Monday, October 10, 2011
Midterm Exhaustion
Midterms must have been pretty rough for the students. In all the classes, the teachers are teaching a little bit and then giving the students free time. I did that for my junior culture class (favorite students!) and the girls promptly passed out. The boys did the homework before they too fell asleep. I looked around in surprise. Didn't they just have the whole weekend off? It is their culture to push and push. Silly students. I care about them though. I want to help them learn. I can't do anything though if they are asleep.
Sophomore Conversation
The conversation classes are well-known for being the hardest to classes to teach. The Sophomores are well-known for being the toughest students to keep on task. Put the two together and voila, pandemonium.
Today is the first day after midterms. The students were not ready to get back into the swing of things. It was pretty hectic and crazy. As I was teaching the proper use of the words "for" and "when," they kept inserting into their sentences phrases like "play monopoloy deal" and "watch a movie."
Several students were very insistent that it was Korean culture to plays games after a test. That I should adapt to Korean culture. It was interesting to see their reactions when I told them I would email my superior concerning this and included a student's name in that.
Finally their energy knew no bounds. Between talking louder than me, using Korean, and rough-housing I decided it was a good time to implement the homework stars. I almost made two stars. The first earned them 25 sentences. Every time I have to do a star, that will go up. Hopefully they start policing each other. If not, then, well I will find a way to control my class.
I am going to definitely make a seating chart. The ultimate punishment for the boys is sitting next to a girl. And two of my girls need to be separated. I have already started asking if they have their textbooks and workbooks when I take attendance so that they have no excuse. If they don't have them, I will email my supervisor as they already were warned. Last but not least, they can stand against the wall for class if they can't keep from knocking each other to the ground.
As hectic as class was, I was laughing when I left. One girl had even written "Mindy I love u" on the board. It was sweet. I accomplished, somehow, what I had planned. They didn't get their workbooks done so it is homework. I'll check them when we have class again. All is planned and ideas are in place in case those plans need backup :D
Today is the first day after midterms. The students were not ready to get back into the swing of things. It was pretty hectic and crazy. As I was teaching the proper use of the words "for" and "when," they kept inserting into their sentences phrases like "play monopoloy deal" and "watch a movie."
Several students were very insistent that it was Korean culture to plays games after a test. That I should adapt to Korean culture. It was interesting to see their reactions when I told them I would email my superior concerning this and included a student's name in that.
Finally their energy knew no bounds. Between talking louder than me, using Korean, and rough-housing I decided it was a good time to implement the homework stars. I almost made two stars. The first earned them 25 sentences. Every time I have to do a star, that will go up. Hopefully they start policing each other. If not, then, well I will find a way to control my class.
I am going to definitely make a seating chart. The ultimate punishment for the boys is sitting next to a girl. And two of my girls need to be separated. I have already started asking if they have their textbooks and workbooks when I take attendance so that they have no excuse. If they don't have them, I will email my supervisor as they already were warned. Last but not least, they can stand against the wall for class if they can't keep from knocking each other to the ground.
As hectic as class was, I was laughing when I left. One girl had even written "Mindy I love u" on the board. It was sweet. I accomplished, somehow, what I had planned. They didn't get their workbooks done so it is homework. I'll check them when we have class again. All is planned and ideas are in place in case those plans need backup :D
Riddle - houses
There was a green house.
Inside it was a white house.
Inside that was a red house.
Inside that was a lot of babies.
What is it?
***
Answer: a watermelon.
Inside it was a white house.
Inside that was a red house.
Inside that was a lot of babies.
What is it?
***
Answer: a watermelon.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Exercise - New Place
Yesterday I was going stir crazy in my apartment and the weekend wasn't even half over yet. I thought about facebooking a fellow English teacher and begging to go for a walk, but figured I better wait until later afternoon. She had the same idea, and got a hold of me. We went walking where I hadn't been yet.
We took the road down towards Namsan, but instead of turning towards it, we went the opposite direction. Lo and behold there was a dam. Well, not right away. Went through a small village first. The reservoir is really low right now but it was so pretty. The mountains (they are not hills to me) surrounded it and reflected in the water. There were birds about. There were random flowers. It was really pretty.
