My role at school: friend, teacher, or in-between?

On By ambertravelingIn Asia, japan, teaching7 Comments

After lunch, I go to the staff room and see my fellow teachers peering out the window, chuckling as they watch students throw snowballs at each other. But I don’t want to stand there and watch the fun from afar.

So I slip into my rubber boots and enter the chaos. I make a snowball, and decide that the baseball captain is my first target. He looks shocked, but retaliates; luckily, I dodge it.

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This is where the snowball fight occurred.

 

Now that I’m in, there’s no going back. I lob snowballs at the giggling packs of girls and chase after the troublemakers. Even the shyest students who barely speak to me are creating attack formations. Before I know it, I’m laughing and running from students who are pelting snowballs at me.

So what is my role at this school? Am I a teacher, a friend, or somewhere in-between? While I aim to be respected, I don’t want to be an unapproachable authority. Sometimes I want to jump in the action and feel like I’m one of them. Ideally, students will be comfortable around me, even if they don’t like English.

When I first came to Japan, I met a Japanese teacher at the Fukui City Summer Camp who had been teaching for over 40 years and worked with more than 20 ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher). So I asked her a question I have repeated over and over, to any teacher willing to answer:

“What makes a great ALT?”

She said, “Great ALTs play with the students.”

What a simple answer! Yet so profound.

Later, at a JET conference I was told the secret to being a great ALT was to arrive more than 10 minutes early. I was not satisfied with this answer. To me, it showed that fitting into the culture is more important than any skills or creativity. I was annoyed because I don’t always equate myself with fitting in. I think of myself as free spirited and unique, and I hope to spread my unorthodox ideas to students and open their minds with my weirdness. Do any other teachers at my school have snowball fights, or dance the macerena in the hallways? Is it okay if I wear colorful mismatched socks?

Maybe I worry that I’m not being professional, but I have to remember that I’m a different breed of teacher: one closer to their age, and their mindset. Even though I’m 25, I pride myself in my immaturity. I want to be like a child, free of judgment and unafraid of what other people think of me.

But at the same time, I find myself wondering if it is professional to play catch in the classroom with an eraser. I did this with one boy from the baseball team who seems to hate English. At the time, I was happy that we were interacting, because he usually associates me solely with English and only scowls at me. After the fact, I couldn’t help but question myself. As a teacher, was I supposed to chastise him for throwing an eraser in class? Instead, I followed my gut and just started playing.

Even though I’m still not sure if my behavior is appropriate, I’m beginning to realize that my time outside of the classroom is where I can build my strongest relationships with students. So I’ve been going to after-school clubs and sports, joining PE classes, and wandering the halls during free time and after lunch.

A few months ago I was beginning to feel depressed at work. There was a big test coming up, so most teachers were too busy to acknowledge me. I had no classes scheduled for a few days, and I felt ignored and isolated. I would walk the halls between classes, trying to engage with students, but besides that I had nothing to do all day. I told my supervisor this, and he told me: ‘Don’t feel isolated! We like you. But we’re busy!’

Unfortunately this didn’t solve the problem. So I had to take action.

I needed to create something to look forward to, so I decided to ask the PE teacher if I could join his class. To my surprise, he checked the schedule and instantly aid yes! I often worry that I might inconvenience people, but the PE teacher welcomed me.

So I joined a kendo class later that day. I took off my shoes, and sat on the ground next to the students, and pretended to be able to understand what he was saying. He loaned me a bamboo sword. I floundered about, not sure what to do, but students rose to the challenge and stepped up to give me instructions in English. Suddenly, there was an instant role-reversal: they were the experts, and I was clueless. I hope that they felt empowered by teaching me.

Later, I joined a first-year PE class where students were doing gymnastics. The PE teacher seemed thrilled to learn the English word for ‘handstand’, and I was able to show off my cartwheeling skills. Most importantly, I had fun cheering and high-fiving students after they performed their acrobatics.

Whenever I join a sport, my aim is to boost student’s egos. So far I’ve tried basketball, volleyball, table tennis, track and field, soccer and badminton. Playing sports with them forces them to connect with me, even if they are the type who typically avoid eye contact in class.

