ESL Teaching

  This blog is not really an ESL blog... It is more just ramblings and mind vomit. In saying this, we have to remember that I AM actually an ESL teacher, and occasionally I do some work. I also occasionally get asked by other people about my work, and what I actually do. I can't remember if I have done this before, but I will give you a brief run down of my average day. Let's pick Friday because it is one of my longer days, and also a more varied day in terms of the classes I take.

ESL on a Friday

  I leave my house/cell at 8:15. Get to school by 8:30 where I sit at my desk for 15 odd minutes, checking FB and reading the Herald Sun online. At about 8:45 I go into the classroom and turn on the comp in there and play cookie run on my phone until the kids arrive. Friday I have Grade 6 for the first 3 classes. Generally Co does not turn up to the first class, and I take it alone. Luckily, I love Gr 6-3 and we usually have a fun lesson. Lots of chatting and maybe watching something stupid on YouTube, as well as following the book. Then Co will come for the next few classes and they will be bored and not paying much attention unless they are called on. Then Gr 5, which is usually ok. Lunch is at 12:10 where I do exactly what I did in the morning, but this time with food. Then there is one class after lunch, on Friday's its Gr 4 who are awful and I usually take this class alone. Then, for the rest of the afternoon, I derp around online. If I am feeling especially motivated I might blog like I am now, or I might do some Korean study. And that, my friends, is my day.  At 4:30 I head home.

  Let's briefly go back to the point I made about me being an actual ESL teacher...
Here are a few tips I have thought about for teaching -  

 If you are teaching any grade, but specifically Gr 6, find some common ground. It's a pretty shitty age group, unless you can find something they all like. They all have their favorite songs, and like certain things on TV. If you can connect witht hem then you are half way there. It isnt about speaking their language fluently, its about understanding them on a more basic level. 

  Get to know who their fave k-pop stars are - the girls will love you and the boys will tease you. Personally I like Infinite and B.A.P (curtesy of the girls in Gr 6-1). Also get to know Larva, this stupid animated show they all love. Paint your nails a cute colour, or if you are a guy get a cool hair cut. It doesnt seem like much but little things will go a long way. 

  USE THE HAGWON KIDS THEY ARE YOUR FRIENDS IN CLASS.

Most of the kids I teach are low level English. I speak more Korean than some of them speak English (and this is a disaster, let me tell you). So if you have a kid in your classroom that has a decent grasp on the language make them your friend. Give them candy, pat them on the head whatever. You need him/her to help you out. I am lucky, I get along well with most of the kids, but the ones who fucl around all the time really grind my gears. I have the hagwon kids tell them off all the time. Works a treat.

  Threats don't work if you never follow through on them. I used to say things like "i'm gonna get Co if you guys don't shut up" but naturally he was no where to be found, so this turned into a hollow threat. Now I say "if you don't shut up I am leaving this class" and I leave. Ain't nobody got time fo dat.

  Teaching tools I love include:
- any online game. Obvs if its an English one that's cool, if you can turn it into a team activity even better.
- YouTube... I have soooo many videos I could recommend. And basically all of them you can turn into a lesson if you have a bit of time. And the kids love watching things.
- fluffy dice... we have these fluffy dice thingies in the classroom that you can use. Couple this with a deck of cards and you have hours of fun at your fingertips. Again, teams.

  If possible, ALWAYS DO TEAMS. They are stupidly competitive here. And you can use this competitiveness as a way to discipline too. For my little kids (Gr 3 and 4's) I give the teams points. If they are bad they lose points. The winning team gets stickers. Very basic stuff... and it generally means they will police themselves. If their friend sucks and it talking the whole team gets mad at them. This also works for the older kids but you need a better bribe than stickers. Leaving class 5 mins early is a good bribe item :)

  These are just things I have picked up as I have gone along. And most I have stolen from other teaching sites. It got to the point about 2 months ago where Co was hardly coming to any classes and I was like "Fuck, I actually have to teach these kids something" but I hate preparing lessons. And the other issue was that Co would never tell me if he was coming or not, so I didn't want to go to all this effort and prepare something only for him to turn up and make them study the book. So all my plans are based on something that I can pretty much pull out my ass at the last minute. 

Is this normal?

  For me? Yes. For everyone else in Korea? No. 

I am not required to do lesson plans, and I do not teach with Co. Either he teaches and I stand there or I teach while he is... well... wherever he is. The time in the afternoon is for lesson planning, and I actually have heaps and heaps of plans that I have made but will never use. So at least I have emergency plans if I need them.  As camp approaches I plan for camp. This is the extent of my planning. I also have a word doc of games I want to play, and activities. So I do plan, but there just isn't really anyone to plan for. Are my planned lessons very good? No idea, Co seems to think they are shit so I just leave it. 

  If you are coming to teach in South Korea, you will have a different experience to me. A different one to all my friends, and different to their friends. All schools and situations are different and you will come into this world with no idea what to expect, regardless of what research you do. All I can say is that I hope you get a good co teacher, and that you have at least one kid in every class that speaks some English. 

