Time teaches all teaching

It's beginning to look a lot like teaching!

(picture of my co-workers)

Today was my first somewhat successful day. I may not know what is happening but I am starting to get a hang of this. I had to teach three classes. One of the classes was my class of thirteen year olds that I have not enjoyed teaching.

I tried something different. I started the class off with an interactive review of the grammar. The grammar was "-est". For example, "biggest" versus "big" and "tallest" versus "tall." I got two of my students to stand up and said, "Steven is the tall or tallest?" then "I am the short or shortest?" I think it got the message across! Then after that interactive activity, they seemed to pay more attention in class.

I am starting to realize the difficulty of being a teacher. I think that in school they should make every student teach a few classes. It might help students realize what teachers have to go through and the difficulty they face. Especially the ones that care and are under appreciated by students. I wish I had made more effort in certain classes where the teacher really wanted to help the students.

The Teaching Rollercoaster Ride!

What do you do when you wake up at 5am in the morning in S. Korea?

You call your lovers in the US to watch the sunset while they watch the sunrise behind you. (DUH!) In other words I woke up at 5am! Had a nice video chat using the wonderful Google video chat option in Gmail. Then I went to the gym by myself around 10 am. Sadly, I did not have my running shoes because they were in a locker with my co-workers shoes and I did not have a key to that locker. I did some casual exercises and once again was offered to take the cycling class. (I couldn't because I had the wrong shoes!)

When I was leaving the gym, another random women named Yongsan started to speak to me. She is a house wife that just moved back to Korea from living in Rochester, Mass. for a year. She had just joined the gym last week like me. We had a short conversation, decided we would see each other at the gym again and get coffee sometime. This is exciting because that means I have another Korean friend who will be able to help me learn Korean! (I'm starting to think that maybe it is better that I make a lot of Korean friends instead of Americans. Not that I have seen many in my area.)

I get to school with no idea of what I will be doing...AGAIN! (I'm starting to learn that I will just have to adapt to the Korean style of doing things last minute.) Dana (my co-worker) tells me that the director wants me to give a presentation to the staff at 7:30pm. (I start freaking out because I have no idea what they are talking about). After we went back and forth trying to understand each other, I came to the understanding that I would be exemplifying my lesson plan in front of my colleagues. (Since I will be teaching two new books to four classes on my own they wanted me to show them how I would be teaching the classes.) I started watching the Korean training video for the book (which didn't help since I don't know Korean yet).

I was told I would be given all day to prepare for the meeting. Next thing I know, I was put in a class to wing a lesson again. Apparently, my director had to speak to some parents and needed someone to stand in for her. Then I had to teach a class that I thought wasn't permanently being given to me. I have come to the conclusion that I will be teaching this class because they keep putting me in the class to teach it. The class is difficult to teach because all the students are at different levels and some are faster than others at learning. (This will be a new challenge for me as a teacher.)

The rest of my day was spent creating an activity for the my presentation. (Which didn't get finished in time but i will get back to that).

Around 7pm I had my favorite girls come by to say "Hello" and talk to me. First, it was Bebe (I think that's her name...) and her group of friends which I really enjoy speaking with. Then my two little ones, Elle and Jennifer (picture to the left), came by to ask me some questions and practice their English. They took pictures of me with their cell phones and told me I was pretty. Then Elle gave me a Christmas present! A Spider man key chain mirror! (It really touched my heart)
The kiddies said goodbye and it was presentation time! I said a frantic prayer for survival and did my thing. Pretending that my boss and co-workers were little obedient and interactive children. I gave the presentation and they said I did a great job. ::SIGH::

Now to finish creating my lesson plan activity... then all of a sudden my co-workers and boss really wanted to help me color my drawings! We all worked together and then had a Korean take out dinner in the office. It was so nice to spend time with them and fell like a part of the group.

I'm starting to think I might be able to get a hang of this! Guess we will see what tomorrow brings!

From Downtown to Church

Weekend Recap: I went to downtown Daegu with Violet (my other director). We went downtown in search of a cell phone only to find out that I needed to have a foreign ID card. Looks like I will have to wait on the cellphone until next week.

I did do some shopping and bought a Korean learning book and some Korean socks. Then had a nice Korean meal with Violet and we talked about how we would start teaching other on Fridays before classes. She will be teaching me Korean using my book and I will be teaching her English using one of our teaching books.

After dinner and having a few drinks with Violet, we went back by her school campus and picked up my stuff that I left there (I had to have someone fix my lock on my door so I had to take out anything valuable out of my room and with me). Then her father picked us up and drove me home. Violet was getting sick so I ran upstairs and gave her some of my Lipton chicken noodle soup that I had brought here with me. (I thought it would help because it always makes me feel better). Then I had a web cam conversation with my friends to end my night.

Sunday: I went to church!I went to Daegu Pyunggang Presbyterian Church and got to listen to the sermon in English through a headphones. The whole service was in Korean which made it weird for me. I did enjoy the service and meet a couple of nice people. The church serves lunch after the service and it was quite strange. The rice was purple....

I think that's a good recap....sorry it's not detailed...

Some pictures...

Christmas Eve Teach to Party

I thought today would only be about partying and not learning but once again I was in for a rude awakening.

