効果10倍の(学び)の技法 シンプルな方法で学校が変わる! (PHP新書)

生徒も先生も頑張ってはいるが、従来のシステムに束縛され、学びの改善に関する進歩は滞っている。そう感じている教員は多いのではないでしょうか？私も同じ気持ちを持っています。

人はどういう時に効果的に学べるのか、「良い学び」の本質を理解し、教員たち自身が自分たちの仕事に関して良い学びの技法を実践することは非常に重要で す。そのための実用的な方法や導入例を書いています。是非おすすめです。また、著者のEmailが後部に掲載されており、お願いすると追加で学校改善とン 学びの「理論編」を送ってくれます。この内容もよくまとまっていて参考になります。


さて、あとは、読んだだけのままにせず、自分が何をやるかです。

自分が何をやるか：

まず、第一章に出てくる内容で、学校の中で教員同士で行う学びを実行したいと考えます。

１）何人かで持続可能的な教育研究レポートの作成・発表のサイクルをスタートする
この本で紹介されている上越市高志小学校の例を参考にしたいです。
・大きなビジョンを共有し、それに向かって実践する
・「やってみてよかった」ことのレポートを書く（A4サイズ一枚の簡単なもの、月に一枚なら問題なく可能なはず）
・レポートを貯蓄し、共有する
・月に一度のワークショップで情報の共有をする（グループで２０～４０分シェアし、感想を全体に一人４０秒で報告するなど）

２）同僚とコーチング形式で、お互いの授業を見て、批判的友達として１）良い点を指摘し、２）気になる点を質問し、３）感想のラブレターを書く
今の大学でお互いに授業を見て意見を交換したいと思うのに、スケジュールの関係などで実践できていません。その解決として３人のグループで一人が二つのクラスを合同で教えるま間に授業観察を行う、という手法がとても実用的です。

とりあえず、上記の二つができたら満足です。

この他にも
・計画・実行・改善の３部の振り返りジャーナルの持続的な使用（自分は今不定期）
・他の先生と同じ疑問を持ったら実践研究をおこなう（これはある程度行っている？）
・学びサークルやBookClubを作り、本を読み、課題を話し合う（これは学外ではあるけど、学内ではない）
・まじめに雑談をする時間の確保（これは今ほとんどない。廊下の立ち話のみ）
・学びのリーダーと模範は校長である（しかし先生同士でも十分だと思います）

第一章でこれだけいいアイデアがありました。
このほかにも学内の会議や研修を元気にする方法、学生主体の授業、Cooperative　Learningを実践する方法、親たちと協力して元気のある学びの環境にする方法など、アイデアがたくさんです。

自分自身の学び・教育の方法を考え直すきっかけになる良い本です。

Mark

Keeper of Genesis (Hancock and Bauval 1997)

Taking a little break from writing my research papers, I picked up a book from one of the shelves in our department and entered the world of ancient Egypt for a few hours.　Hancock is the author of Fingerprints of the Gods, which I read back in...1997? I remembered having fun contemplating Hancock's somewhat far-fetched theories about a high-tech civilization that gave Egypt and other ancient cultures the ability to make structures as amazing as the pyramids of Giza or Machu Picchu in Peru.

This book focuses on the purpose of the Sphinx and its relationship to the pyramids. Hancock's whole idea since the Fingerprints of the Gods is that in 3000 B.C. there is no way that the technology for something like the pyramids appeared suddenly. The book expounds on how amazingly accurate and difficult the engineering of the pyramids is and suggests that a higher civilization preceding the Egyptians (something like Atlantis, which Hancock thinks may be buried under Antartica) gave them the technology and blueprints. Hancock's theory is that Sphinx is part of an intricate astronomically based treasure map based on the pyramids and the stars they point to. This map supposedly leads to the location of a hidden storage room of ancient knowledge buried 100 feet under the Sphinx.

One of the main points of support is the Orion Correlation Theory, that the pyramids and Sphinx are aligned in precise imitation of the stars in Orion's belt circa 10500 BC, which apparently is not accepted by mainstream Astronomers or Egyptologists.

Conclusion: Hancock wants the Egyptians to dig and see. Fair enough, but I tend to think there must be sufficient technology in 2009 to do some kind of sonic testing to figure out something like that, isn't there?

Guam Family Trip 7/3-11

All of us were there to have a good time on the beach, but the most important goal for going to Guam was to put Michael in a week-long summer camp to help him practice his English.

An Internet search for English summer camps for kindergarten kids in Japan, the mainland US, Hawaii, and Guam yielded a number of options, but we finally decided on just a 5-day program in Guam called Ocean Camp sponsored by the Underwater World aquarium. The Adventure Sports Camp at the University of Guam was another candidate, but we couldn't find a hotel close to it, and Michael decided that taking care of sharks at an aquarium would be cool, so Ocean Camp it was.

