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. :)