Monday

Woke up at 7:15am, quickly downloaded some videos for today’s 3rd grade lesson, had rice for breakfast, and then drove to school. First up was 5-1 today and we did the presenting of their dream schedules. The presenter had to say “On (weekday) I study (subjects)” and the rest of the class had to listen and take notes of what subjects they said, because I would then draw a number at random and ask that student what the presenter’s dream schedule is, to check that everyone is listening. This was my JTE’s idea actually, and it was a really good one, because everyone took notes and listened very seriously since they all had a chance of being called on. It did get a bit noisy towards the end as they lost a bit of focus and started asking each other for the answers instead of listening themselves. I was still pretty happy nonetheless because the students who never answer or put their hands up, answered properly when they were called on.

Next up was 3-2 and I think today’s lesson was one of the best we’ve had in a while. They did the activities properly, learnt the vocab properly, and it wasn’t as noisy and rowdy. Not sure if it was just their mood, or that they liked the team games. I’ll try incorporate more team games and maybe that’ll help with the class atmosphere for 3-2. I think their homeroom teacher was also pretty relieved that today’s class actually went well for once. On the other hand, 3-3 was noisier today because we were finishing up on the places unit, so it was the board game. As expected all the kids just seem to go crazy when there’s dice involved, so it was a bit hard to keep the noise levels down. At least they were still asking “Where are you going?” well, and saying the place names well when they landed on the square. The lesson with 3-1 today was fun because they’re good at English, so I can make the activities a bit more challenging. They were good with their colours and shapes, so I got them to say the country name as well as the colours and shapes when describing the flag. They also really like team aspect of the activities today and got really competitive about the points and stuff. Their homeroom teacher also had a really good idea with the points at the end with the 3 hint quiz game, giving teams a chance at a reversal and the like.

Had lunch with 6-1 today, and before I went in I thought it’d be a bit quiet and awkward because they’re a bit colder/cooler when compared to 6-2, but it was fine, they still talked with me. Found out some more sibling pairs and one of them I just wondered how I didn’t see it before cause the brother and younger sister really look alike! We talked about what they did in the weekend, and one kid was saying how he went to eat sushi and a sushi train place, and that his dad ate 20 plates of sushi (which is A LOT). One other kid who was listening chimed in that he could eat 20 plates himself, and that 5-1’s homeroom teacher could eat 40 plates! I didn’t believe the 40 plates though, cause that’s pretty impossible for one person to eat all by themselves. I also asked them about their Odaiba trip, and they told me what they liked to do and which day was fun, and turns out it was a few of the kids’ first time to Tokyo! Cleaning time was easy today as the rostered kids were the ones who’re on the good side. I don't think they’ll ever forget the word “rubbish” now, so it’s great that I’ve got that ingrained in their heads. Spent the 5th and 6th period writing up the info for the Christmas themed English board since I didn't have time to do it in the weekend (even though I’d brought it home with me to do…) so hopefully I’ll be able to put everything up tomorrow.

While at work I decided to book a haircut since my fringe was getting way too long and I might as well get a whole haircut instead of just cutting the fringe myself. Got off work at 16:15 and drove to get some cash from Lawson, before going home to do my laundry, and then driving to the hair salon. As always, the service is great at Japanese hair salons, and I was really happy with the hair colour, but a little disappointed in the cut – but that was probably my lack of explanation, and not their skill (hopefully). I’ll probably try different hair salons in the future though, using the app’s coupons. After the hair salon I drove to Daiso to pick up Christmas decorations for the English board.