L is for Luigi

A while back, I was teaching some fourth graders.  The kids were making sketches of their family, which they would introduce later, infront of class.  Each student had to scribble down something that 'their person' liked.  One boy wrote down that his father liked ''baseball''.  Of course, he wrote it in Japanese but in katakana.  I could at least read it (I still can't quickly recognize the kanjis for baseball 野球).  Being the way I am, I ask him to write it in English.  He didn't know how to spell so I said each letter for him.  When he go to 'L', he was stumped.  Right when I was about to help him, a boy sitting infront of him, whips around and says in Japanese 'L, like Luigi'.  A light burst through the boys head and he was able to complete the word.

A+ Homeroom Teacher in Japan

The sixth graders at one of my schools are killer with English.  I love teaching that class every time.  I never get complaints like ''I can't do it'' or ''I don't understand''.  They never say ''why do I have to learn English?'' or ''it's too difficult''.  I'll throw anything at them and they'll always throw it back.  What makes the big difference?  It's their homeroom teacher, who is always trying as hard as he can to use English in the classroom.  

There are those that think the ALT spurs the desire of English.  They can only do so much.  In reality, it's the character of the Japanese homeroom teacher that helps generate this quest for knowledge.

I'm still fairly fresh to the ESL world but I've noticed that Japanese homeroom teachers who show any desire to learn/teach English have students that care much more.  In Japan, there is the custom or idea (I'm not sure which) of ''saving face''.  This basically means  you try to never make a mistake infront of anyone.  That idea makes language learning, entirely more complicated.  

Now if the students have a role model, who is not afraid to make mistakes; how does that change their perception on English?  It changes it considerably.  I have third year junior high school students (9th grade USA/CAN) that don't have an ounce of courage to read simple words. Contrast that with my sixth graders, most of which will attempt to read anything and everything.  

Maybe it's that they aren't to junior high and haven't been hammered by the 'machine' that is Japanese Education.  I tend to think it has much more to do with their teacher, a fellow Japanese person, unashamed to learn and make mistakes.  

Teaching by yourself...

A few weeks back (shortly after the break), I walked in to one of my elementary schools, literally wiping the sleep out of my eyes. I couldn't much sleep the night before. Somewhere around 2am my head hit the pillow. Trying to readapt to a normal sleep schedule was trouble some. This was the second day into school and another day I couldn't focus.

I sat down at my desk and put down a few cups of coffee. After sometime passed, one of the officials from my school notified me that the normal Japanese/English teacher was not going to be there. At first I didn't give it much thought until she told me I would be teaching three classes by myself (first, second, and special needs). My eyes got a little wide as I heard this news. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and went straight to work.

I rang up the teacher to find out where exactly the kids left off class. It seemed to be the last thing they learned was colors, animals, shapes, and something else I can't remember. (I should remind you that I have a back log my work. Today Aug. 30th is the day this all went down. This entry is just being posted, a few weeks later. Which is partly why I can't remember. The big hand is pushing a few millimeters from ten so I better hit the hay, soon.)

After the content was figured out, I had to create a lesson plan. Review was going to be easy and the kids did great. I tossed in a few songs here and there. Lastly, I devised a game. When it was all said and done, I was surprised that it took me less than ten minutes to figure out how I was going to fill the time of a fifty minute class.

Each class moved smoothly. The kids were able to understand what I was teaching and were eager to participate. The special needs class loved the game I made so that meant something. Sometimes they have a hard time staying focused. It all went well!

Teaching is so routine that it shouldn't have been a surprise. Teaching little kids, as well is also a lot easier. Middle school is a bit more difficult and the kids actually get out of line faster. There was a day, where I had to cover for most of the class. It was too hard to do. Even if it was a class filled with students who like me. The younger ones, are surprisingly more well behaved.

During this whole debacle, one of the teachers in the school (who at one point was an English teacher) told me how impressed she was with me maintaining a level head. Apparently, when she was an English teacher, she wasn't scheduled for class. The ALT flipped out and pretty much begged her to come to class. Which meant, the teacher was at work for a day with no pay. She was glad to see that all ALTs weren't helpless souls.

Well, dats all for now........

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A giant GUNDAM I drew on the chalkboard for some of my students at one of my junior high schools. The kids loved it but a few days after, someone wrote something bad in Japanese on the board. This lead to the teachers banning chalk from empty rooms immediately. It's been months since this incident and there still is no chalk in the empty class rooms. Don't mess with Japanese teachers. Somethings I will talk about later....

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