Open Class

Whew. Open classes are done. But not like I was stressing. hehe I've been dealing with a cold since last week. It was interesting trying to teach in front of the parents when my voice is so hoarse. To sum it up: "Ms. Joanna teacher, are you sick? Your sound is different. I thought you were a man."

Cute Things My Kids Say

1. Yeong-seok: "Hello, vienna teacher." (because my name kind of rhymes with Vienna) He made the connection one day when we ate Vienna sausages for lunch. Now whenever he sees me, he says, "Oh Vienna teacher~ so delicious~"

2. Sang-jun: "Can you Joanna-us?"
Our lesson title was "Can you join us?" and ever since he made the connection, he always says "Can you Joanna-us?"

3. Sae-byul: "cardiovascular disease"
We're learning about symptoms like toothache, headache, etc. I asked the kids if they knew any other words and this boy says "cardiovascular disease." My Korean co-teacher is like: ... What kind of 6th grader knows these kinds of words?

4. The same boy who said "cardiovascular disease" says "Teacher, do you go to church? Why do you believe? I don't understand." Umm... you want me to talk about faith and theology with you right now? Lol.

My Kids

I had the Monday blues so I really didn't want to come into work today. But my kids made me happy. Reasons why I like my kids:
- They're cute.
- They love to play.
- They smile to themselves when I compliment them in front of the whole class.
- They laugh at my jokes.
- They're creative.
- They're smart.
- They love attention.
- They get happy when I remember their individual names.
- They greet me excitedly every time I see them.
- They're happy.
- They don't hold grudges.
- They smile a lot.
- They're innocent.
- They forget to call me "Ms. Joanna" and call me "teacher" instead because old habits die hard.
- The boys get super excited if I talk about PC rooms.
- The girls get super excited if I talk about Kpop singers.
- They all get super excited if I talk about food.
- They all get super excited at the word "game."

My kids remind me why I'm still in Korea. I'm thankful for this experience. 

Funny Things My Students Say

1. I was letting the 6th grade girls who clean our classroom choose a candy.
Girl 1: 이건 뭐에요?
Her friend (scoldingly): 영어로 말해야지 (You have to speak in Korean.) This what is?
Me: You mean WHAT IS THIS?
All of us burst out laughing.

2. Yedam Bang's cover of "Baby" on Kpop Star: One of my classes wanted to listen to this song. I think it's popular among the kids because the whole class loved it.

This brother-sister duet is popular too.

Today

Today, I am a proud teacher. I should be a proud teacher every day, so I will say that I am an especially proud teacher today. My students just really made my day with the things they did today. One class almost made me tear up (good tears). So, keep on reading if you want to know what the excitement is all about!
The boys in my first class made me cheese. It was an excellent way to start my day. My co-teacher added a new activity to their daily routine. Every day before class starts, the English class leader will come up to the computer and play a short story for the class. They listen to the story. Then, they hear the story in a chant/rap version and the students are supposed to follow along. The point is to practice their speaking. The story we started with is really, really easy for my 6th graders. To spice the chant up, the boys in the class started to shout "hey" after each line. Some of them even raise their arms with each "Hey!" The first time we read the story, only a couple of the boys shouted, "Hey!" My co-teachers gave them stickers to encourage them. This time, all of the boys shouted, "Hey!" She asked the students to raise their hands if they shouted, "Hey!" Then, she asked them if they had done it in hopes of getting something....All of the boys looked at us with hopeful smiles. Man, if it was me, the owners of those cute smiles would have all gotten stickers!! But no stickers were given out today...I think I was more disappointed than the boys.
In my next class, I have a male student who I'm training.... to bring his pencil (umm..this is one of my 6th graders). The first time he brought his pencil without me forcing him to go back to his homeroom to get it, I sneaked him a sticker. He didn't bring it the next time, but these days, he's been bringing it to every class! And on top of that, he volunteered today! It made me the happiest/ proudest teacher to call on his raised arm.
We'll skip over my next class because they were just rowdy. Period
In my last 6th grade class, I got the cherry on top of my wonderful ice-cream sundae. My co-teacher played a rock, paper, scissor game with the whole class. It was her against the whole class, and the students had to sit down as they lost. Pretty soon, there were only two boys left standing. One of the boys standing has minor mental retardation. (He stays with his class for all subjects, but also takes Special Ed. classes.) All of his classmates started cheering for him: "Minchul, you have to win!" "Go, Minchul!" I almost got teary. It was a heart-melting sight. Even during the game, I had noticed that his tablemates were helping him. He was going to sit down because he didn't want to stand awkwardly, but his tablemates told him that it was okay for him to stay standing.
Heart warming goodness! I love days like today.

