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BREEZE #108

OCTOBER, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #108
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESE

2016 J-LEAP REPORTBY MIHARU HAYAZAKIPalmer High School
Palmer, AKMY ONE STEP IN ALASKA“A thousand-mile journey begins with onestep.” My Lead Teacher (LT), Carla Swicksensei, said this to me at the beginning of firstsemester, and I love this quote. Every day, one
little action will become a big achievement. It
has been one month since our school started. Wow, the time has flown by fast!
Konnichiwa! My name is Miharu Hayazaki. I am from Shiga prefecture and now I live in Palmer,Alaska. Palmer is about 50 minutes by a car from Anchorage, which is the biggest city inAlaska. There are about 6,000 people who live in Palmer, which is surrounded by very beautiful
mountains and rivers. Palmer is famous for the Alaska State Fair, which is a great harvest
festival in September. People can enjoy seeing many giant vegetables, food booths, animals,displays, and a traveling amusement park. On a sunny weekend day, between 30,000 to40,000 people from around the state and the world visit the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.
I am co-teaching Japanese with Swick sensei at Palmer High School (PHS). PHS is an IB (TheInternational Baccalaureate Program) school which provides students with a challenging
education that has six disciplines. My first impression of PHS’s teachers, principals, andstudents is that they are kind and friendly. They made me feel welcome from the start. In termsof Japanese, actually we just started a Japanese language program this semester. Seven years
ago there were Japanese classes at PHS, but the program was cut when the school lost theJapanese teaching position due to budget cuts. I am very happy because we finally have Privacy
a spot- Terms

for Japanese classes. We are both building a community and I am super excited to teachJapanese here. Students, who are taking Japanese, actively participate in the class and work
hard. We have three Japanese level 1 classes and an “outreach” class where Swick sensei and I
can go to elementary schools, middle schools, and other high schools to teach Japanese or doJapanese cultural activities. We can also make connections with city officials, businesses, andorganizations in the community as well. We went to Palmer Junior Middle School to introduce
ourselves to the staff and student body when the sister school exchange students visited. I
supported and helped their two-week exchange.
Sister City Exchange Program
Palmer has had a sister city relationship with Saroma city in Hokkaido, Japan, since 1980; thatis 36 years ago. Every year students from both sides, Palmer and Saroma, visit each other andstudy the language and culture firsthand though homestays and school exchanges. FromSeptember 6th to the 19th, for about two weeks, there were eight Saroma Middle and HighSchool students and two chaperones in Palmer. Fortunately, I was able spent a great deal oftime with them. The exchange group and I went on field trips to learn more about Palmer. They
also joined our Japanese classes for a few days. During class, both Saroma and Palmer
students introduced themselves and recommended something from their town or city –like
popular things, special foods, favorite places, etc. I also helped organize the Japanesecommunity potluck, and did activities with both Saroma and Palmer students after school. I
think this exchange program is really great for all students; it opens their minds, and everyonein the community has an opportunity to learn about Japanese language and culture.
Homecoming
The middle of September was Homecoming at PHS. I have never had an experience like
Homecoming in my life, so everything was really cool and amazing to me. There was a Spirit
Week where students and staff dressed up in different themes. For example, Monday-Not So
Modern Day; Tuesday-Crazy Sock Day; Wednesday–Disney Day; Thursday–Pajama Day; andFriday-Blue Out Day. There were also many sports that students could watch and playthroughout the week like football, volleyball, and cross country. There were also special
powderpuff football games, where the girls played football and boys cheered. For the finale,
we had a bonfire and a homecoming dance.
Teaching Japanese
I love teaching Japanese to high school students with Swick sensei. I have noticed I am solucky being her partner. Every day I learn numerous things about not only how to teachJapanese from Swick sensei, but also about each student’s lifestyle. It reminds me that thereare various students who have different backgrounds in America. I think high school students
are really sensitive. Students are watching their teachers’ behavior and listening closely towhat they say. The way a teacher says something is just as important as the message. Thus, I
should pay attention carefully to what I am teaching and saying to all students. My LT, Swick
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sensei, is super active, humorous, funny, and very kind. She does not rely on textbooks, andher teaching style is really practical and interesting to me. I like our everyday routine: before
the class begins, Swick sensei and I stand in the hallway and shake hands with all students andwe ask in Japanese “Ogenkidesuka (how are you)?” to each student. I think by doing this weare showing that we care about each other, and are getting to know how our students arefeeling each day. At the beginning of the class we ask “Iikoto (Good things)” to students
randomly and we share our opinions in the class. It makes students feel positive and we get toknow each other more. I think one of the most important things in the class is building a great
environment for students to focus on studying. She is very flexible, and teaches many practicalthings. Sometimes we will teach something new, even though we never planned on it. It is themost challenging part for me, but it is also an exciting way to support her.
I would also like to thank my family, my friends, the Palmer High School staff, students, and somany other people in the community who support and encourage me. They are very
understanding and patient. Tanya, my host family, always talks slowly and translates English tosimple English when I do not understand. One of my goals is to continue working on myEnglish, so I will work hard on that.
Lastly, my thousand-mile journey has just begun. My big goal is to learn Swick sensei’s teachingstyle and class management. My good thing (iikoto) is that she is always listening to my opinion
carefully. I love to share my opinions with her to create interesting practical activities.
Furthermore, I would like to catch our students’ attention and continue to keep them interested
in Japanese and Japanese culture. I feel deeply grateful to J-LEAP for giving me this amazing
opportunity to teach Japanese and learn many things. I will do my best to fulfill theresponsibility of this position. I am really looking forward to creating my “one step” day by day.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.

Breeze #110Breeze #109Breeze #1082016 J-LEAP Report: Miharu Hayazaki2016 J-LEAP Report: Eri Kanda

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