Recap of First Week Back At School

Grade 3 started on a good note. I'm teaching grades 3 and 4 with a new co-teacher this year, and she's super well-organized and well-prepared. We spent the first class doing introductions, instructions, classroom rules, and I did a mini-presentation on why we should learn English.

I tried to highlight on topics of interest to the students, and included pics of my friends and I with little bubble flags above our heads to show that despite multiculturalism, we can all communicate through common language or languages.

This year we had an increase in school enrollment, and there's four classes of third-graders instead of the usual three. As usual, there were kids in each class determined to show-off their English proficiency, no doubt acquired from English hagwons from the very first day to impress the English teacher.

I feel that due to it being my second year of teaching, it's much easier to gauge their English and interest levels. I've already seen some of the kids from afternoon classes all of last year to not feel like a total stranger to them, and I picked up enough Korea to translate single words so that they could understand almost 100% of what I'm saying.

I'm very fond of the fifth-graders this year, since they were my angels from last year. I'm a little nervous about them not enjoying this year of English classes as much though, since they have double the amount of classes and there would be less games. Not to mention, they're not with Miss Lee this year, but with Miss Kim, whose teaching style is extremely different. Not that she's strict or mean, She's a very kind teacher who just doesn't prepare any additional material in addition to the textbook, which makes lessons more about rote repetition.

I'm determined to push for games and fun activities though to keep up morale. I prepared the Mafia game for Wednesday's English class with my 5-3's, so hopefully it goes well.

My sixth-graders, predictably, varied from individual to individual. It sucks that I already implemented a stamp system with them. I only did it to bribe them into doing actual work, and they just care about trading in the stamps for candy and chocolate. I would much rather reward my other grades for being good than bribing the awful ones so that they would do work.

I don't really have another choice though. When they're bad, they're awful and don't do anything. Discipline varied from wonderful to non-existent on their homeroom teachers' part, and this year hopefully they won't be brats much. The group of really bad boys in 5-3 was separated into different classes this year thankfully, but it won't be long until they band and form new groups of badly behaved baboons...

I'm seeing my 4th-graders tomorrow, and while I love that they're lively, I'm hoping that my new co-teacher will be strict on them this year so that they're only loud during games and activities.

En garde!