purple_piano

My first week of teaching went well. Some of my classes on Saturday were cancelled by all the students. This included the class I get most nervous about- the one with two 6year olds. It was a relief but it means I have to wait another full week to teach them and get over my nerves! I had one class with three 7/8 year old boys and they are kind of known for being a difficult class to control- that class has a reputation! However I think I managed pretty well! I did quite a few games with them including a variation of "Captains Coming" which tired them out a bit and they loved a Hangman style game on the board- they love spelling English words! 

My fellow teachers said they are impressed by my name learning ability. I told them that I have a good short term memory so during each 50 minute class I can learn and remember the names of my students (I tend to have a bit of a mind block if there's more than 5 though!) However I have to learn their names all over again at the next class because I've forgotten! I have about 90 students in my own classes whose names I need to learn, and then the other students who are not in my classes also want to talk to me. That's over 200 names!

I'm completely in awe of these kids who can spell English words when they are only 7 or younger! Also I'm amazed by my adult students who can talk for 50 minutes in English, sometimes about pretty complicated topics! My headteacher took D and I to a University yesterday to watch a Japanese lesson and sign up for a course if we liked what we saw. Unfortunately the lesson we observed was Intermediate level and everything went completely over my head! It was about the speaking difference between Polite form and Plain form in Japanese- there are different words that are used depending on the status of the person you are talking to. The whole lesson was in Japanese- I didn't understand much at all. D's listening ability and reading ability is better than mine so he understood but couldn't answer correctly because his speaking ability isn't up to scratch. So we've signed up for 10 lessons in "Survival Japanese" which sounds like my level, but might be too easy for him! The lessons are every Sunday at 11am and it's 2,000 yen for 10 lessons (bargain!) They start on 26th July but I was told that I have to learn my Japanese alphabets by then. I've worked out that I roughly have to learn 50 symbols a day in order to be ready on the 26th. Eeek, it's going to be hard work! I've found the English language section of the local bookshop so I'm going there after the internet cafe to see if they have any flashcards of the alphabets to help me learn!

On Saturday I went out to "celebrate" Independence Day. We let off fireworks in one of the little parks and had sparklers. Some of our students came along and they tried to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" with D. I didn't know the words so I just La'd along. Then the Japanese sang their national anthem and so I didn't feel left out I did a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen. I got a big round of applause afterwards! We then went to a few bars and had a McDonalds before heading home.

Happy Birthday me! And I'm celebrating in style by teaching 5 classes today! LOL.

However, we are going to go out for drinks tonight. D said something about a "dirty bar". I don't know if he means dirty as in messy, or dirty as in there will be strippers. Ah well, either could be fun I suppose!

Typically it's beautiful weather in the UK and chucking it down with rain in Japan. It's a running joke in my family that it always rains on my birthday. Mum always had to plan inside parties just in case! It makes sense that my first birthday abroad is also wet!

I'm sorry the journal has been so neglected but I'm officially moved into Kokura now and I've found an internet cafe so I can update you all!

So, my apartment is cool. It's bigger than I thought and as well as a balcony I have a loft! So I have a guest room! I'm on the 6th floor (they say 7th floor here because ground floor is 1- like in America) so I have a view from my balcony. There are no other tall buildings right next to my apartment block so I'm not overlooked by anyone. I have views over my residential area of Kokura with little one car streets. The balcony looks south. If I look to the West I can see small hills in the distance. If I look to the East I can see the Kokura monorail (which I take to work everyday- how excited am I!) and some BIG hills. It's a nice view. I intend to get a stool so I can sit on my balcony and watch the world go by! Bed wise I have a Japanese futon which lays on the floor on a tatami mat (so Japanese!) it's ok but it's designed for the person sleeping to lay on their back and I like to sleep on my side or front so it's not so comfy! Also, the pillow has a hole in the middle where your head is supposed to rest- rather annoying!
 
Work- well, everyone is lovely and sweet. My fellow foreign teacher is from Kentucky and he's being very patient with me and showing me the ropes, like simple things like where to sign in on a morning and where the best places are to eat at lunchtime. All the rest of the staff are female and are so Japanese it's cute! But they are all very professional and take the job very seriously. To get to work I walk from my apartment to the monorail station and then take the monorail for 2 stops (It's just a little too far to walk, especially in this heat!) It costs just under 2 pounds but I'm going to get a monorail pass so it'll be cheaper.
 
