This is when correcting students' work is actually fun. 4 yr old Lindsay was to trace the word giraffe and then write 'gems' and 'gel'. As she is still just learning to write the letters, THIS is what her 'gems' looked like:
Showing posts with label English kindy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English kindy. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Kindy Graduation Speech
This is from a Kindy graduation ceremony in South Korea. She is 5 years old and it was her 3rd year of learning English. It is amazing how well she does her speech. I'm not sure I could do a speech as well as she did. (I'm not so good with public speaking.) Her mom wrote the speech and Lindsay teacher edited it.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Kindergarten Graduation
The kids have now graduated from kindergarten and will be starting grade 1 next week. The ceremony was on Wednesday. With 100 kids graduating, it was a fairly large event.
The parents of the top two students in each class were asked to bring in flowers/plants. EXPENSIVE!!!! The plants are now in the front hall of the school. The giant flower displays were going to be thrown out so a few of us teachers raided them after the ceremony was finished. Roses, orchids, carnations, daisies, 
Justin, my little monkey.
Max, such a sweetie.
Brian and Tim having fun.
Kaeley, a little angel.
The stage.
The crowd.
The ceremony started out with the Korean National Anthem, and the school song, and then there was a bit of a speech. Then all of the students had their turn going up to accept their Kindergarten Diploma. There were a few songs for the kids to sing, and a poem to recite. They had all been practicing them for the past few weeks - The World Is A Rainbow and I Will, ...Then all of the students got special awards from a selection of categories - Young Rockstar, Young Diplomat, Young Einstein, Young Shakespeare, Young Athlete, Young CEO, Young Prince/Princess, Young Picasso, Young Mathemetician, and Young Prodigy.
Brenton and Kevin (the two boys in the middle) receiving their awards for Young Mathemetician. "We are young mathemeticians."
I'll miss my 20 kids. :(
The parents of the top two students in each class were asked to bring in flowers/plants. EXPENSIVE!!!! The plants are now in the front hall of the school. The giant flower displays were going to be thrown out so a few of us teachers raided them after the ceremony was finished. Roses, orchids, carnations, daisies, Justin, my little monkey.Max, such a sweetie.Brian and Tim having fun.Kaeley, a little angel.The stage.The crowd.The ceremony started out with the Korean National Anthem, and the school song, and then there was a bit of a speech. Then all of the students had their turn going up to accept their Kindergarten Diploma. There were a few songs for the kids to sing, and a poem to recite. They had all been practicing them for the past few weeks - The World Is A Rainbow and I Will, ...Then all of the students got special awards from a selection of categories - Young Rockstar, Young Diplomat, Young Einstein, Young Shakespeare, Young Athlete, Young CEO, Young Prince/Princess, Young Picasso, Young Mathemetician, and Young Prodigy.
Brenton and Kevin (the two boys in the middle) receiving their awards for Young Mathemetician. "We are young mathemeticians."I'll miss my 20 kids. :(
Thursday, December 13, 2007
adorable
This is Julie with her reading class text book. She is so sweet (and well behaved - unlike a lot of her classmates).
She always has some sort of flower clip in her hair. Yes, that is real fur that she is wearing.
She almost always comes late, sometimes more than an hour late. The reason - she sleeps in. For a child of 6 years old, that is a bad habit to start. She is not the only one, either. There are a few of them that always walk in late. Why don't their mothers get them up and ready for school? They are sleeping in themselves, are already out and about doing what ever it is that they do (many of the mothers in wealthier families don't work, but rather just 'play with their friends'), or they simply don't care.
How sad.
She always has some sort of flower clip in her hair. Yes, that is real fur that she is wearing.She almost always comes late, sometimes more than an hour late. The reason - she sleeps in. For a child of 6 years old, that is a bad habit to start. She is not the only one, either. There are a few of them that always walk in late. Why don't their mothers get them up and ready for school? They are sleeping in themselves, are already out and about doing what ever it is that they do (many of the mothers in wealthier families don't work, but rather just 'play with their friends'), or they simply don't care.
