No blog yesterday, sorry folks! Not much of interest happened at work, besides getting a box from my mom, and having a girl's night dinner with Michelle after work. When I got back home, I was so tired I was actually IN BED by 11:30. I read until midnight then couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
Showing posts with label exams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exams. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Rock, Paper, Scissors
A few things hit me today. One, I'm living in Seoul. Like, not just Asia, or South Korea, but SEOUL. It's pretty amazing! I've never lived in a huge city; well, Houston I guess. It is big! But, it felt small. I compare Seoul to New York. I teach kids who are growing up in a city like this. It is absolutely massive. But, the culture, tradition, and homogeneous society all contribute to the distinctly different atmosphere of Seoul compared to a city like New York. I think each day my mind opens a little bit more, and a little bit more to the idea of what I am actually doing here.
Another thing that I realized, even just in a small way, is that I am the TEACHER. Obviously, I stand in front of the class and talk. But, I gave a test in my Leap High class today, and when I was grading their essays, the feeling that I get to decide how tough or lenient I am going to be! I get to make decisions in class. If we are running out of time, I get to choose which item to drop, or if I should assign extra homework. In my mind, it's not necessarily power, but authority. I'm not just controlling the classroom and making the kids do whatever I say. It is legitimately my position to make decisions, which ultimately affect my kids. I think this concept also has a lot of room for growth and development in my time as a teacher.
Today was a really good day. I am learning to love my job. I think I am relatively good at it; I mean, considering I had no formal education in this area and almost zero experience with kids. But, the days go by fast, I feel a great sense of accomplishment after each class (which I LOVE) and I am getting used to the courses and their requirements.
Before classes today, I had a lot of extra time to work. I had prepared for my day's classes, and still had almost 2 hours before my first one. So, Erin Teacher suggested that I work on my lesson plan for 2SAP. This class is my only everyday class, it's the most intense workload, and it's the curriculum that I have to work at the most. Each Unit, the lesson plan in the book must be adapted to our school's specific needs.
I share the class with Sean Teacher (he teaches another group of kids, but we are on the same material at the same time), so we take turns making the lesson plans and homework checklists each Unit. This month was my turn, so I used all my extra time during Office Hours to work on that. It's not needed for another week, but with the time I had I decided to just knock it out.
Erin Teacher walked me through a lot of it, but I also figured it out quickly. I really enjoyed it (despite it being a lot of work) because it required a high level of organization. The lesson plan for that class was something I was quite nervous about doing beforehand, but after I completed it and turned it in for approval from Jackie Teacher, I felt wonderful. Like a real teacher :)
It's too difficult to go into the details of what all I had to do to get this thing just right, but I'll tell you that I had to reference: the Teacher's Guide, the Writing Workbook, the Activity Book, the Student Book, the SLP Writing Workbook (different from the one above), book club workbook, book club storybook, SLP Practice book, and SLP Grammar Practice book. For ONE class... of 7 year olds. My mind cannot grasp the idea that these kids are so organized they actually know the difference in all these books. Most 7 year olds I know can't keep up with 1 book, let alone 9.
Anyway, I also had my 3SAP kids today (similar program as 2SAP, but only T/Th and slightly farther along than 2SAP). They are my best large class. I have 9 or 10 students, and they work as hard as my smaller classes, or sometimes even better. Today was awesome! They read when I asked them to, they all wanted to answer the questions, and almost all of them had memorized the Daily Oral Expression they had for homework.
