Bawl bawl bawl....I forgot to take off my shoes!

I was rounding off the P2s at the door to make sure none of them slipped away before saying, "Thank u Miss .... May I go to my class please?" when two boys called me. They pointed to Boy S.H. (he has such a cute face that'll make anyone's heart melt) who was crying and wiping his tears and snot on his sleeve. I rushed to him in alarm n asked the boys what happened. They pointed to his feet and explained that he was wearing shoes. I didn't even realised until they pointed out to me. The Japanese kids always have to take off their shoes n put them outside the shoe rack (which is outside every single classroom) b4 they can enter a classroom. Some wear shoes in but they're strictly for indoor use only. I guess S.H. must be crying either coz the boys n were mocking him or he was afraid of a scolding. Seriously, I don't care about that custom at all coz I wear my shoes into any classroom all the time. Almost all the English teachers do that except for the teacher next to me who's Japanese. He was crying in such a pitiful way that makes my heart go all the way out for him. I consoled him saying that it's ok and I don't mind at all many times but he just couldn't stop crying n burying his face in his sleeve. He was still crying when I sent them off at the door.

Is it really such a taboo to wear shoes in the classroom? I don't understand why the Japanese has to have indoor n outdoor shoes defined so clearly. I don't have to follow the custom here but unfortunately it's clearly stated that I have to follow when I'm in Japan.

Karaoke?

After they have finished practising writing in their phonics workbook, the P2s can start colouring the pictures in it. So they'll ask,"Miss (sometimes it becomes Mrs) .... ! Colour ok??!". I always laugh because it sounds so much like "karaoke"!

Itadakimasu!

Lunch with the P4 today was definitely livelier than with the P6. I tried to make conversation n asked the P6 if they were interested in my lunchbox n was flatly rejected with a resounding "No!". A few P4 boys came to look n exclaimed seriously, "Vegetables! All vegetables!" until i had to point out carefully the few pathetic pieces of chicken camouflaged by the Japanese curry. They didn't look very impressed and hurried back to their own lunchboxes as if to reassure themselves that their lunch is much better. They must be feeling sorry for their teacher coz their lunches were sooo sumptuous n oh so pleasing to the eye! Pity none of them offered any of their food!

Little K.T. tells Boy W that it's hip to eat with your fingers but he doesn't quite believe Little K.T. 

Red boy: Why must there be violence over such a small lunch box? Just look at mine.....arigatou okaasan! 

Hnnn! We refuse to let you see our lunch coz u have nothing to offer us! 

Watch us eat with 2 fingers! Ahaha! 

A neko for u! :)

Awww.....little kimu taku made me a cat with his origami paper. We were making origami frogs today as a practice for the upcoming P4 exchange programme with a local primary school. The kids have to learn how to teach the students how to
play different Japanese games in English so English teachers have to spend time on this. Little K.T finished making his frogs and decided to make something for me. He even decided that pink would be a good colour for me. While I was learning how to make the frog from Boy SO, he came to me and said, "neko! (cat) This is a present for you.". It was a little crumpled and one of the ears was shorter than the other. But I was still very touched. Boy SO also gave me one of his frogs as a present n even drew a pair of glasses on it!

Akuma!

Boy So (one of my favourites) called me "kechi" (stingy) and "akuma" (devil) today when I took away their origami paper because they were too busy doing to listen to me. Luckily, he was only saying in a joking and playful manner! Anyway, this is how the kids talk at the Japanese school. They even have nicknames for their homeroom teachers. One P5 boy calls his teacher "To-chan" instead of Toyota sensei!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Woo hoo...finally got some time away from the children! :p Took 2 days leave on Mon n Tue for a short trip with my family. So the kids had a substitute teacher instead n I forgot to tell them about it. They must be surprised to see her. It's good to disappear once in a while so that the kids will appreciate u. They were very glad to see me today. Even one P6 boy who's always so cheeky and troublesome made sure that I'm teaching the class today n said that he's happy to see that the teacher is back! Of course he didn't say to me directly. It was funny when the P4s told me that the substitute teacher got angry with them because they didn't understand what she was saying. Boy Y was saying that luckily it's not the substitute teacher today n I threatened to "go away" again if he misbehaves. He shook his head feriociously n earnestly. But I'm sure he didn't mean it when he said he won't misbehave! :p

One people One nation One Singapore

I sang in front of the whole school today. We had the English immersion assembly in the morning. Earlier, I was approached by a Japanese teacher to sing a song during assembly. I don't know why he had to choose me! It was fun though n I wasn't nervous. The children were singing along too. The only thing I'm embarrassed to say is that I had to sing such an uncool song! I wish I can sing a Japanese song...but I'll probably only embarrass myself in front of the kids.

Ahh......Erm......Ahhhhhh!!! Hands flapping!

It's very interesting when my students are trying their best to try to communicate to me in English. Some would call out to me, "Excuzzze me, excuzze me!". And look up at say "erh......", "eh...", some broken English n gesturing, look up n down, right n left when trying to find the words, and start flapping their hands wildly when they can't find the words n go, "Ehhh....erm...!" desperately when I don't understand what they're trying to say. They'll start to relax when I tell them it's ok, you can speak in Japanese. It's really cute to watch their reactions and I really like it when they try to speak to me in English. Hah....but that's not very often. More often, it's the other way round when they'll just shoot their mouths off in their native language.

Primary 2 Cuties

SOME of the P2s I have are sooooo cute. Just looking at them makes me smile. They are so tiny, energetic and move around like hamsters! And their voices.....I like their baby voices so much! It's like watching anime or cartoons. And the way they fearfully look at you when you pretend to be angry or when you scold them is so endearing. I really appreciate those looks as compared to those upper pri who sulk and glare when they get a scolding from me. I wish they can stay Pri 2 forever!

