JET Essay (TBT)

Since I don't use Instagram, I'm not really into this whole "Throwback Thursday" thing, but getting ready for all the new ALTs coming into Towada has made me feel a little nostalgic, so...

I managed to dig up the essay I wrote when applying for the JET Programme. There are some flow issues, but considering I wrote it while teaching high school English full-time, I think I did a pretty decent job. Plus I was accepted into the program, so I guess it was good enough for the selection committee. =P

Anyway, here is the complete, unedited version:

A Passion for Teaching and Japan

            My teaching experience, passion for English, and interest in Japanese culture make me an excellent candidate for The Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme. My education and experiences since graduating from high school reflect two enduring passions: English and Japanese studies. In university I majored in English to become an English teacher, but I also majored in East Asian Studies to learn more about Japanese language, culture and history. Outside of class I tutored students in English, joined the campus anime club and volunteered at the Anime North convention. While I taught English for my first teaching placement during teachers’ college, I also volunteered to teach weekly conversational Japanese lessons to students in the school anime club. Now as a high school English teacher I have learned that manga not only provides me with a means to connect with students who already enjoy it but also with a means to develop a love of reading in reluctant readers. Thus the JET Programme provides an ideal way to combine my passion for teaching English and my desire to learn more about Japan.

            Although I have not lived abroad for an extended period of time, my experience teaching high school English has given me a well-developed ability to adapt and adjust to new situations, as I am constantly forced to alter my lessons to suit ever-changing classroom dynamics. This is particularly true of my Grade 10 Applied-Level English class where one day the students will work very well independently, and the next they will resist my every effort to get them to settle down and to work. As a result, I am constantly experimenting with different teaching strategies to engage the students and to enable them to best demonstrate their learning. I have also had to make accommodations for students’ various learning and behavioural exceptionalities. As a highly motivated, diligent and independent learner, I have found it challenging to teach students who are not interested in school and do not demonstrate good study skills, but at the same time I have learned to be more flexible and considerate of the needs of my students.

            Along with being flexible and using a variety of teaching strategies, I have found that in teaching English it is particularly important to encourage students to speak in class. To do this I make sure that I give students sufficient time to prepare or even to write down answers before calling on them in group discussions. To affirm a student’s contribution while modeling the language and skills they should be developing, rather than correcting a student’s grammatical mistakes when he or she speaks, I try to repeat the answer he or she gave using proper grammar. If an answer is not as in-depth as I would like, I encourage them to extend their responses by asking prompting questions rather than saying that they are wrong or moving onto another student. I want students to develop their confidence in English so that they will share their both their answers and questions in class. More than once I have admitted my uncertainty about answers to students’ questions and have suggested that we look into it together in the hopes that they would see that it is okay to not have all the answers.

            Along with the planning I do before class and the strategies I use in class, my approachable personality enables me to be an effective teacher. Students know that I want to do whatever I can to help them succeed because I make it a point to check on students while they are working and to ask them if they have any questions or concerns about an assignment. I also often stay behind after class giving further explanations and suggestions to students who require extra help. It is my responsibility and desire as a teacher to ensure that students have all the assistance they need to learn.

            As a teacher in the Peel District School Board, I believe the JET Programme will give me valuable experience teaching English as a second language which is important because the Board serves an incredibly diverse population of students whose first language often is not English. It will also give me a range of experience outside of my middle-class Canadian upbringing. Although my studies of Japanese culture will hopefully enable me to adapt relatively quickly to life in Japan, I believe the experience of “culture shock” will help me to become more sensitive to the needs and feelings of students whose cultures and experiences are different from my own. Thus I intend to learn as much as possible from the JET Programme experience while contributing my teaching experience to the Programme in return.

Fun teaching moments

After class one day, a third grade junior high student came up to me and asked: "What does 'some of the beach' mean?" (Then added, "I heard it in Bio Hazard.") At first I was totally stumped. I asked the student to repeat the phrase.

This time I heard 'sun of the beach.' I was still confused. Why would there be a reference to beaches in Bio Hazard?! 

After getting the student to repeat the phrase and saying it to myself a couple of times, the light dawned. It wasn't "sun of the beach", but "son of a 'beach'!"

So I explained that 'beach' is what you call a female dog and how it's not a nice thing to say to a person. Of course I also cautioned that it's not something that should be said in school. I'm proud to say that--keeping with my goal of using less Japanese at school--I managed to do pretty much the entire explanation in English! And I'm even more proud of my student for getting what I was saying!

Another recent fun teaching moment was playing the Broken Telephone-Pictionary game (rules explained in this previous post) with the same third grade students during my jishu gakushu class. (An extra English class I teach pretty much on my own for 30min for the first and second grade students, and for 50min for the third.) 

The one that had us all practically in tears laughing at the end of class started off innocently enough with the phrase "cutting cake". The phrase remained mostly unchanged for the first two people (1 drawing, 1 sentence) but then the third student misread "cut" as "cat" and.... Well, you can see the results for yourself!

Check out some other gems from that activity here. 

I really love this particular class and will be sad (but also proud and happy) when they graduate next month. Ah, the bittersweet joys of teaching...

Character education

Recently I actually had to stop a class to address student behavior--a very rare occasion.

Having overheard--quite coincidentally--the teachers discussing the issue during the recess break before I taught the class, I was thankfully more aware of the classroom dynamics than I might otherwise have been and also was somewhat mentally prepared to deal with the situation that arose.

A student was consistently louder than the other students and they (the other students) found it very irritating. Their feelings were quite obvious as most of them were holding their hands over their ears when that student spoke too loudly for their liking (which was most of the time, apparently).

Usually I'm fairly loud and energetic when doing the "teaching words" portion of a class (i.e. I say words/phrases/sentences and the students repeat them), but, being conscious of the class atmosphere, this time when I did my "three times fast" repetition (e.g. "Apple. Apple. Apple, apple, apple!"), I purposely said it in a whisper. I was trying to gently hint to that student to lower his volume and also trying to defuse some of the tension with the other students.

Unfortunately the student only lowered his voice for the three times fast portion and went back to being noticeably louder than everyone for everything else. Some of the other students, frustrated/irritated, started saying "urusai!" (meaning "you're loud/noisy!" with a "shut up!" connotation) to the student. I let it pass once or twice, but then it wasn't just one or two students saying it once to let off steam, it was multiple students saying it repeatedly.

So I stopped the lesson and said something along the lines of (all in Japanese):

You know, if you always hear the people around you saying "urusai, urusai," you may stop wanting to speak. So please think about how your words make people feel and maybe ask in a nicer way, like "Could you please speak a little more quietly."

Also, I think it's great to be excited about English and to speak in a genki way, but it's also important to pay attention to the feelings of the people around you. Please look around and maybe contain your excitement a little if you see that it's bothering the people around you.

After that the atmosphere got a little better. The student did speak a little less loudly--sometimes. And the other students refrained from angrily saying "urusai"--for the most part.

I'm sure it will take quite a bit more time for the class dynamics to settle down, but judging from the looks on the students' faces while I was speaking, I think that they were at least really listening to what I was saying. And I can only hope that they were able to understand what I was trying to tell them.

My intention wasn't to scold them. I wanted to encourage them to think more about each other's feelings and to show more consideration and kindness to each other.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk with the teacher who was in the classroom at the time that I was giving the talk. I would've liked to have heard her opinion as to whether or not what I said was appropriate/beneficial in that situation.

(I also regret that I probably wasn't able to express my feelings as clearly as I wanted to--in general I'm not good at expressing myself when put on the spot, and my Japanese also still isn't up to par... )

I'll be at the school again this week, so we'll see how the atmosphere in the class is... I really hope I won't have to give a similar talk again...

Tears of joyful sadness

I have never thought of myself as a "crier" or a "sap", but that's what I turned into for this year's graduation.

