Destination: Seoul, South Korea!: "Erin Teacher look so happy!"

I have officially been in South Korea for about a month! It is crazy how fast time flies and the amount of things I have done in the past month is insane!

I think the school events of this past week are going to be pretty normal when looking at the rest of my time here in Seoul. I am getting used to the routine of going to school Monday through Friday and waking up at 7am. Mornings are still not my thing but it is nice being the only one in my dorm in the mornings since Keely has to leave at 7am for her school. This week I was able to teach 6 English classes as an assistant teacher. It really helped my Tuesday and Wednesday go by quickly. The 5th graders were learning about the phrase "Do you want some more?" and the 6th graders were learning about "What do you want to do?" I had the opportunity to be an actress in the mini dramas that my teacher and I came up with that focused around their phrases of the week. Needless to say I am a terrible actress but I think the kids all loved it anyways :) There were a bunch of games that each class played as well which was nice to get kids moving while learning. Some of the games included Top 5 (kind of like Family Feud in US), Speed Game, dancing and singing to songs, Snowball, etc.

So here is how to play the Speed Game above. One player starts at each end, either the top or the bottom. They say "Ready, Set, Go!" and begin saying the phrases that are contained in the unit. Each student must point to a phrase and say it clearly before moving onto the next phrase. When their fingers meet they must do Rock, Paper, Scissors, and whoever wins can continue while whoever loses must start over. Whichever player gets to the opposite side first wins the game, but the game can be played as many times as needed. It is a game of recognizing phrases while working on pronunciation, accuracy, and speed. The children loved it and it was good to see them loving English. In the classroom, each student had a partner and they were given the Speed Game board so they could play with their partner. So everyone in the class was playing this game and no one was left out to be watching. It was great. Another good point is that this game can be modified to any unit that the children are studying!

Here are some writing samples that I took during the week as well. I asked students to simply write about their summer vacation. I wanted to get an idea of where they were at with their writing skills when it comes to grammar, spelling, sentence structure, paragraph structure, punctuation, capitalization, etc. I was surprised at the results that I received. Please keep in mind that the 6th grade students that I will be teaching my unit plan to are considered to be the HIGH level of English learners. Also, in the English classes at Seokgye, their focus is not mainly on writing but instead speaking and listening.

Example #2

Example #1

I guess it's safe to say the students like us! :D

Clever spelling of the word ocean

HINT*** please click on the picture if you would like to see a bigger version so you can read some of these samples :)

I also observed many classes outside of English this week. I really had a fun week! One of the first classes I observed was a Gym class with 2nd graders. They were learning how to play the traditional Korean hand drum called a Sogo. The 2nd grade homeroom teacher gave me a drum and a stick and threw me right out there with the girls. They were all giggling at me because I had no clue what I was doing. I had to do a performance with them so I just watched the leader and danced, hopped, skipped, frolicked, and played my drum just like she did. I wish I had a video of me because I would have looked ridiculous. The kids at the end all said "Erin Teacher look so happy!" because apparently I was smiling the entire time :D

Traditional Korean Sogo

The next class I was able to observe was a 6th grade Art class. They were making traditional paintings using black ink and popcorn. Once again, the art teacher put me right in the action and I was a 6th grade artist. Most of the kids had better paintings than I did but I actually find mine to be very pretty! Once it has time to dry I will be able to take it home with me, which makes me feel more like a kid because I used to get so excited anytime I could take something home to show my parents hahah! So this lesson was supposed to be cross-curricular between science and art because they were learning about the microwave. I thought they would be able to use the microwave to pop their own popcorn but it just ended up being a few PPT slides about microwaves and then they spent the rest of the time making their paintings. I think the students all enjoyed this lesson because they could eat popcorn as they worked! I know I enjoyed that part of it, too!

My masterpiece!

The next two classes I observed were Science and Social Studies. I did not get any pictures of these :( but they were interesting either way! In 4th grade Science, the students were learning about plants and the difference between plants found in areas like deserts, mountains, and beaches. There was a very, very short PPTPPTs, posters, food, and went into great detail about what their package would include. Some of the topics were Seoul Tour, Hometown Experience, Making your own Pottery/Traditional Tea, Traditional Food, Thanksgiving Day Chuseok, and Gwanghwamun. Overall, I would have to say I loved the Social Studies presentations the most. It was multi-lingual, very informative, and I saw all of the hard work that each group put forth!

I was also put to the test this week with many questions from Kuki Teacher. She is an English teacher for the 3rd and 4th graders. She literally took notes on me, which I found to be interesting. Some of the many questions included my philosophy on teaching, my goals in life, and what I look for in a mate. The last question was one that really made me laugh. The other 2 are very reasonable questions. Her response was what amused me the most. Every time I said something she would say "Ohhh, very good!" and immediately write it down in her notebook and circle it with intensity. I ride the subway home with Kuki everyday so we always have interesting conversations and we are learning a lot about each others culture!

After a long and busy week at Seokgye, it felt awesome to get done with work early and to have a three day weekend ahead of me! October 3rd is a national holiday called Foundation Day, or the day Korea was founded back in ancient times. So far my weekend has been spent relaxing, catching up on sleep, working on lesson plans, and shopping at Coex which is the biggest mall I have ever laid eyes on. It is difficult to shop here in Korea because either everything is VERY expensive or nothing fits because it comes in one size, which is too small! I cannot figure out sizing either. Some places have small, medium, large while others have random numbers like 32 and 245. They measure your feet in millimeters and your height in centimeters! It is so hard adjusting to all of these different measurements and frustrating. Eventually I will get it! I think the best part of my day yesterday was my dinner. Keely, Falyn, and I ate at Kraze Burger and we had burgers and fries. Not only was it delicious but they served Budweiser! I had to get one and it was a decent price as well ($3.50 equivalent). I was satisfied with my burger, fries, and beer to say the least.