Tuesday

Woke up at 7:15am, had rice for breakfast, threw out the trash, and set off for school. Today is one of my busier days with 5 lessons, 4th grade and 6th grade. First up was 4-1 in period 1 and it was actually surprisingly an extremely good lesson! These kids were the 3rd graders last year (who were probably the most difficult grade apart from 3-1 who were perfect), but I think with the new homeroom teachers and the new mix up of the kids (spreading out the super well behaved 3-1 kids out between the classes was a great move), it resulted in some really great 4th grade classes this year. They were really attentive and quiet and did the activities very well. They learnt how to say some foods in English, and we played the keyword game and food bingo. Both were done super great, and 4-1’s homeroom teacher must just be a damn good teacher, because the ADHD kid was sitting in his seat properly doing all the class activities! 4-2 was also surprisingly super good, even though I was worried about this class because the most problematic 3-2 kids were in here. But I needn’t have worried, I think the teachers really knew what they were doing when they made the new class lists. They separated all the problematic 3-2 kids, so I feel like they behave a lot better when they don’t have their naughty mates to mess around with. It was honestly really good, I was really happy. It also helps that 4-2’s homeroom teacher is not as soft as last year’s 3-2 homeroom teacher, so that makes a world of a difference.

4-3 was also really good, pretty calm and quiet with a few class clowns who still listen to you. This homeroom teacher is a new recruit to our school but he just went along with my class plans no problem, which I really appreciated. He had previously taught with one other ALT (that has been here a long time) that I know! Overall, super happy and glad that the classes turned out so well with the new 4th graders, and I’m now also looking forward to what they can achieve in English this year. Spent the spare period 4 fixing my hard drive (it’s still in the works). Lunch today was kinako sugar powdered fried bread, tuna salad, and wonton soup. The first half was a bit boring as the kids just talked amongst themselves, but the second half was hilarious because one of the class clowns (I love him because he always tries to speak in English using the most random phrases/words) started a conversation with me with his broken English, and the other kids joined in too because of him. The ways in which they express themselves is hilarious – he was telling me how one of the other kids broke one of the classroom doors when they were 3rd graders, so he said “三年生の時に (in a heavy foreign accent) he, window, crash!”. Stay creative kid, stay creative. Cleaning time was a breeze again today, the kids are always super cute. One was a bit hyper today so I asked him if it was because of the fried bread and sugar, and the other kids just couldn't stop laughing after that woops.

Turns out 6-1 didn’t have English today because of some tests they’re doing, so I finished off my day with 6-2 in period 6. It was a little messy in some parts, but overall still a great lesson. They’re just instantly so much more mature now that they’re 6th graders! My JTE and I were also both really surprised and very happy with one of the kids, because he used to do absolutely nothing in English class last year, and would always be really negative and just a gloomy aura hung around him. But this year he’s changed a lot and has a much brighter outlook and energy. He was doing the activity properly and everything! Had the meeting with the 1st grade teachers about tomorrow’s lesson, and got off work a bit late today at 16:45 because I had to make some candy cards for tomorrow’s lesson. I swear I’d seen them before in the materials corner which is why I didn't bother making them earlier!