I look like Kimura Takuya? Ahehehe.....

I asked the boy today if he knows who's Kimura Takuya. He had no idea. But the other 2 boys with him knew and they were like "Ahhhh, siteru (I know)!". So I asked, "SMAP, do u know?" "Hmmmm????" still no idea. The other boy started trying to sing a song of SMAP but couldn't remember the lyrics. "You look like him," I said. And the other boys started laughing and giggling. Little Kimu Taku was very baffled n self conscious. Then he started pointing at me n shouting something like "......baka! ......baka!" Heh??? I had no idea what he was saying. I thought he was scolding me stupid or something! But he said no. Probably it's the name of a person or something....no idea and he didn't bother explaining to me. Anyway, the 2 other boys went to ask a girl who just came into the class if he looks like Kimu Taku n she shook her head. And the boys started laughing at him again. So I consoled him by saying, "Kakkoiiyo, Kimu Taku". - He's cool, cute...watever the English translation is. And he looked suspiciously at me and asked, "doko ga?" - where?. Arh, what a question to ask. What do u mean by where? So i just replied, "kao" - face. And he looked very amused and gave me the Kimu Taku gaze.

Anyway, he was very naughty in class today while doing the activity. I wonder if it's because of what I said. Haha...maybe he thought he can be naughty since I thought he looks like my idol. He's the one holding the grandmother n grandfather sign.

My HERO!

Yes, I've finally found my Kimura Takuya lookalike. I don't even have to go Japan to look for him or them (yes, I'm greedy!!). I have a boy in my class that looks like him. Arrhhh..... I thought there was something about this boy since the first day of class, but I just couldn't put my finger to it. I thought that he was just naughty, cute n cheeky. But I finally realised today.... That he has the X factor of my FAVOURITE idol! How could it have taken me more than 3 weeks to realise that? It's the gaze of his eyes.......very much like Kimu Taku. That intense endearing bad boy look. Hmmm, I wonder what he'll look like when he grows up. Too bad he's only 10 now.......sigh.

Unit 2 - People We Love

Family Photo Two!! Had to get some students to pose for a second time for the complete happy family picture! Though u can see that most aren't very happy about this, haha!

Unit 2 - People We Love

My Family Photo - P4!
Decided to make the class more fun by having them dress up as different family members. Awwww, don't they look cute??! But it wasn't easy to get them to pose for this. A lot of resistance and I had to chase after them and force them to do it.

Monday Blues

Even kids suffer from monday blues. My first class today looked as if they've just dragged themselves out of their beds. Some were yawning blatenly and definitely looked grumpy. One was lying his head on the desk. One had tears brimming in his eyes when I asked him to greet me Good morning again (coz he didn't do it properly at all - ok, that's Boy S again....the crybaby). As expected I had to let it go when he refused to do it coz his tears were getting ready to explode any second if I insisted strongly! And the class just mumbled through the song I played them. The other time they were singing another song happily and kept on requesting, "One more time!". But I don't blame them coz i'm suffering the blues as well. I couldn't sleep a wink last night and so unluckily I caught the flu bug and it's the first day of my P. Like the kids, I wish I were still in bed instead of trying my best to wake up a sleepy class while experiencing stomach cramps and a sore throat!

What colour is it?!!

The students remember what I've taught them! They actually do!! Ok, I know they're not stupid of course. But I was pleased that the language of the activity stuck in their heads. It was so funny when my P4s started challenging me last Fri. We did an activity on colours and grammar - to get SS asking "What colour is it? and answering "It's ~."Some had difficulty asking the question - they couldn't remember or couldn't pronounce properly. So they surprised me when at the start of Fri's lesson, a SS suddenly started to point to something and asked, "What colour is it?!". Then the other kids started to catch on to it and I was bombarded with many "What colour is it?!" all at once. Some even looked suspiciously at the colour they pointed at when I named the colours. For a brief moment, I was very proud of them n felt a great sense of satisfaction.

Will you listen or not?

If there were no discipline problems, I could say that I like n enjoy teaching. But that's saying if there were no problems in life, I would be a much happier person. Both are impossible. But I really dislike handling the discipline of my students. I strongly believe that it should lie in the hands of the family. Bad discipline in class only hinders the teaching. If I'm so busy maintaining the discipline in class, how am I going to teach my lessons well? It only demotivates me.

That's the pain in the neck of my job now. The more difficult kids come from the upper pri where they're at the rebellious age. Some are simply RUDE and surly in my classes. One P5 boy even cried in my class when I made them read aloud a passage a few times. He was uncooperative and read with a surly and reluctant voice the first few times. At last, he was so exasperated (so was I!!!) that he just started crying! It's not because he was bad at it or didn't know how to do. I think he was just throwing a tantrum cos he doesn't like to repeat the same things. He's always like that. Showing no respect for me and everything that I made them do in class is either boring or tedious to him. He's a clever and fast learner but his attitude sucks. And the thought of having to teach him makes me feel very disiilusioned and tired. I'm really trying my best n spending time to make English lessons as fun as possible for my kids. But my efforts seldom get appreciated. I'm not expecting them to thank me or say they've enjoyed my lessons. I only expect them to cooperate with me. That's all I ask. But cooperation is what I rarely get with the upper pri. Even the P2s are so busy talking and playing when I'm teaching. At least they'll listen when you stop them......but not for long. :(

I'm only in my 3rd week, but i've already talked to 4 homeroom teachers regarding some problematic kids. i don't even know if that'll help in the long run. I just don't understand why the school should be largely responsible for discipline in Japanese culture. It won't be so bad if English teachers have the authority to discipline the kids but that's not the case here....which may be why the kids treat us with so little respect.