Is deskwarming just as boring as it sounds? Do you just sit at a computer all day and do nothing? Or do you get to explore the school/grounds, and more like hang out kinda like exam days back in school? Just curious.
So far I’ve done lesson planning or walked the school or sat in on some classes during “desk warming” time. I think it’s entirely up to you and your situation. Some schools I’ve heard don’t let you walk around when you’re supposed to be at your desk. Some schools don’t mind.
So much desk warming that all I ever did was study, I went from zero Japanese to N1 In 2.5 years.
You could wander the grounds but everyone would be like “what that alt doin” You’re being paid to sit there and look busy, so like. Take that opportunity and use that time to do…something that looks like work, at a glance.
I switch between taking an online certification course to studying Japanese to studying English grammar. When my butt hurts, I start getting sleepy, or now cause of the humidity and the teachers room gets too warm, I walk around the school. It’s a big school, I still haven’t walked around all of it. Today a teacher showed me her favorite spot to escape to and cool off lol.
The humidity makes me really sleepy tho, so I’ll go to the female teachers break room and rest my eyes for like 10 minutes. For the most part though, I really don’t like not doing anything, so I’ll study but if I’m really lucky a teacher will tell me ahead of time what they want from me and I’ll work on that during the day.
it is one of the most difficult things I have had to endure in Japan – no exaggeration. I can’t just wander off or browse reddit because other teachers around me are all busy. I may also be the workaholic type. I am already dreading the summer deskwarming season.
Currently working towards a teaching license with Moreland University so I work on that. I also study Kanji and I’m currently also studying towards the Praxis tests (requirement for the teaching license).
Deskwarming when you have nothing to do is incredibly boring, but it’s incredibly invaluable when you have something important to do!
Desk warming can be a great opportunity. You can study and build up your skills, get some licensing, edit videos, etc., A lot of people seem to waste that free time but if you have things you like to do or get better at, it’s perfect.
These answers are interesting. As much as JET is better then INTERAC in everyway, I feel like going home for the summer and getting some pro-rated monies to live on while you can travel and explore Japan would definitely be the move for me.
It’s soul crushing. A lot of people here are talking about learning a new skill, studying Japanese, etc., which you absolutely should do, but when the motivation runs dry, banging your head against a wall sounds like a good time. Luckily, my school was extremely lax, so I could wander around, join summer practices for clubs, and use the weight room. In fact, other teachers would do the same. Everyone was miserable lol. You can only look busy at your desk for so long.
But I know some schools require you to be at your desk, so it depends.
depends on the person and school. at my school it’s ok for us to walk around and explore so it’s not as restrictive. but honestly i do enjoy sitting at my computer bc i can study japanese, prep for my classes, or just watch a movie lol
Unpopular opinion, but I actually love desk warming days. I love having some time to just chill. I’m also pretty good at occupying myself. I’ll either study Japanese, read a book using the Kindle app for desktop, or just dick around. I have a couple of friends at the BOE who I enjoy chatting with as well, so it’s a good vibe.
Of course, I say this as someone who only really desk warms during school breaks. In 2020 we only had like 6 weeks of classes between December 20th 2019 and May 10th 2020. Nearly 5 months of desk warming. Even I started to crack there towards the end
Deskwarming can be pretty good if you’re prepared for it. Sometimes I’ll only bring in the school laptop if I expect it to be busy, then bam, they cancel 2 lessons on me. If I had my own laptop, I could make art or write music. Sometimes I fuck off to the gym and do some bodyweight stuff because sitting for long periods of time is bad for you. Sometimes I go and practice my flute/shakuhachi. Sometimes I check out if there are any classes I can join in (PE, math or Art) and just go hang out with the students. In fact, deskwarming for me is about being anywhere but your desk.
I wish I sat at a computer all day while desk warming! They never gave me a computer, and I can’t connect my personal devices to the school internet.
Desk warming is just sitting at your desk doing whatever to look busy. I’ll take a walk around the school occasionally during the day. I study Japanese, redo old lesson plans or worksheets, and read on my tablet.
I’m in elementary school and don’t get many days to sit at my desk, so they are not too bad. It’s a nice break.
I was desk warming a lot in the beginning (2021 JET) but now I only desk warm if I want to desk warm. Basically, I made more jobs for myself😂. For example, I made a box that students can submit Japanese words into and at the end of each week I make a list with the translations of that weeks worth of words! Also, general prep for other classes. When not doing that, I go to and visit other classes! Especially the Japanese classes, the students know that I studied Japanese in college and like to test my knowledge and ask me what certain Kanjis mean in English.
