playground moments

Life has been rather hectic with school changes, weekend travel, and a teacher's conference at Jeju-do, a Korean island to the southeast of the main peninsula. But in the midst of the chaos, I have a couple of stories from teaching. Enjoy!!

There are two girls in my sixth grade class who have taken to giving me random pieces of candy, or chilling in my room during school breaks. They are delightful to chat with, despite my having to request that they do not practice the recorder while I am lesson planning. One of the girls came up to me after one class and gave me this following picture. It definitely made my day!!


A couple of days ago, after a particularly trying class, I was frustrated with certain circumstances. I figured maybe I could just go hang out with my first graders, who were playing on the school's jungle gym. The students were very surprised that "Miss Joelle" was coming outside and made a big deal over my sun glasses (which I let them try on). I had flashbacks to elementary school when I climbed on the jungle gym with the kids and did flips on the pull-up bars. Let's just say that doing flips on the bars is a little more painful now....

A final fun moment with my students this week was when I brought my frisbee to school. I grabbed a couple of my not-so-obedient second graders and taught them how to throw (and say the name of) a frisbee. Hopefully some of that camaraderie will carry into our next class together.

Right now, life is great. I love my students, my host family, and my friends. I am super-excited that the weather is getting warmer (yay for spring!!) and the flowers are making an appearance. We will see what the next couple of months have in store.

first week teaching pictures!

The first week of teaching has certainly had a few ups and downs!! Here are photos that can tell a couple of stories. 

This semester, I got desks and chairs for my classroom:

The structure this provides for the students has helped considerably in class discipline issues.

Much of my first couple of days was spent preparing my classroom for the year. Arranging the white board:

Creating posters:

And printing/laminating/cutting the flashcards to use for the first couple of units:

 

(On a small tangent-these flash cards are from mes-English.com, an incredible site for flash cards, BINGO boards, phonics activities and tons more. English teachers, check it out!)

I have also been having tons of fun with my students.

Here are some first graders playing a "make-the-letter" game (gotta love TPR):

My first through fourth graders all made name tents where I helped them write their English names. I then took pictures of the students with their name tents so that I might be able to learn my kids' names.

Some cooperated for the picture:

And some did not:

 

 This week has been incredibly productive compared to my last semester teaching. So while there have still been rough patches, I am better equipped to deal with them!

I have even had time to make a paper flower bouquet for my desk (thanks for the lesson Alanna), although my students keep asking if they can have the flowers...

Happy Friday!

back in the classroom

March has come and with it my second semester of teaching at Galsan Elementary School! After a glorious two month break during which I went home to Montana for a couple of weeks, ran an English camp, traveled in Korea, and participated in a Korean language class, I have come back to a school filled with changes. To begin with, I now have a new principal, vice principal, and coteacher. Approximately fifty percent of the school staff has changed, so while I miss some of the old teachers, it is exciting to see new faces during lunch at the school caf.

I finished last semester a little burnt out on teaching and running low on creativity for my lesson plans. For the last several weeks, however, I have been brainstorming new activities and games and have been antsy to see my students again. This only intensified as the school start date approached. In Korea, students change grades at the beginning of the calendar year instead of in the fall. This means that all of my second graders from last year are now third graders and so on and so forth. My goal for this first week of teaching has been to maintain a firm and strict attitude, keeping a very controlled classroom environment. Now, I had this same goal at the beginning of last semester, but at that point I did not know what to expect from my students (or myself!). Accompanied with my newly enhanced Korean language skills, my confident teaching persona has been met with success.

The greatest teaching change this semester will be working with a coteacher. Last year, the homeroom teachers were occasionally in the classroom to help with discipline, but the responsibility for planning and executing lessons fell to me. Now I will be teaching six classes a week (my fifth and sixth graders) with Mr. Lee. On hearing that I would have to "share" my students, I found out how possessive I am of my teaching time. However, this will ease my lesson planning burden and give me an opportunity to try a new style of teaching. I hope we can teach together successfully.

