SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

TOP

» Japan
» High school teacher’s summer vacation homework about appreciating life brings tears to our eyes

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

High school teacher’s summer vacation homework about appreciating life brings tears to our eyes

Koh Ruide Jul 22, 2019
Tweet

Now that is one of the coolest physics teachers around.

Schools throughout Japan have begun kicking off long-awaited summer vacations, and while that means one and a half months of no school, children are also assigned a ton of homework to keep the cogwheels of their minds in working order.

High school physics teacher @hatash has a very different approach, however, as his homework to first-year students has everyone nodding in approval and wishing they had such a cool teacher when they were young.

▼ The title of the assignment was “Appreciate your life.”
(Translation below)

夏休みの課題作った。 pic.twitter.com/0CkMskyV15

— HATA Yasuhiro (@hatash) July 17, 2019

“※Submission is not necessary. Should there be positive results, you may report them to your homeroom teacher.

It has been four months since you entered Utsunomiya High School, with a multitude of tasks like daily school life, homework and tests leaving you precious little time to pursue the things you wish to do. Summer vacation lets you step away from that, allowing you a rare chance to do stuff you enjoy. This school break is yours, and we hope you will remember that this ‘high school first-year summer vacation’ only comes to you once in your life.

If you are interested in science, understand that there is more to it than just textbooks. Go to science museums, explore institutions or perform scientific research. A number of research facilities and universities also hold special seminars and summer camps catering to high school students.”

▼ Why limit yourself to classroom learning when the whole world is out there?

The message continues:

“But if you wish to push your limits, you can jump into university-level textbooks. Our high school library stocks linear algebra and group theory, too. There are difficult ones, but some are surprisingly easy reads. Interesting books like high school first-year English and university-level physics primers have arrived last year. Campbell Biology*, mentioned in a Biology Olympiad flyer, is also available in both English and Japanese. What a great environment for learning!*

Whether it be a trip somewhere or something you wish to do, remember that the choice is yours.”

This isn’t the first time @hatash has allowed such freedom to students, as the previous year’s math assignment also emphasized enjoyment over doing homework for the sake of homework. Netizens loved his way of thinking:

“Who would have thought such amazing people existed?”
“Why didn’t you give us something like that when I was there?”
“I wanted a teacher like that.”
“That is absolutely wonderful.”
“I want my kids to go to that school.”

That is one physics teacher we would all love to have, educating students about the importance of life while giving sound advice to those who wish to learn more. Motivation comes from within, and his method arguably works out better than aimlessly throwing assignments at students. An excellent way to get some of them to stop relying on “homework companies” to finish their schoolwork.

Source: Twitter/@hatash via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!