I work as an assistant language teacher at four Junior High Schools in Wakayama City. Scattered throughout the city, each school is a unique blend of students and teachers. I rotate between school every two or three weeks, and I usually visit each classroom once or twice. As you can imagine, is difficult to get to know my students on a personal level but they are always thrilled to have a "gaijin" come to their class! I have definitely learned a lot about the Japanese school system and the emphasis on rote learning, memorization, and tests. It has been a wonderful learning opportunity to team teach with over twenty Japanese English teachers.
Fuko Junior High School
Dressed in school uniforms, the students can only bring certain foods in their lunch such as rice and meat. They are only allowed to drink tea throughout the day. Recently, baked goods have become available to the kids, but there are still strict rules forbidding candy, and chocolates. The students don't have a recess break, and so they are usually starving come lunch time at 12:40!
Kishi Junior High School
Most students are part of an after school club, such as Ikebana (flower arranging). Other clubs include volleyball, kendo, basketball, English, judo, basketball, track & field, and soccer. I like to play volleyball with the kids after school sometimes, but I can hardly keep up they are so good!
Meiwa Junior High School
Each term, one or two teachers are evaluated while conducting a mock lesson in front of various school board members and fellow teachers. Here at Meiwa, the home economics teacher is being evaluated while teaching the students how to peal apples. Yes, an entire lesson was devoted to pealing fruit!
Kasei Junior High School
In Japan, the maximum class size is 40 students. The students don't rotate between classes, rather, the teachers move to new classrooms. Between classes, the teachers gather in the huge staffroom where they relax at their desk for ten minutes. Nobody supervises the kids between classes and as you can imagine, it gets fairly "crazy" in the hallways and classrooms.
Ononimato Elementary School Visit
Angie and I spent a Saturday morning at a local elementary school where the kids were celebrating "internationalism." We were the Canadian guests and treated to a wonderful display of singing and dancing, and lunch prepared by the students. Only 7 and 8 years old, the students were very excited to show us their hand-made "international toys" and practice their English phrases. The kids were just adorable!
