Here are some things I noticed about midterms at SGHS: Midterms are held in gym. Students sit in rows by homeroom. They take the same test for 50 minutes. One subject test given at a time. Girls sit in the front of the rows boys in back of the rows. There is a lot of studying until the test begins. After the test students run over to check their answers and notes.The school uses the honor system for test. Teachers do not watch students take the test, they trust them not to cheat. The Proctor is the teacher who created the test they stay in the room to give new answer sheets or answer questions. Homeroom teachers return at the end of the test to sign tests and answer sheets.
Student Observations during Homeroom:
- Self study before midterms
- No teacher present
- Students work alone or with the help of a partner, very quiet
- About 27 students in classroom
- Students come in and out of class as needed for bathroom or drinks
- Some listen to music quietly
- No use of cell phones even when teacher is not there
- Students seem to have a lot of self motivation and self control
- A couple of students were sleeping/ resting
Differences Between U.S. high schools and SGHS
There are 3 grades, level 1, level 2, level 3. The school year is March through February. Students and staff only get off a total of 3-4 weeks spread throughout the year, 1 week for Chuseok (Thanksgiving), afew days for Christmas, a few days between semesters, and a few days at end of the year. Teachers are more like professors in U.S.They have masters degrees or PhDs. They teach 3-4 classes and only 2-3 daily. Teachers have a lot of preparation time during the day about 3-4 hours. There are two tracks for students, Korean university bound and foreign university bound. Teachers change classes for the most part students stay in the same class and teachers move into the rooms. There are 430 students at the school. Students have to take an entrance exam. The school focuses on humanities and social studies. Students have to wear uniforms. Students have to go to school every other Saturday morning for homeroom and activity time. Students live in dorms at school and can return to them at 5:00pm after school to continue studying. The school day is 7:50-4:30. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served to students the meals are homemade in cafeteria. Classes have a motto, a Korean flag, and the school motto in front of the room. The classes and school are brightly painted, green walls, orange chairs, purple and blue walls. Students clean the classrooms and teachers' offices at end of the day. Teachers co-teach classes with native English speakers. Students pay tuition at all schools in Korea.
- Finding out we won't be teaching as much as we would at home
- Working on Saturday mornings
- The busy pace that some teachers have when they need us without a lot of prior warning
- Midterms this week kept us out of the classroom, but gave me a lot of time to prepare my lessons for my unit, so this is a challenge and a positive
Seoul Global High School is a great school and I'm looking forward to learning more about it and the students.
1 comments:
Comparing this school to my experience student-teaching in China--there seem to be about as many similarities that contrast to the U.S. high school experience as there are unique characteristics unlike China or the U.S. Such a beautiful, imposing school building. The honor system you describe here certainly contrasts with the university experience in Shenyang, China.
Post a Comment