Monday, April 21, 2003

What I did today Today, I... Taught two lessons in Ozu Elementary School; Taught two lessons in Tsukumo Elementary School; Chaired the (remarkably trouble-free!) AGM of the International Club; Went with some of the members for a drink in Hibiki, until 11.30.

My first visit of the term to Ozu Elementary School went fine. I took the firsts, thirds and fourths for the first lesson, and we looked at greetings, days of the week, and saying your name. The first years coped well, I thought; I'm not so sure about the fourths, though. In particular, the two girls in the fourth year (and when there are only three children in the year, two of them is a significant proportion!) seem entirely disinterested. With the fifth and sixth years, I did my lesson about continents and countries, and the children did well; they were eager, and came up with sensible answers. When the children are interested in and positive about a lesson, then a small class is good; when they aren't prepared to cooperate, though, 45 minutes with a small class can feel like a waste of time.

After lunch (if fifteen minutes back at the office can be called lunch), I went to Tsukumo Elementary School. With the first and second years, we did simple greetings; most of the children did well. Some of them, though, especially the first years, hadn't quite settled down. I was particularly irritiated by two girls who decided that swapping stickers was more interesting than paying attention to my lesson (it was, quite possibly, but that's beside the point); I ended up confiscating the offending stickers. I'd prefer that the Japanese teachers act if there are discipline problems; but if they show no signs of dealing with a problem, I'm more than prepared to act myself. With the thirds to sixths, meanwhile, I did basically the same lesson, but added to it phrases for asking someone's name, age and address, and for telling your own. I suppose it's something that could be said of any lesson in any school, but there were some children who worked hard, some who didn't bother; some who did well, some who probably took nothing away from the lesson. Generally, though, it was a good class; the upper years in Tsukumo are normally at least moderately eager no matter what we do.