Here is one more thing that one of my students wrote:

The ability of guessing and thinking is my treasure I got in this class.

I have just finished reading the final essays that my students wrote in class. I asked the students what they thought the most important thing was that they had learned in this course (An Introduction to Global Issues). Here are some quotes from their essays:

I could learn to be active in class was really important to improve my English skills.

. . . the most important thing is to think deeply and to put it into action.

. . . many ideas give me many choices, and I can choose the best one from them.

Putting ideas into action is important, as well as thinking deeply.

. . . the most important thing is that it is important to have a dream.

Talking of global issues, I learned a lot about them, and I realised that I did not know the world.

My way of thinking changed as I learned about global issues.

The most important thing that I learned in this course is that it is up to us whether the future is good or bad.

. . . I have an important role in the solutions and improvement of this situation (global issues).

I also learned the importance of having and telling my own ideas . . . so I could have the confidence to say my own ideas.

I feel that everyone can understand each other even if their mother tongues are different.

By taking this course, my way of thinking has changed. I have started to think about our earth more than before.

Knowledge is power.

We are living on the earth and issues are getting more international as this world is globalized, so it is neccesary for me to know what kinds of issues we are facing, the factors of the issues, the connection between our lives, and some solutions of the issues.

This course gave me both useful knowledge and useful English skills.

. . . the world's future will be great if human beings take action. On the other hand, the world's future will be terrible if no one does anything.

Before I took this course, I didn't think about what was going on in the world, what problems the world has seriously.

In Japanese classes, there are not many chances to think and talk with classmates about what we think. Through this course, I've learned thinking is importnat.

. . . I learned the importance of an active attitude toward English . . .

Before I did not have any knowledge about the world's problems, but now I often think about the world's problems not only in English, but also in Japanese.

This course helped me broaden my horizons.

When you, Scott, came to our group and asked something, somebodyin teh group had to say something or answer of course in English. However, one day, I noticed that a few of us spoke every time. On the other hand, most of us didn't speak in English at all. Instead of English, some of us spoke Japanese. Then, you can you guess what was a result of this trend? A few of us were able to talk and speak English much better than last year. Now, they can speak as fluently as English people. However, people who spoke Japanese could not improve their speaking ability. Maybe it was better than before, but not as great an improvement as people who spoke English a lot.

There were also a lot of other great ideas in the final essays. I wish I could share them all with the world. I am so happy that my students seem to have learned so much. I think they really "got it" and understand what I was trying to do in the class. I'd also like to thank my teacher at the University of Calgary, Dr. Hetty Roessingh for pointing me in the right direction, and teaching me how to teach. Her theory of "learning by design" really works!

Thank you so much IES - E!! The year is finished, and now we are all going to be moving on to other things, but I will never forget any of you. It was simply a pleasure working with all of you for the past 10 months. I feel that I have also learned a lot from you guys. I was never your teacher, and you were never my students, instead we were partners working together to learn and grow. It was wonderful. I was so touched when I read the blog that you all made (http://www.scottisawesome.blogspot.com.) I can see that all the hard work that we have done in this past year has really been worth it. I will never forget what we have learned together, and don't forget - you can change the world!

There are only two classes left. I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was in a panic trying to think about what I would teach my IES class. The only think I knew was that I had to teach my class something in the social sciences. Now I'm glad that I choose to study global issues in my class, because I think I really learned a lot with my students. They may not know it, but usually I read the book the day before we talked about it in class!! However, I do have an advantage in that I never had any vocabulary problems :-) Anyway, now I feel really inspired about doing good things for the world. I can't wait to move back to Canada and get to work. I wonder what I will do first. I think I am going to keep blogging, so check back here to see what I am doing in the future.

However, I will be in Japan for the next six months, so you can read this blog to see what my new students are doing. I am teaching IES B next semester, and I am going to use the same textbook. It's going to be weird teaching new students.

Anyway, it was wonderful teaching all of my students this past year, and I hope they keep on blogging!

Here is the IES Global Issues class. Can you believe we have been studying together for an entire year. I can't believe there are only four classes left! 

It’s amazing how fast this semester has gone by already. I can’t believe that this year is almost over. In one way, I’m glad because I am looking forward to a long holiday, but in another way, I’m sad because I have been teaching my IES class for almost a year and soon we won’t be seeing each other anymore. However, this is all part of the cycle of life, and it’s the way it should be.

We had a very interesting class the other day talking about metaphors for the future. We thought about the future being like a rollercoaster on a moonless night, a game of dice, a ship on the sea, and a blank piece of paper. I guess I kind of believe in the ship metaphor, in that I would like to think that we can have some influence on the future (like the captain of a ship deciding where he wants to go), but that we are also subject to outside forces beyond our control. You know, I used to think about fate and destiny a lot. I wonder if my students think about it. Although I like the ship metaphor for the future, I think at heart, I am really a fatalist in that I don’t think we do have much choice for our future, or if we do have a choice, it is very difficult to make certain choices in our lives. Let me try and explain this further:

What is mean is this – we are socialized to act in a certain way, and society around us expects us to act in certain ways. As a result, we usually act in the way that we are supposed to act in. All the choices I make in life are a result of my education and culture, and to go beyond that is very difficult. For example, I could choose to become a doctor or a teacher, but because of certain things that happened in my past I was propelled along the path of becoming a teacher, and it would have been very hard for me not to have become a teacher, and to have become a doctor instead. Everything in my past was propelling me into become a teacher, and it would have taken a huge effort to will not to be a teacher. Does that make any sense? It is almost like society controls our destinies, rather than ourselves, and society forces us to play certain pre-determined roles and it is almost impossible not to play the roles that society has decided for us. Another way to illustrate this might be the idea of marriage. All of society is constantly telling us that we need to find a partner, and that marriage and children are the highest ideal of happiness, but maybe for some people, this is not the way they could be most happy, but because society is pressuring them to get married, they get married anyway.

Hmmmm, I wonder if any of this is making any sense. I used to think about this a lot when I was younger (I am an old and cynical 34 now). I guess the biggest tragedy of this way of thinking is that I am aware of the fact that I have no real free will, but I am unable to do anything about it. I liken it to being in a straightjacket, with my legs free to roam. I can walk to where I want, but my arms aren’t free to do what I want.

Hoo whee, I hope my students aren’t reading this and getting depressed. Anyway, now that I am 34, I hope the ship metaphor is more apt than my straightjacket metaphor.

I am kind of a positive thinking nihilist. Is that an oxymoron?

I'm just shocked by the disaster around the Indian Ocean. I have never heard of such a terrible natural disaster in my life. I was in Canada when it happened, and I couldn't believe what I was watching on TV. I'm back in Japan now, and I'm preparing for classes next week. I hope we can help somehow in our class. We'll have to put our heads together and try and think of some way we help the poor people who have been affected by this disaster.

On another note, I enjoyed seeing all my family in Canada. It was a nice 10 days, despite the cold weather. I don't think I am used to -20 degrees C anymore. Now I know why Canadians use so much of the world's energy. We heat our houses so much. My house in Canada is warmer than my house here in Japan. Also, in Canada, every room is heated 24 hours a day, even the rooms that don't have anyone in them. It seems like a terrible waste of energy, but then it is so easy to be selfish when it is so cold outside. Even now, here in Japan, I have all of my heaters burning full blast. I think I'll go and turn down some of my heaters now.