ORIENTATION
One point emphasized in provincial orientation was that we would
be required to make a self introduction to many classes in the
schools where we were assigned. We had full control over the content
of this lesson, could teach it solo and should start thinking
about it now. we could show pictures, play guitar, anything. But
we weren't really given any advice on what to include or not include
in this lesson.
In my province, we did have one more day of a "self-introduction
workshop" which was almost entirely worthless. No advice was given
on how to teach, just criticism from second and third year JETs
and from the Japanese authority on what each teacher came up with.
Most comments were superficial, along the lines of speak louder,
more clearly, move around more.
It was unrealistic in that it was overly optimistic. When a beginning
teacher said "hello" to the class, the class (all AETs and one
Japanese authority figure) responded with a resounded "hello"
back. Anyone who has taught Japanese will laugh at this, knowing
that a "hello" will be greeted with blank stares by Japanese students.
A cattle prod would barely get a response out of most students.
It could be argued that this was a courage building exercise,
but this was inadequate as later experience showed.
RESULTS
Most AETs later were stunned in their first classes. The Japanese
students sat in absolute silence, not responding in the least.
Many slept at their desks. Most self introductions were disasters,
until it was learned how to handle such behavior (which is NOT
taught in orientation).
Here is some advice for potential JETs: Put yourself in the students'
place. If you are taking a foreign language class, do you really
want to hear about the teachers girl/boyfriend back in that teacher's
home country? Do you really care about the hobbies of your teacher,
or how many brothers and sisters your teacher has? What would
interest YOU if you were the student?
Most of the AETs I spoke with told me they had radically changed
their self introductions as they went along, realizing how boring
and tedious their first attempts were. Most wished they had more
guidance or more examples of what worked and what didn't in self
introductions. I agree that this would be a good addition to the
orientations. Videotaped examples would be ideal.
It seems a shame to bring in thousands of new AETs with no experience
each year, to watch them slowly go through the same learning curve
again and again. Little is done by the Japanese authorities to
really train people in the strategies and tactics of teaching.
Do not go to Japan thinking you will learn how to teach in the
JET program.
MY METHOD
I recommend for each teacher to go with his own strengths. I
had experience in acting and comedy, so my classes tended to the
theatrical with lots of humor. If you are not good at humor, do
not try. Go with your strengths, each teacher has his own way
that works best for him. That said, always try to stretch your
abilities, don't rely on what worked last time. Keep it fresh,
update it, always add a little more or take out a few things that
didn't work.
What follows is the self introduction that I worked up, which
always went extremely well with every class of every level I taught.
The students were all high school age, 15-18. I write it here
just to give you an idea of a self introduction that worked.
My basic idea was to make the class an English lesson, with lots
of student involvement. Also, no speaking Japanese, English only
from the first day. It's good to set standards from the start:
all English, no translation (as little as possible), discipline,
answer when asked, level of formality, etc.
PREPARATION
Before class I cut up 40 squares of paper about the size of playing
cards and wrote one different simple English question on each.
Some examples: How are you?; How old are you?; Where are you from?;
What's your favorite animal?; Is this a pencil?; Do you have a
tattoo/irezumi?; Are you a girl?; How many children do you have?;
Do you love me?; How do you spell duck?; Do you speak Japanese?;
etc.
When I arrived in the classroom, I made the students sit in even
rows to prepare them for a game. I just pointed, "You, sit there,
you sit here". They are always obedient, just say it like an army
sergeant, you are the authority now! I made them sit in 6 rows
of 6, 5 rows of 7, 8 rows of 5, as even as possible.
BEGINNING THE LESSON
I would start by writing "Any questions" on the side of the chalkboard.
Then I would stand at the front of class and raise my hand and
say "I want you to ask me any questions, any questions, any questions"
looking around. No eye contact, and of course, no questions. I
would act concerned and slightly cross.
Next I would write my name on the board, in English, then make
lots of mistakes writing it in kana beneath the English (lots
of laughs already). Then I would write sensei (teacher) after
the kana in perfect kanji (chinese characters). Stunned gasps.
