I hate feeling completely powerless and as if I have no control, which is what I felt yesterday. It`s kind of a long and complicated story, so hopefully you can follow. I went to a city school that is full of some punk kids who don`t listen or study, but the last few time I have been there have not been so bad. And even the times before, nothing terrible happened. I was with my favorite teacher who I have only worked with one other time. She is really capable and challenges the kids a lot. She knows how to us an ALT and just seems really with it and experienced. As she started the class (1st grade) one boy was talking and trying to cause a commotion. She asked him to stop talking and he didn`t and it kept going on like this for about the first 15 minutes of class. During this time he was yelping like a dog, sitting on the floor, didn`t shut up the whole time. It was like he was on drugs. I have never seen a Japanese kid behave like this. Anytime anyone said anything to him, including the teacher, he would start giggling a freak laugh. It was extremely strange. So the teacher told him to get out of the room and go to the teacher`s office. He said no, so she literally started dragging him out of the room. So there they were in the back of the room, practically fighting each other for about 10 minutes. She was trying to drag him out and he was trying to stay. During this time I was trying to continue a question game that we tried to begin, but I was distracted and obviously the other kids were distracted. Some kids were laughing and being loud and others were sitting there in disbelief at what was going on. As a whole the volume of the class was quite loud and clearly the teacher lost complete control since she was dealing with that boy. Finally she got him out of the class and they left; I have no idea where they went.
So there I was with the rest of the class by myself. I tried to continue the game and they were actually sort of playing along. Of course they started talking a bit, but I was quite glad that they were participating and not running around, know what I mean? During this time the teacher next door came over and told them to be quiet and a bunch of other Japanese that I didn`t understand. Finally, after about 15-20 minutes of me being alone, the teacher and the crazy student came back to the class. At this point in time there were only about 3 minutes of class left. Class finished and the English teacher apologized to me (even though she wasn`t the one who needed to apologize). I went down to the teachers` room, and when I entered the room I over heard the teacher who had been teaching in the class next to me (the one who came and told my class to shut up) bitching to the vice principal and teachers in the room about how my game was so loud and disrupting his class. Beyond that I didn`t understand his Japanese, but I know that is what he was talking about. Of course I was thinking, "What?! My game was too loud? Do you even know what was going on in that class? I am lucky they were no louder than they were considering. Plus, they had been much louder when the teacher was there." I was upset and went to the restroom. When I came back into the teachers` room the English teacher was there and I don`t know what was said, but I heard my name and when I walked in the door they all looked at me and gave me weird looks. I left the room and the teacher apologized to me again and then I left the school.
This all probably sounds stupid to you about why I got so upset. But there are a lot of things involved. For one, the Japanese discipline system and American discipline systems are very different. The Japanese system is virtually nonexistent, which angered me becasue teachers have to put up with the kind of crap that boy pulled. Plus, I was sad for the teacher that she had to deal with him, especially since she is such a good teacher and she attempted to do something about it instead of just ignore the kid for 50 minutes. For another, it is illegal to leave an ALT alone in a classroom with a group of students. For another, there are a few jack-ass teachers who hate ALTs and try to get them in trouble, such as that teacher next door who was complaining about me. I usually deal with these sorts of problems only one at a time, but this day all of those were happening at the same time. Plus I realized as I was alone in the classroom that had the students decided to be out of control, I wouldn`t have known what to do. Even if I would have tried to speak, I wouldn`t have known what do say since my Japanese sucks. All I know how to say in a situation like that is "stop talking" or "stop" or "quit," and to that they would probably have started laughing.
After the class I was fine and relieved that I survived the class and that the English teacher managed to get the kid back to class somehow. But I just kind of fell apart when I overheard that other teacher complaining about me in the teachers` room. That school is already pretty cold towards me, always giving me a hard time about me not eating school lunch (I bring my lunch since I am a semi-vegetarian and there is pork in the school lunch almost daily).
So anyway, that was yesterday. It is hard to pick yourself back up when something like that happens. But elementary school today went well, and I was glad to be back in my town schools where the kids are usually nice and know me. Luckily I don`t go back to that city junior high until sometime in December.
"Angie says 'touch your eyes.' "
This is the face of a child who has played Fruit Basket way too many times.
Thank you, sweet kids, for being kind to your teachers and not acting like the class yesterday.
"Angie says 'touch your eyes.' "
This is the face of a child who has played Fruit Basket way too many times.
Thank you, sweet kids, for being kind to your teachers and not acting like the class yesterday.
