Two weeks in and I find myself busy, busy, busy! Thanks to the stunning recommendations my over-zealous co-teacher gives of me, I've taken a few extra weekend teaching jobs with some advanced classes, I picked up an extra class for this Saturday at a friend's elementary school, I'm back to teaching yoga 2 days a week (soon to be 3 perhaps), and I'm teaching some of the soccer players at my school one evening a week. I'm still aiming to do a Korean language exchange once a week, go to my yoga master at least twice a week, and continue with acupuncture. So with all that, I decided to have a quiet evening in tonight for all those wonderful chores that get neglected when you don't come home before 9pm every night. A riveting Friday night of laundry and dishes.
Let's start with those goals for the year:
- Blog weekly & stay in touch with friends and family
- Be present and aware
- Continue learning Korean
- Make time for relaxation and self-reflection (sauna, hiking, reading and a home yoga practice)
- Work down the student loan debt and save $$
- Continue to improve my skills as an English teacher
The wonderful thing about posting these online is that I know I'll hold myself accountable for them since who knows how many people will read this post. At least one I hope.
I may have mentioned in the past semester the difficulty I've been having with our 4th grade students. My co-teacher and I persevered all Spring through shouting, fighting, little to no respect or quiet in the classroom, and very little English learning taking place. So for the past 2 months I've been quietly putting together a plan to change this. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who supplied me with ideas or supported my moaning and crying. I'm happy to report that my co-teacher and I put together a system which, thus far, has totally worked!
With the help of the 4th grade home room teachers, we have a new system of accountability for the students' behavior in English class, and they have laid down the law about the importance of their English education. In our classroom, we set up both a reward system (based on daily points and class rewards) and a discipline system (based on "yellow card", "red card", note to the teacher) that are clearly laid out and non-negotiable. The biggest problem last semester, in my opinion, was the expectations and discipline methods were not enough to hold the students accountable for their actions. We had classroom rules, just no set way to enforce them. This week was the first time I've taught 4th grade all year that I haven't been upset after every class, wondering why were wasting out time babysitting these kids. There is now a positive environment for learning in our classroom. I felt, again for the first time this year, that most of the kids learned a least a little something this week.
I don't always write about it, but teaching is the reason I'm here and it's extremely important to me. As a foreign teacher sometimes our job is a joke, classes are often canceled, teachers aren't always respected, and, frankly, sometimes you know you're just filling space as the Westerner in the classroom. In the past year I've learned to let things go when they aren't going well, how to modify a lesson mid-stream to go with the mood of the class, and not to take the other stuff personally. But I know that because I always come into the classroom 100% prepared and wholly committed to what I'm teaching, my students have a chance to learn something. In the past few months I've seen improvement in so many students' attitude about learning, their behavior, and their confidence in themselves, and it recommits me to teaching every time.
Of course, catch me after my next bad lesson and I might have a completely different story.
Check out some recent adventurous pictures on my facebook; I'll get them up here soon.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Year 2: Post #1
I'm back in Jeju after a crazy awesome month long vacation in the USA. I'll post a nice long blog and pictures about that soon. But here's a catch-up on the last 2 weeks in Jeju...
Quarantine! I was greeted at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul with an ear thermometer and a health questionnaire. (Did you know the normal temp in Celsius is 36.5? I did not.) Like a responsible teacher, I dropped into my school the following afternoon to check-in and was told to leave immediately and not come back for a week. All overseas travelers are quarantined for a week which means no work! So I had a surprise vacation in Jeju to recuperate from the jet-lag and unpack the ridiculous amount of stuff I brought back with me. Of course, I abided by the recommendation to stay in my home and not go in public places. (hehe) I got in a bit of beach time, ocean swimming, yoga classes, sauna visits, and I paid another visit to Baeknokdam, the crater at the top of Mt. Halla. Unfortunately it was an overcast day and the whole hike was in the clouds so the visibility was nill, but at least it wasn't too hot. I was still covered head to toe in sweat by the end of the 6 hour hike (my personal best) and my calves were sore for 4 or 5 days. Thanks be to cheap saunas!
On my trip to Seattle & NY I went to a number of yoga studios and reveled in the luxury of studying yoga with an English speaking teacher. The best studio was OM Yoga in NYC. I would strongly recommend it to anyone. It was interesting practicing some different styles of yoga and observing the changes in my own practice over the past year. Some things which used to be difficult were quite simple and some things I thought would be simple I met with great difficulty. For example: downward facing dog, a standard asana in an yoga class, especially the vinyasa, or flowing, kind. But we don't typically practice down dog in my class in Korea and if we do, its in the Iyengar style which is a completely different position for your chest, ribcage, and shoulder girdle. I left many American classes in pain because I just couldn't connect with that pose. On the other hand, the back-bending series in a hot yoga class, which I used to dread, was so easy! We spend 10-40 minutes every class (in Korea) doing back bends from every angle imaginable, so my body is quite accustomed to that movement. I really missed the big back-bends, head-stands, and challenging balancing poses which not a single American class attempted. So when I came back to Korea and went to that first class Tuesday morning I was surprised to experience a similar re-integration. Some asanas that have troubled me for the past 6 months I fell right into, I think because not doing them for a month gave me some space to allow them to exist. Instead of over thinking, I just did. What I'm trying to say is: The month-long change was really good for my practice and I now feel rejuvenated to practice and teach yoga.