Already you get their attention, laughter followed by a surprise.
This works well. Just practice the 2 kanji for teacher/sensei!
I would tell them to repeat my name when I pronounced it. A meager
few would speak. I would try again, none would speak the second
time (Japanese students NEVER repeat things more than once, amazing
but true, they consider repeating a waste of time). The third
try, dead silence. I would scowl at them and act angry, they would
giggle as if they got one on the AET. Good set up.
I would write some junk on the board, a map of America (a big
circle, they know what the states looks like, and this isn't it),
a map of Japan (I would draw the 4 islands in the shape of a phallus,
honshu being the shaft, the 2 lower islands testicles, the top
a bulbous glans) then ask some guffawing girl in the front row
"what is this?".
I always got 2 response to my phallic map of Japan. Either embarassed
shaking of the head with a red face, or "Nippon". To "Nippon"
I would look incredulous and answer "No!", then ask some other
cute young girl "What is this?". Red with utter embarassment,
she would usually not answer. Usually incredible energy and laughter
by this point, which is exactly what you want with such usually
dead classes!
The correct answer, I would give after 3 wrong guesses, is "Japan",
then I would make a disparaging face and scowl "Nippon!". They
got the idea: speak English.
On the maps of the States and Japan, I would put dots of places
I had visited, wildly out of proportion to where they were in
reality, lots of laughter. How can you be accurate when your map
is a penis anyway?
THEY ASK ME QUESTIONS
After 5 minutes or so, I would write on one side of the chalk
board "Ask me a question." It's important to write down basic
phrases, just as a prompt. Most high school kids in Japan know
what it means, they only need a little prompt to remember, and
encouragement to make an attempt at actually uttering the words.
I would stand in front of the 40 students and say, "Now, you ask
me a question". Total silence, all eyes fall, no eye contact.
I would wait for the silence to be deafening, start walking down
an aisle, then shout "YOU!" and point at an unsuspecting student.
Usually wild screams ensued, and laughter. The student would stand,
and of course, had no question. I would take one of the papers
I had prepared, hand it to him, and in a whisper loud enough to
be heard by the whole class, whisper the question to him. I would
return to the front of class while he read the question in a meek
voice.
When he finished, I would repeat the question and say "good question,
very good question", more laughter, since I wrote the question.
I would write the answer on the board. Then I would ask him the
same question. I would always start off with the easiest question,
like "Where are you from" which any student could handle.
I would go through many questions, pointing at students, making
them answer, putting my hand to my ear saying "What?" to make
them speak louder. Usually I asked every student "what" or "huh"
(and I wrote those 2 on the side of the chalkboard) to encourage
them to speak louder. Japanese students will speak as quietly
as possible if you let them. Many students would speak extremely
loud after the first few, I ALWAYS asked them "what", to great
laughter.
ACTIVITY: CRISSCROSS
After about 20 minutes of this, I would tell them "Now for a
test", then laugh a diabolical laugh while rubbing my hands together.
They loved the diabolical laugh. I would point to a student in
the first row and order him to stand up in my most threatening
voice, then laugh again, along with the rest of the class. Then
I would say "and you stand up, and you, and you..." and make the
whole first row stand up.
I would then write "criss-cross" on the board, and tell them we
would take this test. Criss-cross is a popular activity (always
an activity, never call it a game, sounds too frivolous) to play
in a class setting, it goes by many names. The basic idea is one
row stands, a question is asked. The first student to raise his
hand answers and, if correct, sits down. This continues until
one student is left standing. Being the last, all the students
in his column now stand and these students answer questions. Again,
the last one standing has his row stand. This continues until
you feel like ending it. It's okay for friends to help students
answer, the teams are forever changing, which adds to the dynamics
of the game, er, activity.
