Rescued by my JTE For those of you who don’t know what my job in Japan really is, I am an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). As an ALT, my job is to provide assistance as a native English speaker to my JTE (the Japanese Teacher of English), the one who is actually in charge of the classroom. To put it in simpler terms, my JTE is Batman and I am Robin in the classroom. Since I teach at 4 different schools (2 Elementary Schools and 2 Junior High Schools), I have a total of 6 JTEs. Forming a good relationship with your JTEs is essential if you want to have a good time at school and especially in the Teachers’ Office. This is because as a foreigner with average Japanese speaking skills, your JTE is literally your key towards success in maintaining a good relationship with other teachers in the office. I have been saved by my JTEs so many times this year because I often had trouble understanding what the vice-principal or other teachers in the office wanted me to do. In addition, as your working partner in the classroom for a staggering 365 days, your life in the classroom as a teacher could get pretty hectic and frustrating if you do not get along with your JTEs. In fact, most of the complaints filed by other ALTs in my company every month are due to poor relationships with their own “Batman”. This is also the reason why I feel blessed to have been placed in Nishiwaga instead of other big cities in Iwate Prefecture. Not only are the people here friendly and easy going, but my JTEs are some of the best people to work with. In the ES (elementary schools), my JTEs pretty much let me be the driving force of the class while they sit back and learn English from me. This means I get to interact with my students more and it also satisfies my desire to help Japanese improve their English. Like I said 3 months ago, it is in the elementary classroom where I truly feel wanted, belonged and most importantly, like a teacher. In the JHS (junior high schools), I do not get as much freedom to operate like I do in the ES simply because we have a lot more materials to cover in a very short time, which forces the JTEs to take over in the class. Now does this mean I hate JHS? HELL NO! The JTEs in the JHS possess a much higher level of English Speaking Ability, which makes communication with them a lot easier. In addition, my JHS JTEs are really good teachers. Even though they are in charge of the class, they will never leave me out of their lectures. They often build their classes around me so that I don’t feel isolated. In other words, although I am Robin in the JHS classroom, I still have lots of tasks to do and in no way a standing man! Because I and my JTEs get along really well, my relationship with other teachers in the office has also become inseparable. They treat me like I am a part of their family, although I am a foreigner who does not work for the Board of Education like they do. Whenever I return to the schools after a period of absence, they would be dying to tell me what I missed. If some teachers handed out souvenirs from their trips (a Japanese custom) while I was absent, they would never forget to leave my portion on my desk. Most importantly, whenever I feel tired in the office, they would always bring me coffee or tea to keep me fresh. So what does this tell me? Segregation does not exist in Nishiwaga and that the people here are truly wonderful. If I were a professional basketball player, I can tell you I will never desert this wonderful town for paradise like Lebron James did. I will never betray Nishiwaga or say something behind my JTEs’ backs. This week, I finally realized the importance of maintaining a good relationship with my JTEs. I ran into a problem the other day which could have potentially sent me packing back to Canada by my company. Yet, at the most despair moment, it was my partner, Batman, who came to the rescue! As a rule in my company, it is required that my boss visits me in Nishiwaga twice every year to observe my classes. This doesn’t necessarily mean I did something wrong in class or that I am not doing my job properly. It is just a customary visit for them to see how I am doing in Nishiwaga. However, their comments and advice after the observation can greatly improve my teaching skills as I move forward towards the third academic semester. I had known about this visit for weeks and had been preparing for it days prior to the real moment. As a person who always reads on the Internet, I knew this observation assignment could potentially be a “Mid-Term Exam” that determines whether or not I am qualified to stay in Nishiwaga as an ALT in the future. The night before the visit, I was so confident and prepared that I thought I was going to “ace” this challenge! As it turns out, things never go the way they are supposed to. A teacher called in sick on the morning of the big day, which resulted in a scheduling change. In a blink of an eye, not only will I be teaching a different class for the observation team, but I will also be teaching it with a different JTE instead. This JTE, which I will refer to as “JTE MM” due to privacy, is actually a very good English speaker. I will say her English level is definitely better than a lot of the long-time immigrants