Teaching Moments

Some teaching moments I've had over the past several weeks.

- Pulled a thumbtack out of a student's ear. He wanted an earring. Really?!?

- Got confused when a student told me she had a "Cope-y." Yeah...that's a nosebleed in Korean. Figured it out pretty fast though!

- Made a student write down 3 reasons for why calling other students trash is a bad thing. She could only come up with two. -__-

- Had a mother of one of my 7th graders come up to me today and thank me for helping her child study and learn English. She said he talks about me all the time. Made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

- Had a girl student slam down her pencil case in frustration when she didn't finish her word search before class. Apparently, candy is a strong motivator. =)

Things my students say part III

Hi everyone! Fluke and I got new glasses!! (Post about that later...) and since my new glasses are much different than my old ones, I had some pretty funny reactions from my students. 


Student reactions on my first day of wearing my new glasses...


Student: Oh, teacher! new glasses!
Me: Yes! I have new glasses. Do you like them?
Student: Yes, of course! They look like mine :)


S: Oh! (points to glasses) Nice! (thumbs up)
Me: Thank you!


S: Oh, Jennipa teacha...you have new glasses.
Me: Yes!
S: talks in Korean to friends...and doesn't say anything else to me :)


S: Teacher! Why new glass?
Me: Why do I wear new glasses?
S: Yes.
Me: I wanted new glasses...and now I see better!
S: Oh... Good!


S: Looks at me for an awkward amount of time trying to figure out what is different....and then walks away.


S1: (points to glasses) glass? (looks to friend)
S2: new glass? (S1 and S2 look to S3)
S3: New glasses!
Me: Yes! I have new glasses! (I knew they would figure out what to say, so I waited for them to figure it out together)


Ok...that's all the ones I can remember! Because the students come to my classroom, I am able to welcome them at the start of every class. I always say, "good morning!" or "hello!" A few of the students and I have special routine greetings. Because I welcome the students this way and they are used to it, whenever they want to tell me something, or ask me something, they have the opportunity to do so before the bell rings. When they noticed my new glasses, they were able to speak enough English/use body language to have a short conversation. Overall, my favorite conversations are when a small group of students work together to say what's on their minds. Between 2-3 of them, they are always able to tell me what they want or ask me their question. It makes me feel good too because they work so hard to tell me in English instead of going to my Korean co-teacher for help to translate. 


I always learn something from the students during the conversations too. In the past two days, I've realized that the students need to learn the word... "glasses!" ^-^*


And here's a pic of us in our new glasses!

Today Was a Good Day Volume III

Well...it wasn't really today, but I didn't have time to write about it on that day, so here it is now! Today was a good day volume III:


I have this particular class of 5th graders who, let's just say, are very difficult to teach. They are usually 5-7 mins late to class (not really their fault), which makes my lesson more rushed. When I only have 40 minutes, being 5-7 minutes late (plus 1 minute to get seated and organized) is a significant time to lose. They are a noisy bunch so it takes me (and my co-teacher) longer to get through the required textbook exercises (really boring, but apparently necessary to learning English). They know when they finish the textbook exercises, there is a game/activity. Yet, they still take forever to do the textbook exercises. Basically, this class is challenging in many ways. The part that is significant to why this day was a good day, is the part where...they walked into class 4 minutes early. Yes, I looked at the clock because I was SHOCKED they were early.


I always have a short interesting/entertaining video to show classes when they arrive to my classroom early. Some classes are always early (because in the previous period they were only next door and not in P.E. or a classroom 2 buildings away) and after giving them a couple minutes of playing/chatting/whatever it is those boys do, I start a video. Some students choose to talk quietly, go to the bathroom, or whatever. For the most part, all the students want to watch the video. 


Let's just say...this particular class hasn't seen a video in months. So when they walked in early, I said, "everyone sit down...I have a fun video to watch!" They looked at me like I was crazy...they weren't really sure what I meant. I pressed play on the "art with sand video" (Check them out--they are amazing) and watched the students watching the screen. The entire class was focused on the screen. They were quiet. They were entertained.  The best part is...when the video finished...I told them, "I always have a video before class. If you come to English class early, you can watch a video." Then the bell rang. We started class right on time. They finished the textbook exercises in record speed and efficiency. I gave them a "+1" on their class point chart for being such a good class. They had plenty of time to play the game. It was an amazing class. I reminded them that when they come to English class early, they get to watch a video. 


Cross your fingers that the next time I teach this class, they are at least 2 minutes early.

Happy Pepero Day!!!

Today is November 11th in Korea, which means that...it's Pepero Day! Pepero is a type of candy that is really popular here. And I can't honestly tell you what or why it is celebrated as a holiday here. It's sort of like, one of those holidays that are celebrated, but not a National holiday. Anyway, I'm not really sure how it works, but basically, teachers get a ton of pepero candy, and so do students? 

For Pepero day, Jenn made out good. She got a ton of Pepero from her students, and even had some of her students asking her for Pepero. Which is why I'm not sure which way it is supposed to go! Regardless, here is a pic of just HALF of the Pepero candy that she received. Pretty nice huh? 

However, since I work at a Middle school, I was preparing myself to get absolutely no Pepero. Probably because I'd heard from some of my other friends who had been here last year that Middle school and up usually get no love. Middle school kids are too "cool" to give Pepero on Pepero day. Anyway, long story short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of Pepero I got! Check it out! Nice huh? So...Happy Pepero day. Just thought I'd share this new Holiday with you all, and hey, I'm probably going to celebrate this back when I get home. Because I LOVE Pepero!!! :)

Also, not to forget Veterans day back home, much thanks and appreciation for all the Veterans back in the USA today! 