Field Trip

  I went on my first ever field trip with Gr 3 yesterday. I love these kids, they are still cute and they crack me uyp. We went to some Independence Park in Cheonan which was interesting. Let's just say if every single elementary student visits this park, I can understand why they all hate Japan. Not gonna lie, some of it came across as propaganda (not taking away from what happened, I also agree that occupation was awful) but the wording of some of it was... interesting. I wonder what the translation was like. Anyway here are some pics from the day - 

I took a heap more photos, I just think these kids are adorable. And for the most part they were very well behaved, until the very end where they decided it would be a good idea to run fully clothed through the fountain... We teachers were off having a coffee while the kids were running wild (something that would never happen at home I am sure) when one of the girls came screaming up to us to say that - 

- One boy has slipped and cut his head (bleeding very badly... just above his eyebrow)

- Kids from another school are yelling at our students for splashing them

- Some of the boys are taking their clothes off

We went running back over to the kids and yes, they were bleeding, dripping wet and getting naked. So the other teachers yelled at them a bit, the boys put their shirts back on and fixed the bleeding kid. They had stopped splashing the other school at this point so no harm no foul. We ushered them all back onto the bus and headed back to school. It was a fun day, and I got to go home at 4pm. 

  And this week our school has given us both Thursday (a national holiday) and Friday off, so LONG WEEKEND. 

I am sure there will be something fun to report next week!

xoxo

Give him a smack

How do you punish your students?

What do you do when the little shits are so naughty you want to throw them out the window? How the hell do parents deal with their children day and day out??? 

My "situation" at school has changed somewhat dramatically over the last few months, where I have gone from teaching basically no classes, to me teaching 85% of classes WITHOUT a co-teacher. How and why this happened I still have no idea, but it is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because the kids don't enjoy his classes, but a curse because suddenly discipline has become an issue and so has their comprehension of the topics. Unfortunately the kids are missing important points because there is no one to translate what I say. But that's another issue. For now, I am mainly concerned about how to keep them from making me want to do a midnight run. 

What exactly are they doing wrong?

  Are they just talking or are they being violent with each other? Most of the time, in my classroom, the kids are just being rowdy. They know I don't speak Korean and they take advantage of that by ignoring me. I mean, what am I gonna do? Go mime to their parents or homeroom teacher? No, I need a strategy.

  When they are talking, I tend to just stand at the front and look angry. This works most of the time. Eventually at least 1 student will see that I am pissed and start telling the others to shut up. With 4-1 the other day I made them sit in silence at the end of the class rather than race out the door to show them who is boss (its clearly not me, but they don't fully know that yet). Sometimes one loud "HEY" will get their attention long enough to start the next activity too. 

  The next stage in my annoyed teacher phase is to single out the trouble makers. I point, or go up to the kids responsible for pissing me off and get them to stand up while I tell them off. The kids don't know exactly what I am saying of course, generally there is at least one kid that understands enough to know what I am harping on about. But even if they don't, the message is clear - Bonnie Teacher is angry and its my fault. 

  If they keep it up, I send them out. I did this a few times earlier this year and the kids were going back to their homerooms. Eventually my co teacher asked me why I was doing it. I told him straight up I don't have the language to tell them off for being naughty, so I make them leave. He seemed on board so I kept doing it. They have cleaned up their acts a bit so I haven't had to boot anyone in a while.

  Today I took it to the next level and booted the whole of 5-3 out of the room. There was only 5 mins to go so I didn't care much but they were driving me crazy so I told them all to piss off. They were super confused and knew I was mad, and I could tell they were afraid to go back to their homeroom. They loitered outside the English room until the bell went. And they were quiet as mice. 

  Now, I have had kids beat each other up too, or bully another kid and that sort of thing. I will not tolerate this in my class. Any kid punching or slapping another kid (in a non-playful manner I mean, the kids are forever hitting each other here) have to leave. I drag them to Co and let him deal with them. When I can't find him I drag them to their homeroom teacher and say "tell her/him what you did" and they tell their teacher what they did. Without fail they tell the truth. 

  Once, one of my Gr 4 kids picked up a chair and threw it at another boy. It missed, but the violence of it was cray. He was so upset, the chair thrower, that he was in tears. He was so frustrated and mad at this other boy he expressed it like Hulk. Even though he was upset I dragged both him and the boy who was upsetting him to their teacher. They came back 15 minutes later and both apologized. 

What does Co do?

  Well, when he is in class he has a few tricks up his sleeve... Some of his faves are:

- Standing at the back of the classroom with arms in the air

- Standing at the front of the room with the forehead on the whiteboard

- Hurling insults at them (e.g. you are so stupid, you are fat, your parents will be angry etc)

- Sending them out

- Grabbing their cheeks and shaking their face

- Make them grab each others cheeks and shake (when there are 2 students involved)

- Smacking them on the head with their workbooks

And the worst I saw - slapping them in the face (I am not suggesting that the little shit didn't deserve a smack, but shouldn't it come from a parent?? If at all???)

