Before Work: Visiting the Schools

Today I went with my coordinators to visit the schools that I will be working at starting from tomorrow. For confidentiality purposes, I won't name the schools I will be working at, but I will describe my experiences from today's visit.

The first school we went to wasn't all that far from where I live. Maybe 10 minutes or so by car. We were greeted by one of the teachers who explained how things run at school, including my lesson plans, and the weekly schedule, and where and who I would be working with on Friday. We also had a tour of the school, which I noticed was a very wide school. Along the way I was introduced to the various teachers. I found them to be rather friendly people, and they all seemed to be surprised when I spoke to them in Japanese. I also had to introduce myself to everyone in the teacher's room in Japanese. One thing I noticed was that they're mostly young people (though the teacher who had been giving us a tour of the school and giving me the explanation really wanted to know my age, and told everyone my age *laughs*). My coordinator commented after that I probably be able to get along with them more easily because they're closer to my age.

The second school we went to is a bit further away compared to the first school - possibly 20 minutes. The visit was fairly brief, with an introduction to one of the teachers, along with the vice principal, and again, another self introduction in Japanese to everyone in the teacher's room. They also explained that while I will have no classes tomorrow, there will be a ceremony for the new semester, where I will have to introduce myself to all the children at school. Since it's the entire school, I can't really use flash cards to reinforce what I say. However, I plan to print out the Australian flag at least.

After school tomorrow, I plan to do my lesson plan for the first school on Friday. Fortunately, there were notes left from the previous ALT, so I do have something to work from. I also do not have class until 2 period, so I will have a bit more time to prepare.

Considering I have to wake up early tomorrow for an 8am start, I should probably go to sleep now. I will be sure to post about my first day experiences tomorrow.