Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The heat is frying my brains...

Judging from the temperatures thus far, this summer is going to be a scorcher--much like the summer I arrived in Japan. I'm really bad with the heat; it makes me sluggish and stupid. As a result, I'm not as meticulous/careful about things as I should be...

Today, for example, I was supposed to be teaching English in first period at Kirita. Usually my arrival time is 9am, but first period starts at 8:25am, so if I'm teaching first I need to come early and I usually highlight it in my agenda or do something to make sure I remember to leave the house earlier.

This time, however, I suffered from a total brain fart. Even though I got the weekly teaching plan last week (and "1" was written right on the plan for the scheduled period), and even though I looked at today's schedule on the blackboard in the teacher's room yesterday, somehow it completely failed to register that I needed to be at the school for first period.

(O.O;)

As a result, I came to school at my usual time and it was only when I walked into the teacher's room and looked again at the day's schedule that I realized my mistake. (Ironically, I had actually come to school a little earlier than usual and was feeling pretty good about that until I realized that rather than arriving 10minutes early, I had arrived 25minutes late!)

(T-T)

Considering that the lesson today was pretty much just giving out and explaining summer vacation homework, it wasn't the end of the world, but I really really really HATE screwing up.

Well, on the bright side of things, at least I made the mistake on a day I was visiting Kirita rather than another school. The students at Kirita see me "all the time" so one missed class isn't as big a deal as it would be at a school where an ALT only comes once or twice a month. Also, since I tend to stay at Kirita well past my scheduled working hours on regular days, that helps to balance out the occasional screw-up. And my Kocho-sensei (principal) is really laid back and understanding about such things, too. 

But still... I'm definitely going to have to work harder to stay focused/on the ball during this summer heat.