Pop song ELT: MAGIC!'s "Rude"

One of the best lessons of 2014. Originally written in early July 2014.

In my experience with teaching in Korea, virtually anything related to English can be brought into the classroom. As it's the end of the semester and exams have concluded, the students have been in dire need of some refreshing lessons. This particular one has worked well.

The lesson began when a boys middle school CT suggested that we do a pop song in class. I happily agreed to do so, but questions came to mind: Which one? And for what purpose? Things must have a purpose in the classroom. They must have some kind of practical application. As much as I love music, I cannot simply bring in any song without a purpose for using it. And just what pop songs were out there? Despite my affinity for older kinds of music, the students like newer stuff, so I consulted the Billboard Hot 100 and started at the top. If I was going to bring something into class, it might as well be popular in the USA. I knew I had something with #3, MAGIC!'s song "Rude," for it had simple lyrics, a catchy melody, an expository, humorous video. Moreover, it had an interesting topic: A boy wants to marry his sweetheart, but her father says no.

I sent a link to the song to my coteachers, who watched the video and approved it for class. Next, I typed the first verse of the song into a PowerPoint file. The song, the PPT, and the handout below are what I made for class.

Why only the first verse? I'd read in Teaching Unplugged about showing a block of text for one minute, having students copy it, and comparing their versions with the "correct" text on screen. The one minute time would make copying a kind of race, which my boy students enjoy. It would also save me from printing the song's lyrics for everyone. Once the students had the lyrics down, they then had a text to work with.

How the class worked

We walked in, said hello, loaded the PPT, and began. I said we were going to do a class about a pop song. "We'll ask questions, make predictions, and learn some new phrases. We'll also talk about what you would do..." and got to work. I showed the first verse, had the students copy it, and checked their writing against the original.

I and my coteacher then asked checked the students' comprehension of the lyrics, phrase by phrase. Since the verse includes a simile, a line about a suit, and the pronoun you, we had plenty to talk about. What does raced like a jet mean? Who's the you in the song? Who is the narrator? We asked these questions and got the following answers:

• Raced like a jet = Drove fast
• The narrator's a man because he wears a suit. When I pointed out that women can wear suits, the students held fast to their answer/
• You is either the man's wife, mother, company boss, or friend.

Having answered the questions and pondered the verse, the students were now ready to see what happens in the song and whether it matches their predictions. I played the song and cranked it up.

The song:

After the song concluded, we went back and went through the lyrics, line by line, so everyone knew exactly what MAGIC! was singing about. We briefly discussed the idea of the father giving his blessing before setting up the group discussion. We asked the students, "What if you were the man in the song? What would you do? And what if you were the girl?" and handed out the table below. The students got into groups and discussed the problems.

Facimile of handout

Questions: Imagine you are the boy in the song. What would you do? Write four ideas: 1. 2. 3. 4. Best idea? Why?

Imagine you are the girl in the song. What would you do? 1. 2. 3. 4. Best idea? Why? What if you are not so serious about your boyfriend?

We gave the students around 10 minutes to discuss and prepare their answers. Each group presented their papers, often to laughs from everyone. We circulated around the room and helped whenever needed, but overall, the students did a good job of figuring out the writing themselves.

We thought things went well. The students enjoyed the music and many felt good at having figured out a foreign pop song by themselves without any translation. All of us had fun discussing the best and worst courses of action for the narrator.

My CT and I placed no rules on grammar or the kinds of sentences the students should write. The groups were mixed ability, so some wrote more or more in depth than others. Some groups wrote entirely in Korea, which I took as a chance to help them with translating. My Korean's good enough to recognize some words and phrases, so I worked with the lower-level groups and helped them rewrite their notes into English. In doing so, I learned some Korean slang that's since proved fruitful for jokes in class.

As a side note, I also got to do this lesson at the girls middle school with the 3rd graders. Doing so allowed me to compare to boys' answers with the girls', which showed some stark differences. The boys overwhelming favored "Killing the father" if they were the boy. The girls, by contrast, thought "Pleading with the father would be best." It seemed as though the boys and the girls wanted to play up the drama.



Reference:
Scott Thornbury - Teaching Unplugged

Stuff I did on the first days of classes (of year four)

The first week is over. I've begun my fourth contract for EPIK and have started teaching at two new schools: Sincheorwon Middle School and High School. Here are some things I did in my first week of classes:

• Greeted students with a smile and a hearty greeting. Some teachers have said "Never smile until after X time," but I disagree, simply because I am indeed happy to have the students in class and am happy to be their teacher. Also, Harry Wong strongly recommends this practice in  his book The First Days of School.
• Set an agenda and a dedicated place for it. In the middle school, the agenda's on the right-hand side of the whiteboard. It's separated from the "main" board by a nearly-invisible vertical line. The high school classes have the agenda written on a whiteboard next to the door. In every class, I wrote the agenda either in advance or in the first minute of class if there wasn't time to do it beforehand. I also took a minute to explain what an agenda is and how it shows what we'll do in class every day. In some classes I drilled pronunciation by clapping the syllables a-gen-da.
• Established one or two quiet signals: Clapping and flicking the lights on and off. Clapping came easily because the students have done it in their other classes. I often lighten the mood by clapping different rhythms for the students to copy. The light flicking is for the high school classes, for the students consider clapping too juvenile for their tastes.
• Used some Korean words and phrases while addressing the class. Some teachers have debated this practice, usually because the class is English and the focus should be on speaking English. As much as I agree that the focus should be on speaking English,  I did so for the following reasons: 

