue to
operate our school here.
The upcoming gakugeikai will be
done as it was last year – parents from each grade are in charge the
preparations. Preparations have been started by the parent reps that were
chosen in the September grade meetings. Information regarding preparations has
been given by the gakugeikai leader, Motoda-san, so thank
you in advance to all of the parent grade reps. LetÕs put together a fun gakugeikai.
PrincipalÕs Message
By Sanae Ohki
In the
September newsletter, I reported that visiting teacher consultants from Japan
would visit our school. Here is some information about their visit, especially
about one area in which we are quite interested – team teaching.
As you know,
in September, the grade 2 class grew to 11 students. We decided to have two
teachers for the class; this way, all 11 students have the opportunity to study
together in a large group as well as break into two smaller groups for more
individualized instruction. This new style is called Team Teaching, and it is
quite common in Canada. In Japan, it has also been gaining ground as more
schools are assigning team teaching duties to teachers.
As for how
Team Teaching is accomplished, when the students study as a large group, one
teacher assumes the role of lead teacher and the other supports by performing
duties such as assisting students who have difficulties, reinforcing main
points, and helping students with reading. When working with the smaller
groups, each teacher leads his or her group. Groupings change according to
criteria such as student needs, interests, learning styles, and daily themes.
Some of the many positive aspects of Team Teaching that teachers have brought
up include: the opportunity to better determine how much the students have
grasped, the chance to better understand the students and their needs, more
time to prepare materials that will help student learning, the ability to work
one-on-one with students, the leeway to work with fewer constraints/pressures,
and the chance to supplement lessons with additional material.
Since
October 14th, according to different themes being studied in class,
we have tried breaking the grade two class into two smaller groups.
Nakano-sensei and Tabata-sensei have built a good system as they prepare and
consult with each other. They report that lessons are both fun and going well.
It is
possible that in the future we will have another larger class, so Team Teaching
could be a recommendation for another grade. In addition, Team teaching could
also be employed not only for one grade level but also for the junior high
students as a group.
School Manager Wanted
We are looking for someone who to fill the position of School
Manager on a long-term basis. Duties of this position include: dealing with the
Edmonton Public School Board; dealing with the Consular GeneralÕs office and
the Japanese Ministry of Education; looking after and doing inventory of school
textbooks and teaching materials; dealing with volunteers and parent shift
personnel; collecting fees; and updating the school name list. If you are
interested, please contact Makoto Osawa (Tel: 432-3146 – or - email:
gakko@telsu.net).
Naohito
Oba
Class Change
The Friday, November 4th class has been changed to
Thursday, November 3rd. Also, the following weekÕs class will be on
Thursday November 10th because Friday, November 11th is
Remembrance Day.
Gagugei-kai News
The gakugei-kai will be held in the gym on Saturday,
November 26th. The students have been working hard, and some have
already started to rehearse their scripts. The necessary materials (scenery,
large and small props, etc.) are being prepared by the parents of the students
in each grade. Also, there will be many parents helping out with preparations
on the day of the event. Following the gakugeikai,
we will be having a potluck lunch. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Ichiko Tsuneda,
Gakugeikai Organizer
From
the Library
We have a budget
with which we can order some new books for our library. We are looking for
suggestion for books that you think are good for reading to our students and/or
for the students to enjoy reading by themselves. If you have any items to
suggest, please forward the titles to Riyoko Shimuzu. Later, we will post
a list of books that we bought.
Riyoko
Shimuzu, Librarian
Thank
you
We received
a donation of origami and chiyogami
from Mitsuhisa-sama. The younger grades are now using the origami. Thank you
very much.
Parent Shifts (Toban) for
November and December
10/28 – Hill; Takita
11/03 – Motoda; Morita
11/10 – Ito; Stein
11/18 - Jones; Yamamoto
11/25 – Oh; Abe
12/02 – Watanabe; Idoga
12/09 – McLean; Swallow
12/16 – Jackson; Liu
* If you need to make a change in the schedule, please contact
Setsuko Dunwald (437-3457).
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The Community School News is printed
in the fourth week of each month. If you have any questions and/or comments,
please let us know.
Translated by Terry McLean