Objectively speaking, I would probably still consider my first graduation (with students I'd only taught for about half a year) the highlight of my career as an ALT and one of my all-time most memorable moments because their messages to me were so touching and thoughtful. (You can read about the graduation here and their messages here.)

And I probably felt closest to the class (as a whole) that graduated last year.

But this year's graduation was truly special. These were students I'd taught for all but 5 months of their time in junior high. I helped them make their mascot, watched them rehearse their play, and helped them decorate their classroom for the school festival each year. We went on the school trip to Tokyo together. And--this is what I think really made the difference--I worried more about them more than any of the other students I was teaching or had taught before at Kirita.

I remember how in second year for a period of two or three weeks almost every single English class started with a lecture from T-sensei about how they needed to shape up, to take their studies more seriously &etc. Most of our conversations about the students revolved around the question of "What are we going to do with them?" and "What will become of them when they become third year students and have to prepare for high school entrance exams?" This year too, I was really worried about their study habits and whether they'd be able to pass the examinations for their high schools of choice.

But amidst the worries, I also saw a lot of things that made me really proud of them. There were lots of small things, like seeing them interacting with the first years (the boys were especially cute, with the third years patting the first years on the head, picking them up, etc. etc.) as well as many bigger things, like seeing their leadership during big events like the 体育祭 (Sports Festival) and 切中祭 (Kirita School (Culture) Festival).

I was especially impressed by their play for the 切中祭 this year. Even though I watched them practice it many times, I was still surprised at their amazing performance (they really gave it their all) during the real thing! 本当に最高でした - It was truly the best.

So yeah, with three years full of memories in my heart and mind, I couldn't help but start tearing up during the ceremony rehearsal the day before--right at the part where they were practicing receiving their certificates (卒業証書). The thing is, the first student to go up was one of the "cool" boys who never really did a proper bow for any of the regular あいさつ (greetings--like during cleaning time or various school assemblies). But even for the rehearsal he stood straight and tall and did a properly deep and respectful 90 degree bow. Seeing that made me get teary over how much the students had grown.

Then of course was the actual ceremony. Again, right at the presentation of the certificates I started tearing up. Even listening to 校長先生 (the principal)'s message kept my eyes damp since he recounted memories of each student during his speech--which of course made me reflect on my own memories of each of them.

I managed to regain my composure during the speeches by 課長 (my boss at the Board of Education) and PTA 会長 (chair), but I had to pull out the tissues to blow my nose a little during the song presentations. Out of all the song presentations I've heard at various events in my three years at Kirita, I've got to say that this year's graduation ceremony's was the best. Usually I kind of feel like the singing drags in places or I get distracted by their deadpan faces, but this year I felt like they really put their hearts into the songs (even though their faces were still not so expressive). It also didn't help that one of the second grade girls was crying while singing...

Still, I did manage to "manfully" hold back actual tears until right before the very end. For the last part of the ceremony, the students were all supposed to stand up, bow and thank the teachers, the guests, and their parents/fellow school mates before departing. But after thanking their parents, they all turned back towards the teachers instead of preparing to leave.

I'm pretty sure all of us teachers were a little confused until the students thanked their 担任先生 (homeroom teacher) for everything she had done for them over the past two years. When I heard that, I was so touched by their thoughtfulness I couldn't hold the tears back any longer. I wasn't sobbing or anything, but as I was applauding (while they were exiting the gymnasium), tears were streaming down my face. (And since I was clapping, I couldn't get to a tissue or anything to wipe away the tears.)

Thank goodness I decided to wear glasses for the ceremony. If I had to deal with the eye strain of wearing contacts on top of the strain of holding back tears for the better part of an hour, I would've had a massive headache by the end of the ceremony, I'm sure.

I also ended up tearing up a little when the students were leaving the 卒業お祝う会 (graduation party). All the teachers lined up and as the students passed they shook each of our hands as they made their exit. Even though I knew I'd be seeing them at school the next day (they were supposed to come after getting the results for the high school entrance exams), it really felt like a "final" farewell.

But as much as I "cried" (teared up, really) throughout the day, that was nothing compared to that evening. Right before bed that night, I finally sat down and carefully read the messages they had written for me on a large card. The messages weren't as...thoughtful as the messages I got two years ago, or even last year, but they were so completely in character for each student. Reading them made me remember so many things from the past three years that I was just suddenly swamped with emotion and started truly crying--hard enough that it took a good 15-20 minutes for the tears to stop.

You know, I always say that I "love" my students, but I think I didn't really know how much I truly loved this particular class until I found myself sobbing out those tears of joyful sadness. (As the saying goes, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.")

I felt this overwhelming sense of pride and joy that I was able to see them grow from devil-may-care, mischievous little first/second years into still mischievous but nonetheless wonderful sempai and school leaders. But at the same time I felt really lonely at the thought that I would no longer be seeing them at Kirita and moreover that I might not see some of them ever again.


Meetings and partings are a natural part of life, but knowing that really doesn't do much to make the partings any easier. It was quite an insanely emotional wringer of a graduation.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

So I was teaching at Chitose Elementary School--one of my "regular" ES visiting schools--today and doing the fifth grade Eigo Note lesson on school subjects.

Our final activity was charades. The kids had no problem thinking of things to show science, math, P.E., music, and even Japanese, but they had difficulty with subjects like social studies.

Then one kid came to the front to act and started off by leaving the classroom. Then he came back in with the biggest grin on his face and gave a really big, exaggerated "hello" wave. The answer, of course, was "English". ^___^

I'm not the only ALT who visits the school, but I couldn't help but feel happy that he had such a positive, "genki" image associated with ALTs. (Especially since I've always thought of myself as a rather serious/dour person.) And the home room teacher even made a comment (re: the student's choice of gesture) along the lines that the class's energy/motivation ("tension" in Japanese) always went up for ALT visits.

It was a good reminder that the attitude we bring is often far more important than what we do in the classroom.

With all the worries about my Kirita third year students (and their impending high school entrance exams) lately, I guess I've been feeling pretty tired and "blah" lately. (Well, at Kirita anyway. I always make extra efforts for elementary school visits.) As a result, my office time at Kirita this week was almost completely unproductive and I didn't try very hard to talk with the students during lunch either. ^^;;

But if I keep today's English gesture in mind, hopefully I can go back into the classroom on Tuesday with renewed energy/enthusiasm.

"Please make 6 sentences about Canada Day"

"Please make 6 sentences about Canada Day" was on the lesson plan I received for my Sanbongi JHS ninensei (second year) visit tomorrow. When I spoke to the teacher today about the lesson plan, she was a little worried that I would have difficulty writing the sentences because Canada Day celebrations are different all across Canada.

While that's certainly true, the reason I was having difficulty coming up with 6 sentences was really that I didn't know very much myself about Canada/Canada Day!! If Allie hadn't mentioned it at our Canada Day dinner at Aaron's place, I wouldn't have even known that this year is Canada's 142nd birthday!

The five sentences (for a true-false quiz) I came up with initially were:

1. Canada Day is July first. (T)
2. We can see fireworks on Canada Day. (T)
3. This year, Canada is 200 years old. (F)
4. We often enjoy barbeques on Canada Day. (T)
5. We usually watch parades on Canada Day. (F)

After a bit of research, though, I found out that even though I've never seen a Canada Day parade, there are actually places that have them! So, after a bit more thought, I came up with the following:

5. We also call Canada Day "Independence Day." (F)
6. Many shops have big sales, so we go shopping on Canada Day. (F)

I wonder if American ALTs would have the same difficulty coming up with six sentences about Independence Day/the Fourth of July?

An ounce of prevention...

...is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes.

So yesterday the sannensei had a test. This morning, my JTE showed me their marked test papers. Usually I skim through the answers to see where they had difficulties, but this morning I was kind of out of it (I'm really not a morning person!) so I barely glanced at the answers and mostly just looked at the scores.