1. To catch their attention and show that I know or am learning some of the students' native tongue. 
2. To demonstrate that I make mistakes with pronunciation and syntax. As the students learn English, I too learn Korean. Experience has shown that (1) and (2) can be powerful motivators for the students. By speaking Korean and admitting to not being perfect at it, I'm demonstrating that mistakes are okay and that practice is the only way to get better.
1. I usually said, "We're both learning! I learn Korean, you learn English. 우리는 함께 배우자!" [Uri neun hamkke bae uja! = We learn together!]
3. For easier explanations or for showing that I might have idea of what the students are saying when they talk to each other.
4. My Korean is far from fluent. It's limited to words and phrases and thus doing an entire class in Korean is impossible.
5. Asking at intervals, "What's X in Korean?" has proven a good way of focusing students' attention and for learning new words myself.
• Furthermore, I do keep on the focus on speaking English. If students respond to a question in Korean in speech or writing, I always say, "English please" or "Use easy words." Sometimes I invite the class or group to help. If a student writes something in Korean, I usually say, "Okay, but what is it in English? Can you tell me?"

• Moved around the room as I talked or while the students were working. Teacher textbooks call this proximity control, but moving around is what it is.
• Held a questions and answers session. In some classes I called this KWL and in others it was simply Questions. As I'm a new teacher in a new school, but not new to Korea itself, the students had many questions to ask me. I either handed out Post-Its or asked the students to write questions in their textbooks. The students were free to discuss their questions and how to write them (in English, of course) in partners or with their neighbors. While they wrote and talked, my coteacher and I moved around the room monitoring students and assisting with questions. At times I stood back and watched. Moving around is fine and good to do, but sometimes its best to stand back and watch from a few feet away. The students should have some room to breathe at times.
• Doing so also established that the students are expected to write in class. Speaking, reading, writing, listening...it all goes together.
• In some classes, I wrote question stems on the board to give the students a starting point:
• Who/what/where/when/how/why...?
• What's your favorite...?
• Do you like...?
• Noted students' goals for the class and ways of learning English. This too was done in small groups. I had a little trouble here, for "Improving English" is too vague a goal; it lacks specifics like "Improve English by doing x." I usually gave students a hint by saying, "I'm learning Korean. One way I learn Korean is by listening to Korean rock songs and reading their lyrics." Saying so resulted in the following ways to learn English:
• Reading books
• Writing Kakao messages
• Listening to pop songs
• Watching movies in English
• Drama/dialogues/role plays
• Ended the class by asking for specific things the students remembered from our discussions.

Altogether, I'd say it was a good start. There's still room for improvement, but compared to my earlier "first days" this one established a few classroom routines and produced tangible products. I ditched my earlier introductory lecture and accompanying PowerPoint presentation in favor of letting the students ask the questions. Sure, telling them X, Y, and Z is fine, but letting the students ask questions (and reviewing question stems) put the focus on the students and gave them a voice in the class. Did strange questions arise? They did. Depending on the question, I either said "I don't know" or "No comment. Let's think of something different." I figure it's just some students wanting to test their new teacher. Teens will be teens. We'll see what questions come up in the lessons to come. So far so good though!

Reblog: How I see it now: Eat, Pray, Love (Plan and Reflect)

How I see it now: Eat, Pray, Love (Plan and Reflect): “You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day.” Elizabeth Gilbert. Eat, Pray, Love ...

Excellent post about the fine line between reflection and self-flagellation. See also the blurry division between concern and worry. I completely agree with her, for I moved into a new apartment to begin a new contract in a new school in a new town. There are new coteachers and hundreds of new students. Not only that, but as Coordinator, two new teachers have arrived to replace the two who transferred out of the county. It's important to see that they're settling in, for as lovely as it is, Cheorwon's rural-ness can be difficult to adjust to. Though the two of them have coteachers and neighboring EPIK teachers, they're in my thoughts this week. Going overseas to teach is a big jump. I hope everything works out okay. And the same goes for my school. The past few days have been a whirlwind and it's taxing my mind and body. Moving schools is exhilarating, but it's also tiring.

At least I'm better prepared now than I was last year, let alone three years ago. The books that I read over the summer have come in handy.* I've the plans and the procedures ready; next week's plans are almost finished, and I've a clearer idea of what ELT is. And so begins another year in Korea.

[Addendum: I wrote most of the above this morning while in a hurry. It probably wasn't the best way to write, but I wanted to get the link up along with an explanation. I don't normally reblog things on Dispatches, but this post from How I See It Now warranted a mention.]

* Some of them have been mentioned in the "Books for ELT" pages on the sidebar, but more reviews and recommendations are on the way. One I can recommend right now is Teaching Large Multilevel Classes by Natalie Hess. Special thanks to Joel from China for recommending it! The book's packed with dozens of speaking and writing lessons for the language classroom. Most require zero-to-minimal preparation, too.

