Well it's about time that I....
Hello out there gentle viewers. Sorry for the lack of updates as of late; things have been kinda chaotic on this side of the ocean, but now that I have a little bit of time to sit down and actually process my thoughts and what-not, I thought it was about time for me to update some things for you and let you know what I've been up to.
So as I'm sure you know, school started back up for me again at the end of August and it's been pretty much full-steam ahead since then up until now. Classes have been going well and planning for next year has already begun. I'm sure I have mentioned in the past what was happening to the Elementary English Program here in Japan, but for those not in the know, I'll explain it again. As of the year 2011, Grades 5 and 6 will have a mandatory 35 hours of English a year (which equates itself to 1 hour a week), and will become its own subject. Currently, the amount of hours per year varies per school (anywhere from 7 to 20 hours per year) and goes from grades 1 to 6 (some schools only have from 3 to 6). These hours come out of the Sogo Gakushu (Integrated Studies) program, which is allotted 100 hours per year. With the changes the occurring, the teaching of English Conversation will be relegated to only Grades 5 and 6 (with the creation of the new "Foreign Language Studies" program), while the other grades will lose this and focus those extra hours on Math and Japanese.
Yes...that's a lot to digest. Basically, as of 2011, Nation-wide English (or rather "Foreign Language Study") will be mandatory from Grade 5 on. Any grades below that are not allowed to study it.
So, to get back in the game here as to what's going on...with a new Subject comes new textbooks and new curriculum. Up until now, curriculum issues were dealt with on a per school basis, which each school kind of deciding what they wanted to cover and either teaching it in-house (with a regular teacher doing it), or by getting a teacher like myself (AET - Assistant English Teacher) to come in and teach those lessons. Starting from 2011, the textbooks, along with the curriculum have been set by the Ministry of Education (MOE), with no room for leeway or changes. Needless to say, many people have a lot of trepidation as to what will happen with this new system, including myself.
The story doesn't end there.
My city has decided that as of next year, they'll be implementing those curriculum and textbook changes, along with the allotment of hours. For example, one of my schools will be jumping from a total of 10 hours of instruction per year, to 35 hours per year. Many other schools are also looking to do the same, so the Board of Education here (BOE) really has their work cut out for them.
There's also one last thing that's really going to make things interesting.
Up until now, the main person teaching the lessons has been myself (here on out referred to as T1), with the Home Room Teacher (HRT) acting as an assistant (T2). Most times (and by most I'm talking like...96%+) the HRT don't speak any English. As of next year, the HRT will become the T1, with myself becoming the T2.
Little lost? Here's the short form => People who don't speak English, will be teaching English.
I'll give you a little time to stop laughing and being outraged so I can continue on with the entry.
Anyway, so that's what been keeping me busy. I've been working with my schools to set up the classes and such for next year, while working with the BOE to try and get things ready so that people don't try to jump off bridges to avoid the impending doom. All that along with teaching classes and lesson planning and prep, and that pretty much sums up what I do from day to day. A day in my life as a English Teacher in Japan ^_^
As for other work stuff, I have all my lesson planning done until the end of the year, along with most of the prep done as well. I thankfully managed to get that out of the way in order to be able to handle any kind of fires or whatnot that may pop up between now and then as Christmas time tends to equal me being insanely busy with no end in sight.
So I'm sure many of you are curious as to one of the following:
1) Am I coming home for Christmas?
2) What are you doing next year?
3) Are you staying in Japan for the rest of your life? / When are you coming home?
So I'll answer them to help put some of your nerves at ease.
