Oh yes, the kids. I have students from around four to around seventeen years old. Each age group has their own set of challenges when it comes to effective teaching. I have to find ways to keep the little ones quiet and in their chairs. I have to find ways to get the older kids to get the blank stares off their faces and start talking.
I have kindergartners that are basically fluent in English and I have high schoolers that haven't mastered basic greetings.
But the kids are great, they're truly are a joy most of the time and it's real easy to get attached to them.
The first thing I noticed about the little ones were the universal things that transcend all distances and cultures. In particular, their senses of humor and their facial expressions that absolutely crack me up.
It also become very apparent how young they are when their personalities have developed to a great degree. You can with almost certainty know how a lot of these kids will turn out as adults. It's truly eye-opening.
A lot of these kids are spoiled rotten. Fifty years ago this country was totally war-torn. Now it prospers beyond the imagination of the older generations. Hence, nothing is too good for these kids. South Korea spends more on private education than any other country in the world.
My kids show up in designer clothes sporting combination cell phone/MP3 players. They have movie star haircuts and I swear the girls must go to the beauty shops with their mothers as they're always coming in with a new style or streaks or whatever goes on in those places, and I'm talking about six-year olds.
I'll never forget one day in a third grade class a cell phone goes off and Bruno, a mischievous but very bright kid, proceeds to flip it open, look at the caller ID screen, pause for a millisecond, then (obviously deciding whoever it was he didn't want to speak with) flips it closed and shoves it into his pocket. It was hilarious as he did it the same exact way you might see a businessman do it on a subway. But, maybe you had to be there?
When kids come into the school for the first time we give them English names. Yes, we name them. It's kind of an awesome task because it's likely that these names will stick with them for life as many are bound for English speaking endeavors and Korean names are very hard for non-Korean speakers to pronounce.
I have named kids James (he turned out to be a real class clown), John, Dale (he just looked like a NASCAR kind of guy), Arthur, Jamie, Cory, Bobby and most recently, Lynn.
Ethical teachers, like myself, of course, avoid naming kids Adolf, Saddam, Osama, Damien, or a whole class after the cast of South Park (yes, it did happen at another school).
Most of the kid's photos I have taken have been on field trips. Oh yes, just like elementary school days except that I'm supposed to be one of the ones in charge now. They are too much fun.
