sometimes i think...what's the point???
i am having one of those days, guys. you know the days where you feel as though you might as well not even bother doing ANYTHING because it's totally useless anyway?
just taught a san-nensei class. they were learning "i have lived in nani-nai..." and "have you (verb)ed in nani-nani?". my JTE and i started with a dialogue and then some M/C questions about the dialogue ("Anbeek sensei, how long have you lived in Japan?") after the mini quiz they were divided into six groups and i gave them a piece of paper with 10 questions on it for both the JTE and myself, as kind of an interview. in groups, they had to ask both of us the quesions and write down the answers. ("how long have you taught at Saruhashi JHS?"..). first the JTE explained the activity then went over each question individually, telling them what they were in japanese. not one student was paying attention, they were all just talking or laughing or writing notes to their friends or sleeping. then the JTE wanted me to read each question so they would repeat it. so i started reading, and they just continued with whatever they were doing, not one student would repeat after me. and i'm continuing, almost laughing to myself (in a really bitter, pissed off kind of way), as not one student is repeating after me. THEN after i was finished being absolutely useless, the JTE told them to start and they all just sat there, fixing their bangs in their mirrors, sleeping, writing letters, talking... for the rest of class. and of course they were never once even encouraged to do some F-ING work. and why is it i bother to prepare activities???
just taught a san-nensei class. they were learning "i have lived in nani-nai..." and "have you (verb)ed in nani-nani?". my JTE and i started with a dialogue and then some M/C questions about the dialogue ("Anbeek sensei, how long have you lived in Japan?") after the mini quiz they were divided into six groups and i gave them a piece of paper with 10 questions on it for both the JTE and myself, as kind of an interview. in groups, they had to ask both of us the quesions and write down the answers. ("how long have you taught at Saruhashi JHS?"..). first the JTE explained the activity then went over each question individually, telling them what they were in japanese. not one student was paying attention, they were all just talking or laughing or writing notes to their friends or sleeping. then the JTE wanted me to read each question so they would repeat it. so i started reading, and they just continued with whatever they were doing, not one student would repeat after me. and i'm continuing, almost laughing to myself (in a really bitter, pissed off kind of way), as not one student is repeating after me. THEN after i was finished being absolutely useless, the JTE told them to start and they all just sat there, fixing their bangs in their mirrors, sleeping, writing letters, talking... for the rest of class. and of course they were never once even encouraged to do some F-ING work. and why is it i bother to prepare activities???
posted by Justine at 9:29 p.m.
42 Comments:
When mine do that to me....i stop the class. And i say be quiet. If it persists, i sop, and wait until they have shut the fuck up. And again, if it continues, i pick on the little fuker instigating the shit and ask him to shut the fuck up, or stand up and teach the class.
Dont take no shit.
i know but it's so difficult when the JTE just stands there, doing NOTHING
Buy a water pistol.
OK- 99% of my teachers have rejected it but the time I did do it, it worked wonders. The mere nightmare for a girl if her makeup gets fucked up or a Boys ego diminishing before his friends at the site of water being hurled towards them made the monkeys speak so much English that there jaws hurt.
Remember we are NOT teachers. We`re jammy bastards getting paid to speak a language we already know. anything else is a bonus.
Right; where that’s "Back to the Future Part III" DVD?
Hit, that's hilarious... did you actually do it? I just had a shitty class and that cheered me up no end. J, if I were you I would talk to the teacher and say you're not prepared to continue teaching them without any attempt at discipline. If the JTE's doing their damndest that's one thing, we have to stick it out, but they have no right to stick us up there just to have the piss taken out of us while they stand by and do fuck all... DON'T TAKE NO SHIT!!!
hit,
JHS girls aren't allowed to wear makeup...
lins i know but it's pretty much useless...u have to know what i mean.
wow i'm seriously stressing right now...
about surviving till the 21st.
