I teach first-year JHS students, and the English classes are split into two groups based on proficiency (higher and lower level). Personally, I have mixed feelings about this system because I feel like the additional workload involved in preparing separate lessons doesn’t always translate into meaningful progress for the students, especially when some seem to remain at the same level. However, I still try to personalize my lessons and make them engaging since the smaller class sizes give me more opportunities to work with the students individually.
The problem is that one of these groups has been particularly difficult to manage. Some students frequently talk over me, make rude comments (in Japanese and they think I don’t understand), and generally struggle to follow instructions. I’ve had to stop lessons and address their behavior a few times. I’m not particularly harsh with them, but I have told them that their behavior is immature and that I’m not going to continue speaking over them if they refuse to listen.
Recently, my JTE asked me to prepare a Halloween game for the class. Honestly, I’m reluctant to do so because I don’t feel that the class has been making an effort to participate respectfully during regular lessons. Part of me feels that giving them a fun activity regardless of how they behave sends the message that they can disrupt lessons and still expect a reward afterward.
At the same time, I understand that games can be useful for language learning, and I know not every student in the class is necessarily responsible for the behavior of their classmates. I also realize that I’m the ALT, so there may be cultural and professional considerations I’m not fully accounting for.
I’m curious about a few things:
•Is it unreasonable to feel that a class should demonstrate basic respect and cooperation before getting a special game or activity?
•Would you consider withholding a Halloween game a reasonable consequence, or would you approach the situation differently?
•How do you handle classes that are disruptive during regular lessons but are suddenly expected to participate in fun seasonal activities?
•If you were in my position, would you still run the game as planned, modify it, or discuss an alternative with the JTE?

I’m not trying to be overly strict or punish students just for being teenagers. I just don’t want to feel like I’m rewarding behavior that makes it difficult for everyone else to learn.
I’d appreciate hearing how others would handle this, especially those with experience teaching JHS students

Hi, this might be a silly question, but I really can’t find where I should be submitting my reference requests on the portal. :/

On the sidebar for both mobile and desktop, it lists: “Welcome; FAQ for Applicants; JET Inbox; Change Password; Save and sign out”. And on the welcome page, the only links for the reference letters are the instructions.

Am I looking in the wrong place? I heard there was somewhere to click “Create Evaluation Request”, but I don’t know where I can view that.

I’m from the U.S. :)

Hi everyone, just posting this as an update to my original post, just in case anyone is interested!

I decided to follow up with the office myself yesterday, and they initially shot down my query, saying I can't ride to school because if something happened to me on my way to or from school, it would fall on the school. I pushed back to say I can ride a different route, wear a helmet, and only ride on some days, and that I didn't want to be difficult but must insist anyway. After a little back and forth + language barrier + Google Translate, the office manager said she would discuss it with the principal, so I printed out a report with my POV since I wouldn't be there for the discussion. A short while ago, the principal called me into his office and told me that I can ride/bring my bicycle to school only on one condition, which is if I get bicycle insurance, so I'm currently looking into that.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented and gave their insight into the matter! It was thanks to those comments that I got the courage to go back and push the issue despite not wanting to potentially have a dispute/fall out with my school, especially over something this minor.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/JETProgramme/comments/1xajmrj/my_school_says_i_cant_ride_my_bicycle_to_school/19rft97v0vuwx/

I’m reapplying this year and I had to get a statement of physician last year from my psychiatrist but because I haven’t went there in years it took me a month just to have her fill out the form. I don’t want to have to go through the process again because I still have the old form filled out and no information has changed, but the dates are from last year.

Should I have like my old therapist fill out or do I have to like go to a doctors office just to put a signature on a form?

Edit: sorry if the wording was off, so I know I have to fill out a new form every year but I’m basically asking if I can just have a doctor like transfer over the old info to a new form and sign it that way

Hey, this is probably a really dumb question but I just want to clarify.

I received an email stating that all of my documents were missing from the submission portal, despite me having uploaded them. I still haven't completed the application form so I was just wondering was it just a general email reminder being sent out because I haven't actually completed and submitted it? Just making sure as I can see the documents are all in their respective folders and I don't want to mess it up so close to the deadline. Thanks!

Hi as the title says, my referees have submitted their documents long ago and I have completed my application for a while but now I received and emails stating that it’s missing?

Thanks!

Hello, I am a first time applicant to JET, and would very much appreciate some help with my SOP.

I have spent a few days on it, and had my friends review it, but definitely need a seasoned critic of it as well.

Please help me!

