Well it is official! I have passed my portfolio and I am a college graduate. It is crazy to think that I have come this far in 4.5 short years! It seems like just yesterday I was moving to another state to attend college. Time sure does fly!
There has been a lot going on in my life in the past 18 days. First off, jet lag was TERRIBLE! My first night home I went to bed at 11pm and woke up wide awake at 330am. I forced myself to stay up all day because if I took a nap it would only make matters worse. I barely made it to 7pm and practically died. I looked like I had been run over by a semi-truck. My eyes were bloodshot and I could barely move from the couch. So after a few days of terrible jet lag, I finally started feeling a bit better! I bought a brand new Honda Accord. It is so pretty :) and of course my one request was that it can only be a black or a white car. It is my beautiful black Honda Accord and it is definitely very fun to drive as well! I chopped my hair off, too. I donated 15 inches to Locks of Love and it was a good, much needed change! It took some getting used to at first but I like it! Now, I have officially graduated college with magna cum laude honors! It does not feel like I have graduate yet, but it will hit me soon. My next plan of action is to find and apply for as many jobs as I possibly can! Wish me luck!
The next month of my life will be filled with some exciting travels. I will be headed back home to WI to spend the Christmas holiday with my family. Then I will be headed to Galena, IL for a few days. The family I nanny for has invited me to go with them on a ski trip! Fun stuff! Shortly after New Years, a friend and I will be taking off for Seattle, WA to visit our friend. I am very excited because I have never been to Seattle before! After Seattle, I will be heading to Portland, OR to visit my aunt and her family. So besides applying for jobs, I would say that I am looking forward to a very busy and exciting first month as a college grad!
I have learned a few things about myself and my teaching while being abroad in South Korea. I think one of my biggest strengths is my ability to differentiate a lesson while still making it engaging and exciting. It was important for me to relate my lessons to my students lives and since I was in S. Korea I had to learn about the culture quick in order to do this. I did have some help, though. It was great to have a good group of teachers behind me who actually spoke English very well! The native teacher at my school was also a big help. He was half Korean and had lived in Korea for 3 years. Another strength that I have is my ability to be creative and resourceful with lesson planning. Since I was teaching so many kids, it was important to use the materials around me instead of purchasing pricey ones. The areas of teaching that will be continually changing and growing for me are classroom management and assessment. The same rules and methods of classroom management and assessment will not work with every lesson, every student, and every class that I will teach. Therefore it is important for me to have new ideas and fresh methods. This can be done by attending professional development and through being a member in different organizations.
Overall, I have learned a lot from teaching in South Korea. It is important to be a very involved teacher and to get to know each student. This will help the lessons be more successful and the students will gain more from each learning experience. I feel that my most memorable experience at my school in South Korea was the two weeks that I was able to teach my unit plan. The children and my co-operating teacher had no idea how to write a letter. I tried to make many different types of lessons with varying activities that would keep the students interested. It was a great experience to see students learning and enjoying something completely new. My experience from South Korea will greatly affect my teaching experiences in the US. First off, I will be more aware of the diverse learners that I will encounter as a teacher. It is important to include all students in the learning experience because everyone deserves the best learning environment possible. Living in South Korea has also taught me to understand another culture. As a teacher in US schools, I want to get to know all of my students and teach them how to be sensitive and non-judgemental of other cultures. I can use my experience in South Korea as an example. Overall, everything I have done in South Korea can and will be adapted and used in my future classrooms. Just because I was teaching English language learners does not mean that I cannot use the same activities and materials. I may just have to tweak and adapt them to my learners here in the US. If anything, the students I taught in South Korea have helped me to become a better teacher who is more aware of my students and I know how to take steps in the right direction to help my students succeed. I am really looking forward to the next step in life as an inservice teacher!
Many thanks to my friends, family, teachers, and supervisors who have helped me in the past few months. It is an experience that will never be forgotten!
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| Short hair + college grad! |
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| New car!!! |
The next month of my life will be filled with some exciting travels. I will be headed back home to WI to spend the Christmas holiday with my family. Then I will be headed to Galena, IL for a few days. The family I nanny for has invited me to go with them on a ski trip! Fun stuff! Shortly after New Years, a friend and I will be taking off for Seattle, WA to visit our friend. I am very excited because I have never been to Seattle before! After Seattle, I will be heading to Portland, OR to visit my aunt and her family. So besides applying for jobs, I would say that I am looking forward to a very busy and exciting first month as a college grad!
I have learned a few things about myself and my teaching while being abroad in South Korea. I think one of my biggest strengths is my ability to differentiate a lesson while still making it engaging and exciting. It was important for me to relate my lessons to my students lives and since I was in S. Korea I had to learn about the culture quick in order to do this. I did have some help, though. It was great to have a good group of teachers behind me who actually spoke English very well! The native teacher at my school was also a big help. He was half Korean and had lived in Korea for 3 years. Another strength that I have is my ability to be creative and resourceful with lesson planning. Since I was teaching so many kids, it was important to use the materials around me instead of purchasing pricey ones. The areas of teaching that will be continually changing and growing for me are classroom management and assessment. The same rules and methods of classroom management and assessment will not work with every lesson, every student, and every class that I will teach. Therefore it is important for me to have new ideas and fresh methods. This can be done by attending professional development and through being a member in different organizations.
Overall, I have learned a lot from teaching in South Korea. It is important to be a very involved teacher and to get to know each student. This will help the lessons be more successful and the students will gain more from each learning experience. I feel that my most memorable experience at my school in South Korea was the two weeks that I was able to teach my unit plan. The children and my co-operating teacher had no idea how to write a letter. I tried to make many different types of lessons with varying activities that would keep the students interested. It was a great experience to see students learning and enjoying something completely new. My experience from South Korea will greatly affect my teaching experiences in the US. First off, I will be more aware of the diverse learners that I will encounter as a teacher. It is important to include all students in the learning experience because everyone deserves the best learning environment possible. Living in South Korea has also taught me to understand another culture. As a teacher in US schools, I want to get to know all of my students and teach them how to be sensitive and non-judgemental of other cultures. I can use my experience in South Korea as an example. Overall, everything I have done in South Korea can and will be adapted and used in my future classrooms. Just because I was teaching English language learners does not mean that I cannot use the same activities and materials. I may just have to tweak and adapt them to my learners here in the US. If anything, the students I taught in South Korea have helped me to become a better teacher who is more aware of my students and I know how to take steps in the right direction to help my students succeed. I am really looking forward to the next step in life as an inservice teacher!
Many thanks to my friends, family, teachers, and supervisors who have helped me in the past few months. It is an experience that will never be forgotten!