J, I know what you mean, it's not that I can't relate. No way I'd want to be teaching that school! It's just that you need a little optimism right now. If you try and do something about it you may feel a little bit better, atleast tell your JTEs the minimum you expect from them in that situation. You may not be able to sort out the kids behaviour but you should be able to alleviate some of your frustrations if you force the JTE to stand up for you in class. And at the end of the day that's their job, so if you tell them you expect them to start pulling weight, they have to oblige...
yeah, i guess everyone has those 'hopeless' days.
when i said 'you have to know what i mean' i meant it in that you do know what i mean, not that you don't.
justine,
i so totally understand how you feel right now. i am currently teaching in possibly the worst jhs in niigata city. the place where a student was kicked to death a couple of years ago. i am here every day this semester,which is four months in total. i was also in this school 3 days a week for a year on the JET. the fuckers keep putting me back here, apparently because i can handle it. mostly i get through the day and then cry to tom about it. for the most part i have control in my classes but it is a constant battle. like kat, i usually refuse to go on if they don't behave/single out the ringleaders etc . usually. lately i have been so pissed off i simply don't care enough to do anything. so much depends on the JTE. it is technically their job to control the class but unfortunately alot are totally inept. you need to decide whether you want to take control when the JTE will not/cannot. it's a tough call and i often feel foolish for trying.so anyway,mostly i have control and respect. i do this in two ways. i shout at them really loudly and lecture them. abit like kat's method. sometimes that is enough. sometimes i am very quiet and tell them how dissappointed i am,how i came all the way from ireland to teach them,they have to learn english and i want to help etc etc. sob sob. this has also worked.i always speak in english,sometimes i ask the jte to translate. i never make idle threats.i ALWAYS do what i say i'm going to do. Eg. If you don't stop there will be no game and you can all take out your textbooks OR i'm not teaching you again if you don't brhave/try harder. talking to the JTE will probably be a waste of time, in my experience. last friday i had two of the worst san nensei classes and they were perfect! the JTE was shocked and told all the other teachers. of course they cannot/will not give me credit/admit a western woman has succeeded where japanese men fail. so about a month ago i screamed at them and stopped an activity,next lesson was more of the same and i very quietly gave my lecture and looked very upset and now finally i can teach them. there is no hard feelings but they know i will take no shit.so no we actually have tt lessons instead of them doing whatever they liek and the jte standing there doing nothing.
this is all easier said than done and it involves alot of effort but for me it is worth it.
and hiten i do consider myself a teacher. i have sole responsibility for all tt lessons in my school and for the most part teach solo.
OK thats all,sorry for rambling.just trying to help. habg in there justine. they can't take anything from us unless we let them;-)
kel
xxxx
kell,
thanks so much for taking the time to write. i know that you know exactly how i feel! i'm often torn between wanting to be 'in control', and not take any shit, ie - scold them and be VERY firm and give then sharp looks and tell them to shut up and so on and so on...
...and knowing that 'technically discipline is not our responsability' and so i'm wondering sometimes what the JTEs think when i take matters into my own hands when they just stand there doing nothing. during one class last week i was reading from the book and the students were supposed to read after me. one girl kept repeating everything i said in a really annoying tone, mimicking me, and disrupting the whole class. i just stopped reading, and shouted, 'WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME UP TO THE FRONT AND READ?' she looked at me smugly until the JTE translated it for her, to which she laughed, turned red, made a bit more noise, then shut up for the rest of the class (though did stare at me with daggers afterwords). after the class i felt kind of wierd, like why was i bothering to get so upset when the JTE was just standing there doing nothing. i think what i do need to do is talk to the teachers and see what exactly is expected from me. but you are right, kell. we are there to do a job, we put a lot of effort into it, and if we're not able to do this because of some asshole kids then what the hell is the point.
your strength inspires me.
xoxoxo j
i should mention that this kind of thing would never happen at my other school, toyoura chu. the only time a class has ever been remotely disobediant there the teacher stopped them, and shouted out a lecture for about 10 minutes in japanese, from the jist of it i got that i had come a long way to teach them and they weren't showing me any respect blah blah...then the JTE apologized to me profusely when we left. to be honest i hadn't even noticed them talking, because i am so used to the shit from saruhashi. (which, my teachers say, is possibly THE worst chugakkou in all of niigata-ken). it's a viscious cycle because the kids at toyoura would never dream of being little shits because they know they can't get away with it because of the teachers. but the teachers at saruhashi find it so hopeless because they are such little shits...for a new JTE to suddenly come into that environment it's very hard. there are several who are threatening to quit because of the bad behaviour of the ni-nenseis. they've had to have meeting after meeting about what to do about them, currently they have an extra teacher in each ni-nensei class to make sure they stay in their seats etc but really there's only so much they can do. there were 3 of us teaching today PLUS the kocho sensei who popped in a few times...and there were two students who, despite this, kept yelling and running around and slamming doors and going in and out of the class....
