Category: Teaching in Korea

A strange thing happened today…

A strange thing happened today…

I look in the mirror.  There’s something strange and foreign about the face staring back at me.  It’s smiling at me! I’m smiling! I’m happy!   In less than 24 hours I will be on vacation! 아 싸!  My camps all went really well, I taught my elementary school students Green Eggs and Ham, then we made Green Egg and Ham Sandwiches together.  I found a good balance of edutainment for my middle-school students, who paid me the ultimate compliment:  My KTs camp was not ‘funny’ but mine was.  I don’t wish my KT any ill-will but, he tried to strong-arm me into teaching his lessons.  So I felt vindicated when the students told me they enjoyed our time together the most.

For the last week, I’ve been conducting training for Korean English teachers.  Specifically I’m teaching them about teaching their students reading skills.  I was really nervous about all this.  I didn’t know how they would take to receiving instruction from an outsider.   But all the groups were really great.  I put a lot of work into the reading portion of their textbook so I really knew my topic inside-out, and I think they could tell.  Moreover, I broke things up, covering theory and then using  teaching demonstrations to illustrate practical application. I had my first two rounds of assessments today and so far they’ve really knocked it out of the park, it’s that cocktail of a job well done mixed with a nice long vacation that’s got me feeling so good.