Happy Halloween Seoul!

This was my first week teaching World History at SGHS. I was excited to get in there and teach the subject I really want to teach. I had some challenges. First, I think some of the students are way smarter than I am and so they ask super hard questions. I know that I am bound to have students challenge me and ask me questions, but its scary when I don't have an answer since I'm supposed to know. I taught 2 sections of World History on International track students twice this week and 1 section of domestic track students once this week. I was luck that I was able to teach my homeroom class in the domestic section. I had a great time interacting with them in the classroom. I enjoyed the international track students too. I still have to practice learning to tell a better story when I teach and not rely on reading off of the PowerPoint slides. I definitely need to improve this. Maybe I will try writing longer notes and just reading those, but I hate it when teachers just stand in the front of the class and read from a paper. So I think I just need more practice leading a class and hopefully I will improve.

This Saturday I went with my homeroom class to the Kim Koo Museum and Library. Kim Koo was the leader of the Independence movement that helped remove Japan from Korea. The students took a tour of the museum, luckily I had an English pamphlet so I could follow along. The museum was very well done and the students seemed to be very engaged. Before we headed into the museum we spent some time talking outside. I can be difficult to communicate well with the students but they are very interested in me and I am in them. After the museum tour we went to lunch in a traditional style Korean restaurant, where we sat on the floor. The food was delicious!

My Homeroom teacher and myself

Yummy lunch!

The highlight of this week would have to be giving the students some themed bags for Halloween. They loved the gifts!  I put a Halloween pencil, some candy, and Halloween stickers in the bags and they were so happy! Koreans don't celebrate Halloween the way we do in America but they know what the holiday is so they were excited. Their enthusiasm was very contagious and I left work that afternoon with a huge smile on my face.