More interview tests today. I baffled the students with such questions as “How are you?”, and “Do you enjoy studying English?”. To be fair, they are all so nervous that it’s tough for them to catch the question. Still, most of them did great and it went very well. Tomorrow is my last set of interviews, and then I’ll be coasting into exam week, when I will have a ton of free time.
Some of my students received the results from their STEP tests and they passed! It is really a good feeling to hear from them after you’ve been coaching them for so long.
My students can be pretty far out there – and then some of them are completely normal. You just never know for sure until you talk to them. I was explaining to one of my students that his favorite band – “Rip Slyme” was named after tearing snot. He was astonished, and a little disappointed I think. Another student today asked me how long my nose is (in centimeters). One of my ESS students gave me some omiyage from her trip to USJ a couple of weeks ago. She also wrote a nice note in English explaining the present. She’s one of my favorite students – she always tries hard.
I’m becoming more and more at home in a classroom full of students running around. In the few minutes before class officially begins it can be a bit chaotic in the classroom. Today some boys were playing a quick game of baseball – they kicked their slippers off their feet to pitch, and the boy would swing with his arm at the flying slipper to try to get a hit. Girls are screaming and chasing each other around, and the whole scene is how you imagine a food fight would be without the food. I just step out of the way of the flying slippers, or talk with some students in English.
There’s some serious behind the scenes drama going on between the English teachers right now. It’s a long story, and it goes back all the way to World War II, believe it or not.
At the end of the war, American occupying forces initiated a change (one of many) in the Japanese education system from the learning of German to the learning of English. Traditional English instruction in Japan consists of a lecture and lots of grammar rules – not conversation. For many years, up until the mid 1980’s, people just didn’t learn how to have a conversation in English. This led to lots of teachers knowing a whole lot about English, except how to speak it.
Now in present day Japan, there has been a movement over the last 15 years to teach conversation. This has put a lot of teachers on uncomfortable footing. Some teachers are afraid to get up in front of a class and speak English, because of the fear of making mistakes. They don’t mind doing it alone, but in front of other teachers, or an ALT like me, they don’t want to appear clueless.
Mr. Hayashi is great at speaking English, and he’s part of a minority of teachers that can not only teach it but speak it, as well. He makes other teachers nervous. At some schools, none of the teachers want to speak English, and so I’ve heard of situations where ALT’s have to learn Japanese to communicate with others. There is a seniority structure in these situations, and people get used to being the top dog in their pool of teachers. The wild card here is that every year, random teachers are transferred to other schools.
Ms. Mori is one teacher that was the boss at her previous school, and is used to having her way. Last year she transferred to our school and is very vocal about how English should be taught. She’s not very confident about speaking English, and she’ll only talk to me under strictly controlled conditions or if we’re alone.
She and Mr. Hayashi are clashing in a very Japanese way – subtly making power plays and allegations – recruiting friends and identifying enemies. Mr. Hayashi gives me the play-by-play daily, and sometimes tries to bait me into participating. So far I’m not having any of it, but it’s interesting to watch.
I don’t know how it will turn out, but a battle is brewing, and sooner or later somebody will come out on top. Very dramatic, and just one of the subplots going on in my workplace.
