Well, today I actually had to teach a lesson for the first time. I had spent the previous Friday and Monday at my junior high school, but did not engage in any lessons. There were two opening ceremonies that I attended and then spent the remainder of my time at my desk preparing for later lessons and studying Japanese.
Today was different. I went to one of my elementary schools. I only spend one day a week there, but teach 5 lessons on those days. The day began with an assembly where I was called in front of the student body and was briefly interviewed by on of the teachers.
After that, the lessons began. I have to admit that my first lesson was not exactly perfect. I forgot some points and didn't feel as if it went quite as well as I hoped. I do think that the kids enjoyed it though, at least for the most part. As the day progressed, I became far more comfortable and formulated a bit more flow to the lessons.
During part of my lessons, I would briefly let the students glimpse a flashcard of different countries' flags. Some of the students seemed to know which flags I was going to show next before I would even give them a chance to view them. It wasn't until the 4th lesson of the day when, after going through all of the cards again without surprising the students that one of them pointed to the large tv behind me and let me know that they could see me reflection in it, thus giving them a heads up on the flashcards.
I quite enjoyed myself while teaching, but one of the more difficult parts of the day was actually lunch. Lunch took place in the classroom of my next class. The whole event was quite interesting to see. All the students help out, but they are dressed like an olden time hospital. All the kids have white smocks, hair nets and face masks. They brought the meal to each desk individually. I think they decided to give me the smallest desk in the room however. My legs nearly reached the top when sitting comfortably. In order to fit under the desk, I had to contort them into a form somewhat less comfortable.
Next came the meal. My skills with chop sticks are not too bad, but it was quite a fiasco trying to eat the bean salad one at a time. I have to say, that there were at least 4 things in the meal that I could not identify with any specific certainty. I do know that there were green beans in the meal. It was probably the first time since working at the cannery that I had eaten them, but kids are expected to finish their entire plate and so must I as well.
I had two more classes after lunch and they went much smoother. I felt that the students did enjoy it quite a lot and hope that the following lessons continue to get better as they did over the course of the day. One of the strangest things that happened today was at the end of 4 of the classes. Going through a brief Q and A, I was asked how old I was. I asked the student to guess and 3 of the 4 times, they were correct. A bit strange, but I guess it just means I look my age
