class-6/9

I've pressed the enter key in mistake!

This day we did a debate like the day before on our essays thesis statement. It was a little difficult but it was a good way to improve our essay I think. After attacking the thesis statement we were able to give advises to each other. I think this means that everyone has thought about the other peoples pretty deeply. The CB members are really nice :)

class-6/8

I don't know why but the trains are crowded these days! It takes about 2 hours to come to ICU, so I usually do my readings on the train. I planned to read OMS as usual but the train was to crowded and I could read them as I wanted to.

In class we did some disscusions on Hemingway's political standing points on this day. My 3b's were not enough and the pages I read was not enough so I couldn't say much opinions. It was the first time to hear the word "political compass". (oops, forgot to have Rab telling us about it in todays class!6/11)I don't think I have a clear position in politics, so I wonder how mine would be.

We did some debate like things on interpretations to. I always think its hard to oppose to something that you think is right. But through the debate I found one interpretation that I want to examine. I haven't finished reading the story so I'll just hold it as an hypothetical one for now.

class-6/7

This day I was tired. I had practice of the lacrosse club on the weekends and in the morning. I get up on 4am and leave the house at 5. I think Monday is the hardest day in the week for me.

We had NP in the second period and it was about the interpretations on The Old Man and the Sea. I haven't read much of it so there were some quotes that I didn't understand, but it was interesting.

In class, we did some discussions on Hemingway. We talked wether it is possible to be a hunter and a conservationist at the same time. And we also talked about human and animals rights. During the discussion, I learned that Yumi doesn't eat meat. It was quite surprising, especially when I heard that she decided it by herself when her family eats meat. I did some research on animal rights and animal experiments that day to write a report for my Life Science class, so the things Rab said and Yumi's position made me think about many things. For now I will eat meat but I don't know what I'll do after seeing Earthlings.

class-6/4

We had the PWT this day. I almost slept over on the train that day. I was very relieved when I got off the train before the door shut at Musashi-sakai.

In the afternoon we had 2 periods of ELP as usual. But since we were in a different room and we worked on our essays individually it felt pretty different from the classes we had before. Kaya looked sleepy in class and maybe because of that, she saw the stereogram! She was cute:)

When I was doing research on my essay topic, I found out that Minshu-to is trying make the press conference more open. I think I've heard about it on the news but I didn't have interest at that time and I didn't know that the press conferences were that much closed so it was surprising that Japan was working on the kisha club problems. I realized how much I'm unaware about the things that I don't have interests in. Thanks to Rab, I think my view is getting wider little by little.

I have 4 more blog to post:( I didn't think that I was this much lazy!

class-6/2

It was a sunny day and we had class outside :)
I enjoyed having class outside but I would have liked it more if the ants were a bit more smaller! They were so BIG!

We talked about the 3B's on Hemingway and The old man and the sea first. This time almost everyone had done it before class, but after talking about it and getting questioned by Rab we realized that we had to do more. Rab told us about Cuba and other backgrounds and then told us about the Lord of the ring and Tolkien. It was surprising that the writer gets effected by the surroundings so much. I thought the more 3B we do the more we can enjoy the stories. So I would make more effort to do the 3B's.

class-6/1

In class Rab told us the next essay will be due on June 15th, and there would be a in class PWT for the old man and the sea so we have to start reading it.

After that we moved to the ILC and Rab gave us our scores and comments of our PWT. It wasn't bad as I thought but I did overgrade my writing. Rab told me a couple things to improve the paragraph.

• write more amount
• don't go to the example to fast
• keep it connected with meiland and morgan (especially the conclusion)

I have to be careful from the next essay.

class-5/31

In monday's class Rab told us things about elections and also some storys about nationality. I was surprised that the percentage of the people who didn't/couldn't vote was more than the people who voted for Obama. I wouldn't surprise if it was said that Japan is so, but to hear that the US is so was surprising. I had a preconception that the US is a more like democratic than Japan (what can we say when its not democratic?) . In 2 years I would be able to vote, but I don't know if I should when there aren't any good candidates. What is the best thing to do when we don't have any candidates that we want to vote for? I wonder if there are any politicians that can make the people move when they are kidnapped, like the video Rab showed us.

