Last school year, I didn't win. Didn't win what, you ask? I didn't win anything! I wrote five grants and failed to get any... not even a $45 weather station. I was on the short-list ballot for teacher of the year and lost. I completed National Board and failed -- by one stinkin' point! My micro-society project was nominated for Disney's Teacherrific Awards and earned rejection again. I didn't even think I did a very good job of teaching my third graders, as it was my first time working with kids that young and I felt like a first year teacher again.
From all of that loss came opportunity. The consolation prize from the Teacherrific Awards was four one-day park hopper passes to the Disney parks, and thanks to that failure, I was able to take some of my students to Japan with me... even if it was just for a couple of hours.
Part of the micro-society that I conduct in my classroom involves an economy where the students work with classroom money called "Ralphers" (original name huh?) Students have a variety of ways to earn Ralphers, most notably through Market Day, where the kids develop and manage their own businesses to try to earn a profit. They have plenty of opportunities to spend money as well -- Market Day, classroom auctions and special trips like going bowling or to the movies with Ralph-Sensei are the top money drainers.
Students willing to put off gratification and keep most of their money in Ralphadelphia Bank have the opportunity to earn the Big Prize at the End, a day of fun with their teacher. Thanks to my losing at the Teacherrific Awards, I had four Disney tickets to burn, so what do you think the top money savers did for this year's Big Prize?!
That's right baby! Japan at Epcot! (Actually we started at Animal Kingdom but this is a blog about Japan, not animals!) After spending the morning at Animal Kingdom, we traveled to Epcot where we made our way straight back to the Japan Pavilion.
One of my previous posts was dedicated to the Japanese department store Mitsukoshi, and that is where we spent some of our time. We had a reservation for lunch at Teppan Edo, the pavilion's teppanyaki restaurant. The server greeted us and after I ordered my meal in Japanese, she discovered I was going to Japan in two weeks. She told me to make sure I stop by Tokyo DisneySea because it was the best of all of the Disney parks! Kenji-san, our chef (who originated from Tokyo), came out and treated us to both a fantastic show and a wonderful meal.
How do you say "Bon Apetit" in Japanese?
After lunch we went downstairs to the store, where the kids had a great time looking at Japanese toys and swords. In the back corner of the store we found a section dedicated to Kimono, and the girls were begging to try one on but they were too shy to ask. I brought them over to a young lady who was herself dressed in a beautiful Kimono, and told her that they had a question. They were so mad at me for making them ask! Satori-san, the associate in charge of his quiet and beautiful section of the store, was very gracious and showed the girls many of the children's Kimonos, even allowing them to try some on!
Two of my students got to try on these beautiful traditional Japanese Kimonos.
After leaving the Kimonos, we looked at the bonsai trees and calligraphy sets before finally arriving at the section of the store that my students were most looking forward to -- the candy! Here, they spent the most of their money, buying Apollo, Pocky, and the class favorite, Ramune!
By the time the day was done, all of the candy had been eaten and the Ramune bottles had been dropped numerous times (somehow they never broke). The kids thought it was a great day, and their exhausted teacher agreed.
Now it's time to get ready for the real thing, thanks to finally winning -- the biggest grant of them all!
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