Cuteness-chan is a Kendo-chan? ... cuteness just got violent GTX: Great Teacher Xeno [ Check this category ] Written by xenocrisis0153 November 18th, 2009 637 views Coverage Days: Tuesday, November 17th Schools Visited: ES2, ES1ASP As I write this, my little sister is on her way to the local United States Air Force recruiting station to file her enlistment papers. I found out this news just an hour ago as she caught me on Facebook chat (and subsequently ruined my best game of Bejeweled Blitz in weeks). Military service has been somewhat of a tradition in my family... though I never imagined my imouto-chan would be the one to carry it on for our generation. She might actually be the first female in our clan to step up. But yeah, all my love and support to you, Kelly. Basic Training starts in Texas in December. Make us proud! It's a big step to join the military of your respective country, just as much as it is to decide to become a teacher in a foreign land. That's what I decided to do for myself before I left Boston USA to come to Okayama Japan in August 2008, and that endeavor is what this blog serial has been about, so let's get to discussing another "typical" day in the life of an American trying his best everyday to improve the lives of his 330 students... at the cost of risking his own sanity. Teaching, if you would believe, is peaceful. It's an enjoyable job with way more perks than setbacks. Well, assuming you look at the situation from a bright point-of-view. However, there are certain situations that get the butterflies in your stomach all worked up. Today, at ES2, the butterflies were definitely active... and someone gave them spears and harpoons. I knew from last week as I was leaving ES2 that this week there would be a "Board of Education Inspection." Okay, well, whatever. No big deal to me since I had experienced one of these inspections at ES3 just earlier this month, and the only time I ever saw the inspection team was for a whole 5 minutes during the 5th-grade class. I went to school this morning not worried about a thing, since I was operating on the assumption that the experience would just be the same. I mean, why would they care so much about English lessons? The prinicipals and INTERAC trainers can handle the English issues, right? yeeeaaahhnnnooooo... I walked into the school building and first noticed a stantion sign in the lobby with a schedule on it. I only looked at it briefly, but then got uber curious about it shortly after, mostly because it just had a list of periods with a certain class assigned to each. Then I wondered, "hmmm, this looks like the schedule for what the inspectors will be observing. Cool, I can see right away that I'll be in the clear just by comparing it to my schedule." "Let's see... I have the 1st/2nd-grade in the 2nd-period... and they'll be inspecting... the... uhhhh... 1st/2nd-grade in the 2nd-period... okay, one class, I can handle that... Next is the 3rd/4th-graders in the 3rd-period.... which is... uhhh... the same as the inspection team... Ummm, okay... well, don't tell me that that... they will... ummmm.... oh crap... 5th/6th-period in the 4th-period. WTH?" Okay, so then I was thinking that it was just a list of special classes that maybe the inspectors would be interested in... or possibly what they need to avoid. I went to find the kouchou-sensei to ask him about it. Didn't take long to find him in the teachers' room, where I instantly asked him what was the deal with the English schedule listed out front. All the teachers were in the room and heard him explain to me that today wasn't the SCHOOL inspection, but rather the ENGLISH inspection. gah!! Well, no big deal, I suppose. I have confidence in my abilities and even though this is the school that I have the weakest relationship with, I wasn't intimidated by the challenge. I love English-time with the kids and the chance to show-off in front of the big-wigs was a welcome opportunity for me. And best of all, working with the 1st/2nd-graders would be the best kick-off to the event. All I need to start my day is some excited attention from Ready!Go!-chan... the biggest Xeno-supporter in the school. So... yeah... Ready!Go!-chan... let's have English-time together... 2nd-period... whenever you're ready... Ready!Go!-chan... let's... you know... do that thing where we have excited classes... together... hmmmm... that's funny. Usually when I say the name of a Xeno Ranger, their name highlights in bold. When I say "Ready!Go!-chan," nothing happens. Oh wait... it only happens when the student mentioned actually DOES something. Wait... does this mean that Ready!Go!