Smart phone microphones and recording conversations in class

I meant to write this yesterday, but I didn't because the guitar was calling. The guitar's been neglected as of late, so I took 90 minutes, cranked up the tunes, and blasted away. It felt good. I took a little trip to rock and roll land and forgot about the busy days over here for a bit.

Anyway, that one thing: A few books I'd been reading lately mentioned making recordings in class. They specifically mentioned tape recorders because they came out before smart phone became ubiquitous. And yesterday, as my middle school girls began their group discussions about what they would do in certain situations, I had the idea to walk around and record whatever they were talking about. I'd brought the phone to class to use its stopwatch function in a memory/copying activity and thought, Hmm...this has a mike in it. Let's see what happens when I record things... So I did. I pushed record, walked around, and listened.

I didn't tell the students I was recording. I did as I always do: Move from group to group and see how everyone's doing. Maybe some of the girls noticed the phone in my hand, but none of them said anything.

When the class was over, I listened to the recordings and learned two things:

1. The fidelity's better than expected. The levels were good. I'd wondered if it would pick up some of the quieter voices, but it did.
2. I said "hm" too much when listening to the students. Or at least I think I did.

Actually, there was a 3rd thing I learned: the phone can send the sound files via email and KakaoTalk. In doing so, I shared them with my coteacher, who also praised the sound quality. Altogether, all of this is good to know. I've never used any recording equipment in class before; maybe now's the time to start. The phone's recorder's much more convenient than a tape recorder. The thing to do now: Consider where/when to use the voice recorder and how it can benefit the students in our classes.

For anyone who has recorded things in class, feel free to comment below!

* One book was How to Teach Teach Speaking by Scott Thornbury. Expect to see a review of it soon!

#Onething: "Nice to see you!"

#Onething comes from Anne Hendler's informative blog about teaching English. She wrote of how we should take time "to pay attention to what happens in a day, reflect on it, and share it." Here's something from today's classes:

I walked into the a class of 3rd grade middle school girls and amid the chorus of enthusiastic greetings, one girl called out, "It's nice to see you!" I smiled and said, "You too!" 

It was indeed nice to see her and the rest of the class. Better still was how she remembered to say "Nice to see you!" instead of the usual "Nice to meet you!" She remembered that in English, we say "Nice to see you" to someone we've met previously. Many Korean learns of English have trouble with this distinction, so I was pleased at her remembering what to do.* I've been mentioning the difference between "See you" and "Meet you" for some time now, but it's still sinking in. The co-teachers have also been explaining this difference to the students, but as the saying goes, "Old habits die hard." English is full of quirks, so it's difficult to blame the students for not knowing the things native speakers or experts know.

Carry on, everyone.

*This is because the Korean equivalent expression doesn't change. (As far as I know.)

Lesson from KOTESOL / "What did he say?" A quick way to boost class participation

A quick way to boost class participation

I had the good fortune to meet the man behind the excellent ELT Rants, Reviews, and Reflections blog at the recent national KOTESOL conference in Daegu. He gave an energetic workshop called “You’re Doing It Wrong. Maybe.” In it, he brought up many of the oft-repeated “Don’ts” of teaching English and asked us in the audience to consider why they were wrong--or perhaps not so wrong. 

One such thing was “echoing.” That is, repeating back all or part of a student’s speech, either for confirmation or to broadcasting to the class. It looks something like this:

“Hi Billy, what did you do last weekend?”

“I went to Seoul and went shopping.”

“You went to Seoul and went shopping. How was it?”

I happen to echo my students frequently, so this part of the workshop caught my ear. What is good and bad about echoing?

On the one hand, we noted that native English speakers tend to use echoing in conversation. We’ll repeat part of the sentence as a question, we’ll repeat a word or phrase, or we’ll take a word and something like, “I see. Go on,” to keep the conversation going. Part of what English Language Teaching (ELT) entails is showing how native speakers talk to each other, so it is authentic. Echoing also allows speakers to clarify things the other person said. Again, it's common among native speakers. 

Yet, it has its drawbacks. For one, constant echoing can get annoying and repetitious. Sometimes I have felt like the stereotypical old man talking down to a little kid in a classroom. Also, students can tune it out. Consider that if I am echoing Billy the student, I’m probably training the students to listen to me instead of Billy. The students will ignore whatever Billy says and will wait for me to repeat it, which is not so good. I admit that this does happen in my experience.

One thing to do is instead of echoing Billy, we can ask the class, “What did he say?” Mr. Griffin and some of the attendees suggested doing so. This does three things: It shows that students’ speech is important, it keeps the class on track by acting as a short listening exercise, and it allows the class to participate by repeating what Billy said. Moreover, when the class (or an individual student) speaks, it can allow for speaking in full sentences, ie "He said he went to Seoul," and thus acts as an summary exercise.

It’s never been my habit to ask the class, “What did he say?” in the past. But when we were discussing it at the workshop, I thought, yes, this could work, and resolved to change how I interacted with the students. I’d downplay the echoing and introduce “What did he say?” as a way of keeping the class on track. And the question is working! I started asking “What did he say?” first thing on Monday morning, and it is indeed boosting class participation. I’m speaking less and the students are speaking a bit more. Of course, I am not asking "What did he say?" all of the time--just some of the time. Like anything it, would get stale if I did it at every opportunity. Still, it's quick and effective. My coteachers have even picked up on the question and have begun asking it themselves. I haven't asked the students to respond in full sentences or not. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. We can teach that when the time comes. For now, I'm happy to have learned something new and effective in class.

