Be Prepared

Over the months I have acclimatized myself with the individual characteristics of my students, so I am prepared as to how they might behave in the classroom. For instance, I know that my elderly student, Ohmi, will talk relentlessly about his morning rituals and stop abruptly in order for me to fill the void. This makes for straining conversation. An extract of the dialogue between us may go:
Me: "Ohmi, what did you get up to at the weekend?"
Ohmi: "I woke up at 5am, and worked on my farm."
Me: "Wow, that's earl-"
Ohmi: "AND!! (cutting me off) I planted many seeds. I woke up my grandchildren to help me."
Me; "I bet they were happy about tha-"
Ohmi: "AND! I deposited natural manure on my farm. I don't like to use chemical fertilizer!"
Silence.
There’s not much you can say in response to someone’s desired choice of manure, so I merely uttered an “Ah.”
Ohmi won't contribute any more on the subject, making it clear he wants me to ask someone else about their weekend.
Sometimes my students are a little forthcoming about offering their thoughts on a subject.
The middle aged Syuuiti is a map obsessive and will duly unfurl a map of Japan at any given opportunity.
"What did you do at the weekend Syuuiti?" I would ask.
"I went to Kiso," he would say.
"Where's that?" I queried.
And before I had finished the sentence he was already rummaging inside his bag before proudly spreading out a map of central Japan on the table, knocking other students stationary off the table in the process. He would then put on his reading glasses, take out a sharp pencil from his breast pocket, and would give a detailed outline about how long it takes to get there and the wind speed on the motorway. I would have been content if he had just went, "Dunno, mate," to my question.
I have learnt not to encourage him to display his maps because at the merest hint of a question associated with the location of a place, he will be sure to aid you with one of his giant maps. He always seems to have a dozen or so in his bag. I recently mentioned that I wanted to travel to Mumbai for a holiday and in a flash he had whipped out a map of India from his bag, and began highlighting the best areas to visit.
Whilst some students are forthcoming, others are very tentative. Minneko, my Monday evening student, is incredibly timid and you have to coax answers out of her. When she does finally speak, it will only be for a few seconds.
"What did you do at the weekend?" I ask
"Shopped," she says.
"What did you buy?"
"Things"
"What things?"
"Things," she repeated.
"I see."


For every student, you have to be prepared for anything. And it's not just the adult classes. The kids are a different breed of character, and I found they could get nasty if you don't share their artistic vision when moulding plasticine shaped animals.
As part of an activity before lunch at an elementary school I teach at, I was instructed to join the kids in making little clay animals. I tried my best even though my end product was dreadful. I attempted to make a smiling turtle, but the fact that I was given a piece of plasticine the size of a snail's pecker wasn't the best way to construct mind-blowing shapes. I showed my end product to the kids who were busy making wonderful shapes, and they were not impressed. Instead, they were openly hostile towards me. One little girl next to me and a boy opposite me, grabbed my animal, inspected it, accusingly pointed a finger at me whilst bellowing a Japanese curse word, before throwing it in the bin.
There’s no pleasing some people.