well, it's making me stronger as a person, ne? ;)
In truth... I think these attempts at discipline may seem to be correct and appear `righteous` they amount to nothing more than spitting in the wind... I must admit that the fact that when I was at school we were far worse than anything I have encountered here, has given me a little more sympathy and perspective here... The fact is when I was reading about what you were describing Justine it made me picture exactly how a lot of my classes used to be when I was 16... School was for fun and causing shit and as long as you just studied before the tests and exams and passed it was all good... If any teacher had told me they were dissapointed I would have looked like I cared and then not given a shit afterwards and done it again to try and aggravate them... To be honest now that the shoe is on the other foot i am a bit ashamed but thats not the point... The point is in effect the only way you are going to make your being angry or dissapointed work actually matter at all is if they care in even the smallest way about you... The only teachers I ever stopped messing around for where the ones who I cared about... Inspiring fear and emotional blackmail are cheap tricks and should be used on conditioning monkeys not human beings... Last year I had these two dudes who acted like such donkeys and caused havoc and the teacher was such a sweet old lady she just said `oh well they`re just kids`... Anyway I organised a lesson where they all did a worksheet and the JTE supervised that... I went to the next class and the JTE sent them in one by one for 3-5 minutes... In that time you be as charasmatic as you can and talk to them about their lives etc. in as much English as they can muster and whatever Japanese you can speak/understand to fill in the gaps... I told the JTE that when she sent those two guys in she should keep them with me for over five minutes... Anyway when they were without their mates around, I rapped to them for ten minutes and we talked about everything I could possibly get out of them (girlfriends, parents, holidays, siblings, Playstation) and got them laughing etc... From that point on everytime I saw them we said wassup and in the next class (two weeks later cause it took that long to go through their whole class) they were absolute legends and being the cool kids, kept the whole class in check... Basically, what I am saying is that you are obviously not a disciplinarian but you are a cool girl with an infectious smile and relaxing demeanour and that that those are the characteristics you should be using to win your students... Anyway it worked for me... Just a thought... Also remember that if the JTE could keep discipline by shouting and screaming they probably would but as can be seen from the fact that the schools you describe have a discipline problem common to all classes, it just won`t work and thus they aren`t just incompetent or don`t try in TT classes but that its a school wide/nation-wide/education wide problem...
i see your point, ryan...
but if you feel as though your kids are much better behaved than they were in your school as a kid, i'd love you to teach one of my classes one day. i couldn't imagine much worse.
and, the actual problem is that these kids know SHIT. they don't pay attention and they don't work but the difference is that they don't know anything for the tests and exams either. now i can't say for other classes, but the english level of my kids at S is absolutely appalling compared with my kids at T. today in class i picked up the text book and said, "san nensei, desu ka?" because i couldn't believe that they couldn't do what i now teach my kids in shogakkou. IN SHOGAKKOU.
Hey guys, this is becomming quite the dialogue. Many different insights. I do have to say I agree with Ryan on a number of points. The kids in Japan are, without a doubt, far far better than in our home countries. Guys, I've worked in shit schools in England and J, there's NO COMPARISON. Kids comparing the lengths of their knife blades, boys fingering girls in class with PDiddy blaring at full volume, half the kids high as kites, being fairly typical. Not to mention the bloody, horrific fighting. The 24 hour onsight policeman was totally insufficient to deal with the amount of crime. These experiences and the number of Japanese kids who choose to stay on for club activities and go on to Koko gives me a huge degree of respect for the laid back style of teaching in Japan which seems so frustrating to us most of the time. Anyway, that was a tangent. Basically, I think the best strategy for us to deal with shit behaviour is a mixture of what Kelly and Ryan have been talking about. Firstly and formostly, if we can win the kids over, especially ringleaders, with the cool gaijin routine, smile at them (especially the boys) and talk to them about hip hop, then when we do turn round and make a decisive move to discipline in class, it will have 10 times the impact. Then contrast it with the cool justine again, just so they know they haven't got under your skin. Any more for any more?