-chan was absent today?? Ugh... you're kidding me!! The one day that I really need her over-the-top wackiness is the one day that she's not even here!!!!!! O______O!!!! crap Well, it's not like the other kids don't love English-time, but usually she's the one to set the pace. The other teachers have a wicked hard time controlling her, since she leaps from her seat all the time ad usually just does whatever she wants. But at least with me, she's usually rushing up to the front to be at my side, which is fine with me since she'll at least listen to me. It's actually an amazing thing to watch her scowl or protest to her homeroom teacher or even the principal, yet with just one request, I can get her to sit down calmly. I would have liked the inspectors to have seen that. Sigh, well, oh well... I can make do with the rest of the class. There was one woman and two men sitting in on our lesson. The kouchou-sensei and kyoto-sensei were also there, but each just to check-up to make sure all was well. The lesson started with great energy. Luckily we were still going over RPS123, so I was getting the kids all fired up with my sumo-ninja challenges. The inspectors found it to be quite interesting, as did the teacher. And of course the kids loved it. The Gods were being kind to me this morning by giving the kids super amazing abilities to listen to me without struggle. We had been doing this game as part of the RPS123 lesson where they arrange their desks into two rows facing eachother. Since this class is too small for Janken-densha, I have them face-off with the student across from them. After each round, the winners raise their hand and then I award them points based on which side they're sitting on. First team to 20 points wins. It's only a quick game, especially now that we're in the review-phase, but I must have amazed a few observers when I said to the kids, "we're going to play the game from last week. Make two teams across from eachother. Please move your desks." I was anticipating a few of them to be like "ehhh? wakarimasen!", but was blown apart when they all stood up instantly and did exactly as I asked them. That wouldn't be the only time. Their "stand up" and "sit down" commands were flawless... though I'm not surprised by that since we do it all the time. I did get them to sing "The 10 Steps" for the first time and do the hand-motions with little preparation. Counting to 20 was a bit of a challenge, as usually the loudest kids are also the ones who are not always right. What I usually do when reviewing vocabulary is I write the words/symbols on the board, then after we're done, I'll have them review one last time as I erase each one. As I was going down the line, they got through "11" easily, but got messy around 12/13/14. We were going slow through the list, where mostly it was half-correct, half-wrong answers being shouted. When we got to "18", they were all mostly wrong... and to express my concern, instead of erasing the number, I slumped straight down to the floor... brushing the eraser down the length of the chalkboard as I fell. Heehee... standard slapstick, something I've done a dozen times before. What's worthy of note was that the inspectors all found it pretty funny. Even from my crouched down position on the floor, I could hear them all chuckling loudly while trying their hardest not to interrupt the lesson, heehee. The amazement continues with the target of today's lesson: food. We covered the food vocabulary last week, and the kids really enjoyed the activities we did. What was amazing, even to me and their HRT, was that the kids could remember most of the words, even WITHOUT the flashcards. They simply remembered what was next based on the order, which really really impressed the inspectors. I can't understand much Japanese, but I could hear them whispering in amazement as we continued through the lesson. And I thought the "do you like ~?" portion was going to be tough, but the kids really enjoyed the challenge. The interview game I arranged for them was also a big hit. I had always thought this activity would be hardest for 1st/2nd-graders, but it's usually the younger groups who enjoy it most. Go figure. I really can't say what the reason is, but apparently seeing the first lesson was enough for the inspection team. If I wanted to be realistic, then I'd assume it was all they really planned for. If I wanted to be optimistic (boastful), then I could assume that they were so mightily impressed with my lesson that they saw all that they needed to see. I could also be pessimistic/paranoid and assume that they hated the lesson so much that they didn't want to bother with the rest, but this is doubtful based on how well the lesson went, plus the fact that the kyoto-sensei and kouchou-sensei both told me after that everything went well. It's probably all for the better that they didn't see the other two classes, mostly because the