English in Senior High School

Krysta Banwell

Objectives of the ALT

 

My objectives as an ALT in a senior high school cover a lot of ground. Number one, obviously I’m here to teach English. But my physical presence does a lot more. One of my primary goals is to make Japanese people more comfortable with foreigners and possibly open up their minds to other countries, cultures, and the fact that I am a real person just like them. Your objectives should become very personal to you and it should be your priority to meet them. I recommend sitting down after a couple months on the job, and writing down your own objectives. Below is a list of my own, but again, you should make yours personalized to you:

 

• To teach English to the best of my ability, corresponding with the level of my students
• To create an environment in class where the students are comfortable enough to speak English with me and their peers
• Expose my students to aspects of English and other cultures that they can’t learn anywhere else in the school. Give them the motivation and encouragement to continue with English in the future
• Become friends with as many teachers and students as I can
• Learn as much of the Japanese language as possible and as much Japanese culture as possible
• Make this experience valuable to myself and become involved

 

Role of the ALT

 

Along with the above objectives, as an ALT, you have a certain role that you must take seriously. No matter what age you are, 21 or 40, you’ve been chosen to partake in the JET Programme and represent your country and other foreigners. That’s not something to be taken lightly in this country. As much fun as you’re going to have in Japan, you have responsibilities to your school, to the people of your town, and to yourself as well. Please remember that.

 

It is unfair that we foreigners must always be on our guard, but this is the situation we’ve put ourselves into, on our own accords. Especially in the countryside, the role of the ALT is much bigger then ‘teacher’. You represent ALL foreigners from your country and others. (Please remember this when you dress for work, especially).

 

One of the perks of being an ALT is that you’re different, you stick out, and chances are, your students think you’re a whole lot cooler then their other teachers. Use this to your advantage to achieve the objectives from above.

 

Since you’re a SHS ALT, you’re not “controlled” by the town or the BOE, but you are a guest in your town, and in order to keep peace and be thought kindly of, make it your business to attend local events, teach an English eikaiwa class, and be nice to others in the town. Participating really does wonders for your experience in Japan. You’ll get a lot more out of your time here if you’re involved with the culture and the people; plus your Japanese will get better much faster.

Typical lessons (OC & ENG I)

 

ENGLISH I

 

English I has never had a format at my school. Last year we used a textbook, and this year we aren’t. We teach all tenses of verbs throughout the year, and practice forming sentences with those verbs in many of the classes. We study grammar, conversational bits, and also the students are given ample opportunities to present their work in front of the class and I mark them on it. Below is a fairly average lesson plan for one of my 1st grade English I classes:

 

Lesson plan #6

July 29th – August 2nd

 

Team-teaching with Ms. Sasaki 1-1 & 1-2; Mr. Sugawara 1-3, 1-4 & 1-5

“his, her, their”

 

Time:	50 minutes
Skills:	Comprehensive thinking, speaking, writing
Materials:	First Hand Access book, large photocopy of family chart from page 28 in First Hand Access

 

Procedure:

 

1. 15 minutes for row and column. New rule: the students must ask questions to their fellow students. This will enhance the amount of spoken English in the classroom and also get the students’ minds thinking in English before the lesson begins. The ALT & JTE will choose which students ask questions.
2. 20 minutes for “his, her, their” lesson. Pg 28 in First Hand Access. The ALT will make a large copy of the family picture and put it up on the black board. ALT & JTE will review the family chart with the students. Students will then complete the ‘Grammar Check’. Answers will be put up on the board.
3. 15 minutes for ‘Find the Mistakes’ page 28 in First Hand Access. Students will have 10 minutes to complete the questions and then answers will be put on the board.

 

ORAL COMMUNICATION

 

OCI is an oral communication class. We work from a textbook and learn simple conversation dialogues. I teach OCI with my 3rd graders only.

 

Every unit in the textbook is covered over two classes. Our textbook (Open Door to Oral Communication: Book 1) provides an easy to follow format which is the same each week, just with different dialogues and themes. First thing I do when preparing for a new unit is to go through the dialogues and come up with 20 new vocabulary words for the students to look up and use to replace other words in the set dialogues. This vocabulary sheet is the first thing we do in the new unit. The text book then introduces two new ‘set phrases’ (ie. “How do you like ~~” and “What do you think about ~~”. The students are then challenged (within the next two weeks) to find me at some point and ask me a question using these phrases, and they’re own subject. For example, “Krysta, how do you like living in Japan?” or “Krysta, what do you think about Japanese anime?”

