Teaching Diary: Day 1

I’m going to be teaching a two-day intensive course, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to write a short teaching diary. Hopefully it will give you some insight into the life of a teacher in Japan.

2 days before ‘Day 1 of teaching’

I’ve just returned from a holiday in England. I’ve got my first day of teaching in two day’s time. That gives me tomorrow only to prepare for my lessons and recover from jet lag. Impossible!

1 day before ‘Day 1 of teaching’

Preparation for a two-day course involves reading through the assigned materials, making notes, establishing aims, and pre-empting words and terms that will be particularly difficult to teach.

The focus of this course is on English used in the workplace, and it is a small class of four students whose level is quite low, I’ve been told.

I’ll be teaching at a venue I’ve never been to before, alongside six other teachers who I have never met, so no doubt Day 1 of teaching will involve some getting used to things for me and the students.

Day 1

Jet lag has still got a firm grip on me, but I ignored my body’s cries for sleep and food at bizarre times, and carried on with my teaching. Thankfully, I arrived at the venue on time and felt quite positive about the day having prepared well yesterday.

My group of four students met each other for the first time today. They’ve come from across the country to attend this course, so I was determined not to let them down. And, in fact, today’s lessons went quite well I felt. There are always some nerves when meeting people for the first time, but at the words ‘please just relax and enjoy the course!’ there was a visible melting of tension.

I was also impressed by their level. Although, as always, there was a big gap between the highest and the lowest level student, everyone was there in a spirit of camaraderie and helped each other along, which made my job easier.

The first day’s assigned material was relatively simple, so the real challenge would come tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow for the next diary entry!