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2015 J-LEAP REPORT: ERIKO SEKIJANUARY, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #99
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OFJAPANESE

2015 J-LEAP REPORTBY ERIKO SEKI
Freedom High School
Orlando, FL
First of all I’ve been lucky to have a nice Co-Teacher, Gozu
Hisae sensei, host family and friends. Thanks to them, I
always enjoy my time here. My host family’s favorite song
“Mr.Roboto” by Styx has the famous lyrics ” Domo Arigato ”.
I am Eriko SEKI and I am currently an assistant teacher atFreedom High School in Orlando, Florida. This school is apublic school located about 10-15 minutes by car from
Universal Studio Orlando Resort and Walt Disney WorldResort. The state of Florida is called the *Sunshine State.*
Even now in December, it's difficult to find red and yellow leaves here. My days at FreedomHigh School have passed with twists and turns. These trials probably are related to all the newexperiences I have had.
Freedom High School was built as part Orange County public school in 2003. It has about
2000 students and 200 teachers. We have approximately 150 students from grades 9 through12 for Japanese 1, 2, 3 Honors and Advanced Placement. Since 2011, Japanese language has
been taught here. A typical day starts at 7:20 am and ends at 2:10 pm. Before the start of class,
we watch “PTV” on screen that announces daily club activity schedules and the SAT word ofthe day.
Gozu sensei and I have a total of 6 classes, 48 minutes each, every day, except for 40 minuteclasses on Wednesday. First period is Japanese 2 and there are 21 students, second period isJapanese 3 Honors with 12 students, third period is AP Japanese with 10 students, and 4thPrivacy - Terms

period is our planning time. After a quick lunch break, fifth period is Japanese 1 with 38students. Sixth period is also Japanese 1 with 38 students. Finally, seventh period is anotherJapanese 2 with 28 students.
Freedom High School occasionally has unique
events for students and teachers. These
events are good opportunities for me to get toknow the different sides of each student andalso to see the differences between Japaneseand American high school life.
For example, during Homecoming week thetheme was Alice in Wonderland in which wewore different outfits every day. On Green(Ecology) day we wore green to promote
recycling. Some events took place outside ofschool hours such as the Homecoming parade and dance. Prism, which is when students
perform an orchestra concert, dance and song, is our school’s original event.
I co-teach with Gozu Hisae sensei and our team teaching is going really well. I have been so
grateful to be working with Gozu Hisae sensei at Freedom High School. She helps me andgives me opportunities to get used to life in and outside of school. I attend new teacher
meetings, teacher workshops for school and have made lesson plans that I teach. Some of ourstudents gave me feedback after class, and this cheers me up for my next lesson. We talkabout my experiences and try to make new ideas for lessons. As for me, it’s my first timeteaching Japanese to high school students. She gave me advice on classroom management.
Starting this year, students use their own laptop issued to them from the school district. Our
district has implemented one-to-one computing for all students, and a web-based learning
management system for teachers and students called Edmodo. By utilizing this system,students can go online, download handouts or materials and do their homework. In fact, every
single classroom in the school is equipped with a SMART Board and students as well asteachers can go online immediately and easily access learning resources from external
websites. With high-tech companies such as Microsoft based in this country, it is no wonderthat high-tech learning environments have emerged. One way that technology has impacted myJapanese students is the typing system. In the past, AP students could only practice with penand paper, but now they can practice typing Japanese using their computers. On the AP test,students must type all of their responses on a computer.
Our students have some routine class activities every day. First, they greet each teacher,Japanese style, at the door. Then they learn new words or phrases for the week during
Bellwork. Finally, we review the date and weather with them in Japanese. On Fridays, students
turn in their Bellwork through Edmodo and take mini quizzes.
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Outside of class, I assist in running the Japanese club meetings that are held on the 2nd and4th Thursday every month. Students play andintroduce Japanese cultural games based on
the seasons or holidays. As a club, we joined
the Orlando Japan festival to volunteer.
I have also become a member of the local
teachers association: Florida Association ofTeachers of Japanese (AFTJ). They arecommitted to promoting and improving theteaching of Japanese language and culture, as
well as, providing teachers with a variety ofopportunities for professional growth.
I still have many goals that I want to accomplish in the coming year, but I’m proud of the workthat I have accomplished with my lead teacher. I have been given the opportunity toexperience life as a teacher in an American school and I am looking forward to the challenges
that the next school year will bring.
I have only had 4 months of teaching experience here, and I would like to have more
opportunities to help teach Japanese while I improve my own teaching skills. I believe I could
be of use to our students’ Japanese language learning. Although the honeymoon period may
be over, I will continue to do my best.
To be continued in 2016.
“Domo Arigato”

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