Evaluation Results
I mentioned that interTalk had sent each of the schools I teach at an evaluation to fill out about my teaching. Last week, all of the schools faxed back their answer to interTalk and over all the evaluations were good.
We are evaluated on eight different areas and the scores range from one to five, with one being the lowest and five being the highest. The categories include overall evaluation, relationship with the students, relationship with the teachers, enthusiasm/motivation, classroom management, appropriate clothing, punctuality, and cooperation with teaching staff.
Takaku Chu gave me four and fives on the evaluation. I am pleased with this score. Iikura Sensei also mentioned that the students looked forward to me coming to class and that when I design the lesson plan the games work well with the focus of the lesson. While my evaluation was not bad, I would still like more feedback from the school on what they would like me to do to help them out more. I still feel that I am not being used as much as I should be and I would have liked some ideas on what other things they would like me to do in and out of class. I will have to ask Iikura Sensei about that in the near future.
Kimihara Elementary school gave me straight fives! It is my smallest elementary schools; therefore, it is easier to have good relations with the teachers and students. Not to mention that the teachers and students look forward to English class and that makes my job much easier.
Funashima Elementary gave me a mix between four and fives. They stated that the students would like me to go outside and play with the students. I figure, that is doable and I am glad they informed me of what they wanted from me.
Ami Daiichi Elementary gave me my lowest score. One three, and the rest were fours. Ok, a three is average and that is not bad. Fours are good and once again, that is not bad. I got a three on my clothing...the school gave me a three because once in the summer I wore a shirt and when I raised my hands you could see my belly button. I have never worn a shirt that short and I showed Hiromi what happened when I raised my hands and she said it was nothing to worry about. I will try to watch for that in the future.
I understand that because I normally do not go out and play with the students during break that my score in relationship with the students is not as good as it would be if I did that but I also feel that many of the problems are more a fault of the school rather than a fault with me or any other ALT that they would have at the school.
What upsets me about my evaluation at Ami Daiichi is I do not feel that it is possible for me to get fives that that school. School started in April (we are now in December) and I have only visited each class three times. In a school this big when I only visit once a month, it is impossible for me to develop relationships with the teachers and the students. I simply do not have the time to do that.
I also cannot get a five on timeliness because the school never communicates on what class I am supposed to visit. Take yesterday, for example. I got to school and the first class I was supposed to visit was 2-2, instead the students from 6-1 came to get me. I asked the teacher in charge of the ALT what class I was supposed to go to and she spent the next five minutes in class on the phone, thus making me late for the lesson. This happened again during second period, they had no idea where I was supposed to go and I was late for the lesson. During lunch, they forgot about me because the schedule was change and I only had ten minutes to eat with the students instead of the normal half hour. How is it possible for me to receive a five when the school cannot follow a schedule that they have had posted in the teacher’s room since August.
The school is very disorganized when it comes to the managing the ALT and in a school that has three classes for every grade (making the total number of classes 18) that really hurts the English lessons.
The school also wrote that even when I smile in class I seem nervous and tense; the school would like to see me relax more. I would love to relax more at Ami Daiichi Elementary but unfortunately, it is not possible to do that. I only have fifty minutes to teach a lesson, I have a specific lesson plan that I create to do in the fifty minutes. When the school changes the schedule and does not notify me or simply forgets what class I am supposed to attend, that eats away at the time I am supposed to be using for a lesson. Thus, the minute I get into the room I need to change my lesson plan and come up with a way to have the lesson still work in less time. That does not make for a relaxing time in class.
I only have three more lessons at this school and I hope that they go better. While my scores were not bad at this elementary school, I still would have like to receive some better scores. I talked with Hiromi about the evaluation and we agree that next year we will make sure that there is better communication between the schools and interTalk when it comes to the schedule and lessons.
I am pleased with how the evaluations went and I feel that most of things the schools reflected on were very helpful. I still would like to know what I could do to help the teachers even more but I will talk to each of them individually to figure out how I can better help them.