Then There was Junior High
So I just successfully finished my first week at a Junior High School (JHS). Whoo hoo! I was honestly a little nervous about going into this week because the kids would be older (12-14 years old) and I wasn't sure what my capabilities were with older kids but I made it! This is kind of how my week went...
Of course, like every other school, on the first day I met the kyotosensei and kochosensei and got introduced in front of the whole teacher's room and shown my desk. All that was pretty normal. Luckily at this school, the kyotosensei actually spoke a decent amount of English so nothing was lost in translation. Upon looking at my schedule I also saw that I would be teaching with four other Japanese English teachers at this particular school. As I went through the week, I met each one and fortunately for me, they also spoke a decent amount of English!
For this week's lesson plan I did a self intro class that consisted of a quiz based on myself and my home country. The best part of this quiz was the end where there was a section for children to ask me anything they wanted. I got typical questions like "What is your favorite color?" or "How old are you?" and then I would get very personal ones like "Do you have a boyfriend?" or "Are you married?" Then from time to time I would get unusual ones like "Do you have an eggplant?" or "Do you like eggplant?" Yes those were from the same student haha. But based on students' questions and their courage to even ask me, it was easy to see who were the smart ones, the outspoken ones, the trouble makers, the shy ones, and the ones who didn't really care about English.
It was nice being at a different level of education just because I felt lucky to be able to observe this level of schooling and how it differed from the elementary schools I was at before.
Here are some things that stuck out to me, I observed, or thought was interesting...
• JHS students all wear uniform but instead of what the elementary level kids wore, the JHS kids wore like a track suit as their uniform. It was navy and white and had a name tag that was attached to the jacket that had their name and based on the color, showed what grade level they were in. JHS starts with grade 1, 2, and 3....which would be equivalent to the American grade 7, 8 and 9 (since elementary here goes to grade 6).
• The relationship with the students and teachers are very friendly and more approachable. The kids know the boundaries of respect but still can joke with the teachers. Many of the teachers at my JHS are also pretty young, so they almost play a big sister-big brother type role to the kids.
• Teachers' dress at my school was very relaxed. Many teachers wore track suits and had very casual outfits on. I definitely stuck out in my full suit!!
• Unlike schools I went to in America, the students are assigned to ONE classroom based on their level of education. Here, the teachers change classes, not the students. So the students have assigned desks as well. Also in the classroom there is a classroom leader, one student who helps begin and ends the class and I'm sure keep it in some sort of order. Also in the classroom, the students clean the board when the teacher finishes. And as a teacher, when you are done and the bell rings, you bid farewell, and leave the class right away.
• Students are trusted in the schools. After all the classes are over, there are many after school clubs like sports, music or art. If students want to use a classroom to do work in or something, they come to the teachers' room to ask for the classroom key and a teacher hands it to them. I asked one of the teachers once, "You really trust the students huh?" and she replied back, "Well why not?" It's just different than what I am use to but I suppose because here the classroom is the students' classroom...so they wouldn't want to make it dirty or trash it if it is where they are all day.
• Something that really impressed me about Japanese school education is how knowledgable the students are with the world. I had lessons (also in elementary level) that required me showing flags of other countries and the students got them easy! I'm sure it is part of their curriculum but as a 11 or 13 year old, I could not tell you what Saudi Arabia's flag looks like...but these kids knew! Also when I showed them monuments in the States like The Golden Gate Bridge they knew what it was and where it was. I was just impressed because I'm sure if you showed a junior high student in America a picture of Mt. Fuji, they would not be able to tell you where or what it is.
The amount of after school clubs at this JHS was crazy! Like class lets out but the students (and teachers) stay hours after the last bell practicing sports, music, or art. On Thursday I was fortunate enough to watch soft tennis club with one of the teachers. I was interested because I had never heard of "soft tennis" and wanted to see what that was like. If you are curious, it is basically like tennis but with a softer, more squishy ball. When watching practice I noticed the ball didn't bounce as much as doesn't have as much force so it makes it easier to play and less running for the ball. Also, the teachers are the ones that oversee the clubs after school but that doesn't mean they know the sport or are good at it. The teacher that was in charge of soft tennis doesn't even play it. They just volunteer and do their best.
When I asked the teacher how many clubs were at the school, he said nearly twenty! That's crazy! I can barely remember five activities we had in junior high! They had clubs such as baseball, swimming, track and field, soft tennis, kendo, music, art, badminton, and volleyball. Also when the kids practiced music, they would just sit in the halls to practice in small groups of 5 or 6. This school was like an indoor/outdoor school so the halls were actually exposed space to the outside. It was fun hearing kids practice Disney songs or even the theme song to Mario Nintendo game.
After finding out the teacher that said across from me was the teacher that heads the art club, I immediately asked if I could come. I gratefully got to attend art club a couple times this week. It consisted of mostly girls and one boy, not a surprise. What was surprising was how awesome these kids were at drawing! Of course everything they drew was anime inspired but they were really really good!!! Even with different mediums like pencil, marker, and paint, these kids could really illustrate. I was impressed and enjoyed just hanging out with them, speaking English or learning random words of Japanese.
