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JICA Volunteers in Palau

◆Alii from Palau!

Fumie Kameyama
JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteer

(with 3rd graders and my counter partner)

　I am Fumie Kameyama, working for Meyuns Elementary School. It has been one year since I came to Palau. Today, I’d like to introduce my work as a JICA volunteer during the past year.

　　　My biggest goal for my volunteer work is to get teachers and students to enjoy mathematics. Many students and even some teachers find math difficult and intimidating. But math is a daily skill that can be very helpful for you in your everyday life, such as to calculate your change at a shop. So I decided to work hard through my 2 years in Palau so that students and teachers would enjoy and like math. If they start to gain a little confidence that math is something they can understand, then I believe they begin to enjoy math and their performance in the class will follow the confidence. I have 2 different approaches to students and to teachers.

　　　For kids, especially those in the lower grades, I support their drill practice and homework and teach classes with my counterpart teachers. Drill practice and homework are critical because the basic calculation skill they gain through the practice becomes a tool to solve more complicated questions. The experience of solving these questions gives confidence in students, and that’s why daily math exercise is extremely important. Half way through my mission, I am very pleased to see kids enjoying and working positively on drills and homework. It is not easy to do something continuously, so I visually present my recognition of the value of their work and efforts, which seems to have successfully increased their motivation.

(JICA Marth seminar with Meyuns Elementary
School teachers and MOE staff)

　　　 For teachers, I help them planning and making teaching materials for classes. We prepare classes together, thinking how we can make students enjoy mathematics and deepen their understanding. The teachers give me many ideas and I trust them very well. Teaching materials are very important tools to deepen the understanding of students. We make teaching materials through careful thinking on what and how the students think, and what is needed to make them understand. There was one time I planned a class with another teacher and used a certain material to make it easier for kids to better understand. During the class, I heard students saying, “Math is not difficult, it’s fun!” This experience brought confidence to the teacher and myself.

　　　After a year in Palau, I came to believe that my work is supported by many others. Basic calculation skills of students are gradually improving, thanks to their steady efforts in drill practice and homework. This program can’t work without their contribution. Also, kids are enjoying math because teachers share time and efforts with me for better classes. I would also like to recognize the great support from Ministry of Education (MOE). I am very thankful to MOE, teachers, staff and students of Meyuns Elementary School. I would like to continue to do my best to make math enjoyable to students and teachers with support from many people around me for the rest of my mission.