I have been teaching Korean students for about a month now and here are a few important lessons I learned.
1. When students say they want to learn American music, they mean they want to learn popular songs I know nothing about. Arcade Fire was not a big hit with the kids.
2. For lower level students, content based lesson plans is not an option. My lesson discussing the difference between pluralistic majorities and absolute majorities disintegrated into "here... do this crossword for twenty minutes."
It finally dawned on me that all my plans for teaching and discussing intangible ideas and big issues is probably not going to work. The lowering of my standards was evidenced by my willingness to sing and dance to Backstreet Boys for the class. A little part of me died that day, but at least the students used English. To teach English to low level students in Korea, a person has to be okay with making a fool of him or herself every day. In short, I am an articulate clown that can't juggle. No child left behind, right?
Life outside of school is good. I learned recently how beautiful the area around Gurye really is. There is a monastery called Hweomsa that sits on Jirisan Mountain. It is a ten minute ride on my scooter which I learned is a little dangerous. To be clear, there are road signs and traffic lights but only in the same way that there are homeless people in DC. Most people just casually disregard their presence and some even have outright contempt for them. I just follow Chicago rules, just do what the guy in front of you is doing.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Three Weeks Later
It has been a while since my last entry. What can I say? Teaching gets to be a lot busier than I ever imagined. I would say that it will take me a long time before I can really find my own groove. Until then, I am pretty much stuck with a trial and error process. Here is the little bit that I have learned during my last three weeks of teaching.
Orientation prepared the ETA's for worst case scenarios (challenges to authority, hatred for the foreign teacher, general apathy toward the class, etc). I find myself with the opposite problem. The students are extremely thrilled to have a native English speaker and the novelty of my being here still has not worn off. Almost every student is energetic, lively, and eager. That is both the good news and bad news. Until this week, I never had the urge to go to bed at 8 PM in my life.
One thing that surprises me as a teacher and former American high school student is that the students monitor each other. When things get too rowdy, usually a handful of kids shush the others and it works somehow. I have grown to love those kids. Another interesting situation is the student-teacher relationship. Teachers will often times look at the students like younger siblings and students look up to teachers like the "cool" older brother or sister. Since I'm the "cool" American brother, those kids don't leave me alone. I can count on the kids to pop in and say hello to me whether I am in the office, classroom, or even bathroom (I will discuss boundaries with them when I finish that lesson).
The gender divide is much more of a problem than I had anticipated. If group work requires a coed group, it usually takes two or three minutes to get them to agree to it. Every class has the one Cassanova who hangs out with the girls, but I have yet to figure out if that makes him cool or otherwise at my school. All I know right now is that Korean students LOVE games that include competition. Nothing makes a Korean teenager try harder than the possibility of beating another Korean teenager at anything.
Life in the homestay is slowly improving. Of course it gets frustrating when it takes thirty minutes to say "I am going for a walk." Nevertheless, my family is very kind and wants to ensure that I gain thirty pounds by the time I leave Korea. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all consist of the staples (Kimchi and rice) as well as five to seven other things. Meals have taken on a ridiculous routine.
1. I sit and grandma gives me an enormous bowl of rice.
2. I try to say that is too much rice, and grandma says something to me in Korean.
3. I give up and eat what I can.
4. Homestay dad tells me the name of the food I am eating. I smile and repeat what he says.
5. They all speak to each other (in Korean of course) and the only word I understand is "Joe."
6. I finish and try to help with the dishes.
7. Grandma reminds me of my place and it is not her kitchen.
Overall life is good in Gurye. I teach, I learn, and just started Tae Kwon Do. My TKD teacher is very nice to me but I can't really say the same for the other students. Lessons are always interrupted by some weird group punishments (standing on heads, doing difficult stretches) when one of the students messes up. I am apparently immune to that. He doesn't want to damage the wimpy American teacher and this wimpy American teacher is not too proud to be grateful for that.
My Korean is slowly improving. I think I graduated from insanely stupid to quite stupid in the eyes of the locals. If this trend continues... I just might leave Gurye a moron.
Orientation prepared the ETA's for worst case scenarios (challenges to authority, hatred for the foreign teacher, general apathy toward the class, etc). I find myself with the opposite problem. The students are extremely thrilled to have a native English speaker and the novelty of my being here still has not worn off. Almost every student is energetic, lively, and eager. That is both the good news and bad news. Until this week, I never had the urge to go to bed at 8 PM in my life.
One thing that surprises me as a teacher and former American high school student is that the students monitor each other. When things get too rowdy, usually a handful of kids shush the others and it works somehow. I have grown to love those kids. Another interesting situation is the student-teacher relationship. Teachers will often times look at the students like younger siblings and students look up to teachers like the "cool" older brother or sister. Since I'm the "cool" American brother, those kids don't leave me alone. I can count on the kids to pop in and say hello to me whether I am in the office, classroom, or even bathroom (I will discuss boundaries with them when I finish that lesson).
The gender divide is much more of a problem than I had anticipated. If group work requires a coed group, it usually takes two or three minutes to get them to agree to it. Every class has the one Cassanova who hangs out with the girls, but I have yet to figure out if that makes him cool or otherwise at my school. All I know right now is that Korean students LOVE games that include competition. Nothing makes a Korean teenager try harder than the possibility of beating another Korean teenager at anything.
Life in the homestay is slowly improving. Of course it gets frustrating when it takes thirty minutes to say "I am going for a walk." Nevertheless, my family is very kind and wants to ensure that I gain thirty pounds by the time I leave Korea. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all consist of the staples (Kimchi and rice) as well as five to seven other things. Meals have taken on a ridiculous routine.
1. I sit and grandma gives me an enormous bowl of rice.
2. I try to say that is too much rice, and grandma says something to me in Korean.
3. I give up and eat what I can.
4. Homestay dad tells me the name of the food I am eating. I smile and repeat what he says.
5. They all speak to each other (in Korean of course) and the only word I understand is "Joe."
6. I finish and try to help with the dishes.
7. Grandma reminds me of my place and it is not her kitchen.
Overall life is good in Gurye. I teach, I learn, and just started Tae Kwon Do. My TKD teacher is very nice to me but I can't really say the same for the other students. Lessons are always interrupted by some weird group punishments (standing on heads, doing difficult stretches) when one of the students messes up. I am apparently immune to that. He doesn't want to damage the wimpy American teacher and this wimpy American teacher is not too proud to be grateful for that.
My Korean is slowly improving. I think I graduated from insanely stupid to quite stupid in the eyes of the locals. If this trend continues... I just might leave Gurye a moron.
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