One part of the lesson involved looking at a poem in their student books. They tried to get me to do some game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors (which they endearingly called "Po-ta-to!" in the same intonation as R,P,S...) in order to determine the order of which they read aloud. I had no idea how that was supposed to work so I made them all sit down and just went in order down the rows (like any sane teacher would do). They read it through once, each student reading only 1 line. Then, again, with each student reading a paragraph. The poem was very rhyme-y and easy to memorize. It repeated a lot of phrases (the lesson was to understand alliterations...) so the kids got the hang of it quickly. I told them how song lyrics are poems too, so we put the poem to a tune and I got them all singing and participating. I loved it! They were all smiling and happy and learning, too!! Great sense of accomplishment. I also think this is the class that likes me the best. I really try to get animated and involved with them in the lesson. I hope it's working :)
Also, I forgot to mention that yesterday I had a little meeting with Jackie Teacher at the end of the day and she told me her observations from watching my classes. She said she was impressed with my organization and the presence I had in the class. The only real suggestion/criticism was to learn the kids' names. Well, I'm trying! I have 10 classes, many of which are larger with 10 or more students. I feel like I'm doing well, and have almost got all of them memorized. It just so happened that the classes she watched were the classes that I have a hard time memorizing the names of the kids. I think that my lack of having developed prior habits in the classroom (not having gotten an Edu degree or done any student teaching) has actually helped me. The school seems to be pretty set on how things should be done, and without any previous habits, I have none to break! :)
After classes, I graded LH exams. I didn't have much time for anything else, and went home at 9pm. I also got my official work badge! It has my name on it, too! :) I use it to clock in and out. After work, one of the morning teachers made everyone dinner and had a little get together at her apartment. I decided to attempt to be social, and went. It's kind of hard, because while everyone is nice, I don't feel like a connection with anyone. It also doesn't help that there is only one other female teacher in afternoons, so I don't get to know any of the morning teachers at work. I also have a semi-shy personality in that I don't operate well in groups of people I don't know well. I kind of stay quiet, don't want to draw any attention to myself. One-on-one, it's a whole other story! But, I don't know any of these girls in a way where I would feel comfortable. But, I went and stayed for like 30 minutes so it's a start. :)
One final observation: the days go by very quickly, especially once I am in the classroom. I love this! Maybe it's just that I enjoy what I do (for the most part), or it's having to do so much in such a short amount of time, but by 8pm I feel like the day flew by! Tomorrow is mid-week again, and I've got lots to do when I get there in the morning :) And with that, goodnight!
**update: doing some research on the rock, paper, scissors thing. I'm wondering if the kids weren't saying something in Korean, any my American ears just heard "po-ta-to"? I read online some say "kai-bai-bo" which I suppose could sound like "po-ta-to" to the untrained ear. with my students, who knows...**
Another thing that I realized, even just in a small way, is that I am the TEACHER. Obviously, I stand in front of the class and talk. But, I gave a test in my Leap High class today, and when I was grading their essays, the feeling that I get to decide how tough or lenient I am going to be! I get to make decisions in class. If we are running out of time, I get to choose which item to drop, or if I should assign extra homework. In my mind, it's not necessarily power, but authority. I'm not just controlling the classroom and making the kids do whatever I say. It is legitimately my position to make decisions, which ultimately affect my kids. I think this concept also has a lot of room for growth and development in my time as a teacher.
Today was a really good day. I am learning to love my job. I think I am relatively good at it; I mean, considering I had no formal education in this area and almost zero experience with kids. But, the days go by fast, I feel a great sense of accomplishment after each class (which I LOVE) and I am getting used to the courses and their requirements.
Before classes today, I had a lot of extra time to work. I had prepared for my day's classes, and still had almost 2 hours before my first one. So, Erin Teacher suggested that I work on my lesson plan for 2SAP. This class is my only everyday class, it's the most intense workload, and it's the curriculum that I have to work at the most. Each Unit, the lesson plan in the book must be adapted to our school's specific needs.
I share the class with Sean Teacher (he teaches another group of kids, but we are on the same material at the same time), so we take turns making the lesson plans and homework checklists each Unit. This month was my turn, so I used all my extra time during Office Hours to work on that. It's not needed for another week, but with the time I had I decided to just knock it out.
Erin Teacher walked me through a lot of it, but I also figured it out quickly. I really enjoyed it (despite it being a lot of work) because it required a high level of organization. The lesson plan for that class was something I was quite nervous about doing beforehand, but after I completed it and turned it in for approval from Jackie Teacher, I felt wonderful. Like a real teacher :)
It's too difficult to go into the details of what all I had to do to get this thing just right, but I'll tell you that I had to reference: the Teacher's Guide, the Writing Workbook, the Activity Book, the Student Book, the SLP Writing Workbook (different from the one above), book club workbook, book club storybook, SLP Practice book, and SLP Grammar Practice book. For ONE class... of 7 year olds. My mind cannot grasp the idea that these kids are so organized they actually know the difference in all these books. Most 7 year olds I know can't keep up with 1 book, let alone 9.