Even though the administration may have changed, my students have not. Stepping back into the classroom and seeing their faces has reinforced my desire to teach. The first day back, I loved having students run up to give me a hug or shout, "Hello, Miss Joelle" from down the hall. I enjoy the feeling of potential that the start of a semester or a new class of students brings. (Not to mention the excuse to shop for school supplies...) It has also been relieving to find that the whole concept of "teaching" and "teaching in a foreign country" is now a relatively familiar idea. After 239 classes completed, I can anticipate how these classes and this semester will run. Sure, there will be surprises, but I am better equipped to effectively meet them. I can't wait to see what will happen this term!

songnisan: round 2 (part 2 of 2)

A step-by-step instructional guide on how to hike: Korean-style.

1. Visit your local sporting-goods store and purchase the latest equipment. A basic package must include hiking shoes, slicky pants, and a wind breaker-all in matching colours. For those more committed, make sure to buy the ultimate package including an underarmor-type shirt, backpack, walking-pole, whistle, flash light, fisherman's hat, and microfiber towel.

2. After being properly attired, locate the mountain you wish to climb. Make sure to go on a weekend when half of Korea (all similar outfits) will be with you.

3. Begin hiking, but do not climb more than two kilometers (preferably one) before stopping at a conveniently located rest stop for Korean pancakes and other refreshments.

4. If you are the group leader, it is your duty to randomly blow your whistle to make sure your group is within earshot.

5. Note to those accustomed to switchbacks: there are none.

6. Enjoy your day!

The hiking trip up Songnisan Mountain was a great experience and the trail looked a lot different with the fall leaves. The weather was cooler and I took the hike at a slower pace than the last time I made the hike. Hiking in, we hiked the same trail I had hiked a couple of months ago. Coming out, however, we took a different path that was very beautiful. For those familiar with Glacier National Park, part of the loop coming out was similar to the Highliner Trail. While there were a TON of other people on the trail (Avalanche Lake on a busy summer day times ten!) I loved being in a different environment with my fellow school-workers. The whole hike was a great seven and a half miles. The pictures will tell the rest of the story.

 

heading out in the morning: the 6th grade 

teacher Kim Gi San), Yuna, and Song Sem

 pretty lake

 

i love this tree growing right out of a rock. i want to 

come back in twenty years and see what has happened. 

 

the view was great from the top

 

just me and nature...

 

if you look closely, you can see all the people 

at the summit (which we did not go to)

 

one of the many rest stops

 

a map of our jouney

 

fall colours

songnisan: round 2 (part 1 of 2)

I was not quite sure what to expect for the teacher's retreat this weekend. All I knew was that it would be overnight and that we would hike in Songnisan. (Quick reminder: I hiked to the top of Songnisan during orientation with other Fulbrighters). So, being slightly hesitant but excited nonetheless, I packed my overnight bag and met the school bus in front of my apartment complex. There were about fifteen school members, including the principal, vice principal, janitor, and a couple of secretaries. I was relieved to see Yuna and Song Sem, the two teachers I am closest to.

The bus ride began with a couple of teachers passing out gallon-sized zip lock bags full of goodies for the retreat. Water, gum, three tangerines, honeyed sliced ginseng, and hand wipes were all included. Then, just as I was settling in for my normal bus-trip nap, one of the teachers cranked the Korean music past the suggested volume level and the PE teacher started dancing and shouting up and down the aisle of the bus. The other teachers clapped with the music (all I have to say about that is two and four, guys, two and four). Not to be outdone, the principal got out a whistle (yes, a whistle-we will touch upon that subject again) and made a strobe light out of his flashlight. I now understand the interior decorations of Korean buses.

After a little over an hour of the bus dance party, we arrived at the Korean president's vacation home. The grounds were beautiful with a lake, fountain, golf course, garden, and jogging track. I am in love with the fall colours and smells. There are not nearly as many colourful trees in Hongseong. We spent a leisurely afternoon walking around and taking pictures.

