Lack of efficiency in class makes me batty

[Shamisen]

If there's something I cant stand it's wasting class time.
Does anyone else have classes that feel like riding a bicycle in slow gear while braking to a full stop every 5 meters?

I find the only smoothly flowing part of the lesson is when teacher explains the grammar in Japanese.
So maybe it was an off day today particularly with the CD player, but its usually the same schlock every lesson.

I was not built to do this job.

[jessen100]

・「Well maybe we should have the ALT read this out.」
・「Yes. The ALT will now read it.」
・(Looks at me and says "ummmm")
・"Excuse me... could you. Please read. the. page 34. Unit 7 part 2. Number 1."
・(If I say sure)
・(looks surprised and pleased. Says to students) 「ALT will read. Please repeat.」
・(looks at me again)
・"Could you? Read it?"
・I read the page 34　...unit..... 7..... Number. 1.

so does she actually call you "ALT"

[Paul]

Maybe she took too many pills before class today and everything is going in slow motion.

Hell if she starts calling you ALT I would start by responding hey JTE.......

Then again maybe she thought that you were supposed to take care of preparing the CD or in case it didnt work you were to be the "Human CD" player and sing for the class.

[bum1]

You need to take charge of your class bro. This is the way NORMAL class goes. (Without ALT) Yours is supposed to be a breath of fresh air for these kids. Take control. Your teacher will probably be happy to back off an take a rest. Lead. It's the only way to cure this madness and keep your own sanity.

[crustpunker]

As I am in the total other camp here at my school in that I have ZERO assistance from the JTE I sometimes wish that my classes were as you describe
Not always but I would like a break from center stage once in a blue moon.....
sigh...

[Shamisen]

She didnt really call me ALT :) That would be amusing.
I had too much faith. I thought the teacher had just decided to skip the song.
Nest class Im going to be all over that CD player!


Being a human CD player... hmm well that lesson I was just the human ornament. The CD player was used a lot. I guess it does a better James Earl Jones than I do.My sole job was to read ... the page... 34.... unit 7 and to decorate the classroom with my sunny countenance.

[Shamisen]

LEAD the CLASS!? are you INSANE??

This is Junior High. Im VERY surprised that they let you lead, Crust. Over here its like they wont let me TOUCH anything which is officially the JTEs responsibility. Kyoto sensei once told me straight (after I had been checking some homework for grammar ) that I was not to do any extra work like that.

Does anyone else think this is a good or bad idea or have suggestions?

[bum1]

Go to your BOE and get some authority to plan your lessons. Planning your lessons should be officially your responsibility. Then plan your lessons so that the JTE assists you. This is something you are seriously going to want to fight for or you will wind up hating your job and have a bitter impression of Japan as a whole. From my experience people I work with become more happy as I voulenteer to to more stuff. You may have a stricter situation then I do, but you'd be suprised what you can do if you just don't ask permission. (Be careful not to F up anything if you don't ask first). Also Japanese English teachers are not qualified to correct grammar. I still have yet to find one that is. I have met some really smart Japanese English teachers (smarter than me) and they are still not qualified to correct creative writing. Period. This should be your responsibility. (All just my opinions btw)

[Otaku]

I think it's a bad idea.

Punch the kyoto in the nose.

Push the JTE into the corner of the class.

And, start teaching and making English fun for the students. :) I can almost guarantee if the situation is ackward for you, English is boring as hell for the students.

In all seriousness, I would suggest asking the JTE to let you try taking the primary role for one class because you have an idea for the English class you want to try. See how the class goes. If it goes well, turn control back over to the JTE but ask her periodically if you can have 15 minutes here or half the class there...

Just an idea...

[Shamisen]

GREAT suggestions... but I like the Kyoto sensei.....

In the past I made a lot of effort and made plans/activities etc and it was not well received. The classes were cancelled to use for checking tests with the kids, (one might think that those kinds of things could be rescheduled for a day when the ALT is not at school right?) or senseis had already made their own plans and so pushed mine aside, OR they just forgot. So I got the message that I am NOT to plan lessons. Or, If I did, they had to be approved and discussed very well with the teacher before hand. Catch 22 because there's never time to really discuss a plan in depth with teachers here. They were always doing something else and when I asked they would say "sorry I have no time now". They had time after 5 or 5:30, but I wasnt goign to hang around an extra 1.5 hours after the 2 hours I already have to hang around.