Exactly yes... Afterwards your losing your mind at someone or looking bummed is actually going to make a difference... Think of the mental process of your average `Yakuza` student... Average angry teacher shouting--- `Ok, she`s angry and screaming`---`Everybody else is messing about so why should I be the guy to stop`---`okay she`s distracted and started teaching again, lets keep trying to hook up with the new girl with the little skirt` or alternatively being the teacher who`s also their mate `OK, she`s angry---- Everybody else is messing around but even though she`s just some teacher and I`m going to be a gansta one day she`s cool so lets just chill out for a bit and English lessons are more fun than Maths anyway, so why not?`-chain reaction- quieter class...
blimey you lot have been busy.
That balance is hard to achieve, but vital to the outcome of a class....
for me, hanging out with the kids, OUTSIDE of the classroom has helped a lot.
The badass motherfuckers all play basketball, so i do too....and in turn, theyre quite the little angels........
it sucks putting in the extra hours at times, but makes life a lot easier...
FUCKING HELL GUYS LET ME FUCKING VEEEEEEEENT FOR FUCKS SAKES!
I KNOW THAT KIDS IN ENGLAND ARE WORSE, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I DON'T TEACH A BUNCH OF LITTLE SHITS, AND I HAVE THE FUCKING RIGHT TO GET A LITTLE FUCKING TICKED OFF SOMETIME! FUCK!
sorry. sumimasen. gomen.
i went a little off the rocker there.
this is a place where you can put up your opinions and offer some advice...and i truely appreciate all of it. gomen gomen gomenasai.
just needed to wall-kick for a second.
i love you all.
bless u dude, sounds like ur havin a shitty mornin!! fuck 'em, kids at my visit school are little shits, ive got close to saying i wont go into a couple of the classes just cuz there seems to be no point me actually being there. But i know im lucky and have a sweet deal so im not gona complain. But i do totally sympathise!! Anywhooo, nearly the wkend, off to buy my buz ticket to Tokyo now, sooooo excited!! yaaaaaay! ps: ur boy rocks, cant wait til expo :)
debs...u like the pics? ;)...yeah, my boy does rock... :)
ok guys, once again, i'd just like to say that i appreciate all your advice, and i DO agree with you (ryan and lindsay). most of the time, i DO play the 'hey let's be friends, i'm cool' card, and usually it works. but, if they are disrespecting me, i'm not just gonna sit there and take it. a happy medium is what is needed.
xo
justine,
i am totally with you. we are not at home,we are in japan. period. same rules don't apply. you can vent anytime to me babe.
ryan,
while i see your point i would suggest that you have never had to teach classes the same as mine and justines. unless you do you really can't judge. my students hang out windows,stand on desks/lockers,boys beat girls up,students break teachers fingers,they kick fellow students to death.....
the students like and respect me.i don't take any shit but i don't give any shit either. whatever happens in class is irrelevant to how i am with them outside class. i have the worst kid in this school carrying my books to class of his own accord. i haven't bullied him in any way, i just don't accept any shit nad he respects me for that. students at my school crave discipline. i am probably the only person in this school who has ever shouted at them and they need it sometimes.it's a pity more teachers don't shout and say stop in this school.maybe if they did then that boy would not be dead.
teachers are adults,jhs students are 12-15 years old,they are kids. they look to teachers for guidance,if teachers can't give it then they shouldn't be teachers.i believe to shout at a student goes against everything education is about but sometimes it is neccessary.
one last thing (promise ;-) )
my kids are allowed to bring knives/cutters to school. in my previous school(another rough school n the city) i was threatened with a stanley knife in class by a student who broke teachers(plural) fingers. just because some students are angels does not mean there are no rough/tough kids in japan.
also there is obviously a reason why the powers that be keep putting me in rough schools...
justine,sorry, now i'm using your site to have a serious vent myself!
love ya,
kel
xxx
hey, that's what it's here for, kell!
wow kelly im really naive... i didnt even think there were schools like that in Niigata! That sounds fucking hardcore, one of your kids got beaten to death?? fucking hell.
