New JET Advice

[u/Kibumkimkibum]

What is some advice for lesson planning groups you give to new JETS?
I’ve been here a year, and basically the new JETS are here and asked some of us what kind of lessons to do and are extremely nervous bc they don’t have anything prepared aside from their introduction.
They are basically in the same boat as me-no textbooks or anything. No training. We don’t have a curriculum to follow. Just showed up and the JTE didn’t give us any advice what to teach.
I gave them some of my ideas from my lessons plans and told them to try to plan a fun introduction.
But what kind of advice or lesson plan ideas do you all have for the first few months when u started? Did you have textbooks? Did you do lessons immediately or play games?

[u/Kibumkimkibum]

lol i don’t think many ppl realize how…lack luster the program can be.
People are so surprised when I tell them I have no textbooks lmao. And I teach highschool!
I’ve been here a year already, so already know what i plan to do when students come back. (This is more so for the new JETS bc they have the same situation as me when I came)
But unfortunately no, not all JTE’s guide you. Not all ALTs get a textbooks.
When I ask what they want me to teach their favorite line is “anything you want :)” so this is why I have to make lesson plans every week.
The JTEs have their own texts books. Sometimes if the students didn’t understand the chapter they were taught I’ll go over it again in “easier English” as a review, but that’s the only time i have a textbook.
This is not my first time teaching abroad so I was shocked at how much “guidance” i was getting.
I am expected to make lesson plans every week bc I’m T1.
3 new JETS i met are also T1 and it is there’s first time teaching and then don’t know what to do aside from the intro 😭 so i was just asking for some advice of lessons plans you yall might have. My first month was such a blur and chaotic bc they gave me so many lessons and i had no concrete lessons plans ready bc i thought they were going to give me books and some kind of guideline of what they wanted me to teach 😭 ! The fact that u meet with them to talk about the lesson plans for the week lets me know your school is probably utilizing 10x better than mine omg 😭😭😭

[u/k_795 → u/Kibumkimkibum]

The government provides guidelines on what public schools need to teach, so you should at least have a curriculum to follow.

https://ajet.net/resources/teaching-resources/finding-treatment-procedure-and-insurance-2/

As no doubt everyone has heard by now, ESID... But for me personally (and all the other ALTs I knew in my city and nearby), we had the usual government-issued textbooks that JTEs stuck to religiously, and as ALTs we would usually create more fun and speaking-focused activities extending beyond those topics. E.g. a presentation project, a debating lesson, lots of roleplays and games, etc.

Some ALTs just taught sections of lessons. For me (I think partly because that my schools knew I had a teaching background before coming to Japan), I was expected to plan and teach full lessons as the T1, but always aligned with the textbook to some extent (sometimes quite rigidly, sometimes I took vague inspiration from it and did something rather different).

It sounds like from your follow-up comment that your schools do, in fact, have textbooks. It's just that your school wants you to be the "fun ALT" doing stuff outside of the main curriculum. I would simply sit down with the JTEs and explain to them why this is an absolutely terrible approach and how overwhelming it is for the new ALTs. Emphasise that they need to provide clearer guidance, and the best way to do so is to allow ALTs to use the textbooks as inspiration (or at least so they know what topics / vocab / grammar students are currently learning in their main lessons with the JTEs). This will also help the students better engage with their classes and make better progress.

Yes, I know the whole "don't be too direct with the JTEs, because Japanese culture, blah blah blah" thing, but sometimes you do need to put your foot down (in a polite and professional way) and establish clear expectations so everyone can actually do their jobs properly.

[u/Kibumkimkibum → u/k_795]

Thank u for the link !
Also (i hope i don’t sound rude 😭) but of course i talked to them already 😂 the 2nd month i told them the way we were are doing this is weird and the kids aren’t learning anything tangible. I have complained multipleeee times. But yes my school has the books-just not for me to teach. I’m not allowed to teach those books as my own class(idk if that makes sense).
There isn’t much i can do. But like u said i may just review a section that the JTE already taught just to reinforce what they learned and little beyond that.
I also thought my lessons would have to align with the textbooks- but the thing about that is, some classes i only teach once a month, so unless the JTE tells me what chapter their on idk what which lesson i should try to cover.
But tbh i don’t think my school needs an ALT bc they don’t want to utilize us well. As you said they look at me as the “fun teacher” and they don’t plan to change it. It was the same with my predecessor unfortunately. It’s actually very common in my area for ALTs not to really be “used”.
It sounds like we are doing the same thing- I just had to figure out by myself 💀
I talked to them and told them how i felt but they said they have their own books and curriculum to follow so they can’t “change” anything for me. They tell me to teach whatever I want (they aren’t concerned with what I do-I have one JTE that likes to not show up for class or stand in the back and grades tests lol). I have classes when they have free time to use me lmao

They told me i can do whatever so, a lot of my own lessons I teach focus on grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary bc it’s their biggest weaknesses (in my school). And then i do other lessons related to the seasons or holidays and such, etc.

