Seokgye Elementary

Well today was the day that I finally got to visit my school, Seokgye Elementary! I was very nervous to say the least. One of my Korean Buddies took me so I wouldn't get lost (and without her I probably would have never arrived!). It is 5 subway stops away from my KU and then about a 10 minute walk or so. It really is not too bad. Let's just hope that I can find my school again come next week. The school itself is HUGE! I think it is 5 or 6 stories high and there are many different "wings" to the building. Sadly, I could not take any pictures of the school today because we were running late and it was raining. So, I do not officially start at my school until next week Thursday because there is a holiday this upcoming week. It is called Chuseok, which is basically the Korean Thanksgiving but it is observed over three days.

Let's just say that everything is not figured out quite yet. My supervisor at Seokgye Elementary was very confused on my requirements for the course so she had me doing things that would not fulfill my requirements. I made it very clear what I need to accomplish over these next three months so she is going to re-work everything over the holiday weekend. She gave me some sort of idea though. The school wanted me to be able to observe and co-teach in many different classes and grade levels so I could see what different subjects are like and also get a good taste of Korean education. I thought that was a great idea. I would be with a teacher who can speak English, but the teaching would be in Korean. The teacher would allow me to co-teach and help out in every lesson where needed. I could take small groups aside or help individually etc. I did not want to be stuck with just English lessons so I really liked the idea of this. Also, they wanted to put me in an English class. The students have English for three 40 minute periods a week. I would be with the highest achieving English students in the school so communication would be easier. Within this class I could teach my required unit plan that I will come up with during the semester. So if I am doing something of this sort for the next three months I would be happy. I will find out come next Thursday.

Overall, I think the school is excited to have me but nervous as well because I am a native English speaker. The woman who is my supervisor has many questions and is rather nervous. It is her first year at this school and she is taking on a native English speaker and trying to fit me into the program. She has a lot going on so I can understand her frustrations and feelings of being nervous. We all want to get the most out of this program as we can and are staying positive. There will be more updates on my school in a week :)

Before I left for my school!

~ E