Does it ever get easier?

28 comments

1. I’m mostly echoing a lot if what’s already been said, but I agree, the best advice I can give you is keep things simple. We all make the mistake of overthinking our activities and being too hard on ourselves.

   But it most definitely will get easier. And websites like ALTopedia are wonderful resources. It’s not always about MAKING the right activity, sometimes it’s a matter of FINDING it.

   If you’d ever like advice or anything or some extra resources, feel free to reach out.

2. Can’t add anything to what’s been said but my DMs are open if you want someone to talk to. Depending on where you’re located we could meet up one day too. I take the weekends to explore Kyoto and will be going outside of Kyoto soon (starting up expenses have delayed me from going out of my location lol). Have you seen everything there is to see in your location? I go exploring by myself at my own pace. When I first got here I stayed inside cause the allergies here are horrible for me and it got pretty dark for me being inside all the time. Take it on yourself to get out of your apt. It’s OK to be alone as long as you find something to do that you can really enjoy, I think.

3. Get friends outside of work, do activities with international outreach groups from other countries, and study very specific english for your lessons.

   Today we had 3 year elementary students doing “do you like …..”, and for the answer, I gave “Yes, I like ….”, but the lesson was only looking for “Yes I do”.

   It is far simpler than you are making it, and being a fluent speaker makes you worse at realizing it. It is also easy to float between similar grammar points without noticing, adding to the confusion.

   You need to find someone who is an english teacher that can give you specific feedback about your lessons. Do you have any University professors you can contact for support?

   Also, of it just isn’t for you, move on and start preparing for the next step in your life. JET is not nor ever was a long term career. It’s like a working holiday between University and the rest of your life.

4. The best thing I did which helped with lessons was tell my teachers “I don’t have any teaching experience. We aren’t taught to make lessons, make games, or anything. You need to tell me exactly what you need from me. If you don’t I can’t make a succesful lesson.” Your teachers may be shocked to learn that we aren’t actually trained teachers and that is likely where the disappointment is coming from. Everyone at my school assumed I had a teaching degree.

   Also, ask for past lessons from past ALTs they enjoyed. One of my teachers gave me several binders of activities and lessons from ALTs going back to 2007.

5. Not always an option but if you have nearby JETs/ALTs it might be worth asking them out for a drink, and then let it all out and vent, and then talk to them for advice and games and other ideas.

6. I’m not going to lie to you, working in a school is not for everyone. So I can’t say it will get easier because sometimes it’s just not the work for you. There’s nothing wrong with being good or bad at certain things, all of us have something like that.

   I hope you can find something you can do in the classroom that aligns more with what you enjoy doing. If there’s anything you enjoy doing or certain TV shows you watch that you can somehow tie into an activity?

7. Hey, it’s easy to feel that way especially when there are language barriers and stuff like that on top of learning a new job! Have you looked at doing a tefl certificate or something like that if you haven’t already? It could give you some more ideas for teaching.

   Having to create lesson plans strictly from the textbook was what I struggled with, and I had teaching experience! It is hard.

   It does get better but you just have to be willing to go through a lot of trial and error. Self reflection helps too. I got in the habit of writing a teacher diary after each class (sounds lame) but basically I’d just reflect on the lesson and what I think went well and didn’t. This not only helped me figure out what worked for each class and what didn’t , it also helped me process my own emotions and pinpoint why sometimes I felt negative after a class and help me to reframe / renew 🙂

8. First, to rip off the bandage.

   Teaching is a skill you cultivate over time.
   Most people suck at the beginning (even if they think they don’t, they usually still have a lot of room to grow). It doesn’t matter how good you look on paper or what certificates you get, if you don’t experiment, fail, and refine, you’ll never build the skill up. I worked with a teacher who looked like the perfect teacher on paper, but his classes always had an aura of a funeral ceremony.

   That being said, if you have the will, you can get better. Self educate and explore. Look up videos on teaching techniques, read books, and test out any ideas you have. It takes a while to get your groove. You can either make all your own materials or build off of others. I’m a control freak so I tend to make every single worksheet and flash card I make. You can easily look up free materials and focus on the activities instead to start with.

   Another thing that often goes unsaid is relationship building. Spend time with your students during lunch and free time periods. The more they personally like you, the more willing they are to try your activities. Sometimes this alone makes a mundane activity more fun because they are doing it with their favorite teacher.

   As for your personal life, how about doing some outdoor activities or joining a gym/club/class?
   Japanese people often network in social settings. So if you join a gym (activity club, education lesson, etc), people will notice you’ve become a regular and open up to you. You can also heavily lean on the local English teacher community and reach out to them. There are plenty of options if you initiate and try some of them out.

