At my middle school there is only one class per grade, so three classes of students in the whole school, and six class periods per day. In other words, I have a lot of hours sitting in the teachers room. I'm also not given much responsibility when it comes to teaching, so I don't exactly spend the time planning lessons. One suggestion I saw online was to use your extra time to make an English board, teaching extra English or culture to those who are interested.
I asked the English teacher if we had one, and apparently we didn't. However, she gave me a small whiteboard and two squares on the announcement board to use. Armed with my whiteboard, school laptop, and some whiteboard markers, I set to work creating my English board. Given my boredom, I have decided to update the board every day. So far I have over forty extra entries written for the future, so I think daily is doable for now. Not only does this board give me something to do for 30 or so minutes a day, it also gives me an excuse to read Wikipedia all day looking for topics. Generally my topics are things like landmarks or animals but I do spend many hours reading about things such as containerization, metamorphic rock, the internet divide, the Pig War, and various other topics you find yourself reading about on a Wikipedia spiral.
Something interesting about my school is their focus for the ALT is cultural exchange, not just English learning. Most ALTs are discouraged or not allowed to speak to students in Japanese, but I was told by the principal on my first day to give my introduction speech in Japanese so the kids could understand me. This idea continues with the teachers encouraging me to interact with the kids but not really caring what language I use or wanting all my interactions with them to be for the purpose of improving their English. The teachers understand these kids probably don't care much about English and for these rural kids it's important to get a glimpse of the outside world, which can be achieved through an ALT. The majority of my students are also extremely shy, so I don't think the students would interact with me at all if the requirement for interacting was "only use English."
The general structure of my English Board is a title with a Japanese translation or pronunciation guide over it, 2-3 sentences with Japanese over the harder words, and a picture. I've learned many Japanese words and kanji writing these, so it's good practice for me too. People are probably most excited about my drawings to be honest, with teachers often looking over my shoulder to see what I'm drawing that day. I try to make sure the key words have translations and the pictures are interesting enough to attract people's attention without them having to read any English. They can get an idea of what it's about without reading but if they want to know more then can read it. I do see students reading it during lunch break, and apparently I have pretty good readership among the staff. I've had people from the janitor to the principal ask me questions about my board and show interest in the topics. So maybe the kids aren't reading it much, but at least my coworkers are having a good time reading it.
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