Fish or cut bait

朝、出かける前に、妻の友人から巨大なスズキとハマチが届いた。一本釣りであげたものらしい。凄い。さてさて、二人でどう食べたものか…。
高3ライティングもテストが出て来た。今回はエッセイ「的」な、課題作文が2題。どちらも80語から150語で書くもの。試験時間は50分なので、単純計算すると1題25分。
1題は、必修課題で、授業で扱った、Growth and independenceの課題の清書版ともいえるもの。

  • What makes an independent person? What quality or skill is essential to an independent person? State your opinion using specific reasons and examples.

その他は選択で次のうち1題を選んで解答するもの。

  • Some people think that the family is the most important influence on young adults. Other people think that friends are the most important influence on young adults. Which view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.
  • Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Higher education is a period when students should leave their parents and start to live on their own. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
  • Which would you choose: a high-paying job with long hours that would give you little time with family and friends or a lower-paying job with shorter hours that would give you more time with family and friends? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details.
  • The age of adulthood in Japan is now 20. Some say that the current law is reasonable and there is no need to change it. Others would argue, however, that the age should be lowered --- to 18, for example, and still others would insist that the age should be raised --- to 22, for example. Which of the three views do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to defend your position.


授業では、「higher educationに自分は何を求めるか?何がhigher educationの意義なのか?」「NEETに対する家庭の支援・協力は必要なものか?」「自立にとって、定職、結婚、子育て、親の面倒を見ること、親元から離れて暮らす、のどれが最も大切か?」などという課題を扱ってきたので、topical knowledgeは充分であり、各課題の復習ができていれば、lexical knowledgeもほぼ対応できるはずのパラレルな課題を用意したつもりである。昨年との違いといえば、第5問に、早稲田大の過去問と一橋大の過去問を融合したものを盛り込んでおいたことくらい。
このあとは採点です。最大、150 words X 2 X 64 = 19200 wordsを読むことになります。高2のテストの記述問題(絵を30- 50 wordsで描写するもの、印象に残った教科書のパートの英語による要約、「現代に於ける平和とは何か?」)計3問以外は今朝方までに全て終わらせておいたので、なんとか答案返却日までには終わりそう。今日は、全答案を見て、pre-gradingの作業で終わると思われます。週末の本業は正念場なので、明日、明後日は死ぬ気で頑張ります。
通勤の電車の中で、Sam Pickering の ”Letters to a teacher” を再読。

  • Schools are society’s tuning forks. When society vibrates, schools quiver. Teachers do not live in ivory towers. In comparison to teachers, bankers and brokers inhabit isolated worlds. Momentary concerns swirl through schools before they touch other social institutions. (Problems, p. 237)

民間基準をすぐに持ち出す「有識者」は、これを読んでなんと言うだろうか?このセクションはこの本の中の最後のパートで、教職にある者なら何かを感じ取れるだろうと思うので、少々長いが抜粋。

  • No matter how bright the lights around you seem to be, you are probably standing in a shadow. Few people notice or care what you do. No matter what the turmoil of the moment is, your duty is to your class. Friends often tell parents that children keep them young. The truth is that your class won’t keep you young. Instead, you will keep your students young. You will introduce them to new activities and thought. You can bring spring to their lives. You can make them smile. You can be an example. You can’t shape their lives but you can point and encourage. If you do so, someday you can say to yourself, “I haven’t wasted my life.” (p. 242)

本日のBGM: No Easy Way Down (Mark Eitzel)