Subbing

I got to work at a university today! My friend was sick and needed a substitute for her class at her university. ^^

Obviously, it was only temporary, but it was so nice! It was a really great change from teaching little children. Honestly, the college students' levels were lower than my 2nd graders... but their participation was so much better!

It really revived in me my desire to teach at a university level. Even if I never actually become a professor... I would like to teach people that age. It's more comfortable for me. I don't have such a "bubbly" personality that little children find appealing, so at times, drawing out the kids to learn and have fun can be difficult.

I really hope I can work with teaching adult students in the future...!

Back to School

First day of the new semester today! I was actually excited about it because I already did my freaking out yesterday when I thought we had classes. I was totally unprepared and in "vacation" mode. Thank you Lord for that one day of preparation! It's amazing the difference it makes.

In my preparation though, I realized once again just how much effort teachers put into EVERYTHING. (Or I guess should put into everything.) I mean, to stimulate the students you need to have things on the walls for them to look at and learn from. Whether it's a "word wall" with vocabulary they're supposed to be remembering, or class rules, or art that they did in the chapter... organizing all that takes a whole lot longer than I ever thought!

There's also the enormous amount of mental/emotional energy that goes into teaching. You need to be OVERLY positive to balance out the negatives to encourage them. You need to try to smile as much as possible. You need to remember to be fair and enforce your rules all the time (...I tend to get a little lax when I'm tired). You need to make the kids feel safe and comfortable so they can interact with each other and you in a healthy way. You need to discipline positively... not out of anger or frustration (definitely made that mistake before)!

...And the list just goes on and on. (On top of all THAT--you also need to teach them things! haha)

But those are things I need to try to remember every moment of every class. They're things I WANT to do! I WANT to be the best teacher I can! Not just a "good" teacher... I want to continue to improve.

It's made me realize that I don't want to be this unprepared when it comes to teaching theology.

SO... I'm looking into getting a teaching certificate! Preferably Christian. Preferably for "Higher education"/college. So far, not too many options. They must have something, though, right? They can't just expect me to finish my masters and jump right into being a professor without any idea as to the best ways to get the concepts across clearly to the students, right?

...Oh, wait... They do that ALL THE TIME. (haha)

Anyway, please pray for my new year that I can be a good example of God's love to the students and also a good teacher.

Love and miss you all!

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter everyone! The weather is starting to warm up a little bit! (A little.) The sun is also starting to shine earlier in the day. ^^

In Korea it seems that Easter is similar to Christmas. Christians celebrate it, but not the culture. There's not really any Easter candy and hardly any Easter decorations. BUT apparently it is Korean Christian tradition to decorate eggs!

At my school for the last two days I showed the Veggie Tales "An Easter Carol" to introduce the idea of Easter and give everyone a day off from work. They enjoyed it, but I was a little surprised at how many children didn't know what Easter was! In America there's hardly a kid who wouldn't know. Such a big culture difference...

Easter one year ago is when I first came to Dong-shin Church... and met Jin! Yay for 1 year anniversaries!

New Job (Again)

As many of you know, I have had to change jobs again. Hopefully, God-willing this is the last time. I will be here another year, and have a better position than before! I am working at a private Christian elementary school as an English teacher with my roommate.

It's a little outside of the city, so it can be difficult to get to... but other than that stress (and the fact that classes start so early in the morning!), it's a better place to be. I feel like my work actually matters since I am at a real school and not an academy parents force their children to attend. I have walls I can decorate and crafts to give the kids, as well as a TV to show video clips or presentations.

I have grades 2, 4 and 6... and even though I feel the responsibility of teaching children... I can't wait till I'm teaching adults/college students. That's still my dream.

Having to sign up for another year has created a few future problems. My roomies are both finished in August, and so is our lease for the apt. I will have to find a new place by myself for about 7 months. I'm already anxious about it... but God has done so much for me so far. I'm sure He's big enough to handle this too.

Trusting God has been a struggle... but then I realize how independent I'm NOT in this foreign country with a different language and culture... and I turn to Him all over again. I'm just praying that I use this next year here wisely.

Korean Children's Story

Today I learned something new about Korean culture! I told my students to write me a short story about a tiger for their homework. One of the kids wrote a slightly confusing one... It was confusing because it wasn't the whole story! In an effort to understand, I asked my Korean teachers for help. They explained that he was trying to tell a famous Korean Children's story!

It's called The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon. Cute and slightly strange, because it's not like the children's stories I grew up on at all! ㅋㅋ

2nd Frustration

Ok... one more thing I do NOT like about the Korean "private education" system:

If you belong in a level 3 class, but you're in Middle School... they will stick you with the rest of the other Middle School kids who are in level 8 JUST because it would be "shameful" or "embarrassing" for you to be in the level with the kids who are 7 years younger than you. Where you belong.

UGH.

On the one hand, I feel bad for them... it's their parents who are doing this to them, and they don't have much say. On the other hand, the freakin hogwon should grow some balls and politely say "Sir, your child is not English-savvy." Humph. I wish.

Teaching is like...

Even though I really do enjoy teaching... teaching English has it's own set of difficulties. Which, once I get past how cute the kids can be, are quickly made apparent. Sometimes teaching is like playing charades. Except more frustrating. Mostly because it's even more important that you understand what they kids are trying to say because you're trying to help them. Class the other day went something like this:

Kid 1: Teacher, what is [hand gesture relating to fighting]?
Me: Fighting?
Kid 1: No, teacher. [Another hand gesture--not as clear this time]
Me: Um... bully?
**Kid 2 now jumps in**
Kid 2: No, teacher! Like at baseball... [dances around crazy] when music plays!
Me: Dancing?
Kid 1: [Frustrated sigh] NO, teacher! This! [Runs down the middle of the classroom]
Me: Running? Playing? Soccer?
Kids 1 and 2: No...
Me: [Absolutely confused and not sure what the heck they are talking about.]

Yeah, I definitely need to learn Korean. Which, on that note, I'm getting "private lessons!" haha. Jin is helping me learn the alphabet, and Brendan downloaded Rossetta Stone Korean onto my computer. So... hopefully I'll catch on quick...