Responsibilities, that which always annoys us...

I am working for an institution that provides English language trainings for many cooperations.

I think these institutions responsiblities for:

1) companies paying for training

2) students taking lessons

3) instructors teaching lessons

4) the quality of English provided

5) its employees as a corporation.

1)-5) should be balanced, but sometimes in most institutions 1) should be emphasized too much, which makes things difficult.

Five Sentence Pattens? I've never heard of it!

In Japan, mastering "five sentence patterns" is centerned on not only grammar classes but also English education. Do native speakers of English know "five sentence patterns," though?

According to Grammar & Sentence Patterns (Tomonaoabe, TS Kikaku):

1st Sentence Pattern S(Subject) + Vi (Intransitive
Verb)
God exists.
She is in that room

2nd Sentence Pattern S + Vi + C(Complement)
The sky is blue.
My friend is a lawyer.
The sky looks blue.
My friend became a lawyer.

3rd Sentence Pattern S + Vt(Verb Transitive) +
O(Object)
We eat fish.

4th Sentence Pattern S + Vt + O + O
Father bought his son a car.

5th Sentence Pattern S + Vt +C +C
I consider him a fool.
We eat fish raw.
I watched him swimming.
We found the matter settled.
I found the machine out of order.
I want you to study.

I admit that this theory has been playing a role in helping Japanese English learners become familiar with English sentence patterns. However, I also wonder if there's something incomplete in this grammar theory. For example:

I am fine.

The sentence above is categorized into the 2nd Sentence Pattern (S + V + C). But, the sentence below, which seems to mean and function in the same way, is categorized into the 1st sentence Pattern (S + V):

I am in good health.

We have to consider it.

I really hope that young grammarians in Japan will give English learners and English teachers in Japan and world a better theory to understand English sentence patterns easier.

makeup and retake

A makeup (test/exam) is a test taken in school because you were not able to take a previous test. But, I wondered how you call an exam that you take again because you failed it the first time.

My American colleague told me that it should be called a "retake." He also said, though, "it's very rare." In Japan, it's not uncommon. I have taken a retake a couple of times. And one of my Japanese colleagues said she had taken many times.

I think that this difference comes from that of term exams between Japan and the states. In Japan, sometimes the mean score of a term exam is around 50 percent. And 75 percent is a very good score at times. However, as you know, 75 percent is C in the states.

Like terrorism? Ugh...

The dean of the school I'm working at seems to have compared his teaching policy to "a reign of terror" or "terrorism." In Japanese, the word was kyoufu seiji, meaning "terror politics."

But, nobody likes "terrorism," right? He believes that students follow the teacher by making them scared. I think that this is the worst way of teaching. I'm not following this style while I'm teaching. Therefore, I may be scoled by him soon. But, who cares? I will quit.

The learning place must not be the battle field.

A sassy student

I'm not good at dealing with inpudent students. Today, one student said something inappropriate, and I tried to stop talking like that. But, he talked back to me. It seemed like he couldn't stop insulting words just because using insulting words is the reason he existed. It is kind of sad and I think the student is really pathetic. However, I feel terrible at the same time, because I couldn't say anything to help him become better.

Although this is the first time that happened to me at this school, I had a similar experience before. So, maybe I need to think about how to deal with sassy students.

Who is serving Mammon instead of God?

Big class who have various levels of students... Does it work?

Yesterday I insisted that some students move to the classes that are appropriate for their current English language skills. However, my words were rejected. Some of them relactantly told me that they wouldn't do that because of money.

Money talks, man! I talked to myself at that time. I understand, however, that it was the only answer they could give me and I shouldn't blame them for it. Most of my colleagues have been brainwashed by their boss who seems to be serving Mammon and who definitely thinks that money is far more important than education.

Although I always hope that I could help my students improve their language skills regardless of which level they belong to. However, I think that it is a very very difficult question.

One's salary is determined by his and her education background in the states. Hasn't it been criticized in Japan?