 

(Not every student does it, but most do because I have a point system with all of my students, and with every point they get closer to a burned CD that I make for them).

 

On the second class of the unit, we work on the dialogues in the textbook. First with pronunciation, understanding what the words mean and then having volunteers present said dialogue. Next, the students replace certain words with their own to change the meaning of the dialogue. They rehearse these with a partner, write them down in their notebook and then volunteers present their work. Here is an example:

 

The textbook’s set dialogue: (between a mother and her home-stay daughter)

MOTHER:	This is your room.
JUDY:	Oh! It’s a tatami room!
MOTHER:	How do you like it?
JUDY:	I like it very much.

Then changed by the students:

MOTHER:	This is the kitchen.
JUDY:	Oh! It’s very small!
MOTHER:	How do you like it?
JUDY:	It’s interesting.

Then changed by other students:

MOTHER:	This is the garden.
JUDY:	Oh! It’s beautiful!
MOTHER:	How do you like it?
JUDY:	I love it!

 

Having the students replace a couple of words in each dialogue allows them to express themselves using English, encourages them to look up words in the dictionary without my urging, and means that, when they present their work, they are proud of themselves.

 

Planning classes

For me, I teach the same lesson to a whole grade, but with different JTEs. For example, I teach 5 different 1st year classes with 3 different JTEs. At the beginning of the year, the 4 of us sat down for an hour and discussed what each of us hoped to accomplish throughout the year. After I compiled everyone’s ideas, I made it into a curriculum. Once you have a curriculum, it makes for a great starting off point for each lesson. I sit down with all my JTEs once a month to plan the next three lessons. We decide what exactly we need to get through in the next month, and re-adjust the curriculum to meet the progress which the students have made. Most of the time, we need to recap something or other because a couple classes fell behind. I keep all the classes on the same page so when testing comes they’re all at the same level. If one class does get ahead, then we review or have a bonus lesson until all the classes can move on.

It’s my job to make sure we have a lesson to teach, the handouts are finished and photocopied, and that all my JTE’s have received a copy of the lesson plan and fully understand what we’re teaching, and who will be presenting/teaching/evaluating what. There is generally one JTE who is more knowledgeable about team-teaching than the others and they usually speak with you more often about lessons, etc. When you first start talking about lessons with your new JTEs, I suggest making a schedule for when and where you’ll plan classes. For example, every first Tuesday of the month, I meet with my JTEs in the English room. Try and make it work for everyone.

On another note, when I first arrived, all my JTEs talked about was how my predecessor did things. Well, you’re NOT your predecessor, and you need to develop your own way to teaching with your JTEs. Your predecessor might have had some really awesome skills and lessons plans, or the perfect curriculum, but he/she is gone and you’re in. So adapt your style to the way things have worked well at your school, and prove to them that you can do a great job too!

 

SHS students

First of all, SHS students range from 15-19 years old. Actually, I once had a 20 year old student, so you never know. They are just as different from each other as you were from your high school peers. With all the rules and restrictions that SHS students face, they’ll do anything they can to stand out. You’ll experience a lot of this for yourself. Some good, some bad, and some ugly. Remember the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared”.

 

GIRLS:

Just like high school for us, there are cliques here, but they don’t seem as rough as I remember them to be. The shy girls, literally, don’t speak, continuously look at their desks and have the longest kilts by far. The best approach I’ve found with them is to smile, and not to put undue stress on them (ex. asking them for the answer in front of a quiet class; instead ask them something when everyone else is busy working with others). If one of these students is brave enough to take a very careful look at you, flash them a comforting smile, and hope they begin to feel comfortable with you. It hasn’t worked with all my girls, but definitely more then half. Just take it slow.

 

Then there are the girls who enjoy learning, make you laugh and whose kilts rest at a moderate length. These are the students you come to love and who come to love you. They are eager to prove their English skills to you, in and out of the classroom; they try to explain things to you in English when you look confused, and they’re the ones you don’t have to worry about.

 

The next group of girls are “too cool for your lesson, and need to apply more eye shadow!” You can identify these girls because they wear layers of make-up, always don fake eye-lashes and kilt is now just a wide belt. Usually, these girls are nice enough, but your lesson is the furthest thing from their minds. Sometimes when I catch one of them starring off into space, I ask them what they’re thinking about. I’ve received the following answer most often: “My Wedding”. After two years of prodding this group of girls, I’ve discovered that most of them just want to pass high school so they can get married and pop out a couple of babies. Which is perfectly fine, but to get them to learn a little English beforehand, I try and convince them they’ll need English on their honeymoons. This sometimes works, sometimes not. But it’s the best trick I’ve got!

