A Good Day!

So today I'm correcting my AP Students guided reading questions and the secretary of my school comes in and informs me that the mothers from my OBAMa A class (beginners) have come to visit me. So I clamber out from my pile of papers and stand waiting for Andrew to translate their questions. The main concern they had was that they think I'm not giving enough homework. I'm increasingly finding it challenging to give homework to absolute beginners. I mean, these boys didn't know a word of English a month ago. The mothers wanted their boys to develop faster, naturally. It's funny how parents think learning language is a quick, easy, and painless process. After one month of exposure to a language (4 three hour sessions), they want their boys to be reading juvenile literature. Anyhow, I'm not offended by their concern. In fact, I'm flattered because they think I'm that good of a teacher. They expressed that before, their boys had no desire to learn English. They thought learning English was hard and very boring. But now, in my class, their boys come home saying how much they enjoy learning English. In addition, that they can understand what we are reading. So, the moms were really happy with me and my school. I thought I would comment on my happy day, and also mention that TPRS truly works wonders in the classroom! Cheers

Avoidance

So...I've been avoiding this blog. I haven't written since the beginning of school for a couple of reasons, and so I should state them. First, school has been utterly and overwhelmingly busy. I'm the only licensed teacher among the handful of teachers here, only two of which are full time. As a result, I feel pressure to perform well. Second, so much has happened that I am at a loss as to how to put my experiences in words. Third, I'm not motivated to blog because I mistakenly think it's unimportant. And finally, because I feel torn with what to do with the little free time I have, thus neglecting my blog! Anyways, since I've failed to update my time hitherto, perhaps a snapshot into my daily life will suffice for now.

I'll give you an example of a typical wednesday for me: Alarms sound at 7:40, I pray for grace, roll out of bed, and stumble around getting ready to show up promptly at 8:00. I walk to school, which takes all of 3 minutes, and catch the elevator to the 9th floor. I do the usual awkward bow to the new secretary on my way out the elevator and give a half smile since my face is still half asleep. We acknowledge each others exhaustion. I hockey check any unsuspecting students who have the unfortunate luck of passing me down the hallway in the morning. It's my way of saying good morning and wake up. I turn on the air in my room and set up the computer before grabbing a double espresso with no sugar to push me through the morning. I prep first hour. Then, teach A.P. World, followed by prep depending on if it's a chapel day. Lunch. Next I teach reading and writing 2, followed by middle school geography, and finally reading and writing 3. The international school day is over.

Here begins the after school program which I pretty much singlehandedly operate. My OBAMa A class (One Book A Month) comes in for three straight hours of teaching. I'll note that the A class is the lowest level, so I get these kids coming in with ABSOLUTELY NO ENGLISH, whatsoever! Imagine teaching these poor youngsters for three hours. Conversely, try being 7 years old and sitting though three hours of a foreign language class when all you want to do is play video games at the PC bang. We take breaks. I've advanced the current A class to the Magic Tree House series from the Nate the Great series. Which is unfortunate because I was beginning to really get into Nate the Great.

My class usually starts out with pre-teaching vocabulary on a powerpoint. I accompany the word with numerous pictures, using gestures and simple english to semantically hardwire/drill meaning into their little brains. In the meantime, I make them write the word, Korean notes, or any pictures they may desire to help them remember the words. This takes 15-20. It's fun and the kids love it when it's dark in the room. It "feels" like you're watching a movie. One of my tricks. They also have this weird obsession with waving any part of their little bodies in front of the projector. I suppose I would too if i was 7.

Next I do TPR (Total Physical Response) to get them up and out of there seats. If you are informed on TPRS you can stop reading this paragraph. I basically have them perform actions based on the words we just learned. It's fun and the kids have so much energy. I differentiate with the high achievers by trying to trick them going fast and repeating commands. Eventually I stop modeling the actions and they respond to my vocal instructions only, which shows they understand the meaning. Break time.

I serve up a couple nice slams on the ping pong table to assert my dominance and ten minutes later we're back to begin the book. As I read I make sure to fluctuate my voice because I'm matacognitively aware that I've a bad case of monotone. I'll often stop before the last word in the sentence, while intonating the last word I speak, and they know it's their cue to say the word out loud.

For example, Hiding behind the bushes, Jack and Annie crawled silently to get a better view. "That giraffe has a long neck," 'SAID' _____. "ANNIE!!!!" cries my class who I've brainwashed to be little English learning machines.

It'a an informal assessment that tells me they're listening and paying attention. Plus they like to feel involved and it keeps them on their toes. We read a few chapters until I feel they need a break and I give them an activity. Usually I try to keep them busy so I can focus on the ones that need help. Activities may include, but are not limited to, such things as drawing and coloring a cartoon summary, making a poster, or playing a game. We'll use the cartoons to write a nice summary later on. They love doing crossword puzzles and crisscrosses so I use websites to make those sheets where I just fill in the vocab words. I make it a race to see who can finish first...another differentiation :). Break time.

Usually my boss provides some sort of snack or treat for everyone since it really is more of a business than a school in Korea. So we make the kids happy. Of course, as a teacher I'm more concerned with education. The last segment of this class usually consists of a cloze activity or heading over to the writing lab if the students are capable. Class ends at 6:50.

I now have ten minutes to grab dinner and clean up the tornado that went through my room before the highschooler's come in for TOEFL. I teach two classes and am finally done "teaching" at 9:00pm. I usually stay for awhile longer to organize and prep for thursday. I get home and convince myself I can squeeze in a quick 5 miler before bed. I get back, shower, and perform my sumo-wrestler diet which consists of eating copious amounts of food and then passing out which metabolizes everything into fat while I'm sleeping :). It's a good thing food in Korea is very healthy.