9. I was in the exact same position. The JETs before me were TESOL trained and had great teaching experience prior to JET. I had a very minor online teaching experience that had nothing to do with English. The English teachers at my school want me to construct lesson plans and large scale programs when I don’t know how.

   They didn’t like my games as much. Even my good games that were a hit with the students were criticised by the other teachers for not integrating enough lessons.

   Luckily my other JET is very helpful and supportive. She has given me lots of material and has shown me how to plan a lesson. I also am taking TEFL lessons while I work and I have found it has done wonders to my work in the classroom.

   If you are looking for help and/or feedback please contact me. You are not alone in this, we got you.

10. You’re not alone. I’ve been here a little over 2 months and often feel like a complete fraud.

    Anyway, where are you based? I’m looking to expand my circle.

    All the best.
    Xoxo

11. I absolutely sucked for at least a year. Maybe two. Every class was a struggle to get through that hour. I had no goddamn idea what i was doing (this was right when they started doing English regularly at ES in 2018).

    I made a ton of notes about what was good, what was bad, and developed a style. Also took a TEFL class. Now I’m a 4th year and my HRTs all say they don’t know what they’ll do without me. I still fail occasionally but I have so many options and ideas to catch a bad activity and redirect it, so I can save myself much more easily than before. That’s because I failed the first time, tried a new direction, and found it worked better. That just takes experience.

    There’s no shame in quitting if you need to. Teaching is not for everyone. But don’t feel like you’re alone in being lost. If you do want to continue, just keep learning from your mistakes, researching how to improve, and trying new things, and it will get much, much easier.

12. What finally led to me leaving JET was:

    1.Poor communication

    2.Lack of confidence/self esteem

    I came with zero experience and was expected to act like I knew what I was doing. The other ALT I worked with had a full teaching degree, and had been with the school for three years before I came. But he was of little help in the classroom, had little patience and communicated poorly with me. He was using JET to propel his teaching career, to me it felt as if he was using this chance to prove his teaching skills, not to mention that he used every damn chance he could to announce to everyone that he had a teaching degree. I eventually started to feel like a hindrance, a setback to his success. As time went by I started feeling like a fraud which heightened my mental health issues. All of this could have been avoided had I just spoke my mind and put my foot down on certain things. But don’t put yourself down. You should not be expected to completely know what you are doing. You are an ASSISTANT language teacher and therefore need some kind of guidance from the teaching staff. Unfortunately, most JTE’s don’t understand this and can therefore not “use” the ALT properly- a rant for another day. But, all of the people here make good points. For most of us JETS that come in with zero prior experience, the first few years can be rough. Communicate with your teachers and your JET community! Tell anyone and everyone who can and will listen. If they decide not to renew your contract because of it then they don’t deserve you anyways. And take full advantage of the CLAIR TEFL grant. It wasn’t until I did that I had some idea of what to do with my classes. You have every right to feel the way you do but it’s what you do about it that matters.

13. I remember when I first started teaching English in the US. Everyday was imposter syndrome and I even got put on contract monitoring (basically the school saying I was shit and adding extra work for accountability. What I will say is that after year 1, I didn’t feel like I got any better, but year 2 felt smoother. Almost like I got to redo a lot of my mistakes from year 1. By year 3, I was at a place where I felt like I had a grasp of things. Ultimately, it does get easier, but you won’t believe it yourself. Moreover, the work will just flow more smoothly, and you’ll come to an understanding that whatever happens, you and the kids will be okay, so just go for it. Don’t lose faith in yourself, and just enjoy the little things. Even if you feel like you’re absolutely terrible at games and lessons, chances are you’re getting better each time, and the kids are learning.

14. Steal stuff until you make it! ALTopaedia is only getting better.

15. I’m another person who swears they wrote this and forgot lol! I’ve also been here for almost a year and it has taken a while to start feeling like I know what I am doing. My best advice would be to think about fun things you did when you were your student’s ages. Change them to fit an English class. Share some childhood songs or videos about your home country if your JTE is down for that. Maybe show them a simple coming video for a popular dish from your country. These kinds things every so often might keep students interested in learning about your country and look forward to English class.

    Ever taken a Spanish/French/German etc. class in grade school? What did the teacher do to make the class fun and interesting? How did they explain things to make them easier to understand? There’s a bit of a difference since our teachers are often bilingual, but perhaps there’s still stuff you could learn from those experiences.