Anyway, I also had my 3SAP kids today (similar program as 2SAP, but only T/Th and slightly farther along than 2SAP). They are my best large class. I have 9 or 10 students, and they work as hard as my smaller classes, or sometimes even better. Today was awesome! They read when I asked them to, they all wanted to answer the questions, and almost all of them had memorized the Daily Oral Expression they had for homework.
One part of the lesson involved looking at a poem in their student books. They tried to get me to do some game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors (which they endearingly called "Po-ta-to!" in the same intonation as R,P,S...) in order to determine the order of which they read aloud. I had no idea how that was supposed to work so I made them all sit down and just went in order down the rows (like any sane teacher would do). They read it through once, each student reading only 1 line. Then, again, with each student reading a paragraph. The poem was very rhyme-y and easy to memorize. It repeated a lot of phrases (the lesson was to understand alliterations...) so the kids got the hang of it quickly. I told them how song lyrics are poems too, so we put the poem to a tune and I got them all singing and participating. I loved it! They were all smiling and happy and learning, too!! Great sense of accomplishment. I also think this is the class that likes me the best. I really try to get animated and involved with them in the lesson. I hope it's working :)
Also, I forgot to mention that yesterday I had a little meeting with Jackie Teacher at the end of the day and she told me her observations from watching my classes. She said she was impressed with my organization and the presence I had in the class. The only real suggestion/criticism was to learn the kids' names. Well, I'm trying! I have 10 classes, many of which are larger with 10 or more students. I feel like I'm doing well, and have almost got all of them memorized. It just so happened that the classes she watched were the classes that I have a hard time memorizing the names of the kids. I think that my lack of having developed prior habits in the classroom (not having gotten an Edu degree or done any student teaching) has actually helped me. The school seems to be pretty set on how things should be done, and without any previous habits, I have none to break! :)
After classes, I graded LH exams. I didn't have much time for anything else, and went home at 9pm. I also got my official work badge! It has my name on it, too! :) I use it to clock in and out. After work, one of the morning teachers made everyone dinner and had a little get together at her apartment. I decided to attempt to be social, and went. It's kind of hard, because while everyone is nice, I don't feel like a connection with anyone. It also doesn't help that there is only one other female teacher in afternoons, so I don't get to know any of the morning teachers at work. I also have a semi-shy personality in that I don't operate well in groups of people I don't know well. I kind of stay quiet, don't want to draw any attention to myself. One-on-one, it's a whole other story! But, I don't know any of these girls in a way where I would feel comfortable. But, I went and stayed for like 30 minutes so it's a start. :)
One final observation: the days go by very quickly, especially once I am in the classroom. I love this! Maybe it's just that I enjoy what I do (for the most part), or it's having to do so much in such a short amount of time, but by 8pm I feel like the day flew by! Tomorrow is mid-week again, and I've got lots to do when I get there in the morning :) And with that, goodnight!
**update: doing some research on the rock, paper, scissors thing. I'm wondering if the kids weren't saying something in Korean, any my American ears just heard "po-ta-to"? I read online some say "kai-bai-bo" which I suppose could sound like "po-ta-to" to the untrained ear. with my students, who knows...**
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Hump Day with a PELTest
Ah, Wednesday.... one of my least favorite days of the week. Thankfully, today was not a bad Wednesday!
On the way to work today, it was perfectly sunny and temperatures were in the high 70s. By the time I got to work, I was a little hot, simply from walking a mile in the sun. But, it was the kind of weather that you can't help but smile at. I enjoy walking to work now that I can go alone. I know the way, and most of the teachers go in at various times (1230, 1245, 1, etc),s so we walk alone. It's a peaceful time. I get to listen to my music and think about whatever I want. I don't have to make conversation with anyone, I can just be with myself. I like it.
An aside: Koreans don't seem to wear sunglasses. Today was bright and sunshiny, but I was the only person wearing sunglasses! Maybe that contributes to the stares I get... Maybe.
When I got to work, I felt in control. I worked on my daily lesson plan, which I really enjoy doing! I have to turn them in to Jackie Teacher every day for 2 months, but chances are good that I will continue to do them for myself. (Each class has it's own lesson plans for the month, but doing a full day of plans with each class is helpful!) I even found the quizzes for 2 of my classes by myself and made the copies solo. I felt awesome!!! I finished up report cards, and had about 15 minutes to spare before class started.