How sad.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
school food
I eat well at work. There is snack time in the morning from 9:30 'til 10, as the children finish arriving (well, most of them). The snack varies day to day. Some of the ones I can think of are:
yogurt: in the plastic cups - strawberry, green tea (SO GOOD!); drinkable in a little plastic tube (I normally freeze them to eat as frozen yogurt) - strawberry
muffins: some sort of bright yellow pumpkin muffin
rice cakes: made with sticky rice, soya sauce, honey, and a few other grain type things added
ddukboki: rice cake dish (made with a soy sauce base rather than the normal spicy red pepper base sauce)
fried baby potatoes
steamed sweet potatoes
Along with the snack, there is always either milk or juice. The kids all have a cup to use. The Korean helper does all of the work - dishes out the snack, pours the drinks, washes the dishes (there is a sink in the corner of every classroom). I have my helper of the day help her by handing the dishes and cups out.
Then lunch is eaten in the cafeteria on the 5th floor. My class eats lunch at 11:30. I think about 5 classes are in there at the same time. My Korean co-teacher sets the table for the kids while I have the kids washing their hands and getting ready. That way it is all ready for them to start eating by the time we get there. Lunch is usually typical Korean fare of rice, kimchi, some sort of soup, and a meat dish. Generally, and unfortunately for me, some sort of fish dish is involved. Every once in a while they have a totally different kind of lunch, such as spaghetti. Last Friday we had spaghetti and cream of mushroom soup. Not the best spaghetti I've had, but a nice break from the fishy dishes and kimchi. There is also a nice green salad for the teachers.
The afternoon break is during my super elite power class (I have the most advanced class, though they are still only 7 years old). That snack consists of juice and some snacky thing such as cookies, muffins, steamed pizza bread pocket thingies, yogurt, etc.
The afternoon snack juice is usually fairly interesting. They come in little individual sealed cups or foil packs with straws. So far, in two weeks, I haven't had the same kind twice. Today's juice was a mixture of several fruits and vegetables. I forget what all was in it. I've had apple-carrot juice, grapefruit juice, some sort of orange juice mixture, kiwi-celery juice, etc.
yogurt: in the plastic cups - strawberry, green tea (SO GOOD!); drinkable in a little plastic tube (I normally freeze them to eat as frozen yogurt) - strawberry
muffins: some sort of bright yellow pumpkin muffin
rice cakes: made with sticky rice, soya sauce, honey, and a few other grain type things added
ddukboki: rice cake dish (made with a soy sauce base rather than the normal spicy red pepper base sauce)
fried baby potatoes
steamed sweet potatoes
Along with the snack, there is always either milk or juice. The kids all have a cup to use. The Korean helper does all of the work - dishes out the snack, pours the drinks, washes the dishes (there is a sink in the corner of every classroom). I have my helper of the day help her by handing the dishes and cups out.
Then lunch is eaten in the cafeteria on the 5th floor. My class eats lunch at 11:30. I think about 5 classes are in there at the same time. My Korean co-teacher sets the table for the kids while I have the kids washing their hands and getting ready. That way it is all ready for them to start eating by the time we get there. Lunch is usually typical Korean fare of rice, kimchi, some sort of soup, and a meat dish. Generally, and unfortunately for me, some sort of fish dish is involved. Every once in a while they have a totally different kind of lunch, such as spaghetti. Last Friday we had spaghetti and cream of mushroom soup. Not the best spaghetti I've had, but a nice break from the fishy dishes and kimchi. There is also a nice green salad for the teachers.
The afternoon break is during my super elite power class (I have the most advanced class, though they are still only 7 years old). That snack consists of juice and some snacky thing such as cookies, muffins, steamed pizza bread pocket thingies, yogurt, etc.
The afternoon snack juice is usually fairly interesting. They come in little individual sealed cups or foil packs with straws. So far, in two weeks, I haven't had the same kind twice. Today's juice was a mixture of several fruits and vegetables. I forget what all was in it. I've had apple-carrot juice, grapefruit juice, some sort of orange juice mixture, kiwi-celery juice, etc.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
new home, new job
Saturday was such a long day. As my flight was delayed, I didn't arrive in Korea until 9 AM after only about 2 hours of sleep (I don't sleep well on planes). As soon as I got to my friends home a couple of hours later, I had to rush to get my stuff together, as the mover arrived at 12. The mover that my school usually uses is a 73 year old man. He was carrying 3 boxes at a time on his back. He was so tired by the time the truck was loaded (yes, I did help as much as he would let me). Then once at my new place the assistant manager of my school was there with my key and helped unload the truck. It is surprising how much stuff one can acquire over a couple of years. When it is all put away, it doesn't look like much, but when it is all in boxes and bags in the open, it looks like a ridiculous amount of stuff.
