There was also one that said something like "SHEAR GLOSSY LIP it takes one to know one" And many others.
Thursday, February 26
Could you please tell me the way to the baby store?
There was also one that said something like "SHEAR GLOSSY LIP it takes one to know one" And many others.
Tuesday, February 24
Who care what I accomplish, at least they're having fun.
Today was a really GOOD day of elementary. The past few I've had a number of frustrations but today, really good. Lessons went smoothly, the kids were having fun, I was having fun...it was all good.
I will tell you the story of my 4th grade class today:
In 4th grade, we started learning some new vocabulary last week, places. We practiced the pronunciation and such and played a game using a previous grammar point 'Where do you want to go? I want to go to the ________'
Today I said we'd try a directions game. I didn't really prepare totally since I fly by the seat of my pants as a habit. At the beginning of class we did the usual 'What day is it? How's the weather' song and dance, then started out reviewed the names of all the places. We also introduced some direction-giving vocab like 'turn right/left'. Once that was done, I move the places around on the board a little and drew some lines connecting them.
Then I drew a stick figure at the end of one of my 'roads' and said 'Ok, everyone! This is ME!' and I pointed from myself to the stickman and back again. Then, I said something like 'Can you tell me how to get to the bookstore?' with emphasis on bookstore. Then the kids all together shouted out directions to me 'Go straight! go go! stop! turn right! go up!' etc until I got there.
As the game progressed I started adding more story to the proceedings. All of which I illustrated with chalk-drawn stickmen. I had them lead me to the flower shop and bought some flowers for 'Hada-sensei', then had them take me to school so I could give the flowers to 'Hada-sensei.' Then, feigned epic hunger and asked them to please tell me how to get to the bakery. Once I bought some bread at the bakery, I went to the park for a picnic. However, I drew myself alone, so the kids started saying like 'oh she's all alone!' so I responded by saying 'Oh! I'm all alone! sabishii picnic! LONELY!'
After that I told them that I was really really tired, and I wanted to go home. Along the way there, I kept yawning and falling off the path and going the wrong way which they got a kick out of. Once at home I drew myself in a futon, and then said it was morning and I felt good again! For my finale, I got a package in the mail at home. I opened it up to find a candle from my mom. I lit the candle and put it by the window. I started watching TV. While I was watching TV, the candle set the curtains on fire. I called for help! The kids had to get the firetruck from the station to my house.
The day was saved thanks to my 4th graders and I thanked them profusely first in English then in Japanese for SAVING MY LIFE!
Actually through the magic of acting and using a limited English vocabulary, pretty much all the kids seemed to understand my story (although they wanted my candle to be DYNOMITE...boys will be boys.) and whenever I asked them to tell me what they thought I said back in Japanese, they got it, perfectly. (for example, after I said 'Oh man! I am SOOOO tired! I want to go home and sleep! I asked (in Japanese) 'Do you understand? Tell me in Japanese what I said!' and I got the instant response of 'You're sleepy and want to go home')
So happy elementary was fun today.
今日小学校で（無料？）道案内ゲームをした。九割英語を使ってたのに、みんなだいたいわかったそうだ。授業をしながら話を作って、馬鹿みたいジェシカはエンターテイナーになった。生徒の案内おかげで、まだ生きている。
I will tell you the story of my 4th grade class today:
In 4th grade, we started learning some new vocabulary last week, places. We practiced the pronunciation and such and played a game using a previous grammar point 'Where do you want to go? I want to go to the ________'
Today I said we'd try a directions game. I didn't really prepare totally since I fly by the seat of my pants as a habit. At the beginning of class we did the usual 'What day is it? How's the weather' song and dance, then started out reviewed the names of all the places. We also introduced some direction-giving vocab like 'turn right/left'. Once that was done, I move the places around on the board a little and drew some lines connecting them.
Then I drew a stick figure at the end of one of my 'roads' and said 'Ok, everyone! This is ME!' and I pointed from myself to the stickman and back again. Then, I said something like 'Can you tell me how to get to the bookstore?' with emphasis on bookstore. Then the kids all together shouted out directions to me 'Go straight! go go! stop! turn right! go up!' etc until I got there.
