Thursday, February 26, 2009
So these past few weeks have been spent with the last of the 6 elementary schools that I cycle through during the year.
This last school is named "Yonan" Elementary School and it is the smallest as well as the most far away place of all the elementary schools.
As such, it is certainly the most disorganized but also the most loving school I have been to yet.
I was told I would be an assistant teacher to a pre-planned lesson plan but when I got there on my first day I discovered that not only was there no other English Teacher but that they had none of the materials that they implied they would have. The result of this was a very embarassing first day of lessons and then after I had to make my own cards/materials for the class.
Now, one thing I did not expect at this school would be the post class meetings with the teachers. As I found out, rather schockingly, they wanted me to teach them English as well.
So far I have had two sessions with them.
SESSION 1:
- I taught them daily classroom commands in English. Thus, when I said, "Stand Up" and 15 Japanese adults stand up and said, "STAND UP!!". When I said "Sit Down," 15 Japanese adults sat down and said "SIT DOWN!!" Then I had them play card games with classroom items. But long story short, that was the first and last time I had the feeling of power in my hands. And I have to tell you... it felt great.
SESSION 2:
- We sang the Hokey Pokey together. Ryan-sensei and 15 Japanese adults danced to the beautiful rythym of doing the Hokey Pokey for approximately 10 minutes. And I have to tell you... it felt great.
This last school is named "Yonan" Elementary School and it is the smallest as well as the most far away place of all the elementary schools.
As such, it is certainly the most disorganized but also the most loving school I have been to yet.
I was told I would be an assistant teacher to a pre-planned lesson plan but when I got there on my first day I discovered that not only was there no other English Teacher but that they had none of the materials that they implied they would have. The result of this was a very embarassing first day of lessons and then after I had to make my own cards/materials for the class.
Now, one thing I did not expect at this school would be the post class meetings with the teachers. As I found out, rather schockingly, they wanted me to teach them English as well.
So far I have had two sessions with them.
SESSION 1:
- I taught them daily classroom commands in English. Thus, when I said, "Stand Up" and 15 Japanese adults stand up and said, "STAND UP!!". When I said "Sit Down," 15 Japanese adults sat down and said "SIT DOWN!!" Then I had them play card games with classroom items. But long story short, that was the first and last time I had the feeling of power in my hands. And I have to tell you... it felt great.
SESSION 2:
- We sang the Hokey Pokey together. Ryan-sensei and 15 Japanese adults danced to the beautiful rythym of doing the Hokey Pokey for approximately 10 minutes. And I have to tell you... it felt great.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
OK.
So, after 6 months. I have decided to share something that is becoming to be a bit of a pet peeve -- My Class Schedule.
OK.
To determine my daily schedule, I have an allotted 3 sheets of paper, once a week Elementary School schedule faxes, as well as a board I have to refer to to determine when and where my classes are on that day.
Sheet 1: I received the annual weekly schedule for all English Teachers with what classes they have. My classes are highlighted by a yellow marker to tell me with which teacher and what class I am meeting with on the allotted day of the week.
Sheet 2: Every week we receive a weekly schedule of periods and what ORDER they take place in. For example, next weeks schedule on Monday shows the order of periods as Mon 5,Mon 3, Mon 4, Mon 1,Mon 2. Next Tuesday for example, shows a schedule Friday 1, Friday 2, Friday 3, Fri 4, Fri 5, Fri 6. I must look at Sheet 1 to determine which classes I have on which day and realign it to the following week's schedule.
Sheet 3: Every day in the 3rd Grade teachers' section we receive a daily schedule of what periods the 3rd Grade Students have as well as if they have special classes, tests, or a free period. For my first 4 months, I thought the schedule referred to all grades. This of course, caused me a lot of problems in the first few months here.
The Board: Today is when I discovered that schedules can be changed at the last minute. On the board, all of the classrooms and grades are listed and if there are changes, the subjects are written in Japanese for what period they are changed to. As such, if there was a last minute change in the 1st Grade section, I could accidentally end up double booked with a 3rd Grade class. (This happened today, with the result of two teacher's getting mad at me... in theory it should only be one teacher...but no it was two... and there was nothing I could do about it).
Elementary School Faxes: There is no rhyme or reason to when I get the announcements about what Elementary school I go to. Luckily, I have an allotted Monday and Friday afternoon that is devoted to Elementary School. However, the pickup times for me to leave vary from school to school as well as my return times from the Elementary School. Not the most fun thing in the world.
Long story short. I am a master of the numbers 1-6! I even in the last few weeks started going to the Special Ed classes which occurs once week. It is known as Special A class and is completely out of rythym with the rest of the School's schedule. Life is grand!
So, after 6 months. I have decided to share something that is becoming to be a bit of a pet peeve -- My Class Schedule.
OK.
To determine my daily schedule, I have an allotted 3 sheets of paper, once a week Elementary School schedule faxes, as well as a board I have to refer to to determine when and where my classes are on that day.
Sheet 1: I received the annual weekly schedule for all English Teachers with what classes they have. My classes are highlighted by a yellow marker to tell me with which teacher and what class I am meeting with on the allotted day of the week.