  I don't want to start a debate on the best way to punish kids, but I would be interested in how other people get their brats to STFU. And this list isn't exhaustive, other things I have tried include limiting game/movie time, bribery etc. 

Honestly, they are all generally pretty good, but sometimes I want to lock them all outside.

xoxoxo

Camp Again

I realise that I do most of my blogging during camp time, but it's because there is not all that much else to do.

I wish I was more on top of blogging and keeping everyone up to date, because I have done so much lately but it feels weird to go back in time and write about it. So here is what I did today -

Summer Camp

  I am super lucky this year to have only 5 days of camp, from 9-12 and its with the grade 3 and 4's. I had a grand total of 9 kids sign up and yesterday 8 came and today 7. Numbers are dropping but its cool I don't mind. 

  Yesterday's big activity was making cute paper craft puppet things, which we then used to do small skits. The girls had their introduce themselves, the boys decided their puppets were all ninjas. Whatever.

  Then today we had a fun day throwing eggs out of a window... They were supposed to be parachutes but none of them really worked. Kids didn't care much because they were allowed to throw something from the 3rd floor. Thats all they needed for entertainment.

Tomorrow I am planning on making sandwiches and thats about it, and then Thurs will be good because I am making Flubber and we can watch the movie. So tomorrow's plan will be trying to download subtitles. So annoying.

And then next week the fun really starts. Japan. With Jess and Nay, who I haven't seen since I went through to the International Departures Terminal in Melbourne nearly 1 year ago. I cannot believe how fast this time has gone... And here I am planning on staying another year. WTF who does that??? Oh, nearly everyone. This next year though, I am setting myself some goals. And I think they are all achievable.

Goals for 2013-2014 in Korea

1. Learn WAY more Korean.

  I cannot believe how slack I have been with this. I used to go to Korean class twice a week. What happened to that motivation? I want to find it again for sure. When the classes start up again I will join. Problem is, I don't even know what level I am. I know I am not a beginner any more but I don't know if I am intermediate either. I know such random phrases, like "i'm busy" or "I have a crush on you" or "can you charge my phone"... Practical things. But I still need a lot of help with sentence structure and all that.

2. Try and get my credit card debt down.

  This one is tougher than you think it would be. If I want to save money (which is number 3) then I cannot pay this off. I am now fully aware of this and it hurts but its my own fault for spending so much money. 

3. Save more money.

  I need to make sure that I have a stash at the end of the year to get the dog back to Australia. And so that I have something to live off when I go home. 

4. Actually go home at the end of my next contract.

  My family will be devastated of I stay another year on top of these 2. I need to think of them as well. It is just so easy and fun to stay here, I am already dreading going home and the second year hasn't even started yet!

And the standard I WILL LOSE 10 KILOS. That one is always there.

Plans for the rest of this year???

  Yes, I have a few. Apart from Japan and Busan, I will go to Malaysia with mum over Chuseok, and then I will be back in Aus for Christmas and New Year. 

  In there somewhere is Halloween, which I want to make a complete mess of. I already have my outfit picked out, and I am very much looking forward to the night.

  I am also trying to get my hair pink but so far its not working. Watch this space.

  Another important one for me personally is getting my YouTube channel more updated. I had so many projects planned for last year and didn't do any of them so thats going to be a big driver for this year. Time to get creative!

xoxoxo

Kids say the darnedest things...

Conversations and observations

  Taking into consideration language/age/experience barriers, you would think that the conversations I have with many of my students would be, well, stupid. And for the most part they kinda are... At the same time though they crack me up, whether it be what they are saying or what they are trying to say. I love how the kids often want to include me in their conversations and tell me about what they are doing. Often they just wander over and tell me their stories in Korean, knowing I might only understand a tiny portion of what they are going on about (in my head I am like "ok, I think he is talking about his mum...").

  I have a perfect example from today. 

"Teacher, this boy is fat"

  One of my grade 5 girls is reasonably high level (by comparison to all the others) and sits next to this little boy who is a little chubby. They help each other out with their work, and get along pretty well. I walked up and was standing off to the side of the boy when I saw him rubbing is tummy. I asked him if he was sick.

"No, Bonnie. Not sick. Hungry."

I giggled and told him he should have had breakfast... At this point his neighbor chimed in.

"Bonnie, he had breakfast. He had 2 breakfast... He is a pig and he is very fat." 

I told her she shouldn't call him fat, and that he is still getting taller. She shook her head sadly and looked at the boy and gave him the most pitying look I have seen a child give another.

"Bonnie, he will always be fat, even if he is tall. His face is fat, and he loves food too much. His weight is 57, and my mother is weight 45... He is much much fatter and still hungry." 

The boy is watching her, trying to piece what she is saying. She writes something on his book (the weight of him and her mum) and then he nods and starts agreeing with her. He tells me that yes, he is fat, and he loves food. He looked so sad as he was saying it... He grabbed hold of his tummy and started shaking it. He stopped, both the kids looked at each other and the boy started pissing himself laughing, all the while saying "Nooooo so fat!"

