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!
Fun times with EFL 9 girls.
"I love you, teacher! Goodbye!" Rose knows she's funny...
Thank you EU3 for being a fun and disciplined class.
If all classes were as awesome as you, I'd consider teaching in the longer run...
Spelling tests are hard!
I like to encourage creative behavior but there are limited ways of spelling "eraser"
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