Thought you might be interested to know how a typical day went for me when I was a TEFL teacher in Japan...
7:30am – Wake up and shower. Choose between a traditional breakfast of miso soup & rice or stick with the classic of toast & orange juice.
8:00am – Leave house and cycle along the coastal path to a junior high school.
8:15am – Arrive in time for the teacher meeting in the staffroom.
8:30am – Have coffee made for me by the lovely office receptionist.
9:00am - Lessons start. Teach the joys of the English language.
12:30pm – Eat school lunch with the students. Talk in a mixture informal English and Japanese. Deflect rumours about my love life every single day.
1:00pm – Clean the school with the students and other teachers.
1:15pm – Discuss the following day’s lessons with teachers before cycling to an elementary school.
1:30pm – Quickly prepare fun lessons before the onslaught of energetic children.
1:45pm – Lessons start. Enjoy the exhaustive experience. Hand out stickers for my reward scheme (hint: they love them)
3:30pm – Return to the Board of Education. Grab a ‘Pocari Sweat’ energy drink along the way.
3:45pm – Plan lessons for the following day. Talk to my boss about sport/fish/politics/English jokes.
4:45pm – Clean the office with my colleagues and cycle home.
6:00pm – Try and occasionally succeed at cooking Japanese food for dinner (yakisoba was my speciality)
7:00pm – Go to football training with students/Go to taiko (Japanese drums) practice/Teach my adult language class/Meet friends for dinner and drinks.
10:00pm – Reply to emails or Skype home with friends and family. Read books/study Japanese/try to understand Japanese television.
11:00pm – Go to bed at a sensible hour like a good boy (with the air conditioning on maximum in the summer)
11:05pm – Look forward to tomorrow.
Yes that's me...in a kilt.
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Hello,
I taught for four years in Kochi-ken in south Shikoku. I came back home in August last year and now work for i-to-i.
That's a shame that your school doesn't let you get involved more. I can imagine how unwilling they are to move on their position once they've decided. I often found that a bit frustrating in Japan myself. Elementary lessons are much easier to plan but the classes can be truly exhausting if you're there all day. Also, one or two schools let me design their curriculum which was great but also demanding at times. I've heard that HS can be really tough if you're teaching 5 lessons every day.
My town was fairly small so I could cycle everywhere in about ten minute. Also, the weather was wonderful apart from June so it was great. I used to drive (in my '94 Toyota Corolla!) if it was pouring down.
I actually had to ask permission for every photo I took at the schools. Nobody really cared but I was always told to do it in case a parent complained to the Board of Education.
How's that dialect up in Iwate like then? I heard it's one of the hardest in Japan. Hope thing were alright for you last March too.
Hey...where abouts are you teaching in japan.
I'm about to go into my 3rd year of teaching in Miyako-shi in Iwate-ken... i teach HS... so we stay at the school all day, we have to provide our own lunch and dont get to eat with the students... i keep bugging my teachers about going to clubs but they are unsure about it...they seem to think interac dont allow it - even though i mention other teachers gong to clubs at other schools...although i know for elementary and junior high school it is usually added to the schedule...
For high school most school say we are too busy or they feel have to add it to the schedule for it to be approved by interac which can mess up the number of hours we can work per week...sometimes high school is busy because we have to prepare and teach the whole class - i know some elementary teachers who say their preparation is learning a new song from the CD or thinking of a game to play.
I certainly wouldnt like to have to bike between schools though - especially if its raining... one of my school is about a 45min bike ride...luckily nearly all the teacher in my city have cars.
I think the picture is fantastic...i once asked about taking a photo and my teacher said no - one time i allowed a student to use my ipad and he was taking picture and my teacher made me delete them - my school only allows photos to be taken at important events, such as festivals and sports day BUT only for private use and not for websites etc...especially if you can see their faces
anyway - its nice to know what other people get up to in japan!...thanks for the blog
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