Of course, it's Murphy's Law that the one time I do this, it's going to come back to bite me in the behind!

Anyway, we're going over the answers in class and there's one question where they have to make an appropriate response for a blank in a dialogue that goes something like this:

Mike: I think some of these books look very interesting.
Ken: _________________
Mike: OK. Thanks.

They have to fill in Ken's part using the word "want" in a sentence of 6 or more words. The answer my JTE had written down was "I will give some books to you, if you want." That was fine, but when she was explaining where students lost marks and how students could correct their answers, I realized that she had made a mistake in her marking of the answer.

My JTE was under the impression that the main difference between borrow and lend is that lending is more for matters involving money and/or institutions, while borrowing is more casual. But of course, the difference is much bigger than that. In the case of Person A "giving" something to Person B, the person lending is the owner/giver of the object (Person A), and person borrowing is the person who wants what Person A has (Person B). In Japanese, they also have different verbs to show this distinction--"kariru" for "borrow" and "kasu" for "lend"--and the usage is pretty much the same. That is, you either allow someone to borrow something or offer to lend something to someone. (Conversely, you have to ask permission to borrow something from someone or request that someone lend it to you.)

Anyway, it was fine that she wanted the students to use "borrow" so I didn't really say anything, but then I saw that a student who had written: "I will lend you some books, if you want"--a perfect answer!--didn't get full marks. I tried to explain the whole giver/receiver lender/borrower distinction at that point, but the discussion got stopped at "it's wrong because they haven't learned "lend" yet."

Fine, maybe penalizing a student for knowing more than they've been taught is a cultural difference in the educational system, but the problem is that the students were told it's OK to say "I will borrow you [something]." But of course, under NO circumstances could a person use that constrction in a grammatically correct way. (You could say "I will borrow you"--full stop--but that has a totally different meaning!) The correct way to use borrow in the above example would be: "You can borrow some books, if you want."

Being the "non-confrontational" type that I am, I was thinking about letting it slide, but really there's no way I can and still call myself a teacher. Besides, it was my fault for not checking the marked papers more carefully before class--which, unlike in the middle of class, would have been the appropriate time to have an extended discussion about the difference between "borrow" and "lend"--so it's up to me to broach the topic even if it's awkward for me to bring it up a full day later.

*sigh*

Yet again I've learned the importance of taking a little care beforehand to prevent trouble later on.

Question of the Day

So the sannensei are currently studying the relative pronouns "who," "which" and "that." The example sentence that T-sensei wrote on the blackboard was: "This is the best book I've ever read." She then asked for a volunteer to read the sentence and to translate it.

No one volunteered, but one student raised her hand to ask a question (in Japanese): "Is "I've" a contraction for "I love" or "I have?"

As soon as she asked the question, she realized how absurd it was, but it was too late: the entire class burst into laughter. =P

On the topic of amusing questions students ask, I was at Towada JHS on Monday and it was my first time teaching the ninensei there, so we had the requisite self-intro "speech" followed by a Q&A time. Of course one of the students came up with "What do you think about him (points to a student named Miura)?" (he asked in Japanese and I translated for him). My answer: "He's probably a nice guy." The funny part was that when I was eating lunch with them, the teacher (not a JTE) asked students (by student number) to stand up and ask me a question. I got a lot of the usual--"Do you like Japanese food? What colour do you like?" etc.--but one of the last guys to go asked: "Do you love Miura?" The students found my answer of "Sorry, I don't know him well enough" extremely amusing; I suspect they only listened to the "Sorry, I don't" part. =P

The little things ^_^

You may have noticed from my re-contracting post that I've been feeling a little less...genki...about the job recently. Well, today was, happily, a day where the little things reminded me exactly why I love the job.

I usually prefer visiting small schools, but the one thing I love about big schools is walking through the halls in the time between classes. There are throngs of students and they almost all greet you as you walk by. That's my favourite thing. Usually they say "konnichiwa" and look shocked when I reply with a cheerful "hello!" but sometimes they actually recognize that I'm an English teacher and they say "hello!" right off the bat. In the latter case, they're usually really cheerful about it--as if it's a new game to be able to recognize the ALT and use the proper English greeting. Regardless of how the class went, or how tired I am after class, walking down the halls (particularly at the school I was at today, Sanbongi JHS) and greeting students never fails to bring a big smile (a grin, actually) to my face. ^_________^

Then too, today I ended off with a super genki (but not unmanageable) ichinensei class. Before class started, the students were talking to me and asking questions. One student asked if I went to Baskin Robbins (she thought she saw me there), and another asked how to say "hentai" in English. =D Of course, I didn't tell him right there, but I admit, I did tell him after class.

I guess it's kind of bad of me, but I really enjoy teaching students the "bad" words, if they ask, for example: "hentai," "geri," "unko," and "ji"--respectively, "pervert," "diarrhea," "poop," and "hemorrhoid."

In the same class, a student came up to the teacher to ask the difference between "a" and "the." (He's writing the Eiken test--a standardized English level placement test--the month, I gather.) I tried to help explain with broken Japanese, and he seemed to kind of get it. (Of course, it's difficult because there are a lot of different reasons why/cases where "the" should or should not be used.) It made me really happy to see a student taking initiative and asking for an explanation about a grammar point! ^_____^

So yeah, it was a good day. Since I recognize that I'm getting a little tired from teaching, I'm definitely going to have to make more of an effort to notice the little things that bring me happiness.

Attitude/Goals & Reality

Re: The "Internationalization" crutch

There are a lot of things we, as ALTs, cannot control. We can't choose where we get placed, what position we're assigned in our cities/towns/villages (elementary, junior high, senior high), how often we teach, whom we teach with, etc. etc.

The one thing we can control, however, is our attitude towards the job. And really, that's the thing that matters most.

I'm not sure where it's from, but a favourite saying of mine is: "If you reach for the moon, you can never fail to reach the stars."

And that saying is largely why I think it's so important to have the attitude/goal that the ALT's job is to help students learn English.

Even if we fall far short of the goal in reality (because circumstances constrain us), if we have learning as our goal, and have the attitude that we want to be teaching, we will make the most of every opportunity presented to us.

For example, if all our JTEs allow us to do is to pronounce words for students to repeat, we can use the opportunity to teach them the proper syllables to emphasize, or how to correctly pronounce certain sounds (like "L" vs "R.") I'm not saying it has to be a full blown, or even explicit lesson--it can accomplished simply by overexaggerating our facial expressions and stresses when pronouncing words (students will catch on!) .

Even if all we are doing is walking around the class and observing while a JTE is explaining English grammar points in Japanese (something I spend probably 70% or more of my time doing at my base school), if we have the attitude/goal of teaching, we can view the observation time as a chance to see where students have difficulty. Also, we can take it as an opportunity to learn the grammar in Japanese so we can better help students later on.

There will most likely be times when the only thing we actually manage to accomplish will be (so-called) "internationalization," but accepting that reality doesn't mean we have to lower our sights from the goal of teaching. (In fact, I think having "internationalization" as a goal would make the aforementioned situation even more aggravating and make an ALT feel even less useful.)

It's fine to be comforted by the fact that, if nothing else, we're helping with "internationalization," but if we are satisfied with only promoting "internationalization," we are doing a disservice to ourselves, our students, and the JET program as a whole. If we give up and believe ourselves limited to "internationalization," that belief will become a reality.

Perhaps I'm being idealistic, but I truly believe that if we work wholeheartedly towards the goal of helping students to learn English, even the most restrictive, constraining teachers will eventually acknowledge our efforts and allow us to do more. More importantly, I think the desire to teach will enable us to turn even mundane duties into teaching opportunities.

The "Internationalization" crutch

I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I think having "internationalization" as a stated aim of JET is a crock. I'm fine with it being a desired outcome, but as a goal, I think it's too easily used as an excuse or crutch for indifferent teaching.

