I love イングリッシュ!

So it is almost the end of my first full year teaching in Japan. Man, it's gone fast! Overall, it's been absolutely fantastic. Some lessons have been great, some good, some bad, and some down-right ugly! Luckily, the majority have fallen into the first two catagories.

It's difficult to know how you are doing at your job. The Japanese don't give you any feedback (unless there is a major problem) so you just have to roll with it and hope they are happy with you. I'm pretty lucky though coz in Elementary schools the objective is to get the kids to enjoy English. If they learn something while we are at it, that's a bonus. Having said that, the teachers do expect the kids to learn. This can be hard though coz at Junior High the kids have more lessons and are given homework. At Elementary there is none of that (you aren't even allowed to write words on the board) so the only thing the kids have to rely on is their memories. With this in mind, I tend to act the clown on a regular basis and encourage the kids to do the same. If they are doing something ridiculous at the same time as saying an English phrase they tend to remember it.

Anyway, yesterday I was given 48 letters from my 5th and 6th graders to say thank you for this year. The letters are beautiful. They have put so much effort into them. They have drawn and coloured pictures of us playing their favourite games in English class (which means i'll definately be playing those again next year!) and they have even written the furigana above the kanji in their letters so that i can read them. One even says 'I love イングリッシュ (English - literally 'Ingurissu') I love シャーリ(Sha-ri)' Precious! I was really touched.

Also yesterday I had to do a big demo lesson for the new curriculum next year. Every man and his dog came to see me. Literally. There were 18 people observing! I was scared to death, and so were the kids. The lesson went okay, but it could have been better in parts. I definately think the rap saved the day!

After the lesson there was a 2 hour staff meeting to dissect it. Eeeek! But, it turns out that everyone thought it was brilliant. The scary bloke from the BOE who used to be a kyoto-sensei (vice principal) and who is never, ever, happy with anything, said it was the best lesson he'd ever seen! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! And a woman from our Tokyo training and lesson development department asked me if i'd like to go into their department in the future. JESUS! I said I was happy where I am at the moment but I'll do any trials of new ideas for them and give them feedback. Wanna take it easy for a while and enjoy the job I'm doing. No more climbing career ladders for me just yet thanks. This is my semi-retirement phase.

A great day. Really moved by the letters from my students. There is no way I can go back to England now. My schools are just too fabulous.