Haramachi Elementary

Hai, Hai,

Thank you for your comments! It is so nice to know y'all are reading my blog! I'm having a great time, but I am tired! And, I do miss you. I especially missed you today when we went to Haramachi Elementary School.

There are 347 students in this school in grades 1 through 6. They are called "Hibarikko" after the Japanese lark, called Hibariin Japanese, which is a very "lively" bird; the are hoping to become a lively child like the Hibari. School is from 8am to 4pm., 203 days a year. They are responsible for cleaning the school and serving their lunch, and cleaning the plates after lunch. They do not have a cafeteria, but eat in their classroom. They have 30 minutes of recess after lunch and two 10 minute breaks to run outside in the morning and in the afternoon. Here are some photos I think you will enjoy. We were asked not to put any up that would show their faces on the Internet, but I will show them to you when I get back to school.

They do not have a librarian, they know the term, but they don't have a clue as to what a school librarian, or library media specialist, which is the new correct title, should do. In fact, one of the Board of Education members asked me in yesterday's meeting how a library functions in a United States school. I think you will be surprised when you see the pictures of their library, and be glad that yours is different than it is. Books are checked out by students who are on the library committee; they do not have a computer for checkout, but write the book title and the student's name on a sheet of paper. The bigger of the two library rooms is about the size of two of our classrooms put together. The room with the short bookcases is the size of one of our regular classrooms. The only encyclopedia set they had on the shelves was copyrighted in 1980.