Teaching wise I spent Wednesday and Thursday observing the outgoing teacher. Then on Friday I taught 3 adult classes. Saturday was the busy day as I had SEVEN classes. The first 2 of those were kids classes and they were a bit of a disaster to be honest! My 10am class on Saturday is with two 6 year old boys and I just could not control them. The outgoing teacher was observing me and said that I'd get better but I felt such a failure! Straight after that classwas a group of 7/8 year olds who were better behaved. My final lesson on Saturday was some 12 year olds and the class was just too easy for them and they were tired. I had to act like a loon to keep them interested. I'm really just not cut out for kids teaching I don't think. As I said, the adult classes are going ok so no problems there.
 
It's not all been work though! On Thursday night D (fellow foreign teacher) and one of the Japanese teachers took me to a bar where we drank Japanese beer and ate fried chicken. On Friday night T, D and I went to karaoke. It was my first time at proper Japanese karaoke. You get a private room with speakers and an electronic directory and you search for the song you want and then sing. You can order drinks and food to the room. Both of the guys had very good voices and T is almost fluent in Japanese so he sang some Japanese pop for us- very impressive!
 
On Saturday night it was my welcome party and my school manager had rented a hotel bar with food and drink provided. All the staff came and about 40-50 students too. I hardly had a chance to eat because I was talking to everyone. I'm apparently very popular with the Japanese boys and some students are trying to switch their lessons from D's to mine apparently! The headteacher says it's a good thing- D is popular with the Japanese girls and I'm popular with the boys and the girls!! Personally I think it is just the blonde hair. When I go back to being a brunnette they'll all lose interest!
 
That's about all my news. Kokura is nice but is a bit of a concrete jungle!, It reminds me a bit of Birmingham. The big shopping centre is called Riverwalk and has lots of waterfeatures within the shopping centre. Apparently there is a LUSH shop but I haven't found it yet. The internet cafe I'm in at the moment gives you a private booth with a reclining chair and free coffee/tea or Cola.

So, today is my last full day in Yorkshire. Typically it is raining! LOL!

I have been organising some photos to take to show my students (family, house, pets etc) and I have NO printed pictures of the cats at all! This is the problem since the whole family has "gone digital" with the cameras. I have to find some and then go to one of the instant photo places to get them printed out.

I can't quite believe that this adventure is going to happen. In 48 hours I'll be on the plane.

As a side note- I've just heard that there is strike action on the London Underground over the next few days so I am SO glad that Dad and I arranged to drive down the Heathrow. Phew!

I have brutally reduced my luggage to around the weight limit. It's just not designed for people who are going somewhere to live rather than on holiday. Flying via Europe isn't making it any easier! Thankfully my parents have agreed to sending on any winter clothes that I'll need in the future but won't need in the next few months.

I got the most lovely surprise in the post. All the teachers, assistants and managers at my school had written me a card saying how they were all looking forward to meeting me and learning about England- how sweet it that?! It was just so nice of them, it really put me at ease about being welcomed at the school. Now I just need to get there! Some of them have even added me on "facebook". Serves me right for joining the "AEON" group. They found me pretty quickly after that! My fellow foreign teacher is male and American so it seems the students at our school will get a nice mix of cultures from us. The teacher I'm replacing is also male and American- they're going to LOVE having a female teacher! (hopefully!)

I'm back living with my parents for this week leading up to departure (holy poop it's less then a week now!)

I've been slowly getting through all the bits and bobs of things.

