Archive for category Teaching English
September 8, 2004 – No news
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on September 11, 2014
Still no word on my transfer.
September 6, 2004 – Touring Noborito
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Hello House, Keikyu-Kawasaki NOVA, Lux on September 9, 2014
Another schedule update at work. This month I will be working Sundays at Keikyu Kawasaki NOVA. Sunday is one of the busiest days, so it’s fantastic to be at Keikyu which is more relaxing than Kawasaki NOVA.
After work, Archie came back to the Noborito area with me. I showed off Hello House and we went for beer with Lux. A good time was had by all!
September 5, 2004 – The insanity continues
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on September 9, 2014
The insane scheduling continues! At the end of the day I had to stay an extra 30 minutes to finish writing my files.
After each lesson, teachers are required to evaluate the student’s performance during the lesson. There are a few categories to rank (vocabulary, pronunciation, etc), and then a space for comments. Proper comments should include specific references to both strong and weak points during the lesson, and to provide suggestions on how to improve. Good comments help the next teacher, and also provide information to the students if they request to see their files.
Writing a proper evaluation and comments can take some time. Naturally, doing evaluations and comments for four students takes four times as long.
In the evening classes, there are 10 minutes between lessons. During busy months like September, it is likely for a teacher to have four students in every lesson. If you get out of your lesson a few minutes late, it doesn’t leave much time to squeeze into the overcrowded teachers room, write comments, give files to the next teacher or put them away, and locate your next lesson’s files and room number. That time gets smaller if you need to take a bathroom break. The easiest solution is to write up the student’s files after the last lesson of the day.
Recently with all of the full classes I have been regularly spending time after the last lesson finishing up my paperwork. It’s no fun, but it needs to get done.
September 4, 2004 – Too many Andrews from Canada
Posted by Barniferous in Friends and coworkers, Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on September 9, 2014
Once of the recent additions to Kawasaki NOVA is a teacher named Andrew from Canada. Unfortunately for him, I am already Andrew from Canada, and I have been around for almost a year now.
Teachers are usually referred to by their first names by students and staff. In the event that there are similar names, the country of origin comes into play. For example, a branch could have a British Steven and an Australian Steven. Having two Andrews from Canada is guaranteed to cause confusion.
I asked the secondary Andrew what his middle name was, and he said “Archibald”. I asked him if he was okay with people calling him “Archie”. He said yes.
He looked nothing like this
Before he could ask why, I quickly went to the front office and asked the Japanese staff to change other Andrew’s name to Archie in the schedule system. Apparently I now have some level of credibility, because they made the change without question and without confirming with any of the supervisors.
Once again, I am the only and original Andrew from Canada. Victory!
September 3, 2004 – More September rush
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on September 3, 2014
Today was the opposite of yesterday. My afternoon was busy, but my evening was INSANE. So many students!!
September 2, 2004 – The September Rush
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on September 2, 2014
September is the second busiest month at NOVA, and my afternoon was a good example. Lots of full classrooms, lots of new students. My evening was normal, which is to say busy for other branches.
January is the busiest month at NOVA. Apparently a lot of people decide they will study English as a new year’s resolution.
September 1, 2004 – Too many cameras
Posted by Barniferous in Greater Tokyo Area, Kawasaki Nova on September 1, 2014
Today was my first day back to work after four days off. Urgh! The good news was that I am finally back at Kawasaki NOVA on Wednesdays and have my good kids class back. They were all really great today!
After work I went to buy a digital camera from Yodobashi Camera, which is conveniently located next to Kawasaki NOVA. When I walked into the camera section I realized that I was in completely over my head. There were at least 100 different models in prices ranging from cheap to crazy expensive. I don’t know anything about digital cameras, and my Japanese ability is too limited to have a meaningful conversation with the sales staff. I gave up for the day and went to the internet cafe to do some research. After spending some time online, I think I will be buying a 4 megapixel Sony camera.
Who knew that a camera store in Japan would have so many choices?
August 27, 2004 – Transfer in jeopardy?
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova on August 27, 2014
No, not this Jeopardy
Well, my Area Manager was transferred today, so I am a little concerned about how this will affect my pending transfer request. The new AAM won’t be based in Kawasaki NOVA, so it will be a little more difficult to keep track of what’s happening. Hopefully everything will stay on track.
August 18, 2004 – Schedule uncorrected
Posted by Barniferous in Karaoke, Teaching English on August 20, 2014
Last week I was happy to learn that I would be back in Kawasaki NOVA on Wednesdays allowing me to teach my good kids class. Today I found out that the schedule had been changed back again after a week. The one time I actually enjoy teaching a kids class…
After work I went to a farewell karaoke party for Scottish Steven. Good times were had by all, and I think I found someone who sings worse than I do!
August 13, 2004 – Friday the 13th
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on August 19, 2014
FYI – Nobody pays attention to Friday the 13th in Japan. That’s a truly western phenomenon.
A lot of Japanese people are on holidays right now, so I only had 3 of my 7 kids in class tonight. Also I got a free lesson at the end of the day, which is a very rare occurrence at Kawasaki NOVA. No complaints here.
Drinking in Japan 
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