And just a quick note about schools in England, my school in england was exactly like the school i teach in here in Japan, not all are rough. The other school in my town was abit harder but still nothing like Lindsays description - and none of the schools i worked at in Bristol were either. So it goes to show that Japan and England arent so different, every school has its own shit going on and therefore teachers have to adapt. In Tokamachi there is very little need for teachers to be strict with the kids, but I think from what Ive heard about your schools, its very neccessary. Respect is vital, and students wont respect a pushover.
Wow J, and I can't believe we used to be such good friends! Nothing like a nice bit of shit stirring...
I stand by everything I said. And Japan may be Japan but we've got to draw comparisons and understand differences if we're gonna learn anything from this experience.
God that sounds patronising, but I don't give a shit... so much coffee feeling particularly antagonistic. J your gonna wish I never worked out how to blog...
Debs, just read your last post. I really disagree. I think there is a HUGE difference between schools here and in Japan. Yeh, my description was a rough inner city manchester school, so one of the worst. But I would argue to the bitter end that in general, there are FAR FEWER problems here than at home. MASSIVELY so. I worked as teaching assistant, learning mentor and then Education Welfare Officer in 3 different schools in England and holy fuck, I wouldn't teach over there for all the money in the world. Not saying there aren't bad schools here, but I'd measure them on a different scale.
Maybe manchester is on a different scale luv cuz I worked as a Learning Mentor in Bristol, many of my closest mates are teachers in Bristol, London and Swansea, and not one of them has ever said anywhere near what you've described. Yea theres the odd fight but thats kinda normal, each of my mates has their own stories to tell but nothing near the picture u painted.
but i do agree that no amount of money would make me teach in England, maybe for differnt reasons.... xx
When I was at school I had many teachers who thought they were righteous and went about shouting and screaming... Didn`t give a crap... I`m sure they went home and thought that they gained my respect and that I would forever be grateful for the discipline they installed... Absolute rubbish... Shouting and screaming brings nothing but satisfaction to the teacher cause they get to feel like they are on top of things... You are all right that we are adults and they are kids but obviously saying that you have forgotten that that entails that you have an increased ability to look at the bigger picture as well... Kids don`t care if you are angry, they don`t respect the teacher any more... They don`t LEARN better... And if we are trying to be teachers instead of just getting through our days and reaping pay cheques then surely thats what we want to do... None of us speak Japanese to the point where we can get true rewards out of going mental either... Fact is in doing so all you do is alienate yourself, make them dislike the language and freak yourself out to the point where as kelly said she goes home and cries... What I`m saying is that I was told today that I `could not know` about the schools we are talking about here... But the fact is that I obviously know the mind-set of the students well enough and therefore pulling rank is not really applicable... Another point I am trying to make, is that in terms of providing disciplinarian guidance, you are not doing what you think you are... Your losing the plot is having zero effect on the child in question... With your limited grasp of the language you can`t chastise anyone with nearly the required amount of subtlety necessary to have an effect in the future... With these points in mind i.e. that a) you don`t attain respect by losing your mind, you just look like an angry clown or a asshole teacher who couldn`t possibly `understand` the lives of your students and b) that even if it could work you don`t speak enough of the language to make it effective, it cannot be the right way to go... And I honestly don`t mean any of this in a combative way... Think of my paragrpahs in a conversational tone of voice...
In a nutshell, I THINK respect through `not taking any shit` from the `little batards` is the easy way out... And due to our lack of cultural knowledge and ability to speak to them with the degree of subtelty necessary, you can`t possibility hope to help anyone that way... All you can hope for is that another way works better... :-)
well, just to add, ive taught in numerous schools in england, as a teaching assistant (was for cash, of course) and although the kids were shit, they weren't that bad.
And you know what? Id be a teacher in England.....and id rather NOT teach a bunch of spoilt brats in a private school. Underprivelaged kids need education more than most, and if i dont become a dare devil world saving spy, then, teaching is definitely on my list of things to do..... :-) No one said teaching was easy.