Back from Winter Break

On Sunday night, all I could think about was, "I can't believe winter vacation's already over! I can't believe I have to be on time for work tomorrow. I can't believe I start work again tomorrow." School has been in session for three days now and honestly, it's not really "in session." (The seven days of school between winter vacation and spring vacation are mainly dedicated to sending off our 6th grade graduates.) My co-teacher was smart and had us finish the book material before we went on vacation. So, we've been having fun talks with the students about their vacations, handing out end-of-the-year gifts, and spending a majority of the class time watching a movie! The rest of the day is dedicated to doing whatever I want to do! All right! Actually, It's getting boring. The other GEPIK teachers I've talked to are bored too. I've exhausted facebook, playing games on yahoo, checking my email, catching up on the news, etc. I think I'll take a book tomorrow.

Today, one of my favorite 5th graders told me he's moving to Daegu. No more dancing boy at my school anymore; No more Minseok to brighten my day. I'm really bummed... During winter vacation, I was telling Jessica that I don't like change. I get attached to my situation (especially to the people around me). I don't even have the best relationship with Mr.Han, but I was still a little sad to hear that he's not going to be an English teacher in the new school year. I might freak out if Dong Eun isn't my co-teacher anymore...

I also learned that my school is changing the entire English system for the new school year. I'm teaching different grade levels, and 5th and 6th graders are having three periods of English each week. It's a big change, considering they used to have two periods of English. This means I'll have to teach 24 hours each week (woohoo overtime pay, but boo more work). It also means I have to fit the extra English periods into my schedule, so there will be days when I'll have to teach without breaks in-between periods. It also means Jessica and I will have different lunch times certain days of the week. On a side note, I recently realized that I always use the pronoun "we" now. I'm trying to kick the habit, but it shows how much time I spend with Jessica! It's going to be a sad separation when our contracts are over. I can't believe I'm almost halfway through.

Random Mentionables About Teaching in Korea

My co-teacher is really beautiful. One of my first impressions of her was that she's really expressionless, which made her seem really mysterious to me. I'm getting to know her now, so I’ve seen a few different sides of her, but yesterday, I saw my co-teacher in the most excited state I've ever seen her (think Gollum when he found the Ring): One of my 6th grade classes came in, ranting about wanting to change seats. She decided to change their seats for them and while she reassigned new seats, she had them practice writing key words and definitions. During those 30 minutes, the class was SUPER quiet, which is really strange for this class. She turned around and looked at me with the most excited Gollum-like expression and said, “I want to make them write every day.” I was being slow and said, “Huh?” She said, “They’re so quiet.” Oh~~ hahahah My co-teacher is so cute. I still giggle when I think about her facial expression. In a way, this story is very sad. She got so excited just bc the class was quiet…

I love the alpha females in my 6^th grade classes. They keep their male table-mates in check! If their table-mates aren’t doing their work, I see them tapping their worksheets and telling them to hurry up. ^_^ They always participate. If their teams lose a point because of their teammates, they get pissed. They get their table-mates to open their books. Girl power, anyone?

My 5^th graders changed seats today. I’ve noticed that students thrive, depending on where they are sitting and who they are sitting with.

My 5^th grade classes played a Harry Potter game, so we had Harry Potters and Lord Voldemorts. One of my dramatic male students half-jokingly said, “I want to be Hermione” while he cupped his cheeks with his hands. hahaha I love him! He loves dancing too. Jessica walked into my classroom and walked in on him doing a booty dance and slapping his butt. She just…walked out. He’s feminine, but the other kids don’t make fun of him! Doesn’t that rock?! I could see him thriving in theatre. We’ll see what he’s like in a few years. :-)

One of my 6th grade boys is such a gentleman! I love chivalry- even in a 6th grade boy. I've always liked this student because I can see that he has leader-like qualities. He always helps to calm the class down. And when I do a clapping routine to get their attention, he's always the loudest to "answer" back. I learned that he is the class president, and it made sense to me because the role suits him very much. I've secretly really liked this student for a while, but I saw him do something in the lunchroom that is worth publicizing!: In Korea, the classes go to lunch together and sit together. The boys are first in line and then the girls are in the back. He sat down at the table with his class and started to eat. But, one of the shy female students came to their table. There were no seats left on that side, so she stood behind him, not knowing what to do. He noticed her, stood up, told her to sit down at his seat, and walked over to a seat on the other side of the table. Such chivalry! 착하다~

Freaky...

Do you ever get an eerie feeling after seeing a person?? Maybe that person has a creepy stare, or you just get a bad vibe from that person? I usually trust what my gut tells me, especially when it comes to choosing whether I should trust a person or not. I think the Holy Spirit really aids me. Well, today in class, I got that feeling! Don't worry; it's not a scary story. My co-teacher was leading the class in review exercises, so I was walking around the classroom. I stood in the back, leaning against a block and noticed two boys fooling around. I shhsed them and they turned around to see who had shhsed them. I distinctly remembered seeing one of the boys in a different class. My first reaction was, "What are you doing in this class???" Then, he seemed different to me and I started to get creeped out... I kept staring at him... I confirmed to myself, "Yes, Johnna, this is the same face. So then what is he doing here? Shouldn't he be in class?" I started to think, "Maybe he has a twin?" Later on in the class, I found some free time to ask my co-teacher, "Does he have a brother." She asked me, "Why." I said, "He looks like another one of our students." She tells me, "Yes, he has a twin in the other 5th grade class. His name is Mingyu. His brother's name is Mingoo." I was amazed! She laughed at me. Then, she told the whole class that I had noticed that Mingyu is a twin. I went to Mingyu and started to tell him about MY twin sister. heheehe Now, I know how weird it is for people who know me to see Elis, or vice-versa. Very trippy~~ I felt like a bad teacher because it took me 2 months to notice I had the same face in two of my classes each week, but my co-teacher seemed to think it was an early observation. My goal is to learn each of my students' names by the end of the year! I have 4 more months to learn about 330 names...... :/ Anyways, they're both such cuties :-)

