Me and B-Teacher still don't have our schedules, but Beomjoon grabbed me for first period class with the 2nd-graders. I couldn't speak much, so SG2-Teacher told me that I could just introduce myself, then go rest. She's so kind. I had the boys fill out little papers with their name, favorite food and favorite hooby, so I could start creating a master list immediately. I know 2/3rds of 2-1, 2-2 B already! I walked in and they all smiled--these are my kids.
1st period, 8:55-9:40 :
1.
Chaeho
(was in my afterschool, likes naengmyeon and basketball)
2.
Seonghyun (Chaeho’s friend, likes pizza and starcraft)
3.
Yongmoon (little guy, likes cheese and mobile phone games)
4.
Taehyun (grumpy big kid from afterschool, likes kimchi jjigae and Fifa
games)
5.
Minjoon (from last year’s 1-7, 1-8, likes sushi and bowling)
6.
Mingyu
(Chanjin’s buddy, likes ramyeon and games)
7.
Yosep
(my buddy from WinterCamp, likes kimchi fried rice and Fifa 3)
8.
Beomjoon (fun kid, friends with Governor Yunho, just cut his hair,likes to
eat anything and play soccer)
9.
Jungkyo (sits by Beomjoon, likes pizza and bike riding)
10.
Soonhyuk (fun kid, brother to Sooncheon, likes chicken and soccer)
11.
Geonhong (tall kid from Deokryong’s class, smart, likes chicken and
computers)
12.
Daejung (fun kid from Deokryong’s class, likes all food and soccer)
13.
Joonpil (little darling, used to sit with Geonhong, likes chicken and
games)
14.
Hosung (likes pizza and playing)
15.
Chang-ui (likes chicken and games)
16.
Joonhyuk (likes fish and riding bikes)
17.
Sangyeop (likes pork and his hobby is cooking)
18.
Yeongjin (likes pizza and FIfa games)
19.
Yeonwoo (likes the hamburger, fries and coke set from Lotteria, is a really
cool kid who makes flash animations for fun.)
y I chatted with them in my broken voice, asking about their brothers, reminding them that they're good at basketball, commenting on their haircuts, and showing them how to spell their last names in English. It was just 15 minutes, but it was great.
In the hall, Haneul (who carries a bit of a torch for me, ever since I praised his chicken suit at the school festival) broke away from a massive hug-fight with his friend Seongsu to solemnly assure me in perfect English that he likes girls. I knew that much.
Shotputter Jinseong teased me about being late again this morning, even though I got here even earlier! I think my alleged lateness is going to be a running gag between us. This morning, he walked past me on the way to school, conspicuously fixing his hair so that he was blocking his face from me. I laughed and said, "Aren't you going to say hi?" And he turned to smile really big and say hi, seeming glad I hadn't let him pass without a greeting.
-----------------------------------
6 PM: Day was great! My voice is still shot, and after not really having to teach my first class and having a microphone for the second, i had no mic for teaching the 3rd and 4th classes. But we all lived!
I'm teaching 3rd grade A-ban. I didn't want to teach 3rd grade A-ban.... I wanted B. Because last year I taught 1st grade B, 2nd grade B, and 3rd grade B, while only getting 2nd grade A, I asked for one more A-level to teach.
This was because last semester our other native teacher, B-Teacher, taught three A-levels and one B, while I taught three B-levels and one A. B is harder to teach than A because they understand less, and it was my understanding that I was originally supposed to each two A's and two B's.
So I asked the other native teacher, B-Teacher, and our English department people if I could have 1st grade A. B-Teacher was cool with it and the Korean teachers said that was good. Buuuuut the new schedule has me teaching A-level in 1st grade AND 3rd grade, so I've got 3 A-levels and one B, while B-Teacher has three B's and one A--our positions are exactly reversed.
I told him that I just asked for 1st grade, not 3rd, and he said, "Well, we've got to go where they tell us." It seems like he's cool with whoever he's got to teach, but I feel like I took the good classes from him or something. I know I didn't lobby for this many high-ability classes, but that's how it shook out.
Maybe if I ask, they'll switch us back and let me have the lower-level 3rd grades? Ugh, I feel guilty of office-based political plotting, and I don't know why.
Anyhow, the classes were grand like a piano. I had 3-5, 3-6 A and they were precious. Clever Seonwoo and Joker Yoonsung would not stop singing "Joah" quietly, to tease me, and though there were many technical difficulties, we got through the stuff about dream jobs okay.