As the game progressed I started adding more story to the proceedings. All of which I illustrated with chalk-drawn stickmen. I had them lead me to the flower shop and bought some flowers for 'Hada-sensei', then had them take me to school so I could give the flowers to 'Hada-sensei.' Then, feigned epic hunger and asked them to please tell me how to get to the bakery. Once I bought some bread at the bakery, I went to the park for a picnic. However, I drew myself alone, so the kids started saying like 'oh she's all alone!' so I responded by saying 'Oh! I'm all alone! sabishii picnic! LONELY!'
After that I told them that I was really really tired, and I wanted to go home. Along the way there, I kept yawning and falling off the path and going the wrong way which they got a kick out of. Once at home I drew myself in a futon, and then said it was morning and I felt good again! For my finale, I got a package in the mail at home. I opened it up to find a candle from my mom. I lit the candle and put it by the window. I started watching TV. While I was watching TV, the candle set the curtains on fire. I called for help! The kids had to get the firetruck from the station to my house.
The day was saved thanks to my 4th graders and I thanked them profusely first in English then in Japanese for SAVING MY LIFE!
Actually through the magic of acting and using a limited English vocabulary, pretty much all the kids seemed to understand my story (although they wanted my candle to be DYNOMITE...boys will be boys.) and whenever I asked them to tell me what they thought I said back in Japanese, they got it, perfectly. (for example, after I said 'Oh man! I am SOOOO tired! I want to go home and sleep! I asked (in Japanese) 'Do you understand? Tell me in Japanese what I said!' and I got the instant response of 'You're sleepy and want to go home')
So happy elementary was fun today.
今日小学校で（無料？）道案内ゲームをした。九割英語を使ってたのに、みんなだいたいわかったそうだ。授業をしながら話を作って、馬鹿みたいジェシカはエンターテイナーになった。生徒の案内おかげで、まだ生きている。
Monday, February 23
大阪・神戸・智史 Escape from Tottori
This weekend I spend Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday in Osaka and Kobe with Satoshi. Much fun was had. Rundown of some of the highlights:
-Spent time surrounded by large buildings and tons of young people instead of barren rice fields and old people.
-Went to The Gap and bought some clothes
-Went to an Izakaya and somehow only spent $10 total on a ton of food, three drinks.
-Went to Kobe for the first time and walked around and saw cool places like Meriken Park, a random shrine, Lotteria.
-Got introduced to the wonderful world of '学習まんが' which is comics for children that teach children things like Japanese proverbs, sayings, famous poems, etc.
-Met Satoshi's awesome mom who did things like make us breakfast, make us dinner, offer me candy.
-Went 'looking for my people' in Amerika-mura which means 'America Village'...but haha there really aren't Americans there it's mostly a place to buy hip-hop fashion clothes and see people dressed up like gyaru-o and other Japanese fashion trends.
-Got to hang out with Satoshi, who is not only super cool, but also speaks English almost fluently and understands my Amerika slang.
The only moment of the weekend that utterly failed was when we tried on two different nights to ride back together from the station on Satoshi's one person bike.
This is not a bicycle built for two! EPIC fail!
Oh also I forgot my camera...so I only got a few shots with my cell phone! Oh well...next time I'll remember.
もう智史と会うために関西に戻りたいけど
-Spent time surrounded by large buildings and tons of young people instead of barren rice fields and old people.
-Went to The Gap and bought some clothes
-Went to an Izakaya and somehow only spent $10 total on a ton of food, three drinks.
-Went to Kobe for the first time and walked around and saw cool places like Meriken Park, a random shrine, Lotteria.
-Got introduced to the wonderful world of '学習まんが' which is comics for children that teach children things like Japanese proverbs, sayings, famous poems, etc.
-Met Satoshi's awesome mom who did things like make us breakfast, make us dinner, offer me candy.
-Went 'looking for my people' in Amerika-mura which means 'America Village'...but haha there really aren't Americans there it's mostly a place to buy hip-hop fashion clothes and see people dressed up like gyaru-o and other Japanese fashion trends.
-Got to hang out with Satoshi, who is not only super cool, but also speaks English almost fluently and understands my Amerika slang.
The only moment of the weekend that utterly failed was when we tried on two different nights to ride back together from the station on Satoshi's one person bike.
This is not a bicycle built for two! EPIC fail!