At basketball practice, the captain took me aside and gave me some pointers on shooting technique. This student doesn’t particularly like English, but because I showed interest in his sport, he wanted to share his skills with me. I felt lucky that he gave me his unsolicited one-on-one attention!

I was worried that the track and field team would leave me in the dust,  but I was happy to find that they were cheering me on. They even invited me to practice with them again.

So should I throw erasers in classrooms? Should I join the snowball fight? Should I showcase my weirdness? Until I hear someone tell me not to, I’m going to keep doing it. It makes my job more fun, and deepens my connections with my students. I’m here to be involved, so I might as well take action.

 

This is a park near my house!
I often go for walks after school. This is in a random place; I just parked my car in a random spot and went for a walk in the snow.

 

I can’t post photos of my students, but I hope you enjoy my snow photography!

 

Tokyo Speech Contest: Journey to the Finals

On By ambertravelingIn Asia, japan, teaching1 Comment

Every time I take a weekend excursion, I feel like I am in full-flung travel mode again. Flashback to my 28 months on the road. It’s just me and my backpack, and I’m free to go anywhere.

With my job as English teacher in rural Japan, I can have this sensation every weekend, if I want.

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This is the moat around the Emperor’s Palace in Tokyo.

But what made this trip unique was its purpose: I was traveling to Tokyo for one of my students. My student Yuta* had miraculously made it to the finals of the 67th All Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest.

Our journey began when I arrived at my new workplace in early August. On my desk was a speech, which Yuta had written in Japanese and the previous ALT had translated into English. However, my supervisor suggested that we give it an overhaul. My supervisor, a creative and spontaneous English teacher, has a knack for speeches. In his 20 years of teaching he has brought 9 students to the finals in Tokyo. So the two of us – me, as a creative writing major, and he as an experienced teacher – made a great team for helping Yuta reach his potential.

Yuta has been going to private English lessons after school for many years. Unlike most students, he looks you in the eye when he’s talking to you. Even though he’s a little small for his age, his loud voice and strong opinions often make him the center of attention. I’ve seen him in his classes; he’s not your typical shy Japanese kid.

Yuta and I started practicing after school, for an hour or more. At the beginning, it was mostly talking about his ideas, and trying to find the right words to express them. Google translate helped a lot. After about 10 revisions, we had settled on the final draft. He must have learned dozens of new words in the process.

Soon, it was time for the local contest. About 60 students from local junior high schools gathered at a community center to give their 5 minute speeches to a room filled with at least a hundred teachers, parents, and fellow students. For most of the day, I practiced with Yuta outside. When it was his turn, he spoke in a big, passionate voice. Unlike the previous speaker, who forgot her speech half-way through, Yuta’s natural confidence and enthusiastic personality made him truly shine. I couldn’t help but cry as I watched him. I felt so proud to know him.

He won second place in the local contest that day, and the top three students were invited to the national competition in Tokyo! The first place winner from our local bracket was a Brazilian girl who spoke about her multifaceted relationship with her mother.

Soon it was time to prepare for Tokyo. Yuta asked me if I wanted to practice three times a day: before school, after lunch, and after school. I felt honored that a student wanted to spend so much time with me. At our practices, I always asked him, ‘What do you want to do today?’ This simple question is an example of something I learned while working at the SBCC Writing Center. Letting a student direct the interaction makes them feel more connected with the lesson.  Yuta seemed to appreciate the power to decide what to do.

He would usually ask for help with his pronunciation. He used to say ‘muzzer’ instead of ‘mother,’ and any word with an L or R is often challenging for Japanese people. So we practiced words like ‘recently’ ‘learn’ and ‘school’ many, many times.

It was fun for me to experiment with different teaching methods. For example, when he said, ‘We are not afraid to say what we think,’ I told him to put equal weight on the ‘what we think’, clapping to illustrate the rhythm of the phrase.

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When I was helping him, I thought of comparing words to music.

Five Days in Tokyo: A Hiatus from Reality

I was the only ALT from Fukui to accompany a student to Tokyo, and only because I fought for it. I had a feeling that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I told my supervisor I really, really wanted to go, and he listened. Sure, I had to take time off and pay my own way, but I still feel incredibly grateful.

