Real Work is Real Hard

Today was my third full day of teaching. I say “full day” because I had to teach all the classes for today’s schedule— but it was only two forth-grade classes. I’ve really come into my own skin at the front of the classroom. I have found that my general sense of humor, and boisterous hand gestures are a big plus when teaching children. At orientation, one of the guest lectures told us that teaching is more than just teaching. He said it involves being an entertainer, as well. He said you have to keep their interest so they learn without even thinking about it. He called it teachertaining—I agree. Though, by the end of the day, keeping that enthusiasm can be somewhat of a challenge. My classes are always thirty plus students, and on some days I teach six classes. After three classes my throat starts to get soar, and after five my voice is completely gone. It is really fun though. My co-teachers let me do what I want in class, which often consist of dancing and teaching them expressions like, “What’s up, man?” or, “Word!” One kid actually had on a Grateful Dead shirt today. I gave him an extra stamp in his stamp book. That may not have been fair to the others but I don’t care.

            Besides classes, I have to work with my three co-teachers in the afternoons doing lesson plans. This is somewhat of a challenge because they are all set in doing things their way, which they can’t explain why. Not to be rude, but their methods for teaching are not teachertaining—actually they can be quite boring at times. I don’t mean to say the teachers are boring, but the methods they use seem to be. I’m always coming up with new ideas for activities and they love it. Today we did Simon Says and a mock Flea Market in class. Yesterday I taught the fifth grade (six classes adding up to 180 students, or so) Charades. They loved it!  We also made journals they will write in all year. I made them chant, “We are writers! We are writers!” I think my co-teachers love my classes because they get to laugh at me, too. I don’t think the previous foreigner was very enthusiastic about teaching. They tell me she was quiet and shy. I try to be neither of these things in front of my classes. But, this takes a lot of energy, and I am often really tired by lunch, which is more often then not bad food (I really miss Bojangles and PT’s Grille)!

            Tomorrow evening I am going to play soccer with the PE teachers and their friends. I’ve try to find climbing gyms around Daegu, but they seem to be more than an hour away. That’s too far to travel after a long day of teaching. I think I will look for a gym around my neighborhood today. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted, oh internet abyss!