It's been a bumpy ride. I'll spare you the gory details for when something has finally been finalized.
Friday was a fun day at school. I got to do some Taiko drums with my fifth graders, who already think I'm the coolest guy in the world, so it was nice to promote that status. The head language teacher at my school made a video recording of my 12 month blues, so that was cool. And my fifth grade lessons went overt exceedingly well. I love those kids. Saturday was dramatic in the morning, and awesome in the evening. I went to a birthday party for one of my student's older sister. Now, in America, when we say birthday party, we usually mean gather some folks and have a good time. Yeah, they meant, "D sensei, please join our family for birthday dinner." There was no "party." It was just me. Which is cool, in a sense, but also, I felt a lot of pressure to be entertaining. It was a fun evening ,though. I got challenged by Himuka, my sixth grader, to a game of reversi. Here's the thing about strategy games you've never played before. When you're playing against a 6th grader...just remember that you're smarter than they are, and things will turn out fine. Then we played Jenga. Then we played life. I came in second because I didn't have any kids to sell. Oh, well.
Sunday was cool. Dresden in the morning, cards and such in the afternoon/evening.
Monday was a fun day at school. The fifth grade lesson was a bunch of learning activities, a.k.a games, so I got to clap and act silly for all 4 classes and call it education. Score. Then, I had some BS training to do right after, which is why I completely forgot to update yesterday.
Today was awesome. Sotono is a great place to be. My lesson was a lot of fun to begin with, but when I woke up this morning, I was stricken with inspiration and came up with a song in 5 minutes or less that I was able to teach today. It was shaky the first run through, so during morning break, I decided to practice. Well, I didn't want to practice in the teachers' room and disturb everyone. So I decided to go outside. And I got mobbed by every little nensee on the play ground. They came around and begged me to play the one song they knew. So I did, then I segued into the song that only the 6th graders knew, and followed up by practicing my new song in front of a crowd. Meanwhile, the teachers in the teachers' room open the window, and hear a group of kids singing in English. And the next thing I know, the principal is hanging out of the window taking pictures of me and my minions. It was sublime.
Later, I went to Hirano Uematsu's house. Who is Hirano Uematsu, you ask? Well, my japanese 1&2 teacher lived in hitachinaka and went to sotono elementary. And she told her parents that I worked there. SO they sought me out, and invited me to their house for tea and dinner(and also whiskey and beer, but I found that out once I got there) It was a lovely and delicious evening, and apparently, I can have a 3 hour conversation in 95% Japanese with two adult strangers for 3.5 hours. So go, me. And the best part of this whole thing was, he showed up at my school at 2:50. And I didn't get off of work until 3:30. But my vice principal was like "Go. Let me sign your time sheet, and then you can leave early. Have fun!" Win.
We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but it's off to a good start.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Happy Monday
Sorry about the "late" update.
This weekend was pretty cool. After watching Japan TROUNCE Jordan in a soccer game, Viren, Sarah, and I walked the 300 miles back to Viren's house to get his car. Then we drove to Sara's to hang out. Got in touch with Jenny, picked her up, and played cards till 3am? It was ridiculous, but fun.
Saturday, I slept in like a bum. Did very little around the house and went out for another night of drinking and fun. Turned out to have a pretty decent crowd, and I made some new friends.
Sunday I woke up early to google chat with my friends back in the states, and went out for all you can eat indian food for dinner.
Today was a good day at work. Lot of chanting, lots of laughter, and lots of rock paper scissors. So everyone wins.
I'm going to bed, though. Early day, and a long week ahead. Too bad I'm already exhausted.
Dexter Out.
This weekend was pretty cool. After watching Japan TROUNCE Jordan in a soccer game, Viren, Sarah, and I walked the 300 miles back to Viren's house to get his car. Then we drove to Sara's to hang out. Got in touch with Jenny, picked her up, and played cards till 3am? It was ridiculous, but fun.
Saturday, I slept in like a bum. Did very little around the house and went out for another night of drinking and fun. Turned out to have a pretty decent crowd, and I made some new friends.
Sunday I woke up early to google chat with my friends back in the states, and went out for all you can eat indian food for dinner.
