After school today, a group of my cute freshmen girls will rehearse a skit with me that they wrote for an English competition. We have read, modified, practiced, and re-modified this skit for weeks. They even recorded my voice as I model-read the entire dialogue line by line so that they could “perfect” their pronunciation!
I stand back in adoration and watch them shine, only giving correction and input when they request it and only if I think avoiding the correction would hurt their overall performance. I don’t want any of me in this skit because they have done a marvelous job on their own—and I want to preserve the integrity of their creativity. They already passed the first round of the competition and are now preparing for the Regional level. I was so happy for them that it felt like I won when they told me they made it through and now I am eagerly anticipating their final competition in August. I wish we had more time, but the semester ended on Wednesday and I am just finishing up the week before I begin my own summer break.
I can’t believe that today is my last day of work for about a month! I am excited to visit with friends and explore Japan, but to be honest, I’m kinda bummed… wait, did I really just say that? Yeah, it’s true. There is SO much I want to see in Japan and I know that “time off” is going to keep me just as busy as my work-week anyway, but I am genuinely going to miss my coworkers and students…
Teaching these students is unlike anything else I’ve ever done before in my life and it is simultaneously the hardest and easiest job I’ve had. Lesson-planning requires more preparatory work than I’ve ever had to do in the past, but the actual teaching part doesn’t even feel like work to me. I cannot help but beam with delight as I enter each classroom and the time flies by when I’m delivering my lessons. Miyagi First is very rigorous so the students are dedicated and try to learn the material, which always helps make teaching more enjoyable/effective.
Still, I have several "class clowns" or the typical kids that try to act indifferent to everything and avoid eye contact because they think it's cool to blow off school...but it turns out that these ones are kinda my favorites, he he. I love forcing smiles on their faces and it's almost like a game. For example, there is a boy in one of my classes that always sits in the back corner and tries to just stare out the window or something—so, in his class, I always try to have one activity at the beginning of the lesson that forces everyone to get UP out of their seats and interact with each other somehow.
Some of the students are tired and relatively unresponsive when class begins, but when they get moving like this they are all laughing and enjoying talking in English within the first few minutes...and I wander through the students during the activity and always make a point to speak directly with (and praise) those students that are trying the hardest to avoid learning...they can't help but smile when I act more like their peer than their teacher and then they are like clay in my hands for the next 45 minutes.
In these activities, they are speaking in, listening to, and studying English without even realizing that they're learning and I just love it. It is so much fun to teach because it actually feels like I'm helping someone, I guess. This isn't something I just do alone in my home or office that doesn't directly affect anyone. I love seeing that light go on in a child's face when he or she finally gets what I'm trying to teach and I love it when i see confidence begin to build in “my kids” when something they once dismissed as impossible or useless transforms and they begin to see the value and fun of discovering another language. It’s impossible for me to go home at the end of the workday without a smile...even if it's a tired one!
I know that I’m going to have an incredible few weeks of travel and play, but I know I will still walk out of these doors today with a tender heart; I don’t know how I got so lucky. I live in a beautiful city full of genuinely good people that have carried me. I work in an uplifting and dynamic atmosphere, surrounded by intimidatingly intelligent coworkers that have guided me...and best of all? I teach something I love every day to bright and receptive students, edified continually by their individual gifts.
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| Several of my beautiful freshmen girls just before a school-wide musical performance. They were AMAZING! |
Karisha! Thanks so much for another beautiful post! I check every day, and I get so excited to read about your adventures!
ReplyDeleteI am also so very happy that Japan is an excellent experience for you. I am glad that I was a part in "pushing" you toward the adventure.
And, it is great to hear you talk about doing something that matters...remember me telling you that you had plenty of time in your life to come back and sit in a cube! I struggle with my worthless job everyday, knowing that the paper I produce will not be read (except for punctuation and acronyms...), and that I am not really making the world any better...thank god for my music; it is at least a way of having creativity in a very mundane life.
Please really take advantage of your time off! Dora the Explorer of Japan! If you need some $ to do so, let me know, and I will wire you some. Just enjoy and experience!
Love you with all my heart and soul!