Discuss the state of the teaching industry in Japan with your fellow teachers! Use this thread to discuss salary trends, companies, minor questions that don't warrant a whole post, and build a rapport with other members of the community.
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Is anyone else wishing we had a few more days of spring break before the pandemonium ensues? The first six days of April are hell on earth trying to get everything ready for HR, classes, school position, club, etc.
I just witness this and thought I’ll share it.
We have a few new teachers that started today. I noticed the first questions being asked to them by other teachers coming to intro themselves are ‘how old are you’. It’s as if they’re already establishing who is more sempai.
I was going to ask where are they from but decided against it and just complimented their shirt or something .
I teach college and today two of our graduates came back as teachers. I remembered them as dedicated and fun students. We even won a national English contest prize with one of them. It was a really proud moment despite making me feel old.
Do you guys have graduation/entrance ceremonies that are worth going to? Kinda tired of having to travel 2 hours round trip just for an hour of hearing a bunch of old guys give out-of-touch speeches to a group of students wearing funeral suits, in a freezing cold gymnasium, with hard chairs that hurt my hips after 10 minutes. I don’t think the students want to be there any more than I do. I’ve never really understood the point.
Two days in the new job. Life is so much better when you are not stuck all day in a Japanese office, that even drove the Japanese staff away. I am sure there will be new things to complain about, but F-me this is night and day.
Started my new job as an actual teacher at a private SHS. Definitely NOT an ALT role… but even just after the orientation and seeing what I’m responsible for, I’m already enjoying it more than ALT work.
Mostly because I can now control the lesson flow, instead of having to wait for a JTE to tell me to pull something out of my rear end at the last minute. Also help that I only have to worry about one school instead of 4+
Great, looks like I have a 1-on-1 class with a repeating student this year. *For 90 bloody minutes*. If they’re A2 or above I could put together something, but being a repeater they’ll probably be A0 and absolutely none of my material or activities in my Teacher Toolkit^(TM) works with a class size smaller than four students. Did I mention *90 bloody minutes?*
This wouldn’t have been an issue if last year’s teacher had passed them through, because they’re on an old curriculum that won’t exist in the next year anyway. Else they should be put in the new curriculum English classes because the content is exactly the same. But in typical Japanese stubbornness that’s not possible, because different subject name = different subject even if the content is literally the same. The flexibility of foreign universities where credits can be transferred to equivalent classes would give the average Japanese admin an aneurism.
This is the time of year when I pour a lot of creative energy into materials. All my crafty domestic stuff – knitting, sewing, needlework, woodworking gets sidelined until GW.
Anybody relate?
First week of new term and my homeroom is fantastic. Well behaved kids, responsible enough that I don’t need to be involved in the day to day or micromanage. They all get along with each other too (for now). Parents were quick to respond to my introduction email instead of being absentee parents. Having to go to the child welfare center every so often for consultation got old very quickly.
Then again, I feel this way about every new batch before the craziness starts.
I always have a mixed feeling starting another school year, one is excitement for meeting new first years and new faces, other is a bittersweet sadness for teachers that have left and moved to another school.
I tend to look around the staff room like “they are new..oh ~sensei is gone…” etc
I am only teaching the higher level 1st year students this year. While they are not super high level, what is important is their behavior. Which is excellent.
At the same time, I’m already ready for summer. My kid will finally join kindergarten (which is good but a little saddening), then I’ll have time to work a little more. I’ve been playing catch-up for a year.
I’ve got a lot of koma this semester, more than I’ve had before. Anyone got some advice for keeping my head above water? For instance, I’m trying to use materials across multiple koma (although some adaptations needed). Just trying to prepare before we get going in earnest.
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