“What matters most in a child's development, they say, is not how much information we can stuff into her brain in the first few years. What matters, instead, is whether we are able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit and self-confidence.” ― Paul Tough
Korea and I differ on our opinions of how children learn. Korea thinks children need to memorize and test well and apparently that equals success. I think children need to be taught how to think for themselves and have opinions. I hope over the last year I have at least made an impact on one of these kids.
These are two of my youngest students, Chris and Ellie. They are 6 and have discovered that I can lift them up to touch the ceiling. We now cannot start a class without each of them getting their turn.
This is Olivia and Serena. Olivia is 8 and Serena is 7. In Korea this means that Serena needs to refer to Olivia with respectful pronouns reserved for anyone older than you. I teach Olivia everyday. She comes to the normal classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then she comes for special listening and dictation classes on Tuesday and Thursday. She is one of my best students. When she doesn't know a word or pronounces it wrong she will highlight it. When she comes back the next day the word will be translated to Korean and she will have practiced writing the English word 10 times.
Here are Jenny, Olivia, and Thomas. They are all 8. I have taught Thomas for the entire year. He is the clown of the class.
Here is Irene and Chris and Ellie again. Irene is one of my favorite students. She is one of the only students who will hug me and always wants to sit on my lap. I also teach her older sister, Diana. Extra points for her and her sister, they were the only two to give me presents for teacher's day. I also just love the age where every photo has a tongue between the teeth.
These five I have had all year. We have Jacob, Alvin, Grace, Lea, and Brian. Jacob is a little hedgehog with is hair always sticking straight up. The kids don't really talk about themselves often but once a week they need to turn in writing assignments. I love getting to read these assignments as it lets me into their brains just a little bit. One of the assignment topics was the first memory you have. Jacob wrote that his first memory was being happy while he was in the hospital when he was 4. He couldn't go to regular school because he was so sick but all the other children in the hospital were his friends. Turns out Jacob had leukemia.
Lea is another amazing student. She cries when she gets vocab words wrong because she is angry with herself and sometimes holds up the class because she has to erase a whole page she has written because its not up to her standards. She also likes to tell me that I have to get married right now because my parents want grandchildren. Brian, on the right side, is lovingly called Samsung Brian. He looks like he has been working hard in the Samsung office for the past 30 years just like a little old man.
This class is Jinny, Michael, and Jeff. Honestly I can't stand Jinny. She's very intelligent but needs to work on not asking questions that I have already answered. The one in the middle is Michael. We currently have a rule when he is in class that he cannot speak or make any noises for 10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes if he still has any questions he may ask. So far there haven't been any comments or questions at the end of the 10 minutes. On the end is Jeff, oh Jeff. This kid has not done a single page of homework or read a single book this whole semester. He is so like me when it comes to schoolwork. Even though he hasn't put any effort into class he has the amazing skill of being able to make up answers and pick up the books by listening to others.
Can you tell who the troublemakers in this class are? I have also had these kids all year. From left to right: Diana(the older sister of Irene), Ann, Chan, and Justin. These guys are 9 years old. Ann and Diana are best friends and live in the same apartment building. These two are so quiet, as in volume. They know the answers they just prefer to whisper them. Justin and Chan are another story. These two are hilarious, if not serious students.
Now we are getting to the we are too old and cool to smile in photos kids. These two are Leo and Daniel. They are 10 years old. They are both really funny and class is never dull.
This is Jenna and Sally. Jenna is 11 and Sally is 12. Unfortunately they are at a pretty low English ability. They are both super interesting and I wish they had the language to communicate everything they wanted to.
These two are Jace and Felix. They are 8 but in the lowest level that my school teaches. Felix catches on really quickly and will be speaking fluently in no time. Jace is just adorable. You cannot see in the photo but he has freckles covering his nose and cheeks. Jace tries so, so hard but I just don't think English is going to happen for him.
This is one of the classes from above but one of the boys wasn't there when I took the first photo. This is Thomas, Brian, Olivia, and Jenny.
This young lady is Isabel. She is completely fluent and lazy. Last summer she spent two months in California with her aunt and cousins. We now cannot rid her of her valley girl accent and use of like and ummm. I love talking to her about things that I find weird in Korea. Funny enough she doesn't understand Korea either. Isabel is 12.
The kid in the middle is Ray. He is 6 and a pain in the butt. Just kidding, he is adorable some days. I had him one on one for a class for most of the semester. Some days Ray feels like doing his work and will finish 10 pages of his workbook in 20 minutes. Other days he decides that he will stare at me without blinking. I never know which Ray I will get on what day.
Last we have Jennifer and Sophie. These two are also 12 and also fluent. I love this age because we had some really good conversations, where I may have cracked the nice little bubble that they live in here in Korea.
I have 4 weeks left with these kids. I cannot believe that my year is almost over. I really have loved teaching them and will miss them. Hopefully my new kindergartners are equally as fun and challenging. Now to survive the next four weeks, then I am onto my next big adventure!