Recently, more and more parents want to have their kids go to private schools rather than public schools. I don't know whether they are smart and right, though.

In the United States, those with higher degrees enjoy a widening pay dvantage over those with less education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, wages have increased for the very well educated — while they have either stagnated or decreased for those with less formal education. We take a closer look at the growing wage discrepancy in the United States.

Those who did not complete secondary education earned an average wage in 2005 of $22,374 and represent a 9.9% share of total employment. Their wages decreased 4.6% from 2000 to 2005.

Those who completed secondary education earned an average wage in 2005 of $31,665 and represent a 29.8% share of total employment. Their wages increased 0.2% from 2000 to 2005.

Those with some college education earned an average salary of $38,009 in 2005 and represent 27.9% of total employment. Their wages decreased 2.5% from 2000 to 2005.

College graduates earned an average wage of $56,740 in 2005 and represent 21.1% of total employment. Their wages decreased 3.1% from 2000 to 2005.

Those holding a master's degree earned an average wage of $68,302 in 2005 and represent 7.9% of total employment. Their wages decreased 1.8%from 2000 to 2005.

Those with a Ph.D. earned an average wage of $93,593 in 2005 and represent a 1.5% share of total employment. Their wages increased 2.9%from 2000 to 2005.

Those holding an MBA, JD or MD earned an average wage of $119,343 in 2005 and represent a 1.9% share of total employment. Their wages increased 10.6% from 2000 to 2005.

http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=5963

When I was in high school, there was a lot of international arguement that Japan society places too much importance on one's academic background. However, if you have a look at the article above, American society has the same thing. Once Japan has become one of the most disparate nation in the world, everybody has been looking away from the fact that people who used to criticize the society heavily relying on people's educational backgrounds are pushing their childen to go to good schools.

Students who want to go to good schools will not only study a lot but also try to join sport teams or clubs to make themselves impressive. I don't know whether it is right or wrong either.

What will determine the size of a class?

While teaching English, I always wonder what the size of each class matters. For example, I'm having a problematic class of 18 people. The reason I'm messed up with the class is that most students are so immature I need to give instruction directly to each student. If the class contained less than 10 people, I could handle it.

If a student needs individual instruction, I can't handle other students at that time.

So, basically, I agree with the opinion that the class should be as small as it can be. However, my dad always tells me it is a stupid idea. According to his experience, if class is too small, teachers would have to worry about each student too much. So, he says it is suppoesd to be around 40.

Which do you prefer, a small class or a big class?

I don't agree with him, but his words helped me wonder which side should be listened the most when it comes to determind the class size. Teachers (or managers of schools) or students? Actually, it isn't an easy question. So far, I have been thinking that it should be determined by students' opinions, but it is safe to say that teachers' opinions are also need to be considered to some extent. Again, I belive that small clasees are more effective as long as I refer to the effect of language learning.

How to motivate language learners

I often say that English or/and Japanese is/are difficult. According to one of my students, though, I shouldn't say such a thing. She told me that I should say you-can-do-it things all the time, otherwise she would feel that learning a language is really really really difficult.

Let me excuse a little bit. When I said that English or/and Japanese is/are difficult, I am not trying to scare my students, I am trying not to boast about myself as somebody who can speak both language to some extent. Well, this explanaiton didn't satisfy her.

Anyway, people can boost their abilities or skills according to enviroment, so motivating students are important.

Teachers' working place

Before I came back to Tokyo, I lived in Illinois and taught Japanese at a public high school. Now, I'm a teacher at a professional school. Although I'm trying to get used to my new workplace, I often get confused by how different the role of teachers is in Japan than in the states.

In the US, teachers' work is to teach. And if you belong to a good school, you can focus on your teaching. However, in Japan, teachers' responsibilities aren't limited to teaching. As a matter of fact, other responsibilties do not give me enough time to prepare for class.

Why teachers can't focus on their own teaching in Japan? I think the reason would be that the schools do not have enough staffs and money to do other jobs. Eduation costs a lot.

