My week starts to really fly when Wednesday is over--Thursday, I can sleep in a bit and do a little less lesson planning, as I only work with 6th graders. As far as Friday is concerned, although I lead all the classes on my own, the kids are sweet and working with them is something I really look forward to each week. My lesson planning is usually done for the week by Wednesday, and it's just classroom time until the weekend.
My Thursday school is Hampyeong Elementary. It has the reputation of being both the biggest elementary school in the county, which certainly means more resources (and probably money), and (probably) boasting the county's highest level of per capita English level. Another pretty cool thing about Hampyeong Elementary, and I can't stress this enough, is that it's a 5 minute walk each morning! This generally means I can sleep as late as 8:00 am some days, and still arrive to school around 8:30 in time to prepare for the day's classes and greet all the co-workers. Speaking of which, here's a peek down the hallway of the first floor, in what is a pretty standard picture of what many elementary schools might look like:
I only have a little less to say about Hampyeong Elementary for the very reason that it's a straightforward day: I work with only 6th graders, and don't really see enough of the school to get a feel for the entire atmosphere. Hampyeong Elementary boasts somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 students, and I teach 4 to 5 6th grade classes every Thursday. Each class has between 20 and 30 students, which, if you've been doing the math at home, is itself larger than the total 6th grade population at most of my schools. In that way, it makes sense that I only see 6th graders for the most part. Despite that, there are these 2 little dudes who, without fail, come into the Language Room every single Thursday morning and ham it up with me for a while:
I usually teach 4 consecutive classes in the morning, and am sometimes even finished by lunch time. My co-teacher is a very nice lady who goes by Iris, and she lets me generally pronounce things and help the students read and write for most of the periods--she runs the CD-ROMs, homework activities, and lets me play the occasional game. It's a little bit simpler than my other schools, at least as far as expectations go, and I even get some time to lesson plan for the days ahead and relax in the Foreign Language Center with fellow Hampyeong waygook Erin and the gang there.
After school on Thursday is when I can really taste the weekend, but not without 4 classes at my smallest school with some really sweet kids at Sonbul Seo.
Fridays, I take my usual 7:40 am Sonbul-bound bus out into the countryside. On Fridays, however, I skip my Sonbul stop and wait a few more stops until I come to a little community called Wolchan-ri, in which lies Sonbul Seo Elementary.
Here's a quick look at a little bit of the school yard, a little bit of the exterior of the school, and a sample of the beautiful landscaping jobs my vice principal carries out each week--this was his latest trimming, and it was beautiful.
Here are a few stats on Sonbul Seo: first and foremost, I think most foreign teachers would all note just how truly small it is. There are 49 students in the entire school, K-6, which is roughly a tenth of how many students attend Hampyeong Elementary (this provides a little perspective, it's incredible). In the 4 classes that I usually teach, this is especially reflected; there are usually eight 3rd grade students, five 4th grade students, six 5th grade students, and 9 6th grade students.
I get to Sonbul Seo around the same time as I do Sonbul Elementary, just after 8:00 am...so I have some time to lesson plan and visit with students every morning. Sure enough, I'm greeted with tons of smiley 1st grade faces and "good morning Sam Teacher!"s when I enter the teachers' lounge each Friday morning--what's pretty cool about this school being so small and rural is that it really does function like a big family. What seems like a total barrier between students and teachers (i.e. the doors of the teachers' lounge) actually serves to connect them a bit more; there are always students packed on the couches and chairs reading books and practicing their music, art, writing, math, or what have you. So I have my coffee and/or tea and relax with them for a while...it makes for a really positive start to my day.
Classes start at 9:00 am and go 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th until lunch time around 12:30. Here are a couple pictures taken during my mornings:
Here's a picture with some (I take it back, all...you see how small these classes are? You'd think it was just a sample, but here they all are!) of the 6th grade students during the first week. They're a little difficult to motivate as far as speaking with me goes (still a little shy and quiet), but we're working on it.
Here are my 5th graders! These kids are extremely motivated, and there are only 6 of them! What's pretty helpful, actually, is that some are at a slightly higher level than others, and it motivates others to compete and develop better English. Before you know it, all six students are raising their hands, wanting to come write something on the board or get called on to answer a question. I love their enthusiasm, and it really helps my confidence as a teacher.
Here are 4 of those same 5th graders during their P.E. period, during which they'll play soccer, play on the jungle gym, or do what they love most outside...have hula hoop competitions! My little man Carl, who is on the far right, always seems to dominate these.
I teach with a co-teacher at Sonbul Seo, as on any other day. Her name is Kim Cho-yeon, but she goes by Colleen. She's in her mid-twenties (I think?), and is a very sweet, beautiful woman who lives in Gwangju with her family. She teaches several days a week at Sonbul Seo, and another few at Haebo, which is another elementary in the county near Wolya, my Monday school. They really adore her as a teacher, so that definitely helps to set the right atmosphere with the students when it comes time for me to lead the lessons.
Each class at Sonbul Seo is a little different: the 3rd grades are significantly more tired and quiet than my other 3rd graders, but really sincere about learning English and usually easy to keep focused and motivate. 4th grade, with only 5 students, can be a bit more of a challenge, as they're not led by any particular voice who is willing to speak up. 5th grade, as I mentioned, are extremely willing to participate and easy to work with. 6th grade might still be the most fun, despite the fact that some of the students are not particularly willing to participate on some days. I think a lot of this has to do, actually, with the fact that their school is structured in the way that it is. Given their smaller classes and their "family" structure that I mentioned, they're so much more humble and better behaved than some of my other students, and it makes things really simple and nice for me. It can be a little difficult hearing crickets when I ask questions at times, but it always makes me work hard in order to elicit a response.
So there's a quick wrap-up of my 5 schools. It's taken a little while to notice some of the subtleties and differences between schools, but I've really come to love each one for its own unique reasons.
Thanks for being patient with the blog, as it's still been a very busy stretch of days here in Hampyeong and elsewhere, but expect travel updates starting tomorrow! The first updates I'll have do date back to September, but they're worth writing about...I promise! Thanks to family and friends for reading, and I'll be back with more new, good stuff very soon. Lots of love, and all the best,
Sam Teacher
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