The walk there and back was also interesting. Every INCH of spare ground was being used to grow flowers and vegetables. Small holding pens held cows and those cows will live in those small pens their entire lives. The people we met were friendly and we somehow managed to talk to each other despite our language barrier. Arches, walls, and even roof tops had plants on them with gourds, squash, and melons growing down from them. Yes, I walked under a melon.
It was a good way to get out. A good way to spend my Saturday.
We took the road down towards Namsan, but instead of turning towards it, we went the opposite direction. Lo and behold there was a dam. Well, not right away. Went through a small village first. The reservoir is really low right now but it was so pretty. The mountains (they are not hills to me) surrounded it and reflected in the water. There were birds about. There were random flowers. It was really pretty.
The walk there and back was also interesting. Every INCH of spare ground was being used to grow flowers and vegetables. Small holding pens held cows and those cows will live in those small pens their entire lives. The people we met were friendly and we somehow managed to talk to each other despite our language barrier. Arches, walls, and even roof tops had plants on them with gourds, squash, and melons growing down from them. Yes, I walked under a melon.
It was a good way to get out. A good way to spend my Saturday.
Preparing
Fridays are those blessed days dedicated to the creation of lesson plans and other needed materials for teaching with the following week.
This last Friday was no different. The English teachers don't have classes on Friday like the rest of the school. So that helps us concentrate entirely on next week. I have three culture, or social studies, classes that I teach. One for each grade level. This coming week I decided I wanted to incorporate beautiful powerpoints that went into more detail than their textbooks. I knocked myself out with those powerpoints too. Discussing with one of my Korean teachers, who aides me in the classroom, how I was doing the powerpoints led to the extension of those lessons with projects and presentations. Where possible, we threw in parts of movies to watch. All of this added another week and a half to one section of a chapter. It is thorough though and hopefully they will pick up more English. I must remember to be more animated in class as well :D
All my classes where I have a Korean helping me teach requires a lesson plan. Those are done. The classes I teach on my own don't even have a curriculum and we are figuring it out as we go. So those classes I gave up on the lesson plans for this coming week. Will try to figure out how much these kids can do in one class period and then try those again. Then there are the co-teaching classes where I show up for 20 minutes, do something random, then leave. The teachers in those classes didn't want me around the last two weeks due to studying for midterms. So I am still trying to figure out what to do for those ones.
Overall though, I feel confident about this coming week. There is no school on Thursday due to a festival, so I only had to plan three days. Granted in one class I planned the next 3.5 weeks. The point is, I am ready. Bring it on!
This last Friday was no different. The English teachers don't have classes on Friday like the rest of the school. So that helps us concentrate entirely on next week. I have three culture, or social studies, classes that I teach. One for each grade level. This coming week I decided I wanted to incorporate beautiful powerpoints that went into more detail than their textbooks. I knocked myself out with those powerpoints too. Discussing with one of my Korean teachers, who aides me in the classroom, how I was doing the powerpoints led to the extension of those lessons with projects and presentations. Where possible, we threw in parts of movies to watch. All of this added another week and a half to one section of a chapter. It is thorough though and hopefully they will pick up more English. I must remember to be more animated in class as well :D
All my classes where I have a Korean helping me teach requires a lesson plan. Those are done. The classes I teach on my own don't even have a curriculum and we are figuring it out as we go. So those classes I gave up on the lesson plans for this coming week. Will try to figure out how much these kids can do in one class period and then try those again. Then there are the co-teaching classes where I show up for 20 minutes, do something random, then leave. The teachers in those classes didn't want me around the last two weeks due to studying for midterms. So I am still trying to figure out what to do for those ones.
Overall though, I feel confident about this coming week. There is no school on Thursday due to a festival, so I only had to plan three days. Granted in one class I planned the next 3.5 weeks. The point is, I am ready. Bring it on!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Angong
Today we worked at the school for an hour, then the Vice Principle (VP) took us foreign teachers out to play tourist.