Today was a good day at work. Lot of chanting, lots of laughter, and lots of rock paper scissors. So everyone wins.
I'm going to bed, though. Early day, and a long week ahead. Too bad I'm already exhausted.
Dexter Out.
Friday, June 8, 2012
What a week...warning: keeping it real ahead. Beware of bad words
Tuesday was a blast. My lessons went over really well. Poor rokunen ni kumi. (6th grade- second class). They are always first to receive the sixth grade lesson. And it's always the least good. Its in no way shape or form bad, but the most confusing, and slightly hectic. And then I get 20 minutes to sort out everything that went wrong, and the rest of my classes are seamless and fantastic. Not that they don't learn what they need to, its just always the most bumpy ride.
I played dodgeball for the first time. A girl from 6-1 grabbed me by the hand, which is normal for any student to do, so I thought nothing of it, and led me to the dodgeball area. Then she dropped me off on the boys side and the game was on. No, she didn't ask. She just put me in the square and threw a ball at me. I caught it, but still. I played dumb and didnt throw the ball at anyone, I just passed it along. So they thought I didn't understand the rules They explained then to me. They asked if I understood and said yes. SO I explained it back to them in english, while miming the actions.....and thats where it happened.
The Dogeball Tango:
"Now I'm standing in the doge zone, miming out the actions for dodgeball. Minding my own business. In jumps a roku nensee with a happy face. "Ganbatte, D sensei!" He says. He was crazy. And he kept on screaming
"Ganbatte, D sensei!"...And then he ran into my fist. He ran into to fist 1 time."
If you're not familiar with the musical chicago, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4_H65XoykY. Fast forward to 3:35. Enjoy
Also, I look FANTASTIC in my new clothes.
Nothing too big to report for wednesday. I went in, taught 6 classes and got out. Went to the duck for onion rings and a beer, and called it a night.
There is nothing good about Thursdays. I hate them. The kids are bad. The teachers don't care, and there's nothing I can do. I almost hit a kid. I was able to adjust my swing at the last second, but I almost clobbered him. So, that whole grabbing each others' private ares thing that we are taught NEVER to do? Here, its just something that happens. And if you're 3 and havent been taught any better, I'll dodge the best I can and tell your dad to help me. And if your an adorable second grader giving me a hug, or part of a swarm of children trying to get as close to the cool teacher as you can, I will move your hands away from vital areas and deal. But if youre a sixth grader, and you ask me about sex, and I diffuse the situation and try to walk away, and then you decide to grab my penis, I might punch you. And if you're a sixth grader and you put up your dukes and I put up my hands cuz you want to punch them, cool. But dont try to then punch me in the dick. It's not ok. If I tell them to stop in English, they "don't understand." If I tell them to stop in Japanese, they think its funny and try to get me to speak in Japanese again, by molesting me. I dont want to talk to the teacher, or really the office staff at my company about it, because I dont want anything to get lost in translation. But something needs to be done.
So my first lesson on friday was ok. Nothing fantastic, cuz these kids don't care about learning. My second class was awful. The kids were straight up boo-ing the new song I tried to teach them. So I stopped. Whatever. Then we tried to do some drills on the new vocabulary. And they just.....didn't do it. They wouldn't repeat after me. They wouldn't say what I was pointing to, and the teacher did ABSOLUTELY nothing to help me. We tried to do the book activity. Draw a line from the month to the corresponding holiday. And they were just like "no." They sat there and either stared at me, or talked amongst themselves. And I know they understood me. 1 Because weve done more complicated thing. 2 because its obvious. 3 because I mimed it. and finally, because I explained it in Japanese. Nothing. Cool. So I decided to call them out. I got super excited about the game, blackboard battle, and got them really hyped. And then I explained it to them and started the game. And the couldn't do it. Cuz only 3 people in the class had been paying me any attention at all the entire day. And they were PISSED when we stopped the game to go back to drilling. And I felt bad for them...because I hate to see good students suffer. So I was pissed, and I let it show a little bit, with some sarcasm. The third class was a lot of the same, actually. they did a little better on the drilling, because their teacher actually tried to make them, so we were able to play. But it was mostly the girls squashing the boys, because the boys NEVER pay attention.