*Update: So, after talking to my co-workers, Pepero day is also a day where the boys get their girlfriends/crushes a really elaborate Pepero construction. Seriously. I'll try to find a pic later, but some of them are arranged in flower bouquets or mini-houses of Pepero.


Also, teachers apparently really dislike Pepero after Pepero day, because students give them so much. At the same time, some students will ask for Pepero too (knowing that teachers will have a surplus), so the Pepero flow goes both ways. And lastly, Pepero day has been known to be banned at some Elementary schools b/c the Principal is well, just no fun. 

Jinju Lantern Festival October 2011

Let's talk Jinju. Now, you may or may not remember, but Jenn and I have gone to a Lantern festival already. It was in Seoul, and it was pretty awesome. It was basically a big parade at night, down one of the main streets, and incredibly long. So what makes Jinju different? It's a lantern festival, on water! Yup, basically it consisted of a bunch of lanterns, floating in a river, in Jinju. 

It sounded pretty cool, so Jenn, me, and some of our friends headed down there for the weekend. When we got there, we were pretty much overwhelmed at the insane amount of lanterns. Not only were there lanterns in the water, there were lanterns all along the riverside, lanterns in the temple, and lanterns on the street! There were so many things to see and do. And for once, there were a variety of eats! Not to get down on Korea, but at pretty much every festival we've gone to, they offer the same kinds of food. In the beginning, it was awesome getting a corn dog with french fries. But when we saw it at every single festival? Along with 5 or 6 other main dishes? Nah. Not as awesome. But here, they had Vietnamese and Japanese food! 

Some highlights of our day:
- We made a lantern and put some of our wishes on it!

- At night, we lit them and floated them on the river.

- We saw some sweet lanterns. Disney, Comic book characters, random movies, UNICORNS (What?).

- The lantern tunnel. During the day, and during the night. Awesome!

- Our hotel! Right next to the river, and about a 5 minute walk to the main festival area. Lotte Motel. Highly recommend it!


- Made some personalized stamps! Mine said "Ati Teacher" and Jenn's said "Jennifer Teacher."


- Firework show above the water 

- And of course, the lanterns lit up at night were amazing. I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at them.


After one day and night there, we headed back home to Daegu. It was a great weekend! 

Today Was a Good Day Vol. 2

Hi everyone! This is my first "Today was a good day" blog entry! Enjoy :)


I have a student who last semester was extremely difficult to control and this semester, still refuses to do anything, but is more quiet about it. Today I said, "Please open your book to page 132." I know he understands me. He opens his book and then says, "No, teacher. I won't do." Instead of *trying* to make him complete the exercises by staying beside him the entire time, I decide to do something new. I looked at his drawings on the inside of his torn book cover. I asked, "What's this?" He proceeds to tell me all about the monsters. I ask him to name the body parts, to count the body parts (I think there were 6 arms and 3 eyes???) and to label his monsters. We have a short conversation about his life. (I knew his living situation was far from ideal.) And he told me he is happy living with his grandparents (I don't know what exactly happened to his parents, except that under their care, he was not happy.) He walks to school (like most of the students) and has breakfast every morning.


I always knew that connecting with students and having meaningful conversations with them is the best way to motivate and teach them. Until today, I had not done that with this child. I'm embarrassed to admit this because it should have happened much, much earlier in the school year. Anyway, later in the period, during a partner creative writing activity, his partner asked me how to spell a word. I always ask the students to try to spell the word first and then I will help them. Well, this boy blurted out the correct spelling! (For a difficult word too!!!) Partners are supposed to help each other and learn from each other. Until this activity, I had never seen this boy be a "partner" or participate in a cooperative learning activity voluntarily. No, I don't think he will suddenly do all the textbook exercises without being prompted. No, I don't think he will suddenly be volunteering and raising his hand all the time. BUT, I do hope that his participation improves and he has more of a desire to learn English. I look forward to the next time I teach him. I wonder what short 2-minute conversation I will have next time???

Today was a Good Day Vol.1

I thought I'd try something new and maybe start a series of posts about a good day that Jenn or I have had. It'll give us a little break from writing about our super awesome weekends, and give you guys a little more info about what goes on in our lives daily. Let's begin!


Today was a good day,
                 I started off the morning with a nice cup of coffee, and had my favourite 7th grade girls class. I taught them how to use the "Would you like to ______" phrase, and then we played a Pokemon review game about it. They were really into it, and were shouting out Pokemon names and yelling "oooh, so cute!" every time they saw Pikachu. It was definitely a great way to start the morning. After their class, I had 2nd period with one of my 8th grade boys classes. They are one of my favourites, and I had a good time teaching them, "What's the matter? My blah blah blah." I always like my 8th grade boys, because even though they can get a little rowdy sometimes, they always have the most energy and enthusiasm out of all my classes. The trick is to get them to focus all that energy and enthusiasm into learning English.  After 2nd period, our school had an English festival for the next two hours. I judged a student presentation contest, in which they made awesome powerpoints and speeches about what they wanted to do with their future. (Mostly awesome. Haha). One student even talked about a popular PC game called Minecraft which I thought was really creative! 
                  After a solid lunch with corndogs (nice!), I had 5th period off so I used that time to prep for next week. Ok. So really, I used that time to relax and do some Fantasy Football. Which was so much more important! Hehe. Then in 6th period, I got to play a music trivia game with some more of my 8th grade boys. I was a little nervous at first because I thought boys wouldn't be as into music as my girls classes were, but they loved it! It's probably one of the benefits of having an all-boys/girls class? The boys can be boys, and not have to worry about acting "manly" all the time for the girls. School gets out in an hour, and after grading a couple newspaper articles, I should be able to use the rest of my time to just relax and maybe grab a cup of  coffee. All in all, not a bad day at the office! 

One of the few pics I have of me teaching!