Thank you to the teachers in the room who mentioned this excellent little strategy! I’m afraid I don’t know all of your names, but what you said is making a difference in my classes. Thank you, Mr. Griffin, for giving a fun workshop. It was light on the jargon, yet it had substance and it inspired plenty of conversation. Again, it was good to meet you. Here's hoping we meet again.

Notes:

ELT Rants, Reviews, and Reflections - Quality teaching site from a man with over a decade of experience. 

KOTESOL - Korean Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages: A professional group of English teachers in Korea. It includes hagwon, EPIK, and university teachers. Korean English teachers are also welcome!

Quick link: Koronicles' "Solo Christmas"

Two things to note about the Cheorwon middle and high school students:

1. They all but worship the Home Alone movies.
2. They all wring their hands about spending Christmas "solo," or without a paramour. As noted before, Christmas is much more of a couples' day than a family day here, and the kids feel the pain of singledom. I have to hold back my laughter when I hear 13 year old boys talk about not having girlfriends because they feel like they're failures. The poor kids...I didn't have a girlfriend at 13 either, but that's neither here nor there. The kids will get their paramours eventually.

http://koronicles.wordpress.com/2013/12/29/solo-christmas/

Reflections on the 2013 school year 3: Plans for next year

My lessons aren’t perfect. Next year will undoubtedly present more difficulties than 2013 or 2012 did. There are several reasons for this:

The more I teach, the more I need to learn

While my footing may be surer than it was two years ago and I’ve a better idea of what to teach and how to do it, that doesn't necessarily mean learning has ceased. Quite the contrary: every day brings on a series of questions. If the lesson was good, what was good about it? What can be done better? If a lesson wasn’t good, how come it wasn’t? What could have been better? Was there another way to teach the material? What about next time? These questions determine what happens next.

Also, while I may understand more about Korean culture than before, the journey continues. The more time I spend here, the more nuances come out.

Increasing coordinator duties

A new head coordinator took over in August. He’s an energetic, indefatigable man and he’s got us working on bettering the EPIK program. Admittedly, there isn’t much I can talk about here, but I’m excited about what’s to come down the road. This past year has been a good introduction to coordinating and I welcome what’s ahead in 2014.

Changes in co-teachers

One coteacher, JB, told me that he’ll be moving on to another school once this year concludes. He was here when I arrived and has been a great help both in and out of school. For a time, he was my main co-teacher, so he was in charge of business trips and any issues that arose outside of school. In every instance, he provided invaluable assistance and understood how the EPIK program worked. Moreover, he has unquenchable thirst for learning English because he’s always studying and asking questions about the expressions he comes across. His vigor’s inspiring, for it reminds me to keep studying Korean and not to get stuck doing or saying the same things over and over. He’ll be missed.

Another co-teacher’s finishing out her 5 year stint at one school and will have to move on. She’s co-taught with two other Cheorwon veterans and is another tireless learner. She too understands EPIK and will be a boon to whichever school she teaches at next because of her bright smiles and charming personality. Our conversations are a highlight of school life. But there’s a chance she’ll simply move to another of my schools because the school transfers aren’t final yet. She won’t know where she’s going until March.

My obligations borne out of time spent here.

Admittedly, I don’t know what will happen, but the trend’s been that every year means more responsibilities on the professional side. It makes sense, each year here brings a raise, so asking for more work in exchange for more money’s a fair trade in my mind.

To be sure, there’ll most likely be another night class or two as well as more record keeping to do. The night classes this semester went well because they featured a small group of high level speakers, so each lesson was more like a coffee shop chat than a formal class. I’d choose a topic, draw up some questions and vocabulary, and briefly explain them before we got going. The students simply had to follow the topic (ie, traveling) at hand and speak in English. It was a format that worked well, but for next year, I’ll be including more A/V materials as well as more opportunities for writing. I should’ve better employed their notebooks this year.

More to come later.

Also...I'd like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and hope everyone's enjoying the holidays.

Reflections on the 2013 school year 2: Anger

Avoid it as much as possible.

I’ll confess to losing my cool and yelling at students for misbehaviors. It’s not something to be happy about. It didn’t do anyone any good because it not only worsened the situation; it gave the kids their much-needed dose of attention. They got what they wanted and I got a headache and a sore throat. Korean society emphasizes the concept of “face,” which I definitely lost a few times over the years here. I took care not to ruin the class and quick switched a more positive mood to get the class rolling. Sometimes it was too late, but we usually got back on the right track.

On a similar note, Pink Floyd’s immortal warning of “No dark sarcasm in the classroom” proved all too tempting to ignore because there’s nothing a good harsh quip to put a student in his place, right? Wrong. Sarcasm doesn’t do anyone any good either. Life isn’t a movie script. There’s no peanut gallery watching the classroom for cutting lines or deft jests, there’s just me, the co-teacher, and the students. Moreover, sarcasm wouldn’t bring about any behavior change because it says nothing about the behavior that’s best for the classroom (or anywhere else, for that matter).

