After School Class

4 days a week, I teach a 45 minute after school class comprised of thirty 7th and 8th graders. Their English levels are highly varied, including pretty proficient to unable to read the English alphabet. I also teach the class totally alone, no Korean Co-Teacher in the room to manage and punish the devilish kiddos or translate for me. Therefore, this after school class of mine started out fairly hellish. However, now after roughly 50 classes under my belt I am finally getting the hang of it.

Here is a quick (unwanted) snapshot of my after school class. (you can see some of the girls are covering their faces with their hands, trying to be difficult!)

In the beginning I tried to create educational lesson plans teaching grammar and whatnot, and I quickly learned that was not going to fly. Since it is after school, the kids bring snacks and their cell phones. Once a Korean middle schooler has their cell phone in their hand, learning is out the window. I then moved on to games like telephone and 20 questions and playing them music videos like Beyonce Single Ladies and Michael Jackson Beat it. And with that I finally got their attention and respect. I also promised them a movie with Korean subtitles every Friday. After these improvements to the class I am known as the "Cool Teacher" and I have forged some great friendships with some of the kids.

I have a friend at home in Madison (Ali Kolb) who is student teaching at a local middle school. She was teaching an unit on Asia and we decided to start up pen pals between our two classes. It turned out to be a huge hit. My after school class loves it (and it takes up tons of time.) Their interactions between each other is quite interesting and I think the kids are learning alot about each others cultures.

Here are some letters that were exchanged. The first two are from Sconnie middle schoolers, the second two are from Korean middle schoolers.

Everyday I teach them and they teach me about Korean culture and now I am starting to learn some Korean.

Here are a couple of words "Sophie" taught me today:

귀엽다 gwi yub da (cutie)
바보 ba bo (stupid)
똑똑해 dokk dokk ha da (smart)
사랑해 sa lang hae (I love you)

So pretty much I got a jump start on the Korean language today and my vocabulary is of a 13 year old.

I will leave you with a quick conversation between me and one of my students "Kevin".

Me: What will you do after school?
Kevin: Go home and eat.
Me: What are you going to eat?
Kevin: Cereal.
Me: I love cereal. What kind? It is really expensive here.
Kevin: Kellogs, Special K. Yes it is very expensive in Korea. But my family buys it for me because of my deit. I am a husky boy. I need it.
Me: Okay. Bye Kevin.
Kevin: Bye Teachuh Chrisa.