I had 1 good lesson. Did my intro lesson for some second graders. They flipped out and we had a great time. Then it was back to fifth graders. And nothing quite completes a crappy day like ACCIDENTALLY smacking a kid in the face. If I had made the decision to smack a kid, I'm sure it would have made me feel great. But we were playing the game, and this poor girl was right behind me, and I reached back to motion the next kids forward without looking, and clipped her right in the chin. So hard that I had to catch her before she hit the ground. Needless to say, she cried and went to the nurse for ice. I felt like shit.
Today was amazing. I got to play with the first graders. Cuz that's all my intro lesson is at this point. Me playing around on the blackboard with little kids making them scream at me in English and singing a song. Got to do that twice. Then I went to my 5th graders. Who are just tops. There's the one class with the teacher who is beguiling beyond belief, and there's the class with my favorite special needs student of them all, Daisuke. So the first class, we just had a lot fo fun talking in English about emotions and expressions and playing the games and stuff. Time flew by in there. Those kids are really smart, and a big part of it, is because their teacher is completely involved. She is the one teacher where I sometimes feel like I have to compete with for the kids' attention. Its fun. I like a challenge. Then I went to the next class. This class has a lot of kids who make it difficult for others to learn. Whether its learning disabilities or just bad behavior, we have to try a little harder each week for that class. Things were going along smoothly, then BAM! Out of nowhere, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, COMPLETELY UNANNOUNCED, WALKS INTO MY CLASS TO OBSERVE ME!!!!!!...............................................WHAT??!?!?!??!?!?! WHAT HAPPENED TO, "YOU WILL RECEIVE WARNING ABOUT THE BOE VISIT"????? So they watched me play "D says" with the kids for a while. Got to see them listening carefully, and gesturing in correspondence with English words. I could hear them muttering, and what I heard sounded good. I was just a little surprised. ちょっとびっくりしました！The head English teacher said I have nothing to worry about. All the kids think I'm interesting, and she loves my voice and the inflections I use. She's happy about my use of eye contact, and even more happy that the kids focus on me the whole time, at least in her class. Its good to hear. I wore my "cool biz" attire to work today. Everyone said I looked cool and handsome. I was just happy to not be sweating like a beast.
Last two classes were 6th grade. They went over really well. They loved the 12 month blues almost as much as I do. As we were leaving for the day, me entourage of children grew from 4 to 10. I felt like a GOD! And they were like "sing the new song you taught us. Right now." And I obliged, so we sang it all the way back to the teachers room. They stopped, pulled out my guitar, cuz they were carrying it, and made me play along while we sang it. The vice principal, I think, saw it happening and said "subarashii" which is wonderful. I guess from an outside point of view, they see me in class from time to time, drilling words and playing games. Then all of a sudden, I walk out of a class with 10 kids singing the 12 months of the year in English, and I think that they are happy to see something good coming out of it. And at the very least, Im awesome at teaching the joy of communication.
Now its time to forget work officially for 36 hours, and drink beer while watching soccer. And then drinking more beer tomorrow.
Dexter OUT
I played dodgeball for the first time. A girl from 6-1 grabbed me by the hand, which is normal for any student to do, so I thought nothing of it, and led me to the dodgeball area. Then she dropped me off on the boys side and the game was on. No, she didn't ask. She just put me in the square and threw a ball at me. I caught it, but still. I played dumb and didnt throw the ball at anyone, I just passed it along. So they thought I didn't understand the rules They explained then to me. They asked if I understood and said yes. SO I explained it back to them in english, while miming the actions.....and thats where it happened.
The Dogeball Tango:
"Now I'm standing in the doge zone, miming out the actions for dodgeball. Minding my own business. In jumps a roku nensee with a happy face. "Ganbatte, D sensei!" He says. He was crazy. And he kept on screaming
"Ganbatte, D sensei!"...And then he ran into my fist. He ran into to fist 1 time."