When internationalization is there to fall back on, ALTs can tell themselves it's OK if they're not actually teaching students English, as long as the kids are having fun (interacting with a "foreigner").

Again, fun is great for an English class, but it's not the point. If fun was the main goal, teachers could play Bingo, karuta and fruits basket variations all the time and students would have tons of fun. But would they actually learn English?

I think the role of an ALT is to help students learn English. We do this, for the most part, through coming up with fun games and activities to reinforce learning. That's the key point here: learning.

Honestly, if all teachers needed was games, they could spend a lot less money and invest in Genki English or something. Why do they want us, as people from different countries, to help the Japanese English teachers (or homeroom teachers for elementary schools)? Because we were educated differently and thus bring a different perspective to English education. Besides, the Japanese teachers have other concerns (making sure students do their homework, pass tests, understand concepts, behave properly, etc.) whereas we, as assistant language teachers, are free to focus solely on engaging the students in learning. (And the advantage we have over curriculums/resources like Genki English--great as they may be--is that we can adapt and create new things to suit the needs of our classes.)

So yeah, even though it's difficult when you only see a school once a month or once or twice a term, I believe it is our responsibility to help kids learn English. This means diversifying our methods/games to appeal to different types of learners (bodily kinesthetic, verbal/linguistic, etc.), targeting games to develop specific skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), and etc.

Basically, I think it means we need to start thinking of ourselves as actual teachers and not just "(international) circus performers." True, there is no teaching experience requirement to become a JET, but teaching is the job, so I think the expectation should be there that for ALTs to develop and carry themselves as teachers.

I think the fault here in not setting such expectations lies with the JET Programme as well as the individual ALTs, contracting organizations/school boards/teachers, etc. (Here's where I go back to my first point.) By leaving such a fuzzy crutch of a goal as "internationalization" in the mission statement of JET, the Programme is setting the wrong tone right from the get go. It's not surprising, then, that teachers, schools, and even ALTs don't necessarily expect ALTs to do more than "making interacting with people from different countries (using English) interesting and fun for students."

And I think that's doing a huge disservice to everyone involved:
- to the students who, at the end of the day, still need to pass the English portion of various entrance exams;
- to the teachers who have to accomodate ALTs periodically coming in and "disrupting" the usual flow of classes;
- and to the ALTs who are sometimes paid to do nothing more than sit around the office or to be human tape recorders in classes.

The responsibility for rectifying matters, I believe, must necessarily fall to the ALTs, who arguably have the most free time out of all parties involved.

I have seen the incredible results a little bit of initiative (and probably a lot of tact) from ALTs can create. Admittedly our city has had the advantage of a veteran (five year!) ALT and supportive supervisor/Board of Education, but I sincerely believe it's within the powers of all ALTs to effect changes, even if they are only small and slow in coming.

So yeah, at the end of my time on JET, I want to be able to look back and honestly say that I worked "isshokenmei" (with all my might) to leave the state of English education in Towada a little improved from when I started.

What JET Needs

There have been some messages posted in the Aomori Listserv in the past year about JET positions being cut in various prefectures to be replaced with private ALTs. Although that sucks for JETs, I can understand why cities would choose to do so, particularly from a monetary perspective: JETs are extremely well paid; we earn probably the same amount (or more than) as a public employee who has been working in a position for 5-10 years and our hours are significantly fewer than said employee! And if a city happens to get a JET (or string of JETs) who don't perform at a standard to justify such high pay, well, it's easy to understand why a city would want to get rid of JETs.

I've been thinking for quite some time about the JET Programme as a whole and the selection of ALTs in particular, and though my ideas are constantly changing, these are a couple of the things I (currently) think would benefit the JET Programme and the reputations of JET ALTs:

- a minimum 2-year contract: it takes almost a full year to start to get into the groove of working in Japan, so I think that first year ALTs get a lot more than they put in, but I think in their second year ALTs can really start earning their keep

- focusing on teaching rather than internationalization: I think that having internationalization as one of the explicit goals of the JET program is silly; internationalization is a natural result of honest communication and genuine relationships between people of different cultures and the development of those relationships and communication come from earning the trust of coworkers &etc. (usually through demonstrating a commitment to one's work!)

- pre-departure teacher training: I think it would behoove the different embassies world wide to provide some sort of teacher training to ALTs before they come to Japan; this would also strengthen the point that coming to Japan on JET is a JOB and not just a means of exploring Japan and Japanese culture

In my personal experience, the biggest problem with JET ALT program is the perception (among some ALTs and Japanese teachers) that the job of the ALT is to “make English fun.” I mean, I think making English fun is important, but only as a means of teaching English. Teaching English, after all, is what we are hired and paid to do. Making English enjoyable is a good strategy to increase the intrinsic motivation of students, but it has to be accompanied by solid learning, e.g. games/activities that practice and/or reinforce key vocabulary/grammar.

Junior high schools and senior high schools have a set curriculum to get through, so it always surprises me when a junior high school sends a "play some games for 50 minutes" lesson plan rather than a "please think of a game related to the passive voice" lesson plan. I also think a lot of JTEs don't realize that it is possible to cover new grammar AND play some sort of a game when an ALT visits. Maybe it's just me, but I think that most ALTs are more than capable of planning a game to practice a new grammar point if given sufficient notice. Then again, maybe that--"sufficient notice"--is precisely the problem. I haven't discussed this with other ALTs, but I suspect that Towada ALTs are rarely blessed to get lesson plans faxed to us ahead of time. (We're supposed to get them at least one week early, but some schools leave it to one or two days before, which is still better than nothing!)

For elementary schools, "making English fun" is an OK mentality right now since there's no set English curriculum, but by 2011 English will be on the elementary curriculum so I think it'd be a good idea for schools to start planning for that time now. I know that when I was teaching at the Woodlands, the English department had its own "continuum of learning/skills" document that outlined precisely what type of knowledge/abilities/skills students should finish each grade/class with. If elementary schools could start putting something like that together now (e.g. grade 1: learn fruits, colours, sports, animals and basic question pattern "What ~ do you like?"), they'd be in good shape for when mandatory English cames are implemented in 2011.

I guess overall what I'd like to see is schools and ALTs working together in thinking about and planning for is the direction of English education for a school as a whole, rather than always just working on a class-by-class, grade-by-grade sort of basis.

But I guess I've kind of gotten off track from things that JET can control and into the realm of things I'd like to see more of in Towada specifically... (Although I suspect this could be equally applicable to a lot of towns/cities with ALTs.)

Two years ago

It's kind of weird to think that at this time two years ago I was working at Scotiabank while diligently checking the Peel Board of Education's job posting site every day for a teaching position. Then some days (a week or less) later, I got the long-desired English teaching position at the Woodlands which--unbeknownst to me at the time, of course--started me on the path to where I am now: teaching English in Japan.

How did I go from my dream job (teaching English at the high school I attended) to teaching English in Northern Japan? Well, it turned out that I was absolutely horrible at classroom management. I had two grade nine academic English classes which went OK (although, due to my inexperience I still felt I did a mediocre job with them at best) and a grade ten applied English class which was an absolute disaster.

The Ontario public high school system streams students from early on into academic tracks based on their perceived future career paths: university, college, or workplace. (A practice I have serious issues with, but I won't get into that here.) Thus, the applied level is for those who are perceived to be going to college or the workforce, i.e. NOT university. Basically, it is distinguished as NOT being the academic track.

Anyway, my particular class had a lot of students with various learning or behavioural difficulties and since I only started teaching them after a week into the semester (before that, they had a supply teacher), I wasn't able to set the classroom tone properly from the beginning. Although I tried, I was never able to get the class on track after that poor start. (And to be honest, even in my practice teaching it was clear that classroom management was going to be an issue for me.)