BIG NEWS!
HATOYAMA RESIGNED!! (6/2)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100602/ts_nm/us_japan_politics

There were many people which voted for him, but now nobody tries to stop him from resigning. I think this happens because the people doesn't vote for the very person they want to. I think if we vote for someone then we have some kind of responsibility to be with them. I won't say to go in the wrong way with them, but I think bashing them like the media and saying "I'm disappointed"is not a good idea. We should think critically and find out what wasn't good and try not to make a mistake next time.I think if we only attack the person it won't change any thing.

class-5/27

It's already Sunday!! I can't believe how time flies.
I'm going to write about fridays class.

We first graded our PWT. I'm not really sure if its accurate but I did my best in writing it and grading it. After that Rab showed us some indymedia pages. I found some things about the president debate in class so I want to read it carefully later on. Rab also showed us 2 softwares to check our essay. We used the Sentencework in class. It does make mistakes but I think it is useful to get check before handing in an essay. It founded some parts that I used 'many' that I didn't realize when I was working on the essay. I still haven't done the homework using Criterion. I think I'll do it after I finish working on the presentation for the Introduction to Law class. Thanks for the google stuff its much easier to get ready for a group presentation. I'm really happy that I'm in Rab's class!

class-5/26

Rab couldn't come to class on Wednesday since his mother in law and his son Kiyo had a accident.I hope they get well soon.

We had Sylvan as our teacher instead of Rab that day. We did things about Birk and Birk. He showed us American attacking ads of the presidential election. It was interesting. Especially the one which used pink in every scene has surprised me. I wonder how much people in the US are seeing it with these kinds of information. I think that if it was shown in Japan, the people would just believe it. By seeing more of these videos it might help me get in the habit of finding assumptions and charging words.

class-5/25

Tuesdays class started with talking about the PWT we did last week. I don't really think that grading the tests by ourselves is a good thing. When we did the practice PWT, some sections had their tests graded by their teachers and got comments, so it might be easier for them to check their tests, but I think it will be hard for us since we've only checked our friends. I think that it is better to check our writings in the practice PWT, and then get the real PWT checked by the teachers. I think thats how tests should be. We should be examined by other people and learn how our efforts are seen by other people.

Well, after the explanation of the PWT we did rest of the presentations for our next essay. My turn came and all I did well was the greeting I think. The eye contact and delivery was not good at all. oh, I think didn't cross my legs during the presentation so I maybe did improve a little.

After that we described Rab's big black bag using slants and charged words.I would realize that the writer has a bias but believe some of it if that is all I see. I have to think more criticaly and get used in finding the writers view. And be able to use them in my essays.

class-5/24

I'm pretty behind with the blog post X(

Well, all I remember about Monday is that it was a very tiring day.
It was raining from the morning, I had the practice for the lacrosse club in the morning, I had a report that was due that day, and had a explanation for the teacher-training course which ended at 8:30. It was around 11pm when I got home. I got up 3am that day so it was a quite long day..

One thing that I'm surprised is that I didn't get sleepy at the NP that day. I usually get sleepy, except Rab's classes. Mike doesn't use technology, but he uses magic instead. I don't think that I can say that using magic can improve learning but it is true that it can keep the attention.

In Rab's class we did some discussions on the next essay topic in groups and then did a presentation in front of half of the class. It's interesting to listen to other people's ideas. I realized that I'm not a good critical thinker, since I don't ask questions. I only asked one or two. I have to be a better listener and be able to ask questions.

class-5/21

Friday we had the PWT. I really liked Yuji's idea about using the google doc. It really helped me since I could see the other members opinions at home. I hope our results can prove that technology can help improve learning.

In class we talked about the PWT and then Rab tricked us again. I was in the same group with Kaya and Yumi so I knew that Rab was going to do something, but if i were in a different group i would have been tricked as the other people. Talking in a confident way does make people believe. I would need to be able to speak with confidence when I am to do a presentation.

The twirling girl and the stereo grams were pretty fun. I wonder how that twirling girl works. It was so amazing. It tend to go the other way when I start to speak, so i might be using the different brain when I'm just looking at it and when speaking.
It took me some time to be able to see the stereo grams. I think I got what Rab wanted to say about the relation of stereo grams and Fisher. Seeing things in different ways is difficult but valid.

The next essay's going to start! I hope i can keep up with the other members!

class-5/19

I forgot to post a blog for wednesday's class.

We learned how to do a presentation. First Rab told how the structure is and then we practiced them. It wasn't so hard to look at everyone's eyes for 5 seconds if that was all I have to do. But when I had to do all the greetings and thanking stuff it was pretty hard to make I contact with everyone. I have to be careful not to cross my legs during a presentation and I actually tried not to this morning on the train but it was hard than I expected. I didn't know that I cross my legs so often. I also thought that I'm not good at organizing things in my head quickly. I really have to get used to many things.

class-5/18

Yesterday was Tuesday, which means the girls had P.E.and were late for class again.

