Job Discussion Forums

[TokyoLiz]

I just ranted about NOVA in another thread, so I thought I'd aim at some balance by posting about some successes I've observed with my inmates at a junior high.

I teach Oral Communication to three second year junior high classes. Second years are perhaps the toughest customers you'll ever meet in secondary education in Japan. The school assigns a foreign teacher to teach *two* classroom hours a week to each group, and as a result, I've really gotten to know these kids.

When I walked into A class, they were a typically shy bunch, but over the course of a year, they've opened up and become very communicative. They enjoy info-gap activities like half-a-crossword puzzles, runner-scribe activities and can talk about a variety of topics, including the environment, history, transportation, etc. We developed our OC program from the English department's core textbook, Cambridge English for Schools.

One kid, S-san, would not respond to me at all and had a permanent scowl last spring, but now, she particpates in our lessons. Her grammar's still really wobbly - she has trouble with SVO, but she tries very hard and loves playground rhymes we use to select people for games (we've ababdoned janken), her favorite being "Bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish..."

F-kun, who could only say the English word poop one year ago, has expanded his repertoire greatly. Last spring, every question I asked was answered with the single-syllabic utterance, "Poop."

Now, he can use the word poop in a variety of sentence forms - imperative, modal, and present perfect. On the bus yesterday, he asked me "Have you ever eaten poop?" I nearly cried with happiness. He was laughing so hard, and is rather proud of himself.

K-san, who kicked me in the butt during a classroom observation back in June, came up to me last week and asked me how I'm feeling. She heard that I'd been to the doctor because of eye pain. She's developed a sense of empathy for other people over the course of a year.

My kids write on my personal weblog. Yep, they spam me routinely, writing under pseudonyms. I get messages from George Bush asking me to go to hanami.

Sure, there are some kids who are utterly unaccessible, unimproved and unpleasant, but the cool kids outnumber the bad.

www.erizabesu.typepad.com

[macondo]

A good message to remind us to look past the big "failures" in reaching kids, and see the small - and sometimes great - successes!

Thanks, TL, for the upbeat message! (I have to say I've been a bit down about this forum lately, what with the excessive bickering the last couple weeks, but it was a treat to read this tonight!)

[Sweetsee]

Good on you Liz and I'd like to second what Macondo said, nice to see someone coming out with some goodness for a change here. Maybe with the spring time we will get a change in the weather here at Dave's.

Have a great teaching day,
s

[chirp]

I agree with the previous posters on this thread - it was great to hear something positive! What has been with the negative vibe of late? Don't tell me - I don't want to know! Let's just turn it around...

[Sweetsee]

That's right!!!

[TokyoLiz]

Oh, I haven't told you about my returnee kids. Two of them went from composing wobbly paragraphs to fairly well-structured essays. They can manage thesis statements and 4-5 paragraphs.

We finished up the year's work last week, so this week, we're looking at the Jungian Typology test available at www.humanmetrics.com, and today I'll have them write a double-entry journal about their types and how examples from their lives illustrate or refute the type.

I thought this would be a good final unit, considering the kids are going into junior 3 and senior 1 years, and they're developing as people.

What's your type? I'm an eNFj - the Teacher Idealist.

I found a list of tests and related links about Jung typology here -

http://www.typelogic.com/typelinks.shtml#tests