The snow is now falling heavily and it seems very peaceful outside. It is the first heavy snow in weeks. It is suppose to stop snowing, according to Kevin, in the next couple of hours. I love looking out the big windows in the office and watching the big fluffy snowflakes fall lazily to the ground. I am looking forward to updating all readers about my week, a lot has past and my weekend is full too.
The big crunch at work this week was a radical departure from my normal routine to run an English class for seniors (run through the town). We focused on doing introductions in English. A very functional lesson and I think I was able to pass on an understanding of doing an introduction in English. English classes are rolled into programs under the Board of Education (in the same office as me) as part of a commitment to life-long learning. A very admirable goal, even if the heavy snow kept some people away. In the end I had twenty-one students (we were planning for thirty) but after assessing the level of the class I was glad for the smaller number. I knew this was going to be very different from my normal elementary school workload. But reflecting on the experience after-the-fact I concluded it was far more different than I had expected. The reason I say this is because all week I had made an effort to create a lesson plan that was extremely flexible, planning for every possibility. In the end however, while not failing (as I will get to in a moment), I still felt my lesson plan was week and not well suited to type of class presented.
There were two factors that made it almost impossible to plan for the class. First, I had never done this before and no one else offered any experience or direction. I’m use to teaching young kids, which in most ways is about as far away as one can get from teaching seniors. However, I feel nearly fearless these days in this type of circumstance; I am creative and find many ways to cope. Two; there was an extremely wide range of English skills presented to me to work with in the class. This type of circumstance is dreaded among teachers (the wider the worst). I knew this was going to be the case while planning the class, but the gap between skill levels, and the different skills present, was wider than I had anticipated. For example, some could read English but not speak it while other’s could speak it but not read it. Some had no English skills, only an interest in learning English. Presumably, all students were quite keen if they felt brave enough to face the snow.
At the end of the two hours, everybody went home very happy. The ladies are very sweet, kind and also interested in Stony Plain. Others in the class showed many signs being shy - refusing to speak English - but I try to make everyone feel welcomed and work hard to find some connection. And, inevitably everyone left happy. I felt happy to have made new friends. Some people had visited Stony Plain before and it is to these few that I turned for help with some of the older seniors that had very little English comprehension. I heard just now that talked about me all lunch; every was just "Blair, Blair, Blair."
I started the class with a self-introduction about myself. I did a presentation about Stony Plain and my life in Shikaoi thus far which was followed by a question and answer period. After a short break we did a quick introduction game, then practiced, and lastly worked on getting some rudimentary information about themselves to be presented in a formal introduction. A couple of students more comfortable with English did a short introduction with the information.
I feel I came away with lots learned. It was a good experience and while if I was in the same position, without the foreknowledge I have now, there is very little I could change. Nothing about the experience should be wasted and I will be better prepared for what to expect next time and be able to apply what I learned. (For the record; lesson plan wise, one could not have been much more prepared.)
To change the topic slightly; people’s reaction to my Japanese always surprises me. My class of seniors, while very rural, is probably more use to seeing foreigners than other seniors in other areas in Japan. There is always a very large reaction to my Japanese (always encouragement). My surprise stems from how shy they are to speak English. I understand all the cultural factors why. I am in a position where I simply cannot be shy about speaking Japanese. If I was shy about my Japanese ability, I would never leave the house, make the good friends, or do anything really. Instead I get up in front of people, with what I admit is horrible Japanese, struggle through, and every time, because both parties try, a connection is made. I stress to all my students, again and again, don’t be shy about your English! I am fighting against a lot of cultural taboos when I say this, but I know I’m right, you’ll get more practical practice if you have courage. Every once in a while, never in Shikaoi, I will be somewhere and say something in Japanese and people will laugh in my face. Not because it’s funny, but because they are shocked - really shocked. And it hurts. I make a huge effort to learn the language, I don’t feel I need that type of reaction. Today, however, went much smoother, I was even able to crack a couple of jokes - in Japanese - in my presentation; I consider that a big step forward.
With absolutely nothing on my plate this afternoon, it should be relaxing. And I expect time to only slowly pass. Why is that? That seems counter- intuitive? Relaxing free-time too often rushes by. As mentioned in my last post, directly after work today I am off - by train - to Sapporo. All week the nightly news has been covering the Sapporo Snow Festival. I even heard a live concert from Sapporo on the radio last night. Sapporo is normally a bustling metropolis, but it sounds as though it is bursting at the seams this week. I am very excited to be going. So, again, please don’t expect updates until Sunday night my time. I plan to post lots of pictures.
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