Allie's Got Seoul: Round 3

I finished my second term. Halfway through my contract. At times I never thought I’d see the day. But time never stops so I will avoid saying “I can’t believe it’s already…” In all my experience, time has never not moved forward.

Overall, teaching is going well. Work is work…sometimes challenging, sometimes boring, sometimes lots of fun. English grammar can get a bit dull but the students are always entertaining. Mostly, I love living in Seoul and having hours and money that allow me to experience it.

Open classes for parent observation bled right into preparing final student comments and entering final grades into the system. Before I knew it I was burning toaster oven cookies to give to my students on the last day of classes. (Talk about punishment: get kids excited for chocolate chip cookies and then let them taste a toaster oven tragedy. Okay, they weren’t that bad but really…when will I learn that I can’t just substitute any mis-measured ingredient I feel like and expect a perfect cookie?)

It was a busy term and I had to rush through a few books in the last week of classes. Of course the students didn’t get anything out of that, but what was more important was that the books were ‘finished.’ This is how the mothers of Mokdong are appeased. One of the joys of working in private education.

The new term began as quickly as the old term ended. I was ready for some fresh kids (and they were probably ready for a fresh teacher.) A few classes will be missed and a few will definitely NOT be. I love all the kids I’ve taught but I haven’t always enjoyed being their teacher. There’s an astronomically large difference between playing with kids and being responsible for holding their attention spans long enough to teach them something.

The new term has already been eventful. I’ve made three kids cry in four days. What a ratio…that’s what I call good teaching. Alright, let me defend myself. School policy is now giving a daily spelling test…including to several classes who only graduated kindergarten last week. The tests proved a little too stressful for two students. How heartbreaking is that?

As for the third kid, well, maybe I’m a little to blame. I know this guy well as I’ve already been his teacher for three months. When he began to pull his usual shenanigans before class had even started I sent him into the hallway. He was angry and refused to return to class when invited back. And embarrassed because when I explained to his classmates why he was sitting in the hall, he could overhear from the hallway. When the president of the school finds your student crying in the hallway, it doesn’t look too good on you. The three of us had a little powwow in the hallway and made amends. I genuinely feel bad about the way things panned out. I hurt his pride, which only exacerbated his sensitivity to being demoted. However, it was helpful to be directly informed of his circumstances and ADHD issues. The kind of thing you wish happened with every student before a term begins. Oh and how could I forget the most important reason of them all! Since his mom introduces many new students to WILS, it’s of the utmost importance to stay on her good side. Essentially I have to kiss this kid’s butt. Private education yay!

Also exciting this week…a few familiar little faces I thought I had said goodbye to enrolled at WILS. What a great surprise for all of us! They aren’t in my class but I got the best little hugs at break time! They do need to learn how to keep calm and play it cool, though…

And a last highlight, I have a class comprised of my favorite students from three previous classes. This class is da bomb. Great to see these guys again…yet so disconcerting to see them all together!

Anyways, this could potentially be my favorite term yet…I’ll let you know if I end up eating my words. I’m teaching one less class, so a little less money but a little more sanity. My schedule is fairly intense Mon-Wed but by Thursday I can nearly taste the weekend. There’s the college schedule I know and love!