It was the funniest conversation I have had in a while. The 3 of us were giggling like crazy, trying to be quiet during class. 

HE DID IT

I have never know a bigger group of "dobbers" in my life. These kids rat on each other relentlessly, and then just get over it. 

2 boys were up the back with their books propped up. I wandered over to see and lo, they were playing with their phones. So obvious. I just told them to put them away and left it... They put their phones in their pencil cases and that was it. But they left their books up... I don't know what they were doing but it wasn't phones. The next thing you know one of the girls from the front of the room has her hand up and is telling Co that they are playing with phones. He naturally goes ballistic and kicks them out of the class and takes their phones. 

Whenever there is some giggling or screwing around in class Co will stop teaching and demand to know who the culprits are. In Australia, all the students would be dead silent. They would rather die a painful death than give their class mates away. Not so here. All fingers are pointed (literally) and names are called out until the students responsible for the disruption are standing up and shamed out of the classroom. Its totally bizarre. 

Compliments???

I know I have mentioned some compliments I have received in the past, but this week they have been cuter than usual...

"Teacher, your hair is like a doll"

"Bonnie I like your nail colours"

"You are wearing nice blouse"

"No lense? Good colour!"

In Other news...

  I am blown away by what is happening in Australia at the moment. I don't wanna get all political on everyone, but Kevin Rudd is the PM again??? What the hell happened? I know Julia wasn't popular, but Labour Party please - YOU GOT RID OF HIM LAST TIME. And all of this just happens...

  To be honest, the Kevin 07 campaign sold me. I voted for the guy - I DID NOT vote for Gillard. So I was pretty mad when they ditched Rudd as the leader of the Labour Party and the counrty. I did not vote for Labour in the next election, mainly because the party proved they could not be trusted. They strike me as a bunch of back stabbing morons that do not follow through with party promises. Anyway now it seems yet again the Labour Government are playing with Australian voters. It's stupid. Sooooo not gonna vote this time. Fine me is you want...

  Some democracy - its illegal NOT TO VOTE in Australia. Ugh.

  Tickets are purchased for my flight to Japan in August!!! I am meeting Jess and Nay (Melbourne friends) in Osaka and we are touring around from there. I am super excited waaaahajdkfofknsabdflkjocaidhnfav...

  I will be flying with Asiana Air I think (shout out to Heejin for booking my ticket) so I will do a write up on them at some point... And I am planning on taking my camera AND camcorder to get some nice memories of Japan. So I am on a super tight budget here now preparing for the trip. 

  I had to say more goodbyes this week - Big goodbye to Heather and Michelle. Heather is from the UK and Michelle from Ireland... They are great people and amazing friends. 

Heather stayed at mine before she jetted off (she is headed to Australia the lucky bitch) and I love her so much... I feel like I have known her my whole life not just a year. So I spent the morning crying about that... This is the hardest part of doing this teaching abroad thing... You leave friends from home, come here, make new friends, then they leave you! I don't want to even think about what I will be like when I leave.

I am in the process of signing a new contract to stay here at the school in Korea for another year. I love this place too much, I can't leave yet.

Anyway, extra class time! Better go educate some kids.

xoxoxox

Friday wrap up

What a week!

Involving some highs and lows. In all, I would say that is was sucessful. Here are a few reasons why:

I have a better understanding of why I am here

  I came to Korea for reasons known and unknown, but 1 reason was to teach. And I didn't really get a chance to do this last year. This was for the most part due to a control freak of a Co teacher. But I also recognise that if I had put my foot down from the start then this might not have happened. He obviously didn't see any initiative from me and took this as lack of confidence (which is also true) and therefore did not give me the opportunity to learn or try. 

  This year however it seems that all my whinging and whining last year has come back to bite me on the ass - I am now teaching all classes alone. By alone, I actually have a Korean teacher in the class with me (the homeroom teacher of whatever class it is) but I am the lead teacher and the lesson plans are mine. It is both thrilling and terrifying! I have been able to ease into it this week, as Monday and Tuesday had no classes, and the rest of the week was kinda 50/50 as to which would show. I am yet to take grade 6, but I feel ok about it as I know all the students from last year, and I feel like I got along pretty well with the grade 5 class. 

  With the right co-teacher, I love teaching. I love talking with the kids, and I love the look on their faces when comprehension strikes. I loved that I asked them questions about Wednesday, and they remembered it today. I LOVE my 5-2 class - their homeroom teacher is a new teacher and she is young and nice and speaks pretty good English. And the class is full of my fave kids from last year's gr 4 class. The best part of my entire day was at the end of the class when a heap of the girls came up for a hug at the end of the class. And one of the boys too.

Side note - 

I was told when applying for jobs that you cannot build a proper relationship with students when you teach at a public school (due to the size of the class, co teacher presence etc) this is FALSE. 