If you're not familiar with the musical chicago, go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4_H65XoykY. Fast forward to 3:35. Enjoy
Also, I look FANTASTIC in my new clothes.
Nothing too big to report for wednesday. I went in, taught 6 classes and got out. Went to the duck for onion rings and a beer, and called it a night.
There is nothing good about Thursdays. I hate them. The kids are bad. The teachers don't care, and there's nothing I can do. I almost hit a kid. I was able to adjust my swing at the last second, but I almost clobbered him. So, that whole grabbing each others' private ares thing that we are taught NEVER to do? Here, its just something that happens. And if you're 3 and havent been taught any better, I'll dodge the best I can and tell your dad to help me. And if your an adorable second grader giving me a hug, or part of a swarm of children trying to get as close to the cool teacher as you can, I will move your hands away from vital areas and deal. But if youre a sixth grader, and you ask me about sex, and I diffuse the situation and try to walk away, and then you decide to grab my penis, I might punch you. And if you're a sixth grader and you put up your dukes and I put up my hands cuz you want to punch them, cool. But dont try to then punch me in the dick. It's not ok. If I tell them to stop in English, they "don't understand." If I tell them to stop in Japanese, they think its funny and try to get me to speak in Japanese again, by molesting me. I dont want to talk to the teacher, or really the office staff at my company about it, because I dont want anything to get lost in translation. But something needs to be done.
So my first lesson on friday was ok. Nothing fantastic, cuz these kids don't care about learning. My second class was awful. The kids were straight up boo-ing the new song I tried to teach them. So I stopped. Whatever. Then we tried to do some drills on the new vocabulary. And they just.....didn't do it. They wouldn't repeat after me. They wouldn't say what I was pointing to, and the teacher did ABSOLUTELY nothing to help me. We tried to do the book activity. Draw a line from the month to the corresponding holiday. And they were just like "no." They sat there and either stared at me, or talked amongst themselves. And I know they understood me. 1 Because weve done more complicated thing. 2 because its obvious. 3 because I mimed it. and finally, because I explained it in Japanese. Nothing. Cool. So I decided to call them out. I got super excited about the game, blackboard battle, and got them really hyped. And then I explained it to them and started the game. And the couldn't do it. Cuz only 3 people in the class had been paying me any attention at all the entire day. And they were PISSED when we stopped the game to go back to drilling. And I felt bad for them...because I hate to see good students suffer. So I was pissed, and I let it show a little bit, with some sarcasm. The third class was a lot of the same, actually. they did a little better on the drilling, because their teacher actually tried to make them, so we were able to play. But it was mostly the girls squashing the boys, because the boys NEVER pay attention.
I had 1 good lesson. Did my intro lesson for some second graders. They flipped out and we had a great time. Then it was back to fifth graders. And nothing quite completes a crappy day like ACCIDENTALLY smacking a kid in the face. If I had made the decision to smack a kid, I'm sure it would have made me feel great. But we were playing the game, and this poor girl was right behind me, and I reached back to motion the next kids forward without looking, and clipped her right in the chin. So hard that I had to catch her before she hit the ground. Needless to say, she cried and went to the nurse for ice. I felt like shit.
Today was amazing. I got to play with the first graders. Cuz that's all my intro lesson is at this point. Me playing around on the blackboard with little kids making them scream at me in English and singing a song. Got to do that twice. Then I went to my 5th graders. Who are just tops. There's the one class with the teacher who is beguiling beyond belief, and there's the class with my favorite special needs student of them all, Daisuke. So the first class, we just had a lot fo fun talking in English about emotions and expressions and playing the games and stuff. Time flew by in there. Those kids are really smart, and a big part of it, is because their teacher is completely involved. She is the one teacher where I sometimes feel like I have to compete with for the kids' attention. Its fun. I like a challenge. Then I went to the next class. This class has a lot of kids who make it difficult for others to learn. Whether its learning disabilities or just bad behavior, we have to try a little harder each week for that class. Things were going along smoothly, then BAM! Out of nowhere, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, COMPLETELY UNANNOUNCED, WALKS INTO MY CLASS TO OBSERVE ME!!!!!!...............................................WHAT??!?!?!??!?!?! WHAT HAPPENED TO, "YOU WILL RECEIVE WARNING ABOUT THE BOE VISIT"????? So they watched me play "D says" with the kids for a while. Got to see them listening carefully, and gesturing in correspondence with English words. I could hear them muttering, and what I heard sounded good. I was just a little surprised. ちょっとびっくりしました！The head English teacher said I have nothing to worry about. All the kids think I'm interesting, and she loves my voice and the inflections I use. She's happy about my use of eye contact, and even more happy that the kids focus on me the whole time, at least in her class. Its good to hear. I wore my "cool biz" attire to work today. Everyone said I looked cool and handsome. I was just happy to not be sweating like a beast.
