The last few weeks in Japan have been busy but great. The school festival was unlike anything we have in Canada; each class set up a themed activity in their classrooms. One class set up a haunted house, one class had a “night club” (basically just a disco dance room where they were serving juice and snacks, haha), another class had a Harry Potter themed room where you were sorted into a house and then had to cast a spell to exit. My favourite was the “Night Museum” where we had to steal a piece of art and escape from the security guards! It was such a fun day and the students were so proud of their hard work.
Because the festival was on a Saturday, we had an extra long weekend. I took that time to go to Hiroshima. It was my first time staying at a hostel, and I was initially nervous but it was very cozy since everyone got their own little “pod” to sleep in. I went to Miyajima Island to see the famous red torii gate. My favourite part of the day was simply walking around the island with no particular plans and taking in the beauty.
I have started teaching and my mentor teacher is giving me a lot of valuable feedback. I am a lot less nervous to be in front of a class now; a year ago, when I was in field 1, I was wondering if I’d ever be able to be confident in front of a class. Now, it’s not nearly as intimidating as it used to be. My advice for any education students who are feeling nervous about teaching is to just dive in. There are definitely growing pains, but after a few days, you start to find what works for you and get into “teacher mode.” More than anything else, I’ve found that teaching is a performance, and if you can perform as if you’re confident, pretty soon that confidence will begin to genuinely build.
That’s all for now! There are only two weeks left in Japan, but I’m going to make the most of it!