• My Yen are ordered and I'm collecting my cash and traveller's cheques on Monday.
• I've made a longest list EVER of stuff I want to take. Once I've put it all into the suitcases I may harshly have to cut back. I'm taking 2 suitcases because I have a week and a bit of training of training in Fukuoka before going to my branch school. One suitcase is being forwarded from the airport to my school and one suitcase is coming with me to training. It's all in the prep!
• Because of stupid airlines canceling flights (boo to Cathay Pacific!) I'm now flying with Lufhansa and Asiana AIrlines. Sadly this means TINY baggage allowance- ugh. But I'm confident the majority of my heavy things will go in my hand luggage bag. I'm flying via Munich and Seoul. Double Ugh!
• Don't start me on the panic which the North Korea nuclear thing is causing me at the moment. especially as I'm now flying via South Korea. Kokura is closer to Korea than it is to Tokyo! Bit too close for comfort. I just want to get into and out of Korea safely on my journey- it's all I'm asking!
• Due to silly cancellation charges for car insurance my car is staying insured in the UK and my Mum is going to pretend to be me in October when they ask me if I want to renew. (as the Churchill dog says, "Oooh, No, no,no")
• I have my International Driving Permit sorted. So if I want to explore Japan by car I now can. Very exciting. It'll be nice to have the option. I didn't know that there were only certain UK Post Offices that did the IDP so I went to the Northallerton one expecting it to be ok and was told they didn't do it! The nearest one was Leeds or Middlesborough. So I had a quick roadtrip to Middlesborough (quicker to get to than Leeds) while I was there I popped into Primark- got a new skirt suit for £15.83!! Wow.
• I'm trying to spend as much time as possible with my dog before I leave. She's a rather elderly Golden Retriever (13 years, almost 14, that's over 90 in dog years!) and she's not going to last a year so she'll pass away while I'm in Japan. It's a sad idea.
• I'm having my haircut and highlighted on Wednesday before Dad and I drive down to Heathrow. I've decided to stick it out with the blonde for a little bit longer. I can always go back to my natural dark brunette once I'm in Japan if I can't find a good+affordable hairdresser. The chap who recruited me said that the blonde hair would go down a storm in Japan. He was male so I don't think he realised that I wasn't a natural blonde! I'm going for this sort-of look:

I say "going for" because I'm no Reese Witherspoon! LOL!

• I'm trying to decide which, if any, teaching textbooks I should take with me. The school says that they have textbooks on hand but it would be nice to have one as reference at home! Swan and Parrot are a bit too heavy but I might take my Murphy "English Grammar in Use".
• Oh yeh, don't ask me how my Japanese learning is going because it's not! I'm terrible! It's because I really lack confidence in foreign languages and I've got no one to practice with. Oh well, I can only get better I'm sure!

Phew, sorry for the long entry. Hope it didn't bore any of you. I just wanted to get it all off my mind and into an entry!

Tonight is my last day working at Ideal World (UK Shopping Channel where I've been a Tech Op for the last 3 years and a bit) I'm not actually feeling that sad but it is the end of the era. But more importantly the start of a new one!

If anyone's interested, "The Apprentice" BBC show was here last year and it's showing on UK TV this Wednesday. So you can have a sneaky peak of where I work (used to work) It's on at 9pm, BBC1, Wednesday 27th May 2009.

Hopefully the BBC camera crew did not catch me, I was making a point of staying out of their way (unlike a few of my colleagues!) However they had a tendency to be lurking just around corners and generally getting in the way for the two days that they were in our studios!

Hurrah! I have my passport back, complete with shiny new visa inside.

This is actually going to happen. Wow.

I have 2 weeks left at work (which because of the silly shifts we Tech Ops work is actually only 7 days) It's a bit sad but it's time I moved on from Shopping TV, the job was only meant to be a stepping stone to other jobs in TV but it's still sad to leave everyone!

I'm slowly getting through my little "to-do list". I'm feeling on top of things. I am in my own little oasis of calm!

Yay, Japanese immigration have approved my application so my Certificate of Eligibility is winging its way over to me now! Once I have that I just have to pop it down to the embassy in London to get the visa. Phew, load off my mind.

My learning Japanese has taken a back seat in the last week so I need to get that going again.

Also need to polish up my grammar stuff, tenses and the more obscure parts of speech and so on.

And there are loads of little things I need to sort out before I leave England, paperwork etc.

I think I'm mostly on top of things.

I think :D

I'm rather nervous about this moving abroad stuff. That's an understatement. I'm pooping bricks.

I'm concerned that I'll end up sat in my little apartment all by myself when I'm not at work because I won't meet people that a) like me or b) can communicate with me!

I'm worried about the actual teaching. I've never done it before. Yes, I taught classes during the course but that was MONTHS ago now. I need to brush up on my grammar as well as trying to learn a new language.

I'm worried about everything connected to living in a country where I don't speak the native language, buying food, garbage disposal, transport... you name it, I worry!

If I'm lonely while I'm out there it'll only be made worse by emails from home with friends telling me about the things they've been up to (while I've been sat in my tiny apartment!) and the eventual decline and stopping of those emails.

I won't even get started on the possible pressures of a long distance relationship. *sigh* And there are some slight money concerns, nothing major, just enough to add to the ARGHness.

Everything is always worse when it's late at night/early in the morning. The stupid overnight shifts that I'm on at the moment are certainly not helping (hence the odd posting times!)

Edit: on a positive note- I loves my new Japan icon!

