first week of classes and such

This particular blog covers Aug. 22. Well my first week of classes at せいなん(Seinan) Junior High School went quite well and it was very exciting. Starting on Monday there was a school assembly in the morning. The school assembly served many functions, and included speeches by the class leaders from each grade, a musical performance, a speech by the principal, as well as my speech. Once again, I had to give a speech. This time, though, it was a mix of Japanese and English. During the English part, the Japanese English teacher translated for me. Here is the speech I gave:

おはよう　ございます。はじめまして。わたし　は　ZACH SUNDSTROM です。わたし　は　AMERIKA の　INDIANA から　きました。はやく　しょくいん　の　なかま　として　かつやく　できると　よいと　おもいます。よろしく　おねがいします。 I am very excited to come to Seinan J.H.S. and to become a member of this group. It is with great pleasure that you have accepted me into your school community. Being so, I hope to achieve numerous goals during my stay in Nagano. First and foremost, I will strive to become an effective assistant language instructor.　Hopefully, the students will understand the fundamentals of this English language in the areas of not only reading and writing, but especially in the area of conversation. Being a native English teacher, I believe, will provide a valuable asset to the classroom. Furthermore, through team teaching with うすい　せんせい, I hope that the classroom will not only be informative, as it ought to be, but that it will also be a fun and exciting learning environment. Beyond my important role in the English classroom, though, my opportunity to be at Seinan gives me a chance to interact with you the students. Not only will I be a teacher in the classroom, but I also hope to participate in club activities. I love to play all types of sports, including volleyball, soccer, and swimming. Furthermore, I have other club interests, such as music and art. Finally, I hope to start an English Club where we could do fun activities related to the English language and English speaking countries. In summary, I hope to be an interactive participant in and out of the classroom. However, I do have one request to all the students. That one request is to talk to me, ask me questions, and ask me to participate in club activities. I am sure I will be happy to oblige. ども　ありがとう　ございました。

It does seem like I have to give quite a few speeches, but now I am building up a bank of pre-written speeches that I can use on a short notice. Sometimes I am only given a few minutes to prepare before giving a speech.

During my first class for each grade I gave a little PowerPoint presentation that included many pictures and facts about me. Once I got through with the presentation I still had a few minutes to spare that I didn't plan for (as if I planed for anything). So I had to think of something for the students to do. Well I didn’t want them to have to listen to me any longer, so I asked them to pair up in groups of two and think of a few questions to ask me. A lot of the questions were like "What is your favorite Japanese food," or, "How old are you?" But, in at least the first or second question, each class asked: "Do you have a girlfriend?" To answer the question, I at first looked a little confused, and then I began to count to 5 on my hand. It seemed to get a kick out of the students.

The rest of classes seemed to go real well and I felt that I was getting the hang of the whole teacher thing, even without formal teacher education. Classes are fun, and the kids, at least 99% of the time, want to learn English. Well, my next post awaits.