Every morning, I set my alarm for 6:30am and usually roll out of bed around 6:45am (Groan!). Despite my drowsiness, I try to make myself look presentable for the upcoming day. Breakfast is served promptly at 7:10am and we're in the car by 7:30am. By 7:45am, I am at my desk, checking emails and sipping my second cup of coffee. The rest of the morning is spent making copies, prepping for class, checking to make sure my PowerPoint works, brainstorming for next week's lessons, and organizing my life. By the time caffeine kicks in, I'm off to my first class of the day. Then I continue full speed ahead until I pass out in the evening around midnight.
So let me help you decipher this crazy mess. The hodgepodge of numbers and letters represent my classes. The first number, "1" means first-year high school students, the second number indicates the students' homeroom, and the letter represents their English proficiency level. As I mentioned in my last post, my lunch periods are usually spent supervising the English Cafe. On Friday afternoons, I help lead a workshop for other English teachers at my school. For most of the hour, we talk about classroom management strategies and ideas for future lesson plans.
They also use this opportunity to ask me questions about the most OBSCURE English grammar rules: ones that I simply cannot provide a satisfactory response for. I always know the answer because it "sounds right," but often it's difficult to explain to them why one cryptic verb tense is preferable to another. Oh well! Then we typically conclude the session by gossiping about other teachers at school, especially the new math teacher who I have yet to meet, but my colleagues insist is "sooooo dreamy and handsome." ^_~
As you can see, I also teach a supplementary English Conversation Club class for advanced first-grade students. Initially, there were too many students interested in my club class. As a result, the school instituted an essay-writing competition to help narrow the field. Last Thursday was the final due date for club class registration. That morning, an administrator frantically ran to my desk and begged me to write an essay prompt on the spot. I quickly scribbled down a few sentences about how the Internet has redefined modern-day journalism and may eventually replace printed news sources all together. Then, I asked students to state whether they thought this was a positive or negative development and to thoroughly defend their stance.
The essay competition was administered during that lunch hour and by the next period, I had 15 page-long essays to sift through. I was incredibly impressed by the quality and quantity of their responses. All of the responses were extremely well reasoned and organized. Later, I found out that the students only had 10 minutes to write this essay. I was so taken aback by this information. It really put their achievement into perspective and made me realize how lucky I am to teach such motivated students. In the end, 6 students were chosen for my club class. Personally, I would've included a few more students but the other English teachers were insistent that I keep the class as small as possible. In retrospect, this is probably for the best, as I intend to form close, personal relationships with each of these students.
In two weeks, I will resume my Korean language studies. After 7 weeks of intense studying during Orientation, it's been nice to take a break from formal language classes. But I am ready to get started again. There is still so much I want and need to learn. I really hope that by the time I leave this country, I'll have a solid grasp of the language and be able to converse reasonably well with any native speaker. The classes will be held for two-hours twice a week at KAIST University's Language Center. KAIST is the premiere science and research institution in the country; the M.I.T. of Korea, it's often called. It's about a 20-minute bus ride away from my school/homestay. Several other Fulbright Daejeonites will be joining me, as well. It'll be great to see them on a regular basis and continue regaining my native tongue. I am so determined to make this happen. But one step at a time - I gotta start making more vocabulary flashcards!
Lastly, you can see that I've joined a nearby gym. The gym is located on the top floor of a department store. It's a little expensive and the facilities aren't the greatest. But it's super convenient and my host siblings already go to the pool there every evening. Therefore, I make it a habit to go with them and get my swell on in the Fitness Center upstairs. I try to go about five times a week, which is a bit excessive with my tight schedule. Yet it's absolutely necessary, as I'm eating huge quantities of delicious food every day. One cool thing about gyms in Korea is that they provide you with workout clothes. Yea, kinda strange but it certainly cuts down on the laundry. Another fascinating thing is that native Koreans don't sweat. Seriously, don't sweat. People look at me like I'm diseased when I sweat through my shirt and have beads dripping down my face. *Sigh* I suppose there are worse things in life.
