So This is What it Feels Like to Actually Work

If you care about my routine, feel free to read on. Otherwise, I've left you other things to enjoy today.

Just look up or down. On the screen.　

Imabari and Uoshima couldn't be more different. On the island, I had one junior high school student that never came to class, one 6th grade elementary school student that I taught nearly once each week, and three other elementary school kids in a combined first-and-second grade class that I taught twice every three months. In my last four months on Uoshima, I taught a total of four or five classes. Seriously.

My first day teaching at Minami Junior High School, I taught four classes. Minami is one of my five new schools, and it's my base school--the one I where I spend the most time. In Japan, junior high schools are made up of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. At Minami, there are four groups of students in each grade, each group having about 25 kids. The classes are numbered based on their year at the school--7th graders are in classes 1-1 through 1-4, 8th graders 2-1 through 2-4, and 9th graders 3-1 through 3-4. Students traditionally stay together in their home room while the teachers rotate between classrooms. It's probably a bit harder to get to know all the other kids at your school, but I'm sure that some kids grow pretty close after spending all year in the same class.

Each month, I teach five or six times at Minami. The classes are very simple; I'm often nothing more than a tape recorder for the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English), who's done most of the preparation for the lesson. It's nice to not have to stress about preparation at Minami, and the three JTEs that I work with are all pretty easy going. They're not all as comfortable with the English language, but the team teaching generally works pretty well. The kids don't usually have an ALT (assistant language teacher) in the classroom, so they get pretty excited when I show up. On average, I teach two classes a day at Minami, and usually with the same JTE.

It's a lot different having large classes. Games take a lot longer to complete, so it's easy to burn through class time. It's nice to have kids running around the school. Most kids are pretty well-behaved at Minami, though there are a few that like to be heard. I don't get upset, since that's probably what my teachers had to deal with. I'm pretty enthusiastic in class, and the kids usually feed off that energy.

Four to six days each month, I go to Sakurai Elementary School. There are three classes in each grade, each with 25-30 students. Instead of working with a JTE, I teach with varying levels of support from the HRT (home room teacher). My other elementary schools share the same setup. Most of the teachers understand a little bit of English, so they can help translate very basic words. Sometimes they are very self-conscious about their English and won't say a word during the lesson. Luckily, my Japanese has progressed enough to where I can translate most of what I say in English to Japanese.

Every time I teach at Sakurai, I teach all three classes of the same grade. It's nice having to prepare only one lesson for three separate classes. It makes it so that I don't worry as much about not being able to plan lessons with the HRTs until the night before, when I receive a phone call in Japanese.　

Shimizu elementary, where I go four or five times each month, is basically the bane of my existence. I teach two classes of two radically different grades (like 1st and 5th, 2nd and 4th, or 3rd and 6th), for a total of four classes each visit. English classes so far have taken place in a special foreign language room with materials and props--but the students have no desks. They sit on uncomfortable chairs and have no way to write. I'm beginning to see myself as an entertainer. Most of the teachers thus far haven't been too willing to help with the lessons, and they stand off to the side while I talk to the class.

Honestly, it's not that bad. It's just that it's so much busier than the other schools, and there's no communication with the staff. As I become more and more comfortable with Japanese, I am going to take it upon myself to initiate the communication with the teachers. I already communicate pretty well--I just am not yet familiar with all the school vocabulary (there wasn't much to discuss on Uoshima). In a month or so, I think I'll be up to the challenge. Also, as I learn which teaching strategies work best with each age group, I'll have a better idea of how to prepare lessons. Things will work out fine.

The first Monday of each month, I have an office day. I go to the city office and sit in a room with other ALTs from 9 until noon, and then I get to go home. From July 20th until August 30th, the students will be on summer vacation and I'll have office days. It's going to be great to sleep in until 7 and be home at 12:15 every day--and still get paid the same.

