2015 IIME REPORTCountry [ USA ]School[ SKA Academy of Art and Design ] Teacher [ San Teh ] grade ( 9-12 ) student number ( 13 )Partner [ (JP) Seisa Kokusai High School] Teacher [ Mayumi Yoshida ]# Subjects, Activities and Times of the lessons
Subject
Conception of the lesson
Learning about U.S. and Japan history through landmarks by visiting andLandmarks
reading about different monuments
IT

Hours
4

Communication through the use of the online forum

13

Fine Arts

Composing and painting a mural

7

Fine Arts

Appreciation and reflection of the whole process and work

2

# Theme and Message of the muralLandmarks of America and JapanTheme-We did research about our landmarks, and our partner school did as well.
Then, we introduced the history/culture behind various landmarks in ourindividual countries to each other through pictures and text. We learned a lotand got to know our partner school better.
Message-This mural will feature our national landmarks and will feature the landmarksof the region we are partnered with. The landmarks represent the history andcultures of America and Japan.

# Effects and the Problems
Effects your students have gained
The students had the opportunity to work on a groupproject together. Before, they worked individually, so
this was a first time for working with people insideand outside of the classroom. They got to experience
what it is like to be on a team and how tocommunicate effectively through both suggesting andlistening. Besides learning and improving theircooperation skills throughout the project, mystudents researched more about our country and its
history through various landmarks. I feel as if theirtime spent researching has led them to develop more

Points for further improvement
A point for further improvement for us would be theduration due to schedules. Our students only meetonce a week for two hours, so the duration of theproject became increasingly shorter. In addition, ourschedules and time difference conflicted with ourpartner school, so we did not have the opportunity totry a video conference. Thus, another point for
further improvement would be to schedule find asolution so that we may host a conference call. I
believe that these point will lead to better
communication between my students and between

of an understanding of our culture. Also, ourcommunication with our partner school helped mystudents to understand and appreciate other cultures
as well! They learned that not everyone is the same,
but we should try to learn/understand them because
the end result may be new friendships!

our partner school.

# How has your impression toward your partner country and/or the world changed?
Change in student’s impression
Change in teacher’s impression
The students learned more about Japan throughout Like my students, I learned to appreciate/understandthis project, and I have observed that they learned to the differences of people’s culture in general
understand people from different countries even through the different symbols and patterns thatthough they may not speak the same language. With represent each country. It shows that everyone isthat understanding, they appreciated the differences different, but we should respect each other becauseof people’s cultures through first-hand accounts all peoples are on different sides of the world
with our partner school. For example, our partner contributing to different histories/cultures which
school sent us some snacks for our students to create different landmarks. So in a way, we are all
enjoy, and inside the package were green tea similar in that fact that we are contributing to history,
kit-kats. The students realized that kit-kats are part so we should respect it!
of the American culture, but Japan has it too. The
only difference is that theirs is based off of an Asianflavor – green tea. Thus, I think that this project wasvery eye opening for my students, as they began torespect others more.

# Flow of the Activity
ContentMonthIntroduction

SeptResearch

Sept
Nov

What you did
Our students made a school
introduction video throughiMovieandintroduced
different aspects of the U.S.
culture/history.
Our students researched inclass and online. In class, wetalked about what landmarks
should be included and its
importance.
At
home,students did their own
researchabout
thelandmarks and the history sothat they could have abetter understanding fortheir composition sketches.

Your students attitude/reflection
At first, our students were shy whilefilming. After we uploaded the video toYouTube, they felt more comfortable andwere eager to start communicating withnew friends at the partner school!
We discussed in class, and everyone
participated in exchanging informationand ideas about the landmarks and its
history. Even outside of the classroom,
they did their own research. They also
learned about Japanese landmarks
through our partner school and online
research.

Subject

EnglishEnglishHistoryComposition

Painting

Appreciation
Reflection

Sept
Dec

FebFebWith their recently foundresearch,
thestudents
incorporated culture andlandmarks
intotheir
preliminary sketches. Theyknew what they wanted toinclude which helped them
have a basic concept so thatthey could have a clear idea
to present on the mural.
We planned out who would
do what in accordance tothe mural and painted ourside. They did a fantastic
job!

When we finished the mural,
our students took many
pictures and posted picturesand experiences on social
media. Students also talked
to fellow students andparents
about
what
component of the mural theydid. Our school put theseexperiences and pictures inourschool’smonthly
newsletter so that the wholeschool and community could
appreciate and reflect on theIIME project!

My students were excited to participate
in the composition of the mural andsketched a lot of ideas. They
incorporated the theme well and even
included different artistic aspects likepatterns and such. With the help of ourpartner school, we were able to create agreat mural!

Although the students had to come inextra days for long hours to finish themural, they did not complain. They
checked to make sure that the details
were correct. I could see that they put a
lot of effort, as they tried to portray ourcultures through landmarks!
My students felt very accomplished andexcited to see the final product andreminisce the whole process. They were
happy to show their fellow students andparents what they had been working on
for the past month.

Arts
EnglishArts

Arts
English# Aim of the Lessons and Result
Aim: Rank A to C in order you put emphasis on (A: very much/ B: much / C: not so much)
Result: Rank 5 to 1 (5: very effective / 4: effective / 3: so- so / 2: not so effective / 1: not effective at all)

Expected Effect

Aim

ResultUnderstanding our owncultures

A5

Understanding theother’s cultures

B

4

How your students have reached it
My students have a better understanding of our own culturesdue to the research that we have done in class and online. Andfrom their understanding, they had to portray important aspectsof our culture on the mural, which they did fantastically!
We learned about our partner school’s culture through sharing
information and videos/pictures, local food/snacks, and fromtheir mural! Although, we wish we could have had a videoconference with them to get a better account and learn more!

Communication ability
in the class/with partners

IT skills

Creating friendshipin the class/with partners

Collaborationin the class/with partners

B4C

3B

4A

5

Attitude in learningA

5Expression ability

A5

Appreciation ability

B

4In class, students had to communicate with each other in orderto delegate parts of the mural to each other. I think it was pretty
successful. In relation to our partner school, we communicatedthrough the forum where we shared information about eachother through different means like pictures and videos.
As we first started using the forum, it was a bit confusing andtedious. As time passed, it became easier. We became more
proficient at it, but students will need more practice since we did
not emphasize IT skills too much.
We did not get to communicate much with our partner school
sadly due to schedules and the time difference. But, I thinkoverall that our collaboration relationship is good and that wehave started a path to friendship. I think it was pretty easy forstudents to communicate and be on friendly terms with ourpartner schools since we had the same goal. We even exchangedsome snacks with the partner school! In class, I feel my students
have become better friends since they have had spent a lot
more time together.
With our partner school, we were able to collaborate on thesubject of the mural through team work and communication. It
was a great effort between us and our partner school to come up
with the concept layout. They did great! Also, students put a lotof team effort in class through listening and suggesting ideas, aswell as being able to delegate different tasks to different people.
From the start to the end of the project, my students had apositive attitude and were open to any ideas. They stayed
excited and very active throughout the whole process.
My students were not afraid to voice their opinions as theywanted to do this mural to the best of their abilities. Even withthe different styles and interpretations of the students, they
were able to cooperate and finalize their ideas to make a greatmural!
I am very proud of our students for reflecting the process andthe final product! They were excited to share their experiences
and what parts they contributed to with their fellow students andparents. Our students also appreciated the IIME project throughsocial media and through our monthly school newsletter, so wewere able to share/reflect with our local community too!