This entry has been somewhat prompted by scattydove who asked about my course centre. However I have been meaning to do an entry about some of the awesome textbooks that I've used recently too. I'll try and break it down into nice little segments instead of just typing as it comes out.

( CELTA info websites AND some Other Resources )
( Favourite Textbooks )

Sorry guys, things got a little crazy busy during the final weeks of the CELTA, then I had to get back into the swing of the ol' work thing. Honestly I missed the CELTA course like crazy for the first few weeks back at work, I really wanted to go back to York and do another input session on some crazy obscure grammar point! I was mising the teaching too, beginning to get a bit nervous that I will have forgotten how to do it all by the time I actually got a teaching job.

Awesome news though- I got a B GRADE for those four weeks crazy work. (I know here people will understand what a big deal that is) My certificate came through the other day, I'm so proud!

It was good to come back to work and be less bothered about all the everyday rubbish that we have to put up with. I was beginning to get bogged down with the fact that this job was meant to lead to a career, it was meant to be a vocation and I was hating it. Post-course it's now just a day job to pay the bills until I leave for Japan.

Oh yeah, I got a teaching job out in Japan! LOL! While on the course I applied for a position with AEON who are one of the big schools out there. I had an initial interview which included a sample lesson and a spelling/grammar test (I thought I'd failed here- I spelt some of the spelling test words wrong!) but somehow I got invited back for a second interview and.. yeh. I got the job.

I fly out to Japan in June. I'm going to South-Western Japan, Kyushu island. I'll be teaching in Kokura which is part of Kitakyushu. It's really REALLY exciting but also scary.

Anyway, that's the rather rushed update at the moment. This journal will get more love soon, honest!

This week so far. It's been pretty good really!

 

( Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday week 2 )

Hmm, I was sure I posted an entry about Wednesday/ Thursday it appears I didn't! Oh well.

It's been a relatively calm weekend. My case study for assignment two is almost finished, I just need to find some practice exercises for my learner's weaknesses. I did the 1-to-1 interview with her on Friday and also got a piece of written work from her. Lots of mistake for me to write about in the assignment which was really good!

I have Monday's lesson all planned. Irregular past tense verbs (verb Bingo- whoo!) and started planning Wednesday's lesson which is my first 45min one.

I've been getting good feedback from my TP which is really encouraging although I really kick myself for the stupid mistakes I make. Wrote "eared" on the board on Friday instead of "earned" duuuh! At least I'm keeping my tutor and fellow trainees amused!

I have some VERY weak students in the class and on Friday I didn't realise they were all in the same group for a writing skills task. Didn't even get one written sentence out of them. I really wish I'd split them up. I felt like I wasted their time. I meant to split them up, it was in my lesson plan but I just forgot. SIGH.

Managed to find some time for myself this weekend. Went out for drinks on Friday and had a long bath while reading the new Philippa Gregory on Saturday. It's made all the difference to my moral! I'm feeling positive about things again.

Run down of the last two days on the CELTA!

Monday 19th
Wahoo!! First teaching practice done. Such a good feeling that it went OK and such an adreneline rush just after doing it. I'm not sure exactly how much the students actually learnt but they seemed to understand me (which was good!) and they did the task I set them.

Good Points- I spoke clearly, concept checked well and got their attention (I'm louder than the others in my TP group!)
What needs improvement- I forgot to write the vocab on the board so they struggled at the start of the task until I wrote it up- oops. I didn't do enough (or any) individual drilling or enough class feedback.

TP team all did well. We all have our strong points. Only four days ago I wouldn't have been able to do that lesson. I felt quite confident with the support my tutor had given me.

Tuesday 20th
Easy but long day today. I observed two lessons (real teachers and their paying students) each of those was 1hr 30mins in duration. A break for lunch, TP feedback and teaching prep followed by lessons. I wasn't teaching today, the other 3 in my TP group were so really it was a full day of observation for me. Tomorrow I'll have to learn stuff!
I'm trying to plan my lessons a couple of days in advance but there are not quite enough hours in the day! Especially if I want to eat and have clean hair too. Oh yeh, and that little thing called sleep!

First observation was a grammar lesson. Very good, I hope I can be that knowledgable with my classes in the future.
Second observation was more skills based. Excellent teacher- he had a great rapport with the students. He made it look so easy! I think I may need to develop some eccentricity because slightly loopy teachers seem to get better results from students!

I'm close to learning all my students' names in my teaching group. I keep testing myself! I've finished my first assignment (language analysis) and now I'm beginning to worry about assignment 2 the case study.

