I've been ALTing for a few years now. The job is a piece of piss, in fact I'm not quite sure that it is actually a job...although I do get paid for being here.

Anyway, up till now I've always been based at one school (junior high school). Although for my first year I was at a different school to where I am now...I digress. At my junior high school I do get a chance to study Japanese every day and I can play sports with the kids. But going to class can be a real drag. I don't think it would make any real difference if I was there or not. As Alan Partridge once said, "You don't applaud a man for standing".

Then two weeks ago I had to go to an elementary school for 7 working days, and man was I working! Planning/leading the lessons ; playing 鬼ごっこ; swimming; gardening and various other activities. So the job itself was certainly better fun but my available study time was less.

Is it too much of a generalization to say that elementary schools are "better" than junior high schools? Not sure if I'd want to be there all the time though. Hang over + little kids probably don't go together that well!

I work exclusively at elementary schools and I can say while it can be fun, it sure is tiring -_- At least I only work until lunch each day then go home

I was a CIR, now I am (one of) the last of the SPAs. While I can't speak from personal ALT experience I can say my JETs that want to be in elementary schools and get placed there are almost always more fulfilled professionally than the rest of my JETs. That said, my JETs that hate kids despise elementary and it seems to affect their very souls. They usually quit. Here's another question to put out there: Do you enjoy CIRing?

littleblue Wrote:I work exclusively at elementary schools and I can say while it can be fun, it sure is tiring -_- At least I only work until lunch each day then go home

That sounds pretty good to me.

Hyland1 Wrote:I was a CIR, now I am (one of) the last of the SPAs.

Last of the spaz? Probably not, but what does it stand for?

Hyland1 Wrote:my JETs that hate kids despise elementary and it seems to affect their very souls

Do these people know what JET stands for? Perhaps that should be an interview question..."Do you actually like children?"

From personal experience, junior high schools (and presumably high schools) have a set syllabus whereas when the ALTs in my area go to elementary school, we can pretty much do what we like.

Can anybody fill me in, what those various abbreviations mean? I have heard of JET which is something like an exchange teacher over a period of 3 years. Thanks...

ALT/AET = Assistant Language/English Teacher
CIR = Coordinator for International Relations
JET = Japan Exchange & Teaching programme (now up to 5 years apparently)

Is ALT the one where you just sit there and read example sentences so the students can hear a native speaker? And that's like the only thing you do... Just wondering. Someone I know said he had a job like that and he hated it.

I'm at a junior high. Sometimes, it is just being a human tape recorder. Other times, I have to plan activities or games for the kiddies.

the best thing about being an ALT is the lack of responsibility and free time it affords me to work on other stuff. Working at an elementary school does have some advantages and disadvantages though.

Advantages:
*Communications with staff and children is usually Japanese-only. (there is no specialist in English as such so we all just talk in Japanese). In this regard I learn about what level of politeness to use with who. I get to practice scalding kids, using normal everyday language and then I have to talk to the boss (principal) using more polite language. a good mix.
*Lessons are all planned by me. so if i want to teach the kids something cool or stupid, I can. for example, if it is a nice day I can go outside and do rope-jumping or something and say that it is a numbers lesson...
*The kids tend to be more responsive and are willing to do stupid things, or just plain participate in classes.
*No tests
*always being corrected by kids for my bad Japanese. This is seriously important. A kid will not do what adults do and let your mistakes go, they will publicly humiliate you for making a mistake. or just go.. 日本語、変だよ！ this makes me want to not make that mistake again!

Disadvantages
*かんちょう。
*lack of respect by kids. if, like me, you are too nice and not seen to ever get angry, kids will not give you any respect. This happened to me at first, but after listening to teachers scalding kids, I have learnt how to be angry and show that I am pissed off. probably useful in the real world too.
*Lesson Planning. Although I mentioned that I like having the freedom to create my own lessons, sometimes I just can't be bothered

that's about all I can think of right now.

This is my second year of working at Elementary schools. I've not worked at JHS or SHS so I can't compare, but from what my friends say I seem to have more responsibility. As yorkii said there are no English teachers other than the ALT so we basically are in charge of the lessons. I have a general plan for the year to follow, but all the details are my own problem. So, I do get less time to do my own thing as although I don't have lessons in the afternoon, I'm always making/doing something for the next day/week.
If I stay next year I want to try JHS to see what it's like being a tape recorder. On hot days like today it sounds bliss, instead of jumping around and singing 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes'...

Some interesting responses.

The first JHS I was at I had more responsibility than now, we would discuss the grammar nugget of the day beforehand and the teacher would tell me what was expected of me, sometimes a lot, other times a little. But literally all I have to do these days is go to class and stand/sit there. At elementary school, as yorkii says, kids in general seem more up for being silly. That I like! Even trying to encourage the JHS kids where I am to 'repeat after me' being angry, sad, happy, etc. doesn't work well at all (except in a few individual cases). They always just sound bored.

JHS advantages:
*Same as yorkii, communication almost all the time is in Japanese. There was a teacher who was here last year who almost always spoke to me in English though. In my experience, whether or not a teacher speaks to you in English/Japanese has nothing to do with my Japanese level, but more to do with their confidence/willingness to speak/try English.
*Lessons are not planned by me so I can chill.
*Tests. Means I get ocassional free periods and free days!
*Decent sports clubs to join in with.
*On average about 2 free periods a day that I can use as study/forum time.

