Stepping into the Disciplinary's Shoes

After 3 months, I am in the thick of my routine. I pretty much do all my own lesson plans (with guidance from other 1st grade teachers), I talk/teach for most of class, now I get to teach alone if a teacher is gone, and today I disciplined a kid for the first time. It seems like a far cry from what some of my friends here have been doing in their jobs. One of them was sick and couldn’t go to school for over a week – but only missed two classes. I know others work really hard (maybe harder and on weekends), but it is not always the norm. Having to do the discipline is what really hit me, though.
Japanese students are notorious for talking or sleeping during class, so I have my students (usually 20 per class) sit so their desks all face the middle and I can see all of them (and they can see each other). It really helps, but today - as I was talking - I noticed a lazor on someone's face. I gave the kid with the red light on his forehead a small ‘warning’ look without anyone seeing (he and his friends were laughing about it) and then warned them not to do it again when I handed them worksheets a few minutes later. When the lazor came out as we were doing peer-practice 10 minutes later (this time I saw the light AND the pen), though, I discreetly took the pen away and stuck it in my pocket.
I didn't want to tell the teachers because punishment here can be more severe (yelling, coming early in the morning, cleaning or greeting other students - and this is usually for make-up, cell phone or riding 2 on a bike) so I decided to tell the kid's homeroom teacher. In Japan, each class (of about 40 students) sticks together and teachers move from class to class (rather than students moving from room-to-room for different teachers). The homeroom teacher is the staff representative for each class (there are usually one or two 'head' students in each, too) and the students see this teacher every morning and every afternoon. It's their go-between or contact, so telling this teacher was the closest I could get to the kid without getting him in BIG trouble. Anyways, after a little langauge practice, I called the kid out of homeroom (guess how much more scared he was when I knew his name), told him I never wanted to see the lazor again and -in Japanese - told him I was only telling his homeroom teacher. Whew.
I have a friend who I suspect was an amazing teacher, but left teaching for business after a year. He loved the students and teaching the subject he had, but he hated the discipline. Maybe I can see why... but then again, I am glad to be in my situation rather than not having anything to do.