Make sure you have a time limit, I would give 5 seconds by showing
fingers. If they had not answered in 5 seconds, I made a buzzing
noise to show they were out. That student continued standing and
others were allowed to answer. Japanese students have an amazing
ability to stand there for ages thinking without answering, which
is tolerated and encouraged by JTEs and Japanese culture. I figure
it's good to break them of this habit immediately to show that
it is not tolerated in the west or with westerners. The students
actually enjoyed the time limit, it's not something they ever
encountered before. Some of the JTEs absolutely hated the time
limit, it was definitely the JTEs biggest complaint against my
self introduction. I left it in to keep the action at a quick
pace.
To set up the activity, I would write on the board "Answer". Through
acting, I would show them to raise their hand, wait for me to
call on them, then they answer.
First I would ask something simple, what is my name. If a student
answers correctly, I would make a dinging sound. If incorrect,
I would make a buzzing sound. This is not frivolous. Sounds are
important in a beginning class. Sounds are symbols easily associated
across cultural barriers to have specific meanings. It's also
less English for the students to process in their confused brains.
It also adds to the fun of the activity. I found students all
year afterward walking through the halls making my sounds like
"ding-ding, bzzzz, aaankkhh, whoop-whoop, etc".
MORE DIFFICULT
After a few rows and columns go around, I would tell them "lets
make it more difficult" and laugh diabolically. I would say an
answer, and they give the question. I would act out an example,
saying my name, and having the student answer "what is your name".
This was harder, so I wasn't strict on perfect English. Sometimes
I would purposely ask questions I knew they were holding on the
paper in their hands, to help slower students.
A few more rounds, then harder again. I would mix up the questions
and answers. They had to determine which was needed, and respond.
At this point I would try to trick the students by asking them
"what is YOUR name", to which they would respond with MY name.
I would act amazed and say, you are MY name? Lots of laughs, they
understood immediately the importance of the little words. This
teaches them to pay attention and not take things for granted.
THE WRAP UP
Finally, with five minutes left in the hour long class, I would
change it to "ask me ANY question", which was the very first thing
I said when I walked into the class 50 minutes ago. Then I met
with dead silence, now every hand in the row went up. They all
tend to ask questions they are holding, no problem. After a few
rounds, I change it to "ask me any NEW question", they understand.
Finally, some thoughtful questions. A tip: if they ask something
you don't want to tell, say "I forgot", they understand and laugh,
and you can always repeat the question for them to answer, effective
if it's embarassing. If you wrote "any question" at the beginning
of class, many students and the some JTEs will realize how the
class has come full circle, with radically different dynamics.
A very effective closure to the lesson.
Just before the bell, I make the last student standing come up
to the front of class as punishment. I would ask that student
several of the questions we just went through, then give the student
an eraser and point to the board saying "thank you!". Students
don't seem to erase boards for their teachers in Japan, so this
was good punishment, but good natured. I collected the original
questions I handed out by asking to pass them to the front, many
came back as folded origami birds that I used to decorate my desk.
(Always have an extra set of questions ready to go for the next
class, many will not be reusable.)
CONCLUSIONS
The major points of my class were to show the students the following:
No translation or dictionaries would be needed or allowed; I expected
instantaneous response to questions with no time allowed for lengthy
contemplation; all answers were praised even if wrong to encourage
speaking; no one was ridiculed or criticised for making mistakes
if they tried; class was taught by a westerner with western expectations;
speaking BY THE STUDENTS (not by the teacher) was central to the
lesson; no sleeping would be allowed; nervous tension can be overcome
with a sense of humor; perfection is not important, just get the
meaning across.
In this lesson, I tried to emphasize the central role of the student
engaging in quick conversation with short questions and answers,
rather than the usual self intro of handing around pictures and
talking about my dog and cat back home, or the flag of my country.
Again, let me say that this is just one example of a self introduction,
but a method that worked extremely well for me. I would recommend
that no one do exactly as I did above, but modify the lesson to
his/her own abilities and strengths. (My strengths include experience
teaching ESL in Asia, and experience as an improv actor.) If you
do want to copy this lesson exactly as I have written, good luck,
and keep several copies of those question papers handy!
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