GTR 3 & miscellany
I got my teaching evaluation at School A this week. They give em out every year. For the third year straight, my score was higher than the school average (but not by much-- my score was 8.7 and the school average was 8.2). Still, I'll take it!
Going left to right, the questions the students were asked were:
1.) The pace of the class is just right.
2.) Explanations are easy to understand.
3.) What's written on the blackboard is easy to understand.
4.) She answers students' questions well.
5.) She makes good materials for class.
6.) I am satisfied with the class.
Blue means "I agree", red means "I agree somewhat", green means "I don't really agree", and yellow means "I don't agree." 10th graders are on the top row and 11th grades are on the bottom row.
So, I did pretty well I guess! Better than last year, But I always get slaughtered on the question about the blackboard. My fellow gaijin teachers said their lowest score is always on the question too. Could it be because we write on the board in ENGLISH that's making it so difficult to understand, I wonder? I swear I always keep that board as neat as possible.
10 students kindly wrote comments, and 9 of them were positive! Stuff like "I always look forward to this class" and "I have fun in class while learning English." Yay!
The negative comment was "I had enjoyed Oral Communication before, but this year there were so many quizzes and such that I didn't learn any English conversation. I want a class that will teach me how to speak English."
The first part of this comment baffles me. There was exactly one quiz per grade this year. One. And what is "and such"? I wish she'd been more specific. :/
And the second part... well, in my defense, can you really master ANYTHING by practicing it for 45 minutes a week? I know you couldn't get a black belt by practicing karate for 45 minutes a week, that's for damn sure. In every class I'm dealing with 24-27 students of varying levels of ability and enthusiasm. I think it's badass that you really want to be able to speak English.. but honey, I think you're gonna need more than I'm able to give you in the class. ;_; Sorry.
Anyway. Here's my lock screen. It was Jaqen H'qar for the longest time, but now it's TekiPina.
The leaves are starting to turn here in Higashi-Totsuka. Kinda sad to think that soon all those leaves will be gone, though. :/
Pina looks up to his big bro Teki (quite literally, as sadly he can't fly and he hasn't figured out how to climb up to where Teki is). They're good friends.
And I am EXCITE because a few minutes ago the Yamato Kyuubin lady rang the bell with my AMAZON PURCHASES!
Interview with the Vampire, because it's still the best. Tom Cruise is a loony and all that, but he is AWESOME in this movie. Bow. Plus Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas = TOO MUCH SEXY FOR ONE MOVIE. LOVE it.
And Assassin's Creed III!!! WOW I am so excited to play this game because I am a huge Revolutionary War nerd. I haven't really played any of the other AC games, but I'm super stoked for this one. All I can do is pray to the gods that the English voices have been preserved and the whole thing hasn't been redubbed in tryhardy Japanese, and we'll have a kickass game, I think. I hope, I hope, I hope.
Anyway, cos I preordered ACIII it came with a "reference guide" (the big red sticker declares "SPOILER ALERT!!". I flipped through the book and a huge portion of it is devoted to teaching Japanese gamers what the Revolutionary War was. ^^;;;
Well, I guess I'll flip on AC now and see what's doin. Pray for me!!
EDIT 11:31 AM!! You can INDEED set Assassin's Creed III to have English voices with Japanese subtitles! I seriously did a dance of joy when I discovered this.
Going left to right, the questions the students were asked were:
1.) The pace of the class is just right.
2.) Explanations are easy to understand.
3.) What's written on the blackboard is easy to understand.
4.) She answers students' questions well.
5.) She makes good materials for class.
6.) I am satisfied with the class.
Blue means "I agree", red means "I agree somewhat", green means "I don't really agree", and yellow means "I don't agree." 10th graders are on the top row and 11th grades are on the bottom row.
So, I did pretty well I guess! Better than last year, But I always get slaughtered on the question about the blackboard. My fellow gaijin teachers said their lowest score is always on the question too. Could it be because we write on the board in ENGLISH that's making it so difficult to understand, I wonder? I swear I always keep that board as neat as possible.
10 students kindly wrote comments, and 9 of them were positive! Stuff like "I always look forward to this class" and "I have fun in class while learning English." Yay!
The negative comment was "I had enjoyed Oral Communication before, but this year there were so many quizzes and such that I didn't learn any English conversation. I want a class that will teach me how to speak English."
The first part of this comment baffles me. There was exactly one quiz per grade this year. One. And what is "and such"? I wish she'd been more specific. :/
And the second part... well, in my defense, can you really master ANYTHING by practicing it for 45 minutes a week? I know you couldn't get a black belt by practicing karate for 45 minutes a week, that's for damn sure. In every class I'm dealing with 24-27 students of varying levels of ability and enthusiasm. I think it's badass that you really want to be able to speak English.. but honey, I think you're gonna need more than I'm able to give you in the class. ;_; Sorry.
Anyway. Here's my lock screen. It was Jaqen H'qar for the longest time, but now it's TekiPina.
The leaves are starting to turn here in Higashi-Totsuka. Kinda sad to think that soon all those leaves will be gone, though. :/
Pina looks up to his big bro Teki (quite literally, as sadly he can't fly and he hasn't figured out how to climb up to where Teki is). They're good friends.
And I am EXCITE because a few minutes ago the Yamato Kyuubin lady rang the bell with my AMAZON PURCHASES!
Interview with the Vampire, because it's still the best. Tom Cruise is a loony and all that, but he is AWESOME in this movie. Bow. Plus Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas = TOO MUCH SEXY FOR ONE MOVIE. LOVE it.
And Assassin's Creed III!!! WOW I am so excited to play this game because I am a huge Revolutionary War nerd. I haven't really played any of the other AC games, but I'm super stoked for this one. All I can do is pray to the gods that the English voices have been preserved and the whole thing hasn't been redubbed in tryhardy Japanese, and we'll have a kickass game, I think. I hope, I hope, I hope.
Anyway, cos I preordered ACIII it came with a "reference guide" (the big red sticker declares "SPOILER ALERT!!". I flipped through the book and a huge portion of it is devoted to teaching Japanese gamers what the Revolutionary War was. ^^;;;
Well, I guess I'll flip on AC now and see what's doin. Pray for me!!
EDIT 11:31 AM!! You can INDEED set Assassin's Creed III to have English voices with Japanese subtitles! I seriously did a dance of joy when I discovered this.