It's Monday night. It just started raining. And I'm eating a choco pie.
Classes were fairly easy today. I didn't have to take roll because the home room teacher didn't leave me with an attendance sheet for April. She'll probably have one printed out by tomorrow. I occupied my 1st graders with a worksheet packet on the letters A and B. Man do they struggle. I accidentally excused them 10 minutes early because I confused their class with another class, which tacked on an extra 10 minutes to my break. buahaha.
My 3rd and 4th graders went wild because we played their favorite game: The Angry Birds Game. It's basically a PowerPoint activity where teams take turns answering questions hidden behind panels labeled with letters from the alphabet. If the student answers the question or identifies the picture correctly, then they move onto a slide with pictures of Angry Birds or green pigs. Angry Birds = points. Green pigs = minus points. If the student doesn't know the answer, then we return to the main screen. It's so simple, but it makes the kids so competitive. Today the girls' team chanted the word for "pig" in Korean hoping that the boys -- who were winning -- would lose a point. Whether a team wins or loses a point, this age group is in an uproar. It's nuts.
I repeated the same lesson with my 5th and 6th graders. They appeared less enthused because they are older, but they still looked mildly entertained. I excused them 5 minutes early because we breezed through the lesson pretty quickly.
Here are some photos of my students. I'm getting better with names, mostly because I use that information to focus the direction of my yelling -- "종표 (Jongpyo), sit down!!!" "이민혁 (Lee Minhyuck), put that away!!!":
1st graders: Yunseo, [gah, I forgot], Jihwan
More 1st graders: That one in the front NEVER listens.
2nd graders: I gave them English names, so I know them as Brad and Jack.
The only song that I've played more than "Love You Like A Love Song" is "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes." Here's a glimpse into my 1st grade class on Thursday:
Some of the kids trickle into class early to ask me questions in Korean, draw hearts on the white board, pounce on the desks, and hijack my phone. Warning: Watching this video may induce motion sickness.
Classes begin with the "Hello Song" and a series of questions that test their listening skills: How are you? What day is today? What day is tomorrow? What month is it? What is the date today? How is the weather? Then I segue into a review of the previous lesson's material. This week we finished learning the vocabulary for body parts. Here's a clip of the 1st graders singing and dancing to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes."
"One more time!"
It helps that they know how to restart the video. The kids basically teach themselves!
By the 3rd, 4th, or 5th time, the kids go ape-shit. For the most part, the girls just want to learn the song and dance perfectly --without being interrupted by the boys. The boys find amusement in disrupting the girls, screaming at the top of their lungs, wrestling each other, and pouncing on the desks.
My 5th grade class went a little bit differently. I was teaching a brief lesson about types of weather, which was impossible to get through because the boys wouldn't stop talking. I turned to the boys and asked, "Why are you talking?" One boy spoke back and said, "I'm talking." I responded, "No, I'm talking. Listen." I didn't have everyone's undivided attention for long. When the boys started talking again, I asked, "Why are you still talking?" Granted, there is a 50% chance that 50% of the kids understood exactly what I said, but the tone of my voice should have communicated what I meant. Another boy mocked me, "Why are you still talking?" I was annoyed, "Are you mocking me?" He repeated, "Are you mocking me?" My inner homegirl was about to snap my fingers in a Z-formation with my neck moving side-to-side. Oh hell no. I rhetorically asked, "Do you want to leave?" and pointed at the door. He tried to copy what I said and started to laugh. My co-teacher Hannee backed me up and scolded him in Korean. Then, he got up to leave. Everyone was so quiet. You could hear a pin drop in the classroom. The next vocabulary term in my lesson was "thunder & lightning." Now that's ominous.
In contrast, today 5th grade went very well. There is one boy who casually roams the class like a lost cat, but rarely participates during my lessons and refuses to play the games. It's weird because he always comes to class on time, if not earlier than most kids. He even pokes his head in and says "hi" during the 3rd grade class and throughout the week. But when he's in class, he confidently says "no," when I ask him to participate. Well today my inner homegirl wasn't going to let that happen. "You're playing" "No" "Yes" "No" "Yes" "No" -- I knew no one could understand this, but I asked, "Why are you even in this class if you're not going to speak English?" I considered kicking him out. It's fun having a superiority complex. I decided to let it go, but then he agreed to play the game. Surprisingly, he seemed to have a lot of fun. I guess he is really ticklish, so a few other boys started knuckling his head and tickling him. He would immediately roll over and squeal like a pig or laugh like a screaming monkey. It was hilarious.
I'm teaching the kids basic Halloween vocabulary this week: black cat, bat, pumpkin, jack-o-lantern, ghost, witch, zombie, vampire. The older kids also learned: Frankenstein (they actually already knew that one), broomstick, tombstone, skeleton. I supplement this lesson with some fun Halloween videos that I scavenged up on YouTube.
VIDEO: Halloween Songs for Kids
This song has been stuck in my head since Monday.
VIDEO: Trick or Treat. It's a monster. Halloween!
The kids scream like crazy during "Ice-cream. EYES!"
BUAHAHAHA
During the last 10-15 minutes, I give the kids time to color, so I can put up their work on my bare walls. There is a "school festival" this weekend. In my brain that means "Open House," but I can't be sure with this language barrier. I'm not going because the Jeonnam TaLK Scholars will be on a cultural trip to Busan and Gyeongju. If anyone does check out my class, my bases will be covered.
PHOTO: A 5th grade ghoul brought a mask to school.