The night before I was supposed to leave, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I met my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) Mr. Yamada*  on the train. We opted for the fast train – called the shinkansen – which travels at an average of 170 miles per hour. We were in Tokyo in 3 hours. (It’s a 6 hour drive!)

Yuta and his family had driven to Tokyo the night before. Once we found them, we practiced in his hotel room for a bit, and parted ways. Yuta was in a hotel payed for by the speech contest – he got to share a room with other participants. I know he made a lot of new friends! I spent the night at a friend’s house to save money.

The next morning it was Yuta’s turn to give his speech at the semifinals. I took detailed notes about the other speakers and made predictions. As I watched them, I couldn’t help but think that he had a chance to move forward. As his turn approached, my stomach started doing somersaults. I think I was more nervous than he was! When it was his turn to speak, again I couldn’t help but cry. Tears rolled down my face as I watched him shine, confident and pure-hearted, unafraid.

And miraculously, he made it! Out of the 33 students from the Northern Japan Region, he was in the top 7, earning him a coveted spot in the finals the following day.

Held at a fancier location in a bigger auditorium, the atmosphere at the finals was thick with nerves. These were the most talented junior high school English speakers in Japan, all in one room!

I was astounded by the inspiring topics and impeccable delivery from these kids. They spoke about important real world issues, such as Japan’s relationship with Korea and the 70th anniversary of World War II.  Several shared  captivating anecdotes about overcoming bullying and bigotry. One of the finalists had a German father, and spoke about her dual identity as both Japanese and German.

Most of the participants were from private schools; only 8 students out of the 30 finalists were from public schools. (Yuta was one of them!) Many of them spoke with a British accent, and some truly sounded like native speakers.

During the breaks, I conversed with several of the contestants, and was impressed by how comfortable they were talking with me.

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This is the banquet hall where we had a reception for the speech contest. There must have been a thousand students, teachers, and parents here!

The Results

Unfortunately, Yuta didn’t make it in the top 7. And yes, I cried again when he gave his speech. I’m incredibly proud of him. After all, he was one of the best 30 speakers in all of Japan.

After the contest, I paid a ridiculous sum to attend the closing banquet, where I got to see a Japanese princess speak with a British accent, congratulate all the students and present the final award. The first-place speaker was a girl from Okinawa who urged listeners to turn off their smartphones and pay attention to the world.

When I was back at school, my supervisor asked me to do a write-up about my impressions about the speech contest. You can read my conclusions here:

What makes a great speech? After watching my student participate in the finals of the 67th All Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest speech contest, I have drawn some conclusions. The speeches were judged based on three categories: Content, English and Delivery. Therefore, the winners must have an interesting topic, be easy to understand, and connect with the audience.

 First and foremost, a great speech must have unique and captivating content. In the finals, no two speeches had the same topic, although some of them had overlapping themes. The winning speech was about how smartphones are changing society. The second place winner spoke about the importance of names. Yuta’s speech, titled ‘Children are our Teachers,’ was about learning from children. He urged listeners to retain childlike qualities like enthusiasm, bravery and innocence even as we grow up.

 Secondly, every speech in the finals was easy to understand. The finalists all spoke clearly and I could comprehend every word of their speeches. Many of the speakers, such as the first place winner, sounded like native speakers. However, students with a noticeable accent – like Yuta– were still successful in conveying their message.

Lastly, the speakers in the finals all had the ability to connect with the audience because of their confidence and humor. Like Yuta’s speech, the top winners all made the audience laugh. A speaker must have a strong personality, and have the confidence to speak loudly on stage in front of hundreds of people.

All in all, I am extremely grateful for the experience of working with my students and fellow English teachers during this speech contest, especially Yuta. Both he and I learned a lot from each other. I hope that next year I can take another student from Midori* Junior High School to the finals in Tokyo!

*I changed the name of my student, the teacher I was working with, and my school to protect their privacy.

Unfortunately I can’t post pictures of my students on the blog. So here are some random photos from my trip. The speech contest was only one part of my 5 days in Tokyo. In addition, I visited a fish market, played ultimate frisbee, met up with a few old friends, and experienced Tokyo nightlife. Yay for adventures!