1) I'm looking to come home for Christmas this year. As some people know already, my Father had a heart attack about a month ago, and as such he wound up having major open-heart surgery. Originally, I wasn't going to be coming home this year because it's fairly expensive for me to do so, but I think it is more important now than ever for me to spend time with my family. So I will know more by next month for sure, but I am trying as hard as I can to do so. (If anyone would like to help me in this endeavor, feel free to let me know as soon as possible ^_~)
2) Well, that's a very good question. As of this moment, I am looking to be moving and start working in another town. Not that I don't love it here, because I do, but sadly, the pay here is not exactly what I'm looking for. As such, I have an interview at the beginning of next month, and will find out by December whether or not I have the job. The pay rate is very competitive and will allow me some more economic freedom (i.e. - I'll actually be able to pay for things!) and finally get out from under this debt load that I have. As such, I had to go out and buy a spanking new suit (Dad - you would be proud; it was 50% off!) for this interview (as a suit is pretty much mandatory and I don't have one anymore -_-;; ). So, here you all are, some very recent pictures of me in my suit. The tie that I'm wearing in the photo isn't the one I got with it; I don't want to tie that until the day of the interview so I'm wearing a purple one that I have tied already. Feel free to wish me luck and tell me what you think of the suit!
Try to ignore the bags under the eyes....it was after a long day at work >,<
3) This is also a very good question. At this point in time, I can honestly say that I don't know. As many of you people know, I tend to plan my life way in advance and like to know what I'll be doing within the next 5 years. These last few years of not really having an idea have, well, been pretty hard on me. I know that by the time I am 30 I would like to be married and have children shortly thereafter. Where this will be is still up in the air. I haven't made any decisions as to where I will be when that happens or even where I will be in 5 years time. What I do know is that I want to find the right person to be with for the rest of my life and will do what it takes and go wherever it may be to be with them. As many of you may have probably figured, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and tend to follow where my heart leads me. So, to sum up everything, I don't know. Do be assured that as soon as I know, you all will know too.
Wow...this has been a pretty long entry! I'm actually kinda surprised that I wrote this much myself.
Anyway, I guess I'll sign off here and let you guys get back to your regularly scheduled lives. I'll also refrain from commenting on certain political events that are happening right now and will just wait awhile for the dust to clear before I say anything I may regret later ^_~
Again, as always, feel free to ask my anything you like and let me know what you'd like to see or have me talk about. I'm always happy to tell you anything you'd like to know.
Big big big big big! Hugs and kisses to my family and loved ones. You're in my thoughts and heart every day.
Thank you all for reading and I'll talk to you all soon!
So as I'm sure you know, school started back up for me again at the end of August and it's been pretty much full-steam ahead since then up until now. Classes have been going well and planning for next year has already begun. I'm sure I have mentioned in the past what was happening to the Elementary English Program here in Japan, but for those not in the know, I'll explain it again. As of the year 2011, Grades 5 and 6 will have a mandatory 35 hours of English a year (which equates itself to 1 hour a week), and will become its own subject. Currently, the amount of hours per year varies per school (anywhere from 7 to 20 hours per year) and goes from grades 1 to 6 (some schools only have from 3 to 6). These hours come out of the Sogo Gakushu (Integrated Studies) program, which is allotted 100 hours per year. With the changes the occurring, the teaching of English Conversation will be relegated to only Grades 5 and 6 (with the creation of the new "Foreign Language Studies" program), while the other grades will lose this and focus those extra hours on Math and Japanese.
Yes...that's a lot to digest. Basically, as of 2011, Nation-wide English (or rather "Foreign Language Study") will be mandatory from Grade 5 on. Any grades below that are not allowed to study it.
So, to get back in the game here as to what's going on...with a new Subject comes new textbooks and new curriculum. Up until now, curriculum issues were dealt with on a per school basis, which each school kind of deciding what they wanted to cover and either teaching it in-house (with a regular teacher doing it), or by getting a teacher like myself (AET - Assistant English Teacher) to come in and teach those lessons. Starting from 2011, the textbooks, along with the curriculum have been set by the Ministry of Education (MOE), with no room for leeway or changes. Needless to say, many people have a lot of trepidation as to what will happen with this new system, including myself.
The story doesn't end there.
My city has decided that as of next year, they'll be implementing those curriculum and textbook changes, along with the allotment of hours. For example, one of my schools will be jumping from a total of 10 hours of instruction per year, to 35 hours per year. Many other schools are also looking to do the same, so the Board of Education here (BOE) really has their work cut out for them.
