It has been another incredibly busy and rewarding week here at Kyunghwa Girls High School. Starting this week we have completely taken over the English conversational class. We took turns co-teaching an English riddles lesson and next week we are teaching solo with lessons we wrote this week based off our observations of what the students need to improve on. I have written a lesson working on wh- question words while integrating the Frozen movie and soundtrack (they like Frozen as much as I do)! I am excited to implement this lesson next week and I think the students will be super excited about it. We have been helping the native English teacher in the girls high school grade the students' papers, because there is only one of him and 720 students! The students were given a very challenging article in English on obesity with highly complex medical terminology and asked to summarize the article in English. I am continuously impressed by the students' academic excellence and motivation. Their vocabulary knowledge is equivalent, if not better, than that of an American high school student. Some of the students asked the student teachers to participate in a broadcast for the school this week. The students video taped an introduction of ourselves and then recorded all of us taking a portion of the English section in their college entrance exam. We graded ourselves and I will just say none of us were able to get them all right. I have such high respect for the students and their academic dedication is something to be admired. It was worth embarrassing ourselves to show our appreciation for our students! This week we have spent a lot of time at our favorite coffee shop after school working on our own class readings, article reflections, developing our teaching philosophy, completing observation reports, and lesson planning. The following is my teaching philosophy that is a work in progress shaped by my various educational experiences:
My teaching philosophy is a work in progress that I have been developing since my acceptance into the KU School of Education. Some of the outcomes that I would expect from my students is engagement in the material and content while connecting the classroom activities with real life experiences. Communicative competence should be valued in the classroom and encouraged through real-life examples and engaging activities that simulate scenarios that would synthesize authentic engagements in society. Intercultural awareness is vital for success for English language learners to fully grasp the sociolinguistics of the language and its global presence.
The teaching method that I strongly connect with in my classroom is the humanistic approach. I have always believed in focusing on the person when developing successful lesson plans that will be most effective for the entire classroom. In order to be successful in the classroom the lesson must appeal to multiple aspects of the student, in contrast to rote memorization. In a humanist classroom the teacher should facilitate the lesson and allow children to have an aspect of choice. All children are different and allowing creative freedom while having high expectations will allow success for more students than just the traditional learners.
From an SLA perspective I believe in incorporating cognitivism in the nature of input and interactionism in the student output and treatment of errors. The learning environment I aim to achieve in my classroom is one that allows for freedom of expression with confidence in communication. Mutual respect will be expected between students during communicative activities facilitated by myself. I will also make myself available whenever necessary for my students to achieve at the highest level possible. I will ensure active participation through creating a positive classroom environment as stated above and constant reinforcement for positive communication in the classroom. Lastly, I believe in implementing a positive behavior support system that is consistently implemented to encourage motivation and support for good behavior.
This week has kept us incredibly busy, but we are closer with each other than ever. I can't imagine this experience without the wonderful student teachers and Kyunghwa teachers by my side. As many know I have an immune deficiency and do weekly infusions of a blood product for treatment. Before coming I was unsure if the people I would be traveling with would mind or feel comfortable enough to ask questions, but now this thought seems silly. These girls have become a support system that I could never have even dreamed of. I told them I needed to go back to do my treatment and they asked to come back with me. Not only did they intently watch out of curiosity, but they laid in bed with me and watched a movie until it was complete. Even though at times the vigorous schedule can be very hard for some us, I don't think any of us would trade this experience with each other for anything!
In the middle of the week a few of us were craving some American style food so we went to a place called Mr. Pizza and ate some Korean style pizza and fries (both very sweet in contrast to America style). Last night we decided to go to a Korean meat buffet with one of the Kyunghwa native English teachers and a few students. A Korean meat buffet has many different kinds of meats with various spices that you bring back to the table to cook yourself. It was delicious and I also was able to eat a passion fruit for the first time and I loved it! We have been coming to the same family owned coffee shop every night and have become friends with the owner. I have improved my ordering skills in Korean and can complete transactions at restaurants, convenience stores, and coffee shops by myself. This is very exciting for me, because I was really struggling to learn the language before I arrived here. I have been learning various vocabulary words in the classroom that have become very useful around town.
Many people have contacted me out of concern due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak here in South Korea. Thank you for your support, it is appreciated! Gwangju, the Kyunghwa High School, and the dorm have taken many precautions to keep us informed and safe. They have disinfected the entire dorm, put hand sanitizer in every room, provided masks for everyone, and closed travel to Seoul on the weekends for students. The U.S. embassy has been updating us everyday with areas to avoid and precautions to take. We have all decided to stay in Gwangju this weekend and avoid Seoul. We are enjoying a relaxing day at the coffee shop and planning on going to a movie later. This Wednesday marked our halfway point and we look forward to another great two and a half weeks at the school. We have had many visitors in our office this week and have developed close relationships with many of our students. I am excited to implement my Frozen lesson next week and become even closer with my students.