Last two classes were 6th grade. They went over really well. They loved the 12 month blues almost as much as I do. As we were leaving for the day, me entourage of children grew from 4 to 10. I felt like a GOD! And they were like "sing the new song you taught us. Right now." And I obliged, so we sang it all the way back to the teachers room. They stopped, pulled out my guitar, cuz they were carrying it, and made me play along while we sang it. The vice principal, I think, saw it happening and said "subarashii" which is wonderful. I guess from an outside point of view, they see me in class from time to time, drilling words and playing games. Then all of a sudden, I walk out of a class with 10 kids singing the 12 months of the year in English, and I think that they are happy to see something good coming out of it. And at the very least, Im awesome at teaching the joy of communication.
Now its time to forget work officially for 36 hours, and drink beer while watching soccer. And then drinking more beer tomorrow.
Dexter OUT
Monday, June 4, 2012
Happy Monday Everyone!
The weekend was fun. Not quite what I expected, but fun. I went out friday night to the duck, which is our favorite bar, and hung out with Takumi and one of his co-workers. Lo, and behold! The rest of the ALTs showed up, too. Apparently, someone had made plans for us all to meet there. I missed that memo, but luckily we all got there at the same time. A few hours flew by, and I met this cool guy named Jason. He works for JET, which is another program that fosters English teachers. He's a nerd like me, so we sat around getting drunk, talking about D&D. Then we ended the night with a few rowdy hours of karaoke. Woke up late on saturday. Turned off all the alarms and managed to sleep through the first few rays of sunlight. Saturday night was supposed to be a big fun night out for me, but I refuse to associate myself who refuse to behave like decent human beings. I tried to be a bigger person, and look past all of the bad qualities they were portraying, but add potential $30 cover and $50 cab ride home.......no thanks. Not to hang out with those guys. So I caught the last train back to my town and ended up back at the duck. Had a good time there, as usual. I should just live there. Then yesterday was the bbq with one of my student's family. It was fun. Not really as wild as the one with the band folks, but that is to be expected. Musicians around the world all know how to party. Then I went home and spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Today was a tremendous amount of fun. "D says" is a great game. It's like simon says, but ya know...me. We also did lots of fun singing, played onaji jya nai, and blackboard battle.
Onaji Jya Nai
Step 1- Place 6 flashcards on the board for feelings: Happy, Sad, Tired, Hungry, Sleepy, and Fine.
Step 2-Number them 1-6
Step 3:
D: Hello!
Students: Hello!
D: How are you?
Students: I'm ~ (They pick whatever) How are you?
Step 4-Reach into a hat/bag.whatever where you have numbered cards 1-6, and pull one out.
Step 5 D-I'm ~ (Whatever your card corresponds two)
Step 6-Those who are the same as me, are out. The rest of them say "Onaji jya nai"
Step 7 Remove the card you picked out, and its corresponding flash card from the game.
Repeat steps 3-7 4 times. Pick the most genki child, or the one you feel will have the most success, and have them lead the class in round 2. They become D.
Blackboard Battle
Step 1-Line up flashcards of the vocabulary on the board.
Step 2-Line the students up into two teams on opposite sides of the vocabulary words.
Step 3- Gesture dramatically for them to start.
