Day 20 - 24 of 293

It took me a long time to post this time, because there was a situation that I was debating on whether I would post about it or not.  I have decided not to.  I don't want this blog to be a space where I might offend people, so it will not be going in this blog.  The only thing I will say, for those of you who are wondering, is that what I am leaving out, is not a cultural idiosyncrasy of Korea, in fact I have experienced something similar in the US.  So posting it would not help you understand what it is like here, and so therefore, not worth offending others to discuss.

That being said, back to the week.  I am learning every day what to do and what not to do.  I still don't have it all figured out.  One of the interesting things that you realize while teaching here, is the lack of context,even the best English speaking students have.  For instance, one of the math problems I gave, wanted them to find the error in the way either Courtney or Chris worked the problem.  While the students, got the right answer, that it was Courtney that worked out the problem correctly.  Every student called Courtney a "he."  I examine myself, and when I look at Korean names, I wouldn't know which one was a boy or a girl either.  I am pretty sure that if I guessed, I would be wrong 98.99999999% of the time.  There are many different things like that that happen everyday.  When I am planning lesson plans, I cannot begin to even guess what word they won't know.  And because I am teaching math, the words are only defined by math terms, which in turn, demand a definition.  Like, how do you define the word "precision"?  Here is what I did, I said, "it's like exact."  They said, "what is exact?"  I said, "maybe a better way to put it would be - specific."  They said, "What is specific?"  I said, "You know like broad and narrow."  They said, "No???  I said, "nevermind this how you find the precision point." So, how would you explain that to a group of 9th graders????  If you have a suggestion, they kids still want to know.

So my week is filled with little things like that every day.  Most of my students took their first quiz this week.  It was a mid chapter quiz for most of them, which meant it didn't count as a quiz grade.  It is just a chance for both me and them to find out what they are really getting and what they and I still need to work on.  I went to bed heavy-hearted on Wednesday, because two of my classes did rather poorly on their quiz.  I just couldn't stop thinking about how I had failed them already, what they were going to think when they saw the quiz, how could I help them get better.  One of my best students, made a really bad grade.  I just couldn't believe it.  Neither could he when he saw it.  But I think it was a reality check for most of them and me as well.  I pinpointed some of the issues.  Main points of emphasis for me 1.  Help them understand what the instructions say, before they take the quiz.  2.  Teach them to learn from their mistakes.  3.  Check for comprehension more often. 4  Have them do more work in class, so that I can fix mistakes quickly.
Main points of emphasis for them.  1 Read instructions thoroughly.  2. Skip a problem on a test, and come back to it later.  3. Ask questions when you don't understand.  4.  Come see me outside of class time for more instruction.  I realized that I can't just teach them like they are little "Meredith's."  I rarely would make the same mistake twice, partly because I hate being wrong, which you all probably know, and also because I hated feeling stupid or dumb or like I didn't get it.  Both of which, probably come from a pride issue, but we will not talk about that right now.  However, most of them are not like me, like I said, so I need to learn from their mistakes and mine as well, right?  With many of them, when I really analyzed how they missed problems, it wasn't a lack of understanding, except when it came to word problems and properties, it was a lack of comprehension.  Yes, I know, the words are synonyms, but it is true.  They knew how to work most of the problems, they didn't know what the directions was telling them to do.  It actually gives me hope.  At some point we will be past the word problem and properties lessons and on to working out math problems.  I think they will do much better at that.

I have some amazingly brilliant students in my class, and some that are not so much.  Both groups have endeared themselves to my heart.  From the 8th grader who asked me why is the body mass formula referenced in the textbook divided by 3600(actually happened), to the kid who can't say "body mass formula" and didn't know we were even talking about it.  I love them both.  That's the challenge of being an ESL math teacher in Korea.

One funny story, and then I'm signing off.  One of the kids was calling another kid a "loser."  I told him not to say that, that it was rude.  He said, "Yeah, I heard that is a really rude thing to say to someone in America."  I said, "It's rude, but I don't know if I would say really rude."  I then thought, why am I trying defend his cutdown....wait, but I don't want to lie to the kid....but it is rude...if I tell him it is really rude, will he say it more, or will he stop saying it....or if I tell him its not really rude, will he say it more, or will he stop saying it....nevermind, the kid not talking to me anymore.

So, thats the week.  There is more to tell, I'm sure, but do really want me to teach you math, I doubt it.

날 따라와
(follow me)  It will make me feel better.

Your Seoul Survivor Chick