I realized too that I had led an extremely sheltered, one-track life. Throughout my entire school career I was a serious, academic student who behaved well and got good marks. Although I did a short stint working at a chain family restaurant (Swiss Chalet), I'd never had the common teen experience of working retail or fast food. As a result, I felt like I had very little by way of life experience to offer students who weren't model, academic students.

So, two weeks into the job, I started seriously considering quitting teaching. People suggested that I might want to change to a lower age group (junior high or elementary) or try teaching in a private school instead of public, but I never really considered those options. Maybe I was (and am) too idealistic, but I have always believed that good public education is a cornerstone for an equitable society. So it would have gone against my personal principles to teach at a private school. (I know that private schools have their role and place, but I'd long decided that the private system wasn't my place.) Also, I didn't want to be a teacher if I could only teach the model, academic students. I thought (and still think) I couldn't rightly call myself a teacher if I couldn't effectively reach the so-called "lower-level" learners.

But even though I wanted to quit my teaching job, I wasn't quite ready to give up on teaching altogether. By October, though, I was nearly positive that I couldn't continue teaching in the Peel high school system, at least not as I was. Then I remembered my university thoughts of teaching in Japan with the JET Programme. I thought that if I could go to another country and teach English as a second language, not only would I gain life experience and become a more well-rounded person, but I would also have a good explanation for the break in my Ontario career if I decided to go back to teaching when I came back.

Ironically, I applied for JET in the hopes that it would save my (Ontario) teaching career. I say "ironically" because, if anything, teaching in Japan has convinced me that I can't go back to teaching in Canada. If classroom management was my weakness in Canada, well, Japan was probably the place where I would get the least experience to improve it. I know that not all schools in Japan are this way, but it just so happened that pretty much all of the schools and classes I've visited in Towada have extremely well-behaved students who barely need any managing on my part. (This is, of course, due to the good classroom management of all their native teachers from elementary school and onwards.) I suspect that if I went back into a Canadian classroom now, I'd probably find that my management/disciplining skills have diminished!

Then too, even though I work long hours relative to many other elementary/junior high ALTs, my workload is nothing compared to a native teacher's, or even that of a teacher in Canada. I doubt that I could go back to the "no life outside of teaching" lifestyle I had as a Peel high school teacher after two (and possibly more) years of being an assistant language teacher.

So where does that leave me?

Loving the job that I have now, but worried about the future direction of my life. As great as the work is, the ALT position can (and indeed, should) only be short-term at best. Even if I could continue at my position after the five year maximum term granted to JETs, out of fairness to the students, I don't think I would. After all, it's a job meant for the young and enthusiastic, and I think that would be difficult to push after five years.

But even though JET has pretty much ruined me for teaching in Canada, it has confirmed my love for the education field. If at all possible, I want to find work related to education when I go back to Canada. Of course, the problem will be finding a job that will be related closely enough to teaching to satisfy me but that won't require a lot of (Canadian) teaching experience.

Grad Messages 2008

Messages from my graduated students--romanized Japanese (with katakana English translated to English) first, followed by my English translation (only of the Japanese parts):

From the boys:

- Hello! How are you? I'm very happy! I like your lesson. Melissa wa, itsumo akarui hito deshita. Dakara, bokutachi ga kurai toki meccha akarui Melissa no okagede, bokutachi mo dondon tension UP!! shitekite suggoku tanoshikatta desu. Melisa no okagede eigo no toki ga meccha tanoshikatta desu. Arigatou ne, Melissa-sensei.

(Melissa was always a cheerful person. When we were gloomy, thanks to Melissa's cheerfulness we were able to become more and more energetic and to have a lot of fun. Thanks to Melissa, English was very fun. Thank you, Melissa-sensei.)

- ...Melissa to wa hantoshi kurai issho ni manabete totemo tanoshikatta desu. Sore wa, Melissa no tension ga itsumo takakatta kara desu. Thank you very much. Tokoro de, mada ni Melissa no nihongo no nouryoku ga ki ni natterun desu. Hontou wa pera pera shabererun desuka? Moshi yokattara Melissa no nihongo wo kikitaidesu. Sonouchi.

(The half year I/we learned English together with Melissa was very fun. That's because Melissa was always psyched up (for class). Thank you very much. By the way, I'm still bothered about Melissa's Japanese ability. Can you really speak fluenty? If so, I want to hear Melissa's Japanese. Someday.) <- LOL My JTE gave the class the impression that I'm really good at Japanese, but you'd think that after listening to my horrible mix of English and Japanese during jishu gakushu (extra English, taught by me) they'd KNOW my Japanese is still pretty bad. =P

- Hontou ni ichinenkan arigatou gozaimashita. Melissa no English no jugyou wa, totemo interesting de totemo benkyou ni narimashita. Kore kara mo ganbatte kudasai. Never give up! Thank you very much.

(Thank you so very much for the past year. Melissa's English classes were very interesting and educational. Please continue to do your best.)

- Thank you for taught us English. I could learn many things from you. Because I want to say "Thank you" for you, but I can't do it. So, I write "Thank you" for you. (No translation required! ^_^ )

- Thank you teach us English. Melissa-sensei wa teinei ni bokutachi ni eigo wo oshiete kuremashita. Jugyou ya jishu gakushu no jikan ni oshiete kite kureta game wa totemo tanoshikatta desu. Mata hiruyasumi de atta toki no genkina "Hello" to iu aisatsu wa totemo boku wo genki ni shitekuremashita. Mata, eigo wo machigatteiru toki wa, shinsetsuni oshietkuremashita. Hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu.

(Melissa-sensei conscientiously taught us English. The games you taught us in class and extra English were very fun. Also, your cheerful "Hello" when we met during lunch break made me very happy. Also, you kindly taught me when I was mistaken in English. Really, thank you very much.

From the girls:

- Watashi wa Melissa to sugoshite, sugoku tanoshikatta desu. (Nihongo de gomennasai) Watashi wa Melissa wo miteiru uchi ni, "Watashi mo Melissa mitai ni naritai" to omou youni narimashita. Watashi wa mada eigo no chikara mo hikui, komyunikeishon (communication) no chikara mo tsuiteimasen. Demo kore kara koukou ni itte, takusan benkyoushitei to omoimasu. Melissa mo, itsumo egao de ganbatte kudasai.

(The time I spent with Melissa with very fun. (Sorry for using Japanese.) When I see Melissa, I think "I also want to be like Melissa." My English level is still weak so my communication is also poor, but from now on, as I enter high school, I will study very hard. Melissa too, please keep on smiling.)

- Hi!! Konnichiwa. Attoiumani, chuugakkou sanjikan ga sugimashita. Sensei to wa, kekkou takusan ohanashi dekita to omoimasu. Speech contest no toki mo arigatou gozaimashita. Tanoshi game mo takusan shite moratte, saikou deshita yo. Demo, motto motto sensei to kaiwa shitakatta desu. Koukou ni itte mo, watashi nari ni eigo de oshaberiirunna hito to shitai to omoimasu. Ato, Valentine no cookie hontou ni oishikatta desho yo. Kore kara mo, karada ni kiotsukete ganbatte kudasai. Hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita.

(Good afternoon. In less than no time, three years of junior high have passed. I think I can say many good things about you, sensei. Thank you for (your help with) the speech contest. You made many fun games for us--it was crazy. But, I wanted to have more conversations with you. I think that in high school I want to become a person who can make conversation in English. Also, the Valentine's Day cookies were delicious. From now on, please take care! Really, thank you very much.

- Hello Melissa. I LOVE you. <3>_< (Warau <3 ) Kore kara mo genki de ganbatte kudasai... (I can't quite figure out what she wrote at the end ^^;; )

(Thank you very much for (your kind help in) English time. Thank you. Warm ups (i.e. games) were always very very fun. (laugh) From now on, please take care...)

