We had a special school visit at JHS today. I had 2 observed English lessons, one with the 1st year students, and with one of the 3rd year classes. Yumi, a newly hired coordinator of the ALTs in my city, "dropped by" for a surprise visit. Actually, she was delivering a pumpkin to my elementary school on my behalf, because the 3rd grade is planning to have a big Halloween party next month and the teachers want me to carve a jack-o-lantern. because of my company, and Yumi lived in London for 4 years, so she seems a lot more understanding of the life of a foreigner, sympathetic even.
The 3rd year class went down without a hitch. A lot of people people observed the class, including a white American professor who teaches at a local university, and another big-time old Japanese professor who I heard teaches in Kobe. Sayako, the third-year English teacher seemed happy and I think overall, everyone came out looking good because of it. However, the 1st-year class with Ms. Takeuchi sucked butt. She hadn't consulted with me for any of the class preparation, and the kids' English sounded retarded because of it, to no fault of their own. Fortunately, for some reason, no one observed that class except for Yumi. After the class, and without me saying a word, Yumi critically dissected the class, pointing out various faults on the Japanese teacher's part. Yumi even pointed out that Ms. Takeuchi was snoozing during the review meeting he had after the observed lessons, something I hadn't even noticed myself. She said it was ironic considering that that same teacher was the quickest one to make complaints about me to my company. Yumi said that she claimed that I yawn in front of the students. I recall doing nothing of the sort. wtf. This chick is out of her gourd, and I realize that there's nothing I can do to change that. But I was relieved that, for once, someone could understand my frustrations at JHS.
