Summer is Coming

After what seems like weeks, I have finally found a moment to slip away from my adorable, but demanding host sisters, to sit in my favorite coffee shop and try to formulate my thoughts into words.

The oldest and youngest host sisters (8,4) at our day at the park

Let me start by recounting a conversation my host parents and I had a few weeks ago. It went like this:
Host dad: Tessa, we have a problem.
Me: Really? What can I do?
Host dad: Can we fly to France with you in July?
-on the inside, I'm like, "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm------------"
Me: Yes...but I am not flying to France, I am visiting my grandmother in Germany.
Host dad: Hmm, when are you in France?
Me: August.
-here my host dad and host mom exchange looks and speak non-verbally
Host dad: Can we come in August?
Me: Sure!

And just like that it will be my turn to host my host-family for one week in August. I am excited for this, but I am also aware it will cut my time with my family a bit short, and leave me quite tired, right before my studies at Gordon-Conwell start...especially because my host mom cannot come, leaving me to share my host dad's burden of being sole entertainment providers for my host sisters (aged 8,6,4).

Jeungpyeong country side

My host family's upcoming trip to Europe has left the girls very excited. Every day they ask questions about what life in Europe is like. Often at the dinner table I will get questions like, "Do they have rice in Europe?" "Do they like spicy food?" "Do they have seaweed?"

A trip to the country side with my host family

Just recently the eldest makes me watch baking videos with her. Not just your average muffin, or cookie either, but elaborate recipes of unicorn cupcakes and kakao-talk animal muffins. She asks me after each one, "Can we make this in France?" Since their trip to my home is two months away, and I don't really know what we can and can't make, I don't want to say no yet. But it has gotten to the point where the list of things she wants to make includes:

• kakao-talk muffins
• unicorn cupcakes
• totoro pudding
• Lion (Korean character) cookies
• Spongebob cookies
• Pokemon cake

Now anyone looking at that list could tell that even making one item would involve a bit of work...add to that the fact that my host sisters are all under the age of 10, and don't know how to bake...recipe for disaster...

Lastly, one thing that has been on my mind a lot, partially because of my host family's trip to Europe, is Europe itself. In light of the London attacks that have happened over the past three months my host mom asked me the other day, "Is Europe safe?" Even just a year ago I would have replied without hesitation, "Absolutely. You don't have to be afraid when you visit Europe, nothing bad will happen to you."
Now the answer is so much more complicated, because yes, I still believe Europe is much safer than certain parts of the world, but one thing is clear: It is not the Europe of my childhood anymore. And this makes me sad.

A view of my neighborhood. My house is behind the white one in the middle of the picture.

Teaching: Things that Work and Things that Don't

I decided to put together a list that includes some of my key experiences with teaching:

• Games. Lots and lots of games. I teach at Elementary school, which means I teach grades 3-6. The games I use are usually simple like Pass the Ball, Simon Says, 4 Corners, or other traditional ESL games. 

• What works: PPTs with a lot of special effects and funny pictures (the love pokemon, and other anime). If you find one game that is a crowd pleaser, it is ok to play it again, and again, and again... My students love BINGO, always a classic, and they ask to play it repeatedly. 

• What doesn't work: In most of my classes my co-teacher prefers not to translate my English. This means that more involved games, like Mafia, or something like running dictation are hard to explain. I have had some very awkward instances where students have no clue what is going on...but I have also learned from mistakes and now, I always use detailed ppts with pictures for instructions.

• Discipline. Elementary kids are great, because (at least in Korea) they are young enough to still respect you, and are in fact quite awed that a foreigner is even talking to them. This has worked to my advantage in the sense that I have not had to worry about discipline too much.

• What works: Sometimes, when my kids get too excited during a game, or are just not paying attention, I use this attention getter: "Eyes on me!" and they say "Eyes on you!" This is so ingrained in them, and really works. My school implements a reward system, so I will tell them, if I have to say "Eyes on me" three times before the quiet down, they will get points subtracted. This really works to keep them quiet and paying attention.
• Depending on the class, I will give them the silent treatment, which involves me staring them down, not saying a word until they realize I am not happy with them.

• What doesn't work: I have tried, and failed to talk to my kids about why they should be quiet, respect each other, etc. Maybe if my kids were older, I could actually talk to them about concepts such as respect, etc. But  I don't speak enough Korean, they don't speak enough English to really get the point across, and especially my 3rd graders are still so young. It is easier to simply set clear boundaries about class room behavior, and establish the consequences if the rules aren't followed
 

 

• Co-teachers. In Korea, at least for Elementary ETAs, we work with co-teachers. At my school I have a co-teacher for each grade I teach. Each co-teacher has a unique style of teaching, and so your team work will be different. But I have found some things to generally be the same across the board.

• What works: Bigger, complicated games. With my 5th grade co-teacher we did a running dictation where we went outside and let the kids literally run across the entire sport's field. This was great for the kids, and we were able to manage it because there were two teachers, instead of just one. Another thing that works with co-teachers is to split up teaching. What I mean by this, is that I usually let my co-teachers explain grammar points. This is helpful for my students, because they need to understand the grammar in their own language first. 

• What doesn't work: For me, it has not been effective to teach grammar points in English, because my students don't really understand, they just memorize what I say. This might have to do with the young age, and limited English skills of my students. Another thing that hasn't worked with my co-teachers is for them to instruct me in teaching. When I first started teaching I looked forward to learning from my co-teachers, and having some feedback on my own teaching. This hasn't happened, mostly due to my co-teachers' personalities and the work culture in Korea. I have had to learn from observing, and adjust my teaching based on the reactions I get from co-teachers. This has been hard.