Here’s how: Saying something like “Oh, I see you’ve graced us with shining presence” to a tardy student may gratify for a second, but it won’t make him get in the door any sooner. Something like, “Good to see you, Joe. Arrive sooner next time,” would work better because it’s neutral and also points to the desired behavior. It also speaks the truth—I am truly am glad to see Joe and would like it even better for students to learn that expression to use among themselves. But, there’s another, more effective solution: Wait until the students are off and doing an activity and leave Joe a note or talk to him privately. Doing so allows for two things:

l       Joe gets no unnecessary attention when he enters the room.

l       He’s reminded of his misbehavior.

l       The conversation’s kept private.

l       I (the teacher) have time to cool down.

Contrast that with the aforementioned sarcasm and see which method’s more effective for yourself.

On a final note, I've found that telling the students I’m angry works because saying so always prompts a question as to why, and then I can explain. Yelling doesn’t work, but saying what the problem is—or demonstrating it, one of the two—always yields better behavior.

Let’s conclude by saying that sometimes voices need raising. One example comes to mind here: It happened during a word game we were playing at the boys middle school. One boy’s turn to speak came up and before he could say anything, another boy fired off a salvo of “You’re stupid” and “You don’t know anything” quips. The words cut the boy to the bone and he broke down and cried. As this happened in Korean, I missed the words and only saw the boy crying. A quick question to the co-teacher had her explaining what happened. It was no ordinary joking—it was verbal abuse. I yelled “Stop!” and halted the game so that we could review what showing respect and speaking at appropriate times means. By this time, everyone had gone silent. The other boy knew he’d done wrong, but rather than talk to him privately, I addressed the entire class, for they needed to hear this. They needed to know that taunting and verbal abuse is uncalled for. My co-teacher also talked to him after class and noted the incident in her log. 

More reflections coming soon...

Reflections on the 2013 School Year 1

Exams have concluded today and we’re entering the last days of the school year. The year concludes on 27 December, so we’ve about two weeks left before the winter classes begin. The regular year is, for all intents and purposes, over. We still have more classes to do, but they’ve already been planned out, so I’ve more some time to relax and stretch out. Hence, this post and a future series of posts reflecting on how the 2013 school year went down. Here’s the beginning:

Favorite lessons/activities:

l       The Price is Right--the students had great fun guessing prices of various items we learned about. It also provided an excellent review of money and numbers. The teams liked competing with each other for the closest price as well.

l       The hotel and airplane tickets roleplays--The students enjoyed walking around making their various plans with people. They got to do some real life English as well as practice activities they'll likely do as adults. As reading's been called an "imaginative rehearsal" for real life, so to are the role plays.

l       Battleship--The activity does take some time to explain, but the students understood it after a couple of tries. The game's format lends itself to repetition, so students get plenty of practice with variations on a speaking point without wearing the point out. The students also had fun guessing where the ships were.

l       Board games--UpWords and Scrabble. The games allowed the students to use their repertoire of English words in a fun context. To keep track of the words, they wrote words that they played on a handout and turned them in for my review.

• The summer camp

What else went well? Why?

l       Anything I mentioned about America. The students are hungry for knowledge about my home country as well as the chance to compare Korea to other countries. The students delighted in hearing about how it’s possible to vote, buy rifles, and smoke cigarettes at age 18.*

l       The notebooks and the bringing of materials.I've written about this before—at the beginning, it felt like moving mountains get the students to remember that yes,this is class, and yes, you will bring your materials with you, but theydid get the message. Soon over 80% were bringing books, notebooks, and pencils to class and we began taking notes in earnest. Some grumbled at this, but it was the next step after brining the stuff to class. (Many did see the value, though) The note-taking part’s still being worked on, but the students are starting to see that yes, they need to write stuff down from time to time. Writing helps, interestingly enough, with the hallowed study method of memorization. It’s funny how students will copy words and sentences for pages, but writing stuff that appears on the board is forgotten much of the time here. Oh well…one more thing to work on next semester.

*They couldn’t believe it was possible to own a gun while still in high school. And as someone who turned 18 just before senior year began, it is a strange thing to think about. The Korean students can’t drive, smoke, or vote until age 19, which means after they’ve finished high school. What a contrast to America—driving is high school for a good chunk of the population, for better or worse.

Teaching tip: You can only be you

Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson  [Quoted here]

Teaching corollary: Teach how you will, but no matter how you do it, you'll always be you. 

Whether you're teaching in hagwon or EPIK, chances are that if you're teaching in Korea, you will have heard about your predecessor(s) in the classroom. Maybe you're like me and you not only met her, you were neighbors with her. And chances are that in doing so, you have heard students or teachers talk about what predecessor X did for a lesson or how X's differed from yours. It's inevitable when considering all of the different people who go abroad to teach English here. In hearing about X, you may feel tempted to compare your classroom performance to him or be more like him in the classroom. But however you think of X, resist trying to be X. 

While it's good to draw inspiration from teachers past and present, it does no good to try to be someone you're not. You can only be you, especially in the classroom. By all means, learn from your colleagues and emulate the masters, but remember that trying to be someone else is futile.

