Well, we`re gearing up for a new school year (finally). April 1st was officially the start of the new year, so all of the new teachers started that day. There were a bunch of meetings, all of which were in Japanese, that I wasn`t expected to attend, so I spent the entire day in the teachers` room, virtually alone. The exciting part of the day came at lunch time, when all of the teachers were in the room (thankfully). The new teacher who sits across from me had introduced herself (and I already forget her name), and was settling in with some of the other teachers, when all of a sudden a bunch of people`s cell phones start beeping and whirring like mad. Some of the phones continue to scream bloody murder, while others start with a "5...4...3...2...1...0." The new teacher and I are looking around, and then we look at each other with confused expressions and shrug at each other like, "What the heck?!" ...And then we look up and realize that all the cables on the ceiling are swinging, and the ground seems to kind of be moving under our feet, and we went, "Oooooh. Gotcha." And thus was my first earthquake experience in Japan!
In Japan, or at least at my school and I assume the rest of Japan, the teachers move grades with the students. So all of the teachers who taught first year are now teaching second year, the second year teachers are teaching third year, and the third year teachers are with the new first years, with some exceptions. My supervisor taught all third year classes last year, but we`ll be teaching second and third year conversation classes together. I don`t teach standard second year English, but there was enough interest for two conversation classes, so the second of those will be taught with my favourite of my first year teachers from last year. The bulk of my teaching, the first year classes, will be with one former third year teacher, one new teacher, and my least favourite of my teachers from last year (not that she`s a bad teacher, because she`s not, but she`s fairly rigid, and seems to have expectations of me that she doesn`t actually tell me about until I failed to meet them). The former third year teacher, Shimozu-sensei, approached me Monday morning, and the following conversation happened:
S: So Mel, I`d like to know what your team teaching lessons are like. Like, what kind of textbook you would like to use.
M: Okay, sure! *gets last year`s textbook* I used the same textbook as the JTEs for their grammar lessons. So in my lessons, we would start with the more difficult vocabulary for that part, and read the passage, either together or in pairs, depending on the level of the class. Then we would go over the two sets of comprehension questions, and then I would plan an activity based on the material for that lesson.
S: So you like using the same textbook.
M: I think so, yes. It makes it easier to judge the level the students are supposed to be at, and I can see what grammar they`re learning and are expected to already know.
S: So you don`t want to use another textbook?
M: I could, but it might make things more difficult.
S: But what about other activities?
M: Well, like I said, I plan my own activites based on the textbook, plus I do activities without the textbook for special occasions like Halloween, Christmas, etc.
S: So, we`re going to discuss this and we will let you know. We will probably ask you to do things you don`t want to do, so please be kind to us.
....So this conversation, combined with the facial expressions I was reading, was basically, "I`m asking you for the sake of politeness, but we don`t want to do what you want to do, so we`re just going to take your opinion and toss it." Which I`m fine with, really, so long as they actually communicate what they want from me. Honestly. The lack of communication is the thing that bothers me most anywhere, but especially here. So many of the world`s problems could be solved with proper communication! (Or tea. Or duct tape. One of the three, depending on the problem at hand.)
On a happier note, the new teacher who sits across from me speaks some English! Her grammar needs some work, and she doesn`t have a ton of vocabulary, but she`s still easy enough to understand. And she wants to improve, so I told her she`s welcome to talk with me anytime. She seems super nice, so that`s a plus too. I was sad when the previous teacher left, because even though we didn`t talk much, we had kind of a comraderie since she also attended our ladies` lunch days, but I`m pleased with this new person. Even if I can`t remember her name. (I`ll get it eventually.)
Today Shimozu-sensei came up to me again, and told me the teachers talked about their lessons with me. They want the students to feel comfortable with English, and to see English as a fun thing, and as a useable tool rather than something strictly in the textbook (I completely agree). So apparently they want my lessons to be maybe a few textbook things, but mostly games and songs. I am... totally okay with this. This requires so much less work on my part. It`s often difficult to figure out the timing of textbook lessons, because you don`t know how quickly or slowly students will be able to complete a given exercise. I would sit at my desk for 10 minutes sometimes, just trying to figure out how much time each section of a lesson would take, so that I had time to go through everything they needed to be taught. Games are so much easier to time!
Tonight is our welcome/leaving party in honour of all the teachers who have changed for this coming year. Should be lots of fun! Except for the part where it`s random seating again (like the holiday party), and there are still very few English-speaking teachers. I just have to hope I get lucky enough to sit with one of them again! But the food will be beyond fabulous again, I know, because it`s at the same place, so at the very least I have that to look forward to!
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