Sheet 2: Every week we receive a weekly schedule of periods and what ORDER they take place in. For example, next weeks schedule on Monday shows the order of periods as Mon 5,Mon 3, Mon 4, Mon 1,Mon 2. Next Tuesday for example, shows a schedule Friday 1, Friday 2, Friday 3, Fri 4, Fri 5, Fri 6. I must look at Sheet 1 to determine which classes I have on which day and realign it to the following week's schedule.
Sheet 3: Every day in the 3rd Grade teachers' section we receive a daily schedule of what periods the 3rd Grade Students have as well as if they have special classes, tests, or a free period. For my first 4 months, I thought the schedule referred to all grades. This of course, caused me a lot of problems in the first few months here.
The Board: Today is when I discovered that schedules can be changed at the last minute. On the board, all of the classrooms and grades are listed and if there are changes, the subjects are written in Japanese for what period they are changed to. As such, if there was a last minute change in the 1st Grade section, I could accidentally end up double booked with a 3rd Grade class. (This happened today, with the result of two teacher's getting mad at me... in theory it should only be one teacher...but no it was two... and there was nothing I could do about it).
Elementary School Faxes: There is no rhyme or reason to when I get the announcements about what Elementary school I go to. Luckily, I have an allotted Monday and Friday afternoon that is devoted to Elementary School. However, the pickup times for me to leave vary from school to school as well as my return times from the Elementary School. Not the most fun thing in the world.
Long story short. I am a master of the numbers 1-6! I even in the last few weeks started going to the Special Ed classes which occurs once week. It is known as Special A class and is completely out of rythym with the rest of the School's schedule. Life is grand!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Every Japanese person that I have tried to hang out with (guy or girl) who is around my age that I have met in Kamiichi for some reason tells me April is a good time to meet up.
April! I mean why April? This is so baffling to me. I don't really care, I am busy all the time myself, but darnit I don't even have anything planned for next week let alone next month how can people here have their lives mapped out months ahead.
And yes, I know, its more likely they are just trying to avoid the creepy foreigner. But i'm ignoring that possibility for the day.
April! I mean why April? This is so baffling to me. I don't really care, I am busy all the time myself, but darnit I don't even have anything planned for next week let alone next month how can people here have their lives mapped out months ahead.
And yes, I know, its more likely they are just trying to avoid the creepy foreigner. But i'm ignoring that possibility for the day.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Coming back to Japan after New Year's was difficult. Life in Japan has been busy and things got even more complicated at school when one of the English teachers left for a few weeks.
Now life is back to normal and I can right random stuff again.
I can summarize the last month as, "Yay Japan! Damn Japan! Japanese Women (ugh)... but yay Christian Buddhism! Onsen and Naked Men! Squid Natto Lunch! Down with Chicken Little! Hurray for Ni Hao! Down with the Ni Hao man! A Stalker?! Tragic Karaoke! Bear Soup and Chinese Dumplings."
Ok. Done.
Maybe i'll clarify some of this someday.
Now life is back to normal and I can right random stuff again.
I can summarize the last month as, "Yay Japan! Damn Japan! Japanese Women (ugh)... but yay Christian Buddhism! Onsen and Naked Men! Squid Natto Lunch! Down with Chicken Little! Hurray for Ni Hao! Down with the Ni Hao man! A Stalker?! Tragic Karaoke! Bear Soup and Chinese Dumplings."
Ok. Done.
Maybe i'll clarify some of this someday.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Defeat:
- Yesterday I finally got banned from Soji Time ("Soji Time" is when students clean the school everyday after school). I always walk around an d speak English with the students during this time because it is the only time I can actually get a word in with them outside of class. But, I guess one of the students was too into hitting me in the balls and a teacher saw this... walked up to me.... and said I can't talk to students during Soji time anymore.
It was a good run. But I guess i'm out of soji time now.
Victory:
- Today, I was studying Japanese at my desk and turned to look at some of the teachers on the other side of the room because I was tired of studying. The three teachers looked a little shocked and immediately started saying, "JokeJokeJoke!! Haha! Joke." I of course had no idea that they were even talking about me. But, what this means is they now foolishly believe I understand Japanese. This is a great victory for me. For the moment I am in a good mood.
- Yesterday I finally got banned from Soji Time ("Soji Time" is when students clean the school everyday after school). I always walk around an d speak English with the students during this time because it is the only time I can actually get a word in with them outside of class. But, I guess one of the students was too into hitting me in the balls and a teacher saw this... walked up to me.... and said I can't talk to students during Soji time anymore.
It was a good run. But I guess i'm out of soji time now.
Victory:
- Today, I was studying Japanese at my desk and turned to look at some of the teachers on the other side of the room because I was tired of studying. The three teachers looked a little shocked and immediately started saying, "JokeJokeJoke!! Haha! Joke." I of course had no idea that they were even talking about me. But, what this means is they now foolishly believe I understand Japanese. This is a great victory for me. For the moment I am in a good mood.
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