Once again boarding the buses, we had another musical leg of our journey followed by dinner and checking into the motel. I figured I would have a relaxing evening of games in my motel room with Yuna and Song Sem when I heard a whistle being blown in the hallway. It was the principal, calling us to gather for our trip to the Noraebang!! As we were walking out the door, Yuna asked me if I knew of The Sound of Music. When I responded with, "The hills are alive..." she pointed down the hallway towards the principal and whispered, "The captain." We all laughed.

Now, some may be wondering what Noraebang is: think karaoke on steroids. Flashing lights, loud music, a disco ball, a stage, and extra reverb in the mic. The best part is that a party rents a Noraebang room just for the group. There were even some English songs in the files, so I got to sing with my fellow teachers. This was my first Noraebang experience, but I laughed a lot and had a good time.

The evening concluded with a couple of games of Uno with Yuna and Song Sem followed by a great conversation.

 

the lake on the walk to the president's home

 

Song Sem and me on the bamboo bench

pretty sequoias

sunset approaching

posing near one of the bronzes of a previous president

Alanna and Mary: look closely, apparently someone else wants persimmons

 

evening silhouette 

Yuna and Song Sem

Yuna and me

conquering the thermostat...among other things

I don't do well with being cold. My fingers turn blue, my mind shuts down and I am not necessarily the most pleasant person to be around. This doesn't mean that I don't like winter. I love frosty mornings and crunching snow, just as long as I have access to a warm coat, gloves, a scarf and an occasional warm beverage. Ergo, when my classroom heater started producing a lot of cold air, I started worrying. At first the thermostat was very simple to use. There is a big number with a degree sign that goes up when I push the appropriate arrow and the air flow follows suit. But then, all I started getting was cold air...and lots of it. I think one of my students punched a bunch of buttons while I was out of the room and changed the settings. "That's okay. I will just get my handy-dandy cell phone dictionary and figure out which of these settings is heat." Or not. The words on the thermostat did not correspond with what was in my dictionary. Plan B: push a button and see what happens. Forty-five minutes later, after multiple trips up and down a stool to feel the air coming from the AC unit I successfully had sufficiently warm air to heat my classroom! Success! Welcome to my life as an English teacher in Korea.

along comes Murphy

Monday morning began with my usual carpool to work. Being sick over the weekend, I still had the remains of a cough, but was approaching feeling healthy. Tucked in my purse, I had my ever-so-useful flash drive containing the ten lesson plans and accompanying powerpoint files and worksheets I had written the night before. At least, that was the plan. After greeting my fellow teachers, sampling the boiled sweet potatoes brought for the staff, drinking my two ounces of instant coffee, and listening to the weekly school meeting, I plugged in my flash drive to start printing lesson plans. The frustrations of technology fails!! Two of the documents opened while the rest simply read 0 KB. "That's okay. I know what I am teaching and I can still pull the powerpoints I need off the internet." Back on my classroom computer, I went to retrieve the two powerpoint presentations I needed for the day only to find the internet site experiencing technological difficulties. And then my co-teacher asked me to tutor two students for the English competition this week. And class starts in ten minutes! If I was looking for the proper situation in which to panic, this would be it!!

But I didn't. I took a deep breath, pulled together the lesson plans that I already had and worked through my day one class at a time. I was composed and able to maintain a friendly rapport with the majority of my classes. My lessons would not have won any awards, but I think they allowed my students to take one more step towards learning English. The day did not get easier. I had a student completely freak out when I asked him to participate in an activity, extra behavioral issues in an after-school club class, a dry erase marker become too friendly with my brand new shirt, and a lovely bloody nose to finish off the day. It was hard and it was not always thrilling, but I found that I was able to focus on being a teacher and perform when the time came.

Teaching is not something that I can simply shrug off when the coffee spills or the bus is late or the electricity goes out. Being a teacher means digging deeper and realizing the importance of looking beyond personal comfort and energy levels. Today, I am a teacher.

some days I just laugh...