I have the list somewhere, but this class is awesome. We've got Hyunmyeong, Kyeongbae, Soccer Minwoo, A-class Minwoo, Hyungmin, Byeongjo, Seunggi, Joon, Youngmin, Euigi and others. Ooh! And Afro-Woojae! He leveled up from B into A-ban! You go kid, you go. Don't let nobody keep you down.
Seongtaek was the new kid I met in this class--he cracked a huge smile when the results of his job-personality quiz revealed that he should be a model.
Youngmin said that his hobby was drinking milk.
A-class Minwoo told me his name was Jason Mraz and that I shouldn't sing because he, Minwoo, was better.
Hyungmin said his hobby was playing guitar and beamed while bragging to his friends that I'd said he had a "musician's face".
I don't suppose it should have surprised me, but I was shocked at how much camaraderie and delight we took in each others' company. I was glad to be with the kids and they were glad to be with me. Dude. Could you ask for better?
-------------------------------------------
8 PM: Also, KBR-Teacher told me that I did well, which was nice. She's a big sister to me and I'll never get over wanting her stamp of approval. Today, she held my arm on the way to lunch and advised me on how to take care of my sore throat.
BEHOLD, I taught the 1st-graders! And they were so cute, it hurt to look at them.
For my first ever batch of baby 1st-graders, I had A-level in the English Center. And Mr. B, my co-teacher, couldn't be there because he had to deal with school violence.
So I had the babies and no co-teacher, and a shot voice and no microphone and nobody to turn the smartboard on for me because I don't know the technology. Fortunately, I had some paper-based and whiteboard-based games to do.
The babies were pure silent in the beginning--respectful silence, though. It's their first time seeing me up-close, and maybe they've never interacted with a foreign woman before. They don't know how scary or nice or funny or serious I'll be.
In the end, the consensus was, quite nice and fun indeed. It took forever and a week to get them to understand the rules for human bingo, but once they got it, it took off like wildfire. They were having the time of their lives. The whole room was abuzz with cuteness and little voices asking "Do you___?" I finally got them back into their seats and we counted who got the most bingos.
Then I divided them into teams, with points going to every team for the bingoes their member had made. After which we played Scattergories for the longest time; a game I know that kids go crazy for. When class finally finished, they didn't leave when the bell dismissed them! I had to kind of scoot them toward the door. They were a mix of smiles and humongous smiles. We didn't learn the forms for the week, but we were happy. I can't wait to meet the little ones again.
Also, I think I have my first Thai or Chinese student in the class...he speaks Korean, but he looks slightly different in his facial structure, and his family name starts with a "V" which is not a letter in the Korean alphabet.
At the lunchtime Monopoly game, Hyo was delightful and Jeongmin kept pausing gameplay to make me drink more water and to tell me other things I should do to take care of my cold. He's pretty bossy, but I made sure that I just appreciated what he was doing. He means well, though he does seem to keep trying to be my "oppa" or big brother.
While the 2nd-graders were leaving, Daejeong (one of the ones I like, who I had in class today), passed by me and I tapped his arm to say bye, but he leaned his head over on my shoulder before trotting down the stairs. I asked him if that was a hug and he just smiled.
After all my classes were done, Yonghan came by the office. Yonghan and Dongmin had seen me crossing the bridge yesterday, and Yonghan brought that up, happy that he'd spotted me. Yonghan has always been a kid I knew and even liked, but we never spent much time together, though I do remember him flicking water at me once and me threatening to end him--that was a bonding experience.
So Yonghan was waiting for his friend to get done talking to SG-Teacher, and he looked interested in my Korean homework, so we played a word game, then did a drawing game where we had to guess the animal the other one had drawn. I did fine for a while, until I tried to draw a monkey and Yonghan guessed "Mouse-Dinosaur".
12:00 PM: Next class went well! It was another round of 2nd-graders that I knew. It was my first time working with Y-Ah-Teacher, and it went well. I had a microphone, so I could do the whole class that way. I tried to strike a balance between my own games and working from the book and it went quite fine, so I thought. The 'from the book' part was boring, but it covered the material and the games were frivolous but really enjoyable.
And I was glad to get the kids speaking more. It was just saying long passages out of the book in dialogue form, but they did well and it was a chance for me to actually do what I need to do, which is let the kids talk with their native teacher. They did so much better than expected.