Although education reform is one of the major arguments in Abe administration, they never probably intend to increase the costs for education. If they gave many non-teaching staffs to schools, teachers would be able to focus on teaching more. But, probably they don't want to do it. That kind of sucks.

"Education Reform," "No Child Left Behind," and any others need a lot of money to get things working out.

Good ESL materials are published in the UK.

Although I prefer American English to British English, I often use ESL/EFL teaching/learning materials published in the UK. Regrettably, there are few good materials by US publishers. Now, I'm trying to read the book named English for Primary Teachers for teacher education programs I'll be working on. This book is so organized that I almost feel that all I have to do is follow this textbook. Anyway, this book is also published by Oxford University Press. Although there are the other two big companies publishing ESL/EFL stuffs, which are Cambridge University Press and Pearson Longman, Oxford is my favorite.

Money or initiative?

Bigger is better? We're not talking about boobs!

Many Japanese people want to speak English, and there are many English language schools. However, I'm afraid that most of those schools are enough good. They rip off teachers and students. If you are English-speaking people, you are likely to teach English, nonetheless. So, what school do you want to work for? A big school that will give you some job security? A small school where you can teach in your own way? The article below gives you some information when you choose a school.

The Japan Times, March 13, 2007:

..."The bigger conversation schools are generally better places to work in terms of job and income security," says Carlet. So, although the wage levels might not differ between small and large schools, your chances of getting paid might.

The competition among smaller schools is even fiercer than between the big four, meaning they are more likely to have financial problems which may ultimately lead to them going out of business.

Carlet also suggests that the large schools are particularly adept at writing contracts which protect themselves. None of the four biggest schools operating in Japan -- Nova, ECC, GEOS and Aeon -- would provide comment for this article.

Despite the titles which some companies adopt -- "language/culture school," "academy," "institute," "college" -- ultimately they are businesses whose main objective is to make a profit.

This is true regardless of the size of the company, the good intentions outlined in its mission statement or the proclamations of educational excellence on its Web site.

As one experienced TEFL professional wearily said, "most places . . . are run by businessmen not language administrators." All the teachers interviewed for this article viewed the big schools in a similar light to other major companies in the service industry.

"Faceless" was probably the most commonly used adjective in their comments, and more than one person spoke of being little more than a cog in a machine. Given that a recent Japanese magazine article referred to Nova as "the McDonald's of English language conversation chains," this attitude is hardly surprising.

On the other hand, smaller schools were generally categorized as having something akin to a family or community atmosphere. One teacher with experience working in both types of school said: "In a small school you play a bigger role . . . You get more say in things like choosing textbooks, deciding what to teach. There are fewer students so you tend to know all of them."

It would seem that small schools are more convivial places in which to work -- you are appreciated, your opinion carries more weight and you have a much larger degree of control over what and how you teach.

But there is a downside. Teachers who worked in small schools often spoke of feeling under more pressure there than in big schools. If a tiny cog in a huge machine breaks down it's unlikely the whole thing will come to a shuddering halt. That's not the case when the teacher is the machine.

Finally, the family/community atmosphere is great as long as it lasts, but of course that isn't guaranteed. Disputes, whether professional or personal, can easily crop up in the language teaching industry and in the experience of the teachers I spoke to, these problems were much easier to deal with in large schools....

Louis Carlet says the best thing for teachers to do is to educate themselves as to the minimum standards a contract ought to offer, the limits on what companies can reasonably expect them to do and the legal recourse they have under Japanese law. This is true regardless of the size of the company.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070313zg.html

Is there really no child who's left behind?

In Japan, students rarely have discussion in class.

Some Japanese people simply believe that the US education system is just great without any doubt and that if Japan just changed its education sytem into that in the US, every problem in education would vanish right away. However, in any country, Education sytem has some problems. A blog in the conservative website Townhall.com might give some ideas to such people.

In any country, education is a very important subject.

