What your First Day may look like;

              The first day at a new Elementary school is really for mood setting.  There are a lot of greetings, coffee and gifts.  However, it’s important to keep a polite, fun and positive composure all day long!  Give them a good cooperative impression and all the other visits will be a piece of cake!

 

              Typically, the day before someone will call you at your base school and remind you (for the thousandth time, maybe) that you have a visit and make sure that you know how to get to the school.  Once you get there, if you found it, there will be your “supervising teacher”, and maybe a few others, to greet you at the door.  They’ll show you to the office, you’ll meet the OL’s, and whichever teachers happen to be there.  It’s all smiles and pleasantries.

 

              Then they’ll show you to the Kyoto Sensei, and you’ll be greeted again.  Then all three of you will head to the Kocho Sensei’s office.  Now, it’s normally not customary to bring gifts for the Kocho of a visiting school, but you can decide that for yourself.  In all respects, the Kocho may give you a gift; after all, you are there while on some classical mythical mission!  Then it’s time for the teacher’s meeting, as usual.  After the round of Ohayo’s, they’ll introduce you to the staff.  They may ask you to give a brief Bio, but whatever you say end it with; “Dozo, Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu”.

 

              After that it’s back to normal for all the teachers and they’ll most likely let you sit and guzzle coffee for a while.  They may give you a desk in the staff room, or the Kocho will invite you into his room, which is, effectively, a meditation chamber.  Now, since this is your first day, there will most likely be a school assembly around it.  Soon, after your nerves have been totally fried because of all the coffee you unwittingly drank, you’ll be taken to the gym.  This is occasionally done by some lucky 3^rd or 6^th grader.  All the students and teachers will be there.  You’ll be lead up to the stage, given a brief introduction, and then you’ll be asked to introduce yourself again. 

They may ask you to teach a short song or an easy game usually from your home country!!!!

 

 

  Be prepared with something simple, just in case!  However, as with everything in Japan, impressions are very important, the school assembly may be a welcome party, festival or just an easy going time for you so you can feel comfortable.

 

              After all this, your day of “real” teaching is about to begin!  Since you did your introduction in front of everybody, your classes can just start after the Kiritsu.  There will be a short break and, if you remembered to ask for it, you’ll have the first period off to prepare.  Once class starts, you’ll again be lead there and you can start on the plan you so meticuously crafted.

 

             They may or may not ask you to join a class for lunch, but if they do; GO!  It’s a real treat for the kids to sit with you, see you fumbling around with the chopsticks, and they are bottomless pits of questions.  It’s really fun!

 

              After lunch is cleaning time.  They”ll probably will ask you if you want to rest in the Kocho’s “Meditation Chamber” (office) and chill with some more coffee and TV.  Whichever, you most likely won’t be asked to help out.  However, if your base school is an Elementary, then you might want to volunteer, after a while.

 

              After cleaning time there might be another class.  There may be a meeting with the head of the PTA, or more teachers.  Or you may be asked to sit in on a club.  Whichever, since elementary schools end early, you too can go home sooner than your JHS or SHS buddies.

The Teachers;    

 

              A large part of your time will probably be spent not so much with the kids, but with the teachers and in the staff room.  You will have the regular three to four classes a day that all JETs have, so there will be a lot of time in the office.  Since you are most likely a visitor, they will have a desk and locker prepared for you.  As in your base school, try to use this time to communicate with your teachers.  Most teachers will be happy if you try to talk with them and, likely, they’ll have a few questions for you, too. 

 

              But with everything in the JET program, the potential for under-involvement is there.  You can always ask to join another class; the gym class, the calligraphy class, art class, etc., but something that isn’t too distracting for the teachers.  Get up and walk around the school, check things out, it’s your time, do with it as you please.  But remember, what you do during your first visit will probably set the tone for your next visits.  Think about what you can handle.

 

The Children;    

 

              As you probably can imagine, teaching elementary students is a lot different from teaching at a JHS or SHS.  But don’t underestimate the student’s ability to speak or understand English!  Recently, many elementary students go to Jukus (night school) to study English and other subjects.  Some students may be able to understand almost everything you say!

 

              Try to get as much information as possible!!!!! 

 

From the 6^th grade, elementary students start learning the alphabet, numbers, colors and they will know basic greetings.  As in every classroom, there are advanced and beginners, fast learners and slow learners, intrinsic and extrinsic learners.  It’s wise to ask the teacher before you go appointing students to speak in front of the class or even to just answer you.  Some students are shy and others may have some sort of special needs (foreign students, mentally or physically disabled).  It’s a good idea to ask the teacher to pick the students for you.

 

              Encourage your students!!!! 

 

Encouraging students to speak, at those ages, is not always a problem.  Tell them it’s okay to make mistakes and that trying to do your activity is really all you want.  Repeat what you say a few times and leave some silent time for them to process your words and figure out your meaning.  Above all, encourage, encourage, encourage!

 

              Find ways to control your class!!!

 

Many games are competitive and kids can get a little wound up.  You may have fights or tears happening from time to time.  Don’t lose your composure!  If it looks like the game has reached an unexpected level, try to slow it down.  If you have more than one winner, use Janken.  In many of these more combative situations, Janken will help everybody feel at ease.

Sometimes classes can get out of control, or some students just get over excited.  What do you do to quiet a class?  Try standing silent with a finger to your lips and wait.  Or, start a simple clapping rhythm and keep it going until all the students have joined in.  Or, go over to the more aggressive students and just follow them around or ask them questions they can answer.  Lastly, you can always call on the teacher to help out.  After all, you’re not there to discipline, it’s not your class and what rules the teacher may have laid down it’s up to them to enforce it.

             

Students will be excited to learn from you and will happily repeat almost everything you said (3 Stooges style).  The younger they are, the better their pronunciation tends to be.  You can use this to your advantage.

 

              Keep your students motivated! 

]

Keep in mind that children tend to have short attention spans; sometimes it’s equivalent to an University freshman watching MTV.  Use activities that involve the whole class, keep them short, fluid and use more than one per class.  It’s not necessary to pile in as many activities as you can, I found 3 seems to be the max per class (remember, you have to properly introduce the instructions for each activity you use, that takes time!).  However, always have more ready than you’re willing to use, make back up plans!

 

 If a lesson is obviously bombing, don’t hesitate to change to another!

 If a lesson seems to be doing better than expected, and the kids are really into it, think about extending its time limit!