30DWC Day 7: A Usual Monday.

Otsukaresamadeshuta!

That’s a phrase you should learn when planning to work in Japan, I use that everyday. It has different meaning depending on the situation. We usually use that after someone did something to show appreciation “you worked hard” or after work which means “thank you for your hard work”, you can also use the expression when you meet someone (a colleague or someone working in the same building) in the lobby, restroom or in the lobby.

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Today wasn’t a very busy day, it used to be, but I only had 2 junior lessons today. Last year, we used to have 8 lessons on Mondays, 2 private lessons, 2 semi-private lessons and 4 junior lessons. But after the changes happening to our school (which I can’t discuss since it’s very confidential) we only had 4 lessons today, which we divided into 2 so we had 2 lessons each.

My weekday schedule starts from 12:00 n.n to 9:00 o’clock in the evening and my weekend schedule starts from 9:00 in the morning to 6:00 o’clock in the afternoon. I usually eat heavy breakfast on Mondays since we finishes the last lesson at 7:00 which is different form my Tuesdays lunch schedule (4:30 p.m), so if I didn’t eat heavy breakfast, you would hear a lot of growling during lessons.

My first lesson started at  4:00 (starts of junior lessons) I usually stay in the lobby 20 minutes before 4:00 because one of the three students usually come early, let’s call him H. He’s an 8 year old kid, he loves gymnastics, he looks like the kid from Ju-on The grudge, he’s cute and has a really small set of eyes. He always comes to school alone, he travels by bus. He used to be a very silent kid who doesn’t speak inside the classroom, his former teacher was really surprised when she heard him spoke one time, but now he’s becoming talkative and active inside the class.

The second student is another 8 year old kid, he’s that type of rich kid a school always have, he always comes to school with either his mom or dad. His parents look like one of those couple you usually see in Korean drama, they’re both good-looking and well dressed. Let’s call him D, he’s a handsome kid, very neat, he looks snob but he’s very active inside the class. His parents are very supportive of him, when we have event at school, you would see his parents cheering and recording him all the time.

And the third kid is K, he’s a smart-wise kid. He usually comes to school with his mom, younger brother and sister (also one of my students). He’s naughty and an active student. He’s also very competitive and loud. He’s a bit darker compare to a typical Japanese kid.

After checking their homework, I usually ask them to pick a card or depends on what I planned for the day for their sitting arrangement. Then I start the lesson by asking them simple questions like “What did you eat for breakfast”, “What time did you sleep last night” etc. We then proceed with their movie homework, every unit, they are assigned to watch a movie then every lesson, they would answer comprehension question from the movie (it’s a short animation movie they can access on junior website). Today’s lesson is Project Presentation (usually on the fourth week of the unit) and I asked them to draw their pets or their favorite animals. D usually finishes the task first, he drew an elephant, H usually takes his time, he’s very perfectionist and has good penmanship, he drew a gorilla.  And usually K is the last one to finish, he starts late, he thinks deeply of everything first like he drew this, what would he write next, he drew a hamster.

After they drew their favorite animals, I asked them to make a paragraph by completing the sentences on their book. Then the last part of the lesson was the presentation, they presented their work infront of the class. I always ask them to do the presentation twice, first with guidance (from me) and the last one without guidance. I really love this class because they are very active and participative. They also have good comprehension skill.

My second and last class started at 6:00 o’clock. There are 2 students in the class. The first one is D, if I’m not mistaken he’s 14 years old, he’s H’s brother, they have the same personalities and attitude. And the next one is K, he’s a typical teenager you know, he hates studying, but he always come to school early. He rarely does his homework, but he’s smart, he has good comprehension. If only he could study his lessons and do his homework.

We studied health today and we made a Health Checklist. We didn’t have time left for presentation and we exceeded 15 minutes.

I was starving after this class and had my dinner with Jerene (a fellow Filipina teacher). I ate sausages leftover from breakfast and yakisoba I bought from 7/11. I finishes all paperworks and prepared a bit for tomorrow’s class. We chatted about random things while waiting for time out lol. It was really cold outside while walking home.

It wasn’t really a busy day, I only taught for 2 hours out of my 8 hour working time. I waited 4 hours before my first class pretending to be busy and working on lessons. I even had chance to have power nap in the toilet (for 10 minutes). We cleaned the school a bit, which is an everyday routine and most of the time chatting. I am now confirmed bored sensei. 😀

So that’s how I spent my Monday. It seems that everyone was busy today. Were you? Was it really busy? Or we’re just thinking that it was busy? How did you spend you Monday then?

Bored Sensei.

That’s me waiting for my first lesson, nowadays it’s normal to wear a mask to avoid getting sick. I am not wearing mask when teaching tho. And yes, I had my haircut short ☺️

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