11:00 AM: First classes went well. Got 3 new names for the 1st-grade class of 1-1, 1-2: Soonhyuk (brown bowlcut), Joonseo (cute, huge eyes), Sangho (tall, funny, fights a lot).
We had a fun class and they were very into the game. I enjoyed spending time with them and while most of the boys were crowding around the computer, I had the chance to speak to some others and finally get their names. I look forward to classes where I have more names, and now I feel like this class will be more of a favorite. I already like them--we just needed a more personal connection.
2-3, 2-4 A was lovely. BY's in there, and any class with him is going to be fun. They loved the game and they did better at it than any previous class. A-Class-Minwoo was chosen to be the representative for his team and play the game, but he was so nervous he flew out of his seat and let Hojin take his place.
After class, BY showed me another magic trick with cards, and Peter-Pan-Taehoon and Loud-Hyunmyeong came in to watch. It was so much fun and BY loves an audience. During class he was telling the boys what I was saying, then he turned to me and said, "I'm such a great translator, aren't I?" Brag on, little magician, brag on.
Started teaching "Heart and Soul" to Byeongsu, and got Jaehyung to help. Jaehyung was actually teaching Byeongsu the song when I left class.
The 1st-grader who keeps proposing marriage gave me an orange-flavored sucker today--you know, in lieu of a diamond. But you can't eat diamonds, so I feel like I got a good deal. His name is Heejoon and he's super-brave.
And I do realize that I was being unfair to class 3-3, 3-4 B, yesterday. I expect everyone to treat me like the diva that I am, and if they don't fall over in adoration, I feel slighted. I was upset at those boys for not being interesting and for not being interested in something I worked to put together for them. I put in the effort, therefore they should appreciate it. Not so.
Next class with them, I'm not going to worry about entertaining them because that would just be setting myself up for another bad attitude if they don't deliver the reaction I want. It's okay if they don't want to learn English and if they don't want to have fun with the games. Maybe it can just be enough for me to be with them and try to learn their names and talk to them instead of trying to dazzle them with cool stuff. I should love them. God loves them. I should view them the same way, not as reflections of how well I'm doing at my job.
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1 PM: My sweet Saturday-Jeongmin brought three of his 1st-grade A-class friends by my office to play the forest game. Apparently, the 1st-grade A-class has been gossiping about the game and Jeongmin told them that he could get them hooked up with an opportunity to play, since I don't teach the A-class and they won't have a chance to see the game other wise.
We played for 10 minutes and it made me the last teacher to eat lunch, but it was worth it to let the boys have some extra fun. Jeongmin just offered instructions to the others--he still thinks the game is too scary to play. And it was so brave of them to come into the office, because they had to explain themselves to the Principal and Vice-Principal, both of whom wanted to know why the boys were keeping me from lunch. We explained that it was only going to take 10 minutes, and all was well.
2-9, 2-10 B was really fun. Sangwoo's name is actually Sangwoon, and I've got a new boy's name--Athletic Woonki. The boys had a great time with the game, and there was a really sweet moment with Huge-Eyes Jeonghee.
Jeonghee is a darling kid, but he usually sleeps through class. In most classes this week, the boys will crowd around the computer while we play the forest game. For the past few days, I've gotten used to being surrounded by the boys like we're at a standing-room-only concert, just a few pushes away from being a mosh pit, and it hasn't been awkward; just companionable.
But Jeonghee took things a step further--he laid his head over on my shoulder for the longest time. Jeonghee's one of the boys that's still a child at heart, so I let him do it. Some of the kids his age are already more like men, but Jeonghee simply seemed to need someone comforting to lean on.
Need-You-Junho would be one example of a boy in the older-thinking category. He saw me in the hall earlier and said, "Leigh-Teacher! My...girlfriend!" Then he came into my last class at the end and smilingly announced, "Leigh. You my girlfriend. Understand?" I can't be your girlfriend, Junho--I'm already engaged to a 1st-grader and I have the orange-flavored sucker to prove it.
Played post-lunch UNO with the usual crowd, plus We-Are-the-World Dongyeong, minus Jinhwan. Yeonghyo tells me that he has a younger brother named Yeongbin, who goes to this school and is in 2nd grade, but Yeonghyo doesn't know whether his brother is A-ban, B-ban or C-ban, and doesn't know if I teach his kid bro or not. I...that's kind of weird not to know which class your own brother is in, isn't it? Dongyeong has an older sister and Inhak has two older sisters. We had a good game. They asked what state I was from and I drew them a map on the chalkboard.
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3:40 PM: 3-1, 3-2 B was dreamy. Could I have had better 3rd-graders? I think not. They were all up in the game and moved as one being to the front rows so they could watch it play out and shout advice. Hyunbin and Dongyeong played mostly, and some others joined in, and they collected 5 out of 8 pages--the most any class has done within the game so far. Some of them hung around afterward to gossip with/about me and where they had seen me in town and when they'd seen me. I wanted to hug them all for being so special.
Played UNO in the special needs room. Am teaching C-class Jeongmin and Spritely Yeognchang how to play Canon in D--will get to the other boys soon.
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6:15 PM: Afterschool was fine. Sunbin transferred out and I got a new kid called Myeongkeun. I fed everybody nachos, and three bags full were sufficient for my boys, but not sufficient enough for the extra twelve boys that piled in at the end. One of the big, rowdy C-class boys told me he was hungry, and all I had to give him was candy.
Byeonghun proudly told me about a piano competition he played in, today. He thinks he won, but he won't know the results for a few days. I told him I was proud.
Hyun asked me to type in the forest game in English, so he could play it on his phone. They're really enjoying it, lately.
Seongyeol fed me one of the dumplings his mother sent with him. And he told me....that he's C-class. C. Class. I finally asked him today because after 2 months of teaching, I finally established that I don't see Seongyeol in any of my 2nd-grade classes. Gosh, and in those early weeks I was rattling off so much English at him, thinking that he and all the other boys were English geniuses.
Oy, I was so ignorant. I wish I had known how little they know. But now I see how boys like Seongyeol and Jinseop bloom with a little love and time.
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