    I feel you on the loneliness thing… the best thing you can do is see if there are events or groups related to your interests and join in, even if everything is in Japanese, you still might have fun! Try asking your coworkers who have at least intermediate English if they’d be interested in doing something together. The worst thing they could say is no. Try going to places where other foreigners will be! Go to Meetups if there are any nearby. Maybe travel if you have to. Having a friend that’s an hour away isn’t the end of the world. Don’t feel like other ALTs are all you have, especially if you don’t vibe with them.

    I’ve had classes and still do have classes where it’s hard to connect with students and sometimes it can be fixed and other times it just can’t be helped. Just do your best and look forward to the classes with students who are excited to see you. Perhaps there are students who do like you, but aren’t good at showing it or may be shy. Don’t instantly give up on classes that are difficult but don’t ruin your mental health over it.

    There are many of us having a meh Japan experience, but things get better! I literally thought about leaving daily, but recently things are looking up. I wish you well! Don’t be too hard on yourself.

16. Get all out of your head!

    What’s your process at the moment?

    If you need any help, you can DM me and i can offer some general pointers.

    It’s likely you’re not doing as bad as you think. And if there are places to improve, you can find them and make changes based on feedback or ideas from others 🙂

17. ESID, but I’m also going through similar. In fact, I recently met with my supervisors to discuss these issues, mainly the issue of not feeling good enough to do the job.

    Your JTEs feel the same way. They too feel like they are not good at their job. Every school is different, and they have to adjust the way they teach their students. They also feel like they haven’t improved, and struggle. They, on the other hand, fake it.

    If you have a good relationship with your supervisor, talk to them. Most supervisors want to support their JETs. If not, then talk to your PA about it.

    But yeah, it got so bad for me, I left work out of frustration one day, and when my supervisor and Kyoto-sensei read my note, they said “Ah, I understand.”

18. Are you getting any direct feedback about your performance externally? Sometimes we can be really unreliable narrators especially if we have low self esteem.

    Is there a way you could ask feedback after a class you lead from your JTEs? Ask how you could improve? I’m not sure how things are during COVID but previously we had multiple
    Observation classes throughout the year that provided feedback as well.

    It sounds like you work really hard and could use support and guidance. Do you have any area leaders you could reach out to? CIRs?

    I think you need direct external feedback from multiple sources before judging your performance. If you ever want to chat directly feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to talk.

19. if it helps, i’ve heard that most of the time you’re kinda guaranteed to be asked to re-contract, esp during times like these with the border situation. hell, the other JET at my school’s predecessor’s predecessor was barely an ALT at all and she managed to stay 2-3 years. apparently sometimes her JTEs would come get her for class and she’d just be like “meh don’t really feel like it” and stay at her desk watching youtube videos. i heard she wouldn’t even show up at the school some days. i’m amazed the school didn’t let her go? we’re a private school too so you’d think the standards for your performance would be higher.

    anyways, hang in there op. i came around when you did and only in the past few months have i felt almost completely certain in myself. it takes time to try throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks, and also understanding your own teaching style 🙂 and on days you doubt yourself, remember that you were recruited by JET so at the end of the day someone decided you were good enough. that’s why you’re here! even if there are people who don’t believe in you, there are others who do. it makes a huge difference when you make yourself one of them!

20. That’s just teaching, especially for new teachers. Trust me, you’re your own worst critic. I bet you’re doing great.

21. Yup! My first year I was absolute and utter garbage.

    Now I take pride in my work and have gotten way better at teaching! Even got the JET grant for a TEFL course and learned a bit more about teaching. Also you’ll eventually stockpile materials that you can reuse.

    Don’t do anything crazy like only stay for 1 or 2 years, that’s when it starts to get really fun!

22. Thank you. I’ll look into it.

23. I’m T1 and I got really annoyed with things not going smoothly, so I started uploading a picture of the instructions in Japanese to the TV; I think a lot of the kids just couldn’t process it in English or my questionable Japanese, or even by listening in general (this helped the teacher too). I also upload an example I did myself (like a worksheet filled out). I try to keep in mind ways to stagger it so both the top tier and lowest tier students both get sufficiently involved. I guess I was so focused on the activity part when it was actually my execution that sucked, realizing that made all the difference for me.

24. I think there’s two big issues that JETs face.

    **#1. ALTs receive minimal training before being placed in a classroom.**

    **#2. Japanese workplaces often don’t provide direct feedback.**

    I’ve been here three years and I’m still pretty critical of myself, so please don’t feel like you’re alone. As long as you aren’t doing anything illegal and are actively trying to engage with the students and have a good attitude, I’d say your chances of being rehired are fairly decent.

