I See the Light!
Have I reached enlightenment? Have I made it past countless sufferings and meditations to reach a point where everything is clear? Maybe…
Ok so I finally figured out how to endure Junior High school! There were no new concepts uncovered or realized. All you need are pieces of previous/current ALTs’ advice, suggestions, and anecdotes that you put together in the right amounts to create the “Elixir” to survive. I have been in junior high school for the past week and a half. Today was no different than any other day where I came to school, did my lessons, and sat at my desk and read. Except something weird happened in class today. I started listening to the students…
What a revelation, huh?! Listen to the students! Listen to the students! Why? Because they say and do some funny ass stuff! Since last April, while in junior high I haven’t listened to the students once. I was too focused on the lessons, what the students need to learn, and what I needed to do during the lesson. Where the hell did I get that from?! When and where did the concept of me caring what the lesson was get into my head? It has never been about the lesson in my case. In junior high schools, lessons are made pretty much before you even get there. In fact the lesson are made in the textbooks that are given to the students in the beginning of the year. So why do we as ALTs care so much about the lesson? It’s because we have been brain washed to think that we as native English speakers can bring more to the classroom. We can bring more experiences, culture, and a non-Japanese perspective to English. AND WE CAN! The question is whether or not the Japanese class, teachers, and/or students are willing to accept it.
For too long I fought to keep the students utmost attention. Too long have I fought for my suggestions to become reality, too long have I wanted the acceptance of the English teachers that I’m an important asset. I understand that coming from an elementary school background where you are the top teacher and you are the main resource in English education.
But it’s completely ass-backwards in junior high. You don’t need to be there. You don’t need to read the model dialogue. You don’t need to read the “new words”. You don’t even need to understand what the teacher is saying. Put all of your focus on the students. Listen to what they say, talk to them, ask them stuff that has nothing to do with Ms. Green and whether or not she’s from America. Laugh at their jokes, make jokes, bother them, pick on the nerds, pick on the jocks, do what ever you need to do to be distant from the actual lesson at hand. The Japanese English Teachers (JTE) will always be there to let you know when you have to read a passage, how to pronounce a word, and “how things are in America/Hawaii?” So ignore the lesson. Do what you need to do to keep sane in a class that has nothing for you to do.
i.e. In class 2-2 (Second year, second class) there are a pair of jocks/delinquents. They do their best to make all the other students laugh and distract them from the lesson. From the beginning I took the persona of a teacher and told them to be quiet, stop fooling around, or take notes. But I found out that their jokes are really funny. Yeah, they may be in Japanese but their humor is adolescent so the Japanese isn’t hard. So anyway the other day one of the guys forgot to bring his notebook. The teacher told him copy notes from the board, which he quickly responded, “I have no nooto.” And then said, “What can I do?” in perfect English. I guess to you (The reader) this is not funny but in the classroom, from students who hate English, to be speaking in English, in perfect accent, intonation, and context, this is some funny stuff. So what happens? You laugh out loud, they comment that they made you laugh, and try their hardest to use broken, messed up English just to make you laugh the rest of the period. I thought this might be a fluke day but through some experiments and forced situations I found out this is what you need to do to leave your mark as an assistant language teacher.
i.e. Remember all the bad kids I was telling you about? The ones I where I was trying to reprimand/remind them about the lesson at hand? Instead of being the bad guy, talk to them. Almost encourage their misbehavior. There are so many weird things that the kids do to occupy themselves during the 50 minutes of English class. They cut up sticker pictures, arrange them in their album, make glue boogers, draw on their desk, write letters, organize their pencil cases, put make up on, and etc. Talk to these kids. Obviously they don’t want to do English so talk about something else. IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO DISCIPLINE THE KIDS. Someone once told me… Anyway ask them questions about what they’re doing. Where did they get it, how much was it, what happened to this thing, who is that for, and etc. They want you to ask them about their stuff. They want the attention.
But at the same time don’t ignore the good kids too. They can be really motivated and enthusiastic about English and the least that they need is a jaded and totally disgruntled ALT. Talk to them too. And don’t always make it about English. You can ask them about other things because the good kids will always be able to get back on the listening and learning track. They won’t get distracted as easily and they already know what the lesson is about anyway.
So from this moment on I pledge to listen to the students more often and put no stress on the lesson at hand. The lesson has already been created in the eyes of the JTE and there is nothing I can do to change it. Be the tape recorder and English Word Pronouncer. Talk to the bad kids AND good kids about anything, and if it happens to be about English good for them, if not then oh well.
Oh I almost forgot, bring a good book to read. If you bring an interesting book you can read them during your off hours and trust me you will have lots of time to read. Reading also builds your vocabulary. It can take you to lands far, far away. It can also aid you as a useful prop to sleeping in the staff room. I’m talking about quick 10-15 minutes naps that can hold you over for the next 45 minutes of reading. I must also recommend the erotic trilogy by Anne Rice, The True Story of Sleeping Beauty. The three titles are “Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s Punishment, and Beauty’s Release.” This story is pretty erotic and graphic need I say more? It gives you a glimpse into a lifestyle that you might be interested in as well as might want to try. WARNING for guys: this book does have a lot of graphic scenes and stuff but I would say most of them are between guys. So if you can’t handle that stuff this trilogy is not for you. But on the other hand all the stuff between girls might be well worth the read.
Sorry for the preaching but this is for all the other ALTs that might read this and to my friends around the world that might want to know what I’m doing for the last thee and half hours in my days in junior high school.
