Recently, I re-visited Aomori (I'll save topic for another post). One of the first few orders of business the morning after I arrived was to meet my new supervisor, Saito-sensei, and sign the new re-contracting papers.
Everything went very well, albeit me, unknowingly, going into awkward/meek mode. Pumpkin was with me during my meeting, and he was laughing at me while Saito-sensei went to go get the paperwork, saying that I just needed to take a deep breath and just relax. *sigh* I hadn't even noticed I was doing that, so I tried to calm down ^^; Anyways, Saito-sensei brought back the papers and told me that I'd be teaching at Junior High Schools and Elementary Schools through the Aomori City Board of Education next year.
Now, I already knew that I'd be teaching at JHS and ES next year, a fact that could be inferred from my transfer request to the Aomori City Board of Education (and not the Prefectural Board of Education, like the one I work for). It was just something about talking it over with Pumpkin over Skype on various occasions and then actually signing the papers that made it sink in a little bit more...
This is most definitely not going to be the same dynamic as teaching at a high school.
As I tried to wrap my head around how it was going to be different, I had to pull from a few different sources: 1) anything Pumpkin has said about his students or teaching in general at these schools, 2) International Day, and 3) the most recent Nanshin Regional Block Meeting at another ALT's JHS.
What's International Day? Well, a long time ago (it really was a long time ago...sorry for posting about it now, about 3 months after...I know, I know, I'm awful!! lol), there was an event post in the Nagano Facebook group about an International Exchange Day at a JHS in Matsukawa-mura. Normally, this would be too far for me to venture out for, but the post had said that transportation was paid for by the school and that lunch was free!
Free lunch and free transport?! I'M IN!
All freebies aside, I was actually really interested to see how different the students would be. I don't often get the opportunity to be around JHS kids, so I decided to pounce on that opportunity, full force!!! At the time, I think I had already sent in my transfer request, so I was trying to prepare myself for what I could expect from JHS next year, but I didn't know for sure that my transfer request would be granted (but it did, thank goodness).
It was an amazing experience. Basically, all I did was get paired up with some local JHS 3rd graders and a few other ALTS, and then I played games and sports against other groups of 3rd graders and ALTs! My team, the yellow team, played volleyball, cricket (holy cow, I had no understanding of the rules of cricket, and I'm still not quite sure I understand it...), and did tinikling (a traditional Philippine dance involving hand coordination, foot speed, and rhythm). The schedule was really complicated, but was so much fun!!! :) One of my favorite times was having lunch with our group of kids. Something about the togetherness feeling of eating lunch beside one another is really comforting. The group I was with was pretty cool and there were some girls that really liked talking to me!!
Here's a video of the UCSD KP organization (kinda like a Philippino Club!) doing tinikling. It was actually choreographed by my friend, Jerel! :]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vs_zLKLSk
It was an amazing experience. Basically, all I did was get paired up with some local JHS 3rd graders and a few other ALTS, and then I played games and sports against other groups of 3rd graders and ALTs! My team, the yellow team, played volleyball, cricket (holy cow, I had no understanding of the rules of cricket, and I'm still not quite sure I understand it...), and did tinikling (a traditional Philippine dance involving hand coordination, foot speed, and rhythm). The schedule was really complicated, but was so much fun!!! :) One of my favorite times was having lunch with our group of kids. Something about the togetherness feeling of eating lunch beside one another is really comforting. The group I was with was pretty cool and there were some girls that really liked talking to me!!
Here's a video of the UCSD KP organization (kinda like a Philippino Club!) doing tinikling. It was actually choreographed by my friend, Jerel! :]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vs_zLKLSk
Moving on, my next experience with JHS was at the Nanshin Regional Block Meeting. This meeting was mainly to figure out who was going home for good at the end of this year and who was re-contracting. The group that I had carpooled with arrived super early. Because of this, before the meeting started, we got to drop in and participate in one of the ALT's classes! All the students were super excited to see us, which was a HUGE shock to me.
