Appreciation

I've never felt more appreciated as an ALT as I did today. The lessons went pretty well. Throughout the 4 lessons, we had about 25 teachers observe. At the end of the day my teacher had a big meeting with the education center teachers and they only had a little critique, but were overall very pleased with the lesson. The teacher being observed is a great teacher and I think all of her lessons are great, so I'm not surprised.

At the end of the meeting I was called in and the education center people gave me a bouquet of flowers and some treats, thanking me for my participation in the lessons. My teacher took the opportunity to tell them (and me) how much I helped her and how much she really appreciates me. In the Japanese culture you don't get much feedback, good or bad, so it was really nice to hear this. Then, many of the education center teachers took me aside and told me I do a really good job helping the kids, catering to their different levels and getting them excited. It made me feel really good and happy to get such nice feedback.