Mid Year Seminar Reactions

I was thinking more today about personal responsibility and this job I have as a teacher overseas. Too many times have I used the excuse that I’m not teacher trained or that I don’t understand the language or the culture or that my job is too ambiguous. Akiko Hasegawa, The keynote speaker at our prefecture’s Mid-Year Seminar, delivered a very inspiring speech. She is currently a professor at Tokoha Gakuen University, but for 8 years had been in charge of the JET Program in our region as an English Teacher’s Consultant. She gave us a history of her strictness and passion as an educator and then as an administrator of ALTs. One thing that she said made my notes:

“You may not have been an English major, but now you’re an English teacher so you need to study.”

In my own notes to myself I wrote,

“I may not have the experience, I may not have the training, but I have a good head on my shoulders. I have common sense. I have an education. I have genuine care for my students. I have the capabilities and nothing is too hard. Don’t complain.”

Here are some other good points I wrote down during the seminar:

- Make the first move

- Teachers are in the business of sowing slow growing seeds. It’s difficult to not be able to see immediate change, to not “seal the deal” so to speak. It’s a daily thought, moving forward a little each day. Movement, investment.

- This moment is a new moment.

- I will act proactively in everything I do.

- The red moments will pass. Don’t worry about it.

- People respond to your confidence, not your abnormalities/deficiencies.

- (As a side bar: Have I ever found this to be true! I see it over and over again in so many circumstances and find it in so many situations. Just yesterday I was reading reactions to Lincoln written by some of his contemporaries. Many made statements about his ridiculous appearance or high and tinny voice. These were suddenly overlooked when Lincoln opened his mouth and delivered some of history’s most famous speeches with dignity, passion and logic. He always grasped the gravity of the situation and always came through with confidence and understanding in his cause.)

- (I personally have been saying for about 8 years now that “confidence is 90% of everything.” I truly believe this and find over and over that my performance follows closely with my confidence in whatever it is I’m doing.)

- In everything, when you’re not sure, ask the JTE.

Here are the notes I scrawled to myself in between correcting tests today:

I may not have teacher training, but let’s face it – this isn’t a technical skill kind of job. There’s no assembly line, no number crunching formulas; there are many grey areas. There’s often not a right or wrong answer; only answers that are better than others. My major prepared me for this very thing. Why complain about not having the training? [I’ve now beat that phrase to death, so I won’t use it anymore] This is real world problem solving. My job is to: communicate, take tasks seriously, follow through, and do the research when I don’t have the knowledge. My time here in Japan and in Ihara High School is so applicable to my future career and my life. With hard work in all these areas I can even find success where I am right now.