Life in the Fast Lanes!




I hope you enjoy my recording of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel hit, Sounds of Silence. I just watched the iconic viewing of that song in the classic movie, The Graduate. Dustin Hoffman is still going strong!

The pictures were taken at the Rikugien Garden. I photographed during the day and then stayed for the evening, when various parts of the garden were highlighted with flood lights. It was stunning!

Yes, life in the fast lanes! As I previously mentioned, I accepted a teaching position for this coming school year with the Tokyo International Progressive School, otherwise known at "TIPS."

What I did not know when I did my last update was my teaching assignment. I will be teaching 10th grade language arts, grades 4-8 reading comprehension, and helping with two PE classes. Please keep in mind this is a part-time position. Just to keep me truly on my toes, they added 7th grade science. Wow!

Between the science planning work and my increase in reading volume, I have been going full speed ahead! Below is a list of books I have read in the last two months.

  1. Wonder
  2. Counting By 7s
  3. The Secret Garden
  4. Catcher in the Ry
  5. 1984
  6. To Kill A Mockingbird
  7. A Kind of Spark
  8. Oh The Places You'll Go
  9. Out of My Mind
  10. Poet X
  11. Fault in Our Stars
  12. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying the reading, the studying, the learning, the thinking, and the planning. I have a flexible schedule, so, why not??!! I would highly recommend any of the above-mentioned books. In particular, Wonder and Counting by 7s and Out of My Mind and A Kind of Spark all highlight young people with very challenging circumstances, some of which are related to disabilities. Very inspiring!

It is truly ironic that Setsuko asked me two months ago what my dreams are. I told her that one of my dreams is to again teach reading comprehension. Who says that dreams do not come true????!!!!To prepare for that class, I have been picking 1-3 paragraph excerpts from the books above and other sources. I will then use those excerpts to model comprehension tools and techniques and help students improve their reading comprehension skills. I will adjust the reading levels as necessary.　It is so amazing that with artificial intelligence, I can put a passage into certain web sites and the related software is able to increase or decrease the reading level. So cool!

I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity. It will be great to get back in a regular classroom! As any good teacher will tell you, there is nothing like challenging one's students, providing an effective framework and environment and instruction, and then observing the progress and success. Beauty in motion!

I hope you have a great summer!

Bob



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