I really do work, honest!

Although perhaps my previous posts do not indicate otherwise, I *do*, in fact, have a job out here. I am an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) based out of the Chubu Kamikita Board of Education office though the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) Programme. JET has been around for 26 years and works with various local government ministries to find placement and provide support for English teachers in Japan. For the official definition, go here.The only prerequisite was a completed Bachelor's degree from a recognized institution (however having TESL/TEFL certification is always a bonus, which I had. As is teaching experience... which I didn't have, unless you count boating lessons at summer camp... which I doubt. Haha.)

Sign by the entrance to the office parking lot... chubukamikitasomethingsomethingsomethingcentaaaaa. :p

The motto of JET (or maybe more of a mantra?) is Every Situation Is Different. When I got the email notification that I was offered a position with Chubukamikita koiki jigyo kumiai iinkai (中部上北広域 事美組合教育委員会) I was excited, but a little unsure of what I was getting myself into. The liaison at the Japanese consulate explained that it I would probably be working at Junior High Schools in various towns which had joined forces under the title of "chubukamikita" (中: central 部: section 上: up 北: north). I got a couple emails from my Boss (who said he would be my Japanese Dad lol) and my predecessor who told me that I would be working at several different junior high schools and a couple elementary schools. The JTE (Japanese Teacher(s) of English, keep track of these acronyms, there will be a test later) that I would be working with were quite keen and professional, so I shouldn't worry about anything when I got here. They told me about the little apartment that I would be living in (my Boss assured me it was safe, clean and cheap) and answered all my questions.

Notes from my 3rd year students who had just graduated.
I like rice, too. :)

I am lucky in my position, where I do not take my own car for my school visitations. Lucky because if it snowed *so terribly* that I couldn't shovel enough to get it out, I didn't have to worry about it until I got home later (for the most part, Plough-san was on top of clearing the parking lot), also lucky because the office car lives in a garage overnight. Woo woo! I have the option of walking to work or riding my bike (I'll post a pic of that bad boy in a later post) to the office. Before and after every school visit, I go to the office. A few of my schools are a bit far away, so I must arrive at the office earlier than I would if it was an 'office day' to make sure I get school on time. For whatever reason, over the winter, my body decided that it 6 am wasn't early enough and would wake me up before my alarm. So, now I just get up disgustingly early and enjoy a nice leisurely breakfast, shower and whatever else I feel I need/want to do around my apartment, or else work on shoveling the snow so I could get my car out if it was too gross to walk or I was going to the gym right after work. The sad thing is that 7 am is now "sleeping in" for me. Wah-waaaah.

A= Shichinohe, B= Touhoku, C= Kamikita

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My BOE has schools in 3 towns: Shichinohe (where the office is located), Touhoku (to the North East of Shichinohe) and Kamikita (to the East). I currently work in 5 Junior High Schools in those three towns. Shichinohe JHS (七戸中学校), Tenmadate JHS (天間舘中学校) and Enokibayashi JHS (榎林中学校) in Shichinohe, and I bet you can't guess where Touhoku JHS (東北中学校) and Kamikita JHS (上北中学校) are situated. Typically I visit each of these schools once a week, but not always. That's where the Elementary schools come in. I've got Jyounan ES (城南小学校) in Shichinohe that I visit instead of one of my JHS once or twice a month. One time in December, I visited Tenmagashi ES (天間東小学校).

Aaaaah the (in)famous junior high school text books

Junior High Schools ( Middle "中" School "学校") include 3 grades. What would be considered grades 7, 8 & 9 in Canada. Depending on the number of students, there may be 1 to 3 classes in each grade. Each grades' classes are named 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 or 1-A and 1-B, and each student is assigned a student number based upon which class they're in and their name and gender (from what I've seen of class lists, the boys are listed alphabetically then the girls are listed alphabetically, I am not sure if this is a universal). Depending upon the school, I may be working with one or all three grades when I visit. In JH, students have a home room and it's the teachers who go to the home room, unless it's something like music or science where the students need the equipment in a different room, so there is a 10 minutes break between each class to prep/grab coffee/ discuss plans /change classes. One teacher faxes me a day or two before to give me a heads up on what we will be covering. One teacher has a meeting with me to go over her very detailed lesson plans for the two grades we work with. Most teachers give me a run down 5 minutes before class starts and let me know which page in the text book I will be reading the vocabulary/dialogue from, which exercise we will be doing etc. One teacher... is usually late for class so the Assistant Teacher and I go up ahead of time. :P Some days I have one class, some days I have 5. It's always a bit of a surprise. My JHS JTEs can speak fairly good English across the board. Sufficient enough to explain the lesson or let me know what part they want me to play. That's not to say that there is never any confusion or miss-communication, but for the most part we are able to get our questions answered.

My students have mad drawing skillz, yo!

Elementary Schools (Small "小" School "学校")  include grades 1-6, and are divided and named the same way as JHS. Usually we'll go over some vocabulary (ie the months, body parts, fruits, vegetables etc) and play a game or sing "Head and Shoulders" (not quite the same tune that I grew up with, and it seems to go on for ever and ever, but what can you do?) ES Teachers do NOT have to be able to speak English well... or much at all. Explaining lesson ideas and activities are quite a challenge at this level. We each try to communicate in each other's language and can usually get the point across, but, because ES teachers work with their students all day, we are only able to quickly discuss what we will be doing in class if the teacher has time during recess. There aren't bells rung between each and every class, and there isn't a set break between each class (at least in my experience... but remember... ESID!).

There are usually 6 classes per day, 4 classes in the morning and 2 after lunch. Then there's cleaning time, or club time but that doesn't seem to be every day. Sometimes, special arrangements have to be made so the students can practice for an assembly or some other school activity, so classes are shortened by 5 minutes.

I usually eat lunch with the students, where they do their best not to make eye contact with me. Haha. Sometimes they aren't quite so shy. Some groups are quite engaging. I make the attempt, or just smile at them while we chow down on school lunch (a whopping 860-is calories at the JHS level... but that's another post altogether). The elementary school kids aren't shy, but I can't understand what they are asking me... or they just want to know if I am married/have a boyfriend/have kids. :P They are always adorable, though, and usually I just agree and nod and clean my play (gotta be a good example for the little ones!) After lunch is free time. Some days I go out to see what the kids are up to, I made a snow man with one girl on a particularly sunny December afternoon, some JHS students will come up and say hello, but other times the students just want to play with their peers, so I let them enjoy time with their friends. The same goes with time in the teacher's room. Sometimes they are not quite as busy and want to either practice their English or just have questions for me about life in Canada. Other times they are swamped, so I use the time to study or make any preparations that I need to for classes.

The bat-cave.

For the most part, I have visitations every day of the week, but there are times (such as when I arrived during summer break) where I have none. Those are called "office days". They are a nice change every now and then, I can catch up on studying, preparing for classes, updating my blog or catching up on correspondence. I honestly try to spend the whole day focusing on the first two, but some days... And when I have a full weeks worth of office days it can get a little... dull. So I much prefer the visitation days and really look forward to them.

That's *fresh* cream shaken up just for us by the talented students 

There's a counselling center on the second floor of the building my office is in. Sometimes I get invited to work with the teachers and students that are up there. I got to make crepes with them, play mini-bowling and have played a couple rounds of UNO.

Sometimes when I come back from a long or particularly frustrating day at a school, there is a freshly made tasty treat waiting for me on my desk. They're a fun group to work with. Hopefully I can go canoeing with them next school year.