(no subject)
i just ate a wonderful, wonderful grilled cheese sandwich. god bless America for grilled cheese sandwiches. earlier i had the best 200yen (thats expensive for those not in the know) small slice of pizza in the world... which was the best slice of pizza in the world only because it`s the closest thing to a "normal" American pizza that i`ve had in forever.... even though it wasn`t even really that close to American pizza.
i want pizza. i need pizza. i will buy pizza with my paycheck next week, and it better be good pizza because it will cost me a pretty penny.
anyway, yesterday at Otsu went alright. had the usual schedule of 3 classes + English Club. in English Club i did a variant of "Hangman" for the first time, and it went alright.... aside from two students who intentionally tried to kill the hanging man (in this game "parachute man") by intentionally saying obviously wrong letters. played the same game in English Club today at Ikku and rather than trying to kill the hanging man, they kept trying to save him by guessing the entire word right off the bat instead of just guessing letters and figuring it out as they went. >_O;; two extremes here.
...perhaps this accurately reflects how different Otsu and Ikku are, which i`ve been thinking about lately. Ikku and Otsu are so different in so many ways.... to describe them bluntly, Otsu is a school with academic problems and trouble students, while Ikku, which also has trouble students but less troublesome, is more academic and what you would probably picture your average decent school being. of the two, as when i first started teaching at these schools, i like Otsu more than Ikku for various reasons that i wont go into right now. while Ikku`s students are "better" in terms of behavior, as a school (students, staff, and everything else that makes a school) Otsu wins imho. the previous ALT who taught at both Ikku and Otsu also liked Otsu best of the two.
anyway, today at Ikku i had two regular classes and then 1 class with the special ed students. of course, i just got told about the special ed class when i was handed my teaching schedule this morning. >_>; i got the feeling that the visit in general was randomly decided or had no foreplanning whatsoever. but anyway, it was just 2 students-- the boy in the wheelchair and another boy-- this time and 3 teachers. things went roughly at first.... they wanted me to teach them English names of school supplies that they had on hand which... wasn`t the easiest of vocabulary to teach, especially to handicapped students. x_x; basically, the only word that was learned between the two students was `book`, but we all got through it thanks to humor. :P then i taught American Rock, Paper, Scissors and we played that, then had tea and cookies (a standard thing for the end of 5th period for this class). so overall the class went alright, thankfully. i would still appreciate it if they would tell me i`m teaching this class in advance so i can be more prepared because i wasnt the slightest bit prepared today.... but i didnt stress out about teaching the class this time. hoorah.
the vice principle at Ikku, the lady who is always helping me there a lot more than the JTEs, wants to take me out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch tomorrow since 4th period is my last class. :x she wants me to meet the owner of the restaurant, who apparently has a fetish for talking to foreigners lol. actually, i`ve heard mention of her from a couple of the older ALTs in the office, so i already knew of her but had never been to the restaurant. :x she sounds umm... interesting. a person who loves interaction with foreigners and is known by many of the local ALTs. :`x i can only imagine how bizarre/unique tomorrow`s lunch conversations will be.
oh~ and tonight began my study for the 2nd level JLPT in my tutoring class. i`ve been given a list of 100 nouns that i don`t know at all to be learnt within the next 2 weeks, plus crazy new grammar that i am going to have to force my brain to comprehend. it`s crazy grammar i tell you. and 100 nouns. D`: level 2 really is a different world from level 3.... a scary world.
i want pizza. i need pizza. i will buy pizza with my paycheck next week, and it better be good pizza because it will cost me a pretty penny.
anyway, yesterday at Otsu went alright. had the usual schedule of 3 classes + English Club. in English Club i did a variant of "Hangman" for the first time, and it went alright.... aside from two students who intentionally tried to kill the hanging man (in this game "parachute man") by intentionally saying obviously wrong letters. played the same game in English Club today at Ikku and rather than trying to kill the hanging man, they kept trying to save him by guessing the entire word right off the bat instead of just guessing letters and figuring it out as they went. >_O;; two extremes here.
...perhaps this accurately reflects how different Otsu and Ikku are, which i`ve been thinking about lately. Ikku and Otsu are so different in so many ways.... to describe them bluntly, Otsu is a school with academic problems and trouble students, while Ikku, which also has trouble students but less troublesome, is more academic and what you would probably picture your average decent school being. of the two, as when i first started teaching at these schools, i like Otsu more than Ikku for various reasons that i wont go into right now. while Ikku`s students are "better" in terms of behavior, as a school (students, staff, and everything else that makes a school) Otsu wins imho. the previous ALT who taught at both Ikku and Otsu also liked Otsu best of the two.
anyway, today at Ikku i had two regular classes and then 1 class with the special ed students. of course, i just got told about the special ed class when i was handed my teaching schedule this morning. >_>; i got the feeling that the visit in general was randomly decided or had no foreplanning whatsoever. but anyway, it was just 2 students-- the boy in the wheelchair and another boy-- this time and 3 teachers. things went roughly at first.... they wanted me to teach them English names of school supplies that they had on hand which... wasn`t the easiest of vocabulary to teach, especially to handicapped students. x_x; basically, the only word that was learned between the two students was `book`, but we all got through it thanks to humor. :P then i taught American Rock, Paper, Scissors and we played that, then had tea and cookies (a standard thing for the end of 5th period for this class). so overall the class went alright, thankfully. i would still appreciate it if they would tell me i`m teaching this class in advance so i can be more prepared because i wasnt the slightest bit prepared today.... but i didnt stress out about teaching the class this time. hoorah.
the vice principle at Ikku, the lady who is always helping me there a lot more than the JTEs, wants to take me out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch tomorrow since 4th period is my last class. :x she wants me to meet the owner of the restaurant, who apparently has a fetish for talking to foreigners lol. actually, i`ve heard mention of her from a couple of the older ALTs in the office, so i already knew of her but had never been to the restaurant. :x she sounds umm... interesting. a person who loves interaction with foreigners and is known by many of the local ALTs. :`x i can only imagine how bizarre/unique tomorrow`s lunch conversations will be.
oh~ and tonight began my study for the 2nd level JLPT in my tutoring class. i`ve been given a list of 100 nouns that i don`t know at all to be learnt within the next 2 weeks, plus crazy new grammar that i am going to have to force my brain to comprehend. it`s crazy grammar i tell you. and 100 nouns. D`: level 2 really is a different world from level 3.... a scary world.