Today one of my 5th graders wore a mask to class. I was pretty excited because none of my other students have even tried to dress up, let alone indicate that they knew Halloween was fast-approaching. (It's not a well-known holiday in Korea.) I let him hide in the closet behind my desk. A couple girls arrived, and I gestured for them to come over because I needed to show them something. Then I opened the closet, and he scared the crap out of them. Too funny. They both screamed and fell on the floor laughing. One was clutching her chest in fright and trying to catch her breath. I love Halloween!
We planned to scare the rest of the class. But after everyone came in and Hannee took roll, the computer teacher came in to take pictures of me teaching. Perfect timing. I couldn't stop laughing as I began my lesson. I hoped the boy didn't think that I left him in there. Awkward. Half-way through my PowerPoint, the kid jumped out of the closet for a breath of air. I think it got stuffy in there. We all laughed it off, while he took his seat.
PHOTO: Pictures on the left colored by the Kindergarten class.
Pictures at the bottom colored by the 1st grade class.
PHOTO: Ghouling around before class
PHOTO: Most of those jack-o-lanterns were made by me.
The other two were cut and colored by two of the 3rd graders.
PHOTO: Drawing courtesy of a 5th grader
When I am not preparing for Halloween, I am getting into the Christmas spirit. I played this on loop off of RyanSeacrest.com shortly after it debuted in America. Amerrrricaaaaaaa.
AUDIO: "Chestnuts" by Justin Bieber featuring Usher
Life with the little nuggets is going well. My students always say "hi" when they see me in the halls.
"Hiiiii Kureestin!!!"
"Hallo!!"
"Kureeestine!!"
"Teeeacha! Teeacha!"
"Seungsengnim!"
"Kureeeestin Seungsengnim!"
"Hallo teacha!!"
I'm a celebrity.
They even sometimes bring me candy or stationary, which reminds me that I should reward them with candy and stickers more often.
Kindergarten is my most difficult class because the kids have no attention span. They just want to watch random YouTube videos, stare into space, and/or hold my hand. During the first couple classes, I tried teaching the kids by having them repeat what I said, but then I had kids yelling the answer one minute and staring at the opposite wall the next. One girl sat backwards in his chair. Another boy played with a paperclip. In the middle of my lesson. No bueno. So now I start the class with a Hello Song, the ABC song, and some phonics songs. Thank goodness for YouTube. We stand around the television and sing for 15 minutes. I figure it's more interactive. Some girls think it's an excuse to hold my hand. The rest don't pay attention or seem confused. And after 5-10 minutes, half of the kids look like they've run the marathon and sit down where they were standing. Ay caramba! More recently, I started playing ABC BINGO with them. One day I had them color the the letters for 15 minutes --15 minutes that I didn't have to sing songs or hold hands. The next day, we played BINGO for 15 minutes, and I rewarded the winners with stickers. So easy.
1st grade is great. About 4 of the girls bounce into my class 10 minutes early to say "hi" and hug me and ask what I am doing (in Korean). I'm always doing the same things: Kakao, Facebook, Gmail, trying to figure out which PowerPoint I'm going to present. One of the boys in my class has a perm and a mullet. He is like the Benjamin Button version of this:
JOHN STAMOS
Today is Wednesday. On Wednesdays, school ends 40 minutes earlier, which means that classes start 40 minutes earlier. I often forget this. And so do my students.
Only 7 of my 1st graders showed up today, so we puttered around for most of the class.
2nd grade is good too. I often get them confused with 1st grade. Some of the boys are too cool for school and avoid eye contact when I want them to participate. Other boys repeatedly raise their hands to repeat the vocabulary after they have already had their turn.
3rd grade is one of my smaller classes. 3 boys and 2 girls at most. 2 of the boys are too cool for school. 1 boy likes to goof off. It sucks for the girls because they actually take my class seriously. This is admittedly the least fun class (for all parties involved).
4th grade is hilarious. Those kids always make me laugh. 4 of the girls practice/perform the dance for miss A's "Goodbye Baby" before class. Meanwhile, the boys run around or try to mess up the girls' routine by stopping the music or getting in the way. The boys would rather listen to "Mr. Simple" by Super Junior. The class as a whole is very loud. Very, very loud. But very cooperative and easy to teach.
4th grade girls practicing ... and then the boys arrive
These videos were actually taken in late September
Not much has changed since then
Madness. Notice how some of the boys are pressed up to the television
That's how much they love "Mr. Simple" by Super Junior
5th grade is perfect. They are bigger versions of my 4th grade class minus the dancing. Last week we played "Heads Up, Seven Up" for the 2nd week in a row --I see them 3x's per week-- and they couldn't get enough of it. When class ended, they begged me to let them play it 2 more times. Someone in the crowd yelled, "10 more times!" Another hollered, "20 more times!" I jokingly added, "50 more times!" After 2 more rounds, they were begging for another 2. Then one more. In light of the lesson, which taught them phrases such as "Let's go upstairs" and "Let's go across the street," I finally said, "Let's go home!" Then half of the class got on their knees and begged for 1 more round. It was already 10 minutes after class. I had to cut them off. I told them to go home and that we could play again tomorrow. Crazy kids. (I think there are about 17.) Then the next day we stayed 5 minutes after class playing "Heads Up, Seven Up." They begged to play for another 5 minutes, but my translator for the day cut them off and told them to go home. Then she took me downstairs to a teachers' BBQ that I didn't know about. What a pleasant surprise.
6th grade is smaller than 3rd grade. 4 boys. Pretty mellow and easy to manage. Sometimes only one student shows up, so I make the executive decision to show him random YouTube videos. One day I introduced him American pop music videos, but didn't realize that Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and Lady Gaga videos needed censorship. My bad.
