You might remember me writing last year about a debacle at one school where they forgot to make me a school lunch, even though I was scheduled to eat there and had paid for said lunch. Well, now that I work for another Board of Education, my situation is quite different, and I am pleased as punch about my lunch time circumstances. You see, I am now required to eat my lunch with the students, and this could not make me happier.
First of all, I want to explain what is usually expected of an Assist Language Teacher at a typical Japanese school. Usually, they are there to assist with classes during the mornings and the afternoons, and they get a lunch time to themselves. It’s all written in their contract. Now this is what my situation was like when I was an employee of the Senmaya Board of Education. I used to eat lunch with the teachers, then veg out for 30 minutes as I waited for afternoon classes to begin. To be honest, I could not have been more miserable. It was boring and I had to put up with the antics of the other teachers. Usually they would gawk at me and ask about my chop stick skills(for those who are wondering, I am now a level 2 chop stick user.) I actually would not have minded going to eat with the students. I find that spending any time at all with the students is time well spent.
Now my opinion isn’t shared by all ALT’s. There are those who like to abide by their contracts and take their lunch breaks without spending time with students. Last year, I might have understood this stance, but I have a changed my opinion on the matters. and of course Every situation is different. Perhpas some people need the time.
However, when I started with the Hachimantai Board of Education, they told me that I was expected to eat my lunches with the kids, then the rest of the break was all mine. This seemed reasonable as it gave me more time to interact with the students, and to be honest, I didn’t care where and when I was eating, as long as I was eating. I even found I had the energy after lunch to join the students in a friendly game of basketball.
I should mention that this isn’t always a perfect situation. Students can be quite timid, and sometimes, that twenty minutes of chat time with the students can go by quite silently. In fact, I can’t prove this, but I swear one of my 1st grade classes assigned a representative just to talk with me. This is course meant the rest of them were off the hook. I wasn’t terribly impressed with this tactic and proceeded to talk to anyone I wanted to. I was sorry to have foiled their elaborate scheming. Generally, I am up for the challenge of trying to engage my students in friendly lunchtime banter. You might also wonder if I just stick with English. To be honest, if the going gets tough I will resort to any lingo I can to get an edge. Even if that means grunting and snorting to win over the jock crowd.
So I’m going to get the point here and make a suggestion for those ALT’s reading this and wondering about what they should do with their lunch time. If were you, I would ask the person in charge of lunches if you could eat your lunch with the students. I guarantee it will improve your job satisfaction by 20%(Guarantee void in Maine.)
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