I think you`d make a great spy... And you`ve already got the obligatory sauve British accent...
yeah, just dont TELL ANYONE.
Secret, yeah?
And I really wasn`t trying to be confrontational I promise... In retrospect my last paragraph looked like it was intentionally offensive but no disrespect intended.... Honestly...
Holy fuck, crazy blog WAR! My experiences in England were as stated, truly. Any doubts, go hang out is Odsall in Salford, Manchester, and I'm sure you'll find it easier to believe. But I'm not saying those experiences are commonplace...
Ryan, I agree with what you're saying in terms of teaching approach but I think you've misinterpreted a lot of what Kelly had to say. I think you would both agree that it's about striking a balance between developing a good relationship with your students wherever possible but not standing for blatent disrespect in class. It's just that you both emphasised different aspects.
But Kelly was writing in response to Justine's crisis of a day, feeling like shit after getting treated so badly in class and hence gave advice on not taking shit. I think your attack on her teaching methods was unfair, but possibly unintentional.
OK, for ONCE I'm trying to play the diplomat. Let's all be friends again. I'm scared of blogs now, although atleast if we all start hating each other I can start looking forward to going back to England...
ryan,
you are seriously pissing me off. i have never lost it in a classroom,here or at home.i only loss it with adults who deserve it and are able to fight back. in school sometimes i need to shout to be heard and to control a class.this is not to satisfy some need in me,it is so i can teach them. this is not a popularity contest, i don't give a flying fuck if students (or anybody else for that matter) like me or not. the alternative would be to let them scream/shout/kill each other while i stood idly by. i'm not willing to do that, but each to their own.
also it is not my job to like students,it is my job to teach them. the fact that i love most of them is irrelevant. and if my methods are so wrong and ineffective why do i have the worst student in the school chatting to me everyday and carrying my books? why do past students,some of the worst i have ever taught, stand up and let me sit down on the train and babble away in crap english about their girlfriend,high school etc. etc.?????
Lets not fight Kelly... It was not my intention... I was attacking the `extreme view` of the side of the fence you were taking, not you as Kelly Maher or how you teach etc etc... Thus I cannot undestand how that would `piss you off`... In fact I do not mention your name once... And when I say `lose it`, I don`t mean actually lose your mind... In South Africa it just means to get angry, maybe thats not the same elsewhere and if that is what made you angry then it was entirely a misunderstanding...
Fair play, it's fucking easy out in the countryside. And even here it's 100 times easier to teach in a class where the JTE has control, and the students know what acceptable behaviour is. Good luck Justine, I reckon some of these teachers need a quick lesson.
Ryan - you rapped to them??? Like MC Hammer? No wonder they were laughing!
ryan,
teach here for a week and we'll see what your views are then.
forgive me for thinking i was being specifically attacked.although i'm sure others came to that conclusion also. lins,thanks for your support but well able to stand up for myself;-)
i only commented in response to justine's crap situation in the hope that i could help but that was taken out of context. totally. regretting commenting at all now. maybe in future i'll save it for girl's night.
i'm not fighting with you ryan. giving advice about something i have been doing for 3 years and something i feel very strongly about and am very passionate about is an entirely different thing to fighting.
Oooooo, i could murder a big mac
Tom... Fact is in the last two months most of the time I haven`t had a JTE present at all... In terms of teaching in the countryside, ridiculous generalisation... Fact is even though I am sure my little dudes are better behaved I have been using myself and people I knew at home as examples... If you took the time to read back you would see that most of the time I refer not to my teacher experience but to my experiences as a school kid...
Kelly... I understand entirely what you mean and in fact I was attempting to do exactly the same thing as you i.e., give advice and substantiate it... I also agree on the idea that sometimes one should get passionate about ones point... It was exactly what I was doing before and for this reason I must ask you to view what I said before in those terms... And now I must go for the day as if I don`t do this shogakko lesson for tomorrow, I am going to get fired...
tom: welcome to the blog!!!!!!!!
everyone: cheers for the comments. maybe, however...we should go onto more 'lighter' subjects...up to tokyo!
i appreciate all your contributions tho.
xo j
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