I started my morning at the gym where a random korean woman started speaking to me. She thought I worked at the gym. (Do I look like an American trainer? Maybe it was because I wanted to do my own stretch and exercises) She tried to talk to me by asking me general questions (Most Koreans do this because it's the only thing they remember). I found out she was studying at University and is an English tutor. (That was very surprising). I ended up excusing myself to go shower so I could get food and go to school. I took a shower in a room that reminded me of high school or prison shower rooms where everyone showers together. (I know I had no worries about dropping the soap but for some reason I made sure I didn't, haha) In the elevator, another random women tried to speak English to me and all she was able to say to me was "Where are you from?" and "Have a nice day." I told her I was from Washington, D.C. and she emphasized the Statue of liberty. (I just agreed because it would be to difficult to correct her).

My co-worker and I picked up my favorite food (triangle sized kimbap) and coffee and walked to school. I tried to speak English to her so that I could be of assistance in strengthening her English but it didn't work out very well. (I am continually being told that I am very nice. I think it is because I don't mind if they have trouble speaking English.) The point of me being here is to help them learn and practive speaking English.

I got to school and thought we were having an activity day but what that meant is we are still teaching but also having a dollar party. I didn't know what I was supposed to be teaching but this time I could definetly wing it. I did review for about two classes and taught a lesson in two other classes. I felt like this time I was really making progress with the kids! Then they would get money for how good of a student they were from the prior months and could buy candy and such. If I asked them "How much is this?" and they answered correctly then they would get a $10 card. (Sorry I did not take any pictures...) All the kids got a korean dish named: 떡볶이= dduck bok ki > (it is a Korean dish that is spicy but delicious).

There was a group of girl where one girl named BeBe spoke VERY GOOD English. I like her a lot. Then there were the two girls (Elle & Jennifer) that try to speak to me everyday. They are around eight years old. They keep telling me I am pretty or cute. The other girl BeBe explained to me that American's have small faces (supposedly). I really enjoyed today because this time I felt like I really was utilized by some of the kids. Some of the kids don't answer me but giggle and shy away. I will try and get this on tape.

Now, time to help the teachers clean....

Last Minute Testing and Teaching

I don't know if you would consider today my fourth day teaching. Let me start from the beginning:

I woke up this morning to a Skype call that partially made my day but also made me miss home. I then met up with two of my Korean co-workers to go to the gym. The gym is called Pop's Italia Gym and it is going to cost me W198,000 for three months or I could pay W90,000 for one month. I agreed to pay W198,000 tomorrow in cash for the three months but now I am thinking I will pay W90,000 for a month and see if I want to continue going there. The gym was VERY different then my gym at home (LifeTime Fitness). It was much smaller and no one runs on the treadmill! All they do is walk! (I would not pay that much for a gym and just walk. I can walk outside for free!) I did a Body Sculpting class which made me realize how out of shape I was. I had tons of endorphins and had to run back to my apartment to change clothes. It's a good thing I ran back because I got a call from my director. She told me she would call back in half an hour for my help for an interview. I had no idea what she was talking about so I waited and got ready in case that meant she was picking me up. My phone rings and it's a gentleman on the phone whom I am to interview to work at GnB. I am to converse with him to distinguish whether or not he can speak English well. He speaks moderatly well but not to the level of a normal American conversation. I would hire him because at least he could understand me where as my co-workers are not exactly able to. Then I get to school late which doesn't matter because my director isn't even here. I am hungry and so I try to ask my co-workers where I could grab some food. They agree to take me to Home Plus Express (Yes, they agreed meaning they didn't understand what I was saying exactly).

We walked to the little food market and I bought some instant noodles (ramen) and some korean Oreo cookies (they were cheaper than Oreos). I came back and relaxed because I was unsure as to what I would be doing today. I was then asked to give my co-workers class their final test. The final test was supposed to take up the whole class time. They didn't do a bad job on the test but it didn't take the whole class time. I didn't know what else to do so I tried to converse with them but there is one kid in that class that will not listen to me. (Same kid, Daniel). About three of the kids told me they do not like English. One was Daniel and I asked him why. He had no response. Thus explains the importance of speaking English. You want to make fun of me or mess with me then learn English!

I retreat to the teachers lounge only to be told that in five minutes I have to teach another class. The class is loud and full of rowdy kids who seem pretty smart. They respond which is what I like. That class made my day. The kids even helped me teach the class. I think they like me.

Next, another last minute teaching assingment to reveiw and test my co-workers class. I am to review the test material for 10 mins and then give them their final test. I reviewed for longer than 10 minutes.... Meaning they only took part of their test which they did very poorly on. I really wanted to help these kids! It was painful to see them fail on something they could do so well if they had extra help or studied.



Maybe I should just put today's behavior by students at looking forward to having a day off for Christmas. I know I am definetly looking forward to sleeping in. It's not like I get to celebrate Christmas here. I'm hoping to find something to do for Chrsitmas and New Years. I don't have that many days off to enjoy. Hoping I can go to Taiwan for New Years, but I have a feeling I may not be able to...



More to come tomorrow!

I then was told that I will be teaching two storytelling books in the beginning of Januaray. I will be teaching four classses that will need to have the stories memorized by the end their last class because they will be presenting the stories to their parents. I guess this will prove whether or not I can teach... Praying I can do a good job and that my kids can learn these story books.