My first official blog ever.......
Today in class I met my students for the first time. I am the 5th grade Science teacher at a Private Elementary School. I have my own classroom and the students come to me :) I am still getting used to the processes and requirements of my new job, but I can already tell that this place is a LOT more organized, than my previous job. The top two favorite expressions of my old boss were: "It is changed" (normally spoken after work had already been completed, and would have to be repeated in another format...grrr) and "It is not yet decided". My old boss was very disorganized and thrived on creating stressful situations in the last minute. On the first day of my new job they gave me important dates to prepare for, and also stated the busy months of the school year, so make sure you allow for these busy times by getting your work done in advance :) All good things!
I will have approximately 100 students and in meeting them today, I took pictures of them, and will label the pictures with their names to help me recall all or most of their names. I was happy to find 5 or 6 students that I had previously taught in Kindergarten. They had lost their baby fat and grown a foot taller. It was an interesting interaction for me to reintroduce myself 4 years later :)
I am for all intensive purposes in control of what I teach, which is pretty awesome. This is a freedom that I have not yet experienced, but it will also be somewhat of a challenge given my poor time management skills. The benefits I see are being able to choose the meat of the material and leave the random bits of information that the students don't really have to know. I was advised by the foreign head teacher, that above all my job is to teach English (just with a Science flavor). I like this!
I employed the hand shaking attention getter device, and my students responded to it pretty well. I also gave them the option of me yelling at them individually "HEY YOU OVER IN THE BACK. BE QUIET!!!!" , but they chose the hand shaker option :) The levels of English classes that I met today were A, B, and C levels. I have yet to meet the "D's" but I'll be interested to see how the "hand shaker" works with them.
Much more to do tonight
peace out
When I worked at a public elementary school, I wanted to take photos of my kids and make seating charts, so I'd remember all of their names (I had over 700 students) but it wasn't allowed. You're lucky!
ReplyDeleteYour old boss must have had a passive-aggressive problem. I wish I could meet again the students I taught my first year- at least the nice ones!
ReplyDeleteMichelle - 700 students! Wow that's a lot to remember. I guess that's why Korean students have their names sewn on their uniforms.
ReplyDeleteBrent - My old boss was extremely disorganized, and he spent a large portion of his day reading up on how he could become a better teacher. He would teach 8 classes a week. What he needed to be reading is books on how to manage staff and or manage foreign staff, and I can guarantee you he wouldn't even know what section of the bookstore keeps the management books. He is actually a really nice guy outside of school, but he is a TERRIBLE manager.
Just a few random thoughts from this week. I was introducing myself to the kids and getting their names when I came across a student whose "English name" was a Korean name (which is fine) but it was a different Korean name to the nametag on his shirt. Please refer to the Korean Drama below
ReplyDeleteS: "Teacher, my name is 'Jeong Woo'"
T: (looks at name tag on S shirt) No, your name is Sang Woo. You know what, it's okay to use your Korean name, but not someone else's Korean name as your "English name"
Other S's: "Teacher but his name really is Jeong Woo"
T: (rechecking the nametag on S shirt) Oops, I'm really sorry Jeong Woo. I didn't see the top of the Jiyuk (Korean J letter) as the stitches were very thin. See everybody even the teacher makes mistakes
Idiot move on my part - thanks for reading :)
Yep -- this is the first country I've needed photos of students attached to names, but it does help. Glad you're not shy about stealing ideas, Daniel! Sounds like wonderful freedom to have no co-teacher and just teach English. Are the students of mixed proficiency levels? I look forward to hearing what choices you make in trying to cope with that. Wanna see the frog-making (is there a video?)! Will still your "Korean vacuum" idea at the next opportunity -- it's a great one because the ss will get behind it for you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Tom I teach the entire 5th grade high to low level. There are roughly 130 students, so I benefit greatly from the photos :) The way the school is set up is pretty cool - 4 English teachers per grade, each teaching the whole grade one subject. The Response of Billy Tea for organizing the 5th Grade Science is all on me. I feel very thankful for a job that will enable me to implement the things that I am learning at Sookmyung :)
ReplyDeleteHere is the origami frog making video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc9lVHvfzMY
I'm glad you like the vacuum idea :)