The first day of teaching actually didn't entail teaching at all. I just helped with the oral portion of the tests. The second day, I taught at the elementary school. Remember when I said that self-intros were very important in Japan? Well, I had to make another speech in Japanese in front of the school and then go into more detail about my likes and dislikes in smaller classes. After that though, it was all fun and games! All educational, of course. I looked towards the teachers a lot because sometimes I had NO idea what I was doing. Sometimes I just pulled the "smile and look pretty."
The First Week
My first full of week of teaching near about killed me! It was lovely though. Monday, I was at what I call my Forest school because I literally have to drive through some of the woods to get there. Even Iki people have a hard time finding this school. But, I think Forest school is my favorite and I'm thrilled that I get to see them twice a month. It's a small school with about 40 students from grades 1 thru 6. I showed up a half-hour early because I was so nervous about my first full day of teaching, but the princaipla gave a hearty "ganbare(do your best!)" and with that I prepared for my first class.
I don't know why I was freaking out; the students were just lovely! They loved my self-introduction and asked questions about my life and were SUPER GENKI! Before I knew it, lunch was served and then recess! I'm trying to make an exercise plan, but at this rate playing with the kids might just do the trick for maintaining my weight. These kids are cray cray! I chilled in the teacher's room for a little bit and joked with the other teachers and the principal. The principal insisted I call him Uncle and that the assistant was my sister. So now I've got my Japanese family. However, I still call him kocho-sensei(principal). Gotta keep it professional. The assistant Yu-chan and I instantly became friends and we've agreed to help each other with our language study. At the end of day, I didn't want to leave even though I was exhausted. Ah, my little forest school!
The next three days were at the junior high school which is my base school. On Monday, we had the first enkai(work party)-a welcome party for me(seperate from lessons, of course). So what happens at the enkai stays at the enkai. Nothing scandalous happened, but I do want to maintain the privacy of my fellow collegues. However, the greatest part of the party is when the science teacher told me that for the past month all the teachers wanted to talk to me, but they were too nervous about communicating because of the language barrier and he expressed that everyone liked me very much. I almost cried!!
The classes went well. My first time teaching the third years (8th grade) was a little rough. Going from elementary students to teenage students can a bit shocking. I forgot about the ANGST! Sometimes I just got blank stares.
The other classes went well. Some classes talked more than others, but I can understand why their shy. Hopefully, they'll warm up to me. I guessing that they like me, because they always wave at me outside of school. In class it's a different situation, I suppose. Apart from self-introductions I helped with dialogue and comprehension and going over tests. I think the most fun I had during a class was with the first years(7th grade). Their tests had kanji on it, but I couldn't read it. So, for every kanji, a student would raise their hand and say the Japanese and the English. I had to remember both and later write the English on the board. I absolutly love that I did this becuase it showed my students that I'm in the same boat as them with learning a langauge.
And then....Friday. The Kindergardten. These kids have no limits. But they're so freakin cute, so of course I forgave them when they sumo wrestled me to the ground. But Saturday and Sunday, I was in zombie mode.
I NEED GENKI JUICE!!!
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