Using that fact Rab tricked us again. I did see him wink,and I thought he was joking at the first place but since he was talking about it longer than usual, I thought he was in a really bad mood. It's not comfortable to have someone angry near you even if its a joke. But Rab let us experience the importance of a nonverbal interpretations and again I felt that it is good to experience things by yourself. I like listening to the other people's answers because I can learn many words and sometimes find the exact word. I really want to be able to do it all by myself.

About the drawing psychological test we did yesterday, I think it wasn't wrong but the one we did the day before yesterday looked more accurate for me. If I were asked to draw the sun and the water before the greenery then I think my picture would have been pretty different. I wonder how these psychological tests differ in countries and cultures. Since it is said that Japanese regard harmony than themselves, would there be more people which draw the house in a non centered place than the western countries? It would be interesting to do the test on many people and analyze the result.

class-5/17

The retreat was much fun than I expected :)

I enjoyed talking over the night with the CB members. But because of the lack of sleep at night, I was sleeping all the time on the bus and on the train. I actually slept over my hometown station and went a couple station further.

Maybe because of the retreat and the morning lacrosse practice made me sleep half of the NP yesterday. I`m really sorry Paul.

Before the 5th period I was quite sleepy but when the class started I wasn't sleepy at all. The worksheet that Rab gave us was so difficult for me. I knew that I have poor vocabulary but it was quite shocking when I couldn't only answer 'lack'. It was very surprising to me that Shantonu answered them so easily. I have to get used to writing academically.

I enjoyed the later half of the class very much. I didn't think that it was a psychological test until he told us. I think that it was about 80% accurate.

Chapter 5:"The Bad Seed" OR "The other Boys Made Him Do It"?

I wrote this on May 15th and didn't post it because I thought I want to write more.
But its June 18th today, and can't remember what I wanted to write so I'll just post it.
Sorry for not having a conclusion x(


Chapter 5 was interesting than chapter 4 to me. I felt the importance of the introduction part of a writing. Chapter 4's introduction wasn't so interesting and didn't make me go into the book, but in chapter 5 the example of murder in China and the U.S. was interesting and let me read the other parts in a good rhythm. I would like to write an essay which can get the readers attention and make them read the body part without boredom.

In the "Casual Attribution East And West" there was an evidence that casual attribution differences mirrors the attention differences, comparing Hindu East Indians and Americans. I would explain as the Indians did if I were asked the same question. Well, this is not the main point I'm talking about this topic. What I was surprised was that "the children in the two cultures didn't differ in the the sorts of explanations they gave." In the very first ELP class, Rab made us do a discussion on 'nature' and 'nurture' and I said that nurture effects the people more than nature. But I didn't have any evidence and I wasn't really sure, so reading this I was very surprised.

Chapter 4: "EYES IN BACK OF YOUR HEAD" OR "KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL"?

In the first page of chapter 4 Nisbett says "the different social realities might produce very different patterns of literally seeing the world."(79) When I read this I thought that this chapter might not be interesting. I thought it's not such a surprising thing to find different patterns of seeing the world. But after reading "Persons from the Unites States seem to hold this assumption of similarity more strongly than some other cultures do."(Barna, 5-2), I thought it might be fresh and surprising for the American and the other westerners to find differences in seeing the world. and this might be the reason he got so many awards from the westerners.

When I was reading chapter 4 for the first time, we were doing many discussions about demonstrations in the world. In chapter 4 there was a part saying "Surveys show that Asians feel themselves to be in less control than their Western counterparts. And rather than attempting to control situations, they are likely to adjust to them." (97) When I read this I thought that this might be the reason why Japanese don't do many demonstrations. Rab showed us pictures of demonstration which happened in Korea so I can't say this is totally right but I think the difference in the way Western and Asian think about controlling the world has an affect in doing demonstrations.

class-5/12

Today I'm going to write my blog before I get sleepy and forget about it.

