Arigato Miss. J.

You may have noticed that there is a new face in the Japanese language classroom this year; Miss Jeanne Altura has stepped up to fill Mr. Tanimoto’s shoes while he is away on sabbatical, and she is doing a great job!  We want to welcome her to HHIS and help you get to know her.

DP: What was the transition like coming straight from college to teaching?

J: I would say it’s different for me since I’m still a sub. I think the transition honestly is finding that in a job  you learn and figure out what you’re doing as you teach. In college help is kind of given to you and you have someone- the instructor- to fall back on. While transitioning to actually becoming a teacher is just different because you’re of on your own more.

K: What made you want to teach?

J: I really like Japanese and I wanted to share that with others – and I guess another reason is there aren’t many Japanese language teachers.

M: What made you decide to teach high school specifically?

J: My content. It is very hard to teach Japanese in elementary school and I personally don’t feel like I could work with really small children.  With middle school it would be harder because there wouldn’t be a lot of students (taking a language) realistically, languages are usually taught in high school.

K: What has your experience on campus been like so far?

J:  I went to high school here so now my teachers are my coworkers and it’s weird being on the other side of things! 

M: Do you enjoy teaching?

J: Yes. It’s fun to see the lightbulb go on in students’ heads and also it  feels good to help students understand  concepts. There are hard parts about teaching, like when students don’t listen but just seeing them understand and where their curiosity takes them is nice. 

K: Do you see yourself staying in the teaching field? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

J: In 5 years I’m pretty sure I’ll still be a teacher.  

M: What is your teaching philosophy?

J: My teaching philosophy is just getting students to want to learn.

K: What is most fun about teaching?

J: Just seeing students at their starting point and their journey through, the progress.  Are they actually getting it? Are they just using google translate? Google can be your friend but it can’t be your best friend. You can use it as support not as a crutch.  

M: Do you feel the other teachers respect you?

J: Yes. I feel like all the teachers respect me because we are in this together and if we bring each other down then it’s not helpful to student learning. 

K: Do you feel your students respect you?

J: For the most part yes because they listen and they do their work but there are times I’m like ” Please do your work!”  I know it’s not out of disrespect because I was in your shoes and some days you’re just over it, even before you’re a senior.  

M: What’s your teaching style?

J: Honestly I’m still trying to figure out my own teaching style. It’s a work in progress.

K: Do you consider yourself a tough teacher or an easy teacher?

J: I think I’m in between because this isn’t my class and I’m starting from the middle (of the school year). I don’t want to be too tough but I do want to push students and I also don’t want to make it too easy to the point that they’re barely learning.