The Final Three

Children are such adorable little creatures. Sometimes that creature is an angel, sometimes a demon. Regardless of their current form, I can't help but laugh when I am with them. They exist only to play, without a care for appearances or wealth or a career. A child just wants to have fun.

Making sure that a kid is having fun is not difficult. In fact it requires no effort on my part whatsoever; a child will make fun where there is none. I had a class just the other day, certainly not one of my best, where many of the kids had grown tired of the game that I had prepared for the last couple of minutes. The kids that weren't paying any mind to the activity had started some of their own. Four of the girls were playing a clapping game, some of the boys were teasing and hitting each other, and one had found a book and began reading.

I recognized the division of activities and social groups, and saw two options. The first option was the dictator's approach: "Everyone will play this! We will enjoy it, and we will like it. And afterward we shall all drink tea!" The other option, which I took, was to do nothing. It didn't seem ethical at the time for me to force unity upon the children. They were playing. Did it matter if they were all playing together? Not one group was being overly disruptive, and I couldn't see any single child who wasn't doing something, so I just continued on my merry way with the children who were still enjoying the game at hand. For how it appeared, it might as well have been an in-class recess.

I have exhausted two of my three months here in Japan. There are only three more weeks of classes left for the students, and it won't be much longer after that until I return to Utah. In these final weeks, I have started to examine what this entire trip has meant to me. Things I've learned, great experiences I've had, etc.

First thing I've learned is that I'm not a very good teacher. I'm a much better friend. When I'm with the students here, I feel myself wanting to join them rather than instruct them. This leads to a lot more play time than study time in my classes. If the children do poorly on their English tests, that will be my fault.

As a bit of validation for my actions, almost every school I have been to has at one point or another called into my work's office to tell my bosses about how much fun the kids had while I was there. I've received numerous praises by the school's principles that I'm doing a fantastic job.

Am I doing the right job? I am supposed to be teaching English, but more and more I end up only teaching new games. The games are all centered around one English grammar point or another, but it's a very thin veil.

"Yes, Chase. Of course you're doing the right job. The kids are having fun, and that's what matters most."

You know something, I think you may be right.