A Day in the Life of an ALT on the JET Program

I arrive at school around 8:00. I take off my snow boots, store them in a shoe locker, and put on my indoor-only tennis shoes. I am greeted by teachers and students with a resounding "Ohayo gozaimasu" or good morning. I sit at my desk and await the morning staff meeting. A staff member asks me, "Last week did you go to elementary school?" "Yes, I did!" "Maybe you saw my son?" I met about 120 kids last week. "You signed his paper." Ah, so that narrows it down to the one class, after leaving, in which students dashed into the hallway, begging for my signature. About 20 of them made it before I moved on. "Oh, yes!" I say, "They were so cute!" Word always gets around town about what I did on the weekends. "I saw you at the supermarket! Can you cook Japanese food?" or "Were you at the town gym? Do you like running?" It's like Where's Waldo, except I usually stick out a lot more than Waldo does. That would be a great Halloween costume.

Anyway, the staff meeting begins with the bell, and all staff members stand and utter another "Ohayo gozaimasu" in unison. News and upcoming meetings are discussed and perhaps I can catch a few words: "Yoroshiku onegaitashimasu, ijou desu." or "infuruenza" (influenza) at this time of year.

Some days I have 3-4 classes and some days, like today, I have none. My JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) left me this note: I'm gonna return tests to the students so please do your work today! I'm not sure what "do your work" means because I am rarely involved in lesson planning, but I make myself look busy. I'm just glad he gave me a heads up, because my JTEs at all of my other schools send me an e-mail a few days before or have a meeting with me in the morning. I am lucky if this JTE talks to me before lunch, so I'll be happy to "do my work."

On the days when I teach, I enter the classroom and the students are always surprised and excited to see me since I rotate between five junior high schools. Class sizes vary greatly between my schools. Two of my schools are in a small town about 50 km away through a mountain pass, but due to declining population, the town just merged with my main town. There are only about 6-10 students per grade. Two of my other schools are just outside town, with about 15-20 students per grade. But my main school has about 30 students per class and 3-4 classes per grade.

Students wear school uniforms. The boys wear a sport coat with the school emblem on the pocket and their name badge and grade pins situated below. They wear clip on ties and slacks that are both usually too short because of their growth spurts. Girls wear pleated skirts that fall below the knee, with scarves around their necks and vests or fitted coats. Some days students wear track suits too.

Class begins when the teacher gives the cue. There is a student leader who says, "kiotsuke, minnasan nijikan benkyou hajimemasu" (Attention, everyone, we are beginning second period study). All the students bow, and then we begin the morning English greetings. Please imagine students' responses in the dreariest monotone possible, like they just rolled out of bed. Good morning everyone! "Good morning, Ms. Rebekah." How are you today? "I'm fine, and you?" I'm happy, thank you. What day is it today? "It's Monday." What's the date today? "It's February twenty fifth." How is the weather today? "It's sunny."

The teacher usually makes a few remarks, gives a worksheet or vocabulary test, and then says, "Open your textbooks to page 92." Perhaps there is a reading passage or a dialogue. I begin by reading vocabulary words and students repeat, twice. Then, I read the passage and students repeat. Behold, the JET Program human tape recorder, all the way from America.  For the rest of class, I will either stand in the corner while the teacher goes over grammar on the blackboard or help students with "their work" in class.

When lunch comes around, I choose a classroom and eat with my students. I will usually take a picture of my lunch to blog about, and students will come over and ask about my phone, "iPhone 5?" "4S," I say. They are still impressed for some reason. That happens almost every day.

Students put on aprons and hats and dish out food while others bring food to their peers' desks. Then, the class leader gets everyone's attention, "Kiotsuke..." and then everyone says, "Itadakimasu," together. In Japan, before eating, people say itadakimasu to express appreciation for the food and those who have prepared it. People ask me what the English equivalent is, but we Americans just eat. Maybe some people pray. But there isn't as simple a translation as, like "Cheers" for "Kanpai." Anyway, lunch commences and at the end of the meal it's another, "Kiotsuke..." and then "Gochisosamadeshita," meaning "Thanks for the food I just ate."

Now, I am "doing my work." The math teacher is itching his butt, inside his pants, directly across from me in the teacher's room. I have my Kindle and my laptop and my iPhone for 3G internet connection so I can check my mail and play games on my phone. Sometimes I study Japanese. It's pretty relaxed. Now there is a teacher gurgling at the sink in the office.

While every day in Japan is an adventure and something cute always happens with my students*, it's a shame that I am so underutilized in lesson planning and teaching in general. While JETs are told, "every situation is different," every JET seems underutilized. I have traveled across the world, become TEFL certified, and here I am, "doing my work" for 8 hours in the staff room. 

I hope you enjoyed the little slice of life description of a school day in Japan!

*At lunch, a student had the teacher translate this hypothetical situation: "if you were on an island with a friend and your friend died, what body part would you eat?" I was grossed out and confused. He explained, "Japanese people usually say 'hands' and Americans usually say 'brains.'" I guess we're zombies... "No brains!" I replied, "brains make you sick. I wouldn't eat my friend. I would go fishing." My students laughed.