Thursday

Woke up at 7:00am aaaand the rain is back again. It looks like it’s going to continue all the way till next Thursday…had potato mash for breakfast, then drove to school. A normal Thursday timetable today with 4th grade and 1st grade. 1st period with 4-1, and a smooth class as normal (as it always seems to be with 4th grade, they’re truly great). We drew our own handprints and presented (got them to recite a few lines from the picture book). They all did pretty well, but could still do better with louder voices if I was to be stricter/pickier though. 1-1 in 2nd period, and it was probably because we didn't have the meeting yesterday (between the 1st grade homeroom teachers and myself) so the train game didn’t go too well. They were pretty well behaved today though, being really quiet when I asked them to, and not taking too long to settle down. I probably just expected way too much from them – I should’ve known better and not have expected 1st graders to be able to do instructional directions. Their homeroom teacher gave a great suggestion to modify the game so it’s more suitable for their age/ability, and it was a great idea! Worked really well in 1-3 and 1-2. Instead of getting the kids to stay the directions, I would say them, and they would follow. That was a lot more successful, the game ran a lot more smoothly, and the kids were able to enjoy it a lot more. At the end of each lesson, I also prepped for next week’s Halloween lesson by asking them to choose a Halloween object (pumpkin, ghost, bat, etc.) so I could prep for the craft next week. Despite the minor hiccup with the train game, I was very impressed with the 1st graders today. They listened properly, settled down when they were supposed to, and were actually able to wait quietly (you guys can do it!). Plus they successfully remembered all the vocab, albeit having some trouble differentiating left and right in the game (but I mean some of them still have trouble with left and right in Japanese, so it’s allgoods).

Lunch with 3-1 again and we had ramen with soup, apple + sweet potato salad, and a chocolate bun. Spent the lunchtime catching up with 1-2 – I didn't have time to do the Halloween prep in class since the train game went a bit overtime, so I chased them all down so I could get their choice for next week’s craft. The bat option is definitely the most popular so far, followed by black cat. Cleaning was a breeze again today. Because it’s raining the kids aren’t allowed to play outside, so being stuck inside, they naturally arrive much faster for cleaning time. Today they were there before the designated 13:30, and finished completely by 13:35. Gave them their requested gold star stickers today! Last class of the day with 4-2 in 5th period, and another great class. They all presented really well, and it was fun to see the outrageous hands being drawn (eyeballs in the palm, someone drew a game of basketball happening on his hand, and someone even drew Goku on his hand!). Got off work at 16:10 and went to fuel up a bit before driving home. Had udon for dinner and finished the drama I’d been watching.