  As a bit of a passive aggressive attack on my co teacher I have allowed the kids to use their Korean names in class, provided they can write it in English. I mean, come on, I would be pretty shitty if some foreigner came in and told me to change my name. And their names are nice, and I should learn them more. So I gave them the choice... Some have chosen English names, and others have decided to use their own names. I am so cool with that, and it was actually a really good exercise teaching them to write their names in English. I was blown away by how many kids couldn't do that... One of the first things I learnt to write in Korean was my name. 

  Regardless of what happens for the rest of the year, I really want to remember this week, because it made me happy to be at work. I have decided I love teaching kids.

I am coming to terms with being an outcast at school

  I have been totally ditched by my asshat co teacher. He didn't bother to tell me about the school dinner and therefore I didn't show up. I am sure it was discussed at length, and I don't doubt for a second that he told everyone that yes I was told. Whatever. 

  I don't eat with the teachers or students. As I have been having my retarded Herbalife sake, I really don't want everyone staring at me while I don't eat the school lunch/ Maybe down the track I will start eating with them again but right now I don't want to. I do however make more of an effort to go down to the staffroom and say hello to everyone. What can I do? I now know (thanks to them being in class with me) that many of the teachers speak more English than they let on, so they have chosen to not speak to me all last year. I also understand that I have not tried to speak Korean with them - I am about as shy with my Korean as they are with their English. So I see that I am also to blame. I will continue with my game plan of being friendly and bringing snacks into school. As long as they simply think I am weird and quirky but still nice that is ok. If they think I am a rude bitch, then thats not ok. So I will keep smiling and bowing. And hopefully my presence in the classroom will start to have a positive impact as well. I see this time away from my Co as a blessing in disguise.

I still don't know which battles to pick

  I can't decide if I want to have it out with my Co or not. I think next time we are in the same room I might just ask him if I have offended him in some way. I mean, I don't know how I could have, unless he has been secretly following my blog, but then he should be sorry for making me feel so outcasted. But if he IS following then I don't mean any of this to offend you, but I just find you really unapproachable and kinda scary. And you are not helpful. And I welcome any feedback you have of me too. 

I took myself to the doctor and it was amazing

  I started feeling sick Mondayish... I think I already blogged about it but pretty much by Wednesday I was a a big gooey mess, watery eyes, my head was pounding and I was FREEZING. I had already decided to go to the doctor, so I got some good advice from my wonderful friend Dominique (please don't leave me!) and her co-teacher and prepared to head off. My last experience was not great, Co spoke for me and took me there and everything, and I ended up getting a needle in my arse. Not fun. This time I walked in, they took my insurance number down and I went in to the doctor. He spoke very good English, checked me out, write me a script and sent me on my way. It was 3,500won. I went across the street to the pharmacy and got the script filled - 4000won. Easy. I was in bed asleep around 7:30pm, woke up once or twice but pretty much had the best nights sleep all week. In the morning I felt a million times better. So, not only was the doctor and drugs a million times cheaper here than in Australia, but the DRUGS WORKED OVERNIGHT. Amazing. I was so excited. So next time I won't wait until I am dying I will just go to the doctor. Lesson learnt. 

  So now it is the weekend and I am really excited. Mainly to sleep in, but also because Milky is getting a haircut tomorrow and he will be so cute I might die. Also, I am getting out and about - it seems that as the weather is finally starting to be awesome a few of us will go to Cheonan and climb a mountain and have a picnic. Also excited for that. And then Sunday I will be meeting a new friend, and getting some new plates and stuff for the house (not new-new, but from a friend who is leaving. All I need is a desk lamp and I am set for life). So all up an exciting weekend. 

The biggest downside to this week? 

We missed out on tickets to G Dragon. I am shattered I want to curl up in a ball and cry for days. But, life goes on, and it turns out more tix are being released next weekend. 

Just in case you are unsure of who this amazing guy is here is a pic (or 2):

And yes, he is a boy... Androgyny is live and well on the South Korean pop scene. 

Also for your viewing pleasure, here is an adorable video of Milky being, well, adorable.

Remember guys, adopting a dog/puppy from a shelter is not only doing them a favour, but also yourself. Besides my blender, Milky is the bestest thing I have acquired since coming to Korea and the experience would def not be the same without him. Apologies if its grainy, I havent checked the quality. 

Anyway, i'm gonna jump in the shower and prepare for my evening... Its another friends goodbye night (sadface) and I refuse to miss it. Laterz peeps

xoxoxoxox

New Semester, New Attitiude

Life is funny, huh?

By this I mean just when you think you know what is gonna happen, BAM something changes. Last year all I did was whine about how my Co won't let me teach and this year the karma came to get me. For the next 3 or so weeks I am on my own. But, I am treating this as an amazing opportunity to show my teaching prowess to the rest of the school. I think I am in for a surprising year.

Grade 3

Next week I am required to start teaching grade 3, which I have never taught before. I am guessing it will just be a heap of vocab and sounds - good basic stuff. 

