Everything Elementary School - ALT Resources

Now that my time at elementary school is over, I figure that I'd create a link roundup to consolidate every post I've made about my time at elementary school! While elementary isn't that much different from junior high in the realm of teaching in Japan, there are some fundamental differences.

This list is still a work in progress because there are a lot of things that teaching elementary entails that I haven't necessarily posted about yet. It could just be that I forgot, so leave a comment here if there's anything that you'd like me to cover!

Elementary School Lunch (Kyuushoku) in February

I can't believe my contract with Interac is almost up! It's flown by (though sometimes, it's felt like it's dragged on forever...) and I can't believe the school year is almost over. Here's February's menu, as if I need a reminder that I won't have many school lunches left...

When you come to Japan (or even before), one of the first things you hear about school lunches is that you have to eat everything that's served to you, regardless of whether or not you like it. And while this is mostly true, it is much more important if you eat with your students. If you don't, then you don't really need to. I don't drink milk, so I don't take it at all. Some of the teachers are "dieting" and will only eat half the bread given to them and throw it away. A benefit of being self-serve is you can somewhat control what you're going to eat, and adjust accordingly.

Elementary School Lunch (Kyuushoku) in September

Here's September's school lunch menu! Things are starting to get a little bit different, thankfully!

The end of summer vacation and the start of the second semester signals a change in the kyuushoku menu. For the most part, the meals are somewhat seasonal and use only fruits and vegetables that are in season. A lot of the time, students will ask for a certain dish, only to be told that "that's not a summer dish" etc. For the most part, I haven't really been able to tell the difference yet! There have even been some repeats!

Elementary School Lunch (Kyuushoku) in July

I hope you find July's lunches insightful. This is a slightly shorter list because the middle-end of July is when summer vacation starts! Which means that I don't get lunch for half the month because I'm not in school for half a month. :)

I'm also not in school for the majority of August. I think I only worked two days in August. However, because the school lunch is billed by the same cost monthly (so months with less days means lunch is slightly more expensive) so they just don't provide lunch in August. Otherwise, the two days that I worked, my lunches would've been about $20 each! Unfortunately, no one told me this, and I showed up my first day back with no lunch and had to leave school to get some... I had even emailed the company asking about this, but of course I never got a response back!

Elementary School Lunch (Kyuushoku) in June

Here's June's edition of my school lunches! I'm slowly working on the backlog! Please forgive me!

If you haven't noticed, I don't drink the milk that's provided with the school lunch. Luckily, my school isn't too strict about what I have to eat. In fact, I see some other teachers mixing the milk into the coffees they bring to lunch, etc. I have a pack of furikake in my desk that I add to the rice sometimes (I'll designate if I've added anything). Obviously, your situation may differ depending on your school. In fact, you may not even have school lunches at your school! (I know of one case like this.) Or, you may not be allowed to eat the school lunch. (As was the case in my last Board of Education...)

My October Halloween English Board

Depending on your school and how much freedom they give you, you may get your own English board. Before I started as an ALT, I remember looking at other ALTs' English boards and thinking how cool it was. At my last school, I had zero creative control with anything, so I didn't have an English board or an English room, or anything whatsoever, so all that preparation was for nothing.

At  my current school, my English board isn't located in a stairwell or any other well-traveled location in the school. Instead, it's outside of the English room, so students generally only see it when they're lining up outside before or after class. In my entire first semester, I only changed the board once. (My original board was a self-introduction about myself. I wish I got pictures of it!) My goal for second semester is to change it more often... but it's actually a lot of hard work!

Elementary School Lunch (Kyuushoku) in April/May

Researching teaching in Japan, I heard horror stories about some of the school lunch combinations ALTs are served. Now that I'm a teacher, I decided to contribute and share some of the school lunches I eat on a daily basis. Luckily, I haven't had any combinations that have made me question the entire system... But that's not to say that some days are less appetizing than others!

This will be a monthly roundup of all the lunches I ate at my elementary school during the previous month. I'll try to include a description of the dish (if I can remember what was in it) because sometimes it's a bit hard to tell. I hope you enjoy this bit of insight on school lunches in Japan!