That really demotivated me and as a consequence, I already hate my job!

Luckily those teachers left. These teachers are much more relaxed (lethargic? hehe) and open so perhaps its the time to try and be of service again.

Im going to make a plan, and see how it is received this year. OMG wish me luck. : pray :

[Meat]

...and if English is boring for you than it must be horrid for your students.

Gots me a teacher who the previous ALT had a tough time with. I don't have any problem with him, if only because this year he's decided to do all of the eikaiwa classes his way. I just follow his lead, which pretty much means the students recite awkwardly phrased conversations off a paper (scratch that, it should read as the same 6-lined conversation for the entire period). I hate his classes. The students look bored out of their minds. But he's happy.

The first time I met him, he actually came up to me to say that he was doing all lesson prep for that class and bitched about how the previous ALT (someone I actually know, as we all played musical schools this year-- everyone save a certain bastard up in Hatta ) only did games, and how the students can't leard if they're having fun and etc. etc.

So yeah. And then the other sannensei teacher comes up and wants to do the same thing as his class, except with me leading the horrible lesson this time. Students are still bored, but at least they aren't AS bored with the few changes I've made to his lesson plan.

[jessen100]

everyone save a certain awesome dude up in Hatta

word

[crustpunker]

LEAD the CLASS!? are you INSANE??

This is Junior High. Im VERY surprised that they let you lead, Crust. Over here its like they wont let me TOUCH anything which is officially the JTEs responsibility. Kyoto sensei once told me straight (after I had been checking some homework for grammar ) that I was not to do any extra work like that.

Does anyone else think this is a good or bad idea or have suggestions?

Well my situation is really kind of unusual I think in that I was a direct hire for the school that I work for. Also, they are a private school that houses both a JH and a HS and I have never ever ever met, heard or seen anyone from any sort of BOE. It really blew me away when I first came here because I was thinking to myself, "How on Earth are these people putting so much faith in me? They have never asked to see a lesson plan, or really observed a full lesson!" It put a HUGE amount of pressure on me because while it would be so so easy to do NOTHING at all and sleepwalk through the entire day I just cannot do that and like to think that I have some semblance of pride in what I do every now and again (doin' it for the kids and all that)

I got the job through the last teacher here who reccomended me highly to them(god only knows why) and for that reason I suppose they just took his word that I could handle the classes? I honestly don't know why they let me do it all but they really do. There is another teacher in class with me (usually) but as I have maybe said before in previous posts, they are generally not an English teacher nor do they speak English in most cases. They are there to help out if the class gets noisy and to take care of student emergencies like when someone needs to go for a piss, feels sick or gets a bloody nose or something.
My school has a lot of PR events, parents days, open schools etc that I also have to be a part of so I guess they figured "F-it, if he can handle all this plus be prepared and teach a decent lesson where the kids are having fun and seem to be learning a few things he must be doing something right." I was initially hired for a 6 month contract so I guess that was kind of like my "evaluation" period. During that time I suspect that they were in fact getting lots of feedback from students and other teachers etc but never directly seemed to be evaluating me.

I think the situation I am in has good points and bad points in equal measure. The biggest drawback to having this much freedom and ability to really run the classes is that I feel like I am getting burned out rather quickly. The biggest plus though is that if I am starting to feel like this I will fully just say "screw it" and it's movie day ( integrated with a teaching point/ writing exercise or role-play element at some point) this only happens about once every 3 to 4 months though.

[bum1]

Mybelovedsushi... Try to be of service and if that doesn't work my suggestion is to get your BOE behind you and demand to be of service if you have to. If they don't get behind you then F#"k it.