日本だけでなく，教育はどこの国でも重要な問題である．日本の教育が批判されるたびに，アメリカのそれが引き合いに出されることが多いが，アメリカの教育現場もさまざまな問題をどう処理しようかとまどっていることがわかる．↓は，ある保守的なウェブサイト中のカリフォルニア州の教師のブログからの抜粋である．日本語訳もつけたので読んでいただければわかるが，はっきり云えば，「もう落ちこぼれに構うのはやめよう．できる子どもに予算が行き渡らなくなって，全体のレヴェルが下がるから」ということである．ブッシュ政権化に制定された「どの子も置き去りにしない法（＝落ちこぼれ防止法案，No Child Left Behind Act）」によって新たに生じた問題も多い．この記事自体には書かれていないが，この引用の最後に，学校側が何を行なうかというと，標準テストの進歩度を達成するために，スコアに達しそうもない生徒を中途退学に追い込むのである．これは，『現代アメリカのキーワード』（中公新書）にも書いてある．

It is very important to help underperforming students, but...

Quote from a blog of Townhall.com:

“Students learn and achieve more”
This should be the primary goal of education in general and teachers specifically. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that today students are achieving less. Some students do not master even the most basic skills after many years in the classroom. The current trend is to make sure that all students can pass the same test at a level called “proficient.” Making sure that everyone passes a standardized test at this level of proficiency requires that the level considered proficient be very, very low. Furthermore, most of the limited available resources (teachers, money, electives) must then be focused on bringing the lowest students up to proficient. This draws resources away from students already proficient and in search of excellence beyond proficiency. Remedial courses using titles like “review” and “prep”are filled with underperforming students who have been removed from their electives. Some experts believe that this is not the best practice, that students need a reason to come to school beyond the three “r's,” but practical administrators and superintendents are making the changes that they feel are necessary to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, and those changes are seeing test scores improve.
http://calteacherblog.townhall.com/

Japanese translation by OUTRAGEOUS2007:
「生徒がもっとたくさん勉強し，身につける」このことは，概して教育の主たる目標であり，とりわけ教師の目標であるべきなんです．残念ながら，現在，子供が身につけるものはどんどん少なくなっているのではないかと私は思います．何年も学校に通っているにもかかわらず，初歩の学力さえ身についていない子供もいます．現在の教育においては，すべての子供が標準試験で「習得」基準を満たすようにすることが主流になっています．みんながこのレヴェルの習得度で試験を通過するには，習得されるとみなす基準を非常に低くしなければなりません．さらに，限られた資源（教師，予算，選択クラス）を下位にいる生徒を習得するまでに引き上げることに集中させなければいけません．これによって，すでに習得した生徒でより高いレヴェルに行きたい人に資源は行き渡らなくなります．「復習」「準備」という名の補修クラスは，選択クラスを外された成績の悪い生徒でいっぱいです．専門家の中には，これはいい方法とはいえない，生徒は，「３つのＲ」以外に学校に来る理由がなくてはいけない，しかし，現実的な教頭や校長は，「落ちこぼれ防止法案」へ対応していると感じるように（学校を）変えようとしていて，この変化は試験の点数を上げてはいます．

Why can't Taro speak English? Part 2

Japan's public English education is often criticized. But, few people understand what the problem is.

いま，『受験英語禁止令――あなたの英語をリストラする禁１３２条』（小倉弘著，研究社出版）という本を読んでいる．筆者は予備校教師で，ネイティヴスピーカーとの英作文の共同授業をした経験から受験英語の問題点について述べている．

日本の英語教育はよく批判されるが，批判者自体が何が問題か見えていない．よく，「文法と読解ばかりやるからいけないんだ」と云われる．ネイティヴもそんなことを云う．しかし，大人になって英語を使ってみればわかるが，文法なしに英語ができるわけではないし，ある程度読めない限り，仕事や勉強で英語を使うことなんてできるはずないだろう．

It is not bad to learn grammar and reading. How they are learned matters, though.

