Hello everyone,

Our online English lessons at school happen from Tuesday to Friday. An important part of a good online lesson is getting ready. This means, before your class, you need to read the chapter in your textbook that you will talk about. Check new words in your dictionary. Practice reading the dialogue. Prepare answers to the questions. If you do these things, your online lesson will be easier and more fun.

Take a look at this book from my lesson yesterday. This was done before the lesson started:

This student is ready with her answers, and has read the page. Good job!

The other thing you should prepare is a story to talk about at the start. If your teacher asks: “How are you?” “Fine” is not an interesting answer. Instead, try telling the teacher something interesting that has happened to you in the last week.

“I’m good. I finished school on Saturday and then enjoyed going to the mall with my friends on Sunday. I bought a new shirt and had ice cream.”

This small story can lead to a much longer and more natural conversation with your teacher, and it is more fun. You just need to prepare a little bit first.

I hope you are enjoying your online lessons, and come practice with me anytime if you need help!

Hello everyone,

School is back! It is nice to see everyone back in class, but coming to school and going home is SO HOT. Please take care of yourself by using sunscreen, wearing a hat or using an umbrella, and drinking lots of water or tea.

There was one place hotter than Wakayama this week, however, as “Death Valley” in America reached the hottest temperature ever recorded. Take a look at this picture:

This is part of a park in California. I think even ice cream won’t help you in that heat!

Please take care of yourself and your classmates as we restart school for the second term. Do your best, and don’t forget to keep your hands washed and masks on. Good luck.

Hello everyone,

Today is the last day of school for term 1. What a crazy term it has been! I am thankful that we could finish it all together in our classrooms, rather than doing it at home via video. Although it is a short vacation, I hope you can relax and refresh next week.

This term we listened to various teachers talk about the bible. My favorite was Mr. Yamauchi’s talk from the book of Matthew, chapter 10. It talked about greetings and giving the “blessing of peace” to people you meet. It reminded me of when I was a boy in Canada going to church on Sundays. At the end of the church service, we turned to the people close to us and said “May the peace of the lord be with you”, and that person replied “And also with you.” In this way, the greeting made the community stronger.

So, I told my class that at the end of the day we would pass the peace. They have been doing that for the past month before saying goodbye. Recently when I was talking to my grandmother in Vancouver, I mentioned our new way of finishing the day. She was happy to hear it, and wrote down the story to share at her church discussion group. They meet outside after church on Sundays to talk about their lives and their faith. Last week she shared the story of my class “passing the peace”. Another woman in the group really liked the story, and she told it to another church group, this time a Catholic church in Nanaimo.

So just like how we pass the peace to each other, the story of M2C has itself been passed half-way around the world. Who knows, maybe it will keep going! Until next time, have a good summer, and “May the peace of the lord be with you.”

Hello everyone,

Many events have been paused at schools in Wakayama because of the corona virus. However, when one thing stops, there is an opportunity to try somthing new! On Saturday our regular lessons were cancelled and each grade made a plan to enjoy the day. Some of the highlights I heard about were:

• making rockets in the science rooms,
• a water fight at the tennis court, and
• an esports tournament on the first floor!

As for grade 2 junior high school, my class, we enjoyed playing table tennis together and blasting some loud music. The students were the DJ, so I learned a lot about Korean boy groups. After that we went back to the classroom to watch a movie and eat some snacks. For one day, it was nice to enjoy our time together and make up for some of the other ideas that have to be postponed.

Now we are into our final week before the mini-summer. We have parent-teacher meetings starting tomorrow. I will get my smile ready! As for you, you have three days to tackle your summer homework. I suggest you finish it fast this week so you can enjoy next week.