And my beautiful little Yeonghan was in this class! He moved up from C-ban to B! AHHHH! I'm so proud I could burst. When class was over, Sanggyu rolled in and I asked if he had made it to A-ban and he said he had, and I flipped out, high-fiving him and patting his back, telling him how cool he was for leveling up. I love-love-love seeing them succeed.
Here's the class list from 2-3, 2-4 B:
1.
Minsu
(big kid, used to sit by 8-bit Seonghyun, likes chicken, pizza, and computer
games)
2.
Myeong-Ui (left side of the room, blue shirt, smart, likes pizza and games)
3.
Hyunho (my darling Acapella Hyunho!, Pizza, coke, kimchi, fried squid,
plays 3D puzzles)
4.
Kyeongwon
(from Hyunminnie’s class, likes pizza and games, drew a cute squid on paper)
5.
Kibeom (from 1-7, 1-8 B, tall, likes fried squid and rock music)
6.
Yeonghan (My precious boy, moved up from C-ban, likes candy and jelly,
computer games, drew a Facebook ‘like’ icon on his paper).
7.
Heesu (funny kid from Yoodam’s class last year, one I like, enjoys
samgyeopsal and soccer)
8.
Seungyeop (likes pizza and games, can’t write in English)
9.
Geonmo (big kid from my afterschool, likes chicken has no hobbies)
10.
Dong
ha (from Tuesday class, used to have a broke foot, likes chocolate and KFC
chicken and baseball)
11.
Hwanghyuk (likes kimchi jjigae and LOL)
12.
Sangpil (big kid, left side in back, used to be in my Thursday class with
Sanggyu, likes pizza and games, very polite and kind)
13.
____ Minjong
(sleepyhead, used to hang with
Sangwoo, likes to be teased for lying, copied my answers: kimchi jjigae and
softball, until I told him that softball was for women)
14.
Subin (pizza and computer games)
15.
Donggu
(dour-looking face, but quite clever. Engage him more. Pizza and soccer.)
16.
Hyunseop (tiny, I used to teach him, sits up front by Hyunho, samgyeopsal
and basketball)
17.
Yeonghyun (my guy from Tuesday class, loud and fun, always bows, likes rice
and badminton)
18.
Soonwoo (left side of the room, by Younghyun, fun, freckles, quite good
English writing, pizza and soccer)
19.
Woohyuk (my guy who was besties with
Yunho and Beomjoon last year, class leader, super cool, yet good to me,
kimchi jjigae and LOL).
Life's going well. I'm not really prepared for my 1st and 3rd grade classes this afternoon because we didn't have a schedule until now, but we'll make it work. :-)
Saw Sangyeop, my Monopoly-husband in the hall--he wouldn't let me pass without a high five. Good to see you too, buddy. I pointed out that he and Beomjoon had gotten the same haircut.
____________________________________
6 PM: Day was great! My voice is still shot, and after not really having to teach my first class and having a microphone for the second, i had no mic for teaching the 3rd and 4th classes. But we all lived!
I'm teaching 3rd grade A-ban. I didn't want to teach 3rd grade A-ban.... I wanted B. Because last year I taught 1st grade B, 2nd grade B, and 3rd grade B, while only getting 2nd grade A, I asked for one more A-level to teach.
This was because last semester our other native teacher, B-Teacher, taught three A-levels and one B, while I taught three B-levels and one A. B is harder to teach than A because they understand less, and it was my understanding that I was originally supposed to each two A's and two B's.
So I asked the other native teacher, B-Teacher, and our English department people if I could have 1st grade A. B-Teacher was cool with it and the Korean teachers said that was good. Buuuuut the new schedule has me teaching A-level in 1st grade AND 3rd grade, so I've got 3 A-levels and one B, while B-Teacher has three B's and one A--our positions are exactly reversed.
I told him that I just asked for 1st grade, not 3rd, and he said, "Well, we've got to go where they tell us." It seems like he's cool with whoever he's got to teach, but I feel like I took the good classes from him or something. I know I didn't lobby for this many high-ability classes, but that's how it shook out.
Maybe if I ask, they'll switch us back and let me have the lower-level 3rd grades? Ugh, I feel guilty of office-based political plotting, and I don't know why.
Anyhow, the classes were grand like a piano. I had 3-5, 3-6 A and they were precious. Clever Seonwoo and Joker Yoonsung would not stop singing "Joah" quietly, to tease me, and though there were many technical difficulties, we got through the stuff about dream jobs okay.
