No class cancellations today! I was so excited, but thankfully reigned in my nerves as I entered each of my classes. I only taught two morning classes (that means I still had six hours of desk warming for the rest of the day).
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| This is Class 1-8. My host sister noticed the camera in my hand and quickly ducked behind the podium before I took this shot. |
The first class I had was at 8:40 a.m (basically first period) with Class 1-7 (translation: 1 = first-grade high school students; 7 = seventh class out of 8 different classes of first-grade high school students). Sookhee was my co-teacher, helping me set up the technology, which was very essential for my first week's lesson plan on Self-Introductions. I had the students create name tags for themselves as Sookhee and I both struggled to get the projector and computer to communicate with each other.
She had told me the previous day that my students were mostly low-level, so I modified what now looks like an extremely ambitious first week lesson plan (for, in my hopes and dreams, a high-level, or at least high-intermediate class) to suit this new piece of information.
In keeping with this, I had a two-part lesson. I will share the first part because, being a PPP, it lends itself quite easily to this task.
I created a power point presentation made up largely of photos and simple captions about my life before coming to Korea. This worked wonderfully, based on student reactions.
WEEK 1 LESSON PLAN: MIMI TEACHER SELF-INTRODUCTION
Here's a little something of how this went down:
Students: [expectant silence]
Me: I will tell you a little bit about me. After, you will tell me a little bit about you, okay?
Students: [Nods] Yes, Teacher
Me: You can ask me questions at the end, okay?
Students: [Nods] Yes, yes, Teacher!
Students: Places!
Me: Correct! Which country is the blue one?
Students: ...United States! Latin America! Malaysia! Hong Kong!
Me: Um...no. That is THE PHILIPPINES.
Students: Oh!
Me: I was born in the Philippines!
Students: Ohhhhhhh!
Yours truly is Filipino-American, and all too proud to represent these two aspects of my identity while abroad! :D
Students: Wah...
Me: One of them is my mother.
Students: WAHHHHHH! [insert 30 Korean girls screaming here] Which???
Me: Which one do you think?...That's correct! The second one from the left.
Students: WAHHHHHHHH! Beautiful!
Me: [Smiling] I know...
Me: I am the oldest of four daughters. This is my family in the Philippines with the second oldest sister!
Students: Wahhhh [they are basically impressed with everything they see on the slides]. Teacher, what is name of mom and seesters?
Me: Ah! Let me introduce you to them :D
Students: Okay, Okay.
Students: Wahhhh [they are basically impressed with everything they see on the slides]. Teacher, what is name of mom and seesters?
Me: Ah! Let me introduce you to them :D
Students: Okay, Okay.
Students: MOTHER!
Me: What is her name?
Students: Mer...cedddess
Me: Mercedes, that's right! This picture was taken one month ago at my college graduation. My mother raised me and my younger sisters by herself in the U.S.
Students: OHHH
Students: Ahhh...Philippines...
Students: WAHHHH! Beautiful!
Me: Jessel is the second oldest. She lives in the Philippines with her husband.
Students: [Screams of incredulity] But Teacher, she younger than you...?
Me: Yes...and she also has a baby girl!
Students: [More screams]
Me: And this is Merry Chris. She is a student at the University of Washington (same university as Teacher), and she is majoring in Spanish and International Relations.
Students: Ahh...
Me: Merry Chris is the one who made me watch Boys Before Flowers with Lee Min Ho...
Students: Ahhhh!!! Teacher, you know Lee Min Ho?!
Me: And this is Emily. She is in high school and loves to draw, paint, and run and jump! Emily is the youngest, so she is especially close to my heart :D
Students: [More screams of "Beautiful!" "So, so beautiful!"]
Me: Shhhh...Shhhh...The next slide is very important.
Students: [Some raise their hands]
Me: Raise your hand if you like chicken
Students: [Goes wild, screaming their love for all things chicken].
I think we're going to get along very well here...
They have no conception of what a "minor" is, so my co-teacher translated it for them in Korean.
My students also had no idea what "Diversity Studies" or "Women Studies" mean. I gave explanation a shot...