kids were behaving terribly today. I blame it on the crappy weather keeping them indoors. Not being able to run around bottled up all their energy. Well, actually, they weren't being "bad," per se, but rather they were being noisy. But I can't even get mad because they were participating in the group activity I gave them... just louder than I had preferred. Oh well, whatever. We got through the lesson plans on-schedule and the information seemed to stick quite well. Even in a loud, disorderly class, the key to success is keeping your cool and just accepting that the course isn't always going to go as planned. Today, for some reason, I got to leave at 2:30pm. I guess there was some special meeting going on or something, and all the kids would be leaving early. I called INTERAC to let them know, and they confirmed with the principals that I was indeed free to take off an hour (really 2.5 hours) earlier than usual. Hmmmm... I'm free early on a Tuesday afternoon? What should I do? I know... I can finally join in on a Soccer Club meeting at ES1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!! Oh wait... it's raining. Crud. I went to the school anyway since it's not always guarenteed that it would be cancelled. They've played in the rain before... and even on cold days like it was today. Actually, it wasn't even raining that hard. Well, that's what I thought anyway, but apparently 4-sensei had a different opinion. All the kids were kept inside during after-school time today. Bummer. Well, I can still have new kinds of fun with the students here. They were all amassed in the multi-purpose room playing various Japanese board games. I found one group playing some kind of "Connect Four" game using black and white stones on a flat grid table. Well, really it was "Connect Five," but same rules. I played this game with a group of boys for about 30 minutes. Eventually I got tired of it, as did they, evidenced by them starting to shoot the stones at kids playing other games. My cue to leave, haha. I made it outside where I found PenguinDance-sensei talking to a bunch of students who were getting ready for dismissal time. Actually, a lot of the kids were from the junior high school. Oh yeah, today was "workplace observation day" for the 8th-graders. Many of the chugakkusei were working in different locations around the village, including the elementary school. I saw Tenisu-chan coming up the driveway around this time, so I asked her where she had been working today. She told me she was assigned to the local supermarket, then proceeded to mimic the motion of scanning items through the register... followed by random button pushing... then all sorts of bells and buzzers going off... followed by her tearing her hair out in frustration... ... to which I added in the register exploding at the end. She nodded in agreement. I think she's been traumatized by all cash registers for the rest of her life. A few of the Soft-Tennis Club girls were around, which was good 'cause they got to see how well I interact with the elementary school kids, particularly Time-chan. She's always following me around, telling me random things or teaching me random games. Today was no different, but I have other stories I want to spend time discussing. I made my way over to the jidoukan around 4:45pm just to drop in on the teacher there to make sure everything was alright. When I arrived, I discovered that the "new" assistant teacher started working there. Well, can't say he was "new" since he actually works in the kindergarten section of the building. They just switched him over to afternoon-duty with the elementary school kids. I was introduced to him and made a little small-talk. Since I came in late, I didn't have much time to interact with the kids, so I couldn't show off my relationship with the students in this group. I did fit in some tag with Semi-chan and a group of 1st-grade boys. Oh, but I did tell him about Chizuru-burger's nickname... which of course prompted the little darling to come over and try to whack me. Haha, so cute. The last story of the day is the basis of the wonderful entry title. As I was passing by the elementary school on my way to my car, I saw that there were some students in the gymnasium. I wasn't sure what was going on in there, but since I had to be somewhere at 6pm and it was only 5pm at the time, I decided I might as well drop in to kill some time. As I walked into the lobby, before I could even get the door open, I heard someone excitedly yell my name. When I opened the door, there were two 3rd-grade students and one parent inside. As you can probably guess, one of the students was Cuteness-chan... and yes, she was the one who yelled my name. And what was going on in the gym on a Tuesday evening? Kendo