Deadline for my transcript

So today, I was in a rush to get things done for sending my transcript to UCSB. I got to school later than I thought I would. I missed the morning assembly, but then again, no one really expects me to go. So I really didn’t care so much about that. The first thing I did was go to the copy / fax room and sent off a letter to the department chair at Grossmont so she could send it for me. I hope that it went through but I didn’t hear anything back from anyone. So I’m assuming that it did go through.

Now that it was taken care of, I went to eat my breakfast and then get ready for class. We had 7th grade fuji first period. We got them to work on animals and where they come from. Some of the answers to the worksheet weren’t so good, and there could be more than one and most of which no one was really sure. They worked on that for a little while until everyone finished. We went over the answers and then we started on working on making riddles. They will have to present it next week.

I had second period off, so I was just working on stuff for next year. I have made out the schedule for everything in my last remaining semester. I don’t know what classes I will teach and where they will go, but I have an idea of the things that we will cover. So I started working with the few things that I do know.

I had another class third period with 7th grade ran. They worked on the paper where the animals were from last week, so this week they would be working on the crossword puzzles. I think that it’s weird that everything is all out of order. It is really frustrating for me to have to deal with that. But I’m not teaching any of the 7th grade classes, so I really don’t worry about it. After they finished the crossword puzzle, we put them with their partners and they were working on making their own riddles to present for next week. That will be the last thing they do, since there is only one more week of school left.

During 4th period, I was working on the finishing touches for the things that I wanted to do before I leave the school and leave Japan. I have broken everything down so that I would be ready if I were in charge of the oral communication teaching. I don’t want to fall behind and end up having to catch up and not be ready for class. That just isn’t my style of teaching. I think that in the last semester I teach here, I want to make it one that it beyond awesome for the students. I want to leave a lasting impression on the staff and students. It will be my time to shine. So I was doing that.

I didn’t expect to stay past lunch, but I did. I was lucky that I didn’t eat all of my breakfast and had that for lunch. It wasn’t really enough for me, but it was fine since I would be leaving early today anyways. During 5th period, I was talking with another teacher CHda. I was asking her about the plan for the elective classes on the 14th of March. We have to teach an 11th grade class for two hours and it would be a preview for their elective classes when they are in 12th grade. But the problem is, CP probably won’t be the one teaching it and I won’t be in Japan when they have that class. The students don’t know that yet and I have to make a plan for what the next teacher after me would be doing for them. So it is a bit of a tricky situation and we didn’t get anything accomplished. I did let her know about what I planned to do next year with the oral communication classes though. I had heard through the grapevine that she would be the head person for oral communication, although that hasn’t been confirmed or even decided yet. So I was giving her my spiel about what I believe the school should be doing to raise the level of the student’s English level. She suggested that I just take the lead and tell the chair what I believe we should do in oral communication class, rather than have it told to me. I like that idea, but then I don’t like the idea of having more work. My pay will stay the same no matter what and I have been working harder than I really wanted to. I have done more than what is expected of me. So I want to scale it back and get ready to leave the school. I don’t know if I will be in charge of the oral communication classes, since my senior hasn’t decided if she would stay or not. At this point, I really couldn’t care because I have already started the planning for it and it wouldn’t matter any more if she stayed longer. I think that once she decides to take a position and decides, the rest of the other work could be finished.

I left school soon thereafter. It was really cool because leaving school at 2:30pm means that there are seats on the train available. So I wouldn’t have to stand for 2 hours going home. That was really nice. I liked that idea a lot. The problem was, when I got to Hongodai station, it started to rain. I didn’t have my big umbrella with me, only the small fold up one. I did a little grocery shopping and decided that I would have unagi (saltwater eel) for dinner tonight. I think it’s saltwater, or could be freshwater… I had enough time since I was just wondering around looking at different things. I wanted to get enough food to last me through the long weekend. Then I came home and jumped on the computer. I watched a lot of TV tonight too. I stayed up late watching TV. There was this magic show that was really interesting to watch. They had a little competition between a scientist and a magician and doing something similar to each other. It was very interesting.