Posts Tagged Teaching English in Japan

March 7, 2005 – Mid Shift

Today I worked my first mid shift. Mid shifts are rare at NOVA. Typically there are early shifts of 10:00 – 5:00, late shifts of 1:00 – 9:00, and part timer shifts of 5:00 – 9:00 on weekdays. The mid shift was about half way between an early and a late. It was scheduled to help increase branch capacity, but it was awkward because I really didn’t get much use out of my morning, and all of my coworkers were still working after I left in the evening. Not a big fan of the mid shift.

The one good part of the day was my first multimedia level check. NOVA uses a video chat system that they use to give lessons in other languages outside of major cities, to give students lessons at home, and to allow level checks in small branches that don’t have a surplus of teachers. It was my first time to use the multimedia system, and it was pretty cool, although not quite the same as being in the same room as the student.

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March 3, 2005 – Empty classrooms

I am not sure why, but almost nobody came for English lessons today. There were 6 teachers scheduled, but all of the lessons could have been covered by 3 people.

Unlike some other English schools, NOVA pays teachers for the amount of lessons they are available to teach, whether the lesson has students or not. For this reason, teachers are expected to find something productive to do around the branch if they have an empty lesson.

Full time teachers are scheduled for 8 lessons in a shift. I would have had a record tying 4 empty lessons if I hadn’t convinced the staff to get one of the students to stay for another lesson. At least I didn’t have to go hand out tissues at the nearby train station like I did before!

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January 23, 2005 – Everyone has colds

All my co-workers have colds! This means that it’s only a matter of time before I get one too.

Thanks to the close proximity with other teachers and students, it’s very easy for colds to spread quickly. If I was smart, I would probably eat better, get lots of sleep, and lay off the beer and karaoke for a while.

IF I was smart…

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January 22, 2005 – First busy day

Today was my first really busy day at Mishima NOVA since I transferred in November. It reminded me of a typical day at Kawasaki NOVA.

The teacher’s room at Mishima NOVA is tiny, narrow, and chaotic. There are 6 chairs in a space barely big enough for 5, and we had 8 teachers working today. It is not a good place for claustrophobic people.

After work I met up with Azeroth and Palmer at Ryuu, which has now become our regular izakaya. There is nothing like beer and sushi after a busy day at work!

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January 7, 2005 – First day back at work

Today was my first day back at work after my vacation to Canada. I expected to be really tired due to jetlag. Somehow, I managed go get through the day without any serious problems. The only major issue I had was that I kept writing December 2004 on all of my student files.

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October 12, 2004 – Short shift

 

I worked a part time shift today to pay back Georgia for working my Sunday shift. When I first started teaching, five lesson shifts seemed a lot longer. Today, the lessons simply flew by.

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September 11, 2004 – Early Saturday

I got to work an early shift on Saturday for a change! It was strange for me to have a Saturday evening free.

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September 2, 2004 – The September Rush

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.

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