(The badger is a symbol of Wisconsin. Some of the first white people to come to Wisconsin were lead miners from Wales. They carved out areas of hillsides in which to sleep, similar to how badgers make their own homes. This gave the miners the nickname of "badger" and eventually Wisconsin became known as the Badger State. Bucky Badger is the mascot for the University of Wisconsin.
Yukihiko Oikawa is one of the three traveling
participants from Omose School. Last year he was given a year leave from the classroom to be project manager for the Omose and Kesennuma team, which he will continue for a second year in a row.
He taught two classes for our Lincoln students in calligraphy. Students learned how to write HEIWA (peace).
Omose Elementary Teachers, professors of Miyagi University of Education, and Lincoln Elementary School's staff and students visited the Capitol of Wisconsin in Madison, and then we met Governor Jim, on March 24th. He welcomed us in the Governor's parlor. After we greeted him and introduced ourselves to him, some students of Lincoln presented their project activities to the Governor. Governor Doyle enjoyed their presentation. Then we talked with the Governor about our collaboration between Lincoln and Omose Elementary School. I explained our MTP project to the Governor, and Dr. Mikami, who is director of Miyagi University of Education, Environmental Education Center, mentioned the support for our collaboration. The Governor is interested in our project and encouraged us to promote our collaboration.
After we did the Capitol tour, we participated in a Welcome Party that was held by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for us. Madeline Uraneck, who is the International Education Supervisor of DPI, participated in the meeting and both did a presentation. We talked about our project and our collaboration between Omose and Lincoln School, and exchanged ideas and opinions about our project with specialists who are concerned with environmental education. They also joined the meeting in order to improve our project this year.
This meeting was very curious and exciting. That is a valuable opportunity for us to develop our collaboration. We recognized welcome and expectation for our project on Wisconsin side. We hope that our collaboration between Miyagi and Wisconsin will develop this year.
Yukihiko Oikawa
Omose Elementary and Lincoln Elementary
Pothole Visit
The morning of Wednesday on March 26th.
We took a bus from Lincoln elementary school with the children of Becky's class.
The destination of us is Pothole.
We arrived at pothole as much as 25 minutes.
In Lincoln elementary school, in the learning out of the school, a protector is said to help.
The Pothole is an open fen.
When we came, it was in the dry season.
Saying that the quantity of water is richer for example this year with thaw water on the Pothole.
It let me know white geese and the try stem that Jim of the wildlife scholar lives in this place.
Of the fact to be the earth where the earth in this place grows fertile very much, too, we were given instructions.
The children in Lincoln elementary school separated into groups and were examining and investigating about the food chain of the water quality.
A girl raised question about the food chain, using a fox as an example and it was described.
We admired the height of the purpose consciousness of the children.
Arboretum
It is for Arboretum of University of Wisconsin that we headed next.
The person of Nancy BauchWrenn mother of Ben Bauch of Becky's classroom described Arboretum.
We did birdwatching with the marine glasses [binoculars] and were content in the scenery of the lake and the forest.
We gave up and enjoyed grand nature.
The middle school student and the high school student were cutting tree as the volunteer.
Wisconsin is said to make nature important more than other places in U.S.A..
We thought that we became content while we breathed delicious air to the full in the stomach.
We visited pothole and Arboretum and the School Forest and felt that Wisconsin made nature important really.
Also, the grandness of U.S.A. could be felt once more.
Then, we could find the purpose which the learning of the environment by Omose
elementary school and Lincoln elementary school is common to.
For more on the Pothole and Lincoln Student Investigations Pothole Page Year long investigations of life at a wetland New Pothole investigations 2002
Potluck Dinner at Lincoln Teacher Andreal Davis' Home
Becky Rosenberg, Teacher, Lincoln Elementary School
When we got together tonight for our webposting we
were reminiscing about things that have happened
throughout our week here in Madison. It would be way
too much to include details about each day at this
time. But everything has been going remarkably well.
What our guests are experiencing includes as many
experiences and examples as we could possibly squeeze
into one week of packed schedules.
I would like to make a list of things that have moved
me about this time together with Rie Sugawara, Keiko
Chiba, Yukihiko Oikawa (and Takaaki Koganezawa and
Kazuyuki Mikami from Miyagi University). The list
will continue in my journal and as I think about these
wonderful people.
Risk-taking: Their self-introductions in English,
with sometimes the line,"I am sorry I can't speak
English."
Delight: Positive energy, even when they were so
tired, but wanted to experience everything to the fullest.
Surprise: Reactions to things that are so
different from what they are accustomed to. Food, for
instance, where many of the American portions of food
were huge. Also the Oishi response when the dishes
are tried.
Kindness and gifts in the mailboxes of each and every
staff member of our school(more than 60); gifts of pictures of their
city for all our PTA members at our dinner; and gifts
of sharing of teaching our children
Insights/thinking about connections and improvements
to our project
Honesty/difficulty in expressing feelings and
impressions when trying to be so polite, but doing so in caring and sensitive ways
Wonder/asking questions of kids, staff, participants
about our culture, schools, life here
Endearing guests, we look forward to many more times to communicate, share and learn together. Thank you for being part of our community of friends.
