An American (teacher) in Seoul

This Thursday was Pepero Day! People exchange chocolate covered goodies that represent 11/11. Rumor has it some students started the trend to encourage their friends to be #1. The chocolate covered sticks resemble the number one.

What have you learned about yourself and being an American that you did not know before?
Before coming to Korea I thought I was any average person, but now I see that I may be an average America but the American way of being is not the norm around the world. My independence, stubbornness, straightforwardness, and hopefulness are all traits that I think are amplified by my American upbringing.  By being in Korea I appreciate so much more that I can try, fail, succeed, try again, change my mind, and not be viewed as a failure but rather just another twenty-something trying to figure it all out. I appreciate that in America we can try and fail and we are encouraged to do so. Changing life plans and experimenting with different professions, hobbies, music, and styles are all seen as valuable life experiences that will one day land me in the place that will make me happy and fulfilled. I think the American desire for exploration is embedded deep in my psyche and I hope to never lose my sense of wonderment and curiosity about the world. I wish some of the students I teach in Korea had the same opportunity to try out different things in their lives rather than just following the status quo and doing what their parents want them to do. I am so grateful for the support I have been given by my family and friends in my various pursuits (like teaching in Korea) that they may not really have been happy about.

Share some ideas about how to apply your cultural, international experiences to your teaching in a US classroom.
Teaching in Korea has definitely shown me some of the strengths of the American system and some of the weaknesses. First of all, I greatly appreciate the respect that Korean students give to their teachers. I wish American teachers could work in an environment where they felt that their colleagues and students appreciated what they did every day. Often teachers in America are not well respected by society; it is much different in Korea. I hope that I can try to maintain my self-respect in my position as a teacher in the U.S. regardless of the way others may view me or my job.

I will use this experience in Korea in my classroom as much as I can. I hope that I can tell my students about the students in Korea and what their lives are like. I hope I can teach World History and integrate pictures I have taken of palaces and ancient artifacts and show my students. I hope that I can teach current affairs and discuss the rapid growth of Korea in the last sixty years. I would like the chance to connect students from the U.S. with students in Korea as pen pals or by asking each a weekly set of questions and then comparing the answers. American students are often so involved in their daily dramas they lose sight of the fact that high school will end and in the grand scheme of life is not that important. I think by linking them up with students in Korea they can open their minds to the world and see how similar we all really are.

Classroom Challenge Turned Success
The students fall asleep in class a lot. This is a problem fed by the fact that they sleep 4-5-6 hours a night, not nearly enough for the average teenage. My classes tend to be extremely quiet and really tired. I have been asking them to do a lot of work with primary source documents. This week at the advice of my KU advisor I spiced things up a bit and made a BINGO game to add some fun to the class. The students did all actually wake up and play this game. I don’t think the promise of candy hurt but the game served as a literal wake up call to the sleepy students and a good review tool at the end of class. This also meant that the students were awake for the end of class questions which are often met with blank stares and heads on desks. This time students were awake and answered the questions quickly.

Counseling
This week I met with three hungry boys for counseling. They were in a hurry to get through my questions so they could head to the cafeteria. I ended up getting some very short answers. All of the boys spoke English very well and were eager to answer my questions quickly and get their lunch.

1. What do you want to study in University?

A. Economics, marketing, psychology, management

2. Are you worried about your military service?

A. Kind of worried

B. Worried about missing school (university)

C. “brains become stone”

3. What are the best parts about SGHS?

A. Dorms, friends, teachers

4. What are the worst parts of SGHS?

A. Homework, cracks in the building (structural issues, which I have not noticed)

5. How many hours a day do you study?

A. 3-4

Highlights of the Week

JUMP

JUMP was a martial arts performance about a family that is very comical. There is a grandfather, daughter, son in law, drunk uncle, and daughter and soon to be daughter's husband. The family gets robbed and hilarity ensues with the robbers. The show had some amazing acrobatics. There was very little talking so the action really is the story.

Gyeongjoo

This weekend I went to Gyeongjoo with three of the other student teachers and two of our Korean Pizza Night friends. Gyeongjoo was the capital of the Shilla Dynasty around the year 600. They build many amazing structures and had a lot of golden artifacts. We left early Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening. It was a long weekend but we saw a lot of cool sights. We took a two day bus tour which managed to squeeze in an amazing number of stops in two days. We saw temples, houses, a museum, pagodas, Buddhas, and lots of beautiful Fall colored trees. I had a great time and I'm very thankful for Korea University for sending us on a weekend trip.

On an unrelated note here is a picture of the SGHS Lunch.