Life of an AET

Hey peeps!

Tis me again! This time I'd like to discuss what it means to be an AET! In fact, what IS an AET? AET is an acronym used in our city for "Assistant English Teacher". We are hired through the city of Mito and are technically public servants. Though we work full-time, we are not licensed teachers, so we cannot be head English teachers nor can we technically teach alone. A licensed teacher needs to be with us as we teach. As a result, we are (ideally) team teaching. This, of course, varies from teacher to teacher, school to school. I naturally share the floor with my JTs. What is a JT? A licensed Japanese Teacher, aka the home room teacher. I say that I 'naturally share the floor' because I am very used to team teaching, thanks to working for many years at church with my mom and other children's ministry leaders/teachers.

So, what does a day in school look like for us AETs? Well, let's first discuss what a 'normal' day at school looks like for a Japanese student. Beginning in elementary school, all students have class periods. That means they have a 1st period, 2nd period, 3rd period, and so on. Rather than the students be the ones to switch rooms from period to period, the teachers are the ones who switch rooms, with a few exceptions. Some classes, such as Home Ec and Music, have designated rooms, so the students will go to those rooms for those specific classes. In elementary school, the home room teacher will teach most of the classes, by the way.

Us AETs will teach multiple class periods a day. Now, some of us are teaching in junior high, some in elementary, and many of us also go to a nursery school or kindergarten. You are probably assuming that if we are elementary teachers, we would of course teach kindergarten because, well, kindergarten is part of elementary school...right? Boo-boooooo (that is the Japanese sound for a 'wrong answer' buzzer)! Here in Japan, kindergarten is a separate school from elementary school! So, what's the difference between a nursery school and a Japanese kindergarten? Well, a nursery school is a individual entity that teaches toddlers through 6 year olds. A kindergarten is an entity in co-operation with a specific elementary school that teaches 4 to 6 years olds. Let me stress that the nursery schools and kindergartens that us AETs teach at are public establishments! I merely used the term 'individual entity' in the nursery description to stress that it is NOT in co-operation with one elementary school. A nursery school will feed their students into many elementary schools, while a kindergarten is a feeder school into one specific elementary school. Did that confuse you? If so, I can clarify the difference in another post. Just leave me a note at the end of this post.

Now, back to our daily life as an AET. As individuals, we all work at multiple schools. Some work mainly in junior high, others mainly in elementary schools. Many of us also have one or more nursery schools or kindergartens that we work at in addition to our elementary/ junior high schools. This is where it gets very messy and very unique to each AET.

From here on out, I will talk mainly upon my experiences to help paint a better picture of the day.

This year I am stationed at two elementary schools and one kindergarten. The elementary school closest to me is my 'main' elementary school, because I work more days there. It is also the elementary school with whom my kindergarten co-operates. My second elementary is quite far from my apartment, so I take a train to get to it. My commute time is about an hour on those days, as opposed to 3 minutes for getting to my main school (no, seriously, my apartment is caddy-corner plus change from the schoolyard. Unfortunately, the teacher's entrance is on the opposite side of the school from my apartment.)

So here is my daily schedule.

Mon:
1st- Main School
2nd and 3rd- Kindergarten
4th- Main School
5th- Main School (every other Mon, I miss 5th period, which will be explained later!)

Tues
1st-6th- Second School

Weds-Thurs
1st-6th Main School

Fri
2nd-Second School
3rd-Second School
*The caveat is that on Fridays, I stay the entire day at my second school, but only teach 2nd and 3rd period.

Other AETs will have half days at one school, then travel to the next school, so their schedule may not be 1st through 6th period teaching. They may teach 1st through 2nd at a school, then travel during 3rd period to their next school and teach 4th through 6th period. It's all dependent on how many schools are they placed in and how long it takes to travel between schools. It also is dependent on how many AETs are placed in one school. My schools only have me as an AET, so my days are packed with classes; however, I do not have to worry about traveling much through each day.

Now, the elementary schools require 5th and 6th graders to have two English classes scheduled a week, while 1st through 4th graders only have one English class a week. This does not guarantee that we AETs will see our students the required amount of time each week. Some AETs may share 5th and 6th graders, so they only teach one 5th grade or 6th grade class a week. Other times, English classes are flat out canceled in lieu of special activities or extenuating circumstances. During July, elementary schools open up their pools, so the grades will take turns for pool time! As a result, one of the classes during the day will be canceled to make room for pool time. And sometimes, that class is English! OR sometimes, my English classes will be combined in order to make room for pool time. Sometimes I will have both my 4th grade classes at my main school in the same period! That's about 40 to 50 kids in my class that day.

There are other special events that may lead to a class being canceled. The 1st and 2nd graders will have 'Exploration Time', where, during a class period, they will go outside and take notes or make drawings about what kind of life they can find around the school, may it bugs or plants. Other times, a special speaker will come to the school for a talk or demonstration, leading to one or more class cancellations. Each day brings a new experience.

It is important to note that sometimes these class cancellations can be weather-related. One day, I had both of my 2nd grade classes cancelled because they had an Exploration Time during one of the periods that I usually teach 2nd grade English. This was because their original Exploration Time had been rained out the week before and it continued to rain until the day of the week that I usually teach 2nd grade at that school. So, without knowing when they would have another clear day for Exploration Time, the 2nd grade teachers decided to go for it and force Exploration Time into that day's schedule. Since I only teach 2nd grade once a day, it was decided that, since one of the 2nd grade classes had missed their English class that day, the other one would not have their English class right afterwards. That way, both 2nd classes would still be learning the same material in English class the next week.

For me, I welcome these class cancellations because it gives me a surprise downtime during an otherwise busy day.

Okay, so that's what our normal workday looks like. Always changing! But, remember how I mentioned that I miss my 5th period every other Monday? That's because we have AET meetings at the city education office every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month- thus being bi-monthly meetings. We have to be at the city office by 3:30, but because it is quite a distance away for me and the only bus going towards the office makes its round about twice an hour in the afternoon, I am forced to skip 5th period in order to make the bus on time and, thus get to the meeting on time. Usually, AETs do not have 5th period on Monday, but in order make sure that all the grades at my main have the required number of English classes per week, 5th period on Monday has to be scheduled as an English class. On the days that I have to go to an AET meeting, my head English at the main school takes over my 5th period English. In the end, things work out well. As a side note, my head English teacher usually team teaches with me at 5th period on Mondays, so her schedule is not affected by my absence.

Well, that is the daily school life for an AET. Later, I will get into vacation time and dress code, since teachers have to work through out the vacations and dress code varies between the time of year and between the city office and schools. Tis messy. But, those are later topics.

I hope this was an informative post. Please leave me a message at the end of the post with any questions and comments regarding the information I gave in this post.

Until then, later peeps!