I just wanted to make sure about jet alt i thought I have to fill all the documents and in one pdf i have to merge everything and send it to the respective email of alt jet but i want to know what should I do?

Hello, I am going to get married to a coworker (Japanese) and our school said we cannot work together. Is this grounds for transfer due to marriage and the school stating we cannot work together?

EDIT: The response to this post has been bizarre. I feel like my point has been severely misconstrued. I haven't been "arguing" with or "pushing back" against my JTE, and people telling me that this programme is about more than teaching English, which I was already aware of. I have rewritten the post in the hopes of making the situation more clear, but I have preserved the original post at the end. Cheers.

I am from a small country in Africa. Most Japanese people have never heard of it. Even some fellow JETs at orientation had never heard of it. I am not offended by this, as the reason I was interested in JET was for cultural/international exchange and to share my country and culture.

When I arrived at my school, my JTEs told me that I would focus on teaching English rather than culture. This was totally fine by me, as I was an experienced English teacher before coming. The JTEs give me a topic/theme such as animals, food, travel, et cetera, and I make a lesson with some vocabulary and a grammar point, and then give the students a speaking activity. The lessons have been going well and the students have been engaged.

Recently, one of the JTEs asked me to make a lesson about Halloween, along with future lesson plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I told her my country doesn't really celebrate these things so I'm not very familiar with them, but she told me I could just figure something out. I made a lesson plan in the same format as before, with some vocabulary and grammar points (talking about fears for Halloween, talking about tastes/smells for Thanksgiving, and talking about wishes for Christmas).

When I showed her the lesson plan, she told me it was her job to teach grammar, and that she wanted something more cultural. I was a little bit confused because she didn't communicate this before when she first asked me to make the lesson. Until now, I had been teaching vocab/grammar per her request, so this sudden change with no communication was weird. I once again stated I'm not really familiar with these holidays, because they're not celebrated in my country/culture. I said that I could teach the students about some holidays in my country/culture, but she told me this would be "too difficult and confusing" for the students, since they only know about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Per her request, I remade the lessons, but I just wanted to ask if this was normal because it wasn't what I was expecting, since JET was explained to me as a cultural ambassador program. I am a cultural ambassador for my country, and I am also an assistant language (English) teacher. So to not be teaching English, nor teaching about my country/culture, just feels strange and outside of what I was expecting.

I just wanted to ask if this was normal. I wasn't expecting so much aggression in the comments. I recognize that I also got very defensive and aggressive in my replies, but it was because I felt like people were missing my point and accusing me of arguing with me JTE (not true), or that I thought JET was just teaching English and no cultural element (also not true), or accusations that I am ignorant/stupid for not knowing much about these holidays. Again, I am from a small African country and we do not consume western media. I understand that calling them "irrelevant" in my country was harsh, but it also felt rude for people to basically be like "our culture is so important, you must be stupid if you don't know about it" felt really privileged, entitled, and elitist. Also ironic considering many Japanese people also don't know much about western countries... would you really speak this way to your JTEs or students?

Everyone keeps saying different things. Somebody said that these holidays weren't actually cultural, and when I agreed, people got mad at ME. Somebody said that English teaching came before culture, and when I said that everyone else in the comments was saying the opposite, people got mad at ME. It's just been a very bizarre situation altogether that I was not expecting to blow up like this. What's even weirder is that this has turned into accusations that I am an autistic Muslim?... I am not autistic, nor Muslim. But no hate to either of those groups.

I understand that we are assistant teachers, but I think this mindset of "stfu and do what your boss tells you" is really problematic, particularly in Japanese work culture. I already said this in the comments, but I think a lot of the people saying this are the type of people who want to be ALTs or live in Japan for the rest of their life, so they will do whatever to try and be Japanese and appease their JTEs so that they can be hired.

I will most likely not be responding to comments after this. I hope some of you can learn some compassion.

The original post is pasted below:

[As we entered fall, my JTE asked me to make lessons about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I am from a country which does not celebrate any of these. I told her that, and she said to "just figure something out."

Still, I made lesson plans focused on speaking, so for Halloween I made a lesson plan to teach the kids how to talk about fears (ex. I am scared/afraid of/that ____).

For Thanksgiving, I made a lesson plan talking about gratitude (ex. I am grateful/thankful for/that ____) and stative verbs (the turkey smells/tastes good).

Finally, for Christmas, I made a lesson plan talking about wishes (they already know the word "want" , so I thought a wish-list idea would be nice ex. I wish that/for _____).