We went to the Angong folk village.
The day started out beautiful. The sun was shining. There was a good breeze. We jumped into the VP's car and headed off campus. We drove through Namsan and to Naim. In Naim, we stopped at a market to pick up snacks. Then we continued on our way for another hour.
Once we got to Angong, we drove to the folk village area. We didn't have to pay to drive in because us foreigners were along :) This entire year is tourist year. They let the foreigners do a lot of stuff for free! We parked and went to the Hahoe Mask Museum. They didn't allow pictures in there sadly. There were masks from all around the world with information on all of them. The history behind them. It was absolutely amazing.
After that, we went back to Angong and went out to eat. We went to a traditional Korean restaurant that Elizabeth II had visited. It was amazing!! Totally took a lot of pictures! The food was really good. I can't remember now what any of the dishes was called. I can tell you that it filled me up for the rest of the day. There was strips of beef covered in sauce with toppings. There was a noodle dish. There was a main dish that had many vegetables and chicken and noodles all covered in sauce. The chicken over here, by the way, still has the bone in it. There was fish and fish guts too, but I didn't try it. There were several other small dishes and rice, but I don't remember them much. I was having too much fun ;)
There was a game out on the lawn outside where you throw sticks into pots. It is really fun. We did that while we were waiting for our food to be ready. Of course we took pictures too ;)
After lunch we drove back to the folk village area and once again parked. Then we walked past the museum and the market that is set up there to a bus stop in that folk village area. We took a bus to the folk village itself. When we got off, we went to see a mask dance that was going on. The mask festival is this week. It was really funny even though I didn't understand the Korean words that were spoken. It wasn't just a dance, but a play as well.
Continuing our walk, we went around the entire village. There were so many neat buildings. You could see how the different dwellings were set up. The way that they heated them under the floors. There were some shops too and yes, I couldn't resist buying two or three items. We came to a playground. Their swings are super tall and you are supposed to stand on the swing and make it go that way. Also the teeter totters are meant to be jumped on, and I did pretty well if I say so myself. They are wide, thick boards that aren't more than a foot off the ground.
Down by the river is an amazing cliff. The river is super wide, wider than the Kansas river in Manhattan, KS. There are super wide sandbars. The boulders that fell from the cliff on the other side are more like small hills than boulders. And the trees are so thick and twisted that it is easy to climb them. My camera died at this point so I had others with me take pictures for me with their cameras.
We finally finished and headed back towards the school. We stopped in Namsan for supper. Had an amazing rice dish. You have a mound of fried rice with egg crumbles on top. You also have a sauce with vegetables diced up in it. You mixed the two and enjoy :) That particular dish comes with soup... but the octopus tentacles inside of it convinced us foreigners that we weren't that brave.
Finally we returned and I am not going to lie, I'm exhausted! It was a lot of fun though and I really enjoyed the day. It was well planned. Also the school was generous in not only providing that time off but paying for everything too.
We went to the Angong folk village.
The day started out beautiful. The sun was shining. There was a good breeze. We jumped into the VP's car and headed off campus. We drove through Namsan and to Naim. In Naim, we stopped at a market to pick up snacks. Then we continued on our way for another hour.
Once we got to Angong, we drove to the folk village area. We didn't have to pay to drive in because us foreigners were along :) This entire year is tourist year. They let the foreigners do a lot of stuff for free! We parked and went to the Hahoe Mask Museum. They didn't allow pictures in there sadly. There were masks from all around the world with information on all of them. The history behind them. It was absolutely amazing.