    My best suggestion is to look into the TEFL course grants offered through CLAIR. They completely changed how I teach and helped me, at the very least, to make my lessons and class work far more organized and consistent, which had made things a lot less stressful.

    Additionally, reach out to your Area Leaders or PAs if you have concerns. They should be able to give you support, as well.

25. I’m a newly qualified teacher in the UK, just coming to the end of my first year, and it is a *steep* learning curve. Just leading a class is scary and tough the first few times. The difference is, I had a year of training to support me, amd even some now. JET ALTs don’t get that with amount of training, it’s just not possible.

    My advice is that a big part of teaching is the relationships you build with pupils in and out of lessons, and how you contribute to the school beyond teaching itself. Of course, this is a lot harder if you move between schools! If you enjoy those aspects and are successful, you’re doing a good job. Hell, even if you think you’re bad at it, but *want* to be good, that’s a positive sign.

26. >that being said, I still have 0 friends. I spend every weekend alone watching TV but that’s a completely different issue😞…

    Is it? I reckon this is the root issue that’s making you feel bad. Things get easier if you’ve got friends. Gotta go out and make an effort to get them. It’s very very easy to fall into the “stay inside all the time on my days off” lifestyle here if you aren’t careful but it’s not so much I’m knocking the way you choose to spend your time here, I do that on occasion as well, it’s more like it will invariably lead to depression and these kinds of feelings about your job as well. You lack a normal human social network. That’s why you’re feeling bad. Get that in order and the rest will start to fall into place easier.

27. Something ALTs aren’t usually aware of is the financial investment COs make in hiring a JET. Unless it’s one of the few placements with a hard contract cap of three years, most employers are happy to keep renewing your contract to the full amount possible. It is a pain to bring over a new JET hire. Think of all the extra work your supervisor had to do those first few months just to get you set up.

    It is unlikely they’re going to choose not to renew you.

    Secondly, JET is a dead end job. No one is meant to stay in this position forever. It’s a temporary position that allows schools to provide students with exposure to native speakers and which helps Japan build “soft power” by creating a large population of individuals abroad with positive experiences of Japan. You’re meant to make connections and enjoy your time while you’re there.

    What was your goal for JET? Why teach in Japan? Why not someplace else?

    Perhaps it’s time to focus your energy there. Start investing your free time in something outside of work. Join a club or sign up for a class. Or, simply work towards seeing more of the country. Your job may not improve greatly, but it doesn’t have to be the sole determining factor of your success in Japan.

    When I’m hating my job, I find my outlook on life really improves when I make an effort to put energy into one of my hobbies. Teaching during covid has been a hard three years for me. But I’m in a much better mental space since I started reading and working on my interests in my time outside work. We can’t control much within the workplace, just do our best. So don’t pin your self image on your workplace performance.

28. I think most commenters have touched on this already, but even for licensed teachers who went through teaching practicums, the first year is kind of rough. It’s just floundering around trying to find what works. As ALTs, especially those who come here with zero experience in a classroom, we just kind of get thrown into the fray. So that feeling of “I’m not good” is one a lot of us experience. For a lot of us, something just clicks once you hit year two. Remember that you have only been here about a year, meaning you haven’t really had the experience of reteaching content you’ve taught the year before. That’s when we start to blossom, as we can dust off old activities, polish them, or trade out parts that didn’t work. So don’t give up yet.

    To be honest, I’ve figured out I’m not that good at making my own content/worksheets. I’m better at picking and choosing stuff from online and adapting it to my liking. It sounds like you’re more like me in that sense, but there’s a disconnect between the activities you find and the execution of them. You said that you struggle to initiate online activities you find, which is why I think this this is the case. So, the problem might be the way you give directions. Do you go step by step, writing out the directions on the board? Do you demonstrate with your JTE? Do you draw pictures? It can be extra work, but I find that connecting my tablet to the TV so the worksheet is displayed, then showing the students as the JTE and demonstrate the activity (and I write in the answers I just got) is the most effective for me. The best way is if you can get the JTE to ask comprehension-checking questions in either Japanese or English about the directions you just gave. “Are you in groups or pairs?” “How many minutes do you have?” “What questions will you ask?” Etc. When the students can’t answer, you can explain just that part one more time, slowly. Rinse and treat till they’ve got it down. If you’re finding the students can’t get through the directions, maybe the activity is too complicated. There’s nothing wrong with repeating a lot of quizzes and interview bingo.

    Also, you can ask your BOE/school if you can see demonstration lessons from other ALTs/JTEs and that might help too. Actually seeing what others do will help you see what you’re doing and accurately evaluate your methods.