"Why don't you check the book, Bonnie? You can see what you are actually teaching?"

Well, the thing is, I have a feeling that they are using a different text this year. It just happened to me with gr 5. But I will get to that.

For grade 3 I am planning on lots of activities, songs, and getting out of their seats. Learning should be tactile! And fun! Especially for the really annoying basic stuff like vocab and numbers and all that. I know I hate learning that type of stuff in Korean. Its easier to learn things in context I think so I will try and do that for the kids.

Grade 4

Grade 4 was my fave last year, and I think it will be again this year. I have 2 classes of grade 4, one run by a middle aged bloke who seemed pretty happy to follow my lead but also contributed nicely to the class. In fact, after what I have had, he was the perfect co teacher. He also had reasonable English. And he is a new teacher, I have never seen him before (except for this morning when he greeted me in English. It was nice.) The class went well and I got my groove on. I was all geared up ready for another successful gr 4 class when they came in - with Co. Who, of course, took over the lesson. As predicted. I made a bit of a stand and spoke to the class more. If he wants me to take these classes without a designated co teacher then shouldn't we do it my way??? Nope. Oh well. So I basically just stood there while all the new little faces stared at me. Its ok though. There were still some cute kids, and in his class are Harry and Du Won from English camp so I think they were pretty happy to see me. Especially Harry, which I was surprised about... He pretty much screamed hello at me. Strange boy. 

Grade 6

Was supposed to be the next class but they never turned up. Oh well.

Grade 5

My lovely little grade 4's from last year are growing up. But when I walked into the room there was a massive chorus of "Hello Teacher Bonnie!" which made me remember why I love my job (sometimes*... always put a disclaimer in haha)

Another new teacher. Young, female, seemed really nice and friendly. And another perfect co! She let me lead, and then asked me before translating... Which I was totally cool with becasue I have no idea what to say lol. She was super easy to get along with, and at the end of the class she even apologised for not being better prepared. Then I stopped. I was the one who was not prepared. The CD from last year is not the same as the books the students have - THEY CHANGED THE BOOKS AND NO ONE TOLD ME! Now, this was obviously something that Co was supposed to deal with, so all my prepping from Monday and Tuesday is out the window. In a way its lucky I only found out the news of my class control at the last minute cos I would be seriously pissed off if I had planned a whole semester of lessons only to find out it was a different book. So I asked her to speak to Co - he is technically the English teacher, and if I see him I will also ask him. But all in all I was happy with the day and how it went. The kids seemed to enjoy the classes.

Co workers

My mission for making friends is going well still. I went down to get a hot drink and was greeted by a few people, one of them being the 6th grade teacher from last year who is super nice (and prob feels sorry for me) she queried as to why I didn't eat with the teachers. I told her I was still on a diet and she felt sorry for me (having to diet, being a big foreign fatty haha) and finished with e "FIGHTING BONNIE!", which brought the VP over to see what we were talking about. I greeted him in Korea which he nearly fell over from. Obviously my pronunciation is getting better... I told him I had been studying so he the (naturally) threw a heap of Korean at me that I didn't know. I apologies ed and said I only know a small amount  He was still suitable impressed and went on to say how beautiful I was looking this year. Creepy, but better than the alternative. 

I then proceeded into the tea room, where I was greeted by one of the admin girls (she said hi first, I think she likes me!!!) and also said hello to a friendly new teacher (female). So all in all, things are looking up this year. 

So yes, so far so good. Now if I could just get over my terrible head cold...

Mysterious Stranger update

So, I left my place a little earlier as per my plan, to get a better idea as to where he was walking from. Pretty much there is a road that runs next to the station, then a parallel one that runs along, then ANOTHER parallel one that my school is on. He was walking down the middle on. So, I cant really follow him down that road because it is clearly the wrong way to the school. Well, kinda, but if I went down it then it would totally be weird (more weird*). So, next stage of the plan is this - take Milky out on the weekends and just do laps of the area until I see where he comes from. He must live in the near the apartment block near the school, cos otherwise there is only residential houses. Unless he is actually living in a house, which would imply he is living with a Korean family... Either way me and Milky will get to the bottom of it. No one can withstand his doggy friendliness, so I am sure we can win him over. And find out his story. 

xoxoxox

School musings...

I was told that ESL Teachers have some of the best kept blogs on the internet... 

I totally get that now. It's the dreaded 2:00pm, and I have no more classes, just a belly full of rice (and kimchi - I actually ate some today. Still gross) and no one to talk to. At least I can play online until my co comes back from wherever he went.

My Co-Teacher

I am not going to name him, not because he isn't a really nice guy, because he is, but I haven't asked him if I can refer to him on my blog and I think he might not be cool about it. But I can't describe my teaching experiences without mentioning him at least once. He will hereby be reffered to as Co.

