ETC Card Reader Installation

Woke up at 7:10am to nice, sunny weather! First up today was 2-2 in period 2, and we started on a new lesson unit, numbers. They were actually better today, like I definitely saw some improvement in terms of classroom behaviour and discipline. Their homeroom teacher seems to have gotten through to one of the noisier kids, because he was very well behaved today, and was one of the first kids to sit up straight and listen when it came to introductions. I guess she’s slowly working through disciplining the naughtier kids one by one! In terms of the actual learning, they struggled the most with distinguishing 13, 14, and 15 (similar “th” and “f” sounds). Bingo was a (noisy) hit as always. 2-1 up next in period 3 and it was almost funny how much they couldn't keep quiet. Even their teacher was wearing a half-laughing, half-perplexed expression the whole time. They loved the “Seven Steps” song at the beginning though, that’s always a lot of fun to do. 2-3 as always was the best class out of the 3, but they were still a little noisier than usual today too – pretty sure it’s cause of bingo (this always happens), and also possibly the warmer weather too. You’d think warmer temperatures would make them more sluggish but nope!

Lunch with 5-2 today and they were so welcoming and happy to see me. Their teacher was very prepared and had brought over a spare desk from the maths classroom for me to sit at. We started eating lunch a bit late today though cause the kids got back late from P.E., so we were all hurriedly eating to finish on time! We had soup, deep fried fish and deep fried peanuts (yum!) and rice mixed with seaweed and whitebait. Found out some more new sibling pairs today, all of which I was surprised at. I should really start looking at the kids’ surnames more haha. 6-2 in period 5 after cleaning time because of some scheduling changes. We did the same lesson as 6-1 did on Friday, and they did so much better. We started off with the listening activity, revising the months, and then I got them practice asking each other “When is your birthday?” and answering. This way they all knew how to say their own birthdays in English before the game. My JTE talked to them about playing the game properly and everything, and then we started. They were still a bit hyper and excited, but they controlled it and managed their own behaviour, and they also asked and answered each other properly about their own birthdays. Some of them were even singing along to the months song I was playing! Finished with reflection time, and they all wrote “My birthday is on ____” in English properly. We checked every single person’s reflection sheet, so it felt very productive.

Had a speedy meeting with the 4th grade teachers about tomorrow’s lesson, and I think after writing down my lesson plans for them a few times, they really know how I work and the flow of the lesson plans (so thankful). After that my school librarian helped with some car insurance documents. A package with some very complicated looking forms and bills came, and it was for the voluntary car insurance. Japan has compulsory and voluntary insurance, but everyone enters the voluntary one anyway. Basically you take the bill (that’s mailed to you) to the post office and pay there, and then send back the form (with your seal stamped on) using the envelope they prepared for you. I’m really lucky though, because I get a (way) cheaper insurance price because I’m classified as “government staff”, since I’m under the BOE. Got off work at 16:00. The car dealer I bought my car from came over to pick up my car, to finally install the ETC card reader. He brought over a replacement car for me to use while my car is away, and the replacement one is such a cute pastel green colour! The model name is called Carol too haha. It’s all going to be finished by tomorrow though, so super quick. Went to the supermarket in the replacement car after 19:00 to get some groceries. As expected, you do get a little attached to your car! Even though this one is a much cuter colour, my one really feels a lot more spacious inside and is just newer in general (although this one has done less kilometres).