2.26.2011

a little of what we are doing

     We came to the school at a time of transition because March 1 is actually the first day of the school year. A couple of teachers left before this year was up so Robert and I have been thrown into the classroom to cover for them. Its been a bit interesting but we have enjoyed it nonetheless. As I said before, We have been spending time cleaning the kindergarten floor and then preparing bulletin boards, getting things set up for today: the new student orientation. The mothers came with their children and were given the textbooks, uniforms, and backpacks.
     The way this school works is that the Kindergarten is the main thing going on- We teach from about 10:00 to 3:00 and then in the afternoon, the classes are more like an after school program. The students are coming from other Academies. A class in the afternoon ranges anywhere from a private lesson with just one student to having 10 students. Because of covering for the other teacher, I was teaching more afternoon classes than I actually will be starting next week. I will only be teaching a couple classes in the afternoon because I will be full time in Kindergarten. Robert, on the other hand, will be teaching Kindy Science on Monday mornings, then teaching at another school about 5 minutes from mine, in the mornings and then coming to ours in the afternoon. Our school is called English Friends. Our boss owns many schools throughout Korea.
      The kindergarten offers many different programs besides just English... There is Arts and crafts, music, tae kwando (sp??), Chinese, English, Math, and Science as well as taking many field trips throughout the year. It is a full time program for these kids!

You can't see all the faces, but here are all the teachers...
There's five Korean teachers, one Chinese teacher, Jolie is from New Zealand (Taught here 11 years), Chris is from England (taught 10 or 11 years) and Jeremy and Jackie are both from America (been here 8 months) and John, who is also from America, was not here because he mainly teaches at the other school where Robert will be in the mornings. And then there's us :) Quite the crew, huh? 

Kindergarten has an entire floor to ourselves, and the teachers move around from class to class so I won't actually have my own home room but Jackie and I put together this bulletin board and I thought it turned out cute. 
I got the idea for the kite on the ceiling from my good friend Jennifer Whitcomb :) 

The kindergarten classes are divided up by age and advancement. There is a Rainbow class, Yellow class, Red class and Ocean class. I will find out on Monday what I will be teaching. That's one thing about this culture that I am trying to get used to... everything is last minute. 

So, there you get to see a little bit of what we are doing here in Korea. 
When I find out more, I will let you know! :)

 Oh, and did I mention that Korea is ffaa-reeezzing!!!! I am so sick of being cold!!!! 

6 comments:

JenofWA said...

Awh.. :) Love your kite ;) So good to hear you all are doing so well!

Miss you!!

Unknown said...

If you are not teaching during Korean classes or Chinese...maybe the teacher will let you sit in so you can learn the language as well! Just a thought :) Glad things are going well for you.

Jamie said...

Very cool, Jen! So excited to keep getting updates about your new life.

Sorry you are so cold...believe me, we sympathize with you, completely!! :)

Love,
Jamie

J.Black said...

Marie, that sounds like a great idea but I am instructed to learn Korean elsewhere. I am there to teach English and that is all~ not to learn Korean :)

How Kuku Family said...

Miss you! Very excited to see you guys in this new chapter! Today we had Drew's birthday, and although we were very excited for the celebration you couldn't help but feel the missing links in our family celebration! We love you both!!!

J.Black said...
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