Rainy Wednesday

Today started to look like it was the rainy season. It was pouring when I woke up. I read that this season, the rain drops are bigger for some reason, and from the looks of it, that might be right. Before I got to the train station, my legs were drenched and dripping wet. My shoes were very heavy too, and the worst part about it, was that wearing a suit makes it incredibly hot.

The first class was a test by my 11th graders. For the most part, they did great. It wasn’t that difficult of a test, but it’s something that will require a bit more effort than usual. Since they are a very high level class I didn’t really worry about it. They weren’t off the charts though and some students struggled to get through it, but hey it’s a foreign language. It’s not easy stuff we’re talking about here.

Second period was 8th grade was us getting started with the show and tell speeches. We really got in depth with it since they don’t have a class next week because of the chorus competition. So we had them compose and the teachers were just walking around and correcting their English. This is a fairly good class, so they were a step ahead of the game, so I wasn’t worried too much. They don’t get enough time to write what they want and how they feel, they pretty much stick to the format that they see in the example. But since it’s their first time, it’s not a bad time to start it. They will improve and learn how to write better later.

Third period was with 10th grade and we were getting them ready for their demonstration speech. This would be the last class that they had before they had to give their speeches. I don’t think that they will be ready since they are straggling along with all the paperwork. They are usually very capable of being able to do a great job, but they at times can also be very lazy. Many of these students are still brainstorming what they want to do for their speech and not actually getting to the writing part. That’s really showing me that they will be behind and I highly doubt that they will be able to catch up being behind like this. I think that they had enough chances to get it finished and all the resources of finishing too, but just haven’t done it.

Fifth period was with 9th graders kiku. Since last period was off, I had a little nice break of about an hour and a half. They are a good class, but some students make it not so good. I think that the students in this class are highly capable, but they are highly unmotivated this year. Last year they were very pleasant to teach, but this year it’s more of a pain. I’m not sure why that is either. The topic for today was to get them ready for their oral test too. They were studying for their test on directions and listening to where we want to go and to direct us how to get there. I think some of the students were having some trouble, but other students were very good at it. We pretty much just reviewed the whole day and did Chapter 11 in the book again too.

Sixth period is with the 9th grade fuji, we pretty much did the same thing. I think this class was pretty good about the review though. They are really active and they participate a lot. I think that’s what really helps them learn and they are really like English. It’s one of the best classes that I teach, so it’s always nice to end the day with them. The review was smoothed over a little better than the last class with improvements that both the teachers had mentioned in the previous class like to introduce the vocabulary before going into the lesson. I think that really helps them know what’s going on.