During my first year here, I thought about the woman I replaced and how my style compared to hers. Since we were neighbors for a time, comparisons inevitably popped up in conversation. Students called her the "games teacher" and referred to me as the "educational teacher." She had a kinetic and whimsical style; I moved more deliberately. She so spoke highly of her former girls middle school students and the lessons they did together that I wondered how well I was doing. The questions came in flashes: Was I boring them? Should be I more like her? Should I jump around more? What if they resent me because she's gone? I'd get into that pattern for a while before the thought of hey now, you're not her and never will be--relax already! came to mind like a Seattle sun-break and I moved on.

As the months grooved along and found my footing, those questions dissipated and were replaced with more practical questions about how to adapt her good lesson ideas to my classes. I couldn't be her, but I could certainly emulate her. Doing so helped alleviate the anxiety and allowed me to concentrate on reaching the students because above all, the students will know when the teacher's on uneven footing. They can sense it and are masters at spotting uncertainty. Like Emerson said above, we can only be who we are, but we should strive toward becoming the best possible versions of ourselves. The students will adjust to you because you are not the first foreign teacher they've had and nor are you likely to be the last. In short:

• Do the best you can, because you can only be who you are.
• There's no one way to teach and there are many different styles.
• The students will adjust to you. They have plenty of other teachers who teach differently. You're no different.
• The students will know if you're going too far out of your comfort zone. 
• Overthinking leads to mental fatigue

And as I'm a fan of bookends, let's conclude with more of Emerson's wisdom from his essay Self Reliance:

There is a time in every man's education when we arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is give to him to toil. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he tried.

To the new EPIK teachers in Gangwon-do and elsewhere

Welcome fall arrivals! By now, you've entered your second week in your town. Perhaps you have begun teaching classes, been to a teachers dinner or two, wandered your neighborhood or town, or journeyed around the province.

Here are a few posts you may find of interest:

Life in general / Being an expat / Living abroad / Stuff you'll see here

• "Make it a good day"
• Getting a haircut
• Aegyo (Being "cute")
• Eating dog in Korea
• Eating dog in Korea 2
• The gas bill
• Studying Korean
• DVD bangs (Movie rooms) Good places to watch a Korean movie!
• Advice to newcomers from the Cheorwon Crew
• Teachers dinners and mountain climbing
• School dinners/School life

Teaching / The teaching life

• Harry Wong's "10 Beliefs of Successful Teachers," quoted from his book The First Days of School.
• Playing UpWords with the HS students
• Give the students time to work things out themselves
• Writing alongside the students
• Role plays about traveling
• The 10 minute break between classes: Teacher/office edition
• Playing the "Sage on the stage" vs the "guide on the side". Sometimes you have to change your style.
• "Think-pair-share"
• Bring your materials to class
• Bring your materials to class 2: Notebooks and lines
• Let the students choose the next speaker/participant
• Making dreidels with the MS girls
• Know what the kids like
• Wait times: Give them time to think
• Be ready for venue / classroom changes at any time
• Never contradict your co-teacher. For consistency's sake.

Student life

• Smart phone addiction among the students. Over 2/3 of the youth have smart phones in Korea. Watch out.
• The 10 minute break between classes: Student and cell phone edition
• Indoor voices. Get ready. The hallways might get loud.
• The last day of the Fall 2012 term

This should be enough to get you started. Enjoy!

Fall 2013 Week 1 - Class rules and acrostic poems in high school

Class rules / Acrostic poems

The first week is done. Unlike other EPIK teachers, girls middle school and regular high school's semester began on Tuesday. I taught two classes on Tuesday, four on Thursday,* and four on Friday.** The schedule hasn't been set yet, so we'll see what happens next week. Typically, schedules don't get written until after the semester begins. Every semester has begun with a provisional schedule that becomes a regular one. The first few days are often exciting as a result.

The high school classes went well. Despite the lack of time off, it did feel as if we're in a new semester instead of a continuation of the old one. It felt good to be back in class and getting the 2nd semester going. The students have shaken off the restlessness of the last days and have begun anew. They're paying more attention now. 

For the first week, I kept it simple and limited the lesson to reviewing the class's rules and showing the students how to write an acrostic poem about themselves. I did so because it took little prep work and was easy to add to my already-written intro lesson about rules and procedures. Classes went like this:

Intro/Saying hello

This is typically the first two minutes where everyone's getting settled in. I'll say hello and check to make sure everyone has their materials. Sometimes we'll talk about the weather or school events. I'm going to do more during this time by implementing so short "Do now" tasks because the 10 minutes they have between classes is time enough to mentally prepare and move to the classroom.

Rules/Overview of new semester

My rules are simple. They abbreviate to STABS:

S peak at appropriate times [in English]

T reat others with respect
A rrive on time
B ring materials
S tay on task

When I wrote the list, I looked for the smallest amount of words and the words that were easiest to understand in isolation and in the full sentence. I also phrased them positively to avoid putting anyone on edge with a series of "Don't" expressions.

Poem definition and demonstration

I used this image from Read Write Think, an excellent resource site, to explain and demonstrate an acrostic poem:

I also showed them an acrostic poems about Korea. And to show how they could write poems about themselves, I showed them what Benjamin would look like as an acrostic.

"Korea"

K nowledge industry

O ceans, rivers, and streams of clear water

R olling hills and mountains of luscious green

E ating delicious barbecue and kimchi!

