Welcome to My Homepage
My name is Manabu Sannohe. My nickname is “Gaku-chan,” reading the
charcter of my first name in Chinese-style. I was born with a disability called
cerebral palsy. I’m called “a severely disabled” by the Japanese
societal/administrative standards. I’m a teacher at a public junior high school
since April 2001. I stand – or I shall say “sit” as I do sit in a chair while I
teach – in front of the class to teach math.
I
interact with my students as myself. Although I have a disability, my heart is
not cloudy. I have a mountain of things that I want to convey to my students. I
now spend my schoollife and my time in classes with my dear students.
This year is my 8th
year of my career as a teacher. I enjoy being a teacher as I have become used
to the school where I work now and am surrounded by good colleagues. As I
continue to build up many experiences, my dream will remain unchanged: “I want
to be an advocate who speak for the junior high school students with whom I
share time and space.”
Through my homepage,
you’ll see me as a person who I am. I hope that you will feel and gain
something by visiting my homepage.
Please enjoy my
website, “The Gaku-chan World.” I cherish opportunities to meet new people. I
hope that my life will be expanded as I get to meet various people through this
homepage.
My dream is
important to me. I think it was because I held strongly onto the dream to
become a teacher that I could make it come true upon my third attempt. When I
became wanting to become a junior high school teacher and thus began taking the
Teacher Employment Examination, most had difficult opinions about my attempt.
For example, “If you want to be a teacher, just keep taking the exam as long as
the age requirement allows,” someone told me. And others also said things like “Why
don’t you try becoming a teacher of a special school rather than a junior high
school?” and “It would probably be a difficult challenge for you as disabled
teachers have been close to none in the past…”
I think all of those
words reflected generous considerations toward me. However, I did not believe
that it was such a reckless challenge and so I just tried my best working
toward my own dream. It was not like I had a luxury of many advantages, but
rather I struggled and managed to cultivate my path thanks to the help I got
from many people.
Lately, I am drawn
to table-tennis. I first saw an advertisement of a disabled table-tennis class
hosted by the city of
In
September 2000, I won a gold medal in the cerebral palsy class at “Akita
Physical Education Competition for the Physically Disabled.” It was my first
time to participate in a sports competition and to feel the lively excitements
of the games. In the next year then, I made an entry into “The 1st
National Sports Competition for the Disabled in Miyagi.” It was 2 wins and 2
losts, and I won a bronze. It was a regrettable competition for me. In 2007, I
once again participated in “The 7th National Sports Competition for
the Disabled in
I greatly enjoy
playing table-tennis. It makes me feel good. I would like to keep playing and
get better at it. “Table-tennis” has become my new dream. I want to challenge
and see how far I can go, even though it will be a start from nothing.
I would like my
students to have dreams and to live up to them. Then, I as a teacher shall
demonstrate such an attitude to the students – I want to convey the message
myself.
Miwako Sekihara, a free writer, has written about me
and published a book “Cheer up! Gaku-chan-sensei – A story of challenge of a
junior high school teacher with cerebral palsy” (Shogakukan) in 2003. And
in 2008, I published my very first book “My vector: Don’t give up the dream”
(Graph-sha).
It was perhaps
because of these activities that I have won “The 1st Renaissance
of
Japanese Education Award” in August 2008. The three award recipients including
myself were presented the award at the opening ceremony of the Education Summer
Festival 2008 (an event hosted by the Renaissance of Japanese
Education with the support from the Yokohama City Board of Education). Mr.
Hideo Kageyama, the chairman of the Renaissance of Japanese Education, presented me a certificate and a trophy. “I hope
teachers like you will play an active part in schools more and more,” hesaid. The three reasons of my winning the award included:
¨
To give teachers and the prospect of education a
hope by, despite the disability, overcoming the handicapps of disability,
developing original teaching materials, and teaching classes creatively.
¨
To serve as an educational model for the students in
the aspect of societal activities by participating and achieving good results
at sports competitions for the disabled.