- I love you. <3 Ima made, irunna koto wo oshiete kure de arigatou gozaimashita. Melissa wa itsumo akarukute, omoshirokatta desu. Kore kara mo akaruku genki ni ganbatte kudasai. Watashi mo akaruku ganbarimasu. Ima made arigatou gozaimashita. I love you. Thank you. <3

(Thank you for the various things you've taught us up to now. Melissa was always bright (cheerful) and interesting. From now on, please continue to be bright and cheerful. I will also do my best to stay cheerful. Thank you for everything up to now.)

- Hi! Genki desuka? Melissa wa, eigo no jugyou de, game wo shitari shite kurete, totemo tanoshikatta desu. Melissa no okagede, iru iru to eigo ni tsuite shiru koto ga deki yokatta desu. Thank you!

(How are you? The games you made for us were very fun. Thanks to Melissa, I could learn many things in English.) <- This is a very bad translation!! m( _ _ ) m (bows in shame) Sorry!

- Melissa wa, waratta kao ga kawaii naa to omotte imashita. Mata, wakaranai eigo wo isshoukenmei oshiete kurete arigatou gozaimashita. Watashi ga mou sukoshi eigo wo hanasetara takusan hanashi, shitakatta kedo anmari hanashi dekinakute zanen deshita. Melissa wa, itsumademo kawairashi arinomama no ALT deite kudasai.

(I thought that Melissa's laughing face was cute. Also, thank you very much for doing your best to teach us what we didn't understand in English. I still can only speak a little English and I know it's too bad that I can't speak very much. Please stay an adorable (hard to translate this word!), straightforward (this one too!) ALT forever.)

- Ima made, yaku ichinenkan watashitachi no tameni English wo oshiete kudasatte, arigatou gozaimashita. Melissa ga itsumo wakariyasuku, yashiku oshiete kudasaru node, totemo tanoshiku jugyou ga dekimasu! Watashi mo haru kara wa koukousei nanode, kiri chuu de gakun dekita koto wo mune ni ganbarimasu! Melissa mo okarada ni okiotsukete kudasai! See you!

(Thank you for teaching us English for almost one year up to now. We could have very fun classes because Melissa always taught us kindly in a way that was easy to understand. Since I will be a high school student in the spring, I will do my best with what I could learn at Kirita. Melissa, please take care of yourself too!)

Why I'm Here

As a teacher there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your students graduating and moving forward on the path of their choice knowing that you have touched their lives in some way, large or small.

Wednesday (March 5) was graduation day for the sannensei at Kirita. It was a very formal, organized affair, so in preparation we spent the first half of Tuesday in rehearsals. But somehow, even though we practiced the entire ceremony two and a half times on Tuesday, when it came to the real thing, it was still very moving.

The ceremony began with the entrance of the sannensei, led by their teacher, Ito-sensei. It was interesting because in Canada everyone rises during a processional (like at weddings) but here everyone remained seated and there was no clapping, so it was very solemn. (Well, it should have been solemn but I couldn't help being amused at the awkward way most of them were walking--with slightly exaggerated arm and leg movements, like toy soldiers.)

After the introductory greetings and singing of the Japanese national anthem, they went straight into giving out the diplomas. Again, this was all very formal and solemn with no clapping. Then we went into various speeches--from the principal, the Board of Education, the PTA, the class valedictorian, etc. This was a little tiring because for different people we had to do different things in terms of bowing. Sometimes we had to stand up to bow to them, and other times we could stay seated.

Following all the speeches, the ichi- and ninensei sang a song for the grads. It was very cute, particularly since some of the girls had already started crying but were doing their best to sing and not sniffle/wipe away their tears. Then the sannensei joined them and they all sang together. Finally, the ichi- and ninensei returned to their seats and the sannensei sang by themselves. Again, it was touching because many of the girls were crying but still doing their best to sing--this was particularly important since they weren't miked and there was only twelve of them altogether. Since I have sympathetic tear ducts (i.e. when I see people crying it makes me start tearing up as well) I had to look at the boys during the song to maintain my composure.

Once the ceremony was over, there was an organized photo time with the grads. Then they went upstairs to get all of their stuff while the ichi- and ninensei and teachers lined up downstairs to congratulate the grads as they left. I stood in the little alcove where first came down the stairs so I could hand them their presents right away. (The previous day, the vice-principal and some of the other teachers had discussed the best time for me to give them their presents and it was decided that it would look good for them to be holding the gift bags as they walked through the "reception line.")

After that there was a short post-mortem meeting for all the teachers. We also had a small lunch: sandwiches of the type that could be purchased from any local convenience store ("konbini")--tuna and mayo, pizza, gratin croquette, etc.--and sakura mochi. Then it was off to the "after party".

At the party, all the grads were sitting at the front (closest to the stage) tables, separated by gender, and the teachers were seated with the parents, in an alternating arrangement. There was a heck load of food--nabe, sushi, sashimi, fried onigiri, salad, fruit, etc. and there were many presentations by different groups as well.

The male grads (5) did "sushi Russian roulette": they put strange toppings in some of the sushi--a lot of wasabi, jam, etc.--and we all watched their reactions as they ate. There was about three rounds and then they got some of the teachers and parents to try their luck as well.

The girls (7) had three different performances. Three girls sang one song and three girls sang another with one girl accompanying them on the violin (she's going to a Tokyo high school for violin). Then all of them sang a song together.

After that, all of us teachers performed a graduation version (written by Ikeda-sensei) of "Sen no Kaze ni Natte". ("Sen no Kaze ni Natte" is a Japanese song based on the poem "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.") It's a very well-known song, plus we had already performed it at the Kirita graduation party the previous week, so when we invited everyone to sing along, many of the (female) students (along with some parents) joined in.

Once we had finished, the students gave each of the teachers a bouquet of flowers and an envelope with messages from them. (It worked out perfectly with twelve teachers and twelve students) and we took a couple of group photos. After that Ito-sensei and Ikeda-sensei, i.e. the teachers in charge of the sannensei, gave short speeches.

Next the mothers performed a dance routine. It was hilarious! They were wearing brightly coloured wigs and (homemade) flapper-style fringe dresses. When the call for an encore came, all of the students plus a couple of teachers (but not me!) joined in. It was a lot of fun!

In between the various acts there was a slide show of the sannensei from the time they were ichinensei up to the present. It even had a video of their Kirita entrance ceremony. They were so small and cute back then!

The final presentation was messages from each of the graduating students. It was really cute. The guy I would peg as the "coolest" guy in the class started crying during his speech. And he wasn't just teary-eyed, he was nearly sobbing--but he manfully kept on going . (I don't know why, but I find it really cute when boys cry in public, like in the hockey World Junior Championships.) Almost all of the girls were teary-eyed/crying during their messages as well. It was very moving to see each of them sincerely thanking their teachers and family.

One student moved me to tears as well (and not just because I have sympathetic tear ducts). She started off her speech by saying, in English: "First I want to give a message to Melissa. I will study English very hard in high school. I want to be like Melissa."

By itself I guess that doesn't sound so meaningful, but you have to realize that this is the student I worked with for hours on preparing for an extra-curricular speech contest (held in a high school?). We practiced during her lunch breaks and after school, plus she went to see another English tutor afterwards from 8pm-10pm (or something like that) for 3-4 days a week. We also spent several lunch hours together practicing interview questions for the interview for a special English program at a Hachinohe high school.

Moreover, in the program for the graduation ceremony, in the section where the grads wrote about their future aspirations, she wrote this:

Watashi no akogare wa, ALT no Melissa-sensei desu. Jibun no kuni wo hanarete, shitteiru hito ga daremo inaku, bunka mo kotoba mo chigau tokoro de, tsurai koto bakari no hazunano ni, itsumo egao de iru koto wa totemo sugoi koto to omou kara desu.

(I admire Melissa-sensei because I think it is amazing that, although she is away from her own country and facing difficulties alone in a place where she doesn't know anybody and the culture and language is different, she is always smiling.)