A lways changing

The beginning line was blank until the 3rd class because I couldn't think of a good line that began with a K-word. Luckily, Michael, a 2nd grader, came by after class finished and said, "How about 'knowledge industry'? Korea has much knowledge and many industries. We are smart!" I liked his line, so I wrote it in and added his name to the credits.

The idea was for the students to describe themselves in the space of the poem.

Poem drafting

Writing takes time. I make sure to give the students plenty of time to write anything and circulate the room with the co-teacher to offer help and direction anyone who needs it.

Poem final draft/decorating

I'm planning on decorating some of the room with the students' writings and thought this acrostic poems would be a good place to start. Rewriting the poem also helps spelling practice and word choice. I've found that rewriting things leads to a better draft because in rewriting something, I'll inevitably think of better ways to phrase things. For the students' purposes, it gave them a chance to draw their words larger and add some pertinent decorations.

I'd planned on doing a poetry slam at the end, wherein the students would take turns reading their work and the audience would rate the best one, but we ran short of time in every class but one. Maybe next time we can do it. If I run through the introduction and rules quicker, we can probably squeeze in a reading. The one class that did feature a reading went well. That class has four girls in it who have gotten better and better as of late. They used to go off-task and distract each other, but thanks to some joking and positive attention via questions in class, they've been paying more attention and speaking more. All four of them turned in good work. 

The poetry went well. The students have now written a poem in a foreign language. The sense of accomplishment from having done an English poem was palpable. While poetry's not an "everyday" skill like, say, booking a hotel room, it is a literary skill. It focuses on word choice because every word counts in a poem. Above all, it allows the students to express themselves and learn something new at the same time.

* High school

** Girls middle school

What I'm teaching this semester:

High school grades 1-2

High school night class (Grades TBA)

Boys middle school grades 1-3

Girls middle school grades 1-2

The 3rd contract has been signed - Another year in Cheorwon!

That's right, I'm here for a third year. The contract arrived in the mail today and I signed it as soon as my co-teacher got it out of the envelope. Yes, I was jumping up and down for it. Signing it was even more exciting than last year because after an entire year on the Korean school calendar (March-July and August-December, basically) I now know of what's in store for next year. This past semester has not been perfect, but it's been the best one yet. Every semester gets better than the one before it. The role play and cultural lessons have paid dividends, so I'm going to continue with them. I'll also include some reworked writing lessons from last year as well. Staying a third year does come with some strings, for Gangwon EPIK's vacation days are being reduced from 35 to 18* and I will have to do a night class once or twice a week. Both of things are fine, for they're balanced out by a raise, a bonus, a week of extra vacation time, and the satisfaction that comes from teaching in Cheorwon. 

To finish up this quick post, I'm reminded of something I read in a book about doing business in Korea. I'd read it when I was applying to teach here in summer 2011. An American businessman was talking about the difficulties in culture and said something like, "It took me a year to find my way around, a second year to learn names, and a third year to get anything done." The quote's stuck because it's come true in many ways:

• Year 1 was learning to read and write in Korean, adjusting to Korean culture, and finding my footing with teaching English to Koreans. 
• By Year 2 the culture shock was long gone and I was expanding the Korean knowledge and applying the lessons learned in and out of school from Year 1. 
• Year 3 will be spent on bringing more conversation and cultural activities to the students. It will also include more travels around the country. (I'm going on a quick train and bus trip next week, too)

* This is to bring Gangwon EPIK in line with the other provinces. Gangwon has had more vacation days than the other provinces, so the move makes logical sense. I will miss those extra days, though!

** For any Korean teachers who come across this blog and would like help with understanding some of my phrasing or figures of speech, feel free to email me.

And now, sleep...

Link: "Schools to offer more PE classes"

Korea Joongang Daily: "Schools to offer more PE classes"

Some key quotes:

The Ministry of Education said yesterday that it will expand the required hours of physical education classes of high schools nationwide, mandating them to offer at least two to three courses per week from next year. 

...

“We need to break down the predominant idea that arts, music and physical classes are minor parts of our education and the majority of time should be allotted to math, Korean language and English,” said Education Minister Seo Nam-soo. 

“Our future talent should be well-rounded and the course schedule should go hand in hand with that objective,” he said. 

Despite the possibility that this may encroach on the English classes taught by NETs, I applaud the Education Ministry for this change. The students do indeed more PE classes and time away from their books and desks. Movement and exercise form two key ways of staying in shape, and from what I've seen, students don't move around nearly enough. Many lead sedentary lives of studying, smart phones, and ramyeon eating. The kids out here probably do get around more than their urban counterparts because of all the extra room, but even so, more fresh air will do them good. Coming from the fat country of the USA, I can attest that academics, while good, aren't the only thing. PE classes and exercise have been shown to maintain or boost students' academic performance. Let's get moving.

Addendum:

I began exercising more often a couple months ago too. Despite a penchant for walking and hiking, I figured I wasn't doing enough. Thus, I began biking, stretching, and doing push ups and sit ups every day. I also do pull ups whenever a bar's nearby. Those exercises take but a few minutes, yet have noticed that they lessen tension. Flexing the muscles lets me know I did something more than sit in front of a computer all day too.

