I don’t usually discuss work on the internet for reasons like you know, getting fired, but today deserves a brief mention. After having to walk to school with a perfect good car left at home, sobbing that sad car face, I got in just at 8:50 when the morning meeting usually starts. I caught an unusual break today in that there was no morning meeting and I didn’t have to make that awkward entrance among a crowded room of teachers who’ve been standing there waiting for this thing to start for 10 minutes and have probably already been at school for 30 more. Yes. My ideal morning - huffing and puffing from trying to run to make it on time while 50 some Japanese eyes are staring at you. Or, well, 100 eyes really since there’s like 50 teachers. Only one is a cyclops.
Anyways today I had my two worst classes. These students are all boys going into construction or machining and couldn’t give a flying fuck about learning English. I swear of maybe 60 boys I have about 10 that even look at me and the teacher during class. The rest, well the rest are doing any combination of looking at their PSP’s, their keitais, the window, their pants, manga, keitai manga, or wrestling. Not looking at wrestling but actually…grappling. On a good day my teacher and I plow through the lesson and she ignores the troublemakers. I ignore them just the same as I have absolutely no authority over them. If I foolishly try to intercept a game of Mario Kart with a worksheet I get looks that can be described a number of ways. I’ll settle on incredulous. Pompous 16-year old attitude also fits the bill.
Today I was tasked with making a quiz game to test the kids a bit before their…test next week. I settled on 10 questions, answered in a group with the group getting the most right winning. Simple. In fact I doubt it could be simpler. But my teacher insisted that the questions I was asking were too difficult. This is something she remarks quite often when I prepare lessons or activities. “ehh….muzukash.” No. I’m sorry. Asking “What TV show makes you laugh?” is not difficult for these kids. For Christ’s sake their written test has them checking off which part of a word is emphasized in natural speech. For example, “en-LIGH-ten-ment.” That shit is hard. My questions are only difficult because even the guys in the front row can’t hear me over the goof-offs in the back of the class chasing each other around like 6 year olds that found Dad’s crack pipe. Regardless my teacher thinks it’s so difficult that she moves to each of the whopping 3 groups that are participating to tell them if they’re right or wrong and what page the question is from. Nothing’s better than a game where the questions are answered for you.
I’m really bitching about her and the class when I should be bitching at myself. I was woefully underprepared for the quiz game and with more time I could’ve made it more fun. I guess I thought about what I would be up against trying to get those kids to do anything let alone a new game on the last English class of their school year. I should’ve just showed pictures of Heui-ting eating random chicken entrails and called it a day.
Also worth mentioning is that the heaters weren’t working in the classroom today because, as my teacher put it, the “huse” had blown. Sometimes “F’s” can be a little tough for Japanese speakers I’ll give them that. But I had to laugh when my teacher handed me a piece of gum saying it had ricket. It did not, in fact, have a childhood bone disease but was instead filled with liquid. Rather than be a bastard about it I understood the picture on the gum, took my piece, and said thank you.
0 Responses to “Eh, it’s a living”