During my spare time (aka whenever I don't have class or in the late evening), I am free to pursue my own research and personal endeavors. To be honest, most of my unscheduled time, thus far, has been spent lesson planning for the following week or coming up with challenging, thought-provoking topics for my club class. I'm hoping that as the weeks go by, I'll get used to lesson planning and have more REAL free time during the week. It's definitely a struggle to find time to catch up with other Fulbright friends and loved ones back home. The 13-hour time difference surely doesn't help. But I really hope to maintain these contacts and strengthen these relationships during the upcoming year.
To all you dedicated readers out there, shoot me an email so we can schedule a Skype date! As much as I love writing about my life, I'd love to hear about yours! Hope to catch up with many of you soon. :)
They also use this opportunity to ask me questions about the most OBSCURE English grammar rules: ones that I simply cannot provide a satisfactory response for. I always know the answer because it "sounds right," but often it's difficult to explain to them why one cryptic verb tense is preferable to another. Oh well! Then we typically conclude the session by gossiping about other teachers at school, especially the new math teacher who I have yet to meet, but my colleagues insist is "sooooo dreamy and handsome." ^_~
As you can see, I also teach a supplementary English Conversation Club class for advanced first-grade students. Initially, there were too many students interested in my club class. As a result, the school instituted an essay-writing competition to help narrow the field. Last Thursday was the final due date for club class registration. That morning, an administrator frantically ran to my desk and begged me to write an essay prompt on the spot. I quickly scribbled down a few sentences about how the Internet has redefined modern-day journalism and may eventually replace printed news sources all together. Then, I asked students to state whether they thought this was a positive or negative development and to thoroughly defend their stance.
The essay competition was administered during that lunch hour and by the next period, I had 15 page-long essays to sift through. I was incredibly impressed by the quality and quantity of their responses. All of the responses were extremely well reasoned and organized. Later, I found out that the students only had 10 minutes to write this essay. I was so taken aback by this information. It really put their achievement into perspective and made me realize how lucky I am to teach such motivated students. In the end, 6 students were chosen for my club class. Personally, I would've included a few more students but the other English teachers were insistent that I keep the class as small as possible. In retrospect, this is probably for the best, as I intend to form close, personal relationships with each of these students.
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| Also, I just discovered my school's mascot. She looks EXACTLY like my students, minus a pair of uber huge, hipster glasses! ♥ |
Lastly, you can see that I've joined a nearby gym. The gym is located on the top floor of a department store. It's a little expensive and the facilities aren't the greatest. But it's super convenient and my host siblings already go to the pool there every evening. Therefore, I make it a habit to go with them and get my swell on in the Fitness Center upstairs. I try to go about five times a week, which is a bit excessive with my tight schedule. Yet it's absolutely necessary, as I'm eating huge quantities of delicious food every day. One cool thing about gyms in Korea is that they provide you with workout clothes. Yea, kinda strange but it certainly cuts down on the laundry. Another fascinating thing is that native Koreans don't sweat. Seriously, don't sweat. People look at me like I'm diseased when I sweat through my shirt and have beads dripping down my face. *Sigh* I suppose there are worse things in life.
During my spare time (aka whenever I don't have class or in the late evening), I am free to pursue my own research and personal endeavors. To be honest, most of my unscheduled time, thus far, has been spent lesson planning for the following week or coming up with challenging, thought-provoking topics for my club class. I'm hoping that as the weeks go by, I'll get used to lesson planning and have more REAL free time during the week. It's definitely a struggle to find time to catch up with other Fulbright friends and loved ones back home. The 13-hour time difference surely doesn't help. But I really hope to maintain these contacts and strengthen these relationships during the upcoming year.
To all you dedicated readers out there, shoot me an email so we can schedule a Skype date! As much as I love writing about my life, I'd love to hear about yours! Hope to catch up with many of you soon. :)
Wow, what a schedule. You go girl! (That may or may not be a pun on the Lee Hyori song title.)
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