Woweee..this teacher is great!

One of my new JTEs at my base school, is a really good teacher! I'm in shock, at how he manages a class, how he shows authority and commands respect without being mean and scary, and at how good his English is!!! He used to be a teacher at this school, left for a bit to work in Hiroshima, and now he has come back...and he is great! In class, we actually team-teach! When he wants to use a bit of Japanese to make sure the kids understand, he actually asks me if it's ok!! Bless!! In my lessons with him, the students actually do the work, and seem to enjoy it. They don't need telling twice, they just get on with the exercise we have set! We even have a laugh, and share the odd joke! We have also bonded over our dislike of the song 'Sing' by the Carpenters, which is this month's class song! He's just a really nice, friendly person...who can actually speak English, and is therefore a good English teacher!

Last week I told him about the points card system I introduced last year, where I gave the students stickers for volunteering and actively participating in class. He thought it was a good idea, and this week showed me the new 'points cards' that he has made for this year's students. They are 'passports'...each student has this passport, they have to write information about themselves inside, now and again write a letter to me, and there is also a big grid, where they can earn stickers for volunteering in class. I am soooo excited about these (I know I know I sound like a real saddo ALT now!), as each student can decide what name they want to be on the passport (i.e a nickname if they want...anything!), and the points that they earn.....wait for it....will count towards their termly Oral Communication grade!!! Yipppppeeeee!! I wanted that to be the case with my points cards last year, but my teachers were not keen on the idea. But this year, my lovely new teachers are well on-board with the idea, and agree that this will encourage the students to speak more in class, and become generally more active in OC1 lessons. And another great thing about this new teacher...he made all 160 passports himself!!! Normally that's the kind of job that they give to the ALT to do! Goodness me...I have finally been able to write a post on my blog about Japanese teaching and teachers without it turning into a bitch or a rant!