"Are Ms. Gemma's parents Mexican-American?" I asked aloud. Students scrambled in their groups, one member poised over their whiteboard with my janky washable markers. They ran up to my team-teacher, S-sensei, most of them with the correct answer: "No, they aren't." (One group wrote "Yes, they are." Come on, kids! I've told you time and time again that I'm from Canada. But my parents are from the Philippines!)
This morning, I had my final English lesson with Homeroom 3-2. They're a lovely bunch of kids, who I've taught since they were in their first year at junior high school. Fast forward 2.5 years later, and they're now gearing up for graduation. I won't forget B-kun, who is the former student council president who worked extremely hard. There's also S-chan, a bespectacled girl who speaks English amazingly well but with a cute lisp. (She has carved a special nook in my heart! S-chan has done the English Speech Contest twice with me, plays the piano well, excels in most subjects, is a star table tennis player and has confided in me about her social life.) And of course, T-kun, a lovable and chubby kiddo who was the power hitter for the school's baseball team. He tried to teach me the school song when I first got here, but my Japanese was nowhere near up to snuff.
Anyways, I played a trivia game with 3-2 this morning. My JTEs let me have a special "farewell" class for my graduating students. So, I prepared some activities for them. I asked questions from assorted categories. "Name three cities in Canada. Does Ms. Gemma like natto? You studied about Tsutomu Aragaki in your second year. Where was he from? etc." They moved their game pieces around the blackboard. (This was the first time I fashioned a Mario Kart game on the blackboard. I think they enjoyed it, especially since I had Mario Kart sounds. Moreover, I pronounce "Yoshi" in a hilarious manner.) We also completed a worksheet on the lyrics to the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way."
It was a bittersweet lesson. It was really nice to see them get excited when I handed out personalized postcards and CDs for each kid. The students were also keen to snap one last photo with me! It was a nice feeling.
But at the end of class, we did our usual "good-bye" to signal the end of class. The kids remained standing, and gave a nice thank you card to my JTE. I left empty-handed. It was a slightly crushing moment. I mean, I've taught these kids longer than my JTE has. (No offense). But it truly feels like their homeroom teacher didn't remind them to write me up something. (All subject teachers, in general, get a message from the graduating students.) I shouldn't have taken this so personally. I haven't gotten "thank you" notes from every graduating class I've taught in the past.
In fact, I should be thankful for the appreciation I get in other ways. My cell phone and e-mail inbox are getting a slow trickle of texts from students who are brave enough to try and write to me in English. If I run into my JHS students around town, I know they'll come over to say "Hi!" They know that I know all 266 of them by first and last name, which isn't something all ALTs can do! (Warm fuzzies for me, thank you very much).
I guess it's important for me to remember that it's not always the physical mementos that prove you've made a difference in a student's development.
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