Every once in a while, I just sit back and ponder the fact that I am in South Korea. The rest of the time, that detail hits me square in the face...generally during an awkward or random moment. The first of these moments (today) came when one of my second graders called me "omah" during class. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he had just called his English teacher "mom". Then he just smiled. I thought it was rather cute.

The next "moment" occurred during Taekwondo practice. My Taekwondo teacher, changed the practice time from starting at 6.30 to starting at 8.00. This wasn't a big deal for me, so I headed to class expecting a room full of other Taekwondo students. Well....it was just me and the teacher for the first 20 minutes and then another student came part way through. It was great to have the individual instruction, but also a little weird to not have a class full of people kicking and screaming. Then the owner of the academy came along with the four Swiss students. For a good seven-and-a-half minutes, the were just watching me (YIKES!!). We then spent half an hour matching the English to the Korean to the various positions. The time for me to head back to my apartment was approaching when the owner of the academy asked me if I liked to drink soju (the Korean liqueur). I responded with my usual, "I don't drink alcohol but thanks anyway" and he ran into his office and grabbed several bottles of a Vitamin C drink (these four ounces literally contain 1000% of one's daily allotment of Vitamin C). We sat and toasted and talked about my Taekwondo lessons. The owner was unhappy that I will only be in Korea until next July and wanted to know if I wanted to learn Taekwondo with a group of students or have private lessons (remember: all of this is through Noel, the Swiss translator). I was leaning toward the group lessons, because I can watch others and have more interaction with Korean people. Then he started thinking that I should take ninety minutes of group lessons followed by a ninety minute private lesson five days a week (for those who struggled with math in school that is three hours of practice a day-once again: YIKES). With the help of Noel, I convinced him that group lessons would be great and if I was confused on any aspect of the lesson, I could stay after for a couple of minutes. I think we reached a satisfactory conclusion, but we will see how it goes tomorrow.

Just a heads up: I am getting sick with a sore throat again and would love prayer that this passes quickly and doesn't have a huge influence on my teaching. thanks!!

silent teaching

Last week was a long stretch for me. I almost completely lost my voice and had to deal with more behavior issues than I was expecting. I guess the "honeymoon period" is over with these students. But through these difficulties, I have learned a few teaching tidbits. The first is that I over-rely on verbal commands and that I do not actually need them to maintain classroom order. While my voice was rapidly disappearing, I quickly went through a series of silent classroom management experiments. Clapping a rhythm for the students to repeat....did not work. Standing quietly in the front of the classroom and waiting for the class to settle down really did not work. And as much as I tried to explain the "quiet coyote," it also failed. My most successful technique (for the older grades) was to stand in front of the classroom with my hand in the air and silently count down my fingers from five to zero. If I reached zero and there was not absolute silence, I would erase one of the class points (each class begins with four and is trying to reach a certain number for a prize). My fifth grade class learned this method the fastest, and they now tell each other to be quiet as soon as I put my hand up so that the class is usually quiet by the time I reach three. Yay for small successes.

Another prevalent behavior issue has been tardiness. Yesterday, in my sixth grade class, only six student (out of twenty-four) arrived at the proper time. I wrote down their names and at the end of the class I let them leave on time. All the other students had to write "I will not be late to class" ten times before they left the classroom. They were not enthusiastic about this supplemental writing, so I hope I will be able to start on time with a full class tomorrow. I implemented the same technique with the sixth graders.

Being sick while teaching is not very fun, but I did discover that I can go and take a nap in the nurse's office during my prep periods if I am not feeling well. I felt very strange lying in a bed in the school, but I felt much better after the rest.

Every Thursday, several of the teachers (as well as the principal and vice principal) get together for a couple of games of volleyball. Sore throat and all, I decided to join in the competition. Apparently, my principal was the captain of his volleyball team in college and loves to direct people around the court. I figured that if we cannot speak the same language, we can at least communicate through a game. However, some of the rules are slightly different on the other side of the Pacific. For example, kicking is perfectly valid, as long as the ball does not touch the floor. Also, we did not rotate through the positions, so I played center net for three games and missed a lot of balls. Even though my team lost, we had a great time playing!