Note: Picture 3 and 4 were sent to me by a student that frequently visits our office to say hello and was taken on sports day a few weeks ago. Picture 5 is of our mattresses. Korean mattresses consist of a wooden plank with a thick comforter on top. This took awhile to get used to, but now I fear not being able to sleep on my super soft bed when I return home. Picture 9 was a picture taken at our teacher BBQ last weekend of Natalie and I goofing off in the sun. Pictures 10-13 were taken today in the coffee shop. We watched the USA world cup game while drinking kiwi smoothies (my favorite drink at the coffee shop). The quote is on the wall of the coffee shop and is just one of the various reasons this coffee shop is a home away from home for us.
My teaching philosophy is a work in progress that I have been developing since my acceptance into the KU School of Education. Some of the outcomes that I would expect from my students is engagement in the material and content while connecting the classroom activities with real life experiences. Communicative competence should be valued in the classroom and encouraged through real-life examples and engaging activities that simulate scenarios that would synthesize authentic engagements in society. Intercultural awareness is vital for success for English language learners to fully grasp the sociolinguistics of the language and its global presence.
The teaching method that I strongly connect with in my classroom is the humanistic approach. I have always believed in focusing on the person when developing successful lesson plans that will be most effective for the entire classroom. In order to be successful in the classroom the lesson must appeal to multiple aspects of the student, in contrast to rote memorization. In a humanist classroom the teacher should facilitate the lesson and allow children to have an aspect of choice. All children are different and allowing creative freedom while having high expectations will allow success for more students than just the traditional learners.
From an SLA perspective I believe in incorporating cognitivism in the nature of input and interactionism in the student output and treatment of errors. The learning environment I aim to achieve in my classroom is one that allows for freedom of expression with confidence in communication. Mutual respect will be expected between students during communicative activities facilitated by myself. I will also make myself available whenever necessary for my students to achieve at the highest level possible. I will ensure active participation through creating a positive classroom environment as stated above and constant reinforcement for positive communication in the classroom. Lastly, I believe in implementing a positive behavior support system that is consistently implemented to encourage motivation and support for good behavior.
This week has kept us incredibly busy, but we are closer with each other than ever. I can't imagine this experience without the wonderful student teachers and Kyunghwa teachers by my side. As many know I have an immune deficiency and do weekly infusions of a blood product for treatment. Before coming I was unsure if the people I would be traveling with would mind or feel comfortable enough to ask questions, but now this thought seems silly. These girls have become a support system that I could never have even dreamed of. I told them I needed to go back to do my treatment and they asked to come back with me. Not only did they intently watch out of curiosity, but they laid in bed with me and watched a movie until it was complete. Even though at times the vigorous schedule can be very hard for some us, I don't think any of us would trade this experience with each other for anything!
In the middle of the week a few of us were craving some American style food so we went to a place called Mr. Pizza and ate some Korean style pizza and fries (both very sweet in contrast to America style). Last night we decided to go to a Korean meat buffet with one of the Kyunghwa native English teachers and a few students. A Korean meat buffet has many different kinds of meats with various spices that you bring back to the table to cook yourself. It was delicious and I also was able to eat a passion fruit for the first time and I loved it! We have been coming to the same family owned coffee shop every night and have become friends with the owner. I have improved my ordering skills in Korean and can complete transactions at restaurants, convenience stores, and coffee shops by myself. This is very exciting for me, because I was really struggling to learn the language before I arrived here. I have been learning various vocabulary words in the classroom that have become very useful around town.
Many people have contacted me out of concern due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak here in South Korea. Thank you for your support, it is appreciated! Gwangju, the Kyunghwa High School, and the dorm have taken many precautions to keep us informed and safe. They have disinfected the entire dorm, put hand sanitizer in every room, provided masks for everyone, and closed travel to Seoul on the weekends for students. The U.S. embassy has been updating us everyday with areas to avoid and precautions to take. We have all decided to stay in Gwangju this weekend and avoid Seoul. We are enjoying a relaxing day at the coffee shop and planning on going to a movie later. This Wednesday marked our halfway point and we look forward to another great two and a half weeks at the school. We have had many visitors in our office this week and have developed close relationships with many of our students. I am excited to implement my Frozen lesson next week and become even closer with my students.
Note: Picture 3 and 4 were sent to me by a student that frequently visits our office to say hello and was taken on sports day a few weeks ago. Picture 5 is of our mattresses. Korean mattresses consist of a wooden plank with a thick comforter on top. This took awhile to get used to, but now I fear not being able to sleep on my super soft bed when I return home. Picture 9 was a picture taken at our teacher BBQ last weekend of Natalie and I goofing off in the sun. Pictures 10-13 were taken today in the coffee shop. We watched the USA world cup game while drinking kiwi smoothies (my favorite drink at the coffee shop). The quote is on the wall of the coffee shop and is just one of the various reasons this coffee shop is a home away from home for us.