Oh also I forgot my camera...so I only got a few shots with my cell phone! Oh well...next time I'll remember.
もう智史と会うために関西に戻りたいけど
Friday, February 20
Elementary English Education - what, exactly, am I supposed to be doing?
I teach middle school 4 days a week, and elementary 1 day a week.
I work at 3 different elementary schools and all three schools run the English program somewhat differently. At A School, the largest school, I mostly plan the English lessons for lower-level students (1st grade through 4th grade) on my own, and we use a textbook sort of thing for 5th and 6th grade although we deviate from the prescribed activities somewhat.
At B School, I plan all of the lessons on my own. However recently we had a open demo lesson there, and the protocol has been changing to the illusion of other people planning the lessons. By illusion, I mean that instead of me having a meeting where I plan out the lesson with one other person present, we've switched to having a meeting where I plan out the lesson with 5 teachers present. Illusion of cooperative lesson planning. ahem. At C School, a school with roughly 13 students and 9 teachers, they plan everything for me, fax me a lesson outline the day of, and I show up. For the Christmas party they asked me for suggestions and I obliged. I would do anything to help these people but at the same time I'm very relieved at how easy their lessons are for me.
As for WHAT we are to teach, the Ministry of Education has dictated some guidelines which go into place in a few years. English class is to foster interest in English education. Reading/writing activities are to be avoided. Phonics is not to be taught. The focus should be on 'communication'.
I feel like they're shackling English to permanently be this goof-off period where children are taught 800 different animal and vegetable names in English, or set phrases such as 'My birthday is August 14th.' Also the homeroom teachers are supposed to be able to plan the lessons, but they are not English experts, they are untrained to teach English, and they have no idea how to teach a language they themselves have a tenuous grasp on the basics of.
The thing is...my elementary kids know a lot. They learn some English and it does stay with them from week to week. But when we get into junior high, it's like they've never seen an English word and it's right back to square one. Huh?
Let's just teach them phonics and pronunciation for most of the year...
I work at 3 different elementary schools and all three schools run the English program somewhat differently. At A School, the largest school, I mostly plan the English lessons for lower-level students (1st grade through 4th grade) on my own, and we use a textbook sort of thing for 5th and 6th grade although we deviate from the prescribed activities somewhat.
At B School, I plan all of the lessons on my own. However recently we had a open demo lesson there, and the protocol has been changing to the illusion of other people planning the lessons. By illusion, I mean that instead of me having a meeting where I plan out the lesson with one other person present, we've switched to having a meeting where I plan out the lesson with 5 teachers present. Illusion of cooperative lesson planning. ahem. At C School, a school with roughly 13 students and 9 teachers, they plan everything for me, fax me a lesson outline the day of, and I show up. For the Christmas party they asked me for suggestions and I obliged. I would do anything to help these people but at the same time I'm very relieved at how easy their lessons are for me.
As for WHAT we are to teach, the Ministry of Education has dictated some guidelines which go into place in a few years. English class is to foster interest in English education. Reading/writing activities are to be avoided. Phonics is not to be taught. The focus should be on 'communication'.
I feel like they're shackling English to permanently be this goof-off period where children are taught 800 different animal and vegetable names in English, or set phrases such as 'My birthday is August 14th.' Also the homeroom teachers are supposed to be able to plan the lessons, but they are not English experts, they are untrained to teach English, and they have no idea how to teach a language they themselves have a tenuous grasp on the basics of.
The thing is...my elementary kids know a lot. They learn some English and it does stay with them from week to week. But when we get into junior high, it's like they've never seen an English word and it's right back to square one. Huh?
Let's just teach them phonics and pronunciation for most of the year...
Wednesday, February 18
Japanese Language Proficiency Test - 不合格
I've failed my JLPT.
I found out on Monday and I've been sitting on the info, stewing.
It came down to I couldn't pass the reading and grammar portion. That portion you get 70 minutes to read passages in Japanese and answer reading comprehension questions and also choose the appropriate grammar for umpteen sentences. Something I find so easy and instinctual in English but haven't gotten too good at in Japanese yet.
But there will be another test. And I will pass it.
Score rundown:
Kanji/Vocabulary 60/100 (pass!)
Listening 70/100 (good pass!)