[Paul]

Crust I can understand where you are coming from here about the expectations that the school may have for you and your abilities. I have experience as well in teaching in a private HS and JHS and I found out quickly that it is a double edged sword. Teachers in the school I worked for didnt transfer out every 5 years or so like they do in the public school system so many of the tenured teachers form some very strong alliances or cliques within the school and it causes all sorts of internal problems politically.

You get hired and then tossed to the wolves kind of thinking. Their expectations for me at least were not high but I was expected to do a good job. I made the mistake of going out drinking with the wrong group one too many times and got labeled as being part of the anti-kocho sensei group and part of the kyoto group which made it easier for some people to back stab the hell out of me. All while they were smiling in my face telling me what a great job I was doing.

Lying (asteriks)

You are expected to be able to do everything like a regular teacher does, but they dont tell you what you are supposed to do until after you are supposed to have done it.

I also happen to have been the last English Conversation/English Teacher that that school ever hired. They currently have no plans to hire anyone else purely based upon the recommendations of one female teacher that is one wicked assed biatch but just happens to be very good looking and uses her looks and hormones to get what she wants.

I left before I gave them the chance to tell me I was fired but I will never regret the experience because it taught me a lot about how schools work internally. OJT for me.

[Shamisen]

Thats some crazy sh:t, Paul. Glad you got out of it.

[crustpunker]

Crust I can understand where you are coming from here about the expectations that the school may have for you and your abilities. I have experience as well in teaching in a private HS and JHS and I found out quickly that it is a double edged sword. Teachers in the school I worked for didnt transfer out every 5 years or so like they do in the public school system so many of the tenured teachers form some very strong alliances or cliques within the school and it causes all sorts of internal problems politically.

You get hired and then tossed to the wolves kind of thinking. Their expectations for me at least were not high but I was expected to do a good job. I made the mistake of going out drinking with the wrong group one too many times and got labeled as being part of the anti-kocho sensei group and part of the kyoto group which made it easier for some people to back stab the hell out of me. All while they were smiling in my face telling me what a great job I was doing.

Lying (asteriks)

You are expected to be able to do everything like a regular teacher does, but they dont tell you what you are supposed to do until after you are supposed to have done it.

I also happen to have been the last English Conversation/English Teacher that that school ever hired. They currently have no plans to hire anyone else purely based upon the recommendations of one female teacher that is one wicked assed biatch but just happens to be very good looking and uses her looks and hormones to get what she wants.

I left before I gave them the chance to tell me I was fired but I will never regret the experience because it taught me a lot about how schools work internally. OJT for me.

Good to know there is someone out there who can relate! "double edged sword" is a perfect description of it really. Just yesterday I taught a phonics lesson last period and there was no JTE at all. She mentioned before the class that she might be a bit late but then didn't show up at all! The kids were well behaved for the most part and I didn't have to engage in any kind of disciple (or flying macedonian heel kicks)

You are also dead on about being expected to do everything a regular teacher does but never being told what exactly that is. In the 2 years I have been here, I have never once been "talked to" by anyone in a serious sitting down having a meeting kind of way but I have been told to do things a certain way after the time to do them had passed and without any previous instruction on how to do it. I just blow it off to be honest.

The turnover rate at this school is quite high or maybe just normal? We lose about 5-6 teachers a year. I heard one year that 20 teachers all up and quit at the same time. The pay is fairly low and the hours are long but teachers stay here for the considerable reputation this school has in the area. Having said that, you can imagine what kind of insane workaholic these types tend to be. here at 7 after leaving the house at 6, stay till 8 or 9 at night and get home around 10 or so. Plus we work on Saturdays. How they haven't dropped over and died yet I will never know. I know that this whole giving your all and working long hours is deeply engrained in the culture but to me I view it as a perfect way for corporations, bosses and what have you to exploit their workers "because they are japanese"
I mean really, how productive can you be if you have been at work for 13 hours a day for six days a week? Same goes for the kids who go through a 15 hour day of regular school and then hit the juku or Eikaiwa. After a certain point the capacity for human beings to retain, process and truly understand new information MUST be signifigantly diminshed and therefore a fairly pointless endeavour.

