I had previously discussed my thought regarding the "E" - exchange, part, so let's look at what your day job will entail.
Okay... this isn't so much as about 'teaching' as it is about that first time you walk into a classroom.
Congratulations, by the way, while foreign teachers of English in Japan may be plentiful, getting accepted into the JET Programme is sure a hell of a lot harder than showing up in Japan to find a job.
That doesn't mean that your job is more difficult than non-JET English teachers, just that you underwent a larger screening process and were deemed acceptable.
First of, some back ground information on myself. My parents are from India. I was born in England. I was raised and educated in Canada. I'm tall, broad, brown, have an English-sounding name and speak English without a discernible accent.
In fact, my accent is considered 'neutral'. I'm sure I have one relative to anyone from Newfoundland, Louisiana, Illinois, Boston, Long Island New York, New Jersey, Texas, Georgia et al - not to mention the U.K., Australia, New Zealand or another country where English is a first language.
I have a political science degree from university and a journalism diploma from a community college. I am not a teacher or a specialist in English. I can read, write and speak better than most though not as well as some. I speak swell. That's grammar joke.
I am a communicator with a big, loud, clear voice that can make women swoon over the telephone - I have that radio-voice, whatever that means. Probably a polite way of saying I'm ugly, but whatever.
I briefly worked as a newspaper reporter for Canada's top newspaper. I taught piano and clarinet. Coached women's soccer. Played third-base in a men's league for a couple of years -awesome with the leather and bat, but not so good at making the crisp throw to first.
I like comic books (now I write them), comedy TV, mystery books, cop shows, damn near all sports though I admit I didn't watch any NFL football this year, and perhaps because I played and played well, I have a difficult time watching professional soccer because, although I am 48, I still think I could have been a professional if given half a chance.
So... I am deluded.
Why am I telling you all this? Well... I may have taught piano and clarinet and some soccer, but I have never been trained to be an English teacher.
And so, like many of you, when I was selected to be a junior high school teacher in Japan, I was scared to death, because I knew I didn't know what I was doing. By the way, my girlfriend Ashley was 22 when she arrived, and was teaching at the boy's high school in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken... she was five years older than some of her students. Now that must have been daunting!
So... I'm not a teacher, but everyone was calling me An-do-ryu-sensei (Andrew-teacher). This will happen to you, though I suspect that for most of you, they will use your first name rather than mine. Any Andrew's out there, feel free to use my name and title.
The Point Of This Blog - The Self Introduction
The first time I visited any class, I would do a self-introduction.
If your class is 40 minutes long, be prepared to talk for 30 with 10 minutes for questions, invariably delivered by the female students to both the male and female foreigner.
If no questions arise - be prepared to talk an additional 10 minutes, but for goodness sake, make it interesting...
I brought along photographs of all my friends. Guys and gals. Pictures of my family. My pets. My car. My house. The backyard of my house. Trust me, this is stuff that is just not seen in Japan - the houses et al.
I also took along a photo of my comic book collection, and one of my room - complete with a Sports Illustrated swimsuit calender hanging in plain sight, which got the boys interested, as they could also see the model kits of cars I had built in the background. Okay, maybe they didn't see the model kits - just the models.
Do not be afraid to share your life with the students. This is your one and only chance to connect with them - to make them think you are worth listening to because you are interesting.
Yes, you can be boring - but then you are just like all of their Japanese teachers. You are the special one. The foreigner (gaijin). Most will have seen a foreigner before, but few will have ever talked to one.
Make yourself interesting. Tell them what sports you like, what music you listen to, what musical instruments you play. Tell them you were once an extra in a real movie (I was).
Tell them what you know about Japan. Ask them if they know anything about your country. Most won't have a clue - so tell them about the weather, the population, the sports teams - whatever.
If you are teaching kids - tell them what video games you like(d), and what system you have. Tell them what Japanese anime (animated cartoons) you have enjoyed, or what manga (comic books) you read.
If you don't have anything in common, you are losing a valuable chance to connect with the kids on their own level.
Don't worry - they aren't stupid, these kids will still respect you because you are a teacher. Granted the 'teacher' is NOT as well-respected as it was say 40 years ago, but it still carries some cache in Japan.
These initial self-introductions are given by you English, with the JTE (Japanese teacher of English) you are team-teaching with translating for you into Japanese. Talk slowly and, above-all, clearly. Look around at the students and at your teacher. If you are shy, look to the back of the class a couple of inches above their head. Don't be shy. This is not the time to be shy. Be proud and loud. Be a JET!
I did over 78 introductions at my schools over the three years I stayed there. After the first five or six, you need to mix it up, because the kids will hear the boredom in your voice. If you are bored, you know they will be, too.
Describe the school system - pass and fail. Tell them your height and weight (if you like) and your shoe size - but do it in centimeters (not inches or in whatever sizing your country uses for shoes!).
Do not tell them how large your penis is (except to say 'bigger than yours') or what your three sizes are (Bust-Waist-Hips), if you are female. None of their damn business. Besides, they use the metric system, and their way of measuring a cup size is askew, as a B-cup in Canada, would be a D-Cup in Japan.
Tell them what your favorite foods are - I told them I never ate Japanese food until two days before I arrived in Japan. That's true.
Tell them if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Provide photos if you want. However, I will warn you, if you are gay, lesbian or transgender - be proud, but just know that Japan is even less accepting than the folks in your home country.
Regarding the boyfriend/girlfriend thing. I told my students that fellow JET Ashley was my girlfriend, and she, to look proper, told them she didn't have a boyfriend. They knew who was telling the truth, but never busted Ashley on it.
Clothes Make The Man Or Woman
By the way... how to dress? That's up to you, of course. During the winter, I wore dress pants, shirt, tie and a sweater, with dress shoes. When it was warmer, I wore a suit and tie. Always.
To me, I was on the JET Programme as a representative of my country. The actions of a foreigner often reflect upon whatever country you are from. in fact, it doesn't matter where you are from - you are a gaijin, an outsider, your actions reflect back on all other foreigners. It's not fair, but it's true.
You do not have to wear a suit and tie, or your best dress - but you should look neat and tidy.
Got a beard or mustache? Keep it neat. Got long hair and you're a guy? Keep it neat. Women - at school you don;t need to look like a school marm from the 1880s, but do not dress - how to say it without sounding sexist? - too sexily. Junior high and High school boys are in hormone overdrive, as are Japanese men. You also don't want to show up the female teachers.
Now, it is true that in my suit and tie, I was better dressed than every teacher (male or female) at any school. The principal and vice-principal may have worn a suit, but mine were better. I got away with it because my actions made me less a snobby clothes horse and more a regular guy with a better than average sense of humor.
The End, For Now
I'll go into this in more detail shortly, but bring a lunch for the first day - just in case. Chances are better than 99% that you will be eating a school-prepared lunch with a class of your students, or in the teacher's lounge with teachers who do not have a home room to look after. Just know that the topic of school lunch is a topic unto itself.
And that's basically what you need to know for your first day. You still haven't taught a wit of English, but that will come (in another article). But, after your first day at a school - you are now a professional teacher.
Granted, your experience will vary, but it will be awesome for you. Your JTE who will marvel at how exciting you are (but do so in subdued tones, because they don't know YOU as a person yet).
Note that these self-introductions do tend to turn you into a side-show act, but trust me - that's the excitement of them meeting you.
Oh... and that first class you meet... they will tell everyone else all about you. So be prepared to have some new information to tell them - just pretend you are The Grateful Dead, and perform a different playlist every night.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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