 

Early morning sushi at the Tsujiki fish market with new friends. All these guys play ultimate frisbee.
This is the Tokyo Station. It reminds me so much of the one in Melbourne!
All my stuff for my 5 day trip. I’m getting pretty good at packing light.
At a park in Tokyo I was reminded of Santa Cruz, California. There was a drum circle!
Tokyo nightlife
Look I found ultimate frisbee!!!
It was a nice day too!
I decided to try to make friends at one of these cute bars in Tokyo. It was easy!
I even found a ukulele jam sessions! Of course I had to join in. 😛 I think they were pleasantly suprised by my request to join in.
One of my meals in Tokyo. Miso soup, pickled veggies, and rice mixed with tiny fish called shirasu. You crack the egg in it and make a pudding-like mixture.
This guy is from Bulgaria and he had some kind of cool Bulgarian violin.
I like the architecture in big cities

Ramblings on Teaching: Being Quiet so Others Can Talk

On By ambertravelingIn Uncategorized4 Comments

It’s hard to believe I’ve already been in Japan for 3 months!

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I’m proud of my English board! I painted everything myself.

I work for the JET Program, which stands for “The Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program.”  It’s sponsored by the Japanese government, who want to integrate foreign teachers into their schools to promote “cross cultural exchange”. It’s the world’s largest teaching exchange program. They employ teachers from 43 countries. Currently there are 4786 participants, and the website proclaims their goal to increase the number to 6000 before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

I am the only foreign English teacher at my school, and I started with zero Japanese. As you can imagine, I’m learning a lot!

My title is Assistant Language Teacher – or ALT – so I work alongside a JTE, or Japanese Teacher of English. It’s interesting to watch their different teaching styles and try to blend with theirs, but sometimes I feel frustrated that I don’t have more control of the class.

However, I hope that my coworkers are starting to realize that I’m serious about teaching. Some ALTs come in straight out of college whereas I spent the last few years traveling and volunteering as an English teacher.

Most of my JTEs let me take charge of the class a little bit every day. I`ve been creating slideshows about my weekend adventures, and I make these into interactive lessons. I’ve also been teaching English through songs; the students (and I!) love One Direction!

Both in and out of class, one of my biggest goals here is to give the kids the chance to approach me. I want to talk less and listen more, and give the students the chance to talk.

During lunch, I join them in their classrooms. Every teacher and student is surprised to see me there.

It works like magic. I barely have to say anything. The awkwardness of my presence forces them to talk to me. Sometimes I practice my Japanese phrases:  “Ichiban suki na dobutsu wa nan desu ka?” (What’s your favorite animal?) Usually I just try to be as quiet as possible and wait for them to talk to me, and they usually do.

There is testing this week, so a lot of English classes were cancelled. Instead of being bored at my desk I decided to participate in a PE class. I changed into my athletic clothes and joined the students in the gym. Every time they looked at me it was like a shock to their system. What is she doing here? I imagine they were thinking.

We warmed up with 5 laps around the gym, did some stretches, push ups, and sit ups, and then started playing an easy version of volleyball.

I joined a team of two preteen boys who at first seemed like they wanted nothing more than for me to disappear. Neither of them particularly like English, and I recognized one of them as being the silent and broody type from class. However, by the end of the hour, I was setting the ball for them and they were smashing it at the other team. I gave a lot of high fives, and hopefully made some new friends.

As I’m re-learning, I have to take action to make my life exciting. This is something that I discover again and again, wherever I happen to be in my life.

The other day, I stayed after school for tennis club. Wearing my athletic clothes, I waited on the side of the tennis court, holding a borrowed tennis racket, watching the students play. I noticed a small group of girls gather and whisper, looking at me over their shoulders. They approached me and asked me – in English! – if I wanted to play with them.

This is the kind of interaction that makes me feel the most proud. I kept my big mouth shut, and gave them the chance to be brave and talk to me.

A similar thing happened last week at art club after school. I asked if I could join, then quietly sat down and started drawing without speaking to anyone. Slowly, some girls began to crowd around me and see what I was drawing. (A dinosaur.) One girl in particular was fascinated with me. She stopped what she was doing and just watched me draw. Even though the girl was only 12 years old and spoke very little English, we had a beautiful interaction. She taught me some of the colors in Japanese and I praised her artwork.

On the other hand, there are moments here that feel like utter chaos.