I've been told that it's officially fall in Korea. The seasons change with the months, not the equinox/solstice changes in the west so September - November is the fall season. But you wouldn't know it from the weather! It's been sunny or partly cloudy and warm since my return. Not as hot & humid as last September, fortunately, but I was more prepared for hot weather this year so maybe I'm just more acclimated. I've swam in the ocean 3 times since my return and hope to do it many more. This weekend we're planning a camping trip to celebrate Julia's birthday.
And the best news yet...I got to stay at my school! Most people are re-assigned schools every semester or every year. I consider myself very lucky to get to stay with my awesome co-teachers and students for another semester. (Of course I say this amid a lecture my co-teacher is currently giving to a 6th grade class for running, fighting, and flipping the bird in our classroom). I also was offered a few extra classes this semester to some advanced students on Saturdays, so I have a bunch of extra lesson planning to do this week before those classes start. I'm looking forward to teaching in a very different circumstance, small classes of advanced students for 3 hours instead of huge classes of very mixed level kids for 40 minutes.
And on that note, time to get back to planning. Ciao!
Quarantine! I was greeted at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul with an ear thermometer and a health questionnaire. (Did you know the normal temp in Celsius is 36.5? I did not.) Like a responsible teacher, I dropped into my school the following afternoon to check-in and was told to leave immediately and not come back for a week. All overseas travelers are quarantined for a week which means no work! So I had a surprise vacation in Jeju to recuperate from the jet-lag and unpack the ridiculous amount of stuff I brought back with me. Of course, I abided by the recommendation to stay in my home and not go in public places. (hehe) I got in a bit of beach time, ocean swimming, yoga classes, sauna visits, and I paid another visit to Baeknokdam, the crater at the top of Mt. Halla. Unfortunately it was an overcast day and the whole hike was in the clouds so the visibility was nill, but at least it wasn't too hot. I was still covered head to toe in sweat by the end of the 6 hour hike (my personal best) and my calves were sore for 4 or 5 days. Thanks be to cheap saunas!
On my trip to Seattle & NY I went to a number of yoga studios and reveled in the luxury of studying yoga with an English speaking teacher. The best studio was OM Yoga in NYC. I would strongly recommend it to anyone. It was interesting practicing some different styles of yoga and observing the changes in my own practice over the past year. Some things which used to be difficult were quite simple and some things I thought would be simple I met with great difficulty. For example: downward facing dog, a standard asana in an yoga class, especially the vinyasa, or flowing, kind. But we don't typically practice down dog in my class in Korea and if we do, its in the Iyengar style which is a completely different position for your chest, ribcage, and shoulder girdle. I left many American classes in pain because I just couldn't connect with that pose. On the other hand, the back-bending series in a hot yoga class, which I used to dread, was so easy! We spend 10-40 minutes every class (in Korea) doing back bends from every angle imaginable, so my body is quite accustomed to that movement. I really missed the big back-bends, head-stands, and challenging balancing poses which not a single American class attempted. So when I came back to Korea and went to that first class Tuesday morning I was surprised to experience a similar re-integration. Some asanas that have troubled me for the past 6 months I fell right into, I think because not doing them for a month gave me some space to allow them to exist. Instead of over thinking, I just did. What I'm trying to say is: The month-long change was really good for my practice and I now feel rejuvenated to practice and teach yoga.
I've been told that it's officially fall in Korea. The seasons change with the months, not the equinox/solstice changes in the west so September - November is the fall season. But you wouldn't know it from the weather! It's been sunny or partly cloudy and warm since my return. Not as hot & humid as last September, fortunately, but I was more prepared for hot weather this year so maybe I'm just more acclimated. I've swam in the ocean 3 times since my return and hope to do it many more. This weekend we're planning a camping trip to celebrate Julia's birthday.
And the best news yet...I got to stay at my school! Most people are re-assigned schools every semester or every year. I consider myself very lucky to get to stay with my awesome co-teachers and students for another semester. (Of course I say this amid a lecture my co-teacher is currently giving to a 6th grade class for running, fighting, and flipping the bird in our classroom). I also was offered a few extra classes this semester to some advanced students on Saturdays, so I have a bunch of extra lesson planning to do this week before those classes start. I'm looking forward to teaching in a very different circumstance, small classes of advanced students for 3 hours instead of huge classes of very mixed level kids for 40 minutes.
And on that note, time to get back to planning. Ciao!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)