Even Misaki, the sole girl in the class, who normally doesn't say anything because the boys only talk to each other, tried to help Kyosei as he tried to explain what he did over the weekend. (Apparently, he had wanted to buy a pen but grabbed a marker in the same bin by mistake.)
And even my Step 2* class, which is full of some really smart kids but who are really quiet, seemed to be more talkative today. I heard the boys laughing for the first time during my lesson.
* In Japan, there are English language proficiency tests called Eiken (or "Step") tests. Most of the people who take it are in school (elementary, JH, HS or even college), with level 5 being the easiest and 1 the most difficult. I know-- this numbering order confused the hell out of me for a while. There are two intermediate levels as well, such as pre-2 and pre-1. The Step level of a student isn't necessarily correlated to his or her age. Kids with parents are fairly proficient in English and/or an international school education, in which all classes in English and are full of non-Japanese or half-Japanese students, will have greater proficiency at the age of 4, for example, than a 12- or even 30-year-old who is taking his first English class. It sounds logical, but if you teach the advanced 4-year-old first, then the lower-level teens and adults, it can be very frustrating when the older students can't communicate or understand half as much.
Anyway, during my last class of the day, Ryosuke and Kotaro kept talking, even they they intermittently apologized when I stopped talking to the class suddenly to stare at them. I even tried to crack a few jokes at Kotaro's expense (other teachers have said that embarrassment usually works pretty well), but then he and his buddy figured out how to tell me, in English, that I was being rude. I shrugged, but I felt bad. Sigh. I guess it's just not my style.
I don't want to be one of those excessively strict teachers. But they are very disruptive at times, and it's hard for me, let alone the other students, to focus on the lesson. I'm not sure how to manage them. I'd done a point system thing a few weeks ago that seemed to work well, but he following week, it failed. And today, I didn't bother doing it, but maybe it's a matter of setting the ground rules and being consistent. Oh, I know! Maybe I can get one of the Japanese teachers to translate my rules to them. But I have to some up with them first.
Other causes for deflation today- I broke two, possibly three, office rules regarding food:
1. Students cannot eat or drink in the classrooms, and I had given a kid some water (because he said he was thirsty!)
2. No eating in front of the students
3. And especially no eating in front of the parents
Perhaps these sound strict, but I can see that doing any of these would result in an excessively dirty school, not to mention an unprofessional appearance. Sigh.
Oh, and I was informed that I had to sign my second written warning. Teachers incur an infraction for every lateness, failure to call in advance when late, among other things. After 3 infraction, you sign a written warning. After two written warnings, you lose what's called an attendance bonus. :T
I guess I'm ok with it since it would have been only about $300 anyway for the year. But then I got a little speech by the manager of foreign teachers (at least, I think that's his title), saying that during his first three years at his school, he had lived farther than Shinjuku (where he thinks I live near) and was never late. Shinjuku is a good half hour northwest of me, and the schools are all at least 30-60 minutes beyond that.
I know I really don't have an excuse for being late despite living the farthest out of all the teachers, I think. It's not like I wake up late; I actually wake up early enough, but always underestimate the amount of time I spend on things, and therefore end up being late. If you know me, you must know that I can't be punctual to save my life. I was 30-60 minutes early every day for my first week, and now I'm barely punching in on the dot. I don't know how to get back to that, or to develop a reasonable sense of time and punctuality.
I guess in the end, I didn't do anything horrible, but I hate the feeling I get when I'm being reprimanded.
No comments:
Post a Comment