Friday night, Fireworks, & my First week in Korea

It's officially the weekend in Cheolsan! The city is loud and lively and there is a huge concert going on at the outdoor venue across the street. It is an English-speaking band and they are playing all kinds of songs, both oldies and contemporary. They were playing The Rolling Stones earlier and Janice Joplin...:) I'm the perfect distance away. Far enough that its not deafening but close enough that it's like having my own personal concert. I opened my window because it's gorgeous out and it's actually kind of nice to unwind to some good music as a warm breeze floats through my apartment. I really like being in the city and walking everywhere and having everything so close. I even like all the lights and the noise. Maybe its because I like being in the middle of the action and being surrounded by people.

Work today was good, it is getting better and better as I grow more accustomed to the procedures and schedules. I am starting to learn the kids' names too which helps a lot. I can hardly believe I arrived in Korea one week ago today! It sure sped by...

My big victory of the day was coming up with an effective strategy for keeping order in my classes. The school already gives the students "sticker sheets" which are just sheets of paper with room for 50 stickers. Stickers are to be given for good behavior (no more than 3 per student per class). Once a students fills up a sticker sheet they get to trade it in for a prize. You can get a bigger prize if you wait and turn in two sticker sheets, and an even bigger prize with three sticker sheets.

Today I thought of a good way to use the sticker sheets since I have really been having trouble with classroom control, particularly with students talking in class (In Korean, no less! At this point, I would not even mind if they talked in class as long as it was in English!). Also I have trouble with the boys keeping all four chair legs on the ground. Seriously what is it about boys? Every time I turn around they are all rocking their chairs precariously on only two legs.

So what I decided to do was to write each students name on the side of the board at the beginning of each class. I then explained to the students that throughout class they would receive a tick mark next to their name each time they did something good like answer a question correctly, raise their hand and wait quietly to be called on, etc. I also told them that three tick marks would get them a sticker (3 marks = 1 sticker, 6 marks = 2 stickers, etc. etc.)

Then on the other side of the board I wrote penalties. Talking in Korean = minus two tick marks. Not sitting properly in one's chair also = minus two tick marks. I also told the students they would receive one warning from me before I took the tick marks away. Finally, I told them that 5 minutes before class was over I would distribute stickers based on what was on the board at that point for each student.

I decided on this method because, first of all, the students can see their name on the board and how many marks they have. This kept them motivated because they loved doing the math and competing with each other to have the most stickers at the end. Furthermore, it is flexible - students can lose ticks but earn them back and vice versa rather than just rewarding for good or just punishing for bad.

It was funny - not only did the students become conscientious about their own behavior, they started policing one another and informing me when someone else was out of line. I felt bad though at one point. One of the boys was really having a hard time breaking the habit of rocking on the two back legs of his chair. After he did it again after I warned him I took two points away and went back to teaching after gently reprimanding him. A moment later I noticed he was just staring at his book so I went over and knelt by his seat to see what the problem was. A few tears had spilled over onto his cheeks and you could tell he was terribly embarrassed! I felt so horrible but I knew I was right to give him consequences for not following the rules. So I patted him on the back and reassured him that if he tried, he could certainly earn those points back. His chair did not budge the rest of class. I was so proud of him and I told him so at the end of class!

With the 2 oldest classes I tried a variation since I don't really have trouble with their behavior. With the older kids, they pretty much just stare at me and don't like to talk at all. So to get them to talk I divided the class into two teams and put half of their names on one side of the board and the other half on the other side. Each time someone got an answer correct or said something well in English, that person's team got a mark. At the end of the class, each person on the winning team got 3 stickers and each person on the losing team got 1 sticker (well actually with the older kids they just want me to initial their sheets instead of putting a sticker on them because 6th graders are, of course, WAY to cool for stickers). They LOVED competing against each other and they became enthusiastic about talking in English and answering my questions.

Well.....it might not work forever but it works for now and that's all that matters for the time being.

So one of my students was kind enough to say to me today, "Teacha! You have long nose! Nose very big!". As he said this he motioned with his hands, indicating a huge, invisible nose in the air. He was laughing and seemed to think this was absolutely hilarious. I did not find it so humorous. Soon after, another student, Duck-Myu (yes his name is, in fact, Duck), said to me, "Teacha! You face is very small!" I was not sure how to take that statement at first but compared to the previously expressed opinion of my face it sure seemed like it could be taken a compliment so I thanked him.

Ahhh I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with my Mon/Wed/Fri 3:30 class. They are level one, and they are 1st and 2nd graders. This morning as I was walking up the stairs to work when one of the boys in that class saw me and shouted, "HI TEACHA!!" then he ran off shouting, "TEACHA HERE!!!" Seconds later the entire class was swarming around me saying, "teacha! teacha!". I felt like a celebrity :) That class is also very good when it comes to learning and we really had a good time today. Plus the kids are just unbearably adorable. Sometimes a student will say "Teacha! Teacha!" with all the urgency of a life-threatening emergency. But when I say, "yes?" their face breaks out into a huge grin and they simply say, "Hi!" They certainly love attention.

You know, teaching these kids is really stretching me. Communicating is something I typically feel very comfortable with and some might say that the English language and I have a sort of inextricable bond (hehe). However, I am not used to talking to children for 7 hours of the day. That in and of itself is a difficult adjustment, even when the kids speak English. But I have gone from college social theory classes where authors compete to see who can come up the longest words....to a job as a social worker where I was constantly writing reports, evaluations and assessments....to teaching in Korea where I find myself talking in the shortest, simplest possible phrases tho children who barely understand English. It's quite an adjustment but I love a good challenge!

I am going to bring my camera to school next week and take pictures of some of the kids I teach.
Ok so right after I typed that last sentence I was startled by what sounded like gunshots but turned out to be a HUGE fireworks display from the concert! I am so high up and so close that the fireworks were right next to my building and I was eye level with them! I have never been so close to fireworks in my life! It was so fun to see and it made my night :)