Teaching those lovely kids.

Ever hear that Asian students are more studious and shyer than American students? Or have you heard that they are always on their best behavior? Well, let me tell you, kids are kids regardless of which country they come from. I’ve got students that are very quiet and very studious, but I’ve also got students that never stop talking, giggling, and singing.

Wednesday, April 21, I had two students lip sync “I will follow him” for the entire class. They are learning it in their music class, so I pulled up the version from “Sister Act” and let them go to town. I’ve never seen them so enthusiastic! And hey, it was in English! They went all out, gesturing and making facial expressions as the pretended to sing, and at the end they took a bow as the class, still laughing hysterically, cheered and clapped.

I’ve had to start being a little more of a disciplinarian in some of my classes lately, just because some of the students have a hard time with talking in class. I try to remember how I was when I was that age, but I’d really like for them to be better. I’ve started trying more and more to make my classes fun and not so boring. It’s hard sometimes. I have to get them to repeat and practice the language with me before I can let them play with the language with a game or something…but sometimes they are just not in a repeating mood. I understand that. They at least only have to do it once! I’ve got to do it at least 10 times!

I’ve got some students that are amazing! Some of the students in my talk club and in my afterschool classes are my favorites. It’s hard to remember their Korean names for me. I know some of them, but it’s definitely easier to remember the ones who already had or wanted to get an English name. I’ve got lots of E’s (Ella, Emma, Emily, Eri) and other cute names like Kate, Judy, Anna, Christy, and Hannah. But then I’ve got a Conan and a Jelly. There’s one little girl who asked if I’d call her beautiful and elegance! I did for a while but then she wanted an English name. I gave her some names and she picked Lizzy. I told her Elizabeth, like the Queen of England and she got really excited! But she couldn’t say Elizabeth so I told her some nicknames for Lizzy.

I really enjoy teaching. It’s very me. My kids are so important to me already. I can’t imagine how sad I’ll be when I leave them! And I’ve only been here for two months. All the girls love to say hi or wave to me in the halls and still get a thrill when I smile or wave back. They tell me, “Teacher, your so cute, I love you!” And I respond with “You’re cute, and I love you!” in Korean. They get so impressed. I’ve already been told I speak Korean very well, which is a total lie. I’m terrible. But I know they appreciate I’m trying and want to encourage me. I have gangs of girls who come and talk to me between classes or before classes start, and if I ever say “Good job” to them I can see how happy it makes them.

One thing that I struggle with is having a lot of special needs kids in my class. There parents don’t want to take them out of normal school because they don’t want them to be different, but it’s really detrimental to their education! Koreans don’t really deal with disabilities that well. I’ve got one adorable student, who never speaks English at all, but will look at me and then look away and smile really big if I smile at her. And sometimes I see her try to do things the way I’m doing. It’s cute.

And then there is Yu-rim. She’s really different. The first few times I saw her she would just talk to me non-stop in Korean (even while I was teaching, she just kept muttering to me in Korean), but then she started using her few words of English. “Hello Teacher, how are you? Thank you. I’m fine. Bye Bye”. We got into a nice little routine of greeting each other in the halls, even if it was 3 or 4 times a day. Now she comes to my office during lunch a few times a week. She actually knew a lot more than I thought (T.V., computer, pen, book, pink, blue, black), and I’ve used things in the classroom to teach her other objects and colors. She struggles sometimes, but she came to me once and showed me where she’d practiced writing down all the new words I’d written down for her. And she did it all on her own.

I’ve also had students draw pictures for me, or of me. They’re all really good drawers. I made them all giggle once when I asked if they wanted to see the best thing I could draw, and then I drew a picture of a stick person on the board.

I love my students. They make my day most days

Just Call Me Heather Teacher

Teaching those lovely kids.

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