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| The hallway outside the teacher's room at elementary school. |
7:30am - I rush out the door, later than I meant to leave. I say goodbye to Justin and Yana and catch the elevator down to the first floor. Occasionally I run into a lady who works at the city hall (she lives in the same building).
7:32am - I walk across the street to the bridge which goes over the train tracks. A large group of elementary school kids are gathered on the steps, waiting to walk to school together. I say good morning to them and walk past.
I cross over the train tracks and walk to what I call the "town square". I usually run into a group of three JHS girls and say good morning to them as I pass. I follow the road through the square, over the river, past the bakery (Mmmmm, smell that fresh bread baking!), over the river again, and up the hill. Along the way I pass several groups of students, both elementary and junior high. Near the school I greet the crossing guards. and join whatever group of kids is currently arriving. This morning a cat visited the school and was being carried around by the students, who were all following it around like the god among mortals that it is.
7:50am - I arrive in the teacher's entrance. I remove my outside shoes and pad across the tile to my shoe locker. I place my outside shoes inside (Wow, it smells in there...) and change into my indoor shoes. I turn the corner into the teacher's room and shout "Ohayou gozaimasuuuuu!" and everyone responds in turn. I sit at my desk and collect my items for the day's classes. I also see whats on my desk (Any papers I can't read? Any treats from teachers who travelled somewhere?).
8:10am - I meet with the 2 teachers who I co-teach with that day. I only ever have 2 classes a day. We go over the material and make a lesson plan. It doesn't take long; they're mostly pre-made already.
8:25am - I go up to the second floor to grab a book from the library. Every morning I do reading for 10 minutes to a different class from 1st to 4th graders. Today I grab a Richard Scarry book about Lowly Worm.
8:30am - I arrive in 3-2 class and read them the book. Debatable about the success of said reading. Can't tell if they're bored to tears or just attentive.
8:40am - Reading is over, so I return downstairs to the teacher's room. I sit at the communal computer doing research on activities for my classes. I'm working on a giant compendium of things for each unit.
10:40am - Finally my class begins! I go up to the 6th grade class on the 3rd floor. Today we're learning about directions. The lesson is a bit boring and I try to stay attentive. This is our 2nd or 3rd class on directions and I do the same thing for both 6th grade classes, so in the end I teach 6-10 classes on the same subject. Halfway through class a boy walks in. His entire hand is bandaged up. The teacher tells me he broke his finger playing dodge ball...intense.
11:25am - Class ends. I rush downstairs and exchange my 6th grade stuff for 5th grade stuff and climb back to the 3rd floor. Today is 5-1 and we're learning about colors. This class is really great at English. Today they show me how awesome they can pronounce "white". Seems silly, but its a sound which is difficult for many Japanese people. Even the teacher is surprised.
12:15pm - My second and last class of the day ends. I make my way back downstairs to the teacher's room. I'm now both starving and extremely apprehensive about what lunch could be today. I sit at my desk and write about the classes in my logbooks. Then I grab my lunch tray and carefully walk to wherever I'm eating lunch.
12:20 - 1:05pm - Today I eat with the 4-1 class. The kids are super happy to see me and have a janken (rock paper scissors) battle for who gets to sit with me. The kids are shy at first, but then start asking me questions. One kid asks how old I am and when I say "Twenty four" he translates it as 50. Near the end of lunch a girl comes and closely examines my hair, which is in braids today. The girls all ask if I did it myself. Yes, yes I did. The girl decides to cover my eyes with her hands...while I'm eating. I attempt tickle her. She does not release me. I accept my fate and silently sit there with my eyes covered. She later drags me along to help clean up from lunch. The kids are in charge of picking up, serving, and returning the school lunch.
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| The front of the elementary school. |
1:05 - 1:30pm - Lunch break time. The kids from 4-1 ask if I want to play with them. I put my water bottle back in the staff room, change my shoes, and meet them outside. We decide to play onigokko, a Japanese variant of tag. Seems like most of the kids play it. We race through the playground. I've learnt that the best way to keep from being tagged is to run into a group of kids doing something else and look like you belong...well, it works for the Japanese kids, but it seems like I stand out a bit too much to blend in so easily. Near the end of break my supervisor S-san appears at school with some papers for me. The bell rings and I go back inside and collapse at my desk. I chug water and break out my fan. When I feel like I can move again, I go over to the computer.
2:00pm - The teacher of the class I ate lunch with (4-1) comes into the teacher's room and hands me the hair elastic one of her students had absconded with. We laugh.
2:30 - The principal wanders through the teacher's room and makes random conversation with me. Usually he asks where Yana is. Seems like somehow we have the same conversation every time.
3:00pm - I hear the bear deterrent bells on the younger kids' backpacks and go out to the hallway to say goodbye. Sometimes I end up being mauled by children, but today I escape unscathed.
3:55pm - Two students come up and give me a present. Its a small piece of cooked sweet potatoe. They had their monthly club activities today and were in cooking club.
4:20pm - I leave for home. Sometimes I chat with the teachers first. Officially I'm done at 4pm, but usually I finish up whatever I'm working on and then go. Sometimes I pass a few students on the way home and say goodbye to them.
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