Fulbright ETA Ray Sawyer Guest Teaching at Yeongdo Girls High School!

ETA FROM AN ALL-BOYS SCHOOL GUEST TEACHES AT AN ALL-GIRLS SCHOOL

One of the coolest things I did during my first grant year was to coordinate with another teacher for a day school swap! I worked with Fulbright ETA Ray Sawyer from the all-boys Busan High School in finding a day where I was off and his school was in session and vice versa. The scheduling was a bit tricky to do, especially towards the end of the year when the schools are busy with all kinds of testing, but we planned it well ahead of time and added more fantastic memories to our year of teaching!

Knowing Ray's dynamic personality (he really was meant to be assigned in "Dynamic Busan"), and my students' excitement every time there is a guest teacher, especially a male guest teacher, I knew that this was about to be AMAZING. 

And it was. 

Here is a photo story of his time at YGHS as well as the email I sent him the night before! 

RAY TEACHING AT YEONGDO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

Ray Teacher graciously handling the attention of the girls.
Anytime a male teacher comes to Yeongdo, the girls are beyond themselves with excitement!

Hello Ray!

I apologize for giving this to you so very late. Please do not be anxious about tomorrow’s classes. The best thing for everyone concerned would be if you just showed up and had fun with the students – whatever that may look like. They will be ever so excited to see you! Like I said before, my classes were recently switched up after the midterm results came in, so I will give you the observation notes I have taken on my Monday classes below, as well as other information about the day ahead!

Teaching a word association lesson that had the students very alert and engaged!

• This Monday, June 9^th, you can take either bus 71 or 508, both of which will deliver you right across from my school. You will hear, “Yeongdo Yeoja Godeung Hakgyo” over the speakers, indicating where you should get off. This will take you approximately 20 minutes from Nampo Station, so time yourself or just ask the bus driver or other passengers where you should get off for the school. The first class starts at 10:40 a.m. Please feel free to arrive about 30-40 minutes before the first class begins. This will give us time for a mini tour of the school, (which is a lot smaller than your school), meet the principal and vice principal, and head to the class and get a feel for it.

·         The principal is a woman; she is serious-looking but kind, and has expressed a desire to talk to me in Korean as she does not know how to communicate in English very well. If you can, please feel free to squeeze in as much Korean as you can when you meet. I think she will appreciate it. No pressure though (this coming from an ETA who has not really spoken much to her principal this year at all, except through my Fulbright co-teacher).

·         The vice principal is a man, who was hired this March. We have not interacted much at all. His English is also very limited, so my co-teachers do all the talking for me.  Both of these introductions will probably be very brief, so don’t worry!

Ray was confident and energetic, easily taking the students along for the ride with him

You can see our names on the board written in Hangeul

I had to fight off a twinge of jealousy seeing how incredibly attentive the students were to him in the front of the room!

                                    

Class 1-1/2 B (If you want)                                  10:40-11:30 a.m.

·         Past Topics: Learning the 50 U.S. States; answering the question: “What did you do this weekend?” using Who, What, Where, When, How, Why in complete sentences at the beginning of class. Also, covering a lesson on “First Impressions” using photos of different people who may or may not be famous or infamous (Ted Bundy, Trayvon Martin, Debra LaFave, Oscar Pistorius, Maya Angelou, a former Filipina “comfort woman” during WWII, etc.). The “First Impressions” lessons definitely reveal a lot of prejudices, which was quite interesting.

·         Class Personality: This class is generally very loud. There are mini groups of girls who are very talkative and are usually immersed in their own conversations as I teach. I have to often shush the whole class and remind them to work or keep working. I am more brusque and sharp when dealing with this 

     I will introduce you at the beginning and ask them to give you their full attention and keep the chatter to a minimum. With this in mind, I have no problem stepping in and shushing the class if they get too out of line while you’re teaching a lesson. If my doing that would be too distracting for you, then I will refrain and support you in whatever you do in the classroom! Remember, they are girls, but you can definitely be firm with them.

·         Co-teacher: Kim Eun Yeong. She is very sweet and the students adore her. She will usually do her own work in the back of the classroom, and will cheerfully help out, walk around class, or translate for you if you ask her! 

The class in session

Free period/Lunch + Free Period                       11:40-2:20 p.m.

