Schedule breakdown

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I was typing an email to Mom and just kept typing and typing. I figured it was a good breakdown of my classes and some insight to the kids, so here's most of it.

Just sitting down to a nice dinner of instant noodles and pot stickers. Ironically enough, here in Korea, they call instant noodles... ra men. how funny is that. There pretty similar to the ramen at home, but way less salt and way tastier spices. Today was a breeze and I have definitely developed a rapport with the kids. Still a few that are headaches (one who I am almost positive has legit severe ADD) but they listen and shut up when i say shush so getting through the day isn't so hard. I have kindergarten in the morning for an hour split between two classes (Mickey and Donald class). Mickey is the younger and by far the more challenging class, but I'm getting the hang of keeping them occupied and the longer im here the more I find magnets and songs and pictures and books to distract them/keep them focused. Its weird how distracting them keeps them focused. Donald class is crazy smart for their age and easy and fun. There's a girl named Laura that is the smartest by far and I take pride in the name (shout out to the sis). Every Friday is art class and every Wednesday we learn a song. Last week we did I'm a little teapot and they loved it. The words changed a bit on a version they had on CD, but the actions were still the same, it cracked me up. This week were doing itsy bitsy spider, and Ive lined up do your ears hang low and home on the range and the ants go marching for the rest of the month. Might try to slip in take me out to the ball game before the summers over but it might be a little too complex. So I get to work at ten (they kinda roped me into taking more responsibility than my contract was for but that's ok) and plan a little and serve the kindys a snack at 10:20. That's when Mommy teacher, Jade Teacher and Shin Teacher (Jade is the full kindergarten teacher and Shin is the other English like me) have a meeting and I babysit while mommy teacher talks. and talks... and talks, sometimes for two hours, just leaving me alone with the group. Ive had to wise up and plan some extra tricks and activities if her talking goes for long. From talking to Shin I am thankful I can't understand her,and he often rolls his eyes when we talk about her. I have been caught more than a few times standing, listening to the incomprehensible chatter wondering what she could still be saying and how much longer she can go for. But she likes me, and has said so a couple times so Ive got no beef with her. So snack till about 10:40 and then we go to the bathroom and downstairs and try to do as much English as we can for an hour. Then lunch at 12, home cooked by Cooking Teacher, always four dished a soup and rice. A little break and I have a 1:30-2:30 class, by far the most challenging because they barely understand me, actually they have been pretending not to understanding me very well but when we made sandwiches on Friday (it was the weirdest sandwiches ever. We had a cooking class and my original idea for PBJ's was overridden for something a little fancier; baguette ham sandwiches. Sounds awesome right, except that they don't have mayo and didn't want mustard, so we put jam on them, so weird! Other than that the baguettes were delicious and the class was good fun, a hectic but fairly simple Friday, pictures on the Ivy League website) aka did something fun, and they revealed how much they actually do understand. That's the class my ADD kid is in. It was seven kids but we just moved two to the 2:30 class that used to be just four kids. That class is all right, and mostly the two smarter kids would totally help the two not so smart kids so it worked. But one of the smart ones has started to rebel and is becoming disruptive. Also there's a kid, Dustin, who is just really behind and can't quite read, so it has been a challenge teaching him along side Rosy, another brain way ahead of her peers. So theoretically me and Shin Teacher split every hour but it doesn't always work out like that. After that (3:30-4:30) are two classes with seven students each, one loud and crazy, the other calm and hard working. I've finally got the smart ones revealed in the crazy class and they're starting to listen/work hard for me, as well as help explain what I am saying to the others that really don't understand. After that at 4:30 I've been mostly one on one with a student named Mark, but Beverly has shown up the last couple days. Still it's just the two of them and its easy and encouraging to see progress almost immediately, even if Mark is always less than enthused. There's also another class that's erratic in attendance and Shin usually teaches them. 5:30-6 i get a break, during which I've been playing scrabble with Kevin, a student from the erratic class, and then two last classes from 6-7 of five students each. They are the smartest and easiest, and they think they're being clever and delaying class by asking a bunch of random questions of me, but little do they know that the real conversation is far more valuable than any worksheet or fill in the blank they could do. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we have extra class from 7:30-8:30 and Mommy Teacher buys us dinner at a little soup house around the corner. The extra classes are set curriculum and have a lot of CD accompaniment so they're not too difficult and I don't have to plan too much for them and the meal is sweet. Another half an hour or so cleaning and vacuuming the place and that is my typical schedule. So far the weekends I have slept and cleaned up my apt a bit, went for a long walk around town yesterday evening, the weather was perfect and had the smell of summer but a cool breeze blowing in with the setting sun. So far it hasn't been too hot but the humidity hangs in the air and you know its gonna be brutal in a month or so. Other than that I am settling in nicely. Walking home last Friday after the sandwiches, I had a calming feeling that I was home, or at least that I like calling this place home for a year.

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Comments

[Mom]

Teacher names
Hey Honey, Can you give us the teacher names from the ivyleague.com group photo? I think Shin teacher must be left of you and mommy teacher in the Pink next to you? Cook teacher in the white in the middle of the front row?? I'd love to put faces with names. You look good and Sounds like you're doing great!