The Good with the Bad

Dear bloggers,

I must ask for your indulgence.  Typically I try to leave out the negative and useless parts the belong in a diary alone.  I want you to see my life through learning eyes and an upbeat heart.  This post is not to be... but maybe through writing I will find for myself the lesson that needed to be learned.  Or in the case of past experience, relearned.

Today is the only day all week that I teach classes.  And then I am only teaching sophomore and freshmen classes.  I was informed that all other classes (co-teaching and junior) were either studying for midterms or taking midterms.

I was also informed there would be guests on campus to see how the different classes were going.  Particularly the English program the school is running.  Thankfully, my classes would be spared as I was new here and still a bit overwhelmed.  I would not have to worry about important people visiting my room.

My literature class today started out as expected.  The students begging for study time because of the finals they had the rest of the week.  I told them I would compromise with them (I already planned this but oh well) and would simply review the 5 elements of a good reader.  Instead of continuing our story, they could then study instead.  It went well.  Each group of tables sent up a representative.  I took the last one as there are only four groups.  They told what their element was.  I repeated and extended what they said.  Then I let them have study time.  There isn't much to do when they are studying other subjects.  Since those subjects are in Korean, I can't help them really either.  So I gathered up the material I had for that class and went to my office to put them away.  The office has a glass front so I could see what my students are doing and I left the door open.  I was only there ten seconds.

Then disaster struck.

I turned and headed to my open office door and was leaving as my Korean teacher who helps me came to get me.  There were strangers in black suits in my room looking observant and wise.  The visitors had come to my room after all!  They came in and I wasn't in the room.  They came in and the students were talking in Korean.  They came in and there wasn't a lesson in progress.  Oh the horror of it all.

I went to the board and rewrote the five main elements.  The students who had come up before returned to the front of the classroom (rather smoothly too), and I got another student to come up to take my part in the 5 element review.  Then we redid the review.

Before we finished the last one of the guests had watched and left.  We all collapsed in relief and smiles.  Some the students were outright laughing.  I made them finish the review and then put the microphone the students had used away.

The students had enjoyed it.  My Korean teacher and I were mortified.  Found out later that the guests had high praise for both my room and the other English room they visited.  It all ended well.  I was, however, a nervous wreck for the next couple hours.  It took awhile to calm down.

Lesson Learned:
1.  Be flexible.
2.  Be prepared to teach a class at all times.
3.  Be prepared for visitors at all times.
4.  Just because you feel like you messed up doesn't mean the world is about to end.
5.  Did you kill anyone?  No?  Good.  Keep up the hard work.