The lead person on each team reads toe vocabulary as fast as they can, making their way towards the other side. Once they meet, they Janken (Rock, paper, scissors) and the winner continues forward, and the loser retreats to the back of his/her line. Meanwhile the second person in line on the losing side begins. If any person makes it from one side to the other, their team gets one point. It's a great game, because there are lots of opportunities to succeed. If you are slow at english but rock at janken, you're like a tank that slowly makes lots of progress. If you are quick with english, but unlucky at janken, youre great at giving your team some room to play with. If youre slow at engligh, and are slow at janken, you still love playing janken because you're a japanese child, so you are still excited and willing to try. win.
So I played those 4 times today, got my planning for tomorrow done, found out I get to dress down cuz its so hot, and have a work excuse to go buy new clothes. Huzzah!
TO THE MALL!
Today was a tremendous amount of fun. "D says" is a great game. It's like simon says, but ya know...me. We also did lots of fun singing, played onaji jya nai, and blackboard battle.
Onaji Jya Nai
Step 1- Place 6 flashcards on the board for feelings: Happy, Sad, Tired, Hungry, Sleepy, and Fine.
Step 2-Number them 1-6
Step 3:
D: Hello!
Students: Hello!
D: How are you?
Students: I'm ~ (They pick whatever) How are you?
Step 4-Reach into a hat/bag.whatever where you have numbered cards 1-6, and pull one out.
Step 5 D-I'm ~ (Whatever your card corresponds two)
Step 6-Those who are the same as me, are out. The rest of them say "Onaji jya nai"
Step 7 Remove the card you picked out, and its corresponding flash card from the game.
Repeat steps 3-7 4 times. Pick the most genki child, or the one you feel will have the most success, and have them lead the class in round 2. They become D.
Blackboard Battle
Step 1-Line up flashcards of the vocabulary on the board.
Step 2-Line the students up into two teams on opposite sides of the vocabulary words.
Step 3- Gesture dramatically for them to start.
The lead person on each team reads toe vocabulary as fast as they can, making their way towards the other side. Once they meet, they Janken (Rock, paper, scissors) and the winner continues forward, and the loser retreats to the back of his/her line. Meanwhile the second person in line on the losing side begins. If any person makes it from one side to the other, their team gets one point. It's a great game, because there are lots of opportunities to succeed. If you are slow at english but rock at janken, you're like a tank that slowly makes lots of progress. If you are quick with english, but unlucky at janken, youre great at giving your team some room to play with. If youre slow at engligh, and are slow at janken, you still love playing janken because you're a japanese child, so you are still excited and willing to try. win.
So I played those 4 times today, got my planning for tomorrow done, found out I get to dress down cuz its so hot, and have a work excuse to go buy new clothes. Huzzah!
TO THE MALL!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Rough Week
It was not a good week. I felt very over burdened by everything, and it was difficult to find a productive outlet for my frustration. The worst of it was Tuesday night, and it bled over into Wednesday. My stomach always craps out on me when I feel this way, so it was just a difficult week.
Nothing all that spectacular to report. Looking forward to a fun weekend. Just got my first paycheck. It's missing about a weeks worth from what I'll normally be making. It feels nice to be paid though.
Highlight of the week: I taught the blues to a bunch of Japanese 6th graders. At first, they didn't really get why it was cool, but then I sang it for real, and they all got into it. So hooray for using music to teach. I think I make it work really well. Also, if I don't bring my guitar, the kids might riot. Just sayin'
Dexter OUT
ps....This is going to be a full weekend...I'm sure the next port will be more exciting. And I'm going to try to remember to take my camera, so hopefully there will be pictures. Hooray!
Nothing all that spectacular to report. Looking forward to a fun weekend. Just got my first paycheck. It's missing about a weeks worth from what I'll normally be making. It feels nice to be paid though.
Highlight of the week: I taught the blues to a bunch of Japanese 6th graders. At first, they didn't really get why it was cool, but then I sang it for real, and they all got into it. So hooray for using music to teach. I think I make it work really well. Also, if I don't bring my guitar, the kids might riot. Just sayin'
Dexter OUT
ps....This is going to be a full weekend...I'm sure the next port will be more exciting. And I'm going to try to remember to take my camera, so hopefully there will be pictures. Hooray!
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