Miss Alliey-san Sensei Teacher

          We’re well into the new semester at school, and I’ve now gone to all of my schools.  I am teaching at six elementary schools this academic year, and at the start of the next academic year in April two schools will be combining into one, making my total five elementary schools.

          There are three schools in central Shingu: schools KA, OJ and HO (OJ and HO will be combining in the Spring) and three schools outside of central Shingu: schools MI, TA and KU. At schools KA and OJ I only teach fifth (gonensei) and sixth (rokunensei) grade, whereas at the other schools I teach first (ichinensei) through sixth (rokunensei).  At some schools I’m a helper or assistant teacher, and at others I am the main English teacher.

          Foreign-language instruction has only been a recent addition to the Japanese elementary school curriculum, and is only mandatory at the gonensei and rokunensei levels; gonensei and rokunensei are only required to study a foreign language, in this case English, for one hour a week, and homeroom teachers usually leave those lessons for their ALTs because they themselves are homeroom teachers, not Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs).  One of the biggest differences between teaching junior high school and elementary school is figuring out a system with each homeroom teacher, as many of them either don’t speak English or are not confident in their English skills, and my Japanese is…yeah.  I haven’t encountered any problems yet with my teachers, and even the ones who claim they don’t know English have been making a concerted effort to speak English with me as much as possible, especially in the classroom.  The teachers have been great at working together to come up with lessons with me, and sharing their portable translators with each other when I’m in their classes.  And, if all else fails, the schools find someone that speaks English, and has them go with me to my classes, whether it’s a student-teacher or vice principal.  So, I honestly [hope] think that we’ll get on just fine.  Having an ALT who speaks Japanese is obviously easier for elementary school instruction, but it is doable (so far).

          Generally speaking, my school rotation is as follows:

                    Week 1: BOE, TA, KU, MI, KA

                    Week 2: BOE, OJ, HO, MI, KA

It’s nice to be able to see the students so regularly, when otherwise I would see the junior high school students only one time out of the whole month.  There would be times when I would visit a school and wouldn’t recognize some of the students simply because they’d had a growth-spurt in the month since my last visit.  Seeing the students as regularly as I will is great because the students will become more familiar with me, especially with the younger ones that still look at me like I might turn into a one-eyed-one-horned-flying-purple-people-eater at any given moment.  In one of my first classes with an ichinensei class, once the teacher had explained that I was the new ALT and that my predecessor had returned home to America, I could see some glistening eyes and wobbly chins and thought: Oh great, so this is what this year is going to be like.  Even though they all knew that the ES ALT was leaving and that I was going to replace her, because they’re so little and are so used to routine, they tend to forget details like that.  On the flip side, I’ve had tons of students yell after me in the halls: “Seo-Young Sensei!”  As one might imagine by her name, my predecessor was Korean-American.  I’ve never seen a (naturally) blonde-haired and blue-eyed Korean before, but there are plenty of things in this world I haven’t seen.

          As for my name, I’ve had all the students call me: Alliey Sensei or Miss Alliey.  While it was important for the junior high schoolers to practice and know my name for pronunciation purposes, my job at the elementary-school level is to get students accustomed and comfortable with English so that they’re ready when they reach junior high and start formal English instruction, not to drill them on English grammar and syntax.  “Alliey” is much easier for them to say, and most of the younger students giggle a little when I tell them my name because the Japanese word for “ant” is pronounced “ari,” and the Japanese frequently confuse the “R” sound with the “L” sound, meaning that I’m basically “Ant Sensei.”  Whatever helps them remember my name, the better, right?  I’ve also gotten a lot of “Eigo Teacher!” when I walk through the halls; it’s as if the students think that, because they’re saying the English word “teacher,” that automatically counts as a possible usage of my name, because it’s English.  But, I really shouldn’t be too terribly surprised; when I worked with young children back home, my name was frequently just “teacher.”

                “Teacher, I need to go potty!”

                “Teacher, I want the pink marker!”

                “Teacher, I’m hungie, I wants a snackie!”

You can’t expect little kids to know your name right away, and even then they may still just call you “Teacher,” or even worse, “Mom.”

          And although I miss junior high school (yes, I do miss my kids, even the troublemakers), I definitely feel more “in my element” at elementary school.  The first school I taught at was TA, which has a grand total of six students.  The younger ones looked slightly terrified at my presence, but within 10 minutes of my self-introduction lesson they had visibly relaxed and were volunteering themselves for the activities I’d planned.  At lunchtime, there was a little kerfuffle over where (and next to whom) I’d sit, and they all ogled at my homemade lunch (all of the elementary schools offer school lunch).  I also had a little farewell ceremony at the junior high next door (it’s literally next door, the buildings are mirror images of one another) that was quite sweet and was given a nice parting gift with the request that I come back and visit (when it’s, again, right next door and they ask so nicely, how could I not?).

Each of the students wrote a message for me, and then gave their speech in front of the students and  teachers of the school.  The san'nensei boy wants to be a manga artist, and drew Totoro on the card because they remembered from my self-introduction lesson that I loved Totoro.  :')

          At my next school, KU, the youngest students all pointed and said “Gaijin-sensei!?” as if they’d never seen one before in their lives.  But by the end of the day, one student came forward with a special art project he’d made for me (still don’t know if it is supposed to be a necklace or bracelet) and another excitedly showed off her science experiment: a water-bottle with a “fish” inside to test buoyancy. At school MI, the rokunensei students all had prepared little journals with questions to ask me: “What fruit do you like?” “What singer do you like?” “What Japanese food do you like?”  “What Japanese food do you not like?”  “Are you married?”  At school HO, the san’nensei students had been practicing my arrival all summer, and serenaded me with the classic Kylie Minogue hit The Loco-Motion.  I dare you to find something cuter than a bunch of nine-year-olds belting out “Errybody’s dooin’ a brand new dance now/Come on baby, do the rocomotion!”

Present from a ninensei student at school KU.  Still not sure if it's supposed to be a necklace or a bracelet....maybe an anklet?
Sweet, nonetheless. 

          My opinions about my schedule, schools, students, etc. may change once I get down to the nitty-gritty and start teaching English, but for now I’m really excited to be teaching elementary school again.  I know it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to tackling head-on.