10 AM: First class went well. I had spent several hours preparing a big Bingo game for them and it went pretty well. I put a lot of time into getting their lesson ready, and the Lord blessed. My guys did well.
Soonhyuk continues to be the star of 2-1, 2-2. He's quite articulate with his pronunciation and he knows I love him to death. Sometimes we'll just grin at each other in class, knowing that we're both good. Beomjoon's a handful, but he can do his speaking just fine, too.
C-Jeongmin came by to give me gum and he saw me packaging up a little present for Seonwoo. On Friday, Seonwoo told me it was his birthday, so I was determined to have a present ready for him today. I picked a bag of multi-fruit-flavored Tootsie Rolls and I started writing out a card for him. C-Jeongmin and Seokyoon wanted to know who I was preparing it for. Neither of them is acquainted with him, but I told them he was my afterschool boy last year.
So strange to think that Seonwoo was once completely non-reactive. I knew he was smart, but he didn't want to talk to me or even want to receive compliments. I thought, okay, this kid just doesn't want to have anything to do with the foreign teacher. We've come a long way, to us joking every day and me giving him food on the regular. I can always count on Seonwoo to brighten my mood with his inside jokes.
Yesterday, I went to lunch with KBR and we had such a good time, we talked for two and a half hours. We talked about our faith and about trusting in God. We counseled each other about tough students and gossiped about cute school stuff, such as BY pulling a prank that involved the Office of Education for our entire city. More on that later because it is epic.
KBR also encouraged me by saying that she'd heard kids in the hall talking happily among themselves in Korean, saying "That teacher knows me! She knows my name!" She said it really matters to them. She also said that when the students came to her to find out who their native teacher would be for 3rd grade, the ones who got assigned to me were dancing and celebrating, so it sure does make me feel appreciated.
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11:45 AM: I got the candy to my Seonwoo! He was very happy to get his present and he and others followed me to the office to talk.
He and Minjoon came into the office to chat. They flipped through my book of English poetry and exclaimed over how impossible the words were. Then they started teasing Seunghoon (who is not a big kid) about his weight, then explaining the fat jokes to me in English. I told them to stop being mean, but the jokes were actually pretty witty. I have such a such weakness for cleverness, I really do. I always have to remind myself to follow the moral imperative of the situation, to do the right thing rather than just enjoying the smartness.
Seonwoo also asked, "Teacher, what are we doing in class?" He wants to play games. I hadn't been playing games with the 3rd-graders partly because I thought they were all grown up and done with them, but Seonwoo says otherwise.
I actually think I'm just going to use the "Advice" bingo in 3rd grade because they're learning the same type of thing, and the 2nd graders are LOOOOVING the bingo activity. My last class with NG-Teacher was lovely. I worked out some of the kinks of the game after playing it with SG2 in class this morning. And NG-Teacher was really good at explaining the rules to the kids.
A whole pack of them came downstairs for candy, and I gained a new favorite--Seungyeop is fun and ready to joke and chat a bit.
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7 PM: Day went well. in 3rd-grade class, Seonwoo initiated so much conversation. He asked if I knew a certain Korean guy in town who speaks English well and knows B-Teacher--I said I didn't. I also suggested that maybe he could study in America some day and he said that he wasn't good enough at English. Then when Seonwoo had to write a dialogue with his friend about a "problem" and "advice," he wrote about "do you think I should keep studying English?"
I feel like he really is on the verge of learning a lot more, and he's saying so much to me, I think it's been helpful for his language ability that he has someone he might actually want to ask questions of.
And a couple the kids that come and chat/get candy from me are getting bold enough to talk to B-Teacher, too! Hyunho shocked the life out of me this morning by greeting me, then stepping his tiny little body around my chair to go talk to B-Teacher! He said in clear English, "Hello, B-Teacher. How are you today? Yes, I'm fine, too." O_O Whoa. That is a lot of English and bravery from a B-level 2nd-grader. But Hyunho actually told me that he came within a few point-fractions of being A-ban. I believe him. Hyunho's always been sharp.
Lunchtime Games were good. I was trying to be more appreciative of Jeongmin, since I know I've been pulling away from him lately. I'm so happy to see him overcoming his social problems and mixing freely and happily with the other boys, so I know he doesn't technically need me like he once did, which is good for his growth as a person. I made sure to praise him and thank him a lot.
Also, Kyeongwon seems to want more interaction. During the games, he hung around and asked me in Korean how to say things in English. Duck-Subin is brave and happy during the games. Seongho uses all the English he has to joke with me.
1st-grade class was great. I taught them to sing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. It was hilariously wonderful. New guys in that class are : Juha and Beomseok.
Afterschool was okay. It was hard to herd the kids together for our activity, but we survived. I got some video too--Jaehoon helped me take it. I'm trying to get Eunseong into the class too, now that I have room. I talked to JY, SG2, Eunseong and Eunseong's homeroom teacher, just to let them know that there are spots open, and I'd like to have him if he'd like to come.
I walked home with Dongjoon, a 3rd-grader with virtually no English, who wanted to ask me in detail about why I'm not married, when will I get married, who do I want to marry, etc. For Dongjoon, it is very important that I be established in life. Yeongjoon, one of my A-levels, caught up with us just in time to translate some and to calm Dongjoon down when he assumed I wasn't going to visit my parents for several years. Dongjoon has a lot of moral outrage over not visiting parents, it seems. I told him not to worry.
Also, Hyungmin talked to me in Korean for his entire English class, and I understood him.
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