受験英語の最大の問題は，受験に出る（とされる）変な英語表現・構文を英語という言語そのものへの根本的な理解を無視して，ひたすら覚えさせよう，覚えようとすることにある．こういう受験英語のお決まり表現の多くはネイティヴには理解されない．↓にぼくが重要だと思うものを載せた．

I'm reading a book that is written by a Japanese-speaking English teacher. He wrote the book from the experience when he taught writing with a native speaker. This book contains some typical errors Japanese English learners often make. Some points will benefit you who are learning or teaching English in Japan.

H, Ogura (1998) Do not use English for test preparation in Japan: 132 Don'ts to make your English natural. Kenkyusa, Tokyo, Japan.

From the book:

1. "rather than" is not the same as "not so much as"
He is not so much a teacher as a comedian.
He is a comedian rather than a teacher.
Both sentences are correct, but the meanings aren't same.

2. "without doing sth" needs to be used when the two actions happen at the same time.
Wrong: He decided to stay home without going to the movies.
Correct: He decided to stay home instead of going to the movies.

3. "to come across sth" "run/bump into sb"
Wrong: I came across an old friend on my way to work.
Correct: I run into an old friend on my way to work.

4. "at midnight" means "at 0:00 a.m.," not "in the middle of the
night"

5. "had better" isn't "might as well"
Wrong: You don't look well. You might as well go home.
Correct: You don't look well. You'd better go home.

6. the misuse of the causative verb to "have"
Wrong: He had his house burned down.
Correct: His house was burned down.

7. Wrong: You have a wrong number.
Correct: You have the wrong number.

8. You don't need "the" for plural form's generic use.
Wrong: I like the girls.
Correct: I like girls.

I agree with most of the author. But, I didn't know this one.

9. You can't say "there are a(n)".

Wrong: There are an apple and three oranges on the table.
Correct: There is an apple and three oranges on the table.
Correct: There are three oranges and an apple on the table.

Some English language schools may rip you off!

Many native speakers of English teach English in Japan for living, and many Japanese people want to learn English from native speakers. But, be careful, guys. Some English language schools rip you off. As an English teacher, I always want every English language school to benefit both Japanese English learners and native English teachers. Below is the article of Mainichi Daily News, which is an online newspaper.
How to use a native speaker, that's a very important question.

Nova, operator of the McDonalds of English language conversation chains, is beset by myriad claims of poor business practices that resulted in a government raid on its Osaka office earlier this month, and sees it battling a series of lawsuits across the country.

At the heart of many of Nova's problems are the contracts it forms with its customers. Kozo Nagano, the lawyer who heads the Kyoto Consumers Contract Network NPO, elaborates.

"Nova signs contracts where it sells classes on a point basis. Points become cheaper the more you buy at the same time. But trouble occurs when you want to pull out of a contract before it's finished. Suddenly, the points are assigned a new value different to what they were worth when the contract was signed, and the customer ends up getting back an extremely small fraction of what they originally paid, even though they may not have used much of the time they'd paid for."

...But Nova is not the only allegedly dodgy player in the conversation school caper. Competition in Japan's English language lesson market is fierce and competitors will do anything to get an edge.

"It happened not long after my high school graduation. I went back to school one day and this gorgeous, scantily woman was standing at the gate," a 19-year-old male university student tells the men's weekly. "She flashed a 10,000 yen note in my direction, told me she worked for an English language school and wanted to see my graduation album (containing contact details of class members). I saw her and the money, and next thing we were in a convenience store taking photocopies of my album."

Once contracts are signed, English language schools are relentless in squeezing their students....

Students say they're often held back by their peers.

"We're supposed to be working on a small class basis, but we have at least five people turn up every time. Invariably, we'll start off learning a phrase like 'This is a pen,' but there'll be some old biddy around who'll mumble along in Japanese, stumbling to come up with the correct English to use. How are we ever supposed to improve studying with twits like that?" a 30-year-old English learner says.

