Monday afternoon I went over to Nozaki sensei’s school for my first official day of work. I went over around 2:30, and since today was a short day at Takasago Minami, Nozaki sensei met me at the station and gave me a ride to her place.
We spent an hour or so talking about various logistics and things before class began. In the “great minds think alike” department, we both had prepared name tags. Hers had the students’ names already on them, and a really nice holder for each class, so we went with her name tags.
The way the day works normally is that I will get in to work around 2:45 or so, spend about an hour preparing for the classes for today, and then I’ll have three classes. The classes last about 50 minutes or so, and I have a ten minute break in between. The last class ends at 6:30, and then I’m done. Five days a month I’ll teach a junior high school class in the evening, but today it was just the normal three class day.
The classes today went fine, although I was caught in a little bit of a lurch because I had expected to spend time making our own name cards and decorating them. Since Nozaki sensei had thoughtfully covered that already, I had a 15 minute hole to fill. Actually this week we’re only really playing games and getting to know each other, so we did just fine.
Today’s students were fun – they’re a little reserved right now but I’m sure after a few weeks they’ll loosen up. One boy I can tell will end up getting written up a lot in my journal – Hiroki. The kid has ADD for certain. That’s my clinical diagnosis. There’s also Mana, a child genius who is very small for her age. Also there is Kako, a girl that seemed to know every English vocabulary I asked. The other students in her class looked at her in amazement. My favorite student from today was Ryuu, an eleven year old kid that was smart, confident and curious about English, me and my culture.
When I got home (around 7:30) Kuniko was already there. She had made me dinner (a big okonomiyaki) and so we could actually eat dinner together and hang out a little. Kuniko’s day went pretty well. She is going to be a homeroom teacher this year, and she is looking forward to that. Being a homeroom teacher means forming a tight relationship with your students, and advancing with them through school. Even though it is a lot more work, I think it is a very rewarding role to play. Kuniko seems happy about it.
More stories later as my first week continues. Tomorrow I’ll be teaching junior high students, so four classes to report on.
