Parent Teacher Conferences Korean Style

This morning, my coteacher Hyunju told me that we were going to talk about "that picture from last week, remember?" At first, I didn't. Last weeks project was writing your own Thanksgiving poem and drawing a turkey by tracing your hand. I did this project with about 600 students, and my memory failed me to recal the specific one.

After thinking about it for 10 minutes, I remember that specific one. Instead of writing a poem, this student wrote two words: "F**k you," and had drawn a picture of a hand flicking someone off. At the end of the project, I collected each paper and each student had written their name on it to hang in the class. Identifying which student had created this poem was easy. At this point, I wasn't offended because I assume when students swear in class, it is something they've picked up in a movie and don't know the full implications or meaning behind the word.

I had given the poem to Hyunju at the end of the day, and had forgotten about it. Today, she told me that the homeroom teacher had called the mother of the student, who laid into the student over this weekend. After a series of phone calls, the mother decided to come in Monday morning, today, and apoligize in person.

The mother explained she felt very sorry about the situation, and had talked to her son about it for a long time. I'm sure he was grounded, or whatever the Korean version of that is. I also found out that this student is one of the most well behaved students in his class, he also happens to be vice principal of his class. She also asked if I remembered her son... I see so many kids in a day, and this one did not stand out. I'm pretty good at recgonizing the trouble makers and the really good kids, but the ones inbetween slip through the cracks of my memory. So I didn't know what to say, I decided to say, "yes, I remember," even though that may have been the first time I'd actually looked at him. In the end, I did not feel bad about letting the homeroom teacher know about the situtation, I just felt overwhelmed I guess you could say about the mother coming in specifically to see me and apoligize.

With her apology, she brought treats for all the teachers. I was so touched that she had done so. I teared up when Hyunju and I were talking because the mother cares so much for her son and wants him to succeed that she felt it necessary to bring TONS of food for ALL the teachers. She brought in about 40 coffees, probably around $1 each. Then, she brought in pieces of cheesecake and chocolate cake for each of us from Paris Baguette, a popular bakery here. Those are at least $3 each because I've seen them before. On top of that, she brought pear juice in individual packets. There was a box full of them, the box was the same size that printer paper comes in. I was given 10 by the homeroom teacher. This mother easily spent $200 on trying to fix her sons mistake.

Back home, I feel like this would never happen. I know that teachers talk to parents when necessary on the phone, but I'm not sure if many parents go the extra mile to bring in a huge amount of food to say I'm sorry. That was definitely a case of culture shock.

KPop 2009 Mashup, Part II

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I teach at Seongdeok Middle School. The kids come in after class to clean the room, and I let them use You Tube to play Kpop songs. They really enjoy it. The other day, some kids pulled up a video before first period. There were about 7 boys in the class who were totally absorbed in it. Then the group grew to about 15 kids, the about half the class (maybe 23 students) were watching the video. It is pretty cool, but if only they paid this much attention to me! :) Here's the pictures I snapped in order, followed by the video they were watching.

Corporal Punishment

It is very common for teachers here to do corporal punishments. Most teachers carry a paddle or bamboo stick. I've heard of other teachers at different schools carrying around wire sticks with a frayed end. Some of the punishments I've seen at my school are:

~50 squats
~Making students stand with their hands up in the air for an extended period in the cafeteria
~Cleaning of the classroom
~Whacks on the back of the head
~Students sitting outside in the hall on their knees for a class period.
~Students getting their cheeks pinched and butts kicked simultaneously.

I know that this list will continue to grow over the next year. My friend Brian has an all boys middle school where he is encouraged to punish the kids. Some of the punishments he has seen are:

~Hitting kids on the head with a closed fist
~Students standing in the corner
~Students being hit anywhere with a wire swatch
~Students doing lunges/pushups/squats/calf raises etc.

Sometimes after the bell rings and class is supposed to start, some of my students are still missing. It happened today. So I asked where the rest of the class was. They mimicked getting hit by the teachers. I was like, "oh." I have a friend that works in a Hagwon (private school) and the other day she asked her students if they had ever been hit by a teacher. Almost every student raised their hands. They also mentioned that when you are hit by a teacher for the first time, then boys and girls are equal. When we are hanging out as a group, we talk about these sorts of punishments and all the things we see. I know I'm missing some of the punishments, but I will add to the list as I come across more kinds of punishments.

First Day Teaching

My co-teacher from my visiting school called me on Sunday evening to see if I was able to come in Monday afternoon to meet my principal. My schedule is pretty open, so I said "sure."

I was picked up by her, and we drove a few minutes to school. The visiting school is also brand new, and it is about 25 minutes away walking. I got a brief tour, and was shown the English Only Zone (EOZ), my office, and met some of the coworkers. I was also presented to the vice principal and principal. Neither one speaks English.

During the tour, my co-teacher said that there were still two English classes that afternoon and asked if I was able to teach them. I was not expecting that, but I didn't want to disappoint her, so I said yes.

Luckily, I had prepared my lesson for my center school already. I hadn't run through it, so I figured it would be pretty bumpy. I walked into the classroom, and the kids were SO happy to see me! They knew I would be coming, and they were really excited I was there.

For the lesson, we made nametags with some of their favorite things on them. My main focus this year is getting the 7th graders to speak and listen, so I had them create nametags for their partners. I wrote down the questions they had for me on the board, and told them to take turns asking their partners the same questions. Not all the questions I got asked got put on the board (for example: "Do you have a husband?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Will you marry me?"). Overall, I think the lesson went well, and it allowed me to see what level their English is at. At the visiting school, there are 7 classes of 7th graders. They took a test and were placed at different levels, but there is still a wide range of language ability within the class. I walked around and talked to the students during the activity, and some students were really good at saying whole sentences, while others would just say the answer.

Later on, I attended a faculty meeting. It was about 45 minutes long, and the only word I recgonized that entire time was "Mara." I am having them call me that nickname because I think it is easier to pronounce.

The day went pretty well overall. Because both my schools are 7th grade only, I am going to do the same introduction activity for each class. After I get better with their names, I'll collect the nametags and put them up in the EOZ. I'm really glad to have my own classroom rather than moving from room to room.

I still don't have internet at my apartment, but I will post some of my 300 pictures as soon as I can so you can see what things are like on the other side of the pond.