Does blogging about work count if most of your coworkers can't read English?

I had fifth graders at Nishi elementary today. Teaching them was unexpected--I had prepared for sixth grade--and therefore had to wing it.

I do quite a bit of winging at elementary level. Every few weeks, I'll show up to class only to find the schedule has changed and no one thought it prudent enough to inform me until I show up 15 minutes before class. Usually I'm bumped in favor of cultural lessons in dancing. Sometimes I'll insist on joining the students, though primarily I'm assigned another class. This event happens enough that I tend to bring an extra lesson along that fits all levels.

But the Nishi fifth graders are a handful: 37 strong, they're the most intimidating class I've attempted to teach. To further complicate matters, they're the ones most often bumped from my schedule. As a result, they're English skills are lacking.

My lessons in elementary school have been on the upswing: I'm planning and teaching better and I'm trying to give students something more than rote memorization. More and more of my lessons consist of songs and games to keep them interested. However, after fourth grade, songs become something stupid and games can be more disruptive than education, particularly if you're dealing with 37 students and depending on their homeroom teacher for crowd control.

I like their homeroom teacher: Satoro-sensei is a good teacher and I have nothing but respect for the man who can handle 37 students. He had to discipline one loud student, but that student came back and we had a good lesson.

It went well. My last class with the fifth graders had been a disaster, trying to teach them an English phrase through a game and none of them would pay the least bit of attention to me. Today, however, I took them through countries and how to ask and respond to questions about where they are from. I had to use Japanese a few times to facilitate, since most of them are not used to English commands other grades have grasped through more exposure and classes, but most caught on quickly, and by the time the period ended they were busy asking each other what country they were from.

It is becoming increasingly easier to joke with students. One kid was insistent that he was from Jamaica, and we had some fun ribbing about his Caribbean desire. It appeared to set them at ease and make them pay attention a lot more than by simply ignoring the behavior. And it felt a hell of a lot better than trying to drill the information into their heads.

Reading: I started Catch-22 about a week ago and interrupted it with Jose Saramago's Blindness. Blindness was one of the most engrossing* books I've read in a good long time. It was impossible to put down, most probably because of the page long sentences. Its sequel is on my reading list.

Watching: Caught up on My Name is Earl episodes. Enjoyable, but now that I'm caught up, I might crack and start in on Heroes episodes.

Playing: I continue to push through Final Fantasy VI Advance in Japanese, which is a nifty learning tool when you've played the English version so many times and memorized the dialogue.

*Does anyone use "engrossing" for anything other than books?