Fourth Stop.... Baikei JHS
Ok so I’m at my new school Baikei J.H.S. It has a homely feeling to it. The school is literally next to the overpass. Well it’s more like a street bridge similar to the one on Keeamoku that goes over the H-1. Then in a perpendicular rail goes the Shinkansen line. Surprisingly you can’t really hear any cars. So first impressions? The school is really small. There are less than 100 students attending the school. My first class today, only had 11 students.
It finally occurred to me that I will be doing introduction lessons until September. I have 5 junior high schools (with at least one class per grade), so 3 grade levels = 3 classes times 5 junior high schools = 15 self-introduction lessons. And as it usually goes one class per visit/per day, 15 self-intros should last about 3 months. Then on top of that I have 7 elementary schools which make it even more complex. I teach from 3rd to 6th grade. That makes 4 grade levels. In elementary school there are usually 2-4 classes per grade. (So let’s just say 3). On one day I can teach a maximum of 4 lessons. So if I were to see one class of one grade level each period in one school than I would be doing (3 classes, one grade times 4 grade levels = 12 classes per school) 12 times the 7 that I am currently scheduled to teach = 89. Take the 89 self-intro lessons divided by the 4 weeks in a month = 21.25 lessons a week. So I should be done with intro lessons sometime in October. April to October?! 6 months of introducing myself seems pretty ridiculous huh? I guess I can’t complain since they pay me to do it. Oh and if you were able to understand that whole thing, you’re on crack!
Anyway I did my usual gambling lesson and it went pretty good. Having only 11 students in a class really brings a level of intimacy. The teacher and the students were really good in asking thoughtful questions. They were more thoughtful then the over used, “Shumi wa nan desu ka?” I even got a good laugh when one of the boys who weren’t listening called me Smith. HAHAHAHA, pretty funny huh? Also one more thing. So far out of the four schools I have visited there is always a new guy/girl that is in charge of one of the grade levels. I wonder if this happens every year. 2 of the 4 schools have this young lady that from the looks of it came right out of college. 1 of the remaining schools is a really young guy who just graduated from Washington State University. It usually makes for pretty interesting comments coming from the adolescent boys who have no control over their hormones.
I was walking around the very small campus when I stumbled onto a poster advertising first years to join an English club. I usually hear all the other junior high ALTs talking about English clubs but because all my schools are small a club just doesn’t exist. I was surprised to see on at this school seeming it looks the smallest of all the ones I have visit thus far. Would the native English language teacher be too cliché to in attempt to join the English.club? Would it be too weird to just hang out with the physical sport challenged, un-artistic, and the weirdoes of the school? Nah, got to go check it out. With some magic and a little bit of luck we can turn this “English Club” into a movie perhaps even an English video game club.
Ok fast forward to after school... I went to the English club just to check it out and all it is is a small room where 4 laptops are hooked up with kids practicing how to type in English. WHEN DOES THE FUN STOP?!
Break it DOWN
It finally occurred to me that I will be doing introduction lessons until September. I have 5 junior high schools (with at least one class per grade), so 3 grade levels = 3 classes times 5 junior high schools = 15 self-introduction lessons. And as it usually goes one class per visit/per day, 15 self-intros should last about 3 months. Then on top of that I have 7 elementary schools which make it even more complex. I teach from 3rd to 6th grade. That makes 4 grade levels. In elementary school there are usually 2-4 classes per grade. (So let’s just say 3). On one day I can teach a maximum of 4 lessons. So if I were to see one class of one grade level each period in one school than I would be doing (3 classes, one grade times 4 grade levels = 12 classes per school) 12 times the 7 that I am currently scheduled to teach = 89. Take the 89 self-intro lessons divided by the 4 weeks in a month = 21.25 lessons a week. So I should be done with intro lessons sometime in October. April to October?! 6 months of introducing myself seems pretty ridiculous huh? I guess I can’t complain since they pay me to do it. Oh and if you were able to understand that whole thing, you’re on crack!
Anyway I did my usual gambling lesson and it went pretty good. Having only 11 students in a class really brings a level of intimacy. The teacher and the students were really good in asking thoughtful questions. They were more thoughtful then the over used, “Shumi wa nan desu ka?” I even got a good laugh when one of the boys who weren’t listening called me Smith. HAHAHAHA, pretty funny huh? Also one more thing. So far out of the four schools I have visited there is always a new guy/girl that is in charge of one of the grade levels. I wonder if this happens every year. 2 of the 4 schools have this young lady that from the looks of it came right out of college. 1 of the remaining schools is a really young guy who just graduated from Washington State University. It usually makes for pretty interesting comments coming from the adolescent boys who have no control over their hormones.
I was walking around the very small campus when I stumbled onto a poster advertising first years to join an English club. I usually hear all the other junior high ALTs talking about English clubs but because all my schools are small a club just doesn’t exist. I was surprised to see on at this school seeming it looks the smallest of all the ones I have visit thus far. Would the native English language teacher be too cliché to in attempt to join the English.club? Would it be too weird to just hang out with the physical sport challenged, un-artistic, and the weirdoes of the school? Nah, got to go check it out. With some magic and a little bit of luck we can turn this “English Club” into a movie perhaps even an English video game club.
Ok fast forward to after school... I went to the English club just to check it out and all it is is a small room where 4 laptops are hooked up with kids practicing how to type in English. WHEN DOES THE FUN STOP?!
Break it DOWN
posted by Chris at 4:11 AM
2 Comments:
(sigh) nevermind Joel
oh i'm scared cuz i actually understood that all! man, otsukare for having to introduce yourself so much! maybe you should start making up some crazy stuff too and throw it in there just so you won't get bored =)
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