After that, we went back to Angong and went out to eat. We went to a traditional Korean restaurant that Elizabeth II had visited. It was amazing!! Totally took a lot of pictures! The food was really good. I can't remember now what any of the dishes was called. I can tell you that it filled me up for the rest of the day. There was strips of beef covered in sauce with toppings. There was a noodle dish. There was a main dish that had many vegetables and chicken and noodles all covered in sauce. The chicken over here, by the way, still has the bone in it. There was fish and fish guts too, but I didn't try it. There were several other small dishes and rice, but I don't remember them much. I was having too much fun ;)
There was a game out on the lawn outside where you throw sticks into pots. It is really fun. We did that while we were waiting for our food to be ready. Of course we took pictures too ;)
After lunch we drove back to the folk village area and once again parked. Then we walked past the museum and the market that is set up there to a bus stop in that folk village area. We took a bus to the folk village itself. When we got off, we went to see a mask dance that was going on. The mask festival is this week. It was really funny even though I didn't understand the Korean words that were spoken. It wasn't just a dance, but a play as well.
Continuing our walk, we went around the entire village. There were so many neat buildings. You could see how the different dwellings were set up. The way that they heated them under the floors. There were some shops too and yes, I couldn't resist buying two or three items. We came to a playground. Their swings are super tall and you are supposed to stand on the swing and make it go that way. Also the teeter totters are meant to be jumped on, and I did pretty well if I say so myself. They are wide, thick boards that aren't more than a foot off the ground.
Down by the river is an amazing cliff. The river is super wide, wider than the Kansas river in Manhattan, KS. There are super wide sandbars. The boulders that fell from the cliff on the other side are more like small hills than boulders. And the trees are so thick and twisted that it is easy to climb them. My camera died at this point so I had others with me take pictures for me with their cameras.
We finally finished and headed back towards the school. We stopped in Namsan for supper. Had an amazing rice dish. You have a mound of fried rice with egg crumbles on top. You also have a sauce with vegetables diced up in it. You mixed the two and enjoy :) That particular dish comes with soup... but the octopus tentacles inside of it convinced us foreigners that we weren't that brave.
Finally we returned and I am not going to lie, I'm exhausted! It was a lot of fun though and I really enjoyed the day. It was well planned. Also the school was generous in not only providing that time off but paying for everything too.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Skillet
There is a Christian Rock band I really enjoy listening to. The group, Skillet, has so many uplifting messages. They especially resound with teenagers and young adults who may feel overwhelmed at times with life.
There is a song called Hero I have been listening to. Here is some of the lyrics:
Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero, I've got a hero
Living in me
It really means a lot to me to have bands out there like this.
Here is what Skillet wrote about this song when they were putting it out:
"This song is the platform over which the whole record was written. Basically every day seems to get weirder, darker and scarier with thousands of people losing their homes and hurting over a wide variety of reasons. You see so much negativity on the news, especially this sense of violence that's getting really crazy. With all this going on, it's easy to feel on the edge, but no matter how dark it gets, there's always hope in a new day and staying positive is the first step. And when you boil it all down, Christ is the one who gives us a reason to live and He's our 'Hero' who's fighting for all of this oppression and injustice."
Music resounds inside of me all day long. I like to put Christian music there that reminds me that Jesus has my back. Jesus will take care of me. Jesus can use me and even if I mess up He will save me just in time.
Skillet has many more amazing songs like Hero. They might be all rock band, but if something brings you closer to Jesus and reminds you of who He is and what He means, then who are we to judge?
There is a song called Hero I have been listening to. Here is some of the lyrics:
Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero, I've got a hero
Living in me
It really means a lot to me to have bands out there like this.
Here is what Skillet wrote about this song when they were putting it out:
"This song is the platform over which the whole record was written. Basically every day seems to get weirder, darker and scarier with thousands of people losing their homes and hurting over a wide variety of reasons. You see so much negativity on the news, especially this sense of violence that's getting really crazy. With all this going on, it's easy to feel on the edge, but no matter how dark it gets, there's always hope in a new day and staying positive is the first step. And when you boil it all down, Christ is the one who gives us a reason to live and He's our 'Hero' who's fighting for all of this oppression and injustice."
Music resounds inside of me all day long. I like to put Christian music there that reminds me that Jesus has my back. Jesus will take care of me. Jesus can use me and even if I mess up He will save me just in time.
Skillet has many more amazing songs like Hero. They might be all rock band, but if something brings you closer to Jesus and reminds you of who He is and what He means, then who are we to judge?
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