Another factor in the decision was that package trips from Tokyo to Guam were dirt cheap in early July before summer vacations start in Japan. We put together 8 nights (no meals) in the Holiday Resort Hotel and round trip flights for two adults, two kids for a very affordable 130,000yen, about $1300. See Tell Me Club for good deals. We've used them two years in a row.

One day before the trip Michael developed a 40 degree fever and still had 38.5 on the morning of the flight, but the doctor cleared him to go (after swine flu tests, just in case). Fortunately, we were able to drug him heavily enough to pass the body temperature test for quarantine, he woke up healthy the first day in Guam, and we were able to enjoy our stay.

So...here's how it went: Click here for all photos.

7/3
Took 9pm flight to Guam, fly 3 hours, one hour ahead in time zone, so arrive at 1am and get to hotel around 2am.

7/4
Took it easy, did some grocery shopping to help us avoid eating out for breakfasts and lunches, and played in the hotel pool. For me, the best thing was getting up before the kids and doing long jogs at sunrise along the beach followed by snorkeling over the coral reefs full of fish just outside our hotel. Being able to do that every morning was a treasured experience!

7/5
Fishing tour in the morning for Michael and I hooked four (officially 2 each) tasty pink-tailed trigger fish that we had as exquisite sashimi on the boat. In the afternoon, since it was Megumi's birthday, her present was a visit to the spa for a quiet, relaxing massage therapy as I watched the kids in the swimming pool. In the evening, we had Megumi's birthday party at Sam Choy's. Happy B-day Megumi!



7/6
Monday was the first of Michael's five days of Ocean Camp. Since he only goes to kindergarten in Japanese, we were a bit worried whether he would be able to fit in and have fun in the all English summer camp for local kids. We dropped him off at 8am with no fuss--he seemed excited and curious, and picked up at 2pm. Apparently it went well for him. Not being much of a conversationalist in English or Japanese, he didn't give us many details about what he did...but since he was eager to go the next day and told us he made some friends, I guess we had nothing to worry about. From what we gathered from him and the camp counselors, the kids played games such as freeze tag, colored pictures of marine animals, learned about and touched and fed various animals in the aquarium...and Michael followed all of the activities very quietly and diligently...the quietest camper. I guess that's a good thing, especially if he is enjoying it.


7/7-9
More morning jogging and snorkeling, playing in the pool and on the beach with Mei, reading books, shopping in malls, catching some unimpressive movies in Transformers 2 and Public Enemies in over-air conditioned movie theaters brrr--all while Michael is in day camp. After picking up Michael, we would swim, go to a kids movie (Ice Age 3 in 3-D was worth the money!), play soccer in the patio of our hotel which had nice artificial grass, no people, and square chairs that worked nicely as goals. On Wed the 8th we visited Chamorro village and the carnival after dinner; Michael liked the carnival games, but overall that didn't really work well for the kids who were tired out and ready to go to bed. On Thu the 9th, we went to the water slide park Tarza, which is Mikey's favorite place on Guam. I would say it is worth it at the "local or military rate" of 20 bucks per adult, but not worth the 50 they charge unquestioning tourists. I think my new hair style helped me get the lower rate :-).

7/10
Our last day! The main event here was the completion ceremony luncheon for Ocean Camp. We joined Mikey and all the camper kids and families for lunch a Sam Choy's and Michael was awarded the honor of "Quietest Camper," which apparently was a sincere compliment? from the counselors who had to herd dozens of hyperactive ones who wouldn't stop talking.

The best part of the luncheon was seening Michael horsing around with his camp buddies (some of the quieter ones, I observed, not the noisiest ones) just like any other kid. We were glad to see he could socialize with kids his age in English with not much problem. To me, that made the whole trip worth it. (Of course, yes, it didn't hurt that Meg and I got to enjoy the beach for a week while he was in camp.)

After lunch, Michael gave us a tour of "his" aquarium. He had a lot to say about the marine animals and it was fun to see him talking like he owned the place.


Then we hit the pool for a last lazy afternoon swim. For dinner, the kids wanted to eat sushi, so we tried a place near the hotel but...I guess we'll stick to American food in Guam in the future. According to one of the sushi chefs I talked to, almost all of the sushi fish in Guam is flown in from Japan and there is almost no local catch. That makes for high prices and low freshness. I'm not sure why there is no local fishing industry--the fish Michael and I caught were small but made excellent sashimi.

After the kids went to bed, Megumi and I got a large order of ribs from Tony Romans to make for a final feast on Guam.

7/11
With the low budget tour we were on, we had to take the early morning 6am flight back to Tokyo. That meant checking out of the hotel at 3:30am, which was not fun with two sleepy kids to haul. We'd like to avoid that flight time in the future if possible, but Mikey and Mei were suprisingly cooperate through everything.

We hope we can do it again next year!