Technos International Week has just ended, meaning that the entire student body (including myself) is combating some inertia to get back to business as usual. Exam week is in two weeks, so the students need to get a handle on the material soon.
I haven’t talked much about the classroom.
Greetings carry more meaning in Japanese culture. This is how each class begins and ends:
As my boss and I enter the classroom, all students rise and stand in an “attention” position. One student (whoever is “assigned” that day) says, “Good afternoon Aaron and Kyle,” and everyone repeats. Then, the assigned student says, “Please have a seat.” Once everyone sits, the assigned student says, “Meditation for one minute,” and everyone meditates. Once one minute passes, the assigned student says, “It’s over.” The meditation comes from the dojo and is called mokuso, a closed-eyes meditation; the idea is that it puts everyone into a mode of attention and focus. Class begins.
When class ends, the students stand and do the same thing with a “Thank you and goodbye” farewell.
This is the routine that I participate in. I wonder how that would go in the American classroom? I know that some progressive schools have incorporated mindfulness in the curriculum so that meditation is scheduled throughout the school day. I’d be down to meditate right before a medical-surgical exam with the rest of my class.
Whenever I’m not in class practicing with the Technos students, I’m in the English office in the Skill-up Room (where students come to improve their English language skills). Many of them come to me with diaries that they have to keep to improve English writing, or other written homework assignments. My job is to proofread them and make sure the students understand their errors.
However, I think I am more useful when students come to practice speaking with me. This is important, as some of their exams are oral exams. Professors would have “topics” that are to be discussed with the student one-on-one, and the students are graded on how well they can carry the conversation, coherence, pronunciation, and so on. As a person who knows very little Japanese and likes to talk a lot, I am a pretty good practice tool.
Moreover, students also have to take a public speaking course. Some students are assigned a poem (Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”) that they need to recite in front of the class—a challenging task when considering that Japanese curriculum does not have a lot of emphasis on public speaking or presentation giving… not to mention in English. Students are also graded on intonation, clarity of pronunciation, memorization, and so on. Students rehearse such a poem with me, as I can hear which words sound odd and which aspect of their speaking should be worked on more. (The word woods is tricky for them; they always say uuds.) I like to draw from my 7th grade drama class when I practice with them, as gestures are encouraged. (But don’t poets discourage gestures since they distract from the language? Still.)
Prior to International Week, I did a similar thing with almost all their presentations on the tours they gave to the international visitors. That was a trickier task since everyone had their own part to present about a specific place in Tokyo (e.g., Asakusa and Sensoji Temple) rather than everyone being assigned the same poem.
There is also an advanced public speaking course in which students have to convince the class that ____ is awesome (e.g., aliens are awesome, rice cookers are awesome, and so on). I help students structure their ideas in the basic introduction-body-conclusion format and find ways to express their supporting ideas for why ____ is awesome. This was one of my favorite classes because it was one of the first times I saw a lot of personality come through. Japanese people are typically reserved, but the “____ is awesome” project allows them to express an interest. It’s a bit of a throwback to show-and-tell days.
Then there’s the not-as-sexy stuff that are still very important in education. I grade exams, for instance. There’s actually a national standardized English test coming up for the higher-level students, and I graded their practice exams last week. It pains me to be the one giving the dreaded red marks on their Scantrons—but it also makes me feel powerful. I also have to make a part of a class’s vocabulary midterm exam. I now give kudos to all the teachers I have ever had because making exams are (almost) as challenging as taking them. I keep scratching my head trying to think a good singular sentence problem that assesses their grasp on the words cluster, perish, and immense simultaneously.
This internship has given me the backstage look at the education, which is interesting since I have only been participating in education from the role of a student. Add on the cultural differences and things become even more fun.
Kawaii Kyle 