My HS students are usually aloof and most ignore me, with the exception of a few boys and girls. These students were...HAPPY (?!?!) to see me??? Where am I, what am I supposed to do, and how am I supposed to react to this?!?!?
Although I was out of my element at first, the awkwardness soon disappeared. It was actually really fun just going around and talking with the students. Some other JHS ALTs were calmly going around talking with the kids, but this was a whole new experience for me. Smiles all around!!! ^_^
Anyways, the class ended (much to my chagrin), and then the next official class before the meeting started! The class consisted of a simple bingo activity where students had to align yes/no answers by asking us ALTs some "Have you ever..." questions. It was a lot of fun!! After that, the students were paired up with one or more ALTs, and there was an individual interview activity.
I got paired up with the shyest student in the class.
Although I was out of my element at first, the awkwardness soon disappeared. It was actually really fun just going around and talking with the students. Some other JHS ALTs were calmly going around talking with the kids, but this was a whole new experience for me. Smiles all around!!! ^_^
Anyways, the class ended (much to my chagrin), and then the next official class before the meeting started! The class consisted of a simple bingo activity where students had to align yes/no answers by asking us ALTs some "Have you ever..." questions. It was a lot of fun!! After that, the students were paired up with one or more ALTs, and there was an individual interview activity.
I got paired up with the shyest student in the class.
...
Challenge accepted, fellow ALT-in-charge, challenge accepted.
She was tiny and incredibly adorable. While she couldn't carry on a conversation with me in English to save her life, I just tried to make it comfortable enough to be around me. The JTE and ALT came over just to make sure we were doing ok (because, apparently, they were worried that the activity wouldn't progress well with this student...), but we were doing just fine, even if I had to do a lot of scaffolding in Japanese for the activity (I figured, with this student, speaking any English at all was going to be good progress for her). At first, it was a bit quiet and there was a lot of nervous laughing on both sides, she really seemed to warm up to me! The activity ended and all the students had to go to their next class, but she waved goodbye enthusiastically to me on the way out, smiling at me the entire way.
I hope I made English class a bit more fun for her, even if only for that day. Even if it might just be my imagination, it really made me feel like I had some sort of an impact on her, which made me feel awesome :]
I hope I made English class a bit more fun for her, even if only for that day. Even if it might just be my imagination, it really made me feel like I had some sort of an impact on her, which made me feel awesome :]
After remembering all these things and then finally signing the paperwork, I came up with these conclusions:
I'm looking forward to:
1) living with Pumpkin, of course!
2) school lunch (yay for no more lonely lunches by myself in the English Teacher's Room!!!)
3) slightly smaller class sizes
4) slightly genkier students (I know this all depends on the class atmosphere, the students themselves, and the JTE, but, from what I've experienced so far, the students are a lot more willing to talk to and work with me in JHS, even if they speak mostly in Japanese)
I'm hesitant about:
1) my Japanese level (but this can be [and is being] improved upon)
1) living with Pumpkin, of course!
2) school lunch (yay for no more lonely lunches by myself in the English Teacher's Room!!!)
3) slightly smaller class sizes
4) slightly genkier students (I know this all depends on the class atmosphere, the students themselves, and the JTE, but, from what I've experienced so far, the students are a lot more willing to talk to and work with me in JHS, even if they speak mostly in Japanese)
I'm hesitant about:
1) my Japanese level (but this can be [and is being] improved upon)
2) the snow (nothing I can do about this...)
3) city buses (so complicated!!)
I'm not sure if I have too high of expectations for next year, but what I am sure of is that things will change for the better. And, in my current situation, that is all I could have ever asked for and more. I can't wait for next year!!!! :]
3) city buses (so complicated!!)
I'm not sure if I have too high of expectations for next year, but what I am sure of is that things will change for the better. And, in my current situation, that is all I could have ever asked for and more. I can't wait for next year!!!! :]
Well, I'm not sure you'll be getting smaller class sizes. Some of my elementary schools have 40 student classes. Also, the bus system isn't that bad... it just takes some getting used to. It's much better than Hakodate's.
ReplyDelete