hey all,
Earlier this week, I taught 3 classes to some first graders, who know absolutely nothing. They're really cute and all that, but man, they barely even understand Japanese.
It does take me back though. I remember going on a couple hour car trip to visit my great grandparents, and asking "What country are we in now?" I couldn't have been much older than those first graders I taught. Still, I asked them, in Japanese, for ways to say goodbye in English. And I got "Hello" about five times. This was after teaching that "Hello" is how you say "Konnichiwa" in English, and after pointing out, in Japanese, that Hello and Goodbye don't mean the same thing but actually the opposite. Even the 1st year teachers were cringing because their students couldn't understand that "Konnichiwa" and "Sayounara" are different.
I taught at one of my favorite schools today. I have two that I really like: one I teach at the most, where the teachers are friendly and the students are pretty diligent, and one where the principal lets me leave once classes are done. I guess that's a pretty crappy reason for liking a school, but they have me teaching using an electronic blackboard, and they really want me to use it (as I'm sure it cost a fortune). But that means teaching as much as possible from the book, which has some really nice parts, and also some really crappy parts. The songs in particular are so lame that I'd only attempt them with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year students, not with the 5th and 6th year students (11 and 12 year olds) they're aimed at. At the other schools, I've been able to get away with using the book as little as possible as long as my lessons cover the same subject and I actually do a couple of the more fun activities from the book.
My other school not in my favorite list...well, the teachers are pretty nice, and the students other than the 6th graders are really good. But the 6th graders have some real attitude problems. When I see how they interact with the homeroom teacher, I can see that the teachers haven't done a good job of setting boundaries, so the students walk all over them. As a foreigner, it is a little difficult to come into that situation and get the students to listen, pay attention, and learn. For most classes, I can get by with saying Quiet (or "Shizukani" in Japanese), going Shhh, and doing my Quiet Coyote hand signal, which the younger kids love...But I've had to literally shout "Urusai!" (Loud, or Shut Up!, depending on context) at least once.
Tomorrow is my last day of work this week, and I've only got 3 days of work next week. I have one interview setup for Tuesday, and I'd like to fill Thursday with another if possible, but I also need to get a health check as my company said my current one expired.
This weekend, I might be meeting Michi's parents, but her dad might have to work on Saturday, in which case it'll get put off for a while. We'll see.
Cheers,