My new home is basically 2 rooms. Going in the door, you enter the front hall and kitchen area (kitchen sink and stove to the right). A sliding door is on the same wall as the entry door and goes into a little closet-ish area where the gas heater and washing machine are. Straight ahead from the entry door is another door which leads to the main room with the bed, dresser and standing clothes rack (no closet, unfortunately). The bathroom door is to the far left. It isn't the smallest home I've had here but it definitely isn't the largest. It is SO dirty! I think who ever lived there last wasn't so clean, and no one has lived there in a month or so. Dust has built up everywhere and there is sort of a layer of scum on a lot of things (especially in the kitchen). From the time I arrived at my new home, I've been scrubbing and cleaning. My hands are so sore from all of the scrubbing! I'm no where near being finished, either. :S
I haven't started unpacking anything. I don't want to put my things away in dirty drawers and cupboards!
My home is less than 10 minutes walk from my school. The area is great. Coffee shops and such EVERYWHERE!! There is a huge Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf right beside my school. Dangerous, actually! ;)
Yesterday was my first day of work, but this whole week is just observation. Not so fun. Sitting watching other people teach is not all that entertaining after the first hour or so. I'd rather just teach.
My work day is 9 to 4:30. Not bad.
The kindergarten runs 9:30 to 2:30. My kindy class is the Rose class, with around 18 students, all 5/6 years old (Korean 7 years old). So far it seems very easy. There are 2 English teachers for each class; one native speaker (foreigner) and one Korean English speaker; as well as one Korean teacher/helper. While one teaches, the other has prep time/ break time. Sweet! The entire day is set up in 30 minute blocks.
9:30 - 10: snack/play time. The Korean helper sets everything up for snack and lunch.
10 - 10:30: Circle Time, which seems to be a combination of reading and phonics (there is a book for it). (2 English teachers alternate every other day)
After that the order and content of the blocks changes around a bit. For Monday it was:
10:30 - 11: Art (Break time for me)
11 - 11:30: Phonics
11:30 - 12: Lunch time. We take the kids down to the cafeteria and each class has one long table. Korean food is served to the kids in trays. We help ourselves to what we want of the Korean food. They also have salad for the teachers (I am told that it was a huge ordeal to get this).
12 - 12:30: Theme English. To do with what ever the theme is that week/month. Could be anything from catching up with other book work or learning songs. My kids are learning the song, "All I want for Christmas". Yes, the full song, not a short children's version.
12:30 - 1: Language Practice. (Break time for me)
1 - 1:30: Math. (Break time for me)
1:30 - 2: Phonics. (Break time for me)
2 - 2:30: Reading
Then the kids get ready to go and we take them down to catch the bus.
From 3 until 4:25 I then teach their Super Elite Power Class, which is a group of 8 students, all 6/7 years old, who have been coming to this school since they were 3/4 years old. Their English is excellent. I teach them reading, writing, grammar, etc. Earlier this month they finished reading a short novel (something like Elmer and the Dragon) and wrote a 2 page book report on it. It is very organized, as the program is standardized - all of the schools have the same programs. Makes things fairly easy.
I haven't started unpacking anything. I don't want to put my things away in dirty drawers and cupboards!
My home is less than 10 minutes walk from my school. The area is great. Coffee shops and such EVERYWHERE!! There is a huge Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf right beside my school. Dangerous, actually! ;)
Yesterday was my first day of work, but this whole week is just observation. Not so fun. Sitting watching other people teach is not all that entertaining after the first hour or so. I'd rather just teach.
My work day is 9 to 4:30. Not bad.
The kindergarten runs 9:30 to 2:30. My kindy class is the Rose class, with around 18 students, all 5/6 years old (Korean 7 years old). So far it seems very easy. There are 2 English teachers for each class; one native speaker (foreigner) and one Korean English speaker; as well as one Korean teacher/helper. While one teaches, the other has prep time/ break time. Sweet! The entire day is set up in 30 minute blocks.
