Self-Introduction

Ok. So, the day has finally come to start teaching. In Japan, the all important first lesson is your self-introduction. Everyone has to do it. You can not avoid it. You will repeat it many times over the first month of teaching and you may have to do it again if you change schools or get new students.I teach at five schools: nursery, three elementary, and one junior high school. Since I teach in 21 classrooms so this lesson will be done 21 times over the first month. So, it is important to have a lesson that you enjoy teaching about yourself. Yes, you teach the students things about you, your family, your hobbies and most importantly, your home country.

The main things I wanted to teach in this lesson was about my family, my hobbies and my country. So, I got together pictures, maps, realia (for example, Canadian money), and some games or activities to do after my presentation. With nursery, I did a brief self-introduction (5-10 mins)and then when right into singing songs and playing games with the kids. Even though the kids are very young, this worked well. I had a four year old take out one of her textbooks and actually point to the Canadian flag. She told me I am from this place. Talk about a sharp pre-schooler and grass-roots internationalization!

Grassroots Internationalization at its best!

At the elementary schools, I spent about half of the lesson doing my presentation and then I had them colour and draw a Canadian flag. We also sometimes played a quiz game about what I said in my presentation. I also gave the students a present from Canada such as a pen, bookmark or pin. At Miyose, third graders drawing the Canadian flagNow for the finished product!
First graders at Wasa with their own flags and a souvenir
At the junior high school, I did my presentation and a written quiz. Then, my students all did a brief introduction, which they had prepared in advance for me. I thought that was really great! It helped me to learn more about the students right off the bat. My junior high school students also received a Canadian souvenir.
Eating lunch with the girls at my Junior High School
All in all the lessons went well. The students listened and the homeroom teachers helped translate but I did hear my students saying things back to me in Japanese which made me realize that they can understand and infer things quite well. However, I was very happy to move on teach other things!