Back to basics
As you know, or may have guessed, I'm now back in Japan and doing that whole teaching thing 5 days a week, only this time, instead of going around to all of the middle schools in my town, I visit the elementary schools (plus kindergarten/day cares once a month).
It's the same kind of stuff as before, the same subject and everything, but it's different in a lot of ways. It looks like for this term, I'll have a lot more responsibility in leading the classes and planning the activities, especially for the lower grades. The thing about teaching English to Japanese elementary school kids is that they don't actually want you to TEACH the kids English, they want you to expose them to English, make them like it, and boost their confidence in it by playing English games for an hour. I have to try and come up with things that are important to communicating in English, relevant to what the kids already know, and within their skill levels and interests. It's an balance that'll take some time to get the hang of, but I think I can handle it. So far, I've mostly been doing the same intro lesson over and over, introducing myself to the kids one class at a time, since this is my first time meeting all of them.
Third years are my absolute favorites so far (though I have yet to teach a 1st year or kindergarten class). They are small, adorable, curious, outspoken, and unafraid. After my first 3rd year class, I had a group of girls surround me and make me repeat their names and nicknames over and over, so I wouldn't forget. In one of my others, they convinced me to stay with them during the mid-day break and to draw pictures for them.
Fifth years are my runners-up in being favorites. I've got a group of girls at one school who made a ring around me, and dragged me into their classroom to play with them during break, then ordered me to not escape. They caught their home room teacher too, and we all drew pictures on the blackboard together. Today, another 5th year class instructed me to draw various anime characters on the board after lunch, then they invited me to play jump rope with them, which I did for a little while. During cleaning time, I taught them how to twirl brooms the same way that I used to twirl flags and stuff in color guard. XD
And finally, *drumrolllll* hottest teacher award goes to the HRT of 4-2 at today's school. XDDD; Pretty sure the guy is the same age as me, and he's total eye candy. His kids act as though they hate him, in that way that you can tell they really absolutely adore him, making fun of every single little thing that he does, as he just hams it up in front of them. Funniest thing was that the class would yell at him to step back if he ever got within 2 feet of me. I guess they didn't want me to catch his "fail." It was adorable. X3
Sorry this entry kinda skips the whole plane ride back to Japan and my thoughts on seeing Tenimyu (IT WAS AWESOME!) etc, but this is what's going on in my life right now~. Tomorrow, Paula comes over for the weekend!
It's the same kind of stuff as before, the same subject and everything, but it's different in a lot of ways. It looks like for this term, I'll have a lot more responsibility in leading the classes and planning the activities, especially for the lower grades. The thing about teaching English to Japanese elementary school kids is that they don't actually want you to TEACH the kids English, they want you to expose them to English, make them like it, and boost their confidence in it by playing English games for an hour. I have to try and come up with things that are important to communicating in English, relevant to what the kids already know, and within their skill levels and interests. It's an balance that'll take some time to get the hang of, but I think I can handle it. So far, I've mostly been doing the same intro lesson over and over, introducing myself to the kids one class at a time, since this is my first time meeting all of them.
Third years are my absolute favorites so far (though I have yet to teach a 1st year or kindergarten class). They are small, adorable, curious, outspoken, and unafraid. After my first 3rd year class, I had a group of girls surround me and make me repeat their names and nicknames over and over, so I wouldn't forget. In one of my others, they convinced me to stay with them during the mid-day break and to draw pictures for them.
Fifth years are my runners-up in being favorites. I've got a group of girls at one school who made a ring around me, and dragged me into their classroom to play with them during break, then ordered me to not escape. They caught their home room teacher too, and we all drew pictures on the blackboard together. Today, another 5th year class instructed me to draw various anime characters on the board after lunch, then they invited me to play jump rope with them, which I did for a little while. During cleaning time, I taught them how to twirl brooms the same way that I used to twirl flags and stuff in color guard. XD
And finally, *drumrolllll* hottest teacher award goes to the HRT of 4-2 at today's school. XDDD; Pretty sure the guy is the same age as me, and he's total eye candy. His kids act as though they hate him, in that way that you can tell they really absolutely adore him, making fun of every single little thing that he does, as he just hams it up in front of them. Funniest thing was that the class would yell at him to step back if he ever got within 2 feet of me. I guess they didn't want me to catch his "fail." It was adorable. X3
Sorry this entry kinda skips the whole plane ride back to Japan and my thoughts on seeing Tenimyu (IT WAS AWESOME!) etc, but this is what's going on in my life right now~. Tomorrow, Paula comes over for the weekend!