This and That
I have new classes as of last week, and all of them are going fairly well. We are also on a new schedule. We used to work four days a week 4pm-10pm, but now we work five days, with two days a week only teaching 3 hours. While I lament the loss of a free day of sightseeing or doing nothing, teaching just 3 hours and then going home is actually quite nice. Our classes are 3 hours long and packed with things, so after 2 back to back classes you can feel a little exhausted.Every teacher has four classes that meet two times a week. Last semester I taught three different subjects. This semester I only teach two different subjects. This might be confusing but I teach 3 classes of the same subject and only one class of the different subject. And with how much schedule works it means that every time I go into work I only have to prep for one class - it's really nice!
Some of my classes will be more difficult because they are a little older students (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th grade), yet they are not doing very well in their English, so their understanding is not as good as it could be for the class level. This is frustrating to me, but also understandable and something that will challenge me. Korean students however, are very smart and have been known to use their smarts for things other than schoolwork, so sometimes I'm not sure if I'm being used (and they are pretending not to understand) OR if they really do not understand.
I do have one class that is like a teacher's dream come true. It is a higher level class, but they are all 5th and 6th grade students with one 7th grader. It's a full class of 17 students, and they are all high achievers, which is why they are a bit younger, yet in a high level class. What this means is that nearly all of them do their work, participate, answer questions without having to be called on, and understand me well when I make jokes in class.
WHICH is fun right now because we are reading a book called "Gross Body Facts". So far we have talked about burping and sweating, and it grosses out the kids, yet they want to talk about it. I can't imagine having to teach this book to middle school boys, so having 5th and 6th graders for this book is a lot of fun. I love that class.
In other news, when I had parent meetings a couple weeks ago an interesting question I got was what sounds the student(s) need to be working on pronouncing. Easily the first thing that comes to mind is the l/r sound that comes at the beginning or ends of words that Asians are often known for mispronouncing.
While taking Korean lessons I understood why this happens, at least for Koreans. The Korean letter ㄹ makes an r/l sound, either L or R depending on its placement in the word. Now, the Korean letter ㄹ is very difficult for ME to pronounce. I can never seem to get it right. It is no wonder then, that when the tables are turned and they tried to pronounce our L or R sound that often it is not correct. Somehow when I was trying to say it correctly the lightbulb went off in my head. THAT'S why!
Winter is back, like I said, but it is sunny outside and we even had clear skies today (no smog hanging over). Spring seems to be coming and Stephanie and I are both looking forward to plans for the Spring. We are hoping to go the DMZ (demilitarized zone) by the North Korean border sometime soon. You can read more about that here. The USO offers a trip on Saturdays that we have heard good things about.
posted by Meghan @ 9:19 PM
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