A Typical Day (Part One)...

Now, I haven't really gone into the day-to-day details of what I do here, so after 15 months of doing it, I figured it was time to let y'all know. This first installment of a "day in the life" will focus on the elementary school.

I teach at Neo Elementary School, home to 84 students, twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I teach 3 classes each day; grades 1, 3 and 5 on Tuesdays and grades 2, 4 and 6 on Thursdays. I get to school at around 8:20 every day, usually around 30-45 minutes after everyone else gets there. I'm contracted to work from 8:30 - 4:30 and I'll be damned if I get there any earlier to make a show of solidarity with the other teachers. I'm usually brushing my teeth at my window while cars pull out to head to work.

Anyway, after I get to school, I usually set up my materials for the day's lessons. I usually don't have a class first period, so I'm pretty relaxed by the time I head to class. I usually plan my lessons about a week in advance and make all the necessary materials during my free periods. Last week, I cut up 84 red and green pieces of construction paper for my Christmas lessons.

At 9:30, I head to my first class. On Tuesdays it's grade 3; grade 4 on Thursdays. Grade 3 (15 students) is pretty boisterous and loud, but they have gotten a lot better since their new teacher learned how to handle them. Grade 4 (10 students) is pretty rambunctious and it never ceases to amaze me just how loud they can get. However, they have excellent communication skills, so for the most part, I let them get away with it. On those days when I'm just tired or impatient, I threated to cancel the game if they don't shut it.

For each class, I'm very consistent with the structure. First, there is a greeting (how are you? I'm ~.), then there is the song (which is a warm up/energizer for getting their minds into English mode). We then move straight into the lesson. I introduce the topic (e.g. vegetables, activities, months) and then use flashcards so that the students can have visuals to go along with the words. For the first class of a new subject, I (sometimes with the help of the homeroom teacher - HRT), make sure the students know what the word is in Japanese. We do quite a bit of chanting and I throw in gestures for the more difficult words (which the kids always remember even if I sometimes forget), and we just repeat. After I'm satisfied that they have remembered the majority of the words (usually by the second class), I quiz them as a group and/or individually. Sometimes I have students be the "teacher" and they "teach" the words to the other students. They love it. When there is about 15 minutes left of class, I throw in a game. I always have a game or a fun activity to wrap up the class. This is by far the most popular time in class and their reward for learning. Over the past year and a half, I've accumulated so many games. Sometimes I give prizes when I'm in the mood. It's really enjoyable for me to play with them and their teachers (if and when they participate) and I actually like explaining the games to them. I usually do this almost entirely in English with TONS of gestures. For the younger grades, I might explain it all in Japanese. If I'm getting a lot of heads cocked to the side, I'll just do a practice run and it becomes crystal clear.

After 2nd period, there is a 20 minute recess where the students either play, run, skip or have meetings. All the physical activities are held either inside the gym or outside. Just yesterday, the kids had to jump rope outside. I think it was about 5 degrees, yet everyone was outside. But I suppose outside was warmer than inside the gym because the sun was out. You all know by now that Japan does not do indoor heating.


Third period begins at 10:40 and I have grade 1 on Tuesdays and grade 2 on Thursdays. Grade 1 is always ready for war. They are rowdy, loud, can't sit still and don't follow orders well. In essence, they're kids on meth. I owe this in large part to their HRT who can't/won't control them. I have to move especially slow with them because a good lot of the kids are...a bit slow. My 2nd graders, on the other hand, are bright, lovely, energetic, excited to learn, sweet and drop dead gorgeous. I look forward to this period because I know I'm going to have a great time. They want to learn everything and a few of them go to juku (cram or prep school) to get a leg up on their peers in a variety of subjects. I love, love, love this class. They were sweethearts last year and they're still delectable this year.

I have fourth period free and I usually send emails or read my book and wait for lunch. Lunch is 35 minutes long and it's broken up for announcements. After lunch the kids get about 20 minutes to brush their teeth and play games. Next is fifth period when I have grade 5 on Tuesdays and grade 6 on Thursdays. Grade 5 was a horror last year (thanks to the teacher) but this year they're great (thanks to the teacher). Grade 6 is where I really get to challenge them because they've been through 6 years of English language classes and can understand and speak quite a bit. I instituted phonics this year and it's a success. No one asked me to and I didn't ask for anyone's permission. That is pretty much how it works for me at the elementary school. I wasn't taught anything or was given any instructions. I learned through trial and error, by using my imagination and thinking of how I'd like to be taught a second language. I think I've been pretty successful especially since when I walk into class, kids run up and hug me and ask me what we'll be doing. I love when we play a game and they scream "one more!" or "one more time!". It's music to my ears when I hear "tanoshii katta ne" - "It was fun, wasn't it?"

At the end of the day, I walk the kids to the bus stop and it's truly the best part of the day, and not just because I'm nearly finished work, but we get to play! Sometimes I walk them there by myself or with a teacher or two.

I feel pretty lucky that I have a good, small school, but I had to work out the bullshit in order to get to this place. See, there's this buzzword in schools and all over the JET Programme. It's "team-teaching", and at a lot of schools, especially the elementary schools, this doesn't happen. ALTs are not, for the most part, licensed teachers. In fact, ALTs are not to be left alone in the classroom, and are supposed to share teaching and lesson planning duties. This, unfortunately, doesn't happen the majority of the time. I plan about 95% of the classes for my elementary school and choose the topics and the way it will be taught. I do the research, get the materials ready, make handouts, laminate the flash/game cards and plan all the games. I have lesson plans that I use from other schools, use the Internet A LOT and rack my brain. In the classroom, I am sometimes left with the kids (which I actually like better) and when the HRT is actually there, s/he follows my lead if they participate at all. With two teachers in particular, I don't even bother with them. The other day, when I was feeling pretty charitable, I asked one teacher if he wanted to play a game with us and he flat out said no and sat at his desk picking his ass. It's a horrible example for the kids because in this country, teachers have more power than the parents. It pisses me off because I have each grade for 45 minutes a week, and I can't get a few teachers to participate in a (really, really, really fun) game. Well, nuts to them. After I developed a healthy sense of apathy for the team-teaching format, everything became gravy and I'm having a blast.

You may have noticed that I've put a whole bunch pics of my kids in this post and I would ask you not to copy them. I want to share them with you but I'm aware there are a lot of pervs out there. Please take care - I love these kids.