Every day I get up at about 6, put a cartoon on for Kelsey (who usually wakes up at about 6:15), and get ready for the day. I leave for work at 7:30 or 7:45, depending on the distance of the school I'm set to visit that day. Minami is a 15-20 minute bike ride from the house, while Shimizu takes about 20. Sakurai is a good 25-30 minutes away.

Two or three times a month, I travel to my last two schools, Okamura and Sekizen. They're really the same school; it's a junior high and an elementary school sharing a big building on Okamura, an island in the Seto Inland Sea. It's actually a lot like Uoshima--there are five or six junior high school students and about six or seven elementary school kids. It takes 20 minutes to bike to the port, and I take an 80-minute ferry at about 8:30. I arrive around 10AM and walk up to the school. I generally have two junior high school classes (about two students in each class) before lunch and two elementary school classes after. When I finish my last class, I leave the school early to catch the 4 PM boat back to Imabari. My time on Uoshima prepared me very well for Okamura. I know how to make lessons for small classes, and I really enjoy the face-to-face time with the kids.

Of all my schools, Minami is my favorite. John Scott's boy, Taro, is a student there. The kids really like me, and the teachers love to help me with my myriad Japanese grammar questions. They are often stumped when I ask about the difference between words. It's not surprising--imagine if I asked you to describe the difference between drop and fall. But I love the proximity to my house, the comfort I feel with the staff, and the stress-free quality that comes with working with good JTEs. The teachers genuinely seem happy to have me there; my predecessor wasn't quite as outgoing, from what I hear.

I love the island schools and Sakurai. I really enjoy eating lunch with the kids at those two schools. At Minami and Shimizu, I eat lunch in the staff room. It's quick and easy, but I miss out on QT with the kids. Today, at Sakurai, I ate lunch with the sixth graders. They sat me with a group of giggly girls that spent the whole time asking me questions about America and my family. It was a blast.

I really do love the kids. For the most part, the elementary school kids are peppy. The junior high school kids are a lot more self-conscious and unwilling to make mistakes in front of their peers. The same two or three kids will raise their hand every time in junior high, while a good 60-70 percent of kids will be willing to raise their hand in the elementary schools. Occasionally I'll run into a class that is either exhausted, famished, unprepared, or some combination of the three. They won't respond to any kind of game or question. When that happens, I just push on through, staying positive and trying to get them to participate. Having large groups of kids has reminded me how much I enjoy teaching. I love how I feel after a successful class.

Now I just need to get my own internet connection at home so I can fill you all in more frequently.

First day of school! First day of school!

Every day, Kelsey begs us to put on Finding Nemo. Whenever we do, we skip the tragic first scene and start with Nemo's first day of school. On his way to school, Nemo somehow strays from the rest of the class. Today is my first day of school. Since we're living in a new house in another part of town, I had trouble finding the path that leads up to the school. With some help, I was able to locate the right path. Ethan, my predecessor here in Uoshima, had warned me about the hike up to the school. All the teachers came to school dripping with sweat every day because of the long, steep concrete path that weaves through the cemetery and up to the school. I had walked it a few times with the kids, and hadn't had any trouble with it. For some reason, today was different. That hill is a beast. My whole outfit was drenched in sweat by the time I made it up to the school this morning. I need to carry a sweat towel with me to school.

Up until now, I worked at the Yakuba (town hall) here in Uoshima. Since I don't really do much outside of teaching, I have spent the last month sitting around and trying to help out with paperwork filled on my behalf. I didn't have any tasks to complete, so it was really just a place to put me until I was truly needed. The teachers were out of town, too, so I wasn't able to communicate with anybody about what the students understand or how I can help meet their needs. I still have no idea how I am going to teach these kids. One of them has a text book that I can use, but the others are all my responsibility.

