Bill Werlin’s Commencement speech


Head Master’s speech


Awarding Diplomas

What is the learning hub for?

As the name suggests the learning hub is a shared space for all members of the YIS community to learn. It is a place to share resources, display projects, communicate ideas, and help others by viewing, critiquing and commenting on their posts and work.

How is this different from the main YIS website?

The main YIS website is, and will continue to be, a place to display important information about the school. The learning hub is different, it is a collaborative space intended to host communication and dialogue. Therefore at the centre of the learning hub are the students’ own individual websites. These websites are a place for the students to host their projects and ideas. They serve as weblogs (blogs) and digital portfolios. The students will design and adapt their own sites to suit these different functions and will be encouraged to explore and experiment with a variety of digital tools as this project develops.

Will all sections and subjects of the school be using the learning hub?

Initially we are trialing the learning hub with certain sections and subjects. All middle school students have their own websites and some high school students. We want to ensure that both practically and educationally the learning hub is used to support and improve learning at YIS. Some departments will be using the learning hub to post resources and links. (MS English and MS Science already have sites). There will be links from the main YIS portal to any departments that choose to use the hub to post resources and assessment information.

How can parents get involved?

Parents can comment on any of the sites by simply typing in the boxes provided and leaving an e-mail address (that is not displayed). We encourage parents to use the student websites to view and comment on student work and to use the subject department and this welcome page for questions and comments for the teachers.

Thank you for reading this far and please feel free to comment below,

The Learning Hub Team

SALT Author
By John Snowball, Yokohama International School
Middle School Principal

An excellent day’s learning. The facilitators used some very good learning exercises to help us see the potential of technology in our schools as well as helping us to think about how we can lead this. One of the best exercises used a strategy to not only help identify the huge range of e-learning software and strategies, but a way of identifying who on staff uses some of them. This can then pave the way for tremendous PD opportunities for those teachers and help build a really strong technology teaching and learning culture.

Obviously one of the salient points was the speed of the change in this area, as well as the fact that it isn’t going to slow down. As administrators, we have a responsibility to make sure that it is planned well – it can be expensive! – but that we remember the importance of good learning strategies and that simply having the “gear” is not enough.

Finally, as leaders in our schools, we need to model the best approaches which can ensure participation by many not the few.

SALT Author
Dennis Stanworth, Yokohama International School
High School Principal

Reflecting prior to the event
Looking forward to joining this inspired group of educators at the MRI:leading school change in the 21st century to be held 21st Feb at the Westin. For me, as an enthusiastic digital immigrant (or dinosaur!), it will be an opportunity to listen and reflect. So many facets of e-learning, e-communication, e-assessment and e-administration are unfolding at an accelerated pace and for me, the way forward in the modelling, reflecting and transference process to lead to successful change is to pin down an effective e-strategy. I look forward to hearing from the various participants.

Reflecting after the event.

I started a project using the Posterous, which gives students more chances to use Japanese. I choose several topics for the first project, but the second project, I gave students more freedom to make story.

Blogging really helps the student increase the number of vocabulary.

As they have much more freedom for what they write, they can enjoy writing and they learn individually. This way really makes them learn.

Some students really enjoy blogging but some feel very difficult to join somehow. So this is a challenge for me to get everyone involved with this.

Andrew who is teaching Japanese in Australia, got interested in our blog project, so now his students started to comment on our website to practice their Japanese.

Hopefully their comments motivates our YIS students to write more, and I am hoping all the students can improve their Japanese. I want all students to feel the joy and have confidence to communicate in Japanese.

By Imada-sensei, Yokohama International School
Japanese Language Teacher 

今現在、８年生のネイティブのクラスで、ブログを活用しています。各生徒がブログを持ち、様々な課題をそのブログのページにのせています。例えば、故事成語をインターネットで調べ、その熟語の意味、例文、どのようにしてその言葉が生まれたか等をブログに載せています。

その他、小学校のクラスでは、Voicethreadを始めました。４年生のクラスで２分間スピーチの練習をし、それぞれがVoicethreadを用いて、録音しています。今後、１年生と３年生のクラスでもVoicethreadを使う予定です。

先日、西町インターナショナルスクールから、堀井先生が、アメリカンスクールインジャパンからは、はこね先生がYISにお出でになり、情報交換をしました。各学校で様々なテクノロジーを使った授業が行われており、勉強させて頂いております。これからもこのような場を是非、定期的に設けて頂きたいと思います。

Currently, the Grade 8 students taking Japanese as a Native Language are researching Japanese proverbs and blogging about the history of the proverb they chose.

In the Japanese classes in Elementary, I am exploring Voicethread with the Grade 1, 3, and 4 students. Each of these classes have or will record their voices to their respective Voicethreads: Grade 1, Grade 3, Grade 4.

In the last few months we had the honor to meet Horii-sensei from Nishimachi International School and Hakone-sensei from American School in Japan. We shared Japanese class materials and how technology is used in each of our schools and hoping that this type of collaboration and sharing sessions could take place on a regular basis.

Yokohama International School had the opportunity to have Hakone-sensei from American School in Japan, Chofu Campus visit last week. The reason for the invitation was to set up collaborate on projects between Japanese Language teachers and students at YIS and ASIJ using audio and visual media to comment on each other’s productions on Voicethread.

Last week went great and I’m so thankful for our Japanese Language Teachers at YIS and the ASIJ Team. In the coming months, we will possibly be doing a collaborative project between YIS and ASIJ Grade 9 student on traveling to Yokohama, because 2009 marks the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the port of Yokohama – Summary & Details. The other project will be between YIS and ASIJ Grade 11 students who will role play in making a speech for a scholarship to study abroad.

Hakone-sensei from ASIJ and two teachers from YIS may be able to present at this JASCD Try I.T. On Monday Workshops event.

Here are some thoughts from Taira-sensei from YIS:
“I was thinking about what Christine mentioned to us. If it is ok with Hakone-sensei, I would be honored and happy to talk about our project at JASCD session on April. It would be a good example (case study?) of how two schools could collaborate and interact using ICT. Students will learn from one another. We could invite Orihara-sensei as well.”

I am hoping this is just the beginning of collaboration between YIS and other schools using online learning networks and tools in order to stretch teacher and student learning.