This is what I first wrote when I started to write this post, but I got sleepy and 4 days has passed since the class. :/

In class, using the LBH, Rab gave us examples of fallacies. I think I have to look at my essay carefully about these fallacies AND have to memorize the names for the PWT. I hope can memorize them through checking my essay. After learning what fallacies are, we read an article "Deletion of English from Entrance Exams Urged" from the Daily Yomiuri and discussed about it in groups. When I was reading the article I thought "If the students dislike math more, then why don't they discuss about deleting math from the exams first." But Rab told us the reason having an entrance exam should be thought first. I would like to be able to realize those big problems by myself.

class-5/11

In yesterday's class we had a visitor from a publishing company. I was surprised when I entered the room after rushing from PE because a lady was sitting with the other students. From my experience I have a image that visitors sit in the back of the room. Thinking about it now this might be an assumption.

We did some discussions on What Went Wrong? sheet Which Rab gave us. It was interesting and I enjoyed the class very much. I don't think there was a big difference in the daily class and yesterday's class but maybe I was thinking more because the visitor was in the group. The point is the more I think, the more I can take part in discussions, and the more I can enjoy the class. I was quite late to realize... but it's better to than not to. I'll try to think harder in today's class.

I thought that if we don't know anything about the topic then it would be hard to find an assumption. It actually was hard to find them. I only knew a little of the historical backgrounds of Saudi Arabia. I felt the problem of ignorance again in Rab's class. I really like Rab because he tells us about things that I've never thought about (including the technology).

class-5/10

On Monday we first checked our partner's the practice PWT using the LBH. It was easier to check it using the LBH than just reading. We learned what is good and what is bad for the opening and the conclusion. It surprised me when Rab told us that emotional perspectives can be used as a support. Rab also changed my way of thinking on assumptions. I was thinking that there should be no assumption (even its hard to do) and didn't realize that it depends on the audience whether the assumptions are valid or invalid. So, from the next writing I'm going to think about the reader when finding assumptions.

class-5/7

Yesterday we first had a practice PWT. 15 minutes was shorter than I thought, and even I had a discussion on the questions before, I don't think I answered the question properly. I hope Kana doesn't have a hard time with my paper.

In the later half of the class Rab showed us a dvd. The title was "This is what democracy looks like." It was really shocking. What the police did surprised me so much. I can't believe that they could do such a thing, for example taking off the protestants mask and spraying gas to their eyes. I wonder if the police knows why the demo was happening. The power of the media was surprising too. I thought I understood the bias of the media in Rab's NP but after watching the movie in class, I didn't understand it enough. This time I felt it really necessarily to examine the news by myself. I felt my ignorance and also felt that I wouldn't change if I were just watching the news programs in Japan. My teachers in high school and junior high told me to watch the news, so I thought that the news was telling the truth. But from now on, I will examine the news and find the truth by other ways. If Rab hasn't done this class (and NP) I would have been believing what the media says. I think there are many people that doesn't know these things so I'm going to try to start telling it to the people around me to make things better.

Chapter 3: Living Together VS. Going It Alone

First of all I thought that chapter 3 was easier to read compared to chapter 1 and 2. I think it was because there were many episodes which I can agree as a Japanese. Especially when an expression that I knew was introduced it made me say "ahhh". For example "The peg that stands out is pounded down."(48) I don't actually know when this expression was made but I think its old. I think its old enough to say that Japan's way of thinking hasn't changed for years like China or the western countries. I thought this way of thinking has some relation to the attitude toward demos in Japan. If the expression is true then most of the people would try to be the same with the others. So if only few people takes part in a demo than the other peoples would just be watching. On the other hand if the people know that many of the people moving then they will move too, like the vote which DPJ has won. I think that the people who cares other people so much could be easily moved by the media. So we have to be very careful. That's what I thought during reading chapter 3.

Chapter 2:The Social Origins of Mind

I think that I'm the last person to post the blog about chapter 2 x(

I read it in the week we had to but I didn't post a blog... and its May already, and I have to write about 4 more chapters!! I might be quite lazy than I thought.

Chapter 2 was difficult to read as chapter 1. Nisbett's writing did not interest me so much. His bias can be seen in many places and it makes his writing weak. I can't agree with Nisbett when he says "lack of curiosity was characteristic of China"(4o) or "there has never been a strong interest in knowledge for its own sake in China"(40). It might be necessary to use strong word when you want to persuade people, but I don't think it was a good choice to use "never" in the sentence.


4 more posts are waiting...

class-4/30

In class we peer reviewed our essays in the essay group. Reading other peoples essays was a very good opportunity to learn what a good essay is. The essay I wrote this time was the 5th one that I wrote in English in my life, so I felt the difference in level so much. I think that I have to work really really hard on my essays to catch up to the CB members.