On a Friday Afternoon

This week has been crazy: The school faculty played volleyball three days this week (On Thursday, another school came to play an actual game.). I’ve been having a hard time waking up all week. The students took midterm exams on Friday, so the class schedules were adjusted. And all week, my students have been more talkative than usual and more disruptive. I didn’t know what was going on because even the classes that are normally good were acting up. On Thursday, I was talking about it with Jessica (the other native English teacher) and I found out that her students have been crazy all week too! It made me a little relieved. Then, I started thinking, “Maybe my students are getting used to me…They were behaving well because I was still new, but now that I’m a familiar face, they are letting themselves get comfortable.” Just as I started to brainstorm disciplinary ideas in my head, my co-teacher brought it up! During one of our classes, she asked the students, “Why are you guys so talkative today? Are exams stressing you out?” I thought, “Oh my gosh! She’s right!” It was like an epiphany! I guess my co-teacher knew by her teacher instinct…? After our last class, all of the English teachers at the school talked about it in our office. Apparently, all of the students have been wild all week. Since the students finished their exams today and will have a weekend to have some fun, they should be settled down on Monday, right? Let’s hope so. :--)

This week, I finally got internet and cable TV at my place. I’m blogging from school, but I feel so happy knowing I could do it from home. Hehe Lately, I’ve been reminding myself to give thanks. The first 2-3 weeks in Korea were really rough and I was full of nothing but bitterness. It was very easy to complain and to question, but very hard to say thank You. After 2-3 weeks of this, I knew my attitude had to change. It was obvious that I was not fully surrendering to God and with that attitude, it would be hard to enjoy Korea. So, I started to pray a prayer of thanksgiving every night. I prayed over everything, even minor details. It’s been about a month since I started to do this and I know it’s helping: It reminds me to love the Korean teachers. It reminds me to love life. It reminds me that I live for His glory.  

Thank You for my new bed.

Thank You for my new TV.

Thank You for my new AC remote.

Thank You for my co-teacher who is just wonderful and so accommodating!

Thank You for showing me that I’m not the only English teacher who struggled here.

Thank You for all the friends I met at GEPIK orientation!

Thank You for Jessica’s honesty.
Thank You for transforming me in the small month I’ve been here.

Thank You for my internet connection and my cable TV.

Thank You for TV다시보기 so that I can catch up on my Korean dramas. Haha

Thank You for my first care package. ㅜ.ㅜ (완전 surprise and 감동.)

Thank You for the random phone calls from my relatives who call to “see if anything’s going on.”

Thank You for the variety in the delicious school lunches. ^__^

Thank You for helping me to love my students.

Thank You for allowing me wisdom and discernment each and every day I teach.

Thank You for my first paycheck. Haha

Thank You for giving me money when I go on business trips. (I did not know this until it showed up in my bank account. Plus, business trips are fun because you get to go home as soon as your business is done. Woohoo!)

Thank You for cleaning supplies.

Thank You for the wonderful Korean teachers I share the office with.

Thank You for all of the foreigners in my neighborhood! (Some teachers don’t have any in their neighborhoods. We have about six!)

Thank You for bringing Diana relatively close to me.

Thank You for BJ gsn. He reminded me of the grace I had forgotten.

Thank You for Heejeong because I feel less lost with a close friend nearby.

Thank You for reminding me how much I appreciate friends and family back home.

Thank You for protecting me.

Did you guys notice the first 3? Oh YEAH~~ Dad is good. <3

Quotes of the Day

In my 5th grade classes, we are learning -ing verbs. Today was the first part of the lesson, so I had to teach them grammar. (Ewwww.) Native English speakers don't even like learning grammar! It's a big headache to learn and to teach. The first time I lectured on grammar went horribly: All the kids had blank stares and the class was SO quiet. Today's lecture went better though. I had more pictures and interaction. Plus, I had them write the rules down to keep them busy. ^^
Oops! I was trying to blog in-between classes and I forgot the quotes, except for one. I was teaching a class "come--> coming" and one of my examples was "comeing."  I asked them, "Is this right?" I asked them, "Why is it wrong?" They said, "the 'e'~~." I said, "What about the 'e?' One of the students yelled, "trash 'e'!" TRASH e?? puahahha My co-teacher and I had a good laugh in our office about that.
My students were so funny today, but too bad I don't remember what they said. Today was a fun teaching day. One of those days when the lesson I planned is effective, the students are attentive, and I'm smiling a lot!