practice! Sweet. I must admit that I haven't been to Kendo in a while. I've gone a few times over the months, but rarely do I put it in the blog since interesting stories never come from it. The students usually just do the same routines over and over and over. But now that I see that the Ball of Cuteness is now a Kendo Warrior, it might be worthwhile to see what goes on later in the practices. Plus, there is a small grouping of boys who I don't see too often that I really want to add to my "positive approval" list... including the trouble-maker boy in the 4th-grade. Of course, I know I have their favor already since they all wanted to play with me once I entered the gym (they were down on the far end), but I should strive to solidify all my relationships. I wanted to play with them (they were playing "keep away" with a volleyball), but Cuteness-chan was in ultra-serious mode... plus she was suiting up her uniform. She asked me to tie her shield (I'm not good with the terminology here), but it was a challenge since she wanted it super-tight, but not with a bow tied impossible to un-do. I give whole-hearted props to anyone who could tie those things on their own. No doubt there is some super-special way of doing it, but damned if I could figure it out. I eventually just pulled it tight, then gripped the part where the strings crossed, then had Cuteness-chan actually tie them. And tying Kendo equipment isn't the only thing we did. If you can remember waaaaay back in the day, her charm point is showing off her English skills. Since we've had a grand total of maybe 14 minutes of outside-classroom time together this semester, she's been dying for some opportunities to demonstrate her abilities. Instantly she started quizzing her classmate standing nearby on the Months of the Year. Then we moved on to Days of the Week. Man, oh man, there was cuteness, but no words can do justice. She does these weird shrugging/head-tilting movements when she doesn't know the answer, as to say, "yeah, I'm blanking out here, but I'm just so damn cute that it doesn't even really matter, now does it?" oh, the good ol' days. She also wanted to know what all the other classes were studying, particularly the 4th-graders. I think she's trying to get a sneak-peek at what's coming next year. I told her that 3rd- and 4th-graders essentially get the same lessons, just slightly increased vocabulary. What blew her away was the fact that in my other two elementary schools, the 3rd-graders and the 4th-graders have English-time together. Xeno-sensei is just full of all sorts of interesting tidbits. It's waaaay past my bedtime and with the temperatures dropping even INside my apartment, I need to hop into bed and go into hibernation mode. It's not just for PCs. Until next time... see you!! There are 3 comment(s) for this entry Post a new comment [ Go Back To Top]

#1 Craze Congrats on impressing yet another group of reviewers! Obviously they were so impressed that they left early so that they wouldn't have to be exposed to your GTXitude for too long, else they might've had to show you the tears of gratitude and joy they would've expressed at how well you are teaching their youth. 2009-11-18 17:12:37 #2 AJtheFourth Whenever I think of kendo equipment... ...I think of how Yukino always used to comment that it smelled in Kare Kano. Ah...good old Yukino. Sorry I didn't get to proof this one, but everything looks a-ok anyway. It's not like I've ever found anything as a proofreader. (In case anyone was wondering how different the proofed and unproofed articles were.) Awww Cuteness-chan is now in kendo! It must be very cute to see her being all super serial about it, like she is about most things. Also, I'll echo Craze's statements and say congrats on impressing your reviewers, even without your eager pupil, Ready!Go!-chan. And finally, good luck, Xeno's sister! 2009-11-19 22:54:03 #3 xenocrisis0153 @1 - haha, well, that would explain the puddles in the lobby near where the inspectors had changed their shoes. @2 - man, I haven't seen Kare Kano (yes, I maintain the fact that my manhood is still intact) in years. Thanks for the proof-reading stamp of approval. Sometimes I make jokes that aren't explained all that well... and when I do them at 11 at night when I'm dead-tired, they don't sound too wholesale, haha. She's in a weird phase where she has the armor, but not like the uniform thing. It's basically just her school uniform with a helmet and shield on. Not sure when she gets to change into the full-attire, but it's fine for now since it makes it easier to see where she is in the rotation. I try to keep tabs on the other kids, but once the helmets go on, I have no idea who is who. Thanks for the kudos... to me and my sister. ^___^V 2009-12-06 08:27:02