Day 259

Wednesday September 2

Oh my goodness. We finally got a schedule and started classes for real.

All the kids found out I had candy so I was giving candy out all day long! Just small suckers.

I have to do a class with ENIE...English Newspapers in Education. I was told I had to print out an article to use in class. I can't print so I turned on the computer that used to belong to the other Korean teacher that quit. It took forever to start up! Then once I pulled up the page the person in charge said that the internet wasn't connected. I had to use her computer. Why did they disconnect the internet? Its so frustrating when everyone else has a computer except me. I have to beg to use everyone else's computer so I can print things. It's not a nice way to treat a foreigner who is there to lend their expertise. The Korean teacher brought her laptop to school and they connected it to the printer. When I had my dell they tried to connect it to the printer but it wouldnt work. Maybe I'll see if they can connect it my new computer. I'm tired of this crap!! I had to go to the website to print an article.

I'm teaching 23 classes in all. 20 elementary and 3 middle school. I have no attendance sheets. I am so out of the loop!! I still don't have all my books. Why is this school so unprepared?? South Korea is the land of the last minute. They are natural procrastinators. It drives me crazy because I like to be prepared and have things done early. That's not possible here!

I had 5 classes today.

My first class only has one student-One of the lowest levels. One girl-2nd grade. We talked about a few articles from the Kindergarden newspaper. We talked about an article about Spain. We read it together then I asked her questions. I think it was too hard for her. I had to point out the answers. We also talked about penguins, peanuts, and eating cold things in summer. Then I let her play a game. We played hangman. Friday I have to teach her spelling. I don't have my spelling textbook yet.

Still didn't have my writing books so I just had to make a copy from the student book. I had to wing it also. I didn't have anytime to prepare for class.

My 2nd class has 7 students-2nd level of intermediate.I was teaching writing..oh my goodness..I think some of the material is over their head..Today we were learning about topics and ideas..I was showing them how to find the topic and ideas in a paragraph. I should have skipped the whole introduction to the book and got straight to the lesson. The intro took too much time and was written in such a way where I don't think they understood. I didn't have any time to prepare so I didn't really know how to make it any easier. How do you explain what 'sentence fluency' means? Some of them grasped it and some had a hard time. I have a new student in this class. The other 6 students are returning students. One of my students spent a few years in America so her speaking ability is better than the other students. I think she's going to annoy the heck out of me though. I hate to say that! The students were messing around in class and talking and I was trying to get my thoughts together since I had no time to prepare so I was letting them talk. This student asked "When are we going to start?". Everytime someone didn't know an answer she would answer. She caught on better than the rest of the class. I'm going to have to seperate the 2 boys in the class because they won't quit talking to each other. One of the boys doesn't even do his work.

My 3rd class has 4 students. All returning students..they are in the 1st level of intermediate-..I was teaching them writing..very basic writing..It was simple. We talked about what a sentence is and what a label is. This class was laughing a lot. They said they were a happy class. I can't remember why we were laughing so much.haha. They did good in my class today. I let them have some free time when we were finished with our lesson.

My middle school class has 6 students-5 students I had in elementary and 1 new student..Today we were doing introductions..I didn't have any trouble getting them to participate in class. They all spoke to their partner when I asked them...they were good..I think the next few months will be good with this class. The new studetn is shy and wouldn't participate in the partner conversations. I'm hoping she will feel more comfortable and join in. I don't know what to do when they won't speak. I don't want to be mean. She's just shy and doesn't want to speak but its a conversation class. I'll just have to dock her grade if she doesnt speak.

My last class has 5 students...all returning students..my lowest level class...we also had to use the kindergarden newspaper article. I told them if we talked about Spain we could play a game. We talked about the article about Spain. Then I let them play a game for the rest of class. They like the 'ghost game'. Its hide and seek with the lights off. They were getting loud sometimes. I had to keep telling them to be quiet. I have to teach them spelling on Friday.

I don't really like our new system. I liked the old books better. I 'm only teaching the lower level students. I have 2 classes in the beginner level. and 3 classes in the intermediate level. I don't have any upper level students.

I'm going to take all my speaking books home over the weekend so I can prepare for my classes.

Tomorrow I have 5 classes-3 writing, one newspaper, and one conversation class.

My classes start earlier this semester. I have one class that starts at 2:30 on Monday. I used to begin class at 4:00. I have another class that starts at 3:15. I don't start till 4:10 on Tues/Thurs.