I had just three classes today at school – a normal schedule for me. This week I’m meeting new students, so each class starts off really tentatively. Once things get going I can get a gauge of the student’s English level, and also a feeling for what kind of activities I can do.
I’ve found that even though some classes are studying from the same textbook (the textbooks have different levels), the class English level can be quite different. That makes class planning a little tougher. I had expected to do an “I Spy” game in all of the classes of a certain level, but one class didn’t understand at all, another class of high level students were so shy that they didn’t want to make a mistake or speak out.
Part of it I attribute to it being the first time that they have met me. Also, they are used to the very structured routine of working from the textbook, but this month mainly we’ll be playing games, learning classroom English, and getting ready to take on the textbook next month.
Some students aren’t shy at all, and I had a class full of them today. The boys would burp, the girls would giggle, and there were lots of questions for me (Have you ever kissed anyone? Yes? Ewwwwww…..)
I did hear some good news from Nozaki sensei – the girls that were thinking about dropping out of the school for fear of Westerners decided to stay on, so that was a relief.
I got home at 7:30 tonight, and I actually beat Kuniko home. She got back around 9, tired out from her homeroom classes. I made a big pan of kimchee fried rice with shiitake mushrooms and onions, and it was really tough for Kuniko to stick to her diet. But, she did. Sorry…
