Right... Let's try this posting thing.
I've officially made it through my first month. My self intros are FINALLY over. So far it's been a mostly positive experience.
But, oh my god, tuesday. What a show that was. First of all I had NO idea what I was supposed to do besides my damn self-intro which CAN take up the whole class if the kids actually want to ask questions so I was sweating. I figured, no sweat, I got 1st period off. HA. No one bothered to give me anything until literally 2 minutes before I was dragged to class.
And what a class that was! We had these 5 kids that would literally get up and walk around during class and make a huge racket. But, I mean, 8 year olds, right? I felt bad because the teacher was having a really tough time with them and I couldn't do anything to help her. Says so right in my contract. "Thou shalt not touch the children nor speak to them in any disparaging way." So I got to stand at the front of the class... Smiling. Then again the special ed teacher who was there didn't help either so... Yeah.
The next class went much better. The one after that was... mixed. The teacher kind of sat off in the corner reading his book. It's like... "Hello! Please don't ignore me!" But he didn't graduate into the class I've come to call "Nose Pickers". He was polite to me and would actually pipe in once in a while. -_-
Class after that. Okay.
Last class, we make our way through the halls and... Big class fight. Bloody noses everywhere. I'm like... "Whoa..." Teacher was on hand so things were in the investigation stage. So basically the teacher walks me into the classroom.... Then walks out again. Well, shit. This is another one of those contract commandments. "Thou shalt not go into the classroom without a teacher present... It can only lead to law suits." Crap... So, I waste about 15 mins. hoping the teacher will come back... No. No choice. I taught the entire class myself... In BOTH English and Japanese. Good lord. Apparently I was doing alright though. I didn't get any blank stares after my Japanese. I did after my English but that's a given by now.
Ugh... And I've got TWO island days in a row. The island days are annoying, I have to get up extra early to get my ass to the ferry AND take a train. It's not worth 20 bucks a day to park so I can have an extra 20 mins. Plus the classes are so small out there. I've gotta teach an hour class... with 7 kids. A typical class is 45 mins and activities just don't LAST long enough with so few participants. AUGH! STRESS! And I have to goto this one EVERY WEEK. The reason I go there every week is for the Junior High. All my Junior Highs get at least one day a week. But they figure since I'm there anyways, throw me to the damn elementary kids too. Makes me want to drop a big "F-Bomb" on all these people and SWIM back to Toba. My other island isn't one of my favorites either. One of my teachers in a nose picker and I get the feeling he doesn't want to bother with an ALT at all. *sigh*
I've grown sick of the few DVDs I brought with me so I've done a lot of torrenting. Yeah. All four seasons of Deadliest Catch. But after a couple of episodes I've had enough crab... My favorite reality show is back. Well.. Was back like 2 months ago in the states apparently. But hell yeah for Project Runway! I love that show... But I promised myself I wouldn't make this post about it.
And despite all this moaning and bellyaching things are fine. I'm good IN the classroom, I just get the jitters before... And when I run out of materials. Bugger. But honestly, I have no one else to vent to so you guys get to enjoy. Or skip, either or. My other ALT buddy caught the evil Japanese flu so she's outta commission for a while. We text message eachother though. She's very understanding of my panic attacks. She's been here for a while now, and was a teacher in the Philippines besides so she gives me a lot of good advice.
This weekend is apparently Ise Matsuri. There's a big notice near my appartment that the main street I'm on is going to be closed Sat and Sun. I think I can get in and out, there's an alternate route so I should be able to get in. But it looks like fun! I'm going to party with the city on Sunday. I'll take pictures! I just can't promise that they'll be anything besides a sea of heads though. Heh.
But, oh my god, tuesday. What a show that was. First of all I had NO idea what I was supposed to do besides my damn self-intro which CAN take up the whole class if the kids actually want to ask questions so I was sweating. I figured, no sweat, I got 1st period off. HA. No one bothered to give me anything until literally 2 minutes before I was dragged to class.
And what a class that was! We had these 5 kids that would literally get up and walk around during class and make a huge racket. But, I mean, 8 year olds, right? I felt bad because the teacher was having a really tough time with them and I couldn't do anything to help her. Says so right in my contract. "Thou shalt not touch the children nor speak to them in any disparaging way." So I got to stand at the front of the class... Smiling. Then again the special ed teacher who was there didn't help either so... Yeah.
The next class went much better. The one after that was... mixed. The teacher kind of sat off in the corner reading his book. It's like... "Hello! Please don't ignore me!" But he didn't graduate into the class I've come to call "Nose Pickers". He was polite to me and would actually pipe in once in a while. -_-
Class after that. Okay.
Last class, we make our way through the halls and... Big class fight. Bloody noses everywhere. I'm like... "Whoa..." Teacher was on hand so things were in the investigation stage. So basically the teacher walks me into the classroom.... Then walks out again. Well, shit. This is another one of those contract commandments. "Thou shalt not go into the classroom without a teacher present... It can only lead to law suits." Crap... So, I waste about 15 mins. hoping the teacher will come back... No. No choice. I taught the entire class myself... In BOTH English and Japanese. Good lord. Apparently I was doing alright though. I didn't get any blank stares after my Japanese. I did after my English but that's a given by now.
Ugh... And I've got TWO island days in a row. The island days are annoying, I have to get up extra early to get my ass to the ferry AND take a train. It's not worth 20 bucks a day to park so I can have an extra 20 mins. Plus the classes are so small out there. I've gotta teach an hour class... with 7 kids. A typical class is 45 mins and activities just don't LAST long enough with so few participants. AUGH! STRESS! And I have to goto this one EVERY WEEK. The reason I go there every week is for the Junior High. All my Junior Highs get at least one day a week. But they figure since I'm there anyways, throw me to the damn elementary kids too. Makes me want to drop a big "F-Bomb" on all these people and SWIM back to Toba. My other island isn't one of my favorites either. One of my teachers in a nose picker and I get the feeling he doesn't want to bother with an ALT at all. *sigh*
I've grown sick of the few DVDs I brought with me so I've done a lot of torrenting. Yeah. All four seasons of Deadliest Catch. But after a couple of episodes I've had enough crab... My favorite reality show is back. Well.. Was back like 2 months ago in the states apparently. But hell yeah for Project Runway! I love that show... But I promised myself I wouldn't make this post about it.
And despite all this moaning and bellyaching things are fine. I'm good IN the classroom, I just get the jitters before... And when I run out of materials. Bugger. But honestly, I have no one else to vent to so you guys get to enjoy. Or skip, either or. My other ALT buddy caught the evil Japanese flu so she's outta commission for a while. We text message eachother though. She's very understanding of my panic attacks. She's been here for a while now, and was a teacher in the Philippines besides so she gives me a lot of good advice.
This weekend is apparently Ise Matsuri. There's a big notice near my appartment that the main street I'm on is going to be closed Sat and Sun. I think I can get in and out, there's an alternate route so I should be able to get in. But it looks like fun! I'm going to party with the city on Sunday. I'll take pictures! I just can't promise that they'll be anything besides a sea of heads though. Heh.