Hot Damn! Its On!

Alright, I've finally set some real goals for my stay here in Japan. I plan on re-contracting, so I should be here for at least a year and a half. It will depend on whether or not the school will offer me a contract, but things are looking good.

Teaching Goals:

As I told my supervisor, the vice-principals, and the principal at the evaluation interview, my goal for the rest of this academic school year (ends in March) is to have more students volunteer. This may or may not be difficult to do considering the current number of students who raise their hand are at 0, zip, zilch. I definitely want my students to be more motivated and the best way to test that is to have them get into the habit of raising their hands.

My new system of the quarter includes using green, yellow, and red cards. Yes, the colors of a traffic signal. I will ask the students, "do you understand?" and they should raise one card depending on their understanding of the situation or lesson. Obviously, green means "yes," yellow means "maybe" or "so-so," and red means "no, goddamnit, stop and repeat yourself woman." So far, most of the students get it and they will raise their cards when I've repeated the request three times: "Do you understand? Please raise your cards!"

I guess its sort of cheating, but this is the best I can do for now. It's difficult coming into this ALT position in the middle of the year and taking over someone else's lessons, which probably have a different pace and different atmosphere for the students.

Anyway, ultimate teaching goal for the next two months: get at least one student, from each of my 12 first year oral communication classes, to raise their hand voluntarily.

Academic Goals

I am currently studying on my own with the JET Programme Japanese Language Course, which are a set of books that get mailed to my work place and every two months I mail them my test answer sheet. If I pass, I get some sort of certificate, but it doesn't really mean anything.

So, my goal is to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in the summer with level N3, which is the newly established test bridging the current Level 2 and Level 3 tests. Its between beginner and intermediate. WHEN (yes, positive thinking) I pass this test, I will take N2 in December.

Here's a description for N3:

The ability to understand Japanese used in everyday situations to a certain degree.

・ One is able to read and understand written materials with specific contents concerning

everyday topics.

・ One is also able to grasp summary information such as newspaper headlines.

・ In addition, one is also able to read slightly difficult writings encountered in everyday situations

and understand the main points of the content if some alternative phrases are available to aid

one’s understanding.

・ One is able to listen and comprehend coherent conversations in everyday situations, spoken

at near - natural speed, and is generally able to follow their contents as well as grasp the

relationships among the people involved.

Here's a description for N2, the one I was going to take last year until I realized I had no idea what was going on:

The ability to understand Japanese used in everyday situations, and in a variety of circumstances to a certain degree.

・ One is able to read materials written clearly on a variety of topics, such as articles and commentaries

in newspapers and magazines as well as simple critiques, and comprehend their contents.

・ One is also able to read written materials on general topics and follow their narratives as well

as understand the intent of the writers.

・ One is able to comprehend orally presented materials such as coherent conversations and

news reports, spoken at nearly natural speed in everyday situations as well as in a variety of

settings, and is able to follow their ideas and comprehend their contents. One is also able

to understand the relationships among the people involved and the essential points of the

presented materials.

Tourism Goals

Although I'm starting to get used to life here and practically thinking of it as my home, I have to remember that this is temporary and that I will be leaving Japan sooner than I think. Therefore, I've set some tourism goals for my stay here!

This started with my talk with Jamie, another female ALT here, the other day on Gchat when we discussed climbing the three "holy" mountains. Some time in March/April we will climb Mt. Hakusan, which is about 30-45 minutes away from where we live. Then in May we will climb Mt. Tateyama. Finally, sometime before September 2010, we're going to try Mt. Fuji.

Here are some other top 3 places within Japan...maybe I'll ad these to my list of things-to-do:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan%27s_Top_3

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I'll revisit this post in a year from now. :)

Being a "Teacher"

I'm going to use the word "teacher" in the loosest sense and meaning of the word. Yes, I teach the students. However, it is also overly emphasized that I am just an ALT -- Assistant Language Teacher. At times I wonder if the students should be calling me "sensei" at all.

I think the teachers here and the students are confused as well. I hear a good mix of "Megan-sensei" and "Megan-san" from the students. I don't mind. The staff knows that I am trying my best to motivate the students and plan lessons. I just had my review and it was better than I imagined, considering I thought I screwed up my first week of teaching.