What can possibly be enjoyable in life when you live this way?
Oh yeah! Drinking yourself into gout by the age of 30 seems to be pretty popular amongst the general salaried work force in Japan no?

I just kind of keep my opinions to myself, remain friendly and chatty with co-workers, try not to let little things annoy me too bad (because at the end of the day I think it would really take a lot for me to get fired from this gig) and just keep plowing away. I dunno how much I have left in me. I really don't. Could be another 5 years here could be another 1 year. Just thankful to have a job in a semi-rural part of Japan that pays (me) well and keeps me and my family insured.

[Paul]

You school's situation sounds very similar to what mine was like as well. The school for the most part only seemed to care about 3 things, first and foremost the number of students it sent to what the Japanese like to think are the "top or prestigious" universities in Japan, next the number of students that went on to further education after graduation and the number of students it had in it's classrooms. Being a "private" school they are a for profit business.

Teachers are on a rotating door system here too, and at the "other" major "private" schools as well. Getting tenured is next to impossible and there were cases where teachers, good people, who had worked there for over 10 years were let go, not because of their skills, but because they were there for too many years and the local labor office complained to the school about why these people were not full time hires. The school tenured a number of other "unknown" teachers after only 1 year on the job. Not because of their track record or skills but because of the fact that they had gone on and had finished graduate school at one of the aforementioned prestigious universities. They could teach for crap.

If I had to do it over again I think I would have just kept my head down done my job, gotten the better pay and I would still be there. Naaa wouldnt be worth it.

How would you like the added job, besides classes that is, of being a part of seito shidou as well.

Keep your head down!

[Paul]

What can possibly be enjoyable in life when you live this way?

Which is something that the younger generation growing up here in Japan is facing. This problem as you know isnt restricted to schools but many, if not most, businesses and corporations as well.

The internet and exposure to more westernized lifestyles and the popping of the bubble along with an increased presence of foreigners living and working here, while still a drop in the bucket imo, potentially is the start of an avalanche of social upheaval here. It may not be this year or next, or even within the next generation, but change is occuring on the front of people wanting more from their lives than just dying for the company they work for, even if the company is the Japanese Government.

Ask any kids what is fun in life, or what their idea of a fun and fulfilling life should be for them and I think that many will not be able to give you an answer.

Our being a part of their lives in school, at these formative years, does help to widen, in even a small way, their outlook on life. I know it happens, I cant count the number of students I taught that are now growing into adults that have chosen less traditional paths. I like to think that I was a small part of that. And you should too!

We cant really influence the teachers and adults, but we can and do put the seeds of thought into their minds, which if properly fertilized will grow I am sure.

Dont get too down............

[mangakk]

If there's something I cant stand it's wasting class time. And slow teachers.
Does anyone else have classes that feel like riding a bicycle in slow gear while braking to a full stop every 5 meters?

Case in point: "[this is spoken in Japanese]" "This is spoken in English"

Teacher waits for bell. Bell finishes ringing. Teacher picks up attendance book, checks absent kids, puts book down.
Pointless waiting for 5 seconds looking at a quiet class.
Show of surprise "[Oh! Well I guess we should start then]"
With a pause between each word: “Good... morning. Everyone.” (good morning mumble mumble) “How are... you.”
Waits and watches me while I greet.. Does not prepare CD player. When Ive finished.. pointless wait for 5 seconds again and then “Lets. Sing a song.”


IS THERE ANY HELP OUT THERE!!!!!
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PEOPLE!!! MOMENTUM!!!

I Teach in 3 ES and 1 JHS and find it difficult to adjust because at the Elementary school, I have a free reign over my classes. It begins when I say so(given time) and ends when I say so, but in case I go over time the HRT will point it out to me. At the JHS, the JTE takes the primary role and makes the lesson plans. They would tell me what to do for the next lesson(mostly reading) nothing creative. I really do not get the chance to lead the class, but that's the way it has been done for years and they prefer it that way so they can be incharge, so I can't really do anything about it. Even if I give them an activity or something interesting, they would let it pass or build on it to their own liking.

[Shamisen]

Lord save me from non-creative teachers because I will implode.