My first class is my worst. I'm kind of glad of this, because once it's over, its mostly downhill after that. The class is made up of mostly 6-year-olds whose English skills are basic and have the attention span of a gnat. To top things off, there are 10 kids in the class... 3 are trouble makers, 3 are more advanced than the rest, and 4 just zone out for the whole class period (except to occasionally look up and copy the board into their workbooks). It's frustrating and wearing on my nerves... I can't wait for February when I can get rid of most of these kids. (Classes rearrange and change in February) The only kid I love is Tommy, whom I previously described. Bright eyed, eager to please the teacher, and raises his hand for every question. I love him!
My second class is also trying, but slightly less. This is mostly due to the fact that there are only 5 students, instead of 10. However, these kids are mostly all troublemakers. Two of them try and obviously enjoy class. But even they succumb to the incessant chattering of the others, chiming in and laughing at the most inopportune times.
Third period is one of my better classes. They are helpful when I am confused, receptive to my comments, responsive to my questions, and are willing to work. Granted, they are still young and therefore do get sidetracked easily. But I can wrangle them back in fairly easily.
Fourth period is my infamous 2SAP class: 4 (now 3) little girls who laugh at anything and everything, comment on everything, and generally suck any remaining energy from my reserves. One of the girls is taking a month vacation (I'm so jealous), so we have 3 now. One of those girls is significantly behind the others, but tries very hard so it's difficult to be too frustrated at her. Today, I had Jackie Teacher sit in on my class with them, and I was very intimidated. Korean culture leans heavily to the "constructive criticism" rather than "positive reinforcement" tactic with employees. Therefore, even when I do a great job, Jackie Teacher usually has a suggestion for me. Today, I was determined not to give her anything to say. She came in as we were reading the book, and I made sure we finished on time. When we were done, rather than moving on immediately, I asked the students some comprehension questions. To my delight, Rachel answered correctly on a question that was fairly difficult (predicting future events based on things that happened in the story we read). While she couldn't articulate her ideas with much finesse, she made her point and I reiterated it in the best grammar I could. Jackie Teacher seemed pleased, so we moved on to the next section. The girls did fairly well; Jackie Teacher only interjected when she felt like they were not understanding or the girls were not responding to my questions or prompts (come on, girls! you're killin' me here!!!) Overall, Jackie Teacher gave me a smile when she left the room, and I sighed in relief.
My next class was another large one, but these kids were fairly better behaved. They had a vocabulary quiz, after which they had a practice PEL Test. PEL Tests are the Korean education system's attempts at English Language Standardized Testing. 3 days out of the month, the kids do practice exams. Today was one of those days, so for 40 minutes of my hour long class, I got to sit down. This is a rare treat, and I enjoyed it immensely. The kids, unfortunately, suffered through 40 minutes of an hour long class listening to boring recordings and circling answers in a workbook. Poor kids, lucky teacher.
My last class was repeated in much the same manner, except these kids are at a higher level, so the questions were not repeated multiple times on the recordings, and therefore the test went by in 20 minutes rather than 40. So, I had 20 minutes to kill. I let them work on Homework (illegal), talk about their weekend plans (generally unacceptable), and pack up early (totally illegal). Thankfully, Jackie Teacher did not pop-in on this class or I would have been floundering.
After classes were over, I finished up some report cards I had missed in the morning, and made my lesson plan for the next day. Tomorrow, Sean, Jamie & I are going to Immigration to apply for our Alien Resident Cards, so we have to be at work at 12:30. Lucky us! I got the lesson plan done, which took care of one thing I would otherwise need to do tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was mentally checked out after that, so I did not prepare anything else for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some prep time before classes...
I talked to Michelle Teacher, my Korean BFF, for 20 minutes before I left. We made plans for the weekend - Sunday, we are meeting at her church for the English service, then getting lunch together. Her husband will be there also. When we left work, I waited with her until her husband got there to pick her up. She offered me a ride home, and while I don't mind walking much, I jumped at the offer. The other foreign teachers were still at work, so I would be alone anyway. Her husband picked us up a few minutes later and took me by my apartment. He was very nice!
I am very excited to spend Sunday with them! I also want to make plans with Tab for Friday night/Saturday, so I have something to look forward to the next 2 days. I think we might go to a Korean spa, or maybe a famous cafe. Who knows! (You will, when I blog about it after it happens!)