JHS disadvantages:
*We still have kancho! At the first school I was at some of the boys used to like to do a touch in a Borat kind of way..."Big!"
*Bordom (particularly in class when I don't actually have to do anything other than just be there).
*Tests. Means lessons are always driven by "doing" the textbook.

EDIT: Agree with MightlyMatt. The sweat factor at elementary schools is outrageous! I started going for a swim with the kids about 11 o'clock to freshen up. Also needed a change of clothes after lunchtime 警泥（けいどろ） or whatever.

It'S 泥警　over where I am.

yorkii Wrote:It'S 泥警　over where I am.

A teacher once told the kids they should be calling it どろけい but the kids were having none of it. I'll need to ask that teacher if she's from Ibaraki.

I ALTed at 5 different schools (2 JHS and 3 Elem)

I agree Elementary both more exhausting and more fun. For my first year, it was a complete blast. After a year though it became the most frustrating part of my job. The kids at my schools only get 10 lessons a year, you can't even expect language retention let alone to build on it. You realize you are just a clown - and yet at the same time I was feeling more pressure to follow a curriculum and build up to more advanced English in the upper grades. As if. I got tired of all the blank looks on their cute little faces when I knew I had done the exact same target language with these exact same kids the year before. It was like my own version of groundhog day.

While one of my JH was essentially the pit of despair (RtK saved my sanity - I spent hours in class staring off into space visualizing stories in my head), my other school had some really great teachers and I had a great time in class doing role plays, jumping in to add examples or jokes to the lessons and goofing off with the kids. Imo, it totally depends on the Japanese English teacher whether being a JH ALT is a great job or painful torture.

in the city where I (and for your info Jonzep on these forums too) am based, they have a good English program which allows us to stay at the same school for the full year. no changing. thus, I am at the same elementary school every day of the week for the whole year. my work is basically giving each class an english lesson once a week. this boils down to 12 hours of teaching a week (2 classes per grade, grades 1 - 6). outside of that I have to attend P.E. lessons and the odd swimming class, Joint studies classes (総合学習) etc etc.

with this amount of English education, there is some amount of progression from grade 1 through 6, but it's not a huge leap. having only 10 English lessons per year per grade is clearly a waste of time. IMO

I'm also in Ibaraki and my town was one of the original test areas for weekly elementary school English lessons. Like I said before I have a curriculum which gives a target structure for each lesson in every grade, but I'm able to chop, change, add and delete as I see fit.

I'm split between two schools each week, which gives me 17 classes. Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I really do see the kids learning week by week. Ok, I'm claiming that they can 'speak' English, but they have the confidence to ask and answer a range of questions - a much needed skill from the sounds of my HS friends. Actually, just last night I was talking with friends about a game I use. I ask questions and the kids answer. It's pretty simple stuff, like 'What fruit do you like?' 'I like ----.' but my friends said they'd be happy if they got that out of their HS kids...

Hmm... I'm sure I had a point, but I'm waffling now so I'm back off to study some more...

I teach in ten different schools, bit of a tough schedule at times. Seven are elementary and three are junior high. I still find about and hour or so each day to stdy though. The only problem with elementary is that i'm often too tired to study and the lack of privacy means that everyone is asking me loads of questions etc.
At the end of the day junior high wins for easiness and elementary wins for job satisfaction and general warmth. So the balance works quite well. I wouldn't want to do just elem or just jnr high though.

fragileshards Wrote:Imo, it totally depends on the Japanese English teacher whether being a JH ALT is a great job or painful torture.

This is too true... last year the English teacher that I was working with (at the school I am at 3 days of the week anyway) was a blast to work with, he let me ask the students questions at the start of the class, and was just generally a fun teacher to be in the classroom with... now though... it's pretty much reversed itself.. new teacher doesn't let me do questions, and does at least 50-60% of the English pronunciation by himself..


I wouldn't have such a big problem with him doing that if I hadn't caught him start off once by saying.... "Everyone! look at my mouse!!" ....

what do you mean by that? was he referring to you as a mouse?

yorkii Wrote:what do you mean by that? was he referring to you as a mouse?

I think he means the "th" sound.

ah, now i understand.

synewave Wrote:I think he means the "th" sound.

What's a thouse? A douse? A blouse?

Hyland1 Wrote:I was a CIR, now I am (one of) the last of the SPAs.

Last of the spaz? Probably not, but what does it stand for?
SPA= Specialist Prefectural Advisor. It is basically PA/CIR work, with the added requirement of three years of experience on the JET program. Now that the JET program is 5 years, the position is being phased out. Which is sad, because now all new PAs will be first years. That is hard on the PAs and does little to build confidence in the PA system.
You might also see
SEA: Which is short for something like Sports Education Advisor. These guys (and maybe gals, not sure) are hard core athletes and coaches.
There is also a Specialist elementary school teacher for 4th and 5th year ALTs, that is also being phased out.

Lost in translation?

synewave Wrote:The job is a piece of piss, in fact I'm not quite sure that it is actually a job...although I do get paid for being here.

In the UK, "piece of piss" = extremely easy (no negative nuance).

Synewave: Apologies, edited.