¨
To make efforts to convey educational messages
through the publication of “Cheer up! Gaku-chan-sensei – A story of
challenge of a junior high school teacher with cerebral palsy” (Shogakukan)
and “My vector: Don’t give up the dream” (Graph-sha).
These reasons for the award
pushed my back. It gave me a confidence that there were some people who
appreciated my educational policy. As a teacher, it was an honor to be
recognized.
Now I once again strengthen
my determination that I devote my life as an educator pursuing my original
mission to teach math to the junior high school students. I envision becoming a
teacher to whom students I taught will say, “Thanks to you, thanks to learning
math from you, I learned a lot.” A teacher can make big effects on a human
being. I intend to teach math to my students while I am well aware of such
influential power of a teacher.
I have disability in my
speech. You can understand me once you get accustomed to it. However, giving a
class is different from mere conversation. My students must be able to
understand mathematical contents by listening to my explanation. If they cannot
understand my speech, they will not be able to learn math. The fact that my
students do learn math in my class may mean that they are acquiring great
skills besides math as well.
In addition, I cannot draw
straight lines using a ruler. Although I practiced a lot, I have found it
difficult to stable a T square with my right hand while I draw a line with my
left hand. So I decided not to use rulers altogether. Instead, I draw lines
free hand. My lines of course will not be exactly “straight” but rather be
shaky ones but I say to my students, “You draw straight lines using rulers.”
The students are good with it. Although, occasionally some may say, “What does
a straight line look like, teacher? Draw and show it to us.”
I thought that I could try
to solve a problem when it did arise, such as my free-hand written lines
somehow make it harder for students to understand the class. I also teach
lessons on figures by this style. As I say “Look at this square,” I refer to a
figure that cannot really be a square. I guess it is okay as long as students
do not say “I don’t understand” (or not…).
It was particularly hard to
draw a circle. Typically it’s drawn using a pair of compasses. I cannot use
typical compasses in my class, so I ask the class, “Is there anyone who can
draw a circle on a blackboard for me?” I thought this had to be my way,
although inside of myself, I desired to be able to draw a circle myself and to
surprise my students. When I was looking through a catalogue of math teaching
materials, a pair of compasses caught my eyes. It gave me a slightest hope that
I might be able to draw a circle on my own… I showed the catalogue to one of my
colleagues and said, “I cannot draw a circle with a typical pair of compasses,
but wth these…?” “Yeah, why don’t you try it?” he encouraged me. The compasses
that caught my mind had magnet on the back so they can attach on the
blackboard. Set a desired radius, hold a chalk, move my hand around, and there,
I could draw a circle.
In one class, I tried my
compasses for the first time. I attached the compasses on the blackboard, held
a chalk, moved my arm around, and I could draw a circle by myself. At that
moment, I felt like I overcame a barrier that I faced as a math teacher. I
remember that I felt confident. My students too were excited as if it were
their own successes.
For my class, I prepare some
learning cards by choosing key words, printing them out individually on a
computer, laminating each card, and put magnetic stripes on its back. I use
those cards at the summative phase of the class as well as during the time when
I review previous lessons. I used to make those cards using thick construction
papers, but I figured they quickly became worn-out when they were used
frequently. So I decided to laminate each card so it would be more durable.
As a teacher, I have not
experienced having my own class. I hope to be a classroom teacher just like
others. My colleagues do have their own classes, so why can’t I? I think it is
because I have a disability. What prevents my desire to become a classroom
teacher from being realized? I sense that it is people’s attitudes. My being
able to have my own classroom is one way to embody inclusive education.
Inclusive education should not only be an educational philosophy but also mean
to build up concrete practices around you.
My motto is: With my
students. With my colleagues. With everyone.
My favorite word “with”
represents my wish; I want to live with you.
Please feel free to leave your message on the message board or send me emails if you have encouragements and supportive messages for me.
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in any mode is permitted.