So after what I thought was going to be a stressful week, it turned out not so bad. The school, teachers, and students were growing on me, but unfortunately I won't be seeing this school for another month. I am assigned to 12 schools through out the year so I don't really get to build a huge bond with the schools I do see because I only see them once a month. Not everyone's schedule is as spread out as mine but its got its pros and cons. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my time at this school and look forward to next month's visit!
xxx
Of course, like every other school, on the first day I met the kyotosensei and kochosensei and got introduced in front of the whole teacher's room and shown my desk. All that was pretty normal. Luckily at this school, the kyotosensei actually spoke a decent amount of English so nothing was lost in translation. Upon looking at my schedule I also saw that I would be teaching with four other Japanese English teachers at this particular school. As I went through the week, I met each one and fortunately for me, they also spoke a decent amount of English!
For this week's lesson plan I did a self intro class that consisted of a quiz based on myself and my home country. The best part of this quiz was the end where there was a section for children to ask me anything they wanted. I got typical questions like "What is your favorite color?" or "How old are you?" and then I would get very personal ones like "Do you have a boyfriend?" or "Are you married?" Then from time to time I would get unusual ones like "Do you have an eggplant?" or "Do you like eggplant?" Yes those were from the same student haha. But based on students' questions and their courage to even ask me, it was easy to see who were the smart ones, the outspoken ones, the trouble makers, the shy ones, and the ones who didn't really care about English.
It was nice being at a different level of education just because I felt lucky to be able to observe this level of schooling and how it differed from the elementary schools I was at before.
Here are some things that stuck out to me, I observed, or thought was interesting...
• JHS students all wear uniform but instead of what the elementary level kids wore, the JHS kids wore like a track suit as their uniform. It was navy and white and had a name tag that was attached to the jacket that had their name and based on the color, showed what grade level they were in. JHS starts with grade 1, 2, and 3....which would be equivalent to the American grade 7, 8 and 9 (since elementary here goes to grade 6).
• The relationship with the students and teachers are very friendly and more approachable. The kids know the boundaries of respect but still can joke with the teachers. Many of the teachers at my JHS are also pretty young, so they almost play a big sister-big brother type role to the kids.
• Teachers' dress at my school was very relaxed. Many teachers wore track suits and had very casual outfits on. I definitely stuck out in my full suit!!
• Unlike schools I went to in America, the students are assigned to ONE classroom based on their level of education. Here, the teachers change classes, not the students. So the students have assigned desks as well. Also in the classroom there is a classroom leader, one student who helps begin and ends the class and I'm sure keep it in some sort of order. Also in the classroom, the students clean the board when the teacher finishes. And as a teacher, when you are done and the bell rings, you bid farewell, and leave the class right away.
• Students are trusted in the schools. After all the classes are over, there are many after school clubs like sports, music or art. If students want to use a classroom to do work in or something, they come to the teachers' room to ask for the classroom key and a teacher hands it to them. I asked one of the teachers once, "You really trust the students huh?" and she replied back, "Well why not?" It's just different than what I am use to but I suppose because here the classroom is the students' classroom...so they wouldn't want to make it dirty or trash it if it is where they are all day.
• Something that really impressed me about Japanese school education is how knowledgable the students are with the world. I had lessons (also in elementary level) that required me showing flags of other countries and the students got them easy! I'm sure it is part of their curriculum but as a 11 or 13 year old, I could not tell you what Saudi Arabia's flag looks like...but these kids knew! Also when I showed them monuments in the States like The Golden Gate Bridge they knew what it was and where it was. I was just impressed because I'm sure if you showed a junior high student in America a picture of Mt. Fuji, they would not be able to tell you where or what it is.
The amount of after school clubs at this JHS was crazy! Like class lets out but the students (and teachers) stay hours after the last bell practicing sports, music, or art. On Thursday I was fortunate enough to watch soft tennis club with one of the teachers. I was interested because I had never heard of "soft tennis" and wanted to see what that was like. If you are curious, it is basically like tennis but with a softer, more squishy ball. When watching practice I noticed the ball didn't bounce as much as doesn't have as much force so it makes it easier to play and less running for the ball. Also, the teachers are the ones that oversee the clubs after school but that doesn't mean they know the sport or are good at it. The teacher that was in charge of soft tennis doesn't even play it. They just volunteer and do their best.
When I asked the teacher how many clubs were at the school, he said nearly twenty! That's crazy! I can barely remember five activities we had in junior high! They had clubs such as baseball, swimming, track and field, soft tennis, kendo, music, art, badminton, and volleyball. Also when the kids practiced music, they would just sit in the halls to practice in small groups of 5 or 6. This school was like an indoor/outdoor school so the halls were actually exposed space to the outside. It was fun hearing kids practice Disney songs or even the theme song to Mario Nintendo game.
After finding out the teacher that said across from me was the teacher that heads the art club, I immediately asked if I could come. I gratefully got to attend art club a couple times this week. It consisted of mostly girls and one boy, not a surprise. What was surprising was how awesome these kids were at drawing! Of course everything they drew was anime inspired but they were really really good!!! Even with different mediums like pencil, marker, and paint, these kids could really illustrate. I was impressed and enjoyed just hanging out with them, speaking English or learning random words of Japanese.
So after what I thought was going to be a stressful week, it turned out not so bad. The school, teachers, and students were growing on me, but unfortunately I won't be seeing this school for another month. I am assigned to 12 schools through out the year so I don't really get to build a huge bond with the schools I do see because I only see them once a month. Not everyone's schedule is as spread out as mine but its got its pros and cons. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed my time at this school and look forward to next month's visit!
xxx
Mom said, Does she have any pictures? ... or just words? :P
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