I first spoke with Co during my phone interview, we clicked because he had some knowledge of Australia, having been here for 2 months years ago. I think I actually mentioned this in one of the Melbourne blogs... Anyway today has been the forst day that we have really done any "teaching" together, by which I mean he got me to explain some language concepts and I walked around and practiced some stuff with the students. 

We also have lunch together. I'm not sure how long he will put up with me tailing him for but I quite enjoy his company (when he is feeling chatty). He enjoys practicing his English, and often says that they more he speaks the more confident he is with his English. So it suits both of us for him to be speaking it. 

He was telling me a story at lunch today about a man he worked with about 20 years ago who was an ex-army guy (English speaking obviously) who was working at the school he was at. He noticed that some students in particualr were picking up English a lot faster than others and wondered why this was so. It turned out that these particualr students were in charge of cleaning the ex-army guy's classroom, and were having mini conversations with him every day. So just through simple conversations and instructions, these kids were miles ahead of the other students, and it was all down to exposure and use. 

I was having rapid idea time inside my head at this point... Here was an opening for me to have an idea for lessons! This was my suggestion to Co:

Perhaps for about 5-10 minutes per class, I could take a group of students aside and just have a conversational sessions with them? Then they will be getting more direct exposure to the language, and hopefully more confidence in using it because there will only be 4-6 other students to speak in front of.

Yes, he thinks its a good idea, but is unsure if we can pull it off... Having students not sitting in class and learning the recommended curriculum is not allowed and will need approval. So I don't know if he didn't like my idea, or if I actually can't implement it.

We had another conversation later this arvo, I was asking him more about lesson plans, and he told be pretty much to calm my farm, and that soon enough I would be required to pretty much do everything.
"This is your first week as teacher, and you need to see how to work first. Then, you can teach class always and I will just be there for language barrier and discipline."
Huh. Is that so?
So I asked about the lessons, and if I can pretty much do what I want in them. No, I need to follow the curriculum. But can I change parts of it? As long as they students meet the lesson objectives I think I will be able to do what I want.
So I will start just by changing small things, Co says maybe just do 1 or 2 classes a week to start, and then when I feel more confident and comfortable then maybe I will want to add and change other parts of the lesson.
So far, he seems like a genuine person, who really does want to help the kids learn English. Hopefully we will keep things nice and friendly and be able to work together really well. I have read that other teachers have BIG problems with their co-teachers, and makes their time at the school really bad. I am off to a really positive start with mine, I just hope it continues.

Highlights of the day?

Well, its only 10 to 4, so there is still a fair bit of the day left... But so far its got to be hearing the students try and say "beach". I had nearly 30 students calling out "bitch" over and over. They couldn't get the long 'e' sound. It was hilarious, I was standing there with a huge grin on my face, I couldn't help it. Co saw me smiling and clued into what they were saying. 

"Stop!" He yells, "You cannot say 'bitch'! You MUST say 'beach'!. Again!" And so they went again.

Another one... He has no problem telling the kids they are retarded.  In fact, he even translates the word for them so they know exactly what they are being called. 

For example, one boy today was chatting away rather than paying attention. He had been doing it the whole lesson, Co was over it. So, he calls the boy up the front and says to the class "this boy is retarded." And then he translated what he was saying. All the kids started calling him retarded, and then Co whacked him on the head a few times with the pointer stick before sending him out of the classroom. He ran off with the others calling out "retarded! retarded!"

I cannot believe the things these teachers get away with!

Tonight?

I am trying to make friends... I posted in the Pyeongtaek FB group that I would love to make friends and would anyone like to have dinner with me. And people replied! One girl has invited me out for Thai food tonight with some friends of hers, so I am super nervous and excited to meet some new people! 

I'll try to be likable and not too weird. I'm pretty sure they are American, so they totally won't get my jokes or expressions, but I think everyone should have an Aussie friend. I am quite happy to fill that role for all people :)

I will let you know how it goes. I will try and take sly pictures to prove that I am being social haha.

And then tomorrow night I am going out with Mia and Tyler to some bar, and hopefully making more friends there. So exciting! Waaahhh be cool Bonnie, be cool. 

In other news...

I have been hearing reports via FB that it has been super windy in Melbourne. This sucks for you, here in Songtan the weather is beautiful and warm, with a slight breeze. I am sitting here in a skirt and a short sleeve top and it is really pleasant. 

Sissy has been riding Billie the pony, and has re-named her Witchy-poo... This doesn't sound promising, but she is an excellent rider and I know that they will work through it and be awesome. I can't wait to see some pics of them out and about. Hopefully with ribbons. YOU BETTER WIN SOMETHING. Just kidding, just try your best.

It would be great to see some pics of Beau, and to hear how he is going. Anyone who spots him please tell him I say hi.

I have loved the skype sessions with my friends and family. The highlight would have to be seeing everyone at Kirst and Dan's on Tuesday... It was awesome seeing everyone at once. And a shout out to Davey for mentioning me in his vlog - there will be one coming back at cha soon xx

I think thats about all for now, I will let everyone know how I go with my friend finding mission tomorrow. No pics or vids to upload until I get my internet and t.v fixed at home. I have a feeling it has to do with payments, but as I don't handle any of that stuff I will wait it out until tomorrow... I will take a pic of the screen and show Co tomorrow morning if it is still gay tonight.

