Log46: Students

I must write an entry regarding how political theory -- especially via Machiavelli (don't be scared, I love my students too) -- is so unquestionably manifest in the Korean classroom (at least within my educational doctrine, haha).

But such is for a later time, I believe.

My first grade students seem to both respect me and like me.  Because I began this semester--and their classes with me--with at least a greater guise of confidence and a more veracious grasp on teaching, their first impression of me has made greater impact (compared to last semester).  In light of this, teaching them has been fun and somewhat easier.

The most vociferous among them is my 1-6 class whose energy and enthusiasm -- and their near adoration of me -- seem to know no bounds.

I walk into class today, and all rush to their seats as if Stalin had walked in.  Many start clapping for my entrance.  I hear shouts of "Oh my god you're so handsome" and "Teacher good looking."  On the board is written "You are very handsome, English teacher." I read it and ask if that's about me; they uniformly say yes.

Flattered?  Absolutely.

Confused because they--despite their apparent love for me--are still some of my loudest and most talkative students to the point of disruption and annoyance?

Absolutely.

I guess better this than a reticent bunch, right?

:)

Log45: New Students

No cigars for these students...

ME: What would you say if you wanted to borrow a pencil from your friend?
STUDENT: Give me pencil.

ME: What would you say if you needed to go to the bathroom?
STUDENT: "May I borrow your toilet, please?"

STUDENT: "May I borrow your pencil, please?"
ME: "Yes you may."
STUDENT: "You're welcome."

Log44: Unspeakable

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html


The February 14, 2011 issue of Time magazine has on its cover, "Revolution, And what it means for the Middle East."  The picture is a worn Egyptian flag silhouetted under a glowing sun and upheld by the nameless apostates.  Their righteous hands carry the taut flag with a violent fervor, as if the flag were Liberty herself.


The news could not be sated by the wildly infectious revolutions occurring all over the middle east and north Africa.


Three days ago, the collision of four separate tectonic plates beneath Japan's eastern front registered an 8.9 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale and caused a tsunami taller than ten meters to decimate Japan.


A village of 17,000 estimates a death of 10,000 from its town alone.


Over the past couple of days, few seem solicitous of the Arab world's cause.


Tragedies like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan militate against the vanity and futility of my prose.


The speed with which the world has turned to Japan--as well as the exigency and alacrity--speaks I think to a deep humanity in all of us.  International social, political, economic quarrels seem trifling when a blink from the world can change the future of humanity on such inconceivable levels.


Listen, watch, and read the news; grieving has not yet begun.  The glib reports might to the uninformed reader demonstrate an unforgiving and inhuman portrait of the landscape.  The nonchalance with which the news broadcasters, reporters, I, or anybody else I've spoken to, has approached this enormity is illustrative, not of our dissolute or immoral nature.


No, it rather speaks to the unspeakable tragedy of this spectacle; the utterly dumbfounding, stupefying, and tragically awesome power of nature; the inexplicable anguish.

Log43: The New Semester

The new year has begun, and I have already begun teaching.

Let me simply say that the inner serenity which was once a distant dream has thus far been both a haven and a vanguard during this new beginning.  

Last year when I was frightened and unsettled, I groped around for a suitable teaching persona which I could potentially grow into.  Knowing nothing about grassroots education (aka teaching) I wove a garish chimera whose design included persecutor, vaudeville, and a trying mentor.  Time and failure proved to be the best teachers as I tried to preen the outfit, and by the time winter vacation rolled around, my arms and feet began sliding into the sleeves and shoes of pedagogy a bit more comfortably.  

While the design is of course constantly in the works, perhaps it is this familiarity with an old costume I wore that has vouchsafed my easy transition.  I had at least some template of expectations and standards to which I could refer this time.  I knew the classroom, I knew the environment, and I knew how to walk in my unique ensemble.  I didn't know the students nor their comportment, but I knew myself much more.  I knew how to carry myself, and how to effectively communicate my ideas to my students.

This year I teach all first and second grade students, totaling to more than seven hundred.  Though the second grade students all learned from me last semester, they are in new classrooms with new classmates and still have voids in unanswered classroom dynamics and friends.  As for the first grade students, few, if any, know each other at all.

I have seen the consequences of giving a poor first impression on the first day versus a great impression on the first day.  In the former, your students see your hesitations and doubts because they are written all over your face.  In the latter, your doubts and locked away in a safe and forgotten for the time and your decision and word is final and unquestionable [not as a matter of myopia or wisdom, but simply confidence].  In a rather unforgiving environment where student motivation is as varied as snowflakes and only a few in each class care to learn the subject, much less actually comprehend it, the effects of those first fifty minutes last well into the semester and, perhaps if you do it right, into the livelihoods of students many years down the road.

I have yet thrown out anyone in my first grade students' classes.  I can't tell if this is a good or bad thing yet. :) Though I may have been astringent, I can tell that I have grabbed the attention of many of the students.  Simply put, I feel good about where I am with teaching right now; at least, with the first week.

Furthermore, with teaching much more grounded in my mind, my heart, and hence my life, I feel a vigor within me that I did not feel last semester.  I was always too exhausted last semester, too tired to do anything else.  

This year I feel very different.  There is a life and a jubilation within me, an excitement and positivity that goads me to strive on and experience all I can.  Perhaps closely tied to my resolutions to think more positively and strive on diligently, I look forward to a semester of unforgettable experiences, both in and outside the classroom.

Thanks for reading!  I hope you're all well!

Log42: Back

Back in Jeonju, and I teach tomorrow.  The new semester begins.

I'm exhausted.

Here we go...