Lincoln Staff Potluck
Lincoln School
The Pothole
University of Wisconsin-Arboretum
Madison Schools' Jackson School Forest
Lincoln 4th grade teacher David Spitzer takes Omose teachers on tour of the Madison School Forest
Meeting WI Governor Jim Doyle and a formal Department of Public Instruction Welcome (including MMSD Superintendent Art Rainwater)
Frank Lloyd Wright architecture/design influence in Madison
Project Roundtable Meeting Workshop with Dr. Paul Williams
PTA dinner to welcome guests, and Washington, D.C.
After a busy and full day at Lincoln on Tuesday, March 25, the Omose teachers and Miyagi University professors went to our School District building with members of the Lincoln team to engage in a round table discussion. There we met for a couple hours with many
people from the University and Madison community who are going to work with us (or who will continue to). This group included Marcia Standiford (MMSD Video Technology Coordinator), Paul Williams (Science House, UW-Madison, Fast Plants and Bottle Biology), Cathy Bruner (UW Madison Natural Spaces Coordinator), Kevin Niemi (Center for Biology Education), Madeline Uraneck (WI Department of Public Instruction), Clare Seguin
(Lincoln School Science Enrichment Teacher), Beth Lehman (Lincoln principal), Sara Tedeschi (WI Homegrown Lunch Program and Farm to School Initiative), Heather Sabin (Box City Project), Kathe Konn (Aldo Leopold Nature Center), Beth Rollman and Margaret Nellis (UW Integrated Learning Studies Department and Chadbourne Hall Cooperative). Al Stensrup (WI Department of Natural Resources, Education Outreach).
We talked about what ideas people had for us to improve or incorporate into our next year of the project. The meeting was fruitful and had people lingering on to further connections and discussions well beyond the two hours we had allotted.
The first full day in Madison included a 3-hour workshop at Science House focused on Bottle Biology and WI Fast Plants. We all built individual, recycled bottle environments and talked about personalizing this activity for our students, with design of system and habitat inside. In Becky's classroom, students are studying aquariums and a terraquium (a combination of terrarium and aquarium) which were all made out of recycled plastic bottles and samples of plants and organic materials from our local environments (thanks to Dr. Williams).
The two teacher groups, with the help of Dr. Williams, generated ideas for collaboration in the year to come. He spoke about starting the SEED CHALLENGE that will take place in the next few months. What kind of yield can each school produce from each seed? What factors would effect this outcome for healthy progeny? These are questions we look forward to investigating together and sharing data and discoveries with the help of the Internet.
Omose teachers and Becky enter Science House on the University of Wisconsin Campus
Besides these foci, we toured the 1868 converted
farmhouse facility by checking out the growing systems
(constructed out of cardboard boxes), aquariums and
bio-assays , slow plants (mosses), cabbage butterflies
(Pieris rapae), as well as manuals and other resources
that support these studies. The group thought about
and checked out examples of modeling seed germination
(with a sponge wrapped in a seed coat of tissue
paper), the water cycle, global warming, decomposition
processes (all out of bottle biology construction)
among others.
These three hours were rich for all of us. We were
able to make systems and learn some helpful tips from
Dr. Williams to aid in our success of this project
component. While water has been our focus, Dr.
Williams reminded us to include plants and other
environments that effect water.
Partnerships between American and Japanese schools
through the Master Teacher Program really commenced at
the convergence in Washington, DC. Both sets of
participants arrived on Wednesday and met early
Thursday morning to start our long weekend of
orientation and Fulbright conference in the Washington
Metropolitan Area. The first day together was a day
of touring monuments and sights that related to the
importance of education, life sciences and cultural
exchange. We visited the White House, the Lincoln
Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the US Capitol and
the Smithsonian Museums. While the Nation's Capitol
was more heavily guarded than usual, we moved in and
out of sights talking and sharing. Folks were more on
guard than usual in response to what was going on, with
constant news coverage of the war in Iraq and the
worries and fears of the unknown. On the other hand,
we were part of this Fulbright group, there to share
international messages and actions of cooperation,
peace and exchange.
The Lincoln/Omose pair has a special situation.
Instead of meeting for the first time, we experienced
a meeting of old friends. Keiko, Rie and Yuki all
hosted Becky in Kesennuma for one month last summer.
Although most of the project time was between Yuki
(Oikawa-sensei) and Becky, everyone felt comfortable
right away. We feel fortunate to have both schools
continue the work that we started last year and
continue into the next year thanks to the FMFMTP
project staff.
Becky and Yuki were asked by the Fulbright Memorial
Fund staff to present two different times at the
conferences in DC. One was a collaborative
presentation to share with new MTP participants about
the partnership from last year, and the other was
specific to the individuals. Yuki published a paper
that he presented as a synopsis of a Knowledge
Creating Web. Becky was a panel participant, sharing a
presentation explaining one classroom teacher's
perspective on a year of being a Master Teacher
Participant. The conversations between Yuki and Becky
to prepare for their joint piece were invaluable.
With the help of Bruni-san (FMF staff), the two were
able to discuss culture and content in ways and with
examples previously not discussed or shared. This, of
course, is what it's all about - process and discovery.
Everyone seems to be learning on a fairly consistent
basis. It is really magical when the learning is
shared, and in that moment it is realized by each
person.
Master Teacher Presentation Home
Last update: April 15, 2003
Editor/Publisher:Eileen Potts Dawson epottsdawson@madison.k12.wi.us
Webmaster: webmaster@madison.k12.wi.us