Well, that's all for now from the teaching end of things. Tomorrow is day 15 of teaching, the start of my fourth week. Yikes!

now...what you've all been waiting for.....[cue drum roll]

Pictures!!

It is amazing what kids will do when you point a camera at them. I took my camera to school today and we had a great time!

 Here is my very colorful classroom!

 This is my second grade class.

 First grade.

 Third grade.

 Fourth grade.

 Sixth grade.

 At the drinking fountain.

 On the swings!

 Funny faces.

 The jungle gym.

 More swings.

 A casualty of the typhoon.

 A lunchtime game of baseball. They let my bat (with a little hesitation) and were very impressed that I hit a decent ball and made it to third. I did not inform them that I was just as surprised as they were!

 This rugrat is always getting into trouble...but very cute :)

 A game of "Touch the Color Twister" in my afterschool 3/4 class. 

Teaching is going well. I am losing my voice and wading through the "how-best-to-effectively-manage-a-class-when-I-don't-speak-the-language" waters, but I love my students and feel that I am making progress (most days). This will be a good year.

so much to write, so little time!

Hello world! I promise that I am alive and well--I have simply been detained by an inordinate amount of paperwork issued by the Lesson Plan Monster. I am conquering these tasks, though, so hopefully life will begin to settle down some.

First off, I would like to announce that I am officially a teacher!! I have completed my first week of being in charge of my own classroom (from the writing to the execution of lesson plans) and while there have been several ups and downs, I have great students and awesome co-teachers.

After a couple of days of settling in to my new apartment, host family, and hometown I went with my host mom and Ho Jin to visit Galsan Elementary School. To get to school every day, I walk about fifteen minutes to the bus stop and then take a twenty minute ride to Galsan. From there, it is a two minute walk to the school. The commute is a little longer than I would have wanted, but I do not mind the extra time to read my Kindle. After arriving at school that first day, I immediately set to work cleaning my classroom. It had been used over the summer to teach math because there was construction in the other rooms and took the full day to straighten up. My first official day at school was on Wednesday, August 25th. While I did not teach, I got to give a small speech the students and meet the rest of the staff. The kids are adorable and I love saying "hi" to them in the halls.

My first day of actual teaching was on Thursday. I met the first and second grade classes. In Korea, English training is not officially required to start until third grade. But because Galsan is so small, I am able to teach all seven grades (K-6). There is no textbook for K-2, so I am currently working on phonics with them as well as introducing other simple topics. I am slightly concerned regarding coming up with enough topics to fill the year.

During the course of the week, I teach twenty different classes, each requiring its own lesson plan. This has been rather overwhelming, especially this first week, and yesterday I was not sure if I would be able to handle the workload. I want to teach high quality lessons, but if I were to devote two hours to the planning of each lesson, I would have at a minimum a sixty-hour work week. In addition, I am finding it difficult to effectively control a class when I cannot adequately express myself in Korean. Today, after a noisy group of first graders, I had a little heart-to-heart with God regarding my stress level and feelings of being overwhelmed. I was reminded of something:

This is my first time teaching on a full-time basis. I do not yet have the experience to automatically know what to do in each situation (if that ever comes). There will be mistakes and that is okay. The important thing is not to do this perfectly and spend every waking moment planning for the classroom. That is called burnout-in-a-month. The important thing is to take the time to figure out what works with this classroom, love my students, plan and prepare as much as is reasonable, and remember when a lesson does not go as well as anticipated that tomorrow is a new day.

After that, I took a new approach to writing lessons (writing all the lessons for a unit in one go) and was able to crank out eleven lesson plans in one afternoon. (Do I get a Klondike bar for that?) I feel as though the situation is more in control and that I will eventually find some sanity in my teaching.

Beyond teaching, here is some other news of what I have been up to:

I have sampled three of the coffeeshops in town and plan to become the local coffee connoisseur. I like two of them, both in coffee flavour and atmosphere.