Two more days... two more days... WEEKEND!!!!
On the way to work today, it was perfectly sunny and temperatures were in the high 70s. By the time I got to work, I was a little hot, simply from walking a mile in the sun. But, it was the kind of weather that you can't help but smile at. I enjoy walking to work now that I can go alone. I know the way, and most of the teachers go in at various times (1230, 1245, 1, etc),s so we walk alone. It's a peaceful time. I get to listen to my music and think about whatever I want. I don't have to make conversation with anyone, I can just be with myself. I like it.
An aside: Koreans don't seem to wear sunglasses. Today was bright and sunshiny, but I was the only person wearing sunglasses! Maybe that contributes to the stares I get... Maybe.
When I got to work, I felt in control. I worked on my daily lesson plan, which I really enjoy doing! I have to turn them in to Jackie Teacher every day for 2 months, but chances are good that I will continue to do them for myself. (Each class has it's own lesson plans for the month, but doing a full day of plans with each class is helpful!) I even found the quizzes for 2 of my classes by myself and made the copies solo. I felt awesome!!! I finished up report cards, and had about 15 minutes to spare before class started.
My first class is my worst. I'm kind of glad of this, because once it's over, its mostly downhill after that. The class is made up of mostly 6-year-olds whose English skills are basic and have the attention span of a gnat. To top things off, there are 10 kids in the class... 3 are trouble makers, 3 are more advanced than the rest, and 4 just zone out for the whole class period (except to occasionally look up and copy the board into their workbooks). It's frustrating and wearing on my nerves... I can't wait for February when I can get rid of most of these kids. (Classes rearrange and change in February) The only kid I love is Tommy, whom I previously described. Bright eyed, eager to please the teacher, and raises his hand for every question. I love him!
My second class is also trying, but slightly less. This is mostly due to the fact that there are only 5 students, instead of 10. However, these kids are mostly all troublemakers. Two of them try and obviously enjoy class. But even they succumb to the incessant chattering of the others, chiming in and laughing at the most inopportune times.
Third period is one of my better classes. They are helpful when I am confused, receptive to my comments, responsive to my questions, and are willing to work. Granted, they are still young and therefore do get sidetracked easily. But I can wrangle them back in fairly easily.
Fourth period is my infamous 2SAP class: 4 (now 3) little girls who laugh at anything and everything, comment on everything, and generally suck any remaining energy from my reserves. One of the girls is taking a month vacation (I'm so jealous), so we have 3 now. One of those girls is significantly behind the others, but tries very hard so it's difficult to be too frustrated at her. Today, I had Jackie Teacher sit in on my class with them, and I was very intimidated. Korean culture leans heavily to the "constructive criticism" rather than "positive reinforcement" tactic with employees. Therefore, even when I do a great job, Jackie Teacher usually has a suggestion for me. Today, I was determined not to give her anything to say. She came in as we were reading the book, and I made sure we finished on time. When we were done, rather than moving on immediately, I asked the students some comprehension questions. To my delight, Rachel answered correctly on a question that was fairly difficult (predicting future events based on things that happened in the story we read). While she couldn't articulate her ideas with much finesse, she made her point and I reiterated it in the best grammar I could. Jackie Teacher seemed pleased, so we moved on to the next section. The girls did fairly well; Jackie Teacher only interjected when she felt like they were not understanding or the girls were not responding to my questions or prompts (come on, girls! you're killin' me here!!!) Overall, Jackie Teacher gave me a smile when she left the room, and I sighed in relief.
My next class was another large one, but these kids were fairly better behaved. They had a vocabulary quiz, after which they had a practice PEL Test. PEL Tests are the Korean education system's attempts at English Language Standardized Testing. 3 days out of the month, the kids do practice exams. Today was one of those days, so for 40 minutes of my hour long class, I got to sit down. This is a rare treat, and I enjoyed it immensely. The kids, unfortunately, suffered through 40 minutes of an hour long class listening to boring recordings and circling answers in a workbook. Poor kids, lucky teacher.
My last class was repeated in much the same manner, except these kids are at a higher level, so the questions were not repeated multiple times on the recordings, and therefore the test went by in 20 minutes rather than 40. So, I had 20 minutes to kill. I let them work on Homework (illegal), talk about their weekend plans (generally unacceptable), and pack up early (totally illegal). Thankfully, Jackie Teacher did not pop-in on this class or I would have been floundering.