Break it down
Ok so I finally figured out how to endure Junior High school! There were no new concepts uncovered or realized. All you need are pieces of previous/current ALTs’ advice, suggestions, and anecdotes that you put together in the right amounts to create the “Elixir” to survive. I have been in junior high school for the past week and a half. Today was no different than any other day where I came to school, did my lessons, and sat at my desk and read. Except something weird happened in class today. I started listening to the students…
What a revelation, huh?! Listen to the students! Listen to the students! Why? Because they say and do some funny ass stuff! Since last April, while in junior high I haven’t listened to the students once. I was too focused on the lessons, what the students need to learn, and what I needed to do during the lesson. Where the hell did I get that from?! When and where did the concept of me caring what the lesson was get into my head? It has never been about the lesson in my case. In junior high schools, lessons are made pretty much before you even get there. In fact the lesson are made in the textbooks that are given to the students in the beginning of the year. So why do we as ALTs care so much about the lesson? It’s because we have been brain washed to think that we as native English speakers can bring more to the classroom. We can bring more experiences, culture, and a non-Japanese perspective to English. AND WE CAN! The question is whether or not the Japanese class, teachers, and/or students are willing to accept it.
For too long I fought to keep the students utmost attention. Too long have I fought for my suggestions to become reality, too long have I wanted the acceptance of the English teachers that I’m an important asset. I understand that coming from an elementary school background where you are the top teacher and you are the main resource in English education.
But it’s completely ass-backwards in junior high. You don’t need to be there. You don’t need to read the model dialogue. You don’t need to read the “new words”. You don’t even need to understand what the teacher is saying. Put all of your focus on the students. Listen to what they say, talk to them, ask them stuff that has nothing to do with Ms. Green and whether or not she’s from America. Laugh at their jokes, make jokes, bother them, pick on the nerds, pick on the jocks, do what ever you need to do to be distant from the actual lesson at hand. The Japanese English Teachers (JTE) will always be there to let you know when you have to read a passage, how to pronounce a word, and “how things are in America/Hawaii?” So ignore the lesson. Do what you need to do to keep sane in a class that has nothing for you to do.
i.e. In class 2-2 (Second year, second class) there are a pair of jocks/delinquents. They do their best to make all the other students laugh and distract them from the lesson. From the beginning I took the persona of a teacher and told them to be quiet, stop fooling around, or take notes. But I found out that their jokes are really funny. Yeah, they may be in Japanese but their humor is adolescent so the Japanese isn’t hard. So anyway the other day one of the guys forgot to bring his notebook. The teacher told him copy notes from the board, which he quickly responded, “I have no nooto.” And then said, “What can I do?” in perfect English. I guess to you (The reader) this is not funny but in the classroom, from students who hate English, to be speaking in English, in perfect accent, intonation, and context, this is some funny stuff. So what happens? You laugh out loud, they comment that they made you laugh, and try their hardest to use broken, messed up English just to make you laugh the rest of the period. I thought this might be a fluke day but through some experiments and forced situations I found out this is what you need to do to leave your mark as an assistant language teacher.
i.e. Remember all the bad kids I was telling you about? The ones I where I was trying to reprimand/remind them about the lesson at hand? Instead of being the bad guy, talk to them. Almost encourage their misbehavior. There are so many weird things that the kids do to occupy themselves during the 50 minutes of English class. They cut up sticker pictures, arrange them in their album, make glue boogers, draw on their desk, write letters, organize their pencil cases, put make up on, and etc. Talk to these kids. Obviously they don’t want to do English so talk about something else. IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO DISCIPLINE THE KIDS. Someone once told me… Anyway ask them questions about what they’re doing. Where did they get it, how much was it, what happened to this thing, who is that for, and etc. They want you to ask them about their stuff. They want the attention.
But at the same time don’t ignore the good kids too. They can be really motivated and enthusiastic about English and the least that they need is a jaded and totally disgruntled ALT. Talk to them too. And don’t always make it about English. You can ask them about other things because the good kids will always be able to get back on the listening and learning track. They won’t get distracted as easily and they already know what the lesson is about anyway.
So from this moment on I pledge to listen to the students more often and put no stress on the lesson at hand. The lesson has already been created in the eyes of the JTE and there is nothing I can do to change it. Be the tape recorder and English Word Pronouncer. Talk to the bad kids AND good kids about anything, and if it happens to be about English good for them, if not then oh well.
Oh I almost forgot, bring a good book to read. If you bring an interesting book you can read them during your off hours and trust me you will have lots of time to read. Reading also builds your vocabulary. It can take you to lands far, far away. It can also aid you as a useful prop to sleeping in the staff room. I’m talking about quick 10-15 minutes naps that can hold you over for the next 45 minutes of reading. I must also recommend the erotic trilogy by Anne Rice, The True Story of Sleeping Beauty. The three titles are “Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s Punishment, and Beauty’s Release.” This story is pretty erotic and graphic need I say more? It gives you a glimpse into a lifestyle that you might be interested in as well as might want to try. WARNING for guys: this book does have a lot of graphic scenes and stuff but I would say most of them are between guys. So if you can’t handle that stuff this trilogy is not for you. But on the other hand all the stuff between girls might be well worth the read.
Sorry for the preaching but this is for all the other ALTs that might read this and to my friends around the world that might want to know what I’m doing for the last thee and half hours in my days in junior high school.
Break it down
posted by Chris at 1:12 AM
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