Today, I tried to control a class that was in disaster mode. The JTE is a very quiet woman who is not confident in her English. The students in the class are immature and take advantage of her gentle personality and lack of experience and use the class to goof off.

I was amazed at how disrespectful they were today, in comparison to my other classes. They were literally working on homework for other classes and making loud and obnoxious noises while she was trying to lecture them about grammar.

Her lecture was in Japanese so I couldn’t understand or contribute at all, but I walked around the room and confiscated distracting items such as math homework and pencil cases.

I tried to get the class to practice some dialogue, since that’s what we were supposed to be studying in the textbook. In most classes, when you say “Please practice this with a partner” they actually do it, but in this class it seemed like the only groups that were talking in English were the ones I was hovering over.

Despite this rowdy class, overall the students are shy and respectful, at times almost painfully so. Games and activities are a good way to break the ice. I usually carry my ukulele and Frisbee around. Recently I bought a magic wand that I pretend to zap people with in the hallways. Hopefully my happiness and fun-loving spirit is contagious, and spreads to both the kids and teachers at my school.

Since I don’t have to make lesson plans, I have more time during the day to interact with students in a non-academic context. After lunch, I often play Frisbee with a large group outside.

So far, my biggest challenge is feeling isolated at work – some days, no one makes an effort to talk to me. Not because they are rude, but because they are busy. After all, I am the only foreigner in their school, and most teachers and not confident in their English ability. It seems like one of the best ways for me to make friends at work is to learn Japanese. It’s a huge challenge, but I’m learning, slowly but surely!

Another challenge is coping with feelings of uselessness when the JTEs start lecturing in Japanese during English class. Oftentimes I can see the students eyes glaze over – as do mine!- and I desperately want the teacher to acknowledge me, or at least talk to the class in English so I can occasionally jump in. Part of this job is learning how to be patient and work with the system. At the same time, I want to make a big impact while I’m here. Standing and watching is sometimes neccessarry, but I want to be as active and involved as possible.

One day last week when I was feeling especially useless, I was on the verge of tears. I kept repeating to myself “I can do this…” throughout the day, but I just felt so alone. Some teachers had cancelled class with me, and I felt like I was banished to my desk. It seemed like everyone was too busy to even make eye contact with me. Many ALTs are happy to relax and do their own projects or study Japanese at work, but I get bored after being ignored for hours and hours.

So I asked the Speical Education class if I could join their class. There are only 2 students in the class, Haruna and Yuto, and both students emanate sweetness. I showed them postcards from Santa Barbara and some American money, and they were so curious. We examined every inch of that dollar bill.

Later in the day, they invited me to plant garlic with them. As we walked to the school garden, Haruna took my hand. It almost made me cry; it was like she could sense that I was having a bad day, and wanted to help. Despite her trouble with reading and writing, she has a deep emotional intelligence that sets her apart from other students.

All in all, my experience in Japan is quite amazing. I’m learning something every second. School is both challenging and fulfilling. Outside of work I have many friends, both foreigners and Japanese. I play basketball, indoor soccer, and ultimate frisbee with other ALTs. I joined a gym, make green smoothies daily, and am healthier than I’ve ever been. Sometimes I feel lonely, but overall I’m quite happy.

Thanks for reading. If anyone has any advice about teaching, or anything else, please contact me.

My typical breakfast! Green smoothie (broccoli, spinach, cucumber, banana, avocado, water) topped with walnuts, apple slices, and bananas
This is what $30 USD gets you at the grocery store: greens, salmon, wine, lemon juice, random vegetables, etc.
One of my students is in an English speech contest. When I was helping him, I thought of comparing music to words. It must have worked, because my student won 2nd place out of 60 kids!
I had a traditional Japanese breakfast with Dana and Miki
This is team Brazil. I was in a soccer tournament last weekend. Go team!
I take lots of photos at grocery stores.
I’m obsessed with this miso r
I bring my own lunch to school. I eat fish but not meat; it’s called a pescatarian!
I’m sitting next to my friend Mamiko!
Curry with new friends! Eva and Barry are from Georgia
Chalk flowers that someone drew at my school!
This is my friend Miki! I go to restaraunts with her because she can read the menu! (I cant.) We are doing language exchange: I teach her English, and she teaches me Japanese!