Yesterday, my program took us to site visits in a S. Korean high school. My school was an Advanced school in a rural area.
I loved it.
The lesson plan we saw was simple, and something I LOVE. Baking cookies. So, basically, now this is the school I want to go teach at. I want to spend every day there and bake cookies. Delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Anyway, let me start at the beginning. We traveled over an hour by bus to get to this Co-Ed advanced high school. When we pulled up, the school was beautiful. Obviously, it was bigger than my high school. Anyone who knows my high school, knows that's pretty easy to beat (I graduated in a class of 19). Upon entering the high school, as per Korean tradition, shoes came of and slippers go on. Sadly enough, my feet didn't really fit in the girls slippers. Boys were too big though, so my wide feet were crammed into these comfortable, but small slippers.
While waiting for class, we got a surprise visit from the principal. When you meet someone like a principal or director, the appropriate gesture is a bow. All of us white kids got special instructions on how to do an appropriate bow. I don't think we butchered it...but we might have. It's the thought that counts?
And then there was a promotional video. By being an advanced high school, I think students have to apply to the school. That means, just like college, there are advertisements. None of us ETAs spoke Korean, but we watched a 9 minute Korean promotional video. But, I guess it worked. I want to go to the school now...but I think that has more to do with the cookies than the promotional video.
Apparently the students had just had exams, so the lesson was meant to be a fun escape. Chocolate oatmeal cookies are a fun escape for everyone. The students were remarkably good at English. They told me their favorite TV shows were Teen Wolf and CSI. One student even sang me some Beyonce. Beyonce makes everything better.
So, final verdict: set visit=success. I am so excited for my own classroom and my own placement. I kept thinking of all the fun ideas that I want to use in my classroom. Cookies, for one, are a great choice.
I loved it.
The lesson plan we saw was simple, and something I LOVE. Baking cookies. So, basically, now this is the school I want to go teach at. I want to spend every day there and bake cookies. Delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Anyway, let me start at the beginning. We traveled over an hour by bus to get to this Co-Ed advanced high school. When we pulled up, the school was beautiful. Obviously, it was bigger than my high school. Anyone who knows my high school, knows that's pretty easy to beat (I graduated in a class of 19). Upon entering the high school, as per Korean tradition, shoes came of and slippers go on. Sadly enough, my feet didn't really fit in the girls slippers. Boys were too big though, so my wide feet were crammed into these comfortable, but small slippers.
While waiting for class, we got a surprise visit from the principal. When you meet someone like a principal or director, the appropriate gesture is a bow. All of us white kids got special instructions on how to do an appropriate bow. I don't think we butchered it...but we might have. It's the thought that counts?
And then there was a promotional video. By being an advanced high school, I think students have to apply to the school. That means, just like college, there are advertisements. None of us ETAs spoke Korean, but we watched a 9 minute Korean promotional video. But, I guess it worked. I want to go to the school now...but I think that has more to do with the cookies than the promotional video.
Apparently the students had just had exams, so the lesson was meant to be a fun escape. Chocolate oatmeal cookies are a fun escape for everyone. The students were remarkably good at English. They told me their favorite TV shows were Teen Wolf and CSI. One student even sang me some Beyonce. Beyonce makes everything better.
So, final verdict: set visit=success. I am so excited for my own classroom and my own placement. I kept thinking of all the fun ideas that I want to use in my classroom. Cookies, for one, are a great choice.
My professional teacher getup.
And, I'm only wearing one article of Gap clothing (Banana Republic doesn't count)
Is S. Korean School like Azumanga Daioh? Even though that's Japan...
ReplyDeleteThis one wasn't. No nosebleeds.
Delete