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10/5/2004, First solo lesson
I had my first solo (no Japanese teacher) lesson today. It was a little different from the rest, so I guess it's worth a quick entry.
This was the Elective English class. The instructor told me I can do just about anything I want with this class, as long as it stretches their English ability (and hopefully contains something that can be tested). There's just one class of seniors, so there's no need to keep things consistent across classes or anything. So, I thought about it a long and came up with a plan.
I pick a short (no more than a page) reading. I make a glossary of any difficult English words with simple English explanations and Japanese translations. We read it together in class. Each student reads a sentence and translates it for the rest of the class. Then, they write a short story. The requirements are that it be 100 words, that it use at least 3 of the new words, and that it be either "fun" or "funny". This is not the usual fare in Japanese classes, so I knew it would throw them at least a little. It required that they be creative and use English at the same time. They got a good start. They have to finish it tonight as homework. To the students who were having trouble coming up with an idea, I told them to pick something "stupid". I told them they could write about the sleeping habits of their finger, the special capabilities of their nose, their neighbors sacred apple, or the other instructor's pet tiger. While not everybody wrote much, I think they all got the idea. Many of them got a good start. Tomorrow, I'll pick three of them to read their stories for the class.
Incidentally, this was the first (and hopefully only) time I've used Japanese in class. Without a Japanese instructor handy, it was necessary. It may or may not be fair to assign homework, but explain the requirements in English. That's arguable. However, it's certainly bad form for anybody (Japanese or not) to use Japanese in an English class.
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