I felt very proud of what I was able to put together, but my JTE felt very differently. She told me that it is the JTEs job to teach grammar, and that I should be focusing on sharing my culture. This was confusing because 1. I've been teaching grammar so far with no complaints, and 2. this is not my culture.

When I brought these points up, she just disregarded them and said "I asked you to make lessons about western holidays. Please make them." when I again told her my country does not have/celebrate these holidays, I offered to make lessons about my country/culture's holidays. She told me it would be difficult to understand since they are only aware of western holidays.

If anyone has advice, I would really appreciate it. I feel so lost and frustrated.]

Hey all, can I preface this by saying this sub has been so helpful in achieving the goal of teaching in Japan.

I wanted to briefly speak on an experience I’ve had so far as a first year and although comments about receiving therapy are helpful, I’m more so looking to hear on how you or others adjusted to similar experiences.

I’m currently placed in a SHS, 18 classes per week, T1 and lesson planner for all of them. N5. I’ll try to put this briefly:

I find myself a little too busy with lesson planning (usually working after hours or into the night) to study Japanese, which is fine. But I believe it is starting to have a strain on my relationship with my coworkers, not be able to communicate effectively that is. I know they are understandably busy, and may pay me little thought, but I believe too many bad impressions and miscommunication when we do interact has left them with a bad taste in their mouth. So much so that some teachers that were relatively kind to me now blatantly ignore my greetings. I more or less prepared myself for this, but the language barrier has left me feeling a bit paranoid that I’m constantly committing faux pas or disrespecting my coworkers, and it’s been incredibly difficult to know where I stand or if it’s getting worse. Is this kind of subtle paranoia a common experience for other JETs? Is there any other resources you found helpful for better communication in the Japanese workplace? Being a high-context culture, what subtle signs should I be on the look out for feedback and when communicating with my coworker/JTEs? Is there more I could be doing or offering? Thank you indulging me.

Some people are already getting sent their recontracting papers. Have you given it any thought yet this year? Curious to hear where people are at in their journey!

I'm a 4th year and I'm signing to not recontract. I'm finally going back home! Japan has been fun but I'm incredibly ready to leave. Anyone else looking forward to leaving? :)

Hi again! For those who were able to successfully request and get approved to transfer, how was the process for you like? Do you remember the timeline from when you submitted until when you got the call, etc? From where and to where did you move?

Context: Our BOE has a 3 year limit, no positions were available in our prefecture, so we were asked to submit another copy of the A-3 form with the options being other prefectures or blocks.

Thank you!

I just turned 31 and I am based in the US, but I can’t help but feel like I’m too old. Is there anyone here who completed the program that’s not in their early to mid 20s?

Hello everyone, I was wondering if I should include a transcript for the community college I attended back in 2018. I only attended for a single year, and my grades were poor because at the time I wasn’t really interested in college. That transcript has two classes that I ended up dropping as well. All the classes that I passed the credits were carried over to the college that I graduated from and the transcript from there has those credits, and reflects the person I am now much better than me 8 years ago. Should I only post the college transcript where I got my bachelors, or do I need both, even if I didn’t get a degree from the first. Thank you for any recommendation and good luck to all applicants.

I recently accepted my offer. I submitted by 退職届 stating my resignation date will be on the week of January 11th, 2027. However, my BOE is telling me if it is possible for me to end my contract in December 2026. They said this would be a cleaner cut because the 2nd semester ends on December. However, I would really like to stay on January to get paid more and also have more time to move. I wonder if anyone has experience regarding this. Do I have any legal right or anything at all to push back so I can at least stay until January?

Edit: I got a new job in Japan in a different prefecture. So I am breaking my contract mid-year I am not leaving the country. Hope this helps

Took about a month but finally submitted everything for the 2027 JET cycle....

Now the long wait until February 2027 ?

From November 20th to November 22nd, JALT will host its annual conference where thousands of educators, students, textbook authors and publishers will convene to share their insights on language teaching and learning on the theme of Beyond the Classroom: From Local Voice to Global Impact. This is a great chance to raise your skills and network with like-minded professionals.

