Feed back please

[pakalikaPakalika]

OK my company decided that the 26th and 27th were work days for us. But since there is no school, they decided to make us write 2 reports, each 3 pages long, single spaced. So I wanted to get a little feed back on the topics. The first one is "The Perfect ALT" and the second one is "The English Education in Japan After Ten Years". So what are some things that come to mind when you think of those? Any input would be great.

[jeisensei]

1) The is no such thing as a perfect anything.

2) We will be teaching Chinese instead of English.

Now that I got the obvious things out of the way I will give you something more helpful heh

1) They want to hear things like always on time, always making materials for classes, talking with the teachers, talking with the students, planning well in advance, joining the school for assemblies, helping when help is needed and being an all around good person.

2) This is a harder one. It's hard to say exactly where it is going but you can look at the trends that have happened up until now (the change from yuttori education to the type we have now and the changes that are taking place starting next year) and extrapolate them into the future. Or you could say that the world is going to end in 2012 so there will be no English in 10 years.

[Richard_BenoitEnglipedia Drone]

Minefield if I ever saw one.

Some things stand out for the perfect ALT one. Although I side with Jei. What makes a "good" ALT would have sufficed.

1) Makes class fun

2)Does whatever the JTE ultimately decides, while still promoting their ideas.

3) Preps some interesting things for class somtimes so they are able to pull off point number 1. (This means to say, do more than just print the worksheet to surprise your students)

4) Is polite and courteous to all coworkers. (no need to go out of your way, greetings and a smile is enough- the rest will follow)

5) Does not work for free, but gets their quality work done within the contract hours. (my personal fav)


I have lived by these rules and maybe some I can't think of just yet, and am nearing legendary status at one school, and starting to see a positive impact at my B school my second year in.

[Otaku]

Sounds like a bullshit of a thing to have you do.

You should write 3 pages about Englipedia. Just keep droning on and on about how great it is. :)

Or, plagerize the whole thing.

[azuhlLt.]

Sounds like a bullshit of a thing to have you do.

You should write 3 pages about Englipedia. Just keep droning on and on about how great it is. :)

Or, plagerize the whole thing.

+1 What the MEXT is wrong with giving you some paid time off? Instead they have to come up with MEXTing bullshit ways for you to waste your time...who's going to read the essay anyway? NOBODY, that's who, it's going straight in the bin. Tell them to suck a bag of dicks.

[himitsu]

Agree with Richard and Otaku.

Yeah, "perfect ALT" is a total BS expression, like we had to be perfect, while the JTs are far from that..
A good ALT should be friendly, try to do a bit more than just his duty (not too much, but things like decorating the room a bit if necessary, or anything to create a nice atmosphere), try to motivate the students...

I'm not sure I understood the 2nd one right, the past or the future 10 years?
Anyway, I guess English education has improved or at least increased a lot compared to 10 y ago, but if they want to reach international average, I think it's not enough by far. Two English conversation classes per month (about 10 per year) at JH won't suffice to achieve the progress that's needed. ESs could also use a few more classes. On the other hand, I personally don't see English classes on lower education levels than ES that important (not that it would do any harm, but I think the funds and resources could be better used at higher levels).

[Otaku]

Seriously, it sounds like something you would be required to do in college. OR MAYBE, your supervisor is taking a college course and wants to plagerize off you?

Okay, onto some things that might help, links from the old Englipedia forum. These may or may not be useful to you:

01. ARE YOU A GOOD TEACHER?
02. MEXT'S ES ENGLISH PLAN
03. 5TH & 6TH ENGLISH EDUCATION
04. STUDY OF THE GOVERNMENT'S ES ENGLISH EDUCATION
05. THE WHYS OF CLASSROOM GAMES
06. JAPAN'S ENGLISH VS. KOREA'S
07. HOW JAPAN CREATED THEIR JHS ENGLISH TEXTBOOK
08. EDUCATION BUILT AROUND TOURNAMENTS
09. ALTS AND JAPAN'S ES ENGLISH EDUCATION
10. ALT MINDSHIFT NEEDED
11. COMPETITION OR COOPERATION
12. COMPOUNDING ILLITERATE PROBLEMS

[pakalikaPakalika]

Thanks for those links Otaku. I just stole quotes and comments from the pages and made a it work. If they do not like it then oh well.

[Paul]

How much do you want to bet that those essays that you wrote are going to be used to decide who gets rehired for the next school year?

[Kanashibari]

I've had to do some shitty things before, but this looks ridiculous.
Unsurprising though.

Paid time off is a blasphemous insult to the "Work God" everyone is supposed to worship.
You must pay homage to him annually by offering up sacrifices to him, usually in the form of time and mental health, in order to receive his blessings upon your company.

[jeisensei]

I've had to do some shitty things before, but this looks ridiculous.
Unsurprising though.

Paid time off is a blasphemous insult to the "Work God" everyone is supposed to worship.
You must pay homage to him annually by offering up sacrifices to him, usually in the form of time and mental health, in order to receive his blessings upon your company.

Working for a company that may be true, but when I was working for the JET program I could call up at any time and ask for that day off. Every situation is different, I guess.

[Kanashibari]

Well, I don't work for a company now, but a school.
The way it works now, I DO get paid time off, meaning summer and New Year's, but no paid holidays/sick days.

When I used to work for a company, I could take sick days, but neither got paid for them or the holidays.

[moolooman]

Feedback is one word. There's some feed back for you.

[pakalikaPakalika]

How much do you want to bet that those essays that you wrote are going to be used to decide who gets rehired for the next school year?

It is ok. The contract I am, under is only a 5 month contract and enbds at the end of the month. I am kind of getting burned out on this ALT stuff, so I have to international school jobs options on the table if I want to take em or I could wait and see what my company says now about next year and have a 4 month vacation.

[pakalikaPakalika]

Feedback is one word. There's some feed back for you.

Yeah did not notice that. Just typed it in real quick before I headed off to winter break