posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laurainlimbo at 12:40pm on 23/10/2005
laurainlimbo at 12:40pm on 23/10/2005what's wrong with Japanese kids? I thought it would be fun to introduce the kids I tutor (three 7-year-old boys) to Halloween words. After all, Halloween is one of the biggest times of the year for American kids, and we've been teaching the words at the school in Shizuoka (and the kids have been enjoying it, making Halloween cards and masks etc). So I found some really cute flashcards online and printed them out, and was looking forward to teaching them on Friday. But the best laid plans . . . well, you know the rest. I started showing them the pictures and once they understood that they were looking at scary things (mummies and vampires and goblins) they started getting all silly and covering their eyes and acting like they were scared. Then when I put away the Halloween cards and started doing something else, they kept up the silliness and wouldn't even look at regular flashcards (a monkey eating a banana, for example) and thinking that the next card would be a mummy or a ghost. They got so crazy that the whole class just disintegrated into chaos! I'm pretty sure they weren't scared - they were just being boys and trying to get attention. But its hard to get them to sit still for more than 20 minutes at a time, and I have to teach them for one hour. I'll have to think of more games so that they can use their energy in learning. Oh, I have so much more respect for people who teach kids for a living!!
anyway, I'm constantly being challenged when I teach kids - it is fun, but I just need to learn ways to engage them and keep them focused - and its hard because they have massive amounts of energy (the younger ones) and sometimes can be so moody!
oh, and here's another funny story (actually two). Kids, no matter where they are, can be so frank that its often painful. When I first moved here years ago, I noticed that kids were commenting on my height (they would say "Dekei" which is the more casual version of "dekai" which means big - of course they really meant that I was tall, but at the time, I thought that they were saying I was fat. But the word for fat is "debu" - luckily no one has called me that!) Anyway, on Friday, I wore some hiking boots with jeans when I went to tutor the kids and Mrs. Ogawa. When we were leaving, and I went to put on my shoes, one of the boys, Jyo, said, very loudly, "dekei kutsu" (which means big shoes). Well, its not really rude, but its funny that kids would notice that my feet are big. Japanese women always wear such small, petite shoes (because their feet are small!) And then on Saturday when I was teaching the primary class (there are two 11-year-olds and two 6-year-olds - brothers and sisters), the kids were making Halloween masks. There are two types, one a pumpkin and one a witch. When Yuta, the younger boy, saw the witch mask, he looked at me and said "niiteru" which means to look like someone or something. So he thought that I looked like the witch (or the witch looks like me)! He said it again when I was showing them the Halloween flashcards and he saw the witch. Luckily the witch in the flashcard is kind of cute, or I would be feeling quite ugly! I have to remember though that I look so much different from these kids' mothers (who are short, skinny, and have controllable straight, short hair) - I am tall, and have this unruly, wild hair that probably makes me look like a witch to them. But as I said, kids are honest, and you have to take what they say with more than a grain of salt!! And in the same lesson, the same boy, Yuta, started crying while he was making his mask because he didn't like the way it looked. He sat on the floor and covered his face, and it was a challenge to get him to finish it at all. I just don't know about some of these kids -what is going on in their homes?
Finally, I'll comment on the weather, which is improving day by day. today is an absolutely gorgeous clear day and when I woke up, Mt. Fuji was covered in snow (the top, that is). By now, its almost all melted off (its about 1 p.m. now) but its still so beautiful. We are driving out to a restaurant in Asagiri (its on the way towards Mt. Fuji) this afternoon to see some concert (a guitarist that Masahiko has said is famous around here), and I'm looking forward to seeing an upclose view of Fuji-san. I'll try to get some photos. I just hope that my back stops hurting (I think its from the yoga that I've been doing - and the fact that my bed is not comfortable!)
anyway, I'm constantly being challenged when I teach kids - it is fun, but I just need to learn ways to engage them and keep them focused - and its hard because they have massive amounts of energy (the younger ones) and sometimes can be so moody!
oh, and here's another funny story (actually two). Kids, no matter where they are, can be so frank that its often painful. When I first moved here years ago, I noticed that kids were commenting on my height (they would say "Dekei" which is the more casual version of "dekai" which means big - of course they really meant that I was tall, but at the time, I thought that they were saying I was fat. But the word for fat is "debu" - luckily no one has called me that!) Anyway, on Friday, I wore some hiking boots with jeans when I went to tutor the kids and Mrs. Ogawa. When we were leaving, and I went to put on my shoes, one of the boys, Jyo, said, very loudly, "dekei kutsu" (which means big shoes). Well, its not really rude, but its funny that kids would notice that my feet are big. Japanese women always wear such small, petite shoes (because their feet are small!) And then on Saturday when I was teaching the primary class (there are two 11-year-olds and two 6-year-olds - brothers and sisters), the kids were making Halloween masks. There are two types, one a pumpkin and one a witch. When Yuta, the younger boy, saw the witch mask, he looked at me and said "niiteru" which means to look like someone or something. So he thought that I looked like the witch (or the witch looks like me)! He said it again when I was showing them the Halloween flashcards and he saw the witch. Luckily the witch in the flashcard is kind of cute, or I would be feeling quite ugly! I have to remember though that I look so much different from these kids' mothers (who are short, skinny, and have controllable straight, short hair) - I am tall, and have this unruly, wild hair that probably makes me look like a witch to them. But as I said, kids are honest, and you have to take what they say with more than a grain of salt!! And in the same lesson, the same boy, Yuta, started crying while he was making his mask because he didn't like the way it looked. He sat on the floor and covered his face, and it was a challenge to get him to finish it at all. I just don't know about some of these kids -what is going on in their homes?
Finally, I'll comment on the weather, which is improving day by day. today is an absolutely gorgeous clear day and when I woke up, Mt. Fuji was covered in snow (the top, that is). By now, its almost all melted off (its about 1 p.m. now) but its still so beautiful. We are driving out to a restaurant in Asagiri (its on the way towards Mt. Fuji) this afternoon to see some concert (a guitarist that Masahiko has said is famous around here), and I'm looking forward to seeing an upclose view of Fuji-san. I'll try to get some photos. I just hope that my back stops hurting (I think its from the yoga that I've been doing - and the fact that my bed is not comfortable!)
relaxed
There are no comments on this entry. (Reply.)