hey all,
Just a quick post. Work is going fine. We have two new teachers, and so the daily structure has been changing quite a bit. One teacher handles a "Let's Pass Eiken 5" class, which I think is pretty sad considering that two of the kids have been taking classes here for quite a while. Eiken 5 covers: colors, numbers, family members, days of the week, months, and basic verbs in simple sentence structure. Another teacher stays with the youngest kids all day, while myself, and 3 other teachers rotate through the classes. When we come to his class, we dictate the material to be taught, and he teaches it and handles discipline. I'm really impressed with him. He has to stay with these really tough to handle kids all day, and he handles them really well.
I'm not sure how permanent these teachers will be. The one staying with the youngest kids I think would be a great addition to the team, but I haven't really seen the other teacher teach too much so I'm not sure about him. We also have a non-native speaker staying on as an assistant, but she needs some training to be effective. Then there is another teacher who we've had come in, but I haven't been as impressed by him, and then that other non-native speaker who I've worked with during the weekend who has stumbled through simple things even after being shown how to do them by multiple teachers multiple times.
For some reason, one of the bones in my lower arm has been aching, just about where one of the plates is located. This just seems to happen from time to time, but I've come to associate it with cold weather. For all I know, it could be my posture while typing, writing, or any number of other things, but cold weather does seem to trigger it, and it has been colder than December or January recently. It makes me feel like one of those stereotypical war vets, "Ah, when the cold winds blow, I feels it in me bones."
The new Japanese study books have been working out pretty well so far. I do a couple pages in one of them each day. Sometimes it is some test style questions, sometimes I drill myself on vocab or do some writing practice of same.
The coming weekends promise to be busy, with work, travel plans, or other errands eating up the time.
Cheers,
