Office Day Friday

Another office day at the city hall today. Woke up at 7:15am and had some breakfast before throwing out my rubbish and setting off at 8:15am. Stopped at 7-Eleven on the way to buy some lunch and also some throat lollies (sore throat no!!!! Hope it doesn’t turn into a cold!).

The office day today focused purely on lessons and how to teach (or how they would like us to teach) English in Takasaki. First was a lecture explaining the curriculum handbooks with all the lesson plans. Next we were split into 3 groups and attended some short workshops. These were run by experienced ALTs, some who had been teaching for 10 years! The most helpful one was the second one where she showed us some practical tips for the classroom. This was extremely relevant and practical – she showed us fun ways to practice vocabulary instead of just boring repetition, and she showed us this cool as “Rhythm Box” (basically a speaker that plays beats and you can adjust the speed/volume) to use for vocab drills. Adding the rhythm and beats instantly made it fun! I will definitely be looking to buy one of these rhythm boxes, or at least an app that makes beats! The office day ended at 12:00, and I ate my convenience store lunch before cycling to school.

At school I finished up my English board, put it all up, and hid my treasure hunt objects around the school too! After school I just went straight home to have dinner and rest, since I really don't want this sore throat to turn into a cold!