It's now 4:07. The countdown is back on haha... 

xoxo

School Blues

High excitement at school? Only for a few hours.

I know its only Wednesday, I have have only been here for a few days, but I have a pretty good feeling this may be what the rest of the year holds. I know I said I was going to give a blow by blow of the days, but as every day so far has basically been the same I will give you a taste of the timetable and what I do...

Daily breakdown

7:00 - wake up

I set my alarm for 7am, but in all honesty normal people could easily get up at 7:45 and still make it in plenty of time. I fluff around, eat breakfast (a piece of toast with weird grape-seed butter and strawberry jam), have a shower, do my hair and make up (a must), get dressed, make my bed and then leave. All the while I watch the Australia Network on t.v so I know what's going on at home. I left the house today at 8:15is and was still here a bit early.

8:30 - School time

I need to be here by 8:30, and there are already students wandering around. The class bell goes at 9am and the students have time in their homerooms before coming to class. There is an English classroom here, I will take some pics or do a video or something, I just want to check with my co that he doesn't mind. I think he would be fine but you never know...

First class

This morning there was no class at 9, but Monday and Tuesday there were students dying to come to class first thing. My co-teacher and I walk into the room together and the kids are supposed to already be there sitting and ready to learn. They would rather play in the hallway and go in when they HAVE to. On Monday my co rearranged the seats so the students are now sitting in small groups rather than in lines (much much better for learning), so when they come in they go to their respective groups. There is kinda a group competition going, so hopefully that will encourage them to speak more English. 

Each class runs for 40 minutes, and there is about 10 minutes between classes. I have no idea what time the morning classes are over exactly, as the clock in the classroom doesn't work and it never occurs to me to check my watch. But there are 3 classes before lunch, and 2 after lunch.

Lunch

Like I said, I dunno what time lunch starts, but either way I need to be back in the teachers room by 1pm. 

Lunch is eaten in a huge cafeteria, where you walk over to a rack full of metal trays with indentations in them where the lunch ladies scoop your food. There are cutlery buckets with metal chopsticks and metal spoons (no knives or forks, so i'm forced to use the chopsticks lol), which you grab and then head over to the lunch ladies. 

There is always rice and some kind of soup, and there is always kimchi (pickled spicy cabbage = gross) and then a bit of something else. Te first day the 'something' was potatoes, then pork, and today tofu. The school lunches have actually been kinda tasty, and today the rice was a fried rice rather than plain. So there you go. 

Food scraps go in a big bin, and you put your cutlery and tray on a wheely bench when you are done. Then wander around until time for class.

Afternoon classes

To be honest, the kids are over it by this point. Which is rubbish because I really have no idea what they do in the other classes but they sure as hell don't do much in English. Either way, they seem to be more easily distracted in the arvo. There are either 1 or 2 classes after lunch depending on the timetable. Either way, I am done teaching by 2-2:30pm, which would be fine if you can go home. But no, I need to sit here until 4:30 and it is driving me crazy! Its ok today because my co has had to go do something, but with him sitting there I can't exactly sit on FB all arvo :s

I need to find out what to go is here, because as much as I like not having to do anything, it is driving me crazy having nothing to do for hours every day. I am sure that as I get into this whole teaching thing he might let me plan some lessons, but until then I sit here getting more and more drowsy and feel like a snooze. 

Hometime

I am well and truely packed up and ready by 4:30. In fact, I am at the gate by then. I figure if anyone asks I can say my computer clock must be fast or something lame like that. I then walk home (10 minutes) get changed, and sit on my bed. I need to find a social life here in Songtan! I really don't want to have to catch the bus/train every arvo just to hang with people, so I need to meet some people here to hang with. Yesterday I wanted to go for a walk but the rain was terrible so I stayed inside and played online. Today the weather is waaayyyy nicer so I will wander out for dinner tonight and get out and about. 

And this is pretty much what I have done the last few days. This is school.

Highlights so far?

Yes, there have been a few. I love that every student says hello to me. They greet me with "Hello Teacher Bonnie" and then run off. 

I got told by one girl today I was so beautiful (awwww). 

My co teacher asked the class the other day who thought I was the most beautiful teacher and they all put their hands up (awww again - but as if they would say no, their teacher asked them)

One girl had an obvious light bulb moment when she figured out 'your welcome' comes after 'thank you'

Another girl pronouncing "December" like an Aussie, not an American

Anyway, its 4:23 so I better get ready to run out the door! I'd hate to be here alone in an empty classroom any longer than I have to be. Better to be alone in my own house lol...

If anyone has anything specific they want to know, shoot me an email or FB me, and I will try and get something specific... I can be a rambler and not get to any point so I do need to be steered sometimes haha.

More tomorrow i'm sure!

xoxo