There's also one last thing that's really going to make things interesting.
Up until now, the main person teaching the lessons has been myself (here on out referred to as T1), with the Home Room Teacher (HRT) acting as an assistant (T2). Most times (and by most I'm talking like...96%+) the HRT don't speak any English. As of next year, the HRT will become the T1, with myself becoming the T2.
Little lost? Here's the short form => People who don't speak English, will be teaching English.
I'll give you a little time to stop laughing and being outraged so I can continue on with the entry.
Anyway, so that's what been keeping me busy. I've been working with my schools to set up the classes and such for next year, while working with the BOE to try and get things ready so that people don't try to jump off bridges to avoid the impending doom. All that along with teaching classes and lesson planning and prep, and that pretty much sums up what I do from day to day. A day in my life as a English Teacher in Japan ^_^
As for other work stuff, I have all my lesson planning done until the end of the year, along with most of the prep done as well. I thankfully managed to get that out of the way in order to be able to handle any kind of fires or whatnot that may pop up between now and then as Christmas time tends to equal me being insanely busy with no end in sight.
So I'm sure many of you are curious as to one of the following:
1) Am I coming home for Christmas?
2) What are you doing next year?
3) Are you staying in Japan for the rest of your life? / When are you coming home?
So I'll answer them to help put some of your nerves at ease.
1) I'm looking to come home for Christmas this year. As some people know already, my Father had a heart attack about a month ago, and as such he wound up having major open-heart surgery. Originally, I wasn't going to be coming home this year because it's fairly expensive for me to do so, but I think it is more important now than ever for me to spend time with my family. So I will know more by next month for sure, but I am trying as hard as I can to do so. (If anyone would like to help me in this endeavor, feel free to let me know as soon as possible ^_~)
2) Well, that's a very good question. As of this moment, I am looking to be moving and start working in another town. Not that I don't love it here, because I do, but sadly, the pay here is not exactly what I'm looking for. As such, I have an interview at the beginning of next month, and will find out by December whether or not I have the job. The pay rate is very competitive and will allow me some more economic freedom (i.e. - I'll actually be able to pay for things!) and finally get out from under this debt load that I have. As such, I had to go out and buy a spanking new suit (Dad - you would be proud; it was 50% off!) for this interview (as a suit is pretty much mandatory and I don't have one anymore -_-;; ). So, here you all are, some very recent pictures of me in my suit. The tie that I'm wearing in the photo isn't the one I got with it; I don't want to tie that until the day of the interview so I'm wearing a purple one that I have tied already. Feel free to wish me luck and tell me what you think of the suit!
Try to ignore the bags under the eyes....it was after a long day at work >,<
3) This is also a very good question. At this point in time, I can honestly say that I don't know. As many of you people know, I tend to plan my life way in advance and like to know what I'll be doing within the next 5 years. These last few years of not really having an idea have, well, been pretty hard on me. I know that by the time I am 30 I would like to be married and have children shortly thereafter. Where this will be is still up in the air. I haven't made any decisions as to where I will be when that happens or even where I will be in 5 years time. What I do know is that I want to find the right person to be with for the rest of my life and will do what it takes and go wherever it may be to be with them. As many of you may have probably figured, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and tend to follow where my heart leads me. So, to sum up everything, I don't know. Do be assured that as soon as I know, you all will know too.
Wow...this has been a pretty long entry! I'm actually kinda surprised that I wrote this much myself.
Anyway, I guess I'll sign off here and let you guys get back to your regularly scheduled lives. I'll also refrain from commenting on certain political events that are happening right now and will just wait awhile for the dust to clear before I say anything I may regret later ^_~
Again, as always, feel free to ask my anything you like and let me know what you'd like to see or have me talk about. I'm always happy to tell you anything you'd like to know.
Big big big big big! Hugs and kisses to my family and loved ones. You're in my thoughts and heart every day.
Thank you all for reading and I'll talk to you all soon!