Me: Before, I was in America. Now, I'm here in Yeongdo with you! We will have a great year together :D
Students: Yes, Teacher
Me: Alright, that is the end of my introduction! Do you have any questions for Mimi Teacher?
[Silence...then, a student tentatively raises her hand]
Me: Yes?
Student: Teacher, do you have a boyfriend?
Whole Class: [Excited giggles]
Me: Ah...Do I have a boyfriend?
Student: Yes
Me: What do you think?
Student: Yes! Very, very have a boyfriend!
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| Students all raise their hands, saying they think I have a boyfriend |
Me: Wow. Okay...Raise your hand if you think I have a boyfriend.
Class: [Every student raises their hand]/ [Good, they're all awake]
Me: Huh!...Why do you all think I have a boyfriend??
Another Student: Ring! Teacher has a ring on finger!
Me: [Dang, they're good] Ah...Okay. Let's see if you all are right [flips to next slide]
Students: [MASSIVE ERUPTION OF TRIUMPHANT SCREAMING, presumably in the name of love] SO HANDSOME! Teacher boyfriend, so handsome! WAHHHH...HHHHH!
I give them 30 long seconds to get the excitement out of their systems, and then - a brief lesson on verb tenses:
Me: This was my boyfriend. Was.
Students: [Deep, quiet groans of immense disappointment] was...? :/
Me: When I came to Korea...no more.
Students: Ohhh...Sorry, Teacher. Sorry, sorry...
Me: It's okay. It's okay.
Students: OH?!
Me: Much more handsome [flips to next slide containing picture of me and one of the heartthrobs in Korea from the boy group EXO]
Students: WAHHHH! No Teacher. No!
Me: Hahaha. Why no?
Students: He is mine! He is my husband! He is not! No Teacher!
My all-girls class was very upset with me...haha!
I had gathered from previous conversations with the OC Team, my host family, and co-teachers that this would be one of the first questions my students would ask me. Instead of lying to my students about it (which I was tempted to do), or flailing my way through it (which I was bound to do), I decided to tackle the question head-on.
It wasn't easy, but adding humor helped. Vocalizing this recent break-up to 300 female students was difficult, but it became easier over the course of giving the same powerpoint presentation eight different times. This is as far as I have gotten in terms of processing all this, so I don't have much else to offer.
Three years of my heart all boiling down to these two powerpoint slides. I guess that happens sometimes. Someday, I will have a much more grand story to tell - not just to my students, but to myself.
That was fun to read. I like the way you posted the pictures with stories on it Mi. And made lemonade out of lemony setuation. This is life and we all go through tough times and heart breaks, no one is immune to life's test, but that makes us stronger even more and teaches us how to use our faith and look directly to Jesus and not in out circumstances. It's a brilliant idea to tech your students with pictures and stories. It's easier to understand that way. Your a new teacher yet very effective the way you teach and you also mixed it with your great sensei of humor which the effective way to keep everyone awake and interristi to listen. Great job Mi.
ReplyDeleteMa, I'm glad that you approve of my teaching style ;) I think my teaching style is definitely largely influenced by my thinking and writing style. Teaching through pictures and stories is what I have always done, so this comes very naturally to me. Your words mean a lot to me, Ma!
DeleteLOL. Too funny. " I especially liked this :*Picture has been changed and blocked out here to protect the innocent (or guilty, depending on who you are)."
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're tackling things head on and are being strong about everything. I commend you. I would be a mess in your situation. Anyhow, I know you already gave me the dirty details on this post but it was still cool to read about it.
Keep being awesome! FIGHTING!!
Christy, thank you for finding the sense of humor in this. I would have been extremely disappointed if you had missed those points. You are, afterall, one of the few people I consciously think about when I write my posts.
DeleteWonderful blog and great stories. You have a great blogging style! The photos are an added bonus, too.
ReplyDeleteMr. Cheng, thank you for stopping by. I'm glad you, as a fellow blogger, approve of my stories and writing style. You probably have an inkling as to how difficult it can be to crank out a regular blog post. Do you happen to have any tips for me?
Delete