Cinco de Maio

Just a few minutes before I have to go to TESTING class. Yes, it's a class where we learn how to make tests. Believe me, it's far more complicated than you'll ever want to know. At least the teacher is cool. That's Dr.J. Everyone loves him, which is prolly why he will become the Chair of the Department next year - at the tender age of 37. Dude, he's only a year older than I am!

Anyway, so yesterday my ESL class was horrible. Everyone was in a crabby mood (myself included). Today was much better, and I addressed the overarching problem of class communication. I insisted that they have to respond when I ask questions - even a simple nod yes or no when I ask "Do you understand?" Japanese classroom culture is vastly different from American, so they are used to the teacher-centered class where they just doze off or do whatever they please. They seemed really interested in what I was saying, so I think I got 'em. We'll see if there's any difference.

Gotta run. More later.