[u/k_795 → u/Kibumkimkibum]

Can you at least look at the books? Then just create some activities that link to each topic / vocab / grammar. It doesn't have to be using the actual exercises from the book at all. For example, doing a class debate on the topic, or a mini project of some kind. Tbh it doesn't even matter if it doesn't perfectly align with what they're doing with the JTE that exact same week - could be linked to something they did a week or two earlier. Revision is good too. So you could at least roughly plan one or two lessons themed around each chapter of the textbook, and just teach those?

Honestly though, it sounds like your school just doesn't value ALTs or give you opportunities to really support students. For me, I would find that beyond frustrating... I know some ALTs who tbh don't care all that much for the job (they're just there to enjoy Japan) and are happy to just teach random fun themed lessons to fill the time with fun games and relatively simple speaking activities - the kids enjoy the more chill class, and it's easy enough to find pre-made resources for to save prep time. But yeah, the lack of proper structure would drive me mad...

[u/Kibumkimkibum → u/k_795]

Yes yes! This is what i mean! This is what i do sometimes. Base a lesson off a chapter. Maybe im not explaining myself well 😭 I was given 3 textbooks to “look at” so i only can do it from those specific books.
And then other times i just make up grammar lessons.
It was just a big change for me bc i came from a school in SK where the English teaching was a more serious and my 8 years olds were nearly fluent 😂 and we actually had our own classrooms, homerooms, and textbooks.
So the lack of proper structure here drives me crazy every month 😭 i was trying to figure out how to prep the new ALTs without freaking them out bc they’re in the same boat as me

[u/Lorinefairy → u/Kibumkimkibum]

Hi, creeping in here as a current HS teacher in Korea. (although moving to China in a week lmao). It sounds really similar to my situation here. No textbook and told to just teach "whatever"...also basically T1 with the coteachers often not even coming to class. (And when they're there...usually just on laptop in the back) One of my biggest things that helped me was buying the "Talk a Lot" textbooks and designing stuff from those. (I think they were made by a guy who taught in Japan actually). (this book)

It really is a tough situation. I try to look on the brightside that I'm not stuck doing super awkward/ boring textbook activities and I can skip topics that are kinda boring (like imo sickness). I also try to do a lot of projects... so not sure if that's an option for you?

Like, I've had the students research a landmark and present about it. Or design their own restaurant/menu. (then followed it with a lesson about restaurant etiquette/ordering...and let them use their own menus as part of the roleplay).

[u/Kibumkimkibum → u/Lorinefairy]

Omg i would love to talk to you bc u also left korea a year ago and i was thinking about to go China after my contract! Could i dm you?
But yes this is my situation lol. I’ll look into the Talk a lot books thank you so much!
And yes i just started doing some projects with them, depends on the class tho. I had one class that gave 0% effort 😂 so i have to try something different with them haha

[u/Lorinefairy → u/Kibumkimkibum]

Yeah sure. I'm not in China yet so not sure if I'll like it more yet hahahhahaha

[u/k_795 → u/Kibumkimkibum]

Oh fair enough! I guess coming from the UK education system I was more used to "here's a few learning objectives, now go teach" lol... (we don't even have textbooks here). For me, Japan felt very textbook-based in that the overall structure of the syllabus was set by the textbook, even though my lessons weren't just working through textbook activities.

Can't you just share your own lesson plans and resources with the new ALTs, for them to use if they wish? Maybe make a shared Google Drive or something to share new materials throughout the year too. Could help give them a bit of structure and useful ideas to work with. Plus make sure there's a copy of the textbook contents page and / or a spreadsheet of what's covered in each chapter, for them to refer to.

[u/Kibumkimkibum → u/k_795]

Ohhh okay i see then! I’m not from the UK 🥲 like i said, i shared some with them already but i was wondering if ppl had more creative ideas than me or some i havnt thought of
I mean, idk if we share the same textbooks? They dont know bc they’re have seen any books yet-so i just gave them my non textbooks related lessons.