After classes were over, I finished up some report cards I had missed in the morning, and made my lesson plan for the next day. Tomorrow, Sean, Jamie & I are going to Immigration to apply for our Alien Resident Cards, so we have to be at work at 12:30. Lucky us! I got the lesson plan done, which took care of one thing I would otherwise need to do tomorrow. Unfortunately, I was mentally checked out after that, so I did not prepare anything else for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some prep time before classes...
I talked to Michelle Teacher, my Korean BFF, for 20 minutes before I left. We made plans for the weekend - Sunday, we are meeting at her church for the English service, then getting lunch together. Her husband will be there also. When we left work, I waited with her until her husband got there to pick her up. She offered me a ride home, and while I don't mind walking much, I jumped at the offer. The other foreign teachers were still at work, so I would be alone anyway. Her husband picked us up a few minutes later and took me by my apartment. He was very nice!
I am very excited to spend Sunday with them! I also want to make plans with Tab for Friday night/Saturday, so I have something to look forward to the next 2 days. I think we might go to a Korean spa, or maybe a famous cafe. Who knows! (You will, when I blog about it after it happens!)
Two more days... two more days... WEEKEND!!!!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Last Day of Training
As the title implies, today was my last day of "training." Since we had the typhoon yesterday, I wasn't able to meet my Tues/Thurs classes, so class tomorrow will be the first time I meet them and I get to teach alone! Talk about nerve wracking....
Today went by very fast. I woke up at 8am to make sure my day felt fulfilling. I don't like work being the only thing I accomplish in a day. I like to take my time in the morning. So, I woke up and got ready. So happy I was able to actually blow dry my hair! I'll have to get used to the new dryer; it's a bit different from mine. Once I get in my apartment I think I'll feel more comfortable getting ready; can set up a little vanity area with all my products.
With face and hair done, I got my yellow boots on (rain in the forecast!) and headed out for breakfast. I had spied a waffle/gelato place down the main street from me while on the bus the other day. I headed in that direction. It was closer than I thought, and I went inside. I ordered a waffle with strawberries and cream. I was practically drooling for something warm for breakfast. All I've had thus far was pastries from the bakery. While this didn't have any significant contribution to my daily protein intake, it was better than I've had in a while.
In fact, when my buzzer rang and I went to get my order, I was quite surprised. Instead of something like the sample in the window, I got a mountain of whipped cream and strawberries. I was hesitant about this, but after my first bite, I was in love. The waffle was hot and the cream must have been homemade. The strawberries weren't the freshest, but still quite good. All in all, it was heaven in my mouth.
After wiping up every bit of whipped cream, I walked back to the apartment. I wanted a nice side of bacon and a couple eggs, but that's not very Korean.... so no where does that. The portion of the waffle was a great example of why Koreans, and the rest of the world, are not nearly as fat as most Americans. An order of waffles at any American diner would have had about 3x as much food on the plate. But, I was satisfied with the portion. It's all in your mind...
Well, anyway. I spent the morning on FaceTime with Michael and watching Big Bang Theory. When it was time to go to work, I felt ready!
At work, I was put to work immediately. Maggie Teacher gave me a list of classes to prep for and what exactly to do. It was the first time I'd felt useful and like I was getting somewhere in my "training." I basically found and photocopied the materials I would need for my next few classes. We had tests in most classes for the day, and Maggie Teacher had already prepared those. I was getting ready for "my" classes! When the bell rang for our first period class, I was surprised almost 2 hours had already passed.
Classes went quickly; each test has multiple parts, one being a speaking part. The teacher has to give that part in the hall to students individually. In our first class, there were 8 students so we both gave speaking tests at the same time. It went very fast! Second class had a test administered by Jackie Teacher (head Korean teacher) because it was like the equivalent of a Final Exam. After they finished, we went over workbook pages for the rest of the class period.
Third period was also a test we gave, with speaking. While students did a listening portion (listened to a cd recording and answered questions about it), I started grading tests from previous classes. Maggie Teacher showed me how to score. Mostly, on subjective questions, we are fairly lenient. Maggie Teacher gives lots of half credit.