Argh! First teaching practice tomorrow! I'm as prepared as I can be without actually having a class or non-english speakers sat in my bedroom. I've gone through my lesson in front of the mirror, trying to involve my imaginary class and imagining I'm eliciting the words. But I won't really know if I'm successful at this until I do it for real tomorrow. GULP!

I'm worried that I won't be able to get through the pre-task quick enough to do the main task. I'm worried their English level will be much lower then expected and I won't be able to elicit anything and they won't be able to answer my questions!

I really don't want to come across as patronising.
Thankfully after all the stress of tomorrow Tuesday is practically a day off for me. No teaching, just observations all day. 

I'm calm (ish) but I hate this feeling of jumping into the unknown!

On a cheerful note, I'm really looking forward to inputs tomorrow. Phonology, Vocab and a Video Observation- whoo! 

My course has officially started! We had this Thursday and Friday as intro days. We start the course proper on Monday. Other courses don't do this and I really wonder how the participants cope. It's so good to get all the admin, getting to know our way around the centre and getting to know each other out of the way before we have to worry about teaching. Here's a sneaky look at my "CELTA diary" I've been keeping for the last two days.

Day One

Phew! First day was not as bad as I feared. There are 8 of us on the course which I think is a good group size. I think I may be the youngest and also the only one with no teaching experience at all! However I do think I'll be able to cope. Feeling optimistic.
I have organised my personal file into sections with dividers. I've also made a start on assignment 1- Language Analysis. I'm pretty sure I can do this if I stay organised and work hard. I am very nervous about the Teaching Practice still.

Day Two

Still optimistic. A good day, I really enjoyed the input sessions. Got up and "taught" to the rest of the group. It wasn't real teaching but a good practice and ice breaker. Butterflies gone! I do need to think before I speak a bit more though.
Started teaching prep in our group for Monday. I have a 20 minute class to teach on job vocabulary at Elementary level on Monday afternoon. Lots of prep needed this weekend and maybe some practice in front of a mirror! I'm feeling calm about it because the tutor is giving us a lot of guidance. Our aims and procedures are laid out for us in these early stages which is good.
So weekend work is lesson planning, Assignment 1 and some forward reading for Monday input sessions.

It hit me a few days ago just how much I am actually learning! I was doing some of my pre-course task and I came across this question:

What is the form of the lexical verb in the present progressive?

And I shrugged and answered the question. Just a month or maybe even a week ago I would have looked at the question and freaked out! I wouldn't have even understood what was being asked. Some of this knowledge is actually going into my brain. Phew.

Only a week and a day to go. Yipes

Only 2 and a half weeks until the course starts. I really don't feel prepared.

I've got the pre-course task to work my way through. I'm also currently reading through Scrivener's "Learning Teaching". I like his writing style, it's easy to read and I worry less about certain things when I read each chapter.

There are other problems rearing up their ugly heads regarding my current job and my shared house. Problems which I could really do without. I just want to be able to concentrate on the course.

Sometimes I surprise myself by how quickly I get things done once I put my mind to doing something.

Within the last few months I: thought about ELT, decided that I wanted to do it, researched courses, decided on a course, bought books to help me apply for the course, applied for the course, did the pre-interview task, had the interview and got accepted onto the course, bought books for the course and now I'm starting to read the books to fill the gaps in my knowledge before the course. I've still got 7 weeks before the CELTA starts.

For someone who hasn't had much change in her life for 3 years it's quite a big leap.

In my initial research into TESOL (yeesh all these acronyms are irritating aren't they?!) I was seriously considering a weekend course. Personally, I'm glad I didn't pursue that. Maybe for someone who isn't sure that they are going into the right area and wants to try it out it would be suitable. But I want this to be a new career, I want to be taken seriously as a teacher and after a bit more research it became apparent that either the CELTA or the Trinity were the way to go. Besides, on a personal level, if I was a language learner I wouldn't be happy knowing that my teacher had only taken a weekend course and actually thought they could teach me something worthwhile. And I wouldn't be happy going into a classroom in a different country knowing that my only preparation was a weekend of seminars. The teaching practice involved in those four weeks will, hopefully, be invaluable!

I'll admit the CELTA may not be for everyone. It's expensive (it's going to make a significant dint in my Christmas spending this year!) and not everyone can take time off work for those four weeks. I still can't get over the providence of having exactly the correct number of holiday days left to take the time off from my shift pattern at work! I'm not going to ignore destiny at work.