The English summer camp seminar was super fun! Students were eager to speak English and genki levels were at an all time high. The ALT's were all from the Niigata prefecture and it was awesome to be able to get to know them better and learn teaching methods from those who have been here for more than a year. That is a picture of my friend Will and I in front of the Aole building in Nagaoka where the seminar was held.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to love Japanese students, all of them are so sweet. At first I was a bit nervous to teach high school but through my interactions with them so far, I have found them to be quite different from kids back at home.
Japanese students have an innocence and naivety that high school kids from home seem to shed much sooner. Thats not to say that they are immature, they just have a much more shy, sheltered, and child-like demeanor (at least in class) than students from home. They stay kids for so much longer here.
I give so much credit to the students who attended the seminar. Although they were extremely shy and nervous to speak English and make mistakes, they bravely created skits and presented speeches in front of 200+ people. Heck, I am super nervous for the small speech that I have to give in Japanese at the beginning of the school year. These kids volunteered to go to this seminar and put themselves out there in a way that was incredibly endearing. They were courageous and super funny. I loved how earnest and heartfelt their speeches were. The ideas were simple but there was something so touching about the way everything was presented. I ALMOST cried during a few of the speeches...but happy crying this time! I am such a sucker when it comes to kids who love to learn. The kids were so grateful to be there and they all seemed to have fun. At the end of the seminar every kid wanted to take pictures with all of the ALT's and my face hurt from having to smile so much.
Some of the funniest things that my students said to me:
Thank you so much for being so cute!
You make very good teacher because you are so cute!
Are you in a J-Pop band? You are so cute!
Ah you are from Canada...do you know Justin Bieber? He would like you because you are so cute.
Wow, you have so many pictures of yourself!
How come you have so many pictures of cats?
You are beautiful like sakura and cute as cats.
If anyone wonders why I got into teaching, it's because of the constant flow of compliments I get from students. My self esteem has never been higher.
Just one more week and I will be back in the classroom! Hurray!!
I'm pretty sure I'm going to love Japanese students, all of them are so sweet. At first I was a bit nervous to teach high school but through my interactions with them so far, I have found them to be quite different from kids back at home.
Japanese students have an innocence and naivety that high school kids from home seem to shed much sooner. Thats not to say that they are immature, they just have a much more shy, sheltered, and child-like demeanor (at least in class) than students from home. They stay kids for so much longer here.
I give so much credit to the students who attended the seminar. Although they were extremely shy and nervous to speak English and make mistakes, they bravely created skits and presented speeches in front of 200+ people. Heck, I am super nervous for the small speech that I have to give in Japanese at the beginning of the school year. These kids volunteered to go to this seminar and put themselves out there in a way that was incredibly endearing. They were courageous and super funny. I loved how earnest and heartfelt their speeches were. The ideas were simple but there was something so touching about the way everything was presented. I ALMOST cried during a few of the speeches...but happy crying this time! I am such a sucker when it comes to kids who love to learn. The kids were so grateful to be there and they all seemed to have fun. At the end of the seminar every kid wanted to take pictures with all of the ALT's and my face hurt from having to smile so much.
Some of the funniest things that my students said to me:
Thank you so much for being so cute!
You make very good teacher because you are so cute!
Are you in a J-Pop band? You are so cute!
Ah you are from Canada...do you know Justin Bieber? He would like you because you are so cute.
Wow, you have so many pictures of yourself!
How come you have so many pictures of cats?
You are beautiful like sakura and cute as cats.
If anyone wonders why I got into teaching, it's because of the constant flow of compliments I get from students. My self esteem has never been higher.
Just one more week and I will be back in the classroom! Hurray!!
RSS Feed