Teacher Michelle

So my days are quite different from Tr. Olivia's. Officially, I am the 6th Grade science teacher. However, the school's immersion program was fairly new back in the days the 6th graders were entering elementary school, so there is only 1 6th grade immersion class, 6 Faith. This is my homeroom, and there are 34 students. My Korean co-teacher, Teacher Sapu, is the other homeroom teacher, and is an amazing co-teacher to have. He teaches the students their Korean science classes, math, and some other things that I can't quite figure out, Korean literature maybe? No clue. He is very good with the kids, and it is really entertaining to watch them interact and have no idea what they are saying. Oh how nice it would be to know some Korean. He is generally in the room when I teach, but doesn't pay attention to us and just does his own thing, which is nice.

This is the front of my classroom. My co-teacher sits at the desk
in the front with the really nice monitor.

The back of the classroom and my desk, with the not so nice monitor.

Me and my Korean Co-teacher, Teacher Sapu.

As Olivia mentioned, we are also the homeroom teachers who intervene with any problems and have responsibilities outside of our specific classes. Since my kids are older, I don't have them coming up to me as upset all the time and have yet to have a super injured child (thank god), but they have English journals that I grade once a week and school vocabulary tests that I also grade. I also don't have to be as alert when I take the kids to lunch or while they are eating, but I still sit with them to ensure they aren't beating on each other or something.

A class picture that they animated, blew up on
 the computer, printed out and colored. These of my kids!

When it is time to teach science (which the students have 4 times a week), my English co-teacher, Tr. Liz (who has a different homeroom), takes half the class for LA and I am left with the remaining 17 for science class. So I teach each lesson twice. As the kids get to the older grades, they also have English writing class and social studies, so I also teach writing twice a week. So far, most of my kids participate and seem to be really interested in the materials (in science that is, they couldn't care less for writing), but I think that is soon to change. There are very intense entrance exams for middle schools, and my students are set to take theirs in the end of October. They have been studying for this test very hard every day, on weekends, and most of their summer vacation. So I have a feeling once they are accepted into a middle school, participation will dwindle. But, maybe not!

Some of my 6th graders getting ready for class

Since I really only have 2 different 6th grade classes, the school decided I should probably have some more teaching hours. So I also teach after school intensive science classes for 2nd-6th graders. I see each grade twice a week, and am meant to expand and challenge their science abilities and knowledge. These classes are rather small, with my 2nd graders having 7 students, and only 1 in my 4th grade class. The amount of knowledge these students have never ceases to amaze me, so I am constantly challenged on how to challenge the students.

The school also has Creative Activity classes, which are for the 4th grade only. Some of the English teachers have the pleasure of teaching these classes, which can be whatever you want them to be. There is a games class, where they just play board games all period, arts and crafts, Russian, sports.. the sky is the limit on the class. I chose to teach the students Spanish. Again, these kids are so smart! They exceed expectations in languages, just like in my science classes. Some of them are picking up the lessons so quickly. I am really enjoying this class because I am also taking this opportunity to teach some Latino culture. It is interesting, on the first day of class I asked my students where in the world Spanish is spoken, and they could only name Spain. So there is a lot to be learned about the culture and the people. I've already taught them the basics of salsa dancing!

I learned today that I will be getting more teaching hours in the next week, as I am technically not teaching a lot of the time. I spend most my time prepping though as I have such a range of classes. I will soon be teaching some of the Korean teachers English.

I am really enjoying my time in Korea, and coming to teach here is probably one of the best decisions I've ever made. I am not only learning a lot from the country, but also from the students. They all say and do the most interesting/entertaining things while continuing to surprise me every day with their intelligence and abilities. It's pretty amazing.