So when she said her message at the graduation party, I knew that she sincerely meant every word. And they were exactly the words I'd always wished to hear--right from the time I decided to become a teacher--from a student, but didn't think I ever would (because I was such a poor teacher in Canada).

It wasn't just that student, either. I was moved by the message I received from each student (even as I was amused by some of them). (But I'm posting those messages in a separate post.)

But yeah, after the students gave their individual messages, all the parents and teachers lined up and formed a human arch (with our arms) that the students went through to leave. Then they all got onto a bus and (presumably) went home while the teachers and parents got to stick around and drink (alcohol, of course) and talk.

It was fun. Some of the parents told me that their son/daughter always looked forward to classes with me, and/or that they were always bringing home things "from Melissa." One mother told me how her son would come into the car and immediately eat all of the cookies (or whatever else I'd given them) by himself, without even offering to share them with his three younger siblings. =P

After about an hour and a half to two hours, we closed the party. There was a nijikai (second party) but both my JTE (whom I'd gotten a ride from) and I were pretty tired, so we went home. I was happy to have received my first invitation to a (Kirita) nijikai, though.

That night, as I reflected on the day, there were two dominant thoughts running through my head: "This is why I'm in Japan," and "I can totally see why people end up staying for three, four, or even five years!"

I mean, I was only with the sannensei for half a year and I already miss them now that they've graduated. I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave my students after being with them for two years!

But that's something to think about at a later date.

Kids Ask the Darndest Things!

I'm always a little apprehensive before an elementary school visit, but once I'm at the school, I usually have a great time.

Sanbongi Elementary School is probably my favourite school. The kids are always genki (energetic, cheerful) and excited to be with me; it's the one school where I get the "rock star" treatment, i.e. kids ask me to sign their notebooks and things.

So today I was teaching the fifth graders at Sanbongi ES and it was my first time meeting them, so I did my self-introduction followed by a time for questions. One of the classes came up with a lot of amusing questions. Well, I guess the individual questions weren't really that funny, but together they totally made me smile:

- Are you married? (This is all in Japanese, of course.)
- What type of person do you like?
- Do you have a boyfriend?
- Do you plan to get married?
- Do you want to get married?
(The last two were asked by the same student. =P)

One student asked me about famous Canadians (I NEVER know how to answer this one, especially since it's always elementary kids who ask it!) and the only person I could think of that they might know was "Avril Lavigne." They misheard me, though, and thought I said "afro." I corrected them, of course, and we all had a good laugh.

Then a couple of minutes (maybe 10 questions) later, as the final question of the class, a student asked: "Since you have long hair, have you ever had an afro?" =P

That was probably the best question I've ever been asked during a self-introduction. ^_^

On a somewhat related note, I had a bit of a chuckle over the answers some of my second grade students at Kirita gave to the question: "What's your type?"

In Japanese, "ogenki desu ka" is roughly equivalent to "How are you?" and "genki desu" is "I'm fine." So in this context, genki in English is "fine," but in general the translation of genki would be more along the lines of "energetic" or "cheerful." Well, my students didn't really know this, so when they were answering the question "What's your type?" a couple of them said things like: "Kind and fine."

My JTE thought it was a bit funny because it was as if they were saying they like healthy/sound-bodied people, but I was thought it was amusing because they were trying not to be superficial but they didn't realize that "fine" is slang for "good looking" or "sexy."

That whole discussion on "types" was interesting too because the last boy (out of three in the grade) to answer the question came straight out and said he liked "cute" girls. Of course there was some ribbing about that to which he responded that the other guys' answers--"kind," "cheerful" &etc.--were "strange" (henna) and not really truthful.

Sore but happy

Background:

I found out on Wednesday or Thursday that Kirita (my base school) was having a sports "mini-festival" on Friday. At first I was really disappointed that I was going to miss it, but when I asked Kocho-sensei (the principal) about the schedule for the "festival", he told me it would be in the afternoon from about 1:30pm-3:30pm. This was a great stroke of luck for me since I was scheduled to be finished at the school I was visiting after lunch (around 1pm). So I asked Kocho-sensei if it would be okay for me to come after my school visit, and he was like: "Let's play together!"

Today:

Unfortunately today started off on something of a bad note. It snowed a little bit so I gave myself a little extra time to get to my school: it usually takes ~17 min. to get to Koto JHS, so I called for a taxi just after 8am, giving myself 35 min to get to school by 8:35am. When I called, I swear that they said the taxi would take about 10 min (usually it takes ~5 min) to arrive. Well, it ended up taking 30 min.

Just as I finished calling the school (around 8:27am) to tell them that I would be late, the taxi finally arrived. Somehow we managed to make it to the school in about 12 min, but I was still five minutes late. The vice-principal and the teacher I was going to work with for first period were both really understanding, but I still felt terrible for being late.

Anyway, the classes I had today went pretty well--nothing spectacular, but there weren't any problems or anything either. So I was in a pretty good mood until lunch. I was eating with an ichinensei class that I hadn't actually met before, and when I arrived in the classroom, a group of girls was crying. I'm still not sure what was going on--the teacher tried to explain a bit to me, but he wasn't exactly sure what had happened either--but I think there was some sort of conflict between the girls and some sannensei where the sannensei said some mean things. I felt terrible that I was there eating lunch at the table where some of the girls were still sniffling, but I couldn't do anything to help.

After all that, I was kind of tired when I got home, but I changed and packed my stuff as fast as I could and drove to Kirita. I missed the start of the dodgeball competition, but I got to watch a couple of games, and it was pretty entertaining.

Then came the volleyball. The sannensei were split into two teams, the ninensei made one team, and the ichinensei were split into three teams. Since there are only 17 ichinensei, one team was short a person and some of the teachers took turns filling in--myself included! It wasn't regular volleyball, either; the rule was that exactly three people had to touch the ball before returning it.

Even though it was embarrassing because I was so terrible, it was fun playing with the students. And they're all really good kids. When their teammates missed, or even when their opponents missed, they would call out "Don't mind, don't mind!" and other words of encouragement. Since I was hitting the ball improperly most of the time, my arms and wrists also ended up sore and bruised. But still, it was probably one of the best times I've had at Kirita so far.

After volleyball, they gave out certificates to the winning dodgeball and volleyball teams, then everyone had Christmas cake and drinks. ^_^

The fun didn't stop there either. Afterwards I went shopping with T-san and H-sensei, and we also had our (Kirita) bon enkai (end of the year party). But I'll write more about those things later!

More student quotables

It's amazing what students will come up with when you give them the chance.

A no-prep game that I have students play as a warm-up at the beginning of class or as a time-filler at the end of class is line races. The students compete in their rows to write as many words or sentences as they can on the blackboard in a set amount of time.

So on Wednesday I had the sannensei (third years) compete using two verb sentences, e.g. "I want to play..." "I like to eat..." These are all the sentences one student contributed for his team:

"He likes to kill people."
"I want to leave NERV."
"I know how to use people."
"I don't know how to kill you."

Definitely creative (in the sense that it's nothing they'd learn from the textbook) but also a little scary. Still, I wasn't as shocked as I might've been since these sentences came from the student who once said that his favourite movie was the Evangelion movie because he likes grotesque movies. (At the time, I was impressed that he knew and even pronounced the word "grotesque" properly.)

But yeah, that was Wednesday.

Thursday I had jishu gakushu (extra English) with the sannensei and I had them do a "Twelve Days of Christmas" activity where they each were given a number (there are twelve sannensei students, so it worked out perfectly) and they had to fill in something that they wanted. This is what they came up with:

1 lord killing his people (can you guess which student that was?)
2 big countries
3 years vacation
4 erasers
5 ikemen* boys and cute girl friends
6 ice creams
7 good stores
800,000,000 yen house
9 soccer teams
10 big TVs and games
11 delicious foods
12 happiness all over the world

*hot

Okay, so maybe this is a "had to be there" kind of thing, but listening to them read through the "song" was really funny.