I teach Tetsuya, the 2nd year junior high student, starting tomorrow. This week, I teach Tuesday during 6th period, Wednesday during 1st and 3rd period, Thursday during first and fifth period, and Friday at the kindergarten. This week is nothing but Tetsuya. Starting next week, Thursdays will be my class for Kana (usually during 5th period). Once a month, I will teach the other three kids who are in elementary school. I still don't know when that will start. If you include my four kindergarten students that I teach for 20-30 minutes every Friday, I actually have 9 students. Even with 9 students, I don't do much teaching out here. 2-3 hours a day, max. Some days I teach for as little as one hour.

When I got to the school, I put on my clean, new inside-shoes (you can't wear shoes inside that have ever been worn outside) and walked into the staff room, greeting everybody as I entered with a healthy “Ohayou gozaimasu”. I shuffled over to my desk--bowing slightly as I passed the principa--and plopped myself into my seat, wedging my western hips into a non-western-size desk chair. After sitting for a minute, the morning meeting started. One of the teachers stood up and said something, after which all the teachers immediately stood up, arms to the side. Surprised by the efficiently violent way in which they all stood up, I tried to do the same. The chair stuck to my hips as I tried to get up, so I half-stood there for a second and yanked the chair away so that I could stand fully upright. They laughed and brought me a wider chair. The morning meetings are extremely formal. It's hard to know how to react. I'm afraid to move my arms from my side to wipe my sweat away, as it might be a sign of disrespect. I don't really know.

Today is my self-introduction in front of the school. I will do it in English, because that is much easier. Besides, I'm supposed to bridge cultural barriers and all that jazz. I'm not quite sure what I'll say.

…

We just got back from the first assembly of the school year. The self-introduction was short and sweet. I just said a few things and sat down. After the Japanese teacher of English (JTE) translated for everybody, we went on with the rest of the meeting. We went up to the fourth floor of the school building (it's a full-size school with only five students) and stood around while the students set up chairs for the teachers (after being commanded to do so by one of the teachers). The five students sat in the middle of the room (facing the chalkboard) while the six teachers sat in chairs facing the sides of the desks. The principal sat next to the teachers while the vice principal made announcements from behind the teachers. Apparently on behalf of all the students, Tetsuya made a formal introduction to me and we bowed at each other. Each of the students then got up and gave a speech that apparently stated their goals for the year.

There were some moments of silence, one at the beginning and one at the end of the assembly. Since I didn't understand what they were saying, I didn't know how long the silence would last. There was a lot of bowing. Everybody sang the Japanese national anthem, as well as the school anthem. After the assembly, we went to clean the school for about twenty minutes. The JTE told me where to clean and showed me some rags. Everybody else had brooms, so I didn't really know where to start. I wet down a rag and just started wiping things, hoping that I wouldn't seem foolish.

After cleaning, we came back to the staff room and sat around for a while. All of a sudden, we had to get up and evacuate the room and go outside in some kind of earthquake drill. When we got to the front door, I asked if it was okay to wear my shoes outside. They said yes, and we all ran out to a designated spot in the schoolyard. The students stood still while the principle gave them instructions for possible future emergencies. Or maybe he was talking about how delicious octopus is. I guess I don't really know.

The day is long. I'm sure I'll have more stories to tell. Or not. It looks like my first day is a half-day. Whee!

Before I go, I just want to mention that our neighbor gave us a raw half-octopus the other day. I had no idea what to do with it, but didn't want it to go to waste. I fried it up with some soy sauce and seasoning and tried to eat it. The small pieces weren't that bad, but it got pretty hard to stomach as I got past the tentacles and up to the fat part of the arm. Awesome.

Oh, also--we won't have internet at home for the next two weeks. While I can reply at work, Stef won't be able to check her e-mail and the Vonage phone won't work.

How did I wait so long?

"Dear JET Program Applicant:

Congratulations! You have successfully passed the second stage of the screening process and are now on the final short-list of candidates for the 2008 JET Program."

We're going to Japan!!! Now, we just have to get everything in order and wait to find out where we're going.

Also, I took my last final on Friday! Sweet! Done with school! Finally! Now I can spend more time with the fam.