JET Vlog #3 - Jr High School or High School (JET Program)

[4BlackLotus]

do you think becoming a music teacher after JET would be hard in Japan

[myargonauts]

@4BlackLotus as a non-Japanese, you can't work in the public school system teaching a subject other than English, so your only chance would be at a private school or at a university. My guess is trying to teach music here is a very competitive job, since so many of my students loved music and played in the brass band at school, and a fair number of those will go on to become music teachers.

[4BlackLotus]

@myargonauts are there a lot of private schools in Japan

[mailee0515]

Are JETs placed near their schools? I'm asking in case your apt is far from shool.  Thanks.

[myargonauts]

@mailee0515 it can vary, but for the most part, yes. I was about a 10 min bike ride from my main school, but I also had 2 elementary schools that I had to take a bus to get to. Some ALTs can walk to their school in 5 minutes, others have to take a train for 20 minutes.

[matsutara]

Well done for answering some of the questions that could easily be solved by reading up on official websites or elasewhere. You are doing a great job and have found an interesting way to view your experience. I thnk that this will also be interesting for you when you have finished your time on JET.

Good on you and keep enjoying your time,

JET 2000-2003

[myargonauts]

thanks

[kentamano]

Hey Jason, these are great video posts. thanks for all your advice! When you are talking about the lesson plans and teaching, are you creating the lesson plans or are those already created and you follow the curriculum? Thanks again for your help!

[myargonauts]

you have some freedom to create the lessons, but at the JH level, the Japanese teachers of English follow a standard textbook, so the curriculum is set. If you end up at a HS, you'll often have to teach OC class and have more freedom there, or if you can teach an elective English class in JH then you often get to do all the planning.

[mbrown187]

What are your wages like and how much are you able to save and what percentage do you use (or did you use) for day-to-day expenditures. I just graduated in May from CSULB with a journalism degree and I'm thinking about doing the JET program until the job market opens up. So what are the odds of finding a teaching job this year through JET or other program?

[myargonauts]

There is another vlog in this playlist all about money and I cover some of these topics.

salary is 3,600,000yen per year.

You can't join JET in 2009 - but the app process starts in November for July 2010.

Other companies may still be hiring for this year - try gaijinpot(dot) com and other sites

[Dragon22873]

Sorry to bother you, im from the UK so i don't know about all of these junior highschool's and things like that so, just a question if you don't mind. What type of school would a 15, 16, and 17 year old student be in? Middle or high school? And how old is it till the Japanese leave / graduate school? Also, what are the average hours of a high school there? Im thinking of trying to go on exchange. Thanks in advance!

[myargonauts]

Jr High school (chugakko) is from age 12 to age 15.

High school (koukou) is from age 15 to age 18.

Most Japanese kids graduate from HS at age 18.

Most exchange students I've known spend time at high school, often with a class with 15 and 16 year olds.

Most High schools I know about start around 8am and finish around 4pm, but that varies a lot depending on the grade level of the kids and what after-school club they may be in.

[Dragon22873]

Thanks for the speedy reply Jason! I'm subscribing.

[BlanFan2O]

in 2011... I graduate high school in 2012. oh yeah, do you have days off? like M-F school week and then saturday and sunday off?

[myargonauts]

you occasionally have to work on a Sat, but for the most part you work 8am to 4pm - Mon to Fri.

[AnonaNicole]

How many schools do you visit normally?

[myargonauts]

On any given day, I usually visit two - Jr High in the morning, shogakko in the afternoon. Not always tho.

I teach at a total of 8 schools - 2 Jr highs and 6 elementary schools.

[koritsimou]

Do you think it's better to teach elementary or middle schoolers, or is it better to teach high schoolers? I realize you're a middle school teacher, so you're probably biased towards them, but from an impartial standpoint, which do you think is actually better?

[myargonauts]

I'm gonna make a new vlog about this very subject in the next few weeks.

[Jodel27]

Does your Board of Education support you Vlog? I'm a JET too, & could get fired and put on the plane home if I did one without permission...

[myargonauts]

always good to get permission first, but if you're talking about your life, then they can't really restrict what you do. I have had comments from my teachers regarding my vlog, and adjusted in accordingly - I want to inform and be helpful and not cause anyone any undue stress or worry.

Just be smart about it and you'll be fine - don't use real names, don't show certain pictures of you or your JET friends drunk, etc, since anyone can see it - save some stuff for Facebook - :)

[winDragon79]

i dont know if u mention this in a future vlog but does JET provide a curriculum or do you create one?