English conversation teachers get bad marks, too.

"Our teacher couldn't give a damn and yawned all the way through class, from start to finish. And he absolutely reeked of booze," a 26-year-old student says. "I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to make it all the way to the end if it were a man-to-man lesson."

But teacher have their gripes as well.

"We're supposed to have 10 minutes between classes, but get none. We're not allowed to talk to students away from the classroom. We have to move around our building via the emergency exit stairwell," one former English teacher tells Weekly Playboy. "The pay is 250,000 yen a month. At first I thought it wasn't bad, but we don't get a raise or a bonus or paid vacation. There's a teacher turnover of about 90 percent a year."

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20070227p2g00m0dm005000c.html

If the teachers at your English language school are like them, you might enjoy going to the school. But, it doesn't guarantee whether your English will be like these Hollywood stars'.

Another thing that makes me think about English language schools is that every teacher looks too good. You may want to think it's cool, but wait a minute. As long as they have great skills to teach English, they don't have to look like Ashton Kutcher or Keira Knightley, do they?

Say something in English! Yes, you can!

Mom is very angry.

↓の記事のように，これから英文と翻訳をどんどんこのブログに載せていくことにします．明日，赤坂のアメリカンセンターである講演が行われるが，その際，使われる資料になる文学作品の一部を翻訳しました．これも近いうちに公開します．

話題を大きく変えて，英語の勉強法についての話をします．日本人英語学者同士の英語や英文法についての考え方の相違点やそのことの無自覚さが，英語教育の低迷を招いている，という話は今度します．今日はもっと簡単な誰でもできる英会話の上達法を教えます．

Ikki Sawamura likes girls.

至って簡単です．教材も要りません．何か思ったことや，自分がしたことを簡単な英語にしてみてください．つまり，トイレに行こうかな，と思ったら，

I want to go to the bathroom.

と云ってください．ぼくは英語がそこそこできるので，きちんとできましたが，初めての人は to とか the が抜けたりしているかもしれませんが，そんなのはほうっておいてください．心配になったら，辞書を引いたり，いままでやった教材（学校の教科書とかでいい）を見てもかまいませんが，そんなことはしなくてもいいです．それだけです．終わったら，別のことを英語で云おうとしてみてください．

Miki Mizuno is strong.

Her hair is pink.

気をつけるのは，単語ではなくできるだけ文にすること，自分の知っている単語を使うことの２つぐらいです．自分は英語なんて高校（大学）以来やってない，とか心配する必要はありません．カタカナになっている言葉を含めて，一般的な日本人なら最低１０００語以上，もしかすると２５００語程度は知っています．英語で云えないのは難しく考えるからです．「あいつはむかつく」と思ったら，

I don't like him/her.

と云えばいいのです．「むかつく」という形容詞（あるいは動詞？）は何かと考える必要はないのです．もちろん，そういう単語はあります．英語ができる人のために書いておきます．

S/he annoys me.

S/he is disgusting.

She pisses me off.

でも，こういう表現はとりあえず知らなくていいです．最初の簡単な文章で十分です．とにかく，こういう作業を毎日３０分から１時間，１ヶ月以上続けてみてください．ひとりでいるときは声にだしていって欲しいですが，電車の中などでは頭の中でしゃべるだけでいいです．

もう一度云いますが，間違いは気にしないでいいし，わからなくてもほうっておいていいです．「これは英語にできないや」と思ったら別のことを考えて，英語にしてみてください．そんな感じでいいです．発音もどうでもいいです．自分の好きなように発音してください．

いいですか．英語をしゃべれるようになりたければ，だまされたと思って，この作業をまず１ヶ月ほどやってみてください．基本的に初心者向きですが，中級者以上にも効果があると思います．１ヵ月後には，かなりヘタでも英語らしきものが口に出る（もちろん，英語国民がそれを聞いてわかるとは保障しません）はずです．それ以上に，この先，どのような勉強をすればいいか自分の課題がはっきり見えてくるはずです．

Is Hermione drinking?