I know everyone’s experience is different but I think if you ask to do more they’ll let you!
It’s going to depend on your school. Some schools will be strict about you staying at your desk and looking like you’re being productive. But most schools just don’t really care what you’re doing as long as you come in and do your job well. I have about 20 hours of deskwarming a week and I really don’t mind it, I get paid to do nothing haha. I read a lot of novels, dick around on my phone, I go up to the library and watch YouTube or Netflix in the corner, and I do some Japanese study. If it’s a long stretch of deskwarming and I’m very bored, I’ll go out and go to museum or something for a long lunch. My school doesn’t really care as long as I clock in I’m in the morning and clock out in the evening.
When you get there you’ll be able to get a read in your school and be able to tell what you think they’re gonna let you do. I wouldn’t push it in the beginning. Don’t be on your phone all the time in your first week there. Maybe bring a paper copy of a book in the beginning if you like reading, I read an e-book and nobody has said anything, but paper copy book look s little bit more like you’re doing something productive. Do some lesson planning and stuff that is going to make you look like you’re a good worker, which I’m sure you are, in the beginning so that you are able to show them that you’re a good employee. Don’t start taking three hour lunch breaks your first week. Use common sense.
So coming into JET I thought deskwarming would be the absolute best part about working, sitting around doing nothing for a few hours everyday? I have 21 classes a week and still find a lot of free time.
However, obviously ESID and my situation kinda blows, they expect me to look like I’m doing something, whether it’s work or self-study. So I can’t look at Youtube, Twitch, Netflix like other JETs could, also my desk is out in the open so people can watch me.
But honestly, the best way to make time pass really fast in this job is classes, they really do make time fly and my perspective on classes really changed as they are now the best part of my day rather than the worst.
There is upsides and downsides to it for sure
Personally I found it really hard to find the upsides, particularly during school holidays…
The boredom got so much I looked at temporarily starting cigarette smoking as it would have enabled me to.join the teachers in the smoking room as a fun break … that seemed to be the only acceptable reason to spend time away from the desk.
I didn’t though.
Part of the issue I found isn’t necessarily boredom, it’s the pain and soreness from sitting at a chair that’s not supportive of back, in a really small cramped space that’s not ergonomic, for hours on end for no real purpose.
17 comments
So far I’ve done lesson planning or walked the school or sat in on some classes during “desk warming” time. I think it’s entirely up to you and your situation. Some schools I’ve heard don’t let you walk around when you’re supposed to be at your desk. Some schools don’t mind.
So much desk warming that all I ever did was study, I went from zero Japanese to N1 In 2.5 years.
You could wander the grounds but everyone would be like “what that alt doin”
You’re being paid to sit there and look busy, so like. Take that opportunity and use that time to do…something that looks like work, at a glance.
I switch between taking an online certification course to studying Japanese to studying English grammar. When my butt hurts, I start getting sleepy, or now cause of the humidity and the teachers room gets too warm, I walk around the school. It’s a big school, I still haven’t walked around all of it. Today a teacher showed me her favorite spot to escape to and cool off lol.
The humidity makes me really sleepy tho, so I’ll go to the female teachers break room and rest my eyes for like 10 minutes.
For the most part though, I really don’t like not doing anything, so I’ll study but if I’m really lucky a teacher will tell me ahead of time what they want from me and I’ll work on that during the day.
it is one of the most difficult things I have had to endure in Japan – no exaggeration. I can’t just wander off or browse reddit because other teachers around me are all busy. I may also be the workaholic type. I am already dreading the summer deskwarming season.
Currently working towards a teaching license with Moreland University so I work on that. I also study Kanji and I’m currently also studying towards the Praxis tests (requirement for the teaching license).
Deskwarming when you have nothing to do is incredibly boring, but it’s incredibly invaluable when you have something important to do!
Desk warming can be a great opportunity. You can study and build up your skills, get some licensing, edit videos, etc., A lot of people seem to waste that free time but if you have things you like to do or get better at, it’s perfect.
These answers are interesting. As much as JET is better then INTERAC in everyway, I feel like going home for the summer and getting some pro-rated monies to live on while you can travel and explore Japan would definitely be the move for me.
It’s soul crushing. A lot of people here are talking about learning a new skill, studying Japanese, etc., which you absolutely should do, but when the motivation runs dry, banging your head against a wall sounds like a good time. Luckily, my school was extremely lax, so I could wander around, join summer practices for clubs, and use the weight room. In fact, other teachers would do the same. Everyone was miserable lol. You can only look busy at your desk for so long.
