最新情報

高校新クラス　ケンブリッジ研修　5/21～5/27

DATE : 2018/5/30

POST 6: Presentations, Punting and Departure

In the last few days of the trip, the focus was on the students’ final exhibitions. At the beginning of the week, the students were introduced to the idea of a ‘throw away’ society. Nowadays, we are throwing away goods that could be reused or recycled or that could be replaced with reusable items to avoid unnecessary waste. On Monday, we learned about Pokito, a compact and reusable cup that fits in your pocket. Students were then tasked to think of their own solutions to the ‘throw away’ problem.

All week, students worked on their ideas and on Thursday, everyone was in the Pavilion working on their posters, creating prototypes and working on their product pitch. The format of Friday’s exhibition would be to set up a small area for your product and visitors (students and teachers from Bell) would walk freely around the different areas. When a visitor arrives at your table, you give a 90second product pitch and then answer questions about your idea. Each visitor then votes on the idea they would support.

On Friday morning, we were very lucky to have the inventor of Pokito, Andrew Brooks, visit the school and give the students some tips on giving a successful product presentation. He listened to the students’ presentations, gave them some advice, and then they were ready. Over 40 visitors came to the room to hear the students’ product pitches. As they left and voted for their favorite idea, everyone expressed how impressed they were by the presentations and complimented the innovation and creativity of the class.

In the end, it was the refrigerator application that was voted the best innovation. The product monitors the content and expiration date of the contents in your fridge, sending you notifications and menu ideas as well as warning you when products are about to go out of date to make sure you use them and they don’t go to waste.

After the product exhibition, the winning team was announced and received an award. This was followed by a short graduation ceremony and photo shoot. Then we went into town for some final shopping and punting. Punting was a great way to relax and enjoy the river and the back of the university colleges before heading home and packing up our suitcases.

On Saturday morning, we had an early start but everything went smoothly. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, checked in, did some final shopping and were in the air all on schedule. We arrived in Haneda 20minutes early and were greeted by parents and teachers as we left the airport. This meant enough time for one more photo and I received some wonderful thank you messages from the students.

Back in Japan, everyone gets Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to recover, then depending on the weather, we may have the practice sports day on Wednesday. It’s a little strange to return to a normal schedule, but hopefully, the memories of Cambridge will stay with the students as they set out on their Shin Class experience over the next three years.

ここ数日は最後の展覧会に向けて取り組んできました。週の初めに「ものを捨てる」社会について問題提起がされ、生徒たちはこの問題への解決策を考えるというタスクが与えられました。ポスター製作をしたり、試作品を作ったりして準備が進められました。金曜にはベルスクールの生徒や先生が自由に各ブースを歩き回り、生徒たちは来た訪問者に対して90秒の説明と質疑応答をします。その上で支持する考えに投票をします。金曜の朝にはPokitoの開発者がいらっしゃり、製品のプレゼンがうまくできるようにヒントをくれました。40人を超える訪問者が生徒たちの製品発表を聞いてくれましたが、皆さん生徒たちの革新性や創造性について褒めてくださいました。最も投票を集めたのは冷蔵庫のアプリで、冷蔵庫の内容と賞味期限をチェックして、通知をするだけではなく、調理メニューを提案したりすることで無駄にならないようにするというものです。最後に優勝チームが発表され表彰されて、簡単な卒業セレモニーや写真撮影をしました。その後には町に出て、ショッピングをしたりパンティングをしてリラックスしたりしました。土曜は朝が早かったですがスムーズに搭乗でき、羽田に着くと保護者の方々や先生たちが迎えてくれました。水曜からは登校して、体育祭の予行が待っています。日常生活に戻るのは少し違和感もありますが、ケンブリッジでの体験はこれから卒業するまでずっと彼らの中に残っていくことでしょう。

POST 5: Project Time – Solutions for a Throw Away Society.

It’s the second week here in the Cambridge.

On Monday morning, the students were introduced to their project for this week. First, there was an input session where students were introduced to the problems of how much people throw away every day and the problems this causes. Then they were introduced to a product by a friend of one of the teachers that was first crowdfunded and then appeared on TV. The product was Pokito. It’s a compact cup that is reusable and expands to different sizes.

In the second lesson, students were given their task and split into groups. The task is to think about things you usually throw away and design and prototype a product that will help deal with this problem. They must plan their product pitch and design a supporting poster. On Friday, they will pitch their products to Bell teachers and students.

The groups got together and started brainstorming. A key idea the groups must think about is their goal as a company and why their product is important. This requires research and statistics and thinking about their product pitch. In the afternoon, we had a company presentation from Co-op. Four people came and brought along lots of snacks and drinks for the students and explained the ethical practices of the company. It was a very compelling presentation and gave the students some things to think about.

On Tuesday, we continued our product planning, then in the afternoon, we visited Wimpole Farm. The Wimpole Estate was built between 1840 and 1870 and has been lived in by several families. In 1976, the whole location was donated to the National Trust. It’s a beautiful location and impressive house. There’s also a working farm there with many rare breeds of livestock.

On Wednesday, we had a little more time to work on the product presentations, then in the afternoon, students enjoyed a very active and engaging philosophy workshop. The lesson was very interesting and really got the students talking about and debating ideas such as ‘Does a hole exist?’ It was a great introduction to philosophy for many of the students who were doing it for the first time.

On Thursday, students will be putting together their finished product pitches and in the afternoon, they will have free time to work on their presentations or their video documentaries. On Friday, the inventor of Pokito is coming to Bell to listen to the students’ ideas and give them some advice before their final presentations. Good luck everyone!

ケンブリッジでの２週目に突入して、月曜の朝には今週取り組むプロジェクトについて伝えられました。まず、どれだけ多くのごみが毎日捨てられていて、そのことがどんな問題を引き起こすのかについて学び、その後、一人の先生の友人が作り出した再利用できて様々なサイズに変わるPokitoというカップが紹介されました。2レッスン目には「普段捨てているものについて考え、この問題に対処するのに役立つ製品を設計して試作する」という課題が与えられました。金曜には、ベルスクールの先生や生徒に自分たちの製品がいかに優れているかをプレゼンすることになります。各グループ、ブレインストーミングを始めました。考えるべき大切なことは、企業としての目標とその製品がなぜ重要なのかです。午後には企業のCo-opの方が軽食や飲み物をたくさん持ってくれて、会社のことを説明してくれました。そのプレゼンは生徒たちに考えるべきことを示してくれました。火曜にはWimpole Farmを訪れ、水曜には午前中はプレゼンの準備を、午後は哲学ワークショップに取り組みました。「穴ってあるのか？」などのトピックで議論してとても面白かったし、哲学に初めて触れる生徒には良い導入になりました。木曜はプレゼン準備を終え、金曜日は最終的なプレゼンです。Politoの開発者もかけつけてくれて、プレゼン前の最後のアドバイスもくださる予定です。頑張りましょう！

最新情報

高校新クラス ケンブリッジ研修 5/21～5/27

高校新クラス　ケンブリッジ研修　5/21～5/27