I really meant to update sooner OTL
Sorry, I really meant to do this before, I was just feeling really avoidant of the world. So, I have made the big switch into the working world. It really did happen the frustrating way I had heard about. It was like I was just in the right place at the right time and they needed a warm body. Seriously. I know a couple people who also applied, but I think it was just a random lottery or something. I don't really feel like "YES! I did it!" I feel more like "...seriously?"
I was a total mess about the diploma and stuff. The school should have just told me the information on the main campus's website (which I didn't find till late June) that said the diploma wouldn't arrive till 6-8 weeks after I graduated. I mean, it's clearly posted, but nooooo they just had to childishly avoid answering. Fucking bullshit.
Anyway, volunteering at the school was good for me. I'm basically thinking of it like unpaid training. I worked alongside a substitute and got get the rhythm of it so that's cool. Fewer crash and burn days by myself up front. Then I realized I couldn't count on the school to let me know about a big diploma-sized package being delivered and I stayed home for 2 weeks waiting. They did actually call me from the school and let me come in, which was cool. I was able to resolve everything at immigration just one day before my final due date. Phew @-@.
So I just finished my first official paid week there, but the sub's assignment overlapped. She was a nice girl and I'm happy she was there.
As for the actual work..... It's not what I expected. I wanted to genuinely play with kids, but the school makes me follow a pre-made lesson plan so its kinda boring or lame sometimes. I don't have an office, I share a desk in a storage room.... not even kidding. I am not in the nice, air conditioned teacher's room. Actually, I'm pretty okay with not being under everyone's staring eyes. I like my own space, but I do wish I had air conditioning. I'm more accessible to the kids this way too, as they are always running through the closet to reach the broadcasting room to do the announcements. The brave ones try to talk to me, even if it's just one word. The shy ones just lurk close to the door. SUPER CUTE XD!
So anyway, the school sends me a schedule of classes and lesson plans so I know how to prepare. These are constantly wrong, which is incredibly stressful. The school admin is full of bureaucratic bullshit and it makes me frustrated and angry. At the start of the period I teach, a handful of students from the class come to fetch me from my closet. Sometimes they carry my lesson materials, other times they barely wait for me to stand before they are running down the hallway. They lead me to the classroom and I am introduced by the homeroom teacher (HRT)... but sometimes not. It's cool, I don't really care if they all stand and yell "GOODMORNING" or not. As long as they respond to me when I want them to, I'm pretty happy. I greet them, ask them about how they feel (although the stock response is "I'm fine thank you. And you?" But if you ask them to raise their hands for Great/Happy/Fine/Notsogood (<-wtf???) they get a lot more out of the interaction. I ask them about the weather and stuff. For the older classes I pick a letter of the alphabet and divide them into teams. The teams raise their hands and give me words. 1 point for every letter of the word, it's a cool game. If one team is lagging I cheat and whisper a really long word to someone who seems shy and they get SO HAPPY and proud it just makes me want to explode. Then I drill the vocab and play a game or two and if it goes well it's awesome, but if it sucks, it SUPER SUCKS.
Every class has a different personality usually depending on the HRT. If the HRT is new or too lenient with controlling the classroom it's just awful. I like the HRTs with really good relationships with the student. Just being strict is no good, being their friend is the best. Some good ones are comedians, others are really sporty, and some are just a little crazy in the right way. The bad ones stand in the corner and look like they want to kill me for putting them through this. The 5th and 6th grades are my favorite cause I can communicate with the students the best. The early ones are just impossible. I have this one second grade class that just has the worst circumstances: The HRT is young and has no idea how to control the class; there is at least one extremely disruptful and violent student that just screams and throws things, this incites slightly naughty kids to act out even worse. The whole class easily gets out of control and violent so I have to glue them to their seats. But that's boring! And it's not on the curriculum so that's also pretty much a no-go. I hate that class. It's my "nightmare" class.
There's so many things I need to know, but the school just ignores me and acts like I have complete autonomy. Like I JUST found out we have a copy machine after 6 weeks! And no one would show me how to use it! DX Also, we were making laminated flashcards for the classes that didn't have them, because the vice-principal did happen to show us how. He asked us to use the laminate that they had, but we soon ran out bc the lesson plans are just dumb and require a stupidly huge amount of materials. The office manager is this old cranky control freak of a woman. I don't often call women cunts, but believe me this woman is the very definition of a fucking evil cunt. When we ran out of A4 size laminate we used b4 and just had two cards on one sheet. She came over and started angrily yelling at the other ALT so badly she cried. I came in a moment later and tried to calm her down. Of course the next day I can just tell that I'm the one who has to apologize, so sucked it up and did it, but it felt so wrong. That kind of shit is what the school is all about. It sucks.
In summary, teaching is a performance. If you love the audience, they will love you. When you flop though, it's like forgetting everything during an important presentation. The kids are pretty ruthless when they want to be. It's not for the faint of heart or the "thin-skinned". I have kids chant "Oppai" or "baka" at me all through the class sometimes. Little bastards. I generally like it though. It's satisfying work even if it's a little stressful. I will get used to it, and then it will go much better. I feel better as I chug slowly uphill towards stability.