But I know some schools require you to be at your desk, so it depends.
depends on the person and school. at my school it’s ok for us to walk around and explore so it’s not as restrictive. but honestly i do enjoy sitting at my computer bc i can study japanese, prep for my classes, or just watch a movie lol
Unpopular opinion, but I actually love desk warming days. I love having some time to just chill. I’m also pretty good at occupying myself. I’ll either study Japanese, read a book using the Kindle app for desktop, or just dick around. I have a couple of friends at the BOE who I enjoy chatting with as well, so it’s a good vibe.
Of course, I say this as someone who only really desk warms during school breaks. In 2020 we only had like 6 weeks of classes between December 20th 2019 and May 10th 2020. Nearly 5 months of desk warming. Even I started to crack there towards the end
Deskwarming can be pretty good if you’re prepared for it. Sometimes I’ll only bring in the school laptop if I expect it to be busy, then bam, they cancel 2 lessons on me. If I had my own laptop, I could make art or write music. Sometimes I fuck off to the gym and do some bodyweight stuff because sitting for long periods of time is bad for you. Sometimes I go and practice my flute/shakuhachi. Sometimes I check out if there are any classes I can join in (PE, math or Art) and just go hang out with the students. In fact, deskwarming for me is about being anywhere but your desk.
I wish I sat at a computer all day while desk warming! They never gave me a computer, and I can’t connect my personal devices to the school internet.
Desk warming is just sitting at your desk doing whatever to look busy. I’ll take a walk around the school occasionally during the day. I study Japanese, redo old lesson plans or worksheets, and read on my tablet.
I’m in elementary school and don’t get many days to sit at my desk, so they are not too bad. It’s a nice break.
I was desk warming a lot in the beginning (2021 JET) but now I only desk warm if I want to desk warm. Basically, I made more jobs for myself😂. For example, I made a box that students can submit Japanese words into and at the end of each week I make a list with the translations of that weeks worth of words! Also, general prep for other classes. When not doing that, I go to and visit other classes! Especially the Japanese classes, the students know that I studied Japanese in college and like to test my knowledge and ask me what certain Kanjis mean in English.
I know everyone’s experience is different but I think if you ask to do more they’ll let you!
It’s going to depend on your school. Some schools will be strict about you staying at your desk and looking like you’re being productive. But most schools just don’t really care what you’re doing as long as you come in and do your job well. I have about 20 hours of deskwarming a week and I really don’t mind it, I get paid to do nothing haha. I read a lot of novels, dick around on my phone, I go up to the library and watch YouTube or Netflix in the corner, and I do some Japanese study. If it’s a long stretch of deskwarming and I’m very bored, I’ll go out and go to museum or something for a long lunch. My school doesn’t really care as long as I clock in I’m in the morning and clock out in the evening.
When you get there you’ll be able to get a read in your school and be able to tell what you think they’re gonna let you do. I wouldn’t push it in the beginning. Don’t be on your phone all the time in your first week there. Maybe bring a paper copy of a book in the beginning if you like reading, I read an e-book and nobody has said anything, but paper copy book look s little bit more like you’re doing something productive. Do some lesson planning and stuff that is going to make you look like you’re a good worker, which I’m sure you are, in the beginning so that you are able to show them that you’re a good employee. Don’t start taking three hour lunch breaks your first week. Use common sense.
So coming into JET I thought deskwarming would be the absolute best part about working, sitting around doing nothing for a few hours everyday? I have 21 classes a week and still find a lot of free time.
However, obviously ESID and my situation kinda blows, they expect me to look like I’m doing something, whether it’s work or self-study. So I can’t look at Youtube, Twitch, Netflix like other JETs could, also my desk is out in the open so people can watch me.
But honestly, the best way to make time pass really fast in this job is classes, they really do make time fly and my perspective on classes really changed as they are now the best part of my day rather than the worst.
There is upsides and downsides to it for sure
Personally I found it really hard to find the upsides, particularly during school holidays…
The boredom got so much I looked at temporarily starting cigarette smoking as it would have enabled me to.join the teachers in the smoking room as a fun break … that seemed to be the only acceptable reason to spend time away from the desk.
I didn’t though.
Part of the issue I found isn’t necessarily boredom, it’s the pain and soreness from sitting at a chair that’s not supportive of back, in a really small cramped space that’s not ergonomic, for hours on end for no real purpose.