in Canada. Consider the fact that she has never been abroad, this is actually pretty extraordinary. Because of the unexpected change, I was forced to abandon my well-prepared lesson plan. Instead, I was told by the other teachers to focus on teaching my other classes while JTE MM will do the lesson planning for the big observation class. I could tell JTE MM was definitely shocked and surprised when she was told about the scheduling change seconds after she walked into the teachers’ office. She was frustrated and worried as she scrambled to prepare new materials for such an important observation in such short notice with less than 50 minutes left on the clock. To see her suffer certainly made me feel terrible because it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Because of me, a useless ALT who is also the primary reason why the observation team is coming, not only did she lost a wonderful morning for her to enjoy, but she also had to work extra hard in such a disastrous situation in order to bail me out. This wasn’t supposed to be her homework! This was mines! Here she is scrambling to help me while I can do nothing but to go teach along with my other JTE during this period. To sum it up, that morning was the worst thing I ever had to endure ever since I came to Japan. I felt nothing but guilt. When the observation team arrived at my JHS a little later, I could tell they were not in a happy mood. They ran into traffic on their way to Nishiwaga from Morioka due to a car accident on the highway and therefore got here a little later than expected. If that wasn’t enough pressure for an individual, things sure got worse after a remark made by my boss. They told me they see highly of me and expected me to perform a “splendid miracle” in the classroom just like I did 2 weeks ago at the Morioka ALT Training. Now my back is definitely against the wall and for a moment, I actually thought I was on my way out of Japan! JTE MM came up to me at this point to discuss about our lesson with 5 minutes left before kickoff. Initially, I thought it was just a rough plan where she would build the class around me like usual. As I walked towards the classroom along with JTE MM and the observation team, I told myself this has to be my worst nightmare! What happened in the next 50 minutes however, was truly incredible and unforgettable. JTE MM not only controlled the class and got them to behave, but she also got every student’s attention for the entire duration of the class. Those who teach at JHS should know that one of the most difficult assignments for us ALTs is to grab teenagers’ attention for the whole class while maintaining their level of interest towards your lesson. JTE MM not only managed to do this comfortably with a rough lesson plan, but she also did it to perfection by getting me involved throughout the whole time as well. I am not going to get into the details as to what she really did in class, but by the end of the lecture, everyone (including me and the observation team) were having fun! I had so much fun that I didn’t want it to end! When that class was over, I could feel something special in my heart. Ever since I started teaching at the JHS, I have seemingly lost that feeling of excitement towards teaching that I possessed energetically 7 months ago when I first arrived in Nishiwaga. That feeling seemed to have re-emerged after the observation class. All of a sudden, I am actually starting to enjoy teaching at the JHS as much as I do at the ES. I am actually happy to be spending 80% of my working week with teenagers! How is this even possible? So how did the observation team felt? They loved the lesson conducted and I got an excellent review from my boss! In fact, not only did they like how I was involved in the class despite being on the 2nd line, they were also amazed at how well JTE MM managed the class and how well the students behaved throughout the 50 minutes. Do I get to claim all the credits? NOPE! I feel like 90% of the praises my boss made in the aftermath meeting belonged to JTE MM. Actually, I wouldn’t have been writing this article right now feeling so happy if it weren’t for her. Not only have my views towards being a bench player in the classroom changed, but I also learned that an ALT shouldn’t be depressed if they are treated as a “Human Tape Recorder” in the classroom. With the right JTE and planning, a 2nd line role can be just as fun as the mainstream ALTs. Today, I finally understand that isolation and depression will not exist if your JTEs know how to do their job! It is really amazing how things in life can change so quickly. For the last 7 months, I had been ranting about how difficult it is to be an ALT in Junior High Schools and how depressed I feel every time I entered the classrooms there. Yet in a mere 24 hours, all those feelings have been dissolved. Thanks to JTE MM’s hard work and dedication yesterday, I have once again begun to find teaching junior high school students to be interesting. Her actions have reignited my spirit and all of a sudden, I am looking forward to teaching once again! Thank you JTE MM….本当にありがとうございます! Now can someone translate this in Japanese for me? LOL
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:03:12 +0000