Also from the JA Daily: "Building a rigorous body and mind"

Gentleman Crab vs The Great Catsby

A little while ago I did a middle school lesson in which I gave groups a series of photos and asked them to make up conversations the people in the photos might have. They were free to say whatever they wished, but they could lean upon what they'd learned in class up if they needed ideas. The purpose was to see what they'd come up with. The lesson also meant I could use some funny pictures that had been lying dormant on the USB drive. At first, I thought the plan might backfire because how English grammar scares the students, but they delivered some interesting work. This sheet has some standard expressions on it, but I'm including it because who can resist Gentleman Crab and a cat dressed in a business suit?

Also, I didn't have time to tell the group about it, but they accidentally nailed the slang and irony of saying "What it is?" especially in the context of a rich office.

Special thanks to my old friend Mike from DIAD Designs for finding the Gentleman Crab picture. Note the sunglasses the kids drew on him.

Quick hit: Teachers Day (스승의 날)

Korea celebrated Teachers Day yesterday with an assembly in the gym that came replete with speeches and accolades for us teachers. The day's a big occasion over here: Students customarily give teachers flowers, letters, and gifts to thank them. One of my students gave me a flower and a thoughtful letter at the end of the day. It was a nice gift coming from her, for the sentiments were genuine. It's great to know someone appreciates what I'm doing here. And though I don't intend to gloat, it is great that the students take time to recognize the efforts of their teachers.

The occasion brought back fuzzy memories of Teacher Appreciation Day in the US. I don't remember much of those days because nothing much happened. They were always more for the elementary school students and parents anyway. That's not the case in Korea. Teachers Day applies to elementary, middle, and high schools here. The day produced a big irony in one class when some students were tuning out of my lesson to work on the class message board for Teachers Day. They stopped working on it after I told them to stop. Did they see the irony in what they were doing? I'm not sure, but it was amusing.

An upcoming "free semester" for middle schoolers?

Korean middle and high school life revolves around tests and exams. To say that students fret about their midterms and finals would be like calling the Pacific Ocean a pond. Korea's new president Park Geun-hye has recently proposed a "free semester" for middle schoolers. Such a semester would mean no tests so students could focus on other things like career or vocational options. The idea's modeled on Ireland's "free semester" program and it's slated to begin in 2016.

I've included a few articles and editorials about the idea below because it represents a change in thinking for Korean schools. Several writers and policy makers have been debating merits of the "free semester." They've been wondering if it can work in Korea or if it will backfire and drive parents to spend more on their childrens' private schooling. I've been wondering about the idea myself, for it has plenty of potential, yet implementing it could prove tricky.

Read and enjoy. More to come later!


Joongang Daily: "Students discuss 'free class' plan"

"Middle school students to get a test-free semester"

"A little room to breathe"

"Paved with good intentions"

DMZ washout blues (DMZ Trip #4)

Cheorwon County got hit with morning rain so the much-anticipated trip to the DMZ with the Boys Middle School didn't go quite as planned. Instead of seeing the DMZ and going hiking, we went to the Labor Party Building and Baek Ma Go Ji (White Horse) memorial site. (No pictures from the site, unfortunately!) The bus rides to and from the sites probably took longer than the time we spent hanging around, but we all had a decent time. The rain wasn't coming down too hard, so we didn't get soaked or anything. I was particularly excited to get a closer look at the old and bombed out Labor Party Building because I'd only seen it from a tour van's window before. Ms. J the boys school co-teacher snapped the photo below.

It's an imposing old structure. The Soviets certainly liked their right angles and straight lines. I couldn't help but think of 1984 when I saw it, for surely some devious Commie actions went down in there. It's not something to think about, but it's an integral part of Korean history. The popular Korea blog The Marmot's Hole colorfully describes the building here:

A symbol of the tragedy of division and war and a testament to the power of Soviet civil engineering, this building — which you read about here — was erected in 1946 as the local headquarters of Ye Olde Workers Party of Korea, North Korea’s ruling party. Built in that charming Soviet style favored in North Korea’s early years — see here for many more examples — the building took a licking during the battles for the Iron Triangle but kept on standing.

And why yes, those are tread marks from a Sherman tank leading up the steps.

Indeed, if you look closely, you can see the tread marks on either side of the walkway. Despite its dark past, I enjoyed seeing this piece of history up close. Did the students? Hard to say. Most were too busy being kids and trying to stay dry, but I'll ask them about it later. The teachers looked like they had a good time though. Ms. J apologized for the rain, but it couldn't be helped. A little rain never hurt anyway. It was good to get out and see more historical sites.

Note:

As I mentioned before, the Labor Party Building's part of the Cheorwon DMZ tour, which the Joongang Daily wrote about here. Gracie, Rochelle, and I took the tour on a sunny day in October and enjoyed it. I'll have the post about it up soon. It's been sitting half-finished in the drafts folder for some time now. Until then, here are a couple pictures from the excursion:

At the Cheorwon Peace Observatory. The DMZ is behind it, but pictures of the DMZ aren't allowed.

At the blown apart tracks of the old Woljeong-ri Station. 

More to come later!

Links:

The Marmot's Hole: Korean War Ruins of Cheorwon. An excellent pictorial of Cheorwon's war relics. Good info, too.

The Marmot's Hole: Former Cheorwon Office Of The Workers' Party Of Korea. More pictures and info about the Labor Party Office.