I came into work today to find the first year teachers buzzing about yesterday’s exams. I guess a student was caught cheating, and he had a couple of assistants helping him out. The teachers had to go to the student’s home and tell the parents, and by the time the teachers got there the student had already given them a different story. I guess it was a late night for almost everyone, and it was a good reminder why I’m glad I’m not a Japanese teacher.
Today, like yesterday, I had no classes because the students are taking exams this week. I spent the day studying Japanese, and chatting with other teachers. In the afternoon I helped some students get ready for the speech contest on Friday. One of the teachers that is helping the third year student prepare really laid into her for not having the speech totally memorized. She went on and on, and I could see the student slowly changing from someone who likes English to someone who doesn’t, right before my eyes. I tried to keep her smiling and enthusiastic, but this teacher was all about winning, winning, winning.
The good news is that I am going to go to root for the students in the speech contest on Friday. Maybe I can do something to help them relax before and after the very stressful event.
After work I cooked up a simple Chinese chicken and pepper recipe from a package and we had a nice easy (and healthy) dinner when Kuniko got home. Kuniko is going to be cooking with her students this week. She’s the only female in the first year teacher’s group, so she is automatically the one who will have to supervise. We went out tonight after dinner to buy supplies. Now she’s in the kitchen doing a test run, and hopefully I’ll be the guinea pig.
Tomorrow is my third day in a row without classes, and Thursday is a holiday for us. No plans yet, but we’ll see how the weather is. I’d like to get out and do something active.