I have not had a face-to-face conversation with a native English speaker in two weeks.

I just experienced my first typhoon (the worst typhoon in Korea in a decade) and as a result spent this morning without any electricity in my classroom.

I have been playing my host sister Jisu's flute and loving every minute of it.

Funny Teaching Moment #1: My awesome taekwondo skills came in handy when I was hanging out with some of my first and second graders. They were practicing kicks and so I decided to join them. I amazed them with my high kick. We then moved from martial arts to arm wrestling where I defeated half a dozen seven-year olds.

I went to Seoul with my host family for my first Korean wedding. It was fascinating to compare and contrast the differences of weddings in Korea v America.

There is a Baskin Robbins and a Dunkin Donuts in Hongseong, but I have only sampled the former.

I like octopus.

Well, that is all for the present. I will work harder at updating my blog more frequently!!

about face

During the past month, I have attended multiple workshops and meetings in which the "face" has been explored. Koreans refer to the face in several ways. First, Koreans are generally concerned with saving face. Shame should not be brought on an individual or a group. Also, in Korea, it is expected to have your "game face" or to "turn one's face on" when in public and many other circumstances. Finally, women are essentially required to "put their face on" (referring to make-up) before entering the gaze of the public. In America, we understand these connections, but do not put the same emphasis on always appearing "fine". Korea seems to be a society heavily focused on appearances. In one sense, I understand. It is often good to put forth one's best, or look professional in certain circumstances. But I sometimes wonder what the consequences are of continually displaying a false front. Where is personality? Where is individuality? Why is there intense pressure for girls to have plastic surgery so they can fit the Korean stereotype?

This question is two sided for me. On the one hand, I have to be careful not to fall into the trap of comparing myself to others-especially in relations to look-during my time in South Korea. On the other hand, I am going to be teaching and influencing girls for whom this is a serious reality. How can I speak truth and love without insulting an entire culture? How can I make a difference in the lives of my students? How can impart acceptance and self value regardless of physical appearances? I clearly understand that I cannot (and should not) change an entire culture in one year. But that does not release me from attempting to help the girls that I will teach.

more teaching!

I love to teach-which is probably a good thing, since I will be teaching for the next year! I taught my second lesson at Camp Fulbright today, and it went very well. I had a classroom of all boys, but was able to reign them in and get them involved in the lesson. Generally, lesson plans do not take an extraordinarily long time to put together, but this particular plan did not immediately gel. However, the work that I put into paid off and it was exciting to work through the concepts with the students.

There is a magical transition from not understanding a concept to "getting it" and I get this thrill every time one of my students has an "ah ha!" moment. It does not always occur when I think it will, or at the same time for every student, but I can usually see the breakthrough on the students' face.

Today I learned a few ESL particulars:
1. SPEAK SLOWLY (I do not think this can be emphasized enough)
2. The class does not always have to be playing a game and super excited to be learning; conversely, a chaotic classroom can also be instructive and effective
3. The follow through is often what makes or breaks a language lesson. Just memorizing a phrase or a rule often does not stick with the students. If they are able to apply what they have learned in a new way, then they have truly grasped the concept.

...now, if I can only remember to apply this in future lessons :)

Overall, life is good, and I am happy that it is the weekend!

teaching!!!

Camp Fulbright, two weeks of English immersion for one hundred thirty Korean students, is now in full swing. On Monday, I taught my very first English lesson and I am both relieved that it is over and enthusiastic about my teaching position for the next year. It was an incredible experience to help a group of students comprehend a new aspect of English. The lesson began with very little enthusiasm from the class, and a scramble to draw the students into the lesson. But about halfway through, I changed tactics and watched the class respond. It was exhilarating. I hope that I can develop some great teaching skills during the duration of this year.

Aside from teaching, I have been attending Taekwondo (is it a problem that I am already addicted??), learning about Korean calligraphy, continuing with Korean classes, and doing an occasional round-off back handspring to keep life interesting (see picture below). I enjoy being busy, even if I end the day pretty tired.