Eventful week for me. In the wake of my recontracting news, I got my copy of WoW: Burning Crusade, and this week, so far, has been sorta busy with my Monday schedule being (my heaviest) being repeated today. Being the last day of January, it was also the last day of classes for the 3rd Years.
Really, classes for them essentially ended in December. With only a month left, and no more testing save for their various entrance exams, we did mostly make-work...or did we? When I look at the things I did for 3-1 when I got here, and what I got accomplished with them from mid-November till today, the latter half was much more unified and cohesive. Part of it of course is that I had better, goal-oriented activities, a result of the on-the-job training during my first few months. I think as well that it was during this time the class finally warmed up to me, and me to them. The last week of classes I had with them were essentially student-run, in that they decided what they wanted to do, and I facilitated. While it was a lot of work (preping 2 days of Jeopardy games is labour intensive), it was worthwhile.
Today, however, was the last day, and that warranted a special treat. While I like spoiling my kids silly, I think this was a great way to end the class. I played music, a mix CD that I made (which now all the kids want copies of), and the main activity was Bingo. Not English bingo, or vocab bingo, or any of the other activities that ALTs all over Japan use, but plain ol' vanilla bingo. The bingo-ball dispenser I bought from a store down-town, along with the prizes. First prize was the Right/Wrong Buzzer I've used so often in class. Second was a Nightmare Before Christmas card wallet, and 3 third prizes of giant Disney-themed pocky.
Of course it was a hit, and I had a blast doing it. They are a truly great bunch of kids, and I'll miss them. Of course, the flip side is that I don't have any more 3rd year classes, and I have my Thursdays completely free. Good thing I bought some DS Kanji training software.
No comments:
Post a Comment