Teaching English to Korean Students

Hi Fam and Friends!  

   I'm so happy to be writing to you.  I finally have my own high-speed internet in my apartment! Up until today, I have been using some wireless internet that I could reach from my windowsill. 

   I have been here for exactly one month as of today.  It's time I tell you more about my new job.

    NUMBERS. I am an English teacher to almost 1000 students at Karak Middle School.  I see 28 different classes of students, each containing about 35 students.  On any given week, I see 22-23 of those classes.  It's truly amazing.  I teach 7th grade students which they call 1st grade, and 9th grade students which they call 3rd grade students.  

    ENGLISH. The range of the English speaking abilities that my students have is vast.  Some of the low-level 7th graders understand just the basic phrases, while some of the high-level 7th graders are very conversational.  There are also a few students that have had the privilege of studying in an English-speaking country for a year or more; these students are just about fluent.  I have to say, it's so fun to hear Korean students speaking English with an English, Canadian, or New Zealander accent!  I love cultures.  

     CO-TEACHERS.  There are about 8 English teachers in this school of 1500.  I have about 6 co-teachers.  Most of the English classes meet 3 days a week.  I am the teacher for these English classes once a week, or every other week, if that makes sense.  I come into the English classrooms and work with the Korean English teacher.  I plan my lessons, but the Korean English teacher assists me by translating when necessary, and assisting individual students.  It has been a challenge for me to work with so many different Korean English teachers and adjust to their teaching methods and classroom management styles.  I just have to keep in mind that flexibility is key, and they know what their students need better than I do. 

     GREETINGS. All of the teachers, administrators, and students have been so welcoming to me.  The students greet me in the hallway, usually by bowing and saying "hi teacher!"  I am the only westerner in my school.  They are very curious about me and interested in knowing me!  What a blessing this is, and what a place of influence I am in.  They are watching me, more than I know.  I love feeling so wanted in my school.  I only wish I could memorize all 1000 names of my students!  It's even more difficult because their Korean names sound very different from the names I'm used to hearing.  

MY FIRST LESSON--YOU WANT TO READ THIS!!! Speaking of names, part of my first lesson with the students was having them create English names and nametags for their desks.  This way I at least have a way to call on them in class.  I gave the students a list of English names that I compiled to choose from, both boys names and girls names.  Did I choose the most popular names to put on my list?  Well, some of them are, but mostly I just gave them a list of my friends and family!!!  I had so much fun with this.  That means I have a few students that chose the names Ryan and Tory--my brothers names! I will think of them every time I see these students' nametags. :-).  On the list, I also included some friends' names from my childhood, and many names from my friends at Taylor....ha ha. I will keep you all in my heart somehow, even if it means I'm practically naming my students after you!!! 

The students didn't have to choose names from my list--so here are some of the most eccentric names that were chosen: Forest Gump, BUSH, Joker, troublemaker (I made him get a name change), superman, and Mr. Nari Park (Nari is his pretty Korean teacher). Also, a few guys tried to choose girls names like Elizabeth and Abby.  They thought they were so funny.

LESSON PLANNING.  I teach basically the same lesson to the entire 7th grade, and the same lesson plan to the entire 9th grade.  This means I teach the same lesson 13-15 times...yuck.  It makes for easier planning, but it's obviously quite repetitive.  They didn't give me any curriculum to use, so I have a lot of freedom.  They want me to find fun and interesting lessons for them which is great.  I am learning to be more creative in my lesson planning, instead of teaching straight from a book.  I find my lessons on ESL/TESOL websites and I get ideas from other people.  Sharing is a beautiful thing.  

STUDENTS.  What really gave me joy during student teaching last year was getting into the lives of my students...knowing who they were, their likes/dislikes, their home lives, and their struggles and triumphs both academically and socially.  So far I am having a tougher time with this because I see each student only once a week or every other week, and there are almost a 1000 of them!  Please pray that I have the opportunity to get to know a few of them on a deeper level--this is what reels me in, and makes me want to be a better teacher!  Next week I might get to go out to eat with two of my students, Hee Sook and Jee Sue.  These two wonderful 7th grade girls have been God-sends to me.  Out of the near 1000 students that I have, they have sought me out.  They come into my office often just to chat.  Hee Sook tries so hard to fumble her way through the English language just to form phrases and sentences to talk to me!  I'm grateful for them. 

I am thankful that God has placed me at this school.  I see many answers to prayer through it, and I'm excited to see how he will continue to show his purposes for me here.  

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!  You are in my prayers too!  Let me know how I can be thinking of you.

All for now.  More escapade-writings to come...slowly but surely.