Going with the flow

In my last post I mentioned that I am now much more able to go with the flow than ever before, and I wanted to tell you why.  Though this skill is something many people develop in many kinds of jobs, I think ALTs in Japan are probably the most flexible people in the world just by nature of the teaching situation here and by nature of being an assistant.  A lot of these also fall under being able to laugh at myself...but that's related to going with the flow, right?

Example:
5 minutes before class, the JTE comes up to me and says "we have class next...do you have anything to do?"  Sometimes I can respond, "Yes!" because I knew that I had the class coming up and that the teacher would wait until the last minute to ask me about it, so I had been thinking of an idea and probably already made copies.  But, sometimes the classes come out of the blue!  or the schedule is different from what it should be so Monday's classes are on Thursday only no one told me so BAM! that "do you have anything?" becomes a slightly difficult question.  But...having been in Japan for 2+ years now, I can just go with it and figure something on out the spot.  Bingo or the "line game" or hangman... all ALTs have a few games up their sleeves that can be used with little to no warning.

Or...another example:
During class, you discover that the JTE stole an activity from you and is doing it in their half of the class and thus you cannot do it in your half because then the kids would be playing the same game twice in a row.  This only happens to ALTs who, like me, have JTEs who do more of a "my half-your half" system rather than team teaching.  Thankfully, I only have one such JTE and this JTE is transferring to a different school next week.  whew.

And another:
(in reference to the previous post) a lot of things in this country are done without a proper plan or rehearsal or anything.  So several times now I have gone on stage to sing with the teachers, having never practiced the song.  At least the music teacher usually gives out a CD for us to listen to.  But one time there was no CD, and I did not get the music until the day of the performance, so not only had I never practiced, I had never even heard the song so I was sight-singing...in Japanese!

Ceremonies....
I never know what is going on with ceremonies.  Where to sit, when to go to the gym, what to wear...but I have learned to just go with it.  Follow the students or another teacher.  Smile like I know what I am doing.

And back to classes:
Sometimes the activities teachers plan DO NOT GO WELL!  It is a fact of life.  When this happens, we need to be able to adapt and come up with rule change or different activity on the spot so that the class does not go to waste.  I have become quite good at this, and this goes back to one of the earlier examples about keeping a bunch of activities up our sleeves.  I no longer get upset when something does not go well, I just change something up or stop the activity completely.  No big deal.

Well...there you have it.  A few examples of how I am now a much more flexible person who is completely capable of doing something without a plan.   Don't get me wrong, I still *prefer* to have a plan (preferably of the well-thought-out variety) but at least I can cope if there is no plan.  Definitely a step in the right direction.