Puttin' the SMACK DOWN

When I began teaching here in Busan, I arrived at the school straight from the airport, to observe two 45 minute classes, as I was to start with my own classes the next day. Of course, my head was not the clearest, after having been up for about 40 hours, traveling. I had told them I had no experience, but it didn't seem to matter. The next day I showed up, freshly shaved, in shirt and tie, nervous as all hell. I was handed about 12 books for the six classes of roughly ten kids each, told which pages to start on in each of them, and shuffled off to the first classroom.

Of course, it's not that difficult to explain the difference between a list of present and past tense verbs to anyone, unless they talk constantly in a foreign language, point and laugh at you, and sometimes jump up out of their seats and tag each other. It could be incredibly exasperating at times. There were a couple days when I was walking to class thinking "what did you get yourself into THIS time, you dolt!" I don't want to make it sound like they were all bad days. But there were enough of them to make it really hard to enjoy. The first day in class with your new students is crucial- it decides how they perceive you and if they are going to take you seriously or not. And I was far too lax that first day. I mean, I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I had those students for the past seven weeks.

But yesterday, I got ALL NEW students, 70 of them in total, among six classes. This was an opportunity to change the way things worked. I walked into the first one, with a big goofy grin on my face and said "HELLOOO!!! HOW ARE YOUUUUU? MY NAME IS ANDYTEACHER!!!" They were very excited to see who their new teacher was and laughed and screamed and whispered to each other. I walked up to the front of the class and asked them all how they were doing. I told them I was very happy to be their teacher and looked forward to getting to know them. Then, I turned around to the dry erase board, and made a big 1, and a big 2 underneath it. I said "there are two rules in my class, ok?" They all nodded expectantly. I said "number one is that you don't speak korean in my class, unless you are helping one another, OK?" I wrote it next to the big 1 on the board. They all understood. Then, I said "number two is that you raise your hand when you want to ask a question, or answer a question that I ask of you, OK?" They all nodded. I thought "we'll see how this works.

They were the most orderly, well-behaved, and quiet classes I have ever taught. I taught more in those six classes than I ever had in any class in the past seven weeks. It was a joy. I realized how much more I would enjoy my work now. I had put the SMACK DOWN on the first day-- the crucial ingredient.

Our new story book we read twice a week in class is taken from Disney's Atlantis, a movie which I had actually rented and watched with my best friend several years ago in Kansas City, when we were REEAAALLLYY high. So high, that the choice, which took upwards of an hour, was between "The Land Before Time," "The Jungle Book," and "Duck Tales: the Movie." We sat wide-eyed, compelled at the story. I think I even cried at one point. So, I knew the story and really liked it. Anyhow, the point is that yesterday I successfully explained this concept to 70 korean children:

that millennia ago, a highly advanced island civilization existed, until it was threatened by a giant tidal wave, coming to swallow it up. A glowing, blue crystal which was floating in the sky over the island-city sent down beams of blue light, which raised the queen up into the crystal, while her baby daughter, the princess, called for her mother. then, the crystal shined more blue light down over the island, forming a giant "protective bubble" around Atlantis, shielding it from the tidal wave which seconds later crashed against it. the island was saved, however it sunk deep into the ocean, a lost city hidden from everyone and everything else.

yeah, sounds like a crackpot scenario, right? well imagine trying to explain it to a bunch of kids who don't know 80% of the words involved. through drawing pictures, gesticulating wildly, and making myself hoarse, I got the kids to wrap their little heads around this story. I actually felt quite proud of myself.

Today, we're learning about musical instruments. All of my classes now are in the same grade, so I only have one lesson plan and three books to work with all day, teaching the same material six times in a row. Its pretty nice. I can show up in class far more prepared than I was before, when I had four different grades.

So, things are going much better now. Now I just have to learn all their names.

Happy trails!