Japanese people need to practice how to speak English. I recommend that they have the habit of making a simple sentence in English. If they do this just 30 minutes a day for a month, they'll be able to say something in English and more than that, they will know what they need to work on next. Trust me, this is a very simple but effective way to learn English.

Math sucks!

Although math was always a pain in the ass when I was a kid...

不安になると数学の問題が解けなくなるって本当？

Math anxiety saps working memory needed to do math

By Julie Steenhuysen Mon Feb 19, 9:03 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Worrying about how you'll perform on a math test may actually contribute to a lower test score, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.

Math anxiety -- feelings of dread and fear and avoiding math -- can sap the brain's limited amount of working capacity, a resource needed to compute difficult math problems, said Mark Ashcroft, a psychologist at the University of Nevada Los Vegas who studies the problem.

"It turns out that math anxiety occupies a person's working memory," said Ashcroft, who spoke on a panel at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070219/od_nm/math_anxiety_dc

Stop bullying!

Keigo Oyamada, who has admitted bullying somebody as a child in a magazine, is not a gay.

アイオワ州でいじめ防止法案が出来たらしい。どこでも、教育の世界で起こる問題は似たようなものということか。

House approves bill to stop bullying
Many tied long debate to gay-rights controversy
By JENNIFER JACOBS　REGISTER STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2007

22 Comments
Classmates used to press themselves against their lockers in mock horror when Tyler Mooers walked through the hallways of Carlisle High School.

When he heard a ban on bullying - including so-called cyber bullying - was approved 62-37 in the Iowa House on Wednesday night, Mooers said he thinks the legislation will be "really effective."

The bill would force public and private schools to have policies by Sept. 1 that prevent and punish bullying or harassment of any student.

Seventy-seven school districts, including Des Moines, Urbandale and West Des Moines, already have antibullying policies, which include "sexual orientation."

More than 280 public school districts don't have the "sexual orientation" category, including Carlisle, Ankeny, Indianola, Johnston, Southeast Polk and Waukee."

A lot of people say it's just so gay kids get all these special rights, but it's not," said Mooers, 18, who revealed his sexual orientation in his sophomore year and was bullied enough that he sometimes wanted to skip school. "It's about protecting everybody."

Rep. Jodi Tymeson, a Republican from Winterset, doubted the legislation's effectiveness."

It won't stop one kid from being bullied," she said.

Several Republicans unsuccessfully tried to strike the list of specific categories, arguing schools should simply protect "all students" without distinction."

Why are the four-eyed, band-playing, choir-singing, too small to play high school athletics, why are those traits not worthy enough to make this list?" said Rep. Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City. "How does adding 'any' or 'all' diminish what you want to accomplish?"

Rep. Roger Wendt, a Democrat from Sioux City, said the list includes categories most frequently targeted for bullying, but school districts are free to add more.

Many lawmakers and observers interpreted the long debate over this bill as a thinly-veiled controversy over gay rights.

A safe learning environment for every child is "a moral imperative," yet some legislators opposed the bill, said Connie Ryan Terrell, the executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. That's because they objected to the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," she said.

Asked if opponents didn't want to expressly protect gay students from bullying because that could be perceived as condoning homosexuality, Rep. Scott Raecker, a Republican from Urbandale, said that wasn't true.

"Not at all," he said.

Raecker, who voted in favor of the bill, had suggested the state require, and pay for, professional development for teachers and staff, including character development.

Raecker is the executive director of the Institute for Character Development. His idea failed, but the bill still encourages such training on a school's own dime. Raecker said his intention was not to encourage schools to hire his business.

The House approved other amendments, including one that states that the teaching of doctrinal matters in nonpublic schools would not be inhibited. Another prohibits bullying via cell phone, e-mail or the Internet.

The Senate on Jan. 30 approved the legislation, 36-14, but the House amendments mean the bill will go now back to the Senate.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS10/702080420/1001/NEWS10