Maybe I should start taking notes in class
One of the many great things about being an ALT is the ability to observe and learn from many different and teaching styles. Before we blame kids, we should see how the teachers run the school.
In Japan, kids are welcome to wander in and out of the staff room (with the exception of during exam, when they're not allow to enter the room except for special circumstances). Usually, kids will excuse themselves before and after entering the staff room. This week, one of the elementary school took it to an extra level: when the kids want to enter the staff room, they now have to state their name, grade and reason for coming in.
I usually play with the kids at this school after lunch, but today I wasn't really in the mood so I quietly slip back into the staff room after lunch. But alas, the kids came and hunt me down.
"I'm XX XX from the second grade. I want to come in to ask the ALT to go out and play."
This was all of course, said in Japanese. But the point is, the kids made the effort to get me AND recite all that, I couldn't very well say no can I?
And there are times, when I know I should never repeat what I saw cause it's a kind of thing that will only work in Japan.
The other day, a girl had her head down. I should care more about the kids falling asleep, but with this class it really isn't anything new. Well, guess what the homeroom teacher did to wake her up: a big slap on her butt. That did the trick alright, she stayed awake for the remaining class time.
*side note: Last year, this girl was constantly away for my lessons cause she didn't had confidence in English. So I already consider a big step having her here this year.
And then there are times when you know a teacher has been doing this job for awhile just by the way they handle the class.
A common problem that ALT has is that the Japanese teacher will baby the students by translating everything into Japanese right away before giving the kids a chance to figure it out. Some teachers know better than this, and refuses to say anything and makes the kid guess.
There is this one teacher that I'm always nervous to work with. She's scary, scary strict kind of way. I'm still trying to grasp her teaching style, and luckily she'll tell me if she wants me to act a certain way in class. So this year, after the first lesson with her 1st grade class, I asked what kind of games will be better for these kids: quiet game or games that will get them moving around. She said either one is fine, but the key for 1st grade is to have lots of games. Make sense, since they have extremely short attention span.
This week has been kind of a downer, with depressing news following after one and other. The last depressing thing was perhaps my fail attempt to get the a-nation tickets on Thursday. Surprisingly, I wasn't as upset as I thought I would. Maybe it's cause I half excepted, or maybe it's cause I've really already hit rock bottom.
Whatever the reason were, this week's VS ARASHI sure helped made things a little chipper. And tomorrow is the long awaited Ayu concert. Inspired by pyroyale attempt to make it through a weekend in Tokyo with just $100, I'm going to try a similar attempt and limit myself on the tour goods and shopping this weekend.
In Japan, kids are welcome to wander in and out of the staff room (with the exception of during exam, when they're not allow to enter the room except for special circumstances). Usually, kids will excuse themselves before and after entering the staff room. This week, one of the elementary school took it to an extra level: when the kids want to enter the staff room, they now have to state their name, grade and reason for coming in.
I usually play with the kids at this school after lunch, but today I wasn't really in the mood so I quietly slip back into the staff room after lunch. But alas, the kids came and hunt me down.
"I'm XX XX from the second grade. I want to come in to ask the ALT to go out and play."
This was all of course, said in Japanese. But the point is, the kids made the effort to get me AND recite all that, I couldn't very well say no can I?
And there are times, when I know I should never repeat what I saw cause it's a kind of thing that will only work in Japan.
The other day, a girl had her head down. I should care more about the kids falling asleep, but with this class it really isn't anything new. Well, guess what the homeroom teacher did to wake her up: a big slap on her butt. That did the trick alright, she stayed awake for the remaining class time.
*side note: Last year, this girl was constantly away for my lessons cause she didn't had confidence in English. So I already consider a big step having her here this year.
And then there are times when you know a teacher has been doing this job for awhile just by the way they handle the class.
A common problem that ALT has is that the Japanese teacher will baby the students by translating everything into Japanese right away before giving the kids a chance to figure it out. Some teachers know better than this, and refuses to say anything and makes the kid guess.
There is this one teacher that I'm always nervous to work with. She's scary, scary strict kind of way. I'm still trying to grasp her teaching style, and luckily she'll tell me if she wants me to act a certain way in class. So this year, after the first lesson with her 1st grade class, I asked what kind of games will be better for these kids: quiet game or games that will get them moving around. She said either one is fine, but the key for 1st grade is to have lots of games. Make sense, since they have extremely short attention span.
This week has been kind of a downer, with depressing news following after one and other. The last depressing thing was perhaps my fail attempt to get the a-nation tickets on Thursday. Surprisingly, I wasn't as upset as I thought I would. Maybe it's cause I half excepted, or maybe it's cause I've really already hit rock bottom.
Whatever the reason were, this week's VS ARASHI sure helped made things a little chipper. And tomorrow is the long awaited Ayu concert. Inspired by pyroyale attempt to make it through a weekend in Tokyo with just $100, I'm going to try a similar attempt and limit myself on the tour goods and shopping this weekend.