My first day of teaching young, eager Korean students was nothing how I imagined it to be. In fact, it was worse. My co-teacher (Yoonhye) and I had prepped for hours hoping that we would be able to breeze through the day without too many complications, but we were in for it. We arrived at school around lunchtime so that we could set up and test out the PowerPoint presentation I had created. We tested everything out and thankfully it all worked and nothing had to be changed or modified. Yoonhye and I had just enough time for lunch so we made our way to the tiny caferia and ate alongside some of the teachers and their students. After a tasty meal of veggie soup, tofu, fish cakes and carrots, rice and of course a large helping of kimchi, we headed back to our assigned classroom and anxiously awaited the 4th graders.
There they were. The girls skipped in and the 3 boys of the bunch darted their way to the last seats in the last row, naturally. After a good 5 minutes of trying to calm them down, I began my introduction. They got a good chuckle out of the silly pictures and gasped when I showed them a photo of my family. [In case you all are wondering, it was the one of the 2009 Piacentini Christams party ;)]I tried all the techniques and tricks I knew about quieting down noisy groups but it really didn't help considering they are still fresh at English. Our lesson had included a small rubber ball that would be passed from child to child and as they caught it, would have to introduce themselves [My name is __________. I am __________. I am from ___________.] and then pass it on to the next child. Good concept but fatally executed. The kids of course spiked the ball at each other's faces, kicked it around the room, bounced it off the ceiling and of course they all got a chuckle out of it but me. I did my best at putting my foot down and I raised my voice more than a handful of times but it didn't get me anywhere. Not to mention, my poor co-teacher Yoonhye was practically in the corner ready to cry because of how naughty the kids were behaving. There I was. I felt like I was in an episode of Denis the Menace and it was just about to get worse because after the 4th graders were dismissed came the 5th graders. If I ever thought the children at 4th R misbehaved on occasion it was cake in comparison to these "angels." Just imagine everything I said multiplied by ten and you got my experience with the 5th graders. Yeah, intense right. We got through the same lesson God knows how and they were in and out leaving Yoonhye and I a complete mess.
Break time. We had 1 and 1/2 hours until the 6th graders were about to arrive and break us down into wee little insects. We didn't want to imagine what the next group was going to be like, but how could we NOT. Time rushed by and before we knew it we had our last class of the day and they were..................................................NOTHING like the first 2 classes!!!! Some divine power must have heard our pleas and sent us well behaved kids. Maybe it's the age or the fact that they were done with school by the time they came to us but they were perfect! There English is more advanced and they really appreciated my introduction, the game, and the movie clip I showed them at the end of class. I was so relieved and I thanked them for their behavior.
My mentor teacher came in about 10 minutes after the 6th graders left and asked us how the first day went and by the look on our faces he could tell exactly how it went! He informed us that the kids we taught today were in fact some of the worst behaved kids in the school and are some of the lowest performing. I really want/am going to make a difference with these kids, I just hope they don't kill me first. I am going to have to figure out some serious consequences if these kids want to be smart and jump like monkeys on tables.
So there you have it. The first day was what it was and if you can believe it or not, tomorow I have another set of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders! Swell. I guess I will have to put my foot down from the very second they step in the door and let it be known to them Ms. P doesn't mess around! Anyway, I am off to sleep on my mattress that seems to be giving me back problems. Fantastic.
Thanks for reading my rant.
Until next time,
Karla P!
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