teaching english

::: this week marks my second week as a part-time english teacher for the kobe y.m.c.a. (above: the gakuentoshi branch, just a five minute walk from our home)...

...on tuesdays, i teach three classes...all of my tuesday students -- 10 so far (4 jr. high students, 6 elementary school students) -- are designated "returnees"...as one who has lived at least a year in an english-speaking country, a returnee possesses considerably stronger english skills compared to other japanese ymca students...that's why they're set apart...it's fun to work with these students, but, without any curriculum or testing standards applied to this group, i am trying to find the right content that fits each student's needs...

...on thursdays, the ymca conducts three english classes for elementary-aged japanese children...i am part of a three-teacher team, with each teacher taking a particular classes one week, then rotating to another class the following week and so on...the other two teachers have been wonderfully kind to me...so has everyone on the ymca staff...

...while using english in daily life may be a piece of cake, planning english classes for active (translate: easily distracted) kids is quite the opposite...furthermore, executing those plans, coupled with classroom management and pressure from parents, amount to a sizeable challenge...having said that, i am VERY grateful to God for the opportunities this year

• to interact with such terrific kids and their parents
• to learn from -- and lean on -- many skilled teachers (drawing heavily, of course, on claire's teaching experience)
• and to share space with my japanese colleagues at the ymca