"Let's Get It Started"

My short vacation is over, and I'm back to work. (insert sarcastic "yippee!" here)
I suppose it's a good thing that I only have to teach one lesson a week! It is the start of a new semester, which in Korea goes something like this:

Semester 1: March - Mid-July
Summer Vacation
Semester 2: Mid-August - Late January/Early February
Winter Vacation

Winter vacation is about a month long, and out of that I have 15 days paid vacation. However the other 15 I might have to teach a winter course, unless for some miracle the principal decides against it and I get another 15 days of vacation. (crossing my fingers!)

Anywho, since it is the start of a new term, I decided to be a little more organized and keep my expectations for my students high. My biggest issues when I first began teaching (for only 3 weeks before their summer vacation) was that the students were not bringing notebooks, not writing any notes (if they even bothered to bring a pencil) or would be completely inactive and just try to sleep in class. My classroom rules are simple now. I only have 5 rules.



1. Always bring your English notebook to class.

2. Always bring a pencil or pen to class.

3. Always write the English Vocab words in your notebook (I have them write the Korean equivalent as well, and then they use the notebook as a dictionary for when I give them pop quizzes or writing assignments when they'll need the vocab.)

4. Always raise your hand to answer a question. (They normally just yell out to you - so I'm training them that if they just raise their hand and are quiet, they can win candy. But the kids who yell out I don't even call on).

5. Try to speak English 1st, Korean 2nd. (I am a firm believer that they should try. I have heard that some hagwons don't allow the kids to speak Korean in the English classes, or if the teachers try to speak Korean they can get into trouble. I don't think this is productive at all, and when you have a class of 40 students of extremely mixed ability the kids who don't understand a lot are going to fall further behind and then not even care anymore.)

As for those sleeping kids I mentioned earlier - it's not easy to fight against, as many students are up very late studying or going to private lessons that their parents push on them. Even the Korean teachers cut these students a little slack and let them put their heads down and nod off during class.


To be fair though, for some of these students going to public school is the easiest part of their day, and a nice break. I even asked the students "How was your summer vacation? Did you have fun? Are you happy to be back at school?" Most of their responses were surprising. They were actually happier to be back at school than on vacation because either their parents were making them sit at home and study or they were taking multiple private lessons in every subject. At least at public school they can see all their friends, and again the classes are easier. One girl told me all she did was study and go to private lessons for a month. Her mother is home all the time and with such close living quarters its easy to enforce the no TV or computer rule. Sometimes I really feel bad for these kids - they are pushed way to hard and need to some fun and relaxation.

Ok, that's enough about the schools.

As a side note, I'd like to give a shout out to Google Analytics, a tracking gadget I've put on the blog. It shows me where my audience is logging in from, some which I find surprising. I've had visitors from Belgium, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, South Korea (besides me), and a multitude of states - primarily CT, RI, NY and MA as expected.


This gadget also helps me see where my traffic is coming from. Most of it is from family and friends who have saved the website in their bookmarks or are referred from Facebook or other sites. I'm starting to gain an audience from www.reliableteacher.com. This site had contacted me asking to use my blog on their site. I had not responded and actually wasn't too keen on the idea of all these random people peering into my life - but they posted it anyways. (and I don't even teach at a hagwon --- odd). I'll just have to be more careful about what I post and try to appeal to a broader audience than just family and friends back home.

Anyways, as long as I'm getting the traffic, I guess it wouldn't hurt to make some more posts like this one that would help new teachers, or those thinking about coming to Korea. Although, I can think of many sites far more helpful than mine.

I'll leave you now with this funny video that I can't seem to stop watching and have found my self singing from time to time. (I recommend turning on Closed Captioning because the lyrics are funny). Enjoy! (John Williams is the man!)