a little about school life...

i think that it is time that i write about what it is that i do on a daily basis (more or less) now that classes appear to settled into a more normal routine.

i am currently teaching at hinode junior high school. there are 3 grades (equivalent to US 7,8,9 grade) and they are refered to as first, second and third grade. the school day has 6, 50 minute periods, plus homeroom class in the morning and afternoon. in the homeroom class students are responsible for cleaning their classroom and other places on campus (there are no janitors, students are responsible for all cleaning).

as for my schedule i have been averaging about 5 classes a day. but sometimes i have 4 or 6. the schedule changes frequently as there are various all school activities going on. i have to say that having that many classes a day has been a little exhausting, and is taking some getting used to.

in the classroom, i work with a japanese teacher of english (JTE). I have two JTEs, one teaches 2nd grade, the other teaches 1st and 3rd (they are both fairly young 26/28). we work out lesson plans ahead of time and then split up the different activities. i typically make worksheets or games, and the jte does the explination of grammer. i am also used a little bit as a 'human tape recorder' to read the dialogues and vocabulary for the kids to listen to and then repeat. but i have to say that luckily my jtes are pretty flexible and try to make the classes interesting (i have heard some horror stories from other jets, who get no imput into class planning and are literally only there to read the book aloud).

as for the language level of the students, it varies quite a bit. some students have a pretty good vocabulary and understanding of grammer, but many don't (and some just don't care). but overall the students are alot of fun, and have been pretty receptive to me in the school environment. they all like to come up and tell me new statements they have come up with. at the end of the day today a group of girls came up to me and told me "you have a good body, i really like your body"! haha, i'm not exactly sure what their point was. but i appreciate all the english that they are attempting to speak to me.

i also have opted to eat lunch with the kids, which is great. i eat with a different class everyday and sit with the kids. sometimes it is very quiet, but other times the kids have so many questions for me. this is also when i suprise them with my minimal japanese. i figure if i struggle with japanese in front of them, then they won't be so embarassed to struggle with english in front of me. and yes i get laughed at often, but oh well at least they are communicating with me, i just laugh along.

on a side note, wednesday night i went to english song practice session for a group of JHS kids from all the school in Itako that are going to San Antonio on a homestay program in october (while they are there, they are going to present a song). the practice was so cute. just picture about 20, 13 year old japanese kids singing stevie wonder's "i just called to say i love you", but pronouncing 'love' as 'rub'. it was great, the kids were so into it, they choose the song and really love it! but as my mom likes to remind me at any opportunity, i can't sing. so that made the whole lesson very interesting. haha

anyway i need to get to packing. i'm headed down to nagoya in the morning with tamae. it was a last minute decision, but she has a friend down that way, which means we have a place to stay, and its a long weekend, so why not...