9:30 - 10: snack/play time. The Korean helper sets everything up for snack and lunch.
10 - 10:30: Circle Time, which seems to be a combination of reading and phonics (there is a book for it). (2 English teachers alternate every other day)
After that the order and content of the blocks changes around a bit. For Monday it was:
10:30 - 11: Art (Break time for me)
11 - 11:30: Phonics
11:30 - 12: Lunch time. We take the kids down to the cafeteria and each class has one long table. Korean food is served to the kids in trays. We help ourselves to what we want of the Korean food. They also have salad for the teachers (I am told that it was a huge ordeal to get this).
12 - 12:30: Theme English. To do with what ever the theme is that week/month. Could be anything from catching up with other book work or learning songs. My kids are learning the song, "All I want for Christmas". Yes, the full song, not a short children's version.
12:30 - 1: Language Practice. (Break time for me)
1 - 1:30: Math. (Break time for me)
1:30 - 2: Phonics. (Break time for me)
2 - 2:30: Reading
Then the kids get ready to go and we take them down to catch the bus.
From 3 until 4:25 I then teach their Super Elite Power Class, which is a group of 8 students, all 6/7 years old, who have been coming to this school since they were 3/4 years old. Their English is excellent. I teach them reading, writing, grammar, etc. Earlier this month they finished reading a short novel (something like Elmer and the Dragon) and wrote a 2 page book report on it. It is very organized, as the program is standardized - all of the schools have the same programs. Makes things fairly easy.
Friday, August 31, 2007
sniff sniff
SeungWoo and Steve.Today was their last day at the school, as they live too far away. Their mom's have been taking turns dropping them off and picking them up, as the school bus doesn't go to where they live. I will miss them so much!
Now I only have 6!!!
Water Play
Each week for the summer, we have a water play day scheduled for each class. Ours is supposed to be Tuesdays, but last month, due to bad weather and holidays, our class only got one day. This month, we had two. How sad! We set up a couple of kiddie pools outside on the balcony, and have a little slide that goes with one of them. We hook up the hose and spray it down the slide, or at it (the kids love it spraying over the slide rather than down it).
They kids swimsuits are all so cute (and most are very expensive). The girls suits are bikinis and one pieces. The boys have everything from full body suits (like a wetsuit) to briefs. I have to share this one:
They kids swimsuits are all so cute (and most are very expensive). The girls suits are bikinis and one pieces. The boys have everything from full body suits (like a wetsuit) to briefs. I have to share this one:
YongKyu's suit is so big on him. SOOOOOOOOOOOO adorable!!!
One of the baby class girls had a bumblebee swimsuit (complete with little wings and antennae) on for their water play time but I didn't have a chance to take a picture. Too bad.
sick AGAIN! and sad to be losing some students.
I'm sick. :S
I have some sort of very bad throat etc infection... again. It is ALL swollen and infected, not just the tonsils this time. Not sure what caused it.
I went to the doctor after work today. I got an injection in the 'hip' and have medication for 2 days. I have to go back on Saturday.
The doctor says I shouldn't talk for a couple of days. Not really possible as I still have to teach. Today teaching was so hard. I had to talk. I could barely stand. It is making me feel week and a bit light headed. It started getting bad yesterday, mostly after work (only a little bit yesterday morning), really. Last night I was even having trouble typing as my whole body was feeling strange. I guess it is all connected. My body wanted rest. It still does.
The pain is almost unbearable at times. Sometimes even moving or saying something would almost bring tears to my eyes and make me feel like I was going to pass out. I ate quite a bit at lunch (it was actually a VERY GOOD lunch!) but I didn't really enjoy it as it hurts to swallow. Even the coffee and the chocolate milk that I had today weren't enjoyable.
I went to sleep after I got home. When I'm sleeping, obviously, I can't feel the pain. I woke up twice when Revo phoned me. The first time I felt dead so just went back to sleep. Now (1:30 AM) it is so late. I still have to get up and go to work in the morning (if I were back home I wouldn't have gone to work today or tomorrow, but here it is a bit different).