 

BOYS:

Like the girls, there are categories of SHS boys. The first group is naturally the quiet ones. Usually 1st graders (some who haven’t reached puberty yet, some whose voices are on the cusp of changing, and some who are SO INCREDIBLY intimidated by a female foreigner that they can’t look up). And like the girls, don’t put them on the spot until they’ve warmed up to you. It might take some time, but just keep smiling warmly and they’ll start to feel comfortable with you.

 

Then there are the boys who work hard in all their subjects, repeat when you want them to, and occasionally volunteer when you need a helper. These boys are sweet and generally well-behaved. Once in awhile they might get a little rambunctious when one of the cooler kids is including him, but that’s to be expected. These boys might also come find you at your desk and brave a small conversation with you. Reward them with stickers when they try so hard, it’ll go a long way (that goes for all your students).

 

Then there are the cool boys with anime-like hair. I have one student in 2nd grade, whose hair jets out like a porcupine a whole foot in each direction, and amazingly he’s allowed to keep it, and it doesn’t falter in the wind. These boys are rock stars. You’ll notice plastic keepers in their ears, lips, noses etc for where their earrings go back in after last bell. Some wear eye-liner and concealer, and you should NEVER point that out to them. They’ll even unbutton their shirts to show off their chests and big necklaces. Sometimes this is allowed, sometimes it’s not. The way I’ve found to connect with these students is through music. Use popular English music in class, or just in casual conversation with them. Some of the groups/singers I talk about with them are Green Day, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Eminem. The girls like Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey and the ever-popular Britney Spears.

 

IN GENERAL:

SHS students are a lot of fun because you can have conversations with them about more then just the weather. I talk to my students about their relationships, future goals, what they love/hate, etc. Your students will warm up to you if you let them. Please, walk down the hallway with a smile, and be vocal. Say “Good morning”, “Hello”, “How are you?” as often as possible. Make yourself an approachable teacher. Chances are you’re a lot closer to their age then most other teachers so use that to your advantage to become their friend.

 

Life in the day of… a senior high school ALT

 

At my base school (which I go to 3 days a week), I arrive in the staff room by 8:10am, travel mug of coffee in hand. The morning meeting bell goes at 8:20am so I have ten minutes to boot up my computer, unpack my bag etc. Morning meeting has gotten a lot easier to sit through since I started understanding some of it, but it will be pretty boring for those of you who don’t know any Japanese (yet). Kyoto-sensei starts with general announcements, reminders etc. Then other teachers will speak. This is usually no longer then 20 minutes, and then all the home room teachers take off for their classes. Here is my average class schedule:

 

8:55-9:45	ENGLISH I	(1st grade)
9:55-10:45	ENGLISH I	(1st grade)
10:55-11:45	free period
11:55-12:45	OCI	(3rd grade)
12:45-1:15	lunch
1:20-2:10	free period
2:20-3:10	ENGLISH I	(1st grade)

 

 

I teach an average of 4 classes a day, sometimes the schedule gets changed though and I only have 2 classes, or classes get backed up and I teach 6. For the most part though, it stays the same.

 

When I have a free period, I usually work on new lesson plans, or printing/copying finished handouts/activity sheets. After 2 or 3 classes in a row, I relax a little (grab a coffee and check my email). I also have full control over the English room which I spend time decorating with posters my English club students make, organizing class work, etc.

 

After 6th period, all the students clean the school. I help the Kyoto-sensei clean the staffroom and I also supervise the cleaning of my English room to make sure the students do a good job. Cleaning lasts from 3:10-3:30pm. After cleaning, I go straight to English club or tutoring. If it’s Wednesday then I run English club with 10 of my students until 4:45pm. All other days, I tutor students who need extra help, or have requested advanced help with their English. These students have come to me for help, I didn’t drag them to my desk. These are the students who make it worth staying late! I officially leave school at 4pm, but that rarely happens. I usually stay at school until 4:45pm. Then it’s off to whatever event I have lined up for the evening.

 

I’ll say this here in case you haven’t heard it yet: you really do get out what you put in with the JET Programme. And you’ll learn that for yourself…I did.