Teacher Work Day
August 1, 2007
Today I met the rest of the teachers and prepared for the coming semester with Sonya and the outgoing teacher, Michael. I loved meeting all the teachers, and look forward to getting to know them better. I am definitely the youngest here, but they all seem welcoming and friendly. The day started out on a pretty sour note, though, when I learned the commute to school is over an hour. I was practically in tears by the time I got to school. I complained to Amy, a Vandy Chi-O who graduated in 2004, and she had a nice laugh. She lives practically across the street from me and told me her commute rarely takes 20 minutes. I'm meeting her for coffee tomorrow morning and she's going to show me the direct route. (PS, The metro system in Seoul is amazing. Super clean, air conditioned, well connected and very convenient.)
Sonya and I stayed late after everyone else had left school and did lots of new decorations. She told me she's so excited to have me because Michael was "a man, so not creative or artistic". I gather that Michael is a very caring teacher, but Sonya is right -- not creative at all. He really loves the kids, but I've heard from Sonya and our supervisor, that his lessons are not interesting enough for the kids. Apparently parents are hoping for some changes. Lots of pressure. Plus, since he knew he was leaving he slacked off on a lot of the work that he was supposed to be doing and now I'm going to have to play catch-up for a while.
Oh!! Also we came up with such a great system for discipline. If you have no interest in silly kindergarten rules, skip to the next paragraph because I'm going to go on for ages about this because I'm really excited. One of our walls is velco (!!) so we've posted all the students names on one side and then put a bank of sunshine happy faces and frowning clouds next to them. They each start out with two sunshine happy faces. If you break the rules, (speak in Korean, leave your seat without asking, talk too much to classmates, etc) you lose a sunshine happy face. If you do well, (help pass out papers, share well, sit quietly, follow directions, etc) you get extra happy faces. If you end the day with 3 happy faces or more you get a sticker on your chart. If you have 4/5 stickers on your chart at the end of the week you get to go to the prize box! (Think plastic rings, sticker books, bouncy balls.) The sad part is when you lose all your happy faces and start getting sad cloud faces. If you end the day with two sad cloud faces or more, not only do you not get a sticker, but you don't get play time and a note home. I'm not actually sure what this note says, because I don't speak Korean, but I'm hoping it's something that will scare the child into behaving. I had such a great day working with Sonya in kindergarten. We both have lots of great ideas that I cannot wait to see implemented.
After school Sonya and I went to the grocery store -- I needed someone who speaks Korean to help me out. While I was inside a little boy, maybe 8 years old, struck up a conversation with me in perfect English. Sonya said he is a former PSA student (PSA goes up to 7 year olds) ... I hope my students walk away with such great language skills!
After the grocery store Sonya dropped me off at home, and I continued to unpack my belongings. I still need to buy a dresser and I refuse to go to a real furniture store and spend $400. I also worked on my budget and realized I am really going to have to stick to it if I want to do all the traveling I am hoping for ... 30 million won a year only sounds like a lot. :) Erin and I worked on our Chusok trip, too! We have a break at the end of September for Korean Thanksgiving and we are planning on going somewhere fabulous. We were thinking Thailand, but I think we might save that for later in the year when we really need a beach vacation. Thailand doesn't get nearly as cold as Seoul. I think we might go to Beijing? Maybe Tokyo or maybe Shanghai. I also want to explore Korea, so we'll see.
I cannot WAIT for tomorrow. It will be my first day with the kiddos!! Ahh, it's the first day of school!!!! I hope they like me.....
Sonya and I stayed late after everyone else had left school and did lots of new decorations. She told me she's so excited to have me because Michael was "a man, so not creative or artistic". I gather that Michael is a very caring teacher, but Sonya is right -- not creative at all. He really loves the kids, but I've heard from Sonya and our supervisor, that his lessons are not interesting enough for the kids. Apparently parents are hoping for some changes. Lots of pressure. Plus, since he knew he was leaving he slacked off on a lot of the work that he was supposed to be doing and now I'm going to have to play catch-up for a while.
Oh!! Also we came up with such a great system for discipline. If you have no interest in silly kindergarten rules, skip to the next paragraph because I'm going to go on for ages about this because I'm really excited. One of our walls is velco (!!) so we've posted all the students names on one side and then put a bank of sunshine happy faces and frowning clouds next to them. They each start out with two sunshine happy faces. If you break the rules, (speak in Korean, leave your seat without asking, talk too much to classmates, etc) you lose a sunshine happy face. If you do well, (help pass out papers, share well, sit quietly, follow directions, etc) you get extra happy faces. If you end the day with 3 happy faces or more you get a sticker on your chart. If you have 4/5 stickers on your chart at the end of the week you get to go to the prize box! (Think plastic rings, sticker books, bouncy balls.) The sad part is when you lose all your happy faces and start getting sad cloud faces. If you end the day with two sad cloud faces or more, not only do you not get a sticker, but you don't get play time and a note home. I'm not actually sure what this note says, because I don't speak Korean, but I'm hoping it's something that will scare the child into behaving. I had such a great day working with Sonya in kindergarten. We both have lots of great ideas that I cannot wait to see implemented.
After school Sonya and I went to the grocery store -- I needed someone who speaks Korean to help me out. While I was inside a little boy, maybe 8 years old, struck up a conversation with me in perfect English. Sonya said he is a former PSA student (PSA goes up to 7 year olds) ... I hope my students walk away with such great language skills!
After the grocery store Sonya dropped me off at home, and I continued to unpack my belongings. I still need to buy a dresser and I refuse to go to a real furniture store and spend $400. I also worked on my budget and realized I am really going to have to stick to it if I want to do all the traveling I am hoping for ... 30 million won a year only sounds like a lot. :) Erin and I worked on our Chusok trip, too! We have a break at the end of September for Korean Thanksgiving and we are planning on going somewhere fabulous. We were thinking Thailand, but I think we might save that for later in the year when we really need a beach vacation. Thailand doesn't get nearly as cold as Seoul. I think we might go to Beijing? Maybe Tokyo or maybe Shanghai. I also want to explore Korea, so we'll see.
I cannot WAIT for tomorrow. It will be my first day with the kiddos!! Ahh, it's the first day of school!!!! I hope they like me.....
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