Hi
I am exhausted, and have a cold, but it is vacation time. :)
Things have been hectic here the last month. A little too much stress at work at times. It should all go back to normal next week, hopefully.
Overall, the kids classes have been ok, but they REALLY push your limits. My best class has turned out to have been what was once my worst. My afternoon girls class was a REAL pain in the ass. They would NOT talk. They would barely do their work. Let me rephrase, they would not talk in English. Korean was fine. Over the past month they have changed around completely. Now they look to talk in English, or at least try.
I think part of what helped bring them around was that I defended them against another teacher the second week of classes. The daughter of one was in my class, and she left because of the lack of talking. He took it upon himself to go and give them a dressing down without even asking me about it. At that point I had made some small progress with them, not as much as I had hoped, but I saw a slim ray of hope. In comes Mr. Koh and he made it look like I ratted them out for not participating. By the time he was done, and I got there, they looked to almost be in tears. So, I gave him a bit of a dressing down in the hallway and let him know that he was not to talk to them again without going through me first. I had not asked for, or needed his help. I think they heard me. I know some of the other classes did. Then I apologized to them for what he did. After that they started opening up more, and have evolved into my best class. They trust me now, and know I won't bullshit them, and that I won't bother with the stupider exercises and things in the text book. They actually ASK to have free talks (any subject, I usually let them choose) in English. They make some of the adults I teach look like poor students.
I had planned on getting them pizza and pop for the last class, but the school got it for their class before mine. SO, I figured I would bring snack food and picked up several packs of pringles (crispy curry is THE best), some potato sticks, and chocolate chip cookies, along with coke. When I got to class, the window was papered over so I couldn't see in. They had put a chair against the door so I had to open it slowly. When I stuck my head in they set off noisemakers. These are things they use at New Years, they make a bang and shoot streamers. They had brought me a triple chocolate cake, and had candles on it. They also decorated the board with drawings, and a big We Love You Flint. We will miss you!. It really made me feel good. :)
The cake bears describing on its own. It was made with 3 layers, a chocolate batter, and two different types of chocolate filling. PLUS the creamy chocolate icing. It also had several chocolate (dark and white) candies in various shapes (including Maple Leafs) on top. All of this was then covered with large flakes of chocolate. I still can't believe they bought it. I almost got verklempt.
So, we talked all class. We ate cake. We ate chips. We drank pop. I even taught them some French. :) It was a great time.
I also got some pictures of the class, which I will try to get scanned when I finish the roll. One of the other teachers took pictures of them and I, plus I got other pics of the class, the cake, and even the board although it might not turn out.
Other than them, I would rather not have a kids class ever again. ;) Actually my little kids class is cute. Some of them almost make a person want to have kids. It was kind of funny yesterday. We were just playing games all class, as it was the last day, waiting for the pizza and pop to arrive. One of the guys accidently hit the littlest girl in the class, in the head while they were playing. He is a good foot taller than her. She kicked him awfully close to the groin and snapped off 3 quick punches. He ended up cowering in the corner. THEN, after wailing on him, she started to cry. It was hard not to laugh, but I managed not to. :)
My other older kids class doesn't bear much mention. They fluctuated between good and bad a lot. They made the mistake of being VERY bad Tuesday so instead of food for the last class I gave them a test on every unit. :)
I will be around Chonju most of my extra long weekend. I might go to Chonan Fri or Sat, but it would just be a day trip to a museum. Of course that is only if my cold starts going away. Then it is back to the grind Monday. Hopefully refreshed and rejuvenated.
Take care
Flint
*******
Cheongju Flint! Cheongju! This was the end of my 3rd month teaching. (Yes, I sent a LOT of emails the first 3 months.)
I still hear from some of the girls from time to time. One went to University to become an English teacher. Great kids and teaching them was a fantastic learning experience for me. I started to find the style of teaching that suited me best.
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