New School Year, BIG Changes

First semester has officially begun! I should start by saying that this year, I will only be teaching at Suwan MS (수완중학교) about which I have mixed feelings, and is a different story. The first day was technically yesterday, March 2. To celebrate, the students came in for a half day that included a welcoming ceremony in the gym. Last year, our school was brand new and was only 7th grade. I asked at one point, "Why aren't there 8th and 9th graders here if we have the room for them?" I was told that the kids need stability in their lives, and that they didn't want to pull them out of their schools that there were attending to come here. I guess that makes sense. It also would have meant hiring many more teachers in what I am assuming was a small time frame.

Now I feel that the school is packed compared to last year! Last years 1st graders (7th grade) are 2nd grade (8th grade), and we've gained over 400 students. Instead of 8 homeroom classes total, now we are up to 19!! At the welcoming ceremony, some kids received scholarships and the new students took a vow of some sort. New teachers were also introduced to the school, I'd guess there are at least 25.

My co-teachers have also changed slightly, along with my office mates. This year, I am teaching 1st grade only, so I won't get to teach the students I had last semester in class. Kinda bummed about that. The 1st graders are divided into 3 levels- low, mid, and high. I'll teach each with a different co-teacher. Mihey and I will still be doing the high level together. Jiyeon, who I taught low level with last year, and I will be doing mid, and a new teacher, Ms. Jeong, and I will teach low level. Mihey has moved up to a 4th floor office, so I won't get to see her as often. I know she'll be busy teaching all of the grade 2 students in addition to high level 1st graders. I'll be sharing my office off the EOZ with Jiyeon and another new English teacher, but I can't recall her name.

Mihey gave me my schedule today, and it looks good. I teach 3 classes every day, one of each level (low, mid, high), and I also run the EOZ lunch period three days a week. So it's 18 hours of teaching, and I think we will also continue our teachers class, to get to my total required teaching hours of 19. The rest of the time is mine to lesson plan, blog, Facebook, and take naps :)

This week we are just doing simple introduction activities and games so I can assess what level the students are at and they can get to know me. I'm anxious to get back into the classroom and start teaching!