I have the list somewhere, but this class is awesome. We've got Hyunmyeong, Kyeongbae, Soccer Minwoo, A-class Minwoo, Hyungmin, Byeongjo, Seunggi, Joon, Youngmin, Euigi and others. Ooh! And Afro-Woojae! He leveled up from B into A-ban! You go kid, you go. Don't let nobody keep you down.
Seongtaek was the new kid I met in this class--he cracked a huge smile when the results of his job-personality quiz revealed that he should be a model.
Youngmin said that his hobby was drinking milk.
A-class Minwoo told me his name was Jason Mraz and that I shouldn't sing because he, Minwoo, was better.
Hyungmin said his hobby was playing guitar and beamed while bragging to his friends that I'd said he had a "musician's face".
I don't suppose it should have surprised me, but I was shocked at how much camaraderie and delight we took in each others' company. I was glad to be with the kids and they were glad to be with me. Dude. Could you ask for better?
-------------------------------------------
8 PM: Also, KBR-Teacher told me that I did well, which was nice. She's a big sister to me and I'll never get over wanting her stamp of approval. Today, she held my arm on the way to lunch and advised me on how to take care of my sore throat.
BEHOLD, I taught the 1st-graders! And they were so cute, it hurt to look at them.
For my first ever batch of baby 1st-graders, I had A-level in the English Center. And Mr. B, my co-teacher, couldn't be there because he had to deal with school violence.
So I had the babies and no co-teacher, and a shot voice and no microphone and nobody to turn the smartboard on for me because I don't know the technology. Fortunately, I had some paper-based and whiteboard-based games to do.
The babies were pure silent in the beginning--respectful silence, though. It's their first time seeing me up-close, and maybe they've never interacted with a foreign woman before. They don't know how scary or nice or funny or serious I'll be.
In the end, the consensus was, quite nice and fun indeed. It took forever and a week to get them to understand the rules for human bingo, but once they got it, it took off like wildfire. They were having the time of their lives. The whole room was abuzz with cuteness and little voices asking "Do you___?" I finally got them back into their seats and we counted who got the most bingos.
Then I divided them into teams, with points going to every team for the bingoes their member had made. After which we played Scattergories for the longest time; a game I know that kids go crazy for. When class finally finished, they didn't leave when the bell dismissed them! I had to kind of scoot them toward the door. They were a mix of smiles and humongous smiles. We didn't learn the forms for the week, but we were happy. I can't wait to meet the little ones again.
Also, I think I have my first Thai or Chinese student in the class...he speaks Korean, but he looks slightly different in his facial structure, and his family name starts with a "V" which is not a letter in the Korean alphabet.
At the lunchtime Monopoly game, Hyo was delightful and Jeongmin kept pausing gameplay to make me drink more water and to tell me other things I should do to take care of my cold. He's pretty bossy, but I made sure that I just appreciated what he was doing. He means well, though he does seem to keep trying to be my "oppa" or big brother.
While the 2nd-graders were leaving, Daejeong (one of the ones I like, who I had in class today), passed by me and I tapped his arm to say bye, but he leaned his head over on my shoulder before trotting down the stairs. I asked him if that was a hug and he just smiled.
After all my classes were done, Yonghan came by the office. Yonghan and Dongmin had seen me crossing the bridge yesterday, and Yonghan brought that up, happy that he'd spotted me. Yonghan has always been a kid I knew and even liked, but we never spent much time together, though I do remember him flicking water at me once and me threatening to end him--that was a bonding experience.
So Yonghan was waiting for his friend to get done talking to SG-Teacher, and he looked interested in my Korean homework, so we played a word game, then did a drawing game where we had to guess the animal the other one had drawn. I did fine for a while, until I tried to draw a monkey and Yonghan guessed "Mouse-Dinosaur".
Fair Enough, Yonghan. You Win This Round.
It was just lovely. And tonight when I went out to eat, I saw my graduated former 3rd-grader Goodvoice Kyeonghyun (who is not America Hyunkyeong), who smiled, slowed down his bike and said, "Hi, Teacher!" Sweetness everywhere. Today, a former student came back to visit YSR-Teacher and SG-Teacher, and they both nearly cried, they were so happy. Knowing the graduated boys aren't completely gone is a great comfort to all of us.
------------------------------------------
