Q&A: New Schools Edition

A few people have asked me about my new teaching situation, so this blog post is dedicated to you guys! Sanam and Tia Andrea in particular... :)

Sanam: I keep checking for an update on your new school, so [hurry up and post about it!!!*].

I now teach at one junior high school (Tsukuda JHS) and two elementary schools (Tsukuda ES and Hamadate ES). My base school, the school that I visit the most, is my JHS.

My junior high school has the 2nd newest school buildings in the city (Ryan's recently renovated school, Higashi Middle School, is the newest), so it's really, really nice. Compared to El Rancho (my middle school back in the States), it seems huge! Compared to the wide, usually one-story American schools, schools in Japan are build upwards because there is not much space to build outwards. My JHS has 4 floors: the 3rd years' classrooms are on the 2nd floor, 2nd years on the 3rd floor, and 1st years on the 4th floor. With at least 5 classes per grade and many, many extra empty rooms for miscellaneous club activities, the corridors are super long. In addition, there is a large gym, a music room, a library, cooking room, science room, a large field for outdoor activities, and many tennis courts. I'll take a picture of it one day and post it so you guys can see!

Tia Andrea: What age level are you teaching?

Before I answer the first question, I'll quickly explain the Japanese educational system up until high school. Like the one in America, it is divided into three establishments: elementary school, middle school, and high School. Elementary school is similar to that in America, where it is divided into 6 grades, from 1st to 6th. However, middle school and high school are three grades each. There is no "7th grade"; they simply restart from 1 upon graduating from elementary school and middle school. For example, one could say that he or she is a 1st year middle school student or an 3rd year high school student.

Back to the original question, the ES students that I teach are 5th and 6th graders, about Kevin's age, with ages ranging from 9-12 years old. JHS students are the same age as 7th-9th graders here, so they range from 12-15 years old.

All of the kids are soooo much smaller (and cuter...and wayyy more hyper) than the high schoolers that I taught last year!! T^T

Tia Andrea: Are you enjoying it? I know you have faced many challenges, so I hope it is getting easier.

Sanam: I hope that it is even better where you are at now!

If I said that I loved every day I spent here, I'd be lying. There are always ups and downs in the workplace, but my working situation has improved so much from what it was last year. My schools are much closer, the students are friendlier, and Aomori is a much more convenient city to live in. For the most part, I've enjoyed the new experience thus far, but to say that I've been "teaching" would be a bit misleading.

The workload in ES and JHS compared to HS is considerably different. In HS, I was always busy making lesson plans and tests, grading said tests, helping speech contest students, and helping the other English teachers with English grammar questions. Most of the work that I've done so far in JHS has been what is referred to by most JETs as being the "human tape recorder": reading aloud paragraphs from a book and asking students to repeat the correct pronunciation of vocabulary or phrases after me. At my JHS, in my free time, I'm often asked to grade quizzes. It's rather brainless work.

At my ES, it's the same human tape recorder kind of stuff, although I feel more like a dancing monkey while I'm doing it (...which can actually be a lot of fun if I don't take myself too seriously). The classes are required to make English fun by doing chants (songs) and playing games, mostly. They aren't supposed to learn the alphabet or any sort of grammar until they're in JHS.

Even though my co-workers (and students) speak even less English than they did last year, some of them (even non-English teachers) are more willing to talk to me! So far, I've made friends with a few cleaning ladies, my Vice Principals, Principals, a few office ladies, and even a calligraphy teacher! My students are (generally) a lot more interested in me now, so getting to know my students is a lot more fun than before. All of this means that I get to practice more Japanese! Yay!! Also, my caretaker at the Aomori Board of Education is much more on top of things than my previous caretaker...which is a huge relief~

Anyways, thanks for reading! If you have any more questions, be sure to ask! Next time, I'll post a video about the new apartment layout, where you get to see our lovely faces (or rather...Ryan's face and my rambling voice) and how big the new apartment is compared to the "Harry Potter's closet/room"-like apartment that I had in Komagane. Look forward to it! :)

*Those may or may not be Sanam's original words. Whether they are or not, I know that she was thinking it (and perhaps you all were...haha) :P