We received our "call of duty" e-mail this afternoon. As expected, despite Tokyo and Kanagawa getting ready to endure a state of emergency which will most likely be announced tomorrow and initiated on Friday, my school intends to begin as originally scheduled. Prior to Winter Break, we had a staff meeting that proposed starting on January 12th instead of the 8th. I mean, doesn't it seem a bit ridiculous for everyone to come to school for the Term 3 Opening Ceremony and leave soon after? We are scheduled to begin classes on Saturday the 9th, but then we have a national holiday on Monday the 11th. (It's Coming of Age Day in Japan.) My prediction is that students (and teachers) will probably not be in school mode until the week begins on Tuesday the 12th. Throw in this state of emergency and it really makes no sense to have your children commuting to school for basically a 2 hour day. The opening ceremony is even going to be broadcast over the media system since we haven't been able to gather in the auditorium to prevent the risk of infection since the auditorium does not have good air circulation. Following that staff meeting, I was under the assumption that should a state of emergency be called, we might change the start of school to the 12th to keep children safe at home for a little while longer and not have them traveling during a 3 day weekend.
Another issue that was addressed at our meeting was the transition period between classes. Students have 10 minutes between classes to use the toilet, get a drink of water, prepare for their next class and change into their PE clothes if their next class is PE. Many of the students use this 10-minute break as playtime. Sometimes they go outside for a quick runaround or a game with their friends. Some children play indoor games like battling tops, kendama, or these silly made-up games using erasers and rulers (I'm NOT a fan of that one.) Some children go to the school library while others stay in their classroom to talk with their friends. And unfortunately, some students just go wild and run around in the corridors and stairwells. This is probably the only school I've ever worked at where teachers do not enforce things like running in the hall or using loud voices indoors. There are a few of us who do bring those things to the students' attention, but I'm still surprised at how many teachers allow such rowdy behavior. That being said, the crazy running has gotten out of hand so the students were told that the 10-minute break was to be used as a prep time to get ready for the next class and wash hands thoroughly. Well, students continued to run around and they were forgetting a lot of the requests to pay attention to physical distancing and washing hands. So a new proposal was made.
The new proposal was to change the transition time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. After 2nd period, there would be a 20-minute recess so that the students would have an adequate amount of time to play and relax before their next classes. Lunch would also be 5 minutes shorter. The idea of having a 20-minute break sounds great, right? Japanese schools usually do not have snack time or tea time which I think would be really nice to have, but the primary purpose of this recess is to allow the children to play. Although everyone seemed to be on board with this new time schedule plan, a few of us, including myself were against it. I do support the 20-minute recess. I also support that the transition time is used as a prep time and not playtime. But what I find is challenging is that 5 minutes is not going to be enough time to transition. Here's why:
My classroom is on the 3rd floor. The 1st-grade classrooms are on the 1st floor and the 2nd-grade classrooms are on the 2nd floor. The little 1st graders will have a bit of a walk to get to class on time, especially if they need to use the toilet before they come to class. It will be even more challenging for them to change out of their PE clothes and into their school uniforms in time for class. I personally don't care whether the students are in PE clothes or their school uniforms, but apparently, it's an unspoken rule that you wear your uniform in all classes except PE. If the students have Science or Art before my class, they have to clean up before they can be excused. When the transition time has been 10 minutes, many of the students have been late. So the students will be challenged to get everything done and be at their next class in 5 minutes at the same time when I will have to get whatever I need to get done accomplished. That is going to be challenging! The nearest teacher toilet is one floor below my classroom. The nearest sink is on the opposite side of the main corridor. Will 5 minutes be enough time to go to the bathroom, wash my hands thoroughly as we've been instructed to do after every class, and get back in time to greet my next batch of students? Will I have time during those 5 minutes to disinfect the class and make sure that the table tops are wiped clean? Will I have time to change my seating charts, get materials ready, and rearrange the furniture if we are doing a project? I guess we'll find out. But I did write to the deputy headmaster to let him know that 5 minutes may not be enough time for students AND teachers to get ready for the next class. Having lunch start 5 minutes later is not great for me. I'm a very slow eater. Teachers also usually wait until the classes who are seated in the cafeteria get their food before going up to be served. Even though lunch will begin at 12:15, you might not get served until 12:30. Last term, my teaching partner and I hurried down to the cafeteria to get served BEFORE the students arrived. It was the only way I could have enough time to eat, clean up, and brush my teeth before 5th period began. It looks like I'll have to continue that pattern or else I may find myself late to 5th period!
I'm still a bit disappointed at the lack of measures that are being taken to ensure our health and well-being as we get ready for this state of emergency. Today we had a record-breaking number of new Covid cases in many prefectures throughout Japan. Tokyo was over 1500 new cases today. Anxiety levels are high, but a lot of the information we're being given is so vague. There is a possibility that we may change phases into how our school day will be scheduled but at the moment, that information hasn't been shared with us. All I can do right now is look at this new timetable we've been given (posted below) and feel challenged.
I wonder how my bladder, my eating habits and my patience are going to handle things. Wish me luck.
xox
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