Then today, the sannensei at the school I was visiting (i.e. NOT at Kirita) had to do an activity where they were given question starters--who, what, when, where, how many, etc.--which they had to use to find out things about me. So after they wrote the questions (in groups), they had to--one by one--come up and ask me the question, listen to my answer, write it down, and report my answer to the rest of the group. During this time, one student (male) came up to me and said: "I will make you happy." My immediate reply was: "Is that a question?" At which point both of us and the students who had heard the comment started laughing. Then just before he left, I said "Thank you" and this elicited a fresh round of laughter from the nearby students.

As I was leaving the class, the same student came up to me and asked: "How many (remember, that was one of the question starters) lingerie do you have?" If a student in Canada had asked me that, I would have been insulted/annoyed, but I just thought it was amazing that the student knew the word lingerie (although he pronounced it like "longer-ray") and had the guts to ask me the question. Of course my answer was "It's a SECRET," but yeah, it was definitely amusing.

Then in the next class (also sannensei) one group asked me: "Do you spend Christmas with a boyfriend?" It wasn't as funny because I overheard them talking about how to ask the question, so I actually helped them phrase it properly, but it was still amusing for me that they thought up such a question in the first place.

Creative English

The best part about teaching a language (whether it's for native speakers or as a second language) is the many opportunities that arise for students to demonstrate their creativity. Here're two of my favourite English conversations thus far:

26 Oct, 2007 (Tues)

Assignment: Making a skit.

The italicized lines are the written prompts I provided for the students; everything else is their own creation! It may not be exact because I wrote down the script from memory after the class, but it's pretty much what they actually said! I loved it because it was clever and unique.

Student A: Hey, is that Johnny Depp?
Student B: Who?
Student A: He is a Hollywood actor.
Student B: Really? I don't see him. Where is he?
Student A: He lives in love hotel.
Student B: Do you want to talk to him? What should we say?
Student A: I want to marriage with you. I love you forever.
Student B: Good idea.
Students A&B: Let's go to love hotel!

3 Dec, 2007 (Mon)

Assignment: ALT's self-introduction, asking questions.

At junior high schools, the first time I meet a class I usually do a short self-intro, after which I give the students a chance to ask me questions. Most of the time, students ask basic things like "What ~ do you like?" and/or "How old are you?"

This student's question was unique in terms of content as well as in grammatical structure. I was also impressed that he listened to my answer and responded appropriately. (Sometimes I ask students the same question they asked me--"What food do you like?"--and once or twice I've received answers such as "Yes?")

Student: What do you think of my girlfriend?
Me: Who is your girlfriend?
Student: That girl over there. (Points to a girl three rows behind him. She ducks down and shakes her head furiously, denying the statement.)
Me: I think she's very cute.
Student: Thank you. I think you are too.

These are the moments that really make me love teaching. ^_^

"Always look on the bright side of life"

Apologies for the lack of updates. I've had a jam-packed teaching schedule, various visitors (C from Sai, as well as family), household winter preparations, and first snowfall(s) in Towada to deal with.

Anyway, just a quick note to say that I'm getting sick (again?). I've got the dry cough, sore throat, and congested sinus thing going, so I'm feeling...less than great.

But I'm trying to practice thankfulness.

I mean, it sucked that there was such a large snowfall so early in the winter season (I've been told it was a record-setting snowfall for November in Towada), but I was lucky that I had people over who had no problem waking up early and helping to shovel the snow.

The Hachinohe mid-year seminar (for all JETs in Aomori prefecture) was a bit of a pain since we had to arrange our own transportation and accomodations, but it was great because it gave me the opportunity to fellowship with other Christian JETs. A bunch of us got together for a(n American) Thanksgiving dinner at the home of two (Christian) Hachinohe JETs, W&C. It was truly a blessing for me to be able to listen to everyone sharing about what God was doing in their lives in Japan. And it also made me realize how little I've grown and how apathetic I've been about my relationship with God since coming to Japan. It was a good kick in the butt, so to speak. Moreover, I got the name of W&C's church in Misawa, so I think I'm going to try going to that one instead of Calvary Baptist Church (CBC).

I know I've only been there twice, but I really feel that people at that church will only make an effort to welcome you if you're American (and from the base) or Japanese (and part of the "unevangelized"). I mean, I filled out the visitor card asking for more information, and even indicating that I might be interested in serving, but it's been two weeks and I haven't heard a thing from CBC. Maybe I'm just being impatient, but now that I know there's a church where I'll have at least two friends, I'm not willing to spend more time on CBC.

[22 Jan 2010 Edit: I realize now that I was being very judgmental of CBC because I felt uncomfortable at there and I mistakenly placed the blame for that feeling of discomfort on the church atmosphere instead of my own highly introverted nature. I really didn't give the church a fair chance at all.]

But anyway, this is supposed to be a post about thankfulness, so I digress.

I'm thankful that the weather cleared up for my family's (mom, my aunt, and auntie Selina) last weekend in Japan. We had a great time in Hakodate, and getting them to Misawa station early on Monday morning was no problem since the snow had melted and the weather was good.

Going back to my current state of health, I realized yesterday that the good thing about having a cold is that it makes natto (fermented soy beans) a heck of a lot easier to eat. I was actually able to finish all of my natto during school lunch yesterday simply because the cold dulled my sense of taste enough for me to stomach it! (Usually I can only manage to eat 1/3-1/2 of the serving of natto.)

And speaking of school lunches, today was the first time a particular group of the 3rd year girls talked to me during school lunch of their own volition: they asked me if I had a boyfriend! =P It was pretty funny, actually, because before they asked me, I was listening to them talk about the 3 qualities they look for in guys (face, height, etc.). I couldn't help smiling at their conversation, so I think a couple of them realized I could understand what they were saying, and that's what prompted them to ask me that question. It's too bad, though, that I had to answer, "No, I don't have a boyfriend." I'm really happy being single and not particularly interested in being part of a "couple", but at that particular moment, I did kind of wish I had a boyfriend just so I would have a little more to talk about with them. Instead I just asked them back "Do you have boyfriends?" To which, of course, they all replied "NO!" except for one who jokingly pointed to one of the other girls and said "----'s my boyfriend." ^_~

Another thing that happened at school today was that I found out that tomorrow is my JTE's last day before she goes on maternity leave. At first I was a little irritated that no one bothered to tell me earlier when her last day would be (I sort of figured it out when she told the 1st years that she'd had fun with the class and later asked someone when her last day would be), but, on the bright side, at least I found out today so I could make plans to go in to the school tomorrow to say goodbye properly.

Of course, I'm also sad that we won't be working together anymore. I won't say that it was an ideal working relationship, but I think we got along quite well and that our team-teaching would've improved and gotten more in sync if we'd continued to work together. But I'm thankful that I'll have a little more time than I thought I'd have to get to know the teacher I'll be working with for the rest of the year before I have to make my re-contracting decision.

When T-san (the school clerk/secretary) told me the name of N-sensei's replacement (and the school she'd be coming from), at first I thought that I'd never met her. After I got home, though (a good half-hour later!) I realized that I have indeed met her at Higashi JHS, but I hadn't taught with her, so it took me a while to make the connection. So although I wish my new JTE could've been a teacher I'm more familiar with (and know that I can work with), at least I know that it's not one of the teachers that I find more...challenging to work with. And who knows, maybe I'll end up getting along with her even better than I did with N-sensei--one can always hope!

I'm also thankful to have received my first Christmas card!! (Thanks Ceci!) It actually arrived two days ago, but since I'd been busy cleaning up after my family's visit and doing chores and errands I put off during their stay, I forgot to open it until today. =P Not only was it great to get mail that wasn't a bill, it was a good reminder that I should probably be sending out my cards by next week at the latest.

So yes, there're a lot of things to be thankful for. ^_^

(What are YOU thankful for?)