Monday, September 2, 2013

The first day of school

The first day of school always comes with a certain amount of anxiety.  There is always so much you don't know going into the first day, whether it be the ability of your students, whether or not your lessons will be successful, or how your students will react to you.

This is my third year having a "first day" as a teacher, but this one was definitely the biggest wild card.  Never having been in a Korean classroom, I really didn't know what to expect.  Of course, when your students bow to you and tell you you're beautiful, it makes it a little easier to deal with.

I will write more about the Korean school system another day, but here are some of my initial observations about school life:

-These kids are TIRED.  As soon as I walked through the halls to my class I saw classrooms full of students asleep on their desks during their 10 minute break.  These kids are at school ALL day.  They get to school in the morning and do not leave until 10 or 11 at night.  These kids are exhausted.

Today I asked the kids to answer a few questions so I could a better sense of where they're at.  The last statement I asked them to fill in was "One thing you should know about me is ________"

Almost every single student wrote something about how tired they are.

-Students seem to have good, respectful relationships with their teachers.  Obviously this is just an initial reaction, but students constantly and freely come into the teacher's office to speak with their teachers.

-My kids are really smart.  Other people have been telling me that the school I'm placed at is a really good one--and while the building itself isn't the greatest, the students really impressed me with their English abilities.

-Many students are shy, especially about speaking English.  I don't blame them either, since I am extremely self conscious about speaking Korean.

-Almost all the girls have mirrors on their desks and will check themselves out throughout class.

There are probably many more things, but I am pretty wiped.  Teaching makes you a very specific kind of tired.  It's strange, over long breaks I almost forget just how exhausting it really is.

But with that said, I'm really happy to be teaching again.

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