I was a total mess about the diploma and stuff. The school should have just told me the information on the main campus's website (which I didn't find till late June) that said the diploma wouldn't arrive till 6-8 weeks after I graduated. I mean, it's clearly posted, but nooooo they just had to childishly avoid answering. Fucking bullshit.
Anyway, volunteering at the school was good for me. I'm basically thinking of it like unpaid training. I worked alongside a substitute and got get the rhythm of it so that's cool. Fewer crash and burn days by myself up front. Then I realized I couldn't count on the school to let me know about a big diploma-sized package being delivered and I stayed home for 2 weeks waiting. They did actually call me from the school and let me come in, which was cool. I was able to resolve everything at immigration just one day before my final due date. Phew @-@.
So I just finished my first official paid week there, but the sub's assignment overlapped. She was a nice girl and I'm happy she was there.
As for the actual work..... It's not what I expected. I wanted to genuinely play with kids, but the school makes me follow a pre-made lesson plan so its kinda boring or lame sometimes. I don't have an office, I share a desk in a storage room.... not even kidding. I am not in the nice, air conditioned teacher's room. Actually, I'm pretty okay with not being under everyone's staring eyes. I like my own space, but I do wish I had air conditioning. I'm more accessible to the kids this way too, as they are always running through the closet to reach the broadcasting room to do the announcements. The brave ones try to talk to me, even if it's just one word. The shy ones just lurk close to the door. SUPER CUTE XD!
So anyway, the school sends me a schedule of classes and lesson plans so I know how to prepare. These are constantly wrong, which is incredibly stressful. The school admin is full of bureaucratic bullshit and it makes me frustrated and angry. At the start of the period I teach, a handful of students from the class come to fetch me from my closet. Sometimes they carry my lesson materials, other times they barely wait for me to stand before they are running down the hallway. They lead me to the classroom and I am introduced by the homeroom teacher (HRT)... but sometimes not. It's cool, I don't really care if they all stand and yell "GOODMORNING" or not. As long as they respond to me when I want them to, I'm pretty happy. I greet them, ask them about how they feel (although the stock response is "I'm fine thank you. And you?" But if you ask them to raise their hands for Great/Happy/Fine/Notsogood (<-wtf???) they get a lot more out of the interaction. I ask them about the weather and stuff. For the older classes I pick a letter of the alphabet and divide them into teams. The teams raise their hands and give me words. 1 point for every letter of the word, it's a cool game. If one team is lagging I cheat and whisper a really long word to someone who seems shy and they get SO HAPPY and proud it just makes me want to explode. Then I drill the vocab and play a game or two and if it goes well it's awesome, but if it sucks, it SUPER SUCKS.
Every class has a different personality usually depending on the HRT. If the HRT is new or too lenient with controlling the classroom it's just awful. I like the HRTs with really good relationships with the student. Just being strict is no good, being their friend is the best. Some good ones are comedians, others are really sporty, and some are just a little crazy in the right way. The bad ones stand in the corner and look like they want to kill me for putting them through this. The 5th and 6th grades are my favorite cause I can communicate with the students the best. The early ones are just impossible. I have this one second grade class that just has the worst circumstances: The HRT is young and has no idea how to control the class; there is at least one extremely disruptful and violent student that just screams and throws things, this incites slightly naughty kids to act out even worse. The whole class easily gets out of control and violent so I have to glue them to their seats. But that's boring! And it's not on the curriculum so that's also pretty much a no-go. I hate that class. It's my "nightmare" class.
There's so many things I need to know, but the school just ignores me and acts like I have complete autonomy. Like I JUST found out we have a copy machine after 6 weeks! And no one would show me how to use it! DX Also, we were making laminated flashcards for the classes that didn't have them, because the vice-principal did happen to show us how. He asked us to use the laminate that they had, but we soon ran out bc the lesson plans are just dumb and require a stupidly huge amount of materials. The office manager is this old cranky control freak of a woman. I don't often call women cunts, but believe me this woman is the very definition of a fucking evil cunt. When we ran out of A4 size laminate we used b4 and just had two cards on one sheet. She came over and started angrily yelling at the other ALT so badly she cried. I came in a moment later and tried to calm her down. Of course the next day I can just tell that I'm the one who has to apologize, so sucked it up and did it, but it felt so wrong. That kind of shit is what the school is all about. It sucks.
In summary, teaching is a performance. If you love the audience, they will love you. When you flop though, it's like forgetting everything during an important presentation. The kids are pretty ruthless when they want to be. It's not for the faint of heart or the "thin-skinned". I have kids chant "Oppai" or "baka" at me all through the class sometimes. Little bastards. I generally like it though. It's satisfying work even if it's a little stressful. I will get used to it, and then it will go much better. I feel better as I chug slowly uphill towards stability.