Timothy Baril

Teaching in Japan
Jet Programme
Teachers report that students basically failed at their English midterms. Results were terrible, across the board with all 3 grades. Teachers from other subjects indicated similar results.
I suspect that if the city of Moriguchi doesn’t improve its education system by pumping a lot more life and heart and professionalism into it, [...]

Teaching in Japan
JET Programme
Midterms day one of two today. English tests were today. The English teachers are busy at their desks, tall stacks of tests and work books and files handed in from students at their elbows. They work steadily, heads down.
It kind of makes me wish that Japanese teachers didn’t have so much [...]

Teaching in Japan
Year 2, Month 3
The very next day following the staff meeting, the first year teachers take the first year students aside and speak to them in the gym for another lecture. At the morning meeting with staff, the principal encouraged staff to seek help from each other, and join each other in classrooms [...]

Teaching in Japan
JET Programme
Though I don’t yet have details, I have heard that there were serious incidents last night involving first year students misbehaviour, or that at least the first year teachers have gotten to the point where they have spent last night, and perhaps today, contacting parents about the children in an attempt to [...]

JET Programme
Year 2, Month 3
I’m revisiting the first year students I had trouble with in the previous week. As before, the teacher was without any respect from students in class. She seemed to attempt to act tougher, get sharper with students faster, but it had no effect. She degraded into a state of being lost [...]

Teaching in Japan
JET Programme - 2nd Year
Today, due to a compressed schedule thanks to Culture Festival preparations, 1st year classes were not split in half as they normally are. The resulting larger than normal class proved to be less well behaved than normal, and entirely uncontrolled.
Since arriving from elementary school some four months ago, [...]

Comment:
I can’t agree with the idea of raising the financial burden on students any more than already exists. In fact, I think the opposite should be done. Students seeking higher education struggle under extra jobs and long term loans that can place great undue stress on them for years during and following their education term. [...]

Icon of Hope, Symbol of Difference
By Timothy Baril
Why are we here? Why are we JETs in Japan? You thought it was to teach English? It’s not to teach English. Well, ok, maybe a little bit. But that’s not the most important part of your job. You want to learn English? Here’s a textbook and some [...]

Bonenkai - the Japanese year end party. It celebrates the forgetting of bad memories over the year, and looking forward to a new year. Typically it takes place in the last couple of weeks of December before holidays.
This year, because I was teaching at Kaji Chuu Gakkou (JHS) from September through December, it was also [...]

With exams at Junior High this week, I was loaned out to nearby kindergarten and elementary schools. It was SO much fun.
KINDERGARTEN
The young kids are adorable. Especially the kindergarteners. Wow. It was a blast. I spent the first 90 minutes just playing with them. We built things out of blocks, wrestled, ran around, played dodge [...]