Hey Jessie!
Guess who had her first class today? This girl! And guess who totally flopped the lesson? Ding ding ding!! This girl again!
Okay, well when I say lesson I mean a brief speaking warm-up at the beginning of class and when I say flopped I mean that it ended with me, the shiny brand new assistant teacher coming all the way from America, and 40 severely shy and confused Japanese high schoolers finishing the activity in awkward silence. Yeah… Great to be back in the classroom!
As I walked through the quiet halls, the deafening sounds of cicadas echoing off the walls and the suffocating heat making me sweat like a stage-frightened person forced to take the stage, I was only slightly dejected to say the least. Refreshened by the AC in the teacher’s room, I plopped at my desk and took a moment to gather my thoughts. Sitting alone there, I realized two things. One, this was going to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. I mean teaching English at a high school in the Japanese countryside with nothing surrounding us but rice paddies and rolling mountains was always going to be a challenge right? The second thing I realized was, I like a challenge. That’s what keeps life interesting, in my humble opinion.
So I just sat at my desk, not glancing at the time, and began to scheme. You know, when it truly comes down to it sometimes the simplest things are the best course of action. While I thought my previous activity was fun and ingenuitive, I had to scrap it because, let’s be honest, things don’t always turn out the way we want them to in practice. I had wanted the students to pretend to be their favorite character and have their partner interview them as if they were on a news channel. As an example I even pretended to be Spiderman! Fun and enticing right? Really trying to play the cool teach who relates to the young folk. But hold on a moment! this is my first time meeting them, this is their first day back at school after summer break. I think it’s safe to say we were all a little nervous and tired, so let’s bring it back to square one.
Why English?
Yes, of course, they need to take English to graduate and attend university and yes I am teaching English because, well, frankly, it’s my job now. There’s no need to get all deep and philosophical, again simple is always better! (I could deep and philosophical however, but I’ll save that for a future letter) So I whipped up a quick, handy, and colorful presentation simply asking them “Why do you want to study English?” Low and behold, as I entered my second lesson of the day with a presentation I had made in just thirty minutes on a spur of the moment, I found success! No fireworks or rounds of applause unfortunately, but come on, this time there was no awkward silence! How amazing is that? What’s even more amazing is I got to hear the students actually talking this time, sharing their answers with the class, and some were even smiling. Imagine that! Granted, it wasn’t the most eloquent English but hey it’s a start.
To be honest, as I was walking to this second class with my supervising teacher she very delicately and indirectly told me it was okay to fail. Yes, those were her exact words. But instead of feeling shame, I felt a sense of great sympathy and understanding. Indeed. It is worth it to fail, because it means there is room to grow. I failed the first lesson (sorry class 2-3 I will be be back with redemption!!), but I watched the students blossom in the four succeeding lessons.
That day, as I stepped out of the high school building into the cloud filled sky and humidity, a student from class cheerfully said hello to me. And as I walked along the road next to the clear stream that provides irrigation to the rice fields, two students on their bikes slowed down to talk with me in English. Of course I had to joke around and was satisfied with the shock on their faces when they heard me speak to them in Japanese. Maybe through this they’ll see that learning languages despite being hard, is a realistic goal that we all can achieve.
I know there are going to be many more challenges ahead, and definitely ones more precarious or complex than what I experienced today. But I think I’m ready to face them head on. At least I know that I have encouraging teachers and albeit quiet but truly bright students with bright smiles to support me along the way.
Hope all is well! こんにちは from the other side of the big pond!
All my love,
Yoli-sensei
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