Reading/Grammar 76/200 (UTTER FAILURE)
Total 206/400
I would have needed a 240/400 to pass, so it's not all too far out of reach. Even if I never crack 50% on the Reading/Grammar section.
I found out on Monday and I've been sitting on the info, stewing.
It came down to I couldn't pass the reading and grammar portion. That portion you get 70 minutes to read passages in Japanese and answer reading comprehension questions and also choose the appropriate grammar for umpteen sentences. Something I find so easy and instinctual in English but haven't gotten too good at in Japanese yet.
But there will be another test. And I will pass it.
Score rundown:
Kanji/Vocabulary 60/100 (pass!)
Listening 70/100 (good pass!)
Reading/Grammar 76/200 (UTTER FAILURE)
Total 206/400
I would have needed a 240/400 to pass, so it's not all too far out of reach. Even if I never crack 50% on the Reading/Grammar section.
Monday, February 9
Wednesday, February 4
再契約意思確認調書 (translated that means 'signing away the next year of my life')
Today I FINALLY turned in my 'Yes, I'll stay another year' form. AKA my recontracting decision form.
(Side note: the form is due on Friday. Sometime on Monday I thought to myself, hmm, I wonder where that form is? Isn't it due sometime in February? Then I found it. Then I realize, 'oh crap, THIS FRIDAY.' But turning it in was painless, just had to circle the 'Yes' and date it and sign it. But can you imagine if I had forgotten about it? I mean, classic Jessica behavior, but oy that could have been awful.)
At orientation, they told us that we would be facing this decision in February, the dead of winter, and that would make it harder. Harder to sign up for another winter, another February. But I loved January, and February is going pretty swell, at least the first 4 days of it. Silly orientation monkeys. Rather than being in a trough of culture shock, I'm finally adjusting to my surroundings and I LIKE February (It's like winter, but now with more sunlight!) and honestly...I just wish it could stay cold on the mountain so I could snowboard all year.
I feel good about staying two years. I kinda knew I would stay at least two years. I'm finally getting my roots here. It's been hard at times, but I finally have friends at work and friends at home and life is good.
(Side note: the form is due on Friday. Sometime on Monday I thought to myself, hmm, I wonder where that form is? Isn't it due sometime in February? Then I found it. Then I realize, 'oh crap, THIS FRIDAY.' But turning it in was painless, just had to circle the 'Yes' and date it and sign it. But can you imagine if I had forgotten about it? I mean, classic Jessica behavior, but oy that could have been awful.)
At orientation, they told us that we would be facing this decision in February, the dead of winter, and that would make it harder. Harder to sign up for another winter, another February. But I loved January, and February is going pretty swell, at least the first 4 days of it. Silly orientation monkeys. Rather than being in a trough of culture shock, I'm finally adjusting to my surroundings and I LIKE February (It's like winter, but now with more sunlight!) and honestly...I just wish it could stay cold on the mountain so I could snowboard all year.
I feel good about staying two years. I kinda knew I would stay at least two years. I'm finally getting my roots here. It's been hard at times, but I finally have friends at work and friends at home and life is good.
Monday, February 2
Lunch...an exercise in perseverance.
Today for lunch we had whole grilled Shishamo.
Wikipedia entry on Shishamo.
It was the 'full of eggs' kind.
I ate them in their entirety...heads and all...there were two of them...it was awful. I'm suffering from Post-fishhead stress disorder. (PFSD)
At least the soup was delicious...niku-jaga. Niku-jaga is a beef stew, similar to an American-style beef stew with potatoes, carrots, onions. But the Japanese one is just a little sweeter and has 'konnyaku' root in it. Konnyaku basically tastes like nothing and has a firm (nearly crunchy?) jello texture.
Wikipedia entry on Shishamo.
It was the 'full of eggs' kind.
I ate them in their entirety...heads and all...there were two of them...it was awful. I'm suffering from Post-fishhead stress disorder. (PFSD)
At least the soup was delicious...niku-jaga. Niku-jaga is a beef stew, similar to an American-style beef stew with potatoes, carrots, onions. But the Japanese one is just a little sweeter and has 'konnyaku' root in it. Konnyaku basically tastes like nothing and has a firm (nearly crunchy?) jello texture.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