Actually, let me share my experience of my first month here, and then I'll go back to why I'm not a "teacher."

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My time in the first week here was spent mostly on paper work and reading through my predecessor's previous lesson plans. The students had end of the term exams during that time, so I did some grading towards the end of the week. Note: Just because the students have end of the term exams, this doesn't mean they don't have classes after testing. The second week was the last week of classes before vacation. I worked hard on my O.C. II, 3rd year, classes and also on my O.C. I, 1st year, classes. O.C. stands for Oral Communication--its somewhat supplementary to their daily English classes, but not really because they have different books for the two classes.

When the second week came around, I was prepared for my very first lesson. The first lesson would be with my 3rd year students and I was looking forward to showing the 5 minute video clip I made of my friends answering various questions. The first class would also prepare the students for their next class, which would consist of their own video interview filming, and we also did a Secret Santa Clause lesson. HOWEVER, 5 minutes before the class starts, the Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) comes to my desk, as I'm preparing to leave, and she tells me that the video room, which I had reserved, was being used for testing. I had 5 minutes to change up my plans and so everything on my PowerPoint presentation would have to be written on the board. That was an EPIC FAIL for me.

Second FAIL came when I did my first O.C. I lesson and the Vice Principals and Principal were there to see it. I had way too much written content, not enough pictures, and I was boring the students with English above their level. I couldn't believe that I was being reviewed right away! But, its the scheduled time for all ALTs, so I came just in time. :T After those two lessons, I revised my lesson plans by shortening the content and creating back-up plans. Live and Learn and Laugh...Later (Much later).

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Anyway, back to why I am not a teacher. In addition to my lack of experience, the teachers here put in more hours and do so much more here. They are like the second parent to a student. My hours are from 8:20-4:15pm, but I usually stay a little later because I feel strange leaving so early when the teachers are still there. They are usually there from 8-6:30pm. :X

I've had some good lessons and some pretty bad lessons so far--mostly because the kids don't respond, but I will post more info on this later. Time to sleep.

New life in a New Home

My apartment building

In my last post, I briefly mentioned my adjustments in my new apartment, but there's so much more to talk about. I'm currently sleeping on a futon, which is a thin mattress on the floor, not the fold out couch beds. I bought a kotatsu, which is a table with a heater underneath and a blanket that covers it. I'm starting to regret this, because I don't have any chairs nor do I have a couch, so my legs get tired quickly from sitting on the ground all the time.

For three weeks, when I was just biking, I couldn't get any furniture on my own. That meant I couldn't get any furniture at all. So, I all I had were my futon and kotatsu. My kitchen and bedroom lacked shelves and dressers. Did I mention that my kitchen only has one stove and no counter space? I desperately needed a shelf to put food on and counter space to cut up ingredients. Also, my closet has these oddly large open spaces...it's easier if I just show you my apartment in my first week:

I'm happy to say that now I have shelf space in both my kitchen and bedroom. And, I've finally figured out how to dry my clothing! While the school lent me a washer, dryers are not common here in Japan. Everyone hang dries their clothing. I use a pole that I place right below my heater and my clothes dry overnight. Too be honest, I think its ridiculous. My clothes smell strange if I hang them outside and the jeans become hard and uncomfortable to wear. At least I have a car now, so I can drive to the laundromat whenever I feel like its worth it to spend $3 on drying my clothes (yes $3 just for drying alone). But unlike in the States, I have to do my laundry once or even twice a week since the washer is tiny and there's no where to keep my dirty laundry. :T Oops...TMI?

Anyway, even though I've been here for a month, I am still trying different ways to organize and utilize my space. At least I don't have to worry about the mess I make given that I live alone! This is my first time actually living on my own without any apartment-mates and family. I miss being scolded by my parents, Sandy, Mary-Ann, Christine, etc. :) I have to learn to motivate myself to keep up with the upkeep. ...Maybe I will once I've actually settled in and decided where everything goes...

I'm missing you all and all your smiling faces. <3