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| Students play a board game to practice speaking |
The class that gave me the most trouble in terms of behavior was the only class that wanted to pose for pictures afterwards. In that class I had about 35-40 students and it was impossible to keep them engaged, off their phones, awake etc. There was a particular group of girls who I had to consistently talk with to pay attention and stop talking to their friends in Japanese. I was convinced that they hated me after so much conflict, but they are the same girls who wanted to take pictures together after class. Though they may seem sweet and innocent, I can assure you that they are not (see above picture).
My trusty TA (Sean) is also very happy that the class is over since he will no longer be deluged with stacks of grading and record keeping. This was good timing as he started work last week at a private English teaching corporation. So far he's enjoying it a lot (especially because he's only been assigned to adults and no young children).
It has also been interested to read the evaluations from my students. Some are positive and my favorites include comments such as "Sarah was lively and spirited" and "I created memories in this class" while others are hilariously negative including such gems as "I hate English" and "Why can't you speak in Japanese?" Some things never change whether one teaches in Ohio or Tokyo.
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| Examples of student work - they had to draw five scenes from a "movie" of their life including past, present and future and then talk to their partner about it |
Would you like to compare your teaching experience in Japan with that of China ? i would be so curious to read it :)