This was the first week of actual teaching in my subject area. It has proven to be just as difficult and challenging as I thought it would be.
Again, (and I know I'm beating that poor dead horse...)I have no idea about Economics. I have no idea what is important and what can be glossed over and what needs more explanation. I do not know what the students know, I do not understand concepts like they do, and I have no idea if what I am teaching them is new or not. I was told by my CT that several of the concepts that I was to go over the students had already learned...but when I did not put too much time into discussing them in class, I was told that it needed more discussion because the students forget. Huh? Why did she not tell me this in the first place? When I asked her what important points in the chapter were I got no definite answers. After I gave the lesson, she was able to rattle off a list of the most important parts of the chapter...all of which I did not fully cover. I found her notes/critique after I gave the lesson the most helpful since I arrived...which did not help the lesson I just gave and in no way benefited those students.
I gobbled their notes up like Thanksgiving dinner and retreated back to the library to sharpen the lesson before I had to do it again for another class. The second time went much better. I could concentrate on the central concepts, explain the graphs with more accuracy and the students participated more. As the week wore on and I became more familiar with the class, the CT's consistent notes have helped a lot. "Speak slower but have more inflection..." okay, check. "Ask more students to participate...don't call them by their student numbers because it sounds like a prison identification number, call them by their names..." okay, no problem,sort of, if they don't mind laughing at my poor Korean pronunciation. "Study the graphs more, they are the important parts of the chapter, and the students need to understand them," okay, I'll try!
Except for one instance where the projector broke and I had to straight lecture for thirty minutes one day, things went smoother and smoother the more lessons I gave. I feel more prepared and more confident for next week's lessons and am hoping I will feel even better after that.
I am still struggling with my communication with Koreans. Not that I cannot understand their words or they mine, but, it's the strangeness of their behavior. Sometimes Koreans are very direct, very up front (almost tactless by American standards) in their communication. Other times, I feel like I never get the whole story, that I am being protected from some invisible work-monster on the other side of what they are telling me. It's frustrating and I would much prefer the straight forward approach.
The good news is that the students in the entire school, seem much more open to speaking with me and Bonnie the more they get used to seeing us. Some students come up to us in the library to just chat, some students have us look over their English projects to help with grammar and spelling, some talk to us in the hall or the track after lunch. They are very friendly. I had one counseling session with a few students in my Home Room class this week and, although two were shy to talk, one girl was very open and forthright about her frustrations with the school atmosphere, the rigidness of the school system and her desire to go to America. She has become a very important ally for me as I know I can go to her with any questions I have and she is more than happy to speak with me.
I am supposed to speak with my Home Room class in the afternoons for about five minutes. At first I just told them current events or something historical. My Home Room teacher, Mr. Lee, explained to me that he meant I needed to tell the kids something more personal every day, not academic (another instance of poor communication). I have been sharing what I'm doing and introduced my family with a Power Point. Last Thursday, I told the students about Pizza Night, how we talk about the schools and the differences between Korean students and American students. I told them I wanted to bring up an article about President Obama and his desire to make American schools like Korean schools. I got a resounding, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from the students. I started laughing and asked why...it basically always falls back to U.S. students having much more freedom than Korean students, and the Korean students envy them for it. I may discuss this more in my counseling sessions with just a few students and see if they can elaborate more. I find it very interesting.
As I like to end the blog on a good note...I found a Mexican restaurant this week and I was bubbling with glee when we went. I ordered a disgustingly Weight-Watcher unfriendly chimichanga and a huge strawberry margarita. I was in heaven until I was done eating and I felt so full I could have died. I seriously have not felt that painfully "at capacity" since arriving in Korea. But, it may very well have been completely worth it.
