Getting over the dread of my first day

I wasn't going to give up just cos my first day wasn't perfect. It wasn't supposed to be perfect. How could it be when i'm really just an inexperienced teacher who up till now has not much interaction with kids? N this is the reality of EFL teaching....most students have no motivation in learning English. There's no pressure for them to learn n neither is there any assessment. To some of them, English class is having lots of fun n activities.It's so much better to face that reality here right now than later in Japan. At least i have lots of people to seek advice from when i'm here n the support of my family n friends.

After the first day nerves have passed, the classes got better with some preparation n tips from other teachers. One useful tip is to have fun......not just the students, but the teacher too. When you start enjoying your class, the weariness n nervousness will fade. I didn't have to use that much Japanese after the first day. I find that they can understand me when i minimised my English to just a few crucial words n just keep on repeating them until the words sink in. Gestures n drawing help too. N u'll realise that once 1 or 2 children understand, it'll make your job easier cos they'll translate to the other children. Or the other children who don't understand will ultimately just follow what the others are doing!...erh....except for some problem kids. That saves me the trouble of translating to Japanese for the slower kids.

The teachers don't have to stick strictly to the syllabus. We have 1 whole month to cover a unit n we can choose to do or not do any of the activities in there. We can always supplement the textbook with other materials in the English Resource Room or any other authentic materials u find on ur own. So during the classes, i don't have to worry about the time or whether i've covered enough in the textbook.

On the first day, i wasn't used to the lack of discipline of the children. But with a little time, i've learnt how to exercise some authority to make them listen to me. It's not easy though. They aren't like the local primary kids who only need to be told once (at least in my generation n i'm talking about generally well-behaved kids). I have to stop my lesson many a times just to get them to keep quiet, sit down, stop quarrelling, look here n listen. My usually soft voice has to be raised quite a few decibles in class. I wonder if that'll damage my throat.