６月と言えば。。

６月と言えば。。梅雨でしょう？それと試験の準備です。 It seems like the school year started only recently. There is great disorder for weeks into the semester while class numbers and levels are finalised. Textbooks suitable for each level need to be ordered and then they take time to arrive. Only in the past few weeks have things settled down but I started thinking about exams last month and now I'm busy writing them. I consider myself to be fairly computer literate, though my exam writing skills are challenged by how well I can align text to the right or underline the question number. Another non-teaching task that challenges me is taking attendance. I have large numbers of students from various countries around the world. My Chinese students have 'two' names – their Pinyin (romanised Chinese) pronunciation and the Japanese pronunciation of their name. It is a great struggle to get my tongue around the Japanese pronunciation. While I cannot pronounce Chinese tones well, it would be much easier for me to use the Pinyin or 'real' pronunciation. As most classes are large I then have to double-check the marks on my attendance roll by counting the students. I am extremely MATHEMATICALLY CHALLENGED, so having to count 30-odd students is a 'simple' task I often have to do two or three times! Apart from these problems I love teaching all my students. I get great joy from being able to motivate unmotivated or weak ability level students. Just as well I feel positive about my job because I'm back at school tomorrow!