Time spent

Well hello again! Day to day life has caught up with me and I haven't been in "blog world" much recently! I wanted to acquaint you with my schedule and that of my students' schedules (one in particular). My schedule is actually quite nice and I really have nothing to complain about. Its set up differently than a school day in America but I am putting the same number, if not less, hours a day. My MWF morning vary a little in Kindy but my afternoons are pretty routine.

On Mondays I actually don't have to be to school until 10:15am! :) I usually go earlier because that's the day Robert teaches Science up in Kindy so I leave the house with him since we don't get to walk to school together on any other day. I only have one class in the morning and its "Phone English" where we just go over a script and I have play phones and they simply get comfortable with carrying on an English conversation on the phone~ super easy. Then I have a break until lunch at 11:35. We eat with the kids and then I read to the older kids during "Mother Goose" time (about 15 minutes). Next are 3 back to back classes and I am finished with Kindy at 2:20pm. I then have time to put my materials away and get everything ready for my afternoon classes beginning at 3:00pm. Beginning at 3:00 I have 4 back to back classes ranging from first grade to around seventh grade. I am finished for the day at 6:00pm but generally stay around working on things in the classroom until 7:00 when Robert is finished teaching. Then its home and headed out to eat for supper and grocery shopping for us! :) We're pretty boring like that...

Tuesdays are nice but are quite different. From 9:50-11:35 I have 3 classes in Kindy, lunch, Mother Goose, and then 2 Phonics classes with a break in between. Again I am finished at 2:20pm. I then prepare for my 3:00 class which is a group of 1st graders that didn't go through our Kindy so they have practically no English whatsoever. Its a challenge but it is already improving. Its amazing how quickly they progress! At 3:45 I begin calling students at home to practice our phone English script that we worked on in class. Then at 4:10 I have a class with 2 little boys that are absolutely a blast! They went through our Kindy so their English is very good. At 5:00 I have a Kindy meeting with the teachers and then Im done for the day! I just found out today that I am getting another class which will put me at school until 6pm from now on but oh well.. Then I go home and cook dinner (its one of our cooking nights) and Robert gets home a little after 7.

On Wednesdays, the only difference from Mondays is that I teach 3 classes before lunch and 2 after lunch and am done in Kindy by 1:45. I usually use the extra time to head across the street to Yoger Presso and get a Mocha Mint Latte or a frozen yogurt. It is a delightful treat in the middle of the day! Then I have my usual classes in the afternoon.

Thursdays are such fun days! I teach 3 classes in the morning, Lunch, Mother Goose and then I have gym with Red class for an hour. I do stretch-type exercises with them and then usually plan gym activities/games for the first 1/2 hour and then they have free play in the playroom for the other 1/2 hour. I generally end up sliding down the slide with them and all around rough housing :). Its super fun and its a perfect place for them to learn conversation. They are playing and having fun and learning at the same time! So, Im done at 1:45 again :) Then the afternoon is the same as Tuesday except starting this week, I will be having Korean lessons with one of the teachers at 6:00pm. I'm pretty excited! She even ordered me a kid's textbook to learn how to write and read the language (and it comes with stickers too!) :) Then it's home for dinner (this is my other cooking day).

And Fridays.... the day we all look forward to the entire week... is actually my least favorite day! :) It's not even that its a bad day, just a very full day and as you can see, I am quite spoiled with my schedule! I teach 3 classes in the morning, lunch, Mother Goose, 3 classes in the afternoon and then prepare for the 4 classes in the afternoon downstairs. It actually moves quite quickly, surprisingly enough! I usually stick around again to wait for Robert and get everything ready for Monday so I don't even have to think about school over the weekend. We usually go out somewhere and explore or shop on Friday nights.

Saturdays are our days to sleep in, clean the house and explore or do something with friends. Pretty much all our friends are English teachers and they have basically the same schedule so any "fun" stuff is left for the weekend :)

And of course Sundays... We get to sleep in and relax. Then we usually have skype dates with parents. Our church service doesn't start until 4pm so we are not in a huge rush to leave. We go to church and then attend Bible study following the service. We are usually home by around 10:30pm and then we get ready to do it all over again.

Are you bored yet? You now know every minute of my schedule and where I am at that particular minute. :) Well, in contrast, I want to briefly show you one of my students' schedule. I am not entirely sure how often this occurs or if this is a once a week kind of a day but I was asking him about his day and this is what he told me:

He wakes up at 6:35am
Goes to school from 9:00-2:30
Comes to Hogwon (English Academy) from 3:00-6:00
Goes to piano lesson from 6:00-7:00
Eats dinner at 8:30
Goes to bed at 10:00

This is a first grader! So, that's what the kids are doing. My schedule is a breeze compared to theirs! These poor kids are in school ALL the time! And their behavior is amazing considering all the time they spend sitting in class! It helps me refocus when I get a little exasperated with a student. He/She has probably been up since very early and has been in some form of a class the entire day and has maybe been only able to run around for a short time during the day. It helps me pick my battles at least and appreciate the hard work they are doing in my classes.

That's all for now folks! Talk to you later :)