Teaching...

This is my classroom. It's pretty small, but it can fit twelve students comfortably. I have pictures of family and friends on the lower, right hand corner of the marker board, which helps me connect more with my students when they ask questions about back home. The simple frases (May I have a pencil? I am finished. I don't understand. ...) on the left side of the board help my students more effectively communicate with me instead of using crazy hand gestures and yelling "TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER" constantly. Raising your hand is not used very much I've noticed, which can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, but it feels so good to hear them practice the English frases on the board.

Giddy Girls

We made snowflakes with our weather lesson. I was so impressed by them! I'm thankful that critters don't bug me, because students tend to bring them to class. Two weeks ago a student had a bat in a plastic container in his backpack. His friends tattle tailed on him and I almost lost it when I saw them playing with the lid. Last week, another student pulled out his new pet hamster! I thought it was pretty cute. Who knows what next week will bring!

Teaching has been a great learning experience. I teach hour long classes Monday through Friday from 2:30pm to 7:30pm. Normally, I go to school around twelve to have lunch with my co-teacher, Sophia and then use the rest of the time to prepare, read, or do whatever else I want to do. I have one middle school class (which is equivalent to our junior high school) with only two students. This class is more of a study hall. My other classes range from ages seven to fourteen with around ten kids in each. Ten kids doesn't seem like much, but the language barrier can make it very difficult and I find myself having to explain things differently to every student. The students are on various levels in speaking English, but I imagine that being typical everywhere in all subjects.

One thing that often bothers me is my lack of opportunity to add my own touch to the lessons. I have been given many books and outlines of what to teach, but they aren't always fun lessons. I think making lessons enjoyable are the best way for kids to learn English, especially at their age. Plus, the kids are in school literally all day long so a fun English lesson might be the only thing to keep their attention. Students usually can write and read English well, but they have a difficult time speaking or answering questions as easy as "how are you?" or "what are you doing?" That is why they hire native English speakers, but the lessons aren't speaking oriented. Sometimes I find time near the end of class to play shiraids, Simon says, pictionary, and other games, which they seem to love and speak more English. Songs are also a huge hit.

My largest moral conflict thus far in Korea has had to do with the Corporal Punishment in schools. It is a huge topic here and some say that laws will slowly get rid of it. Personally, I will never believe hitting kids is an effective disciplinary action, but that is where my culture clashes with the Korean culture. Dad used to tell me stories about being hit in grade school, but that always seemed so out of date to me. Now, it is something that happens everyday here. It is truly upsetting and I am trying to find a middle ground between our cultures, but it is something I am still really struggling with.

Teaching here has been challenging, but overall, it has been an insightful and rewarding experience. The kids are so cute and I am falling in love with them more every day.