Teaching in schools

Out of all my class, my favorite place to teach is in the junior high schools. I even like teaching in the elementary schools, and the kindergartens (after I get over my fear). Though I dread teaching the really young kids, I always end up having a good time.

The kindergartens are great because the kids are always genki (have lots of energy). Sometimes they are too genki. I only teach there 2 or 3 times a month, by some of the little ones have gotten the idea that I am a jungle gym. It's challenging to try to keep the kids in line because every time gentle push one to his chair, he thinks it's an invitation to hang from my arms. And yes, it's almost always one of the boys. I also can't wear a skirt because they have a bad habit of playing "What's under there?'' The normal teacher is in the room but unless I ask for help, she doesn't do much. I think it's part due to the fact her attention is split between the monkeys climbing on me, and the ones plotting in the back of the classroom.

The elementary schools are lots of fun. There is a set lesson plan, the teachers are helpful even when we are speaking through gestures, and the kids are attentive as they wait for the game of the day. There are some cute teachers in the elementary schools as well ;)

Junior high is where the kids start learning grammar. These classes are much more co-teacher, whereas the other ones I am mostly teaching. I can start to see the declining interest, but usually the kids are all pretty good. We do more repetition and dialog practice. If we have time we'll play a game like ''Heads up 7 up" or ''Switch''. The students are also starting to form simple sentences and ask questions. I often get "where are you from?'', "how old are you?'' and ''do you have a boyfriend?'' The girls always say "kawai'', which means cute but I think it a more general meaning of attractive. I don't know why though, I don't try to look especially nice when I go to the schools. Junior high is about the time when kids realize they are becoming men and women. I think this is a universal truth.

On Tuesday I went to Izumi JH and helped in a 3rd year class, one I haven't done before. The students at Izumi are usually great, but this class was really genki and attentive, especially the boys (most of whom were taller than me!!). We did the regular practice and read, and during the pair practice there was a group of students that totally went off topic. They were actually trying to communicate in English, versus just get the lesson correct, but of course it was the boyfriend question. When I say I don't have a boyfriend sometime I get asked if I like men. This always confuses me because I don't see why not having a boyfriend means I might not like men. But this group was able to explain that the wanted to know what type of men I liked. The teacher jumped in and apologized and said I didn't have to answer, but I thought it was all pretty amusing.

After I said I like 'cool' guys (how do you explain great personality in Japanese?), they asked what age range! The was one boy who looked disappointed after I said 25-35. The teacher chuckled and said something in Japanese to the boy. Then to me, she said "His love is lost. It is lost love because he is too young." The whole situation just made me smile and think back to times when I had crushes on substitute teachers and older guys. As I left, the boy built up some courage and yelled out "I love you." Lol, what a cute kid. I never could have done that when I was 14! The teacher was amused as she told me that he is usually the worst one in the class. But that day he was actually focusing and trying to speak English.