Fourth period is my 2SAP kids, the girls I see everyday instead of either MWF or T/Th. They are so precious. They gave Maggie Teacher cards for her last day. We had a review in class and their test will be tomorrow.
Fifth period is the hour long class, and we gave a test there too. It was extremely low key, as was sixth period (almost the same class). By the end, I had graded almost all the exams. It was good I had kept up with grading, because Maggie Teacher had to put in grades today since it was her last day. We ended up staying 30 minutes late to finish up report cards and for me to be done with prep for the next day. Hopefully prep gets easier and faster!
So, tomorrow is my first day alone as the kids' teacher. I am nervous, but weirdly excited! I know that I will be good at this, just as soon as I get the whole system figured out :) I suppose I should go to bed soon... I can't wait to move out of this place! Friday I should be in my new place. Thank goodness!
Today went by very fast. I woke up at 8am to make sure my day felt fulfilling. I don't like work being the only thing I accomplish in a day. I like to take my time in the morning. So, I woke up and got ready. So happy I was able to actually blow dry my hair! I'll have to get used to the new dryer; it's a bit different from mine. Once I get in my apartment I think I'll feel more comfortable getting ready; can set up a little vanity area with all my products.
With face and hair done, I got my yellow boots on (rain in the forecast!) and headed out for breakfast. I had spied a waffle/gelato place down the main street from me while on the bus the other day. I headed in that direction. It was closer than I thought, and I went inside. I ordered a waffle with strawberries and cream. I was practically drooling for something warm for breakfast. All I've had thus far was pastries from the bakery. While this didn't have any significant contribution to my daily protein intake, it was better than I've had in a while.
In fact, when my buzzer rang and I went to get my order, I was quite surprised. Instead of something like the sample in the window, I got a mountain of whipped cream and strawberries. I was hesitant about this, but after my first bite, I was in love. The waffle was hot and the cream must have been homemade. The strawberries weren't the freshest, but still quite good. All in all, it was heaven in my mouth.
After wiping up every bit of whipped cream, I walked back to the apartment. I wanted a nice side of bacon and a couple eggs, but that's not very Korean.... so no where does that. The portion of the waffle was a great example of why Koreans, and the rest of the world, are not nearly as fat as most Americans. An order of waffles at any American diner would have had about 3x as much food on the plate. But, I was satisfied with the portion. It's all in your mind...
Well, anyway. I spent the morning on FaceTime with Michael and watching Big Bang Theory. When it was time to go to work, I felt ready!
At work, I was put to work immediately. Maggie Teacher gave me a list of classes to prep for and what exactly to do. It was the first time I'd felt useful and like I was getting somewhere in my "training." I basically found and photocopied the materials I would need for my next few classes. We had tests in most classes for the day, and Maggie Teacher had already prepared those. I was getting ready for "my" classes! When the bell rang for our first period class, I was surprised almost 2 hours had already passed.
Classes went quickly; each test has multiple parts, one being a speaking part. The teacher has to give that part in the hall to students individually. In our first class, there were 8 students so we both gave speaking tests at the same time. It went very fast! Second class had a test administered by Jackie Teacher (head Korean teacher) because it was like the equivalent of a Final Exam. After they finished, we went over workbook pages for the rest of the class period.
Third period was also a test we gave, with speaking. While students did a listening portion (listened to a cd recording and answered questions about it), I started grading tests from previous classes. Maggie Teacher showed me how to score. Mostly, on subjective questions, we are fairly lenient. Maggie Teacher gives lots of half credit.
Fourth period is my 2SAP kids, the girls I see everyday instead of either MWF or T/Th. They are so precious. They gave Maggie Teacher cards for her last day. We had a review in class and their test will be tomorrow.
Fifth period is the hour long class, and we gave a test there too. It was extremely low key, as was sixth period (almost the same class). By the end, I had graded almost all the exams. It was good I had kept up with grading, because Maggie Teacher had to put in grades today since it was her last day. We ended up staying 30 minutes late to finish up report cards and for me to be done with prep for the next day. Hopefully prep gets easier and faster!
So, tomorrow is my first day alone as the kids' teacher. I am nervous, but weirdly excited! I know that I will be good at this, just as soon as I get the whole system figured out :) I suppose I should go to bed soon... I can't wait to move out of this place! Friday I should be in my new place. Thank goodness!
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