Christine Teacher!

No, it's not Ms. Grotjohn...it's Christine Teacher! I wish you could hear the way the kids say our names (Britney, London, Shauna, Christine TEACHA)! It's too cute. Today was my first day teaching. I went into the day confident in my ability to handle the three hours of morning kindergarten, but very nervous for the afternoon, elementary classes. Today was also the start of a new semester for the children, so the teachers were responsible for handing out all new materials- text books, audio CDs and tapes, workbooks, sylabi...everything, for several different classes! When I walked into the staff office this morning, I couldn't see my desk...it was covered by all these materials. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least. But, with much help from my Korean staff supervisor Katie, I made it through the day!

My kindergarten class went as well as I expected it to for my first day. Only a few rough transitions between subjects, but it went quite well overall. Kindergartners come every day from 10am-2:30pm. My students are all six years old and are in their second year of English. The most frequent question I get from people is how do I teach them English when I know zero Korean and they are just beginning to learn English. I wondered that before I started teaching too, but I am so impressed by their English vocabulary after just one year. They comprehend what I say for the most part and express quite well what they are trying to tell me. The Korean staff is always available should there be any language break downs though. I have my kinders (as we call them) from 10am-12:30pm, get an hour lunch break, and then have my last hour with them from 1:30-2:30pm. We cover everything from story telling, reading comprehension, games, phonics, songs and chants, arts and crafts, to science. I feel lucky to have a small class of seven very well behaved students!

Thank goodness my first day jitters are over for the afternoon classes. M-F from 2:30-4pm, I have my own class of students who are not fluent, but well spoken in English. I teach the same types of subjects as I do with my kindergartners, but at a much higher level. MWF from 4-6:30pm, I teach reading comprehension to my homeroom students as well as Shuana's class. On T/TH I will be teaching American Social Studies from 4-4:50pm...let's just say it will be a good review of my elementary years! T/TH from 5-6pm is my prep hour. I know you may not have wanted to get my entire schedule, but many people ask what my day is like, so now you know! Handing out all the materials was confusing as I expected, but the older students laughed when I said, "You all actually have to teach me today!" They were such a great help in being prepared with all their work out and explaining everything when I had a blank stare on my face, which was quite often. They are all such pleasant kids to work with...I truly look forward to the year ahead!