After doing peer review Rab showed us some videos of demos which happened in other countries. I thought that the Japanese should be more democratic but I don't know where to start from. I don't know much about politics so after doing some research I'll post my opinion of the way Japan should change.

class-4/28

I haven't posted a blog from Wednesday.

Well in Wednesday's class we did worksheets which Rab gave us. I thought doing a worksheet is a good way to make us think in reality and check if we are really understanding things. I think that I understood the structure of an paragraph but I can't say I did it well through writing my essay. I hope my writing skills gets better.

class-4/27

Yesterday was a tiring day for me. I had to hand in HW at the law class, do my essay, swim, and have dinner with the CB members. Of course the last one was fun. But I think Ihaven't done anything well enough.

I think I didn't do well even in class. We did disscusions on Meiland but I couldn't say my opinions well. I'm now worried about the PWT but since Rab said that he's handling about 80% of my grade I'm going to do my best on my essay first.

I'm sorry that I'm not writing much about class.

class-4/26

4/26 was Sayako's birthday!
We ate cake and sung the birthday song.

In class first Rab told us about the PWT. I'm worried if i can wake up on time. After the explaination we did a disscusion on our essays in groups and then in pairs. It was good to hear other opinions.

We used the LBH for the first time. The paragraph about chili was a good example for an unitified paragraph. It was easy to get the point.

Today I found out that I can post a blog from my mobile phone. So since i'm on the train for 2 hours i think i'm going to use it for posting my blog. The demerit of this is that it takes time to type and i have no idea of how much iwrote.

Next I have to write yesterday's blog.

Chapter 1:The Syllogism And The Tao

First of all it took me so much time to read this. There were many words that I didn't know. I didn't know what "syllogism" meant so I had to look up the dictionary from the title. It would have been more easier to read if I had more vocabulary.

Chapter 1 was about the difference between ancient Greeks and ancient Chinese. Since there were things that my high school teacher told me before, it was interesting to read it in English (more detailed). While reading chapter 1 , I sometimes felt that Nisbett might have a bias against the Chinese or the Asians. When I started reading it I was assuming that Nisbett would be writing the book in a balanced way. So, I felt that it is a hard thing to not show the bias.

I was surprised that the word "school" comes from a word which means "leisure".
I hope I can have fun in learning.

ZOTERO!!

Zotero is sooo useful!!
I would have liked it if Zotero was introduced at the start-up program. But I think I'm lucky to be in Rab's class in the spring term. All these things he teaches us using technology would make my university life much easier.
I found a video which shows the way we can highlight things and make annotations. I think this will be really useful when we are reading online.
Highlighting and Annotation

class-4/21

In class Rab told us about the structure of an essay. I knew that the title has 2 parts but I didn't know how to write an attracting one so "Bad Banana" and "A$$h***ASO"was a good example for me. It really attracts people. I also learned that the patterns of orders for the body paragraph. I think the things that Rab told us today would help me write an essay very much.

At the end of the class, we presented are essay topic in front of the room. My topic is going to be "Does Japan need to do inclusive education for the children with special needs?" I would like to talk about the education program in Finland :)

class-4/20

In class we did some discussion on Meiland and then tried to find assumptions and dogmatic essence in our essay topics. I understood that assumptions will make the essay weak. So I'll try to be careful but I thought that it is hard to find assumptions all by yourself. It would be a good idea to talk with other people to write an good essay.

class-4/19/10

Today's class started from doing a discussion on Meiland. We discussed about what a subersive college is and whether ICU is one or not.

After discussing Meiland, Rab told us about the demonstration which happened in Japan in the 1960's and the one in 2003. It is sad to hear that there were only 30,000 people who tried to stop the war around Tokyo. I wonder if there is a good way to involve the young people in these kinds of movements.

In the later part of the class Rab told us how to write an essay. He told us that we should pay attention to the 5A's when we are going to write an essay. I like the way he gives us examples. It makes it easy for me to think.

4/16's class

In the class we had on April 16th I learned many things. First we peer reviewed the paragraphs using the google document. I felt that it's a good way to help each other when we're writing something. It's really useful! After that Rab showed us two videoes on Youtube. I think it was a very good example in telling us what a good essay is. In the end of the class Rab showed us a video of a man riding a bike. It was AMAZING! I'll try not to say "I can't do it".

watching the video

The first video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA
This video was really amazing. I did not think they were playing different songs. Watching the video made it easy for me to get the image of the structure of a good essay.

The second video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjY3UvQ2n98
From this video I learned that the number isn't always important and that the quality is what really counts. But I did like the song :)

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