[myargonauts]

JETs work in public schools as assistants, so the curriculum is set - but we do have the freedom to create lesson plans and influence the way in which our students are given the information

[samuelmorrison]

How long does it take you to travel to your secondary school?

[myargonauts]

by car it takes me about 5 minutes to my main school and about 12 minutes to my 2nd Jr High.

Some of my elementary schools are very close; others take 20 or 25 minutes by car or bus (you couldn't bike or walk).

[anitaAKAanime]

this got me. you cant bike or walk to school?

[myargonauts]

you can walk or bike to most of your schools - most likely you'll live fairly close to your main school.

In the comment above I was talking about two of my small elementary schools that are up in the mountains - before I got my car, I had to take a bus to get to them - each one is about 15km away from my main school.

[arby22207]

I remember my elementary school days in Japan when English class was pretty much the play time. We always looked forward to the JETs coming to our school.

[eevieg]

I want to get into the JET Programme really badly. I've been looking into it for about 2 years now, but I'm only recently graduated from High School, starting college in the fall. It's wonderful to have these Vlogs on here to look at.

[SchoolhouseTechno]

XD you did a finger mustache when pointing to links...do you watch the vlogbrothers? Or was that just a coincidence.

Love these JET vlogs by the way, I plan on trying it at least for a year once I graduate.

[myargonauts]

thanks for watching! And yeah, I'm a big VlogBros fan - I'm definitely a Japan based Nerdfighter! :)

[stinachristina]

Thanks for this info, the school situation was something that I was really wondering about. Also, I just found out tonight that I got placed in Kobe, so I'm stooooked, my brother says it's a really nice city.

[myargonauts]

Kobe is a GREAT city - you'll have a great time living near Kobe. They used to have a big JET conference in Kobe every year, so I've had some fun times exploring Kobe. Congrats!

[myriah96]

Another great video. Great advice again Jason. I am writing my jikoshokai for practice and it is harder than I thought. I keep going, "Wait I already said that." or, "Will they want to here this?" Haha. Was yours hard to write? Keep the videos coming. You have a good weekend too and, "Watch some SUMO!" またね。

[myargonauts]

It's good to practice a little to make sure you'll say everything you want to cover in the time you're alloted. 15 minutes can go by really fast when you're talking about your life and you're speaking very slowly to accomodate the students.

But don't worry too much about writing it all down - just have some topics you want to cover - family, hometown, hobbies, likes/dislikes, etc. :)

[nyannyan123456]

well done video. I agree with the guy below no way i could sing songs. Iam not good talking in front of people anyway ,but i still find jets omoshiro.

On another note it is fun being around the little kids my wife teaches a japanese school here in ohio and the other day the school had an all day outdoor activities. I got volunteered to help with some of the events and even compete. needless to say i was battered by 5 year olds with bean bags good fun though

[myargonauts]

Yeah - my younger kids can be invigorating and exhausting at the same time. I get unconditional adoration from them simply cuz I'm the large, funny gaijin - and that feels great sometimes. But they are "supa genki" and you need a lot of energy for those classes.

[resite]

great videos. i always look forward to these.

[eselous]

Excellent coverage Jason - useful tips as always. That genki website seems like an excellent resource, I've bookmarked it for later, when I have more time!

[myargonauts]

Yeah - it's a great site with some good overview pages, like what you can expect to teach kids at each grade level, sample curriculum, etc. Definitely a good bookmark site!

[genkigang99]

Another vlog! Yay!

[cruxay]

Very informative vid, Jason!

I've been working with children since i was 14 (a good 6-7 years on and off) and I STILL refuse to do any songs! I don't think I'm cut out for education, and I'm really trying to get away from it! but it keeps coming back to get me!

My first thoughts when I started taking Japanese were of going on JET. It is always a good way to get you motivated and learn Japanese or get a degree.

Hope you are enjoying yourself! hows the weather? =)

[myargonauts]

Yeah - I'm not a huge fan of songs, but the kids love them and the teachers always ask. But in the heavy heat of summer, it gets me way too sweaty in non-air-conditioned schools.

It's raining cats and dogs today :(

[Senoska]

Love the videos Jason.

[myargonauts]

Thanks for watching!

[frostkaiser]

Another awesome video. Keep em coming!

[myargonauts]

Thanks! Will do!

[MutingSociety]

I'm really enjoying this series of videos, though i likely won't be signing up for another 5 or so years it is great to know the ins and outs.

Its awesome your putting these together,

Cheers

[myargonauts]

Thanks - yeah, hopefully the whole series will give you a good idea what to expect, altho in 5 or 6 years, things will change a lot. :)