Your Japanese word of the week is...

"hajimaru" 始まる which means to start.  And indeed it begins because next week, for two weeks (Oct 19-30), I'll be doing my short practicum.

The point of this practicum is mainly for observation but I will get a chance to teach.  It might not be a full 75min period (certainly not in the first week) and it'll probably be something my sponsor teacher has planned out, but it'll be a great experience and I'm quite looking forward to interacting wtih the students.

One thing I'm quite ready to admit, however, is that I'm not looking for a walk in the park.  Obviously I'm not asking to run a gauntlet for two weeks but if nothing ever happened during my practicum, I'd be less ready when I do find a real job in the "real" world.  I really do think that some element of a challenge is necessary to get the most out of it.

Case in point-

This was one of the very first pictures I took when I went to Japan in 2007.  It was the third day of what ended up being a two year journey and while it wasn't easy (especially the first few months), that's what makes it rewarding.  Had I went there and been frolicking in the daisy fields, laughing as I glided through the two years, I wouldn't treasure what I got out of it nearly as much.

Which brings me neatly to one of the things I've been learning about, particularly in my social justice class among many others.  In dealing with students, especially those who underachieve, lowering the bar is never the answer.  More often than not, the successful way of dealing with them is maintain the expectation that they meet the high standard.  The difference, however, comes from the support structure (they used the term scaffolding) set in place for the students.  Simply expecting them to reach the standard is a recipe for failure but outlining goals along the way and then helping them reach each ledge on their way to the top not only provides a system for them to succeed, but also allows them to retrain their self-esteem in that they can look back and see that they did indeed reach the top.  The real top.

I learned that in Japan.  I'm hoping to learn that here too.

So check back next week to see if I'm eaten alive or if I'm still alive =P