As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been going to my job for about a month now. However, I just started “teaching” yesterday. My first “lesson” is my self-introduction lesson, in which I show pictures and hand out a super-easy worksheet with multiple choice questions about me, i.e., “What is my name? a. Thomas Darby b. Michael Jackson c. Ichiro Suzuki” and so on. The goal is not really to teach anything, but just to let the students see me, basically.
I had been warned from many people that I might be unhappy as an ALT from lack of control in my classrooms. It’s true, I taught college ESL for two years before this job, and I had a whole class under my control for four hours every day. I knew that that wouldn’t be the case here, but I’m not sure what my expectations about the kids’ behavior were before coming here. I knew that most of my Japanese students in Arkansas were extremely polite and good students, though a little quiet sometimes. But I had no idea what classes were like here. My only exposure to any kind illustration of Japanese classrooms was from old WWII propaganda films with students wearing prim and proper uniforms and shouting “banzai” in unison to a picture of the emperor. Of course, I knew that this isn’t true anymore, but I guess I expected some kind of order in a classroom.
Not so. Kids yell at each other from opposite sides of the room while the teacher’s talking. They get up while I’m speaking and walk up to the desk to go through my stuff. When I ask a question, no, YELL a question like, “How are you?” there’s either complete ignorance or some smart-ass who says in thick Kansai-ben, “Eigo wakaran,” (I don’t understand English).
But I know it’s up to me to adjust. This is just the way it is here. I always hear, “The students are so happy to have you here,” but I feel like a joke sometimes. I’ll just be a joke then.
And it’s only my second day. I noticed some kids hanging on every word I said, but because they’re good students, they keep quiet and don’t say much because that’s what good students do here.
I think I’m just sleepy.
*****UPDATE:
After being in classes for a whole week, things are looking up...much, much more. I think I was just sleepy when I wrote that on my second day. I’ve been playing soccer with the third graders (14-15 y.o.) after lunch, and that’s won a lot of respect from the boys. I’ve also noticed that remembering students’ names makes their day and makes them listen to you. It’s cool how just those simple gestures can change your whole experience at school.
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