I dragged my coughing, hacking, sorry body into work today, knowing that I have a big week – if I don’t go in and do my classes, nobody else will. Luckily, the day turned out pretty well, and I feel much better this evening.
I did a new lesson for the second year students on food. We talked for quite a while about food, and the students did a pretty good job. At the end of the lesson there is a game that makes everyone get up and run around, and that was a big hit. I am doing the class five more times this week, so hopefully it will stay fresh and interesting.
I’ve turned into the sadistic teacher when it comes to calling on students. All the kids are watching me and they are trying to figure out my patterns. Who is going to get called on next? What’s the best way to avoid getting called on? Sit in the back and hide? Stare at your textbook and don’t look up? A year ago I was taking Japanese at Grossmont College in San Diego and I did the same thing – I was hoping that the teacher wouldn’t call on me to speak in front of all my peers. I’ve been there, and so I’ve had a chance to think up all kinds of insidious plots to throw students off balance.
In one class, I only called on the last two rows the whole class. The next week everyone moved up to the front. I called on the back rows for the first half on the class, just so the kids in the front would relax, and then I called only the front row kids the rest of the class.
Today I asked the first student in the row to pronounce a word, and then I walked down the row, each student pronouncing the word. Once they figured out which row is being worked, people would relax. After doing four rows like this I would walk down the row and then suddenly point at someone across the way. You should see the facial expressions – as my students would say, “I have shock”.
Another one of my tricks is to walk towards a student, making eye contact, just like I’m about to call on them, and then at the last second call on the kid next to him who is already relaxing thinking they are off the hook.
Sadistic, I tell you. Anyway, the tactics are extreme sometimes but they do a pretty good job of keeping people guessing, thereby paying attention. There’s always some exceptions, but it’s working so far.
Today I made a pretty good haul on Valentine’s candy. A student wanted to meet me in my classroom after school so she could give me a big bag of Valentine’s goodies. She said that she made them “especially” for me. There was a bunch of cookies, and even some chocolate truffles in there. Nice. Another student gave me some chocolates, and a part time teacher, Obara-sensei, gave me some homemade cookies that she baked.
After school the teachers had a big mandatory meeting that I was excluded from, which is always great news. I got to leave an hour early, so I snuck out and did a bit of shopping in Befu. I was looking for some specifics, but I struck out. I may need to go to Kobe to pick up what I want. Dinner tonight was kimchee fried rice with carrots and sprouts on the side. Delicious!
