Back to Work, Round 2 or 3 or 4 or?





Nothing like this good old classic Home on the Range!

The pictures are all from a recent trip we took to the Urabandai Resort. We had a great time!

Who was talking about retirement? If I talked about it, I totally forgot about that idea! I will be back in the classroom, starting this coming Monday. 15 hours a week. 10th grade language arts, 7th grade science, grades 4-8 reading comprehension, and helping with the PE classes. Plus grading and more planning. Definitely a labor of love!

Speaking of labor of love, I have really enjoyed the 300+ hours of planning I have done this summer. I certainly have never put so much time into school class planning! I know those efforts will pay off as I feel really prepared to tackle these classes!

There have been so many highlights when it comes to my planning efforts. At the top of the list have to be To Kill A Mockingbird and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I am super excited about teaching both of these wonderful texts. The quality of the writing is superb, they are very engaging, the historical information is fascinating, the characters are fascinating, the racism is heart-breaking and eye-opening and enlightening and tough to swallow, and the lessons for life are powerful. It is hard for me to believe that both of these texts have been on book banning lists. Ouch!

Setsuko has made me promise that my school teaching career will come to an end in two years. I plan to enjoy every minute of that work while it lasts!

I will be cycling 9 miles each way to the Tokyo International Progressive School. It is a very nice ride along the Tama River. I plan to continue my basic strength training and some time playing the guitar. That and a few trips with Setsuko will fill the days!

I hope you have had a great summer!

All the best,

Bob Reed

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 16, 2024 at 2:33 PM

    Niejah, It is great to hear from you! Thanks for your gracious message! Congratulations on your academic success! Keep up the good work! Please keep me posted on what is happening with you! All the best, Bob Reed

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2024 at 4:40 AM

    Thanks Deanna! I miss all of you! All the best, Bob

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year's Greeting!

Image
I recorded this version of Born Free on my Yamaha P-515. This song has always been special to me for a number of reasons. I love the message and loved reading the book and seeing the movie. I have always loved the lyrics and the melody. Lastly, it was the first song I learned on the piano.  In 1976, I rode a motorcycle from Seattle to San Francisco. Each night, I camped on the coast. Before losing the light, I would practice this song on a melodica, a flute-like instrument with a short piano keyboard. My mom inspired me to try this instrument as she used to play one on our sailboat.  After I returned to Alaska, I took piano lessons. I will never forget when I hit my first chord to match the first note of this song. I fell in love with that harmony! The pictures are from a recent day I spent with my friend Rohan in the Shinjuku area.  Thank you to Rohan for your guiding! The Godzilla figure is perched up high on a building. The other two photos were taken at a very photoge...
Read more

A New Job!

Image
Hello again! I hope you enjoy my recording of the classic, "Leaving on A Jet Plane." That song has always had special meaning to me as it was the first song I learned on the guitar. I only wish I could match the wonderful recordings by John Denver and Peter, Paul, and Mary! These photos are from Jindai Botanical Garden, such a gorgeous place!  As I think I may have mentioned, my current job at the American School is over at the end of this year. While I could stay and work as a substitute teacher, my preference is to have a regular position, so I get the joy of working with the same students on a consistent basis.  There is a wonderful web site that lists most of the top international schools in the Tokyo area: https://www.international-schools-database.com/in/tokyo Call it luck or call it persistence, I recently hit the jackpot when I discovered an amazing gem, The Tokyo International Progressive School, or TIPS, https://www.tokyoips.com/ This is from their main page: TIPS i...
Read more

Birds, Birds, and More Birds!

Image
I just made this new recording of Moon River on my Yamaha P 515. I hope you enjoy it! For the last three years or so, I have been using the Canon R5 mirror-less camera with the 800 lens. While that has been a wonderful combination, it has not been ideal for small bird photography. With that in mind, I was fortunate to be able to purchase the Canon 100-500 RF lens. I had previously purchased the 2X RF extender. That extender doubles the longest focal distance from 500 to 1000.   I put this combination to the test last week. I first went to a small park that is a two minute walk from our house. That is where I photographed the small yellow birds that are appropriately called the Japanese White Eye.    I then went to the Tama Cemetery, which is also where I was able to photograph the other birds. That location is also very close to our house.   The other change I made was to follow the advice of an experienced bird photographer. I set up two "pre-sets,"  one of whi...
Read more