And AJET members can join this conference at JALT member rates. Here are the rates for early-bird registrations (by October 31st):

• 3 Days (Nov 20-22): 23,000 yen (save 17,000 yen)
• 1 Day (Nov 20, 21, or 22): 18,000 yen (save 12,000 yen)

If you only want to attend workshops and presentations about teaching younger learners (children up to high school age), join "JALT Junior" instead:

• JALT Junior 2 days (Nov 21-22): 12,000 yen
• JALT Junior 1 day (Nov 21 or 22): 7,000 yen

Learn more here: https://events.jalt.org/event/73/overview

• Friday:
  • Presentations: 1:40 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Welcome Reception (no extra charge): 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Saturday:
  • Presentations: 10 AM - 7:10 PM
  • Michele Steele Best of JALT Reception (no extra charge): 7:30 – 9:00 PM
• Sunday
  • Presentations: 9:00 AM - 2:50 PM

Indian Applicant. Just want to clarify if Statement of Physician and Certificate of Health are the same thing?

Also if I have listed some medical issues in my self declaration, do I need to get a physician statement too? Is that mandatory?

Please help!

URGENT!!!!!

Hi everyone! I’m a JET Programme ALT applicant from India and have a question regarding the two letters of recommendation.

Both of my referees are former managers who have since left their respective organisations, so their institutional email IDs are no longer active. However, their phone numbers are still valid and reachable.

Would it be acceptable to mention their personal email IDs in the LORs? Also, does the Japanese Embassy typically contact referees to verify their recommendations?

Would really appreciate any insights from previous applicants. Thank you!

Hello! I am an applicant for JET-PH. I want to ask in regards to proof of graduation. I have a transcript that already has my date of graduation and I want to know if it's okay to submit the transcript file online in the proof of graduation submission? I don't have the degree yet and I've asked my university but the ETA is around either December or January so it's no dice for getting it, I only have as a proof is my Alumni ID that I obtained alongside my transcript.

I came across this blog post from a former Hokkaido JET who worked in Akkeshi 2013-14? Obviously much of what’s said was fabricated. What was the real deal?

https://www.simplegaijin.com/post/https-www-simplegaijin-com-post-2017-06-19-my-jet-program-experience-a-year-of-tomfoolery-and-fun

Hey everyone! I'm a new JET, and I currently work at a SHS that is about a 10- 15-minute walk from my apartment. I really like my school, coworkers, and even the townspeople so far. One of my biggest goals for coming to Japan was buying a bicycle and learning how to ride one, and that's exactly what I did about a month and a half ago. So far, I've been riding my bicycle all around town, mainly for grocery runs, going to my Japanese classes on the weekends, and just general errands. I deskwarm a lot at school (I spend roughly 80% of my days deskwarming), so during the day, I walk home for lunch (just to get a break from the monotony of being at my desk all day), and I could do that a lot faster if I had my bicycle. Also, sometimes after work, I like to go check out new restaurants in my area, so having my bicycle at school would save me the trouble of having to walk home for my bicycle, then pushing it all the way up the road and past my school again.

Technically speaking, I didn't have to, but since I'm on really good terms with my supervisor, JTEs, and the office (plus I don't know where exactly to park my bicycle on campus if I brought it), I decided to ask my school if it'd be okay for me to ride my bicycle to school on some days. My JTE (who is very sweet and is honestly more of my supervisor than my actual supervisor haha) seemed concerned and wasn't sure, so she suggested that we ask the office. I was initially supposed to go discuss it with the office with my JTE, but the lady in the office was busy, so I walked home for lunch. During that time, my JTE went and asked without me being there, and when I returned to school, she told me that the office said that I can't ride my bicycle to school. Because of this, I wasn't able to be a part of the conversation :/. Now, my contract states that I can drive a motor vehicle to and from school but not for other work-related matters without permission from the director; it said nothing about a bicycle, so I'm feeling a bit frustrated, to be honest. I told my JTE that I understand their concern, especially since I only recently got my bicycle and learned to ride it, but I'd like to revisit the matter in about a month or two.

For context, my predecessor was at this school for 5 years, during which he never drove or even owned a bicycle. Also, the road next to the school (where most students ride their bicycles) is super narrow and busy in the mornings -- even I hate walking there. My JTE even told me there was an accident on that road a few years ago involving a student. However, there is another road with a broad sidewalk where I can walk, but it takes a longer time for me to get to school; this isn't an issue when I ride my bicycle, though. I think my school's main concern is something bad happening to me when I'm riding to or from school.

What do you think of this, and how do you recommend I go about bringing this up again? I could discuss the matter with my supervisor, but my JTE and supervisor are super close, and I don't want it to seem like I'm going behind my JTE and the office's back on this. I just don't want to do anything that'll put me on bad terms with my school, especially over something as simple as a bicycle, and since they've been so kind and welcoming to me so far. Maybe I'm overthinking all this, haha.

And advice would be appreciated!