·         We have a couple of hours of free time, during which we can eat lunch at school, outside, take a walk around the grounds, chillax at the gyomushil, or do whatever you want! I can show you a bit of the island, too, if you’d like.

Ray divided the class into two teams and had them compete!

Class 1-5/6 C                                                         2:30-3:20 p.m.

·         Past Topics: Same as above

·         Class Personality: This class is lower in their English abilities, but is a generally good class. Students in this class request for me to play the “50 Nifty United States” song I think partly because they like it and partly to try and derail my lesson plans. Haha. This group of students has a good, responsive attitude, which I love them for!

§  Sleepy students: Lee Yu Bin, Kim Yu Bin

·         Co-teacher: Yun Suk Hui, my awesome Fulbright co-teacher! She spells her name “Yoon Sookhee” but I like to stay true to the Revised Romanized Korean version. Haha!

Movement around the classroom was good

I sat in the back of the classroom with my co-teacher - both of us just absorbing another teacher's teaching style.

Class 1-5/6 B                                                         3:30-4:20 p.m.

·         Past Topics: Same as above

·         Class Personality: A very talkative class, but one where there are individually attentive students, making the class not only bearable but actually good. During brainstorming sessions we’ve done in the past, they have been enthusiastic and creative! I am easier going with this class and can often joke around with them (possible on an individual level). There are many students who if you don’t talk to individually are so shy that you will miss out that they actually know how to read, write, and speak in English!

·         Co-teacher: Kim Eun Yeong again  

Students laughing and smiling!

RAY TEACHER'S CELEBRITY STATUS

At the end of class, another group of students streamed inside the classroom and happily and immediately crowded around Ray

The girls were both super shy and super aggressive, all at once! Hahaha

Students had some time to say hello, introduce themselves, and ask Ray some important questions before the next period began

A Few More Things to Note:

• Each class will have roughly 12-25 students. This is a huge gap, but I can look up the exact number on the roster tomorrow at school!
• My co-teachers are very awesome. They will be very shy and timid, so please don’t match their shyness, and feel free to chat them up!
• The gyomushil is definitely a lot smaller than yours, made up of women teachers. They are all very friendly though so there is nothing to worry about here! 

Requesting some photos

And here we go! Celebrity status

This moment made me wonder why I hadn't done a school swap earlier AND with more teachers

Ray found one of his past colleagues working at Yeongdo! What a truly small world!

Ray perhaps a bit exhausted after teaching two classes at my school

Some shots in front of the main school building.
My school is definitely smaller than Busan High School, where he teaches!

One last pose before heading out together!

THE AFTERMATH: TOUR & COFFEE

Before he left, I took Ray up to Kosin University so he could see just one of the awesome views of the island. As we went, people looked at us out of curiosity. We ducked into a coffee shop and grabbed something to drink and something to snack on before he left to go home for the day. My island pride was definitely on full display. It was just a shame that the day was cloudy/foggy so we couldn't see very far out. However, we did have time to briefly reflect about our grant year and share future plans. He is going back to the U.S., while I am set to renew for a second year in Korea. 

TIPS FOR ETAS PLANNING TO SCHOOL SWAP/GUEST TEACH

• Ask your Fulbright co-teachers for your semester schedule, including holidays, testing days (when you might be off), etc. WAY AHEAD OF TIME
• Think of a few ETAs who you'd like to swap with and exchange semester schedules with them also way ahead of time!
• Plan at least one swap, but the more, the better! 
• Notify your co-teacher/administrators of your plan in advance so they can prepare whatever paperwork (if any) for the other ETA's visit
• Send out an email chock-full of information (class levels, class times, lunch/break times, co-teachers' names, previous topics you've already covered, class personalities, etc.) at least 1-2 weeks in advance (not the night before like I did - sorry Ray!)
• You don't necessarily have to bring your most involved lesson plan the day you guest teach. Something simple, interactive, and fun will be perfect for a 50-minute lesson! 
• Expect and be prepared for students to swarm you. Welcome their curiosity about how old you are, where you are from, and, most importantly, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend
• Arrange your schedule so that there is time for you and the guest ETA to debrief over coffee or lunch before or after the actual teaching!
• Take lots of pictures, and blog about it! I'd love to see how other ETAs' experiences go with their school swaps!  

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU

If you have done a school swap before (or something similar), what worked and didn't work for you and your guest teacher? What were the highs and lows of your experience? Share your ideas and experiences in the comment box below!