Teach Gently

Slowly. Slowly.

From the quiet harbor of no teaching these words seem a failsafe. Easy now to think I should just take it slow. Adapt gently, take the new learning as it comes, integrate what is necessary, discard what makes things clunky or too difficult. Hmmm. In a few weeks time, when (if?) we are returned to work, will I be able to adjust my beat to this rhythm or will it be anxiety-ville all over again?

For now, from 13 April til 6 May we are on a break, our employer, ECC, cancelling classes for this period as part of the wider measures Japan has recommended to flatten the curve. The break is welcome. Cam and I are starting a routine of learning Japanese. More slowly, slowly. Today I made a face mask, double sided, pink cotton/grey and white striped seersucker. Cam is out looking for second hand bicycles, hoping that if we are able to stay in Japan we may also go exploring on wheels. We are eating more, trying to put on the weight we rapidly lost with our soup and salad diet and a schedule with few meal breaks. If that doesn’t work I am buying suspenders to keep my trousers up!

Our classes consist of many levels. For the young ones (18 months to 15 years) there are A, B, C and J levels. Each of these levels has a number of sub-levels: AK, AL, AM, AN etc and each of the sub levels have different lessons to cover the 40 week teaching period across the year. There are some anomalies. RTN classes for those young ones who have returned from abroad with reasonable fluency in English and needing a more tailored lesson plan. The lower A levels, aka, mini-kids involves much singing and dancing. While I love to dance, my moves aren’t really appreciated by the little ones. I tried some hip shaking with some older kids the other day trying to keep them away from the certificates I was about to distribute. They thought that was hilarious. Note to self, contain my moves with the under 5s, go for it with the over 6’s. 

Singing of course is altogether different. Best to avoid that for everyone’s sake. I am listening to Lou Reed every night to sit by the master so to speak and practice a kind of word art that gives the impression of singing. I perform the ubiquitous ABC song as a Spoken Word poem. When I say ubiquitous I neglect to note that the endings are different: LMN as opposed to LMNOP etc, so it takes some intelligence and skill approaching this new way of singing the alphabet. I’m up for it though.

The C Levels (9-12 years) and J levels (12-15 years) carry a reputation. Or, perhaps more correctly, we, the native teachers carry a reputation for these dudes. I gird my loins before I go into a J class. If there are more than 5 J level students in one room I quickly consider the merits of bolting. Last week I had the fortune of teaching a private J class. One student, her name Mao, and sweet. We were talking about her favorite TV programs and I was feeling momentarily like an interesting person with something to offer and I was getting the goss on contemporary culture for young people in Japan. Then, 5 minutes into the class another student walks in. And then another. And then another…..Now there was Mao and five other students. SIX. And not time to consider bolting. And. To make the experience more chilling while Lesson 8.3 was new for Mao it was extraneous to Oceans-5 who had completed this lesson just last week. Rather than tell me this in English, as they stared at me demonically, when I asked them to complete a short written activity in their workbooks, they whispered in Japanese to each other, with occasional evil glances my way. I peered more closely at their books to find a clue to their agitation (they’d done it already). I turned to Lesson 8.4. It didn’t exist. 8.3 was the last lesson for the year (the academic year commences on the 13 April). I pretended I knew what was what. Actually this is an invaluable skill in this role. On my first day of teaching in Japan, a core teacher said to me. Whatever you do act confident. It’s good advice. So, no 8.4. Thinking I’m done for, I draw a quick Hang Spider on the whiteboard – and 9 blanks as the first clue to decipher the word ‘butterfly’. The J’s give their best to this activity and decide emphatically, as the word almost reveals itself that it must be “butterly”. “Butterly, I exclaim. What is  butterly.” This is my pathetic comeback. They really couldn’t give a shit. I wanted to be a butterfly of course, but nature wasn’t going to grant me such an easy way out. 

Actually the J class I had before this one was just 3 students. But it was also frightening. They laboriously echoed my wishes to chorus English phrases and then spoke Japanese with each other in the in-between moments, clearly openly reflecting on my really really bad teaching persona. But. One of the students could not keep her eye off the bandage poking out from my shirt sleeve. Ahhhh, I have you I thought. “Oh this old thing?” “This is a very long cut” – I helped them out with the comprehension side of things and gestured the slicing of a piece of flesh. “It’s very painful”. “”there are many stitches”. “You know stitches?” I pointed to the hem line of one of the student’s skirts and gestured sewing with a needle and thread, but exaggerating the movement, because good teachers keep their students entertained. I could see the interest waning so I quickly dived in with an explanation of what was needed to remove the stitches. I accompanied my simple English with sketches on the white board and clear gestures. It was very good really. It was all downhill from there. But three minutes elapsed without pain and suffering on my part. I was happy with that reprieve. It was a little difficult for the girls to be mean to me after this, but they persevered and returned to their unpleasantness.

So, yes, it’s been fun!!

It has been fun. There have been lovely moments. I taught a small class of students in B-level last week. I invited them to play teacher. Each of the students had a turn at teaching the language structure to the other students. They were naturals and they loved this opportunity. I played student, helping out here and there. It was a win win. Last week I was sitting in on another teacher’s class to supervise while he was conducting individual interviews. I went rogue with the games because I was in a mood. The hacky-sack throwing game got wild and the ‘see how far you can walk before the toy elephant falls from your head’ also got a bit out of hand. The teacher walked in and politely said to me we should change the game. This was also fun.

I think there is going to be room for improvisation. I also think there is room for me to take the gentle approach. In this very brief time of ‘teaching’ I can see already that adhering to a curriculum is not making me a teacher. Listening. Being attentive. Liking myself. Trusting what I know. Trusting anyway. And. Time. Slowly, slowly. 

Respect to my friends who are teachers. 

Cam just walked in. He bought a bicycle. It has 6 strings and no wheels. In Japan they call it a guitar. 

See you soon.

Love Susan xxx