One of the most exciting, and important things about being an ALT is making English fun! You are tasked with making a difficult and boring subject for many… interesting. This can be difficult for many ALTs and sometimes it is a bit of a trial and error when it comes to finding what works best with different grades, students, and even co-teachers.
During my time as an ALT, I was known for my games and activities. My board of education even made me give a small presentation on the topic after hearing from my Japanese co-teachers how much both they and the students enjoyed the work I put into my lessons to make English class an enjoyable experience, even for the students who were known for despising the subject.
There was one particular game my students loved! It was something I created so I could easily change out the items to reuse the game for different vocabulary and grammar. I hand drew what were supposed to be pieces of the castle from Howl’s Moving Castle. I always liked to incorporate things the students were already familiar with or passionate about to keep the engagement and interest up in the classroom. My schools had laminators, but I won’t lie, cutting out all these pieces was a task in and of itself. I bought super cheap magnets to attach to the back, along with velcro. I cut out separate pieces of characters and those character’s ‘famous items’. Then the students were tasked with finding the person with their character/item. After they found Mario to pair with their Mario hat, they practiced the dialogue. To keep the students on track I then had them come to me to show me their correct pairing and do the dialogue in front of me. It was always exciting when I ‘passed’ them and they got to begin building their castle as a class!
When you are an ALT, you have to be able to be creative and adaptable. This game didn’t work for all my classes, particularly the shy quiet classes. In those cases, I made fun worksheets, like cracking a secret code! Some classes incorporated presentations, one, in particular, was a big hit. I made a presentation on my junior high school back in Wisconsin. We had lockers, and my students loved learning that we were allowed to decorate the inside of our locker door! I went over school subjects, school supplies, and other popular vocabulary and then they got a piece of cardboard where I made outlines of a few textbooks. They had to pick out and write a few subjects on the textbooks and then got to work on decorating their “locker door”. This incorporated the vocabulary they were using but also included a cultural aspect that they were new to.
Speaking of cultural content, there are many ways that you can include aspects of culture in your lessons. I had a worksheet I made up for my junior high school first years, where they had to pick a character, person, etc., and write up a character sheet for me. For my third-year students, they had to write a letter to a character or person. The students love this kind of work because they get a chance to be creative and write about or incorporate things they enjoy or are interested in outside of school, in the classroom.
During these activities, you will be able to see grammar mistakes and areas your students are struggling with or need improvement. It’s easier to correct these things when you are doing a fun activity versus something more textbook or academic-heavy. I also found that students were able to remember a lot of my corrections when they were more interested in the lesson, like writing about our favorite anime cutie, Anya.
These activities are also an absolute blast to go through, correct, and an amazing way and opportunity to connect with your students on a more personal level. If you know students really enjoy a particular band, anime, actor, etc., it’s a great conversation starter. This way of communication, in and outside of the classroom, is a great way to determine the student’s level of understanding. Students in Japan will also be more open and comfortable talking with you about these things, rather than subjects out of their textbook. You step into their comfort zone, and for them, this is lower-stakes communication.
All these things will help you as an ALT but also your own communication skills. You have to learn to talk with younger and mid-range-aged students. You’ll have teachers who are fluent in English but also who know very little. All these tasks, games, lessons, and activities will show the school how adaptable and approachable you are. Teachers talk, teachers you don’t interact with in a classroom will get to know you through your own co-teachers. Bringing fun to English class, and even some fun games to break time(pin the nose and antlers on Rudolph was a big hit at break time with my elementary school students), will really show the teachers your work ethic, along with your personality. Growing your relationships with everyone in the school will benefit students and teachers alike and you may even get some secret snacks from the office ladies if you’re lucky!