I might have considered taking tomorrow as one of my 3 allowed sick days, but it is the last day for 2 of my students. Steve and SeungWoo will be leaving my class. They live too far away so the school bus won't pick them up. Their moms have been taking turns dropping them off and picking them up. It is too bad as they are doing so well in the class. They both love me so much. They each say, "I love you, Laura Teacher," regularly and wait for me to say, "I love you, too." Sometimes I would be the other way around. They both love giving me hugs and a kiss on the cheek. They each cling to me at times. I will miss them soooooo much.
Another student finished this past Tuesday - David. He was cute, but always caused everyone a lot of stress. Just the way he is. He always has his hands on others' things or others. The staff at the school have been released of one of their major causes of stress - the mother! She was always coming in for every tiny little thing. David is western age 4 and yet his mother listens to and believes EVERYTHING he says. An odd family. I won't miss him as much as the others, but still will. And he was doing so well. They other day he surprised me by writing his own name, without asking for help. He is the only one in the class that hasn't been able to write his name. He is starting to be able to write some letters by copying from another page (rather than me having to write lightly for him to trace). Sometimes it is hard to make out what he has written (copied) but he is putting so much effort into it. His mom decided he should go to a bigger English school where it is more intensive in terms of reading and writing. I'm not sure he could handle it. He needs help all the time. He is only 4 and is a bit slower at picking things up than the others his age.
I started out with 11 students. Then it went up to 12. After tomorrow, I will be down to 6!!!
Annie and Jin went to the big International Kindy. Nicole was only here for the summer. And now David, Steve and SeungWoo. How sad.
I'll go back to bed soon... I have a couple more things to do - 2 more notebooks to the parents to write in! I've slept a little more than 6 hours already. That is usually all I get in a night!
I have some sort of very bad throat etc infection... again. It is ALL swollen and infected, not just the tonsils this time. Not sure what caused it.
I went to the doctor after work today. I got an injection in the 'hip' and have medication for 2 days. I have to go back on Saturday.
The doctor says I shouldn't talk for a couple of days. Not really possible as I still have to teach. Today teaching was so hard. I had to talk. I could barely stand. It is making me feel week and a bit light headed. It started getting bad yesterday, mostly after work (only a little bit yesterday morning), really. Last night I was even having trouble typing as my whole body was feeling strange. I guess it is all connected. My body wanted rest. It still does.
The pain is almost unbearable at times. Sometimes even moving or saying something would almost bring tears to my eyes and make me feel like I was going to pass out. I ate quite a bit at lunch (it was actually a VERY GOOD lunch!) but I didn't really enjoy it as it hurts to swallow. Even the coffee and the chocolate milk that I had today weren't enjoyable.
I went to sleep after I got home. When I'm sleeping, obviously, I can't feel the pain. I woke up twice when Revo phoned me. The first time I felt dead so just went back to sleep. Now (1:30 AM) it is so late. I still have to get up and go to work in the morning (if I were back home I wouldn't have gone to work today or tomorrow, but here it is a bit different).
I might have considered taking tomorrow as one of my 3 allowed sick days, but it is the last day for 2 of my students. Steve and SeungWoo will be leaving my class. They live too far away so the school bus won't pick them up. Their moms have been taking turns dropping them off and picking them up. It is too bad as they are doing so well in the class. They both love me so much. They each say, "I love you, Laura Teacher," regularly and wait for me to say, "I love you, too." Sometimes I would be the other way around. They both love giving me hugs and a kiss on the cheek. They each cling to me at times. I will miss them soooooo much.
Another student finished this past Tuesday - David. He was cute, but always caused everyone a lot of stress. Just the way he is. He always has his hands on others' things or others. The staff at the school have been released of one of their major causes of stress - the mother! She was always coming in for every tiny little thing. David is western age 4 and yet his mother listens to and believes EVERYTHING he says. An odd family. I won't miss him as much as the others, but still will. And he was doing so well. They other day he surprised me by writing his own name, without asking for help. He is the only one in the class that hasn't been able to write his name. He is starting to be able to write some letters by copying from another page (rather than me having to write lightly for him to trace). Sometimes it is hard to make out what he has written (copied) but he is putting so much effort into it. His mom decided he should go to a bigger English school where it is more intensive in terms of reading and writing. I'm not sure he could handle it. He needs help all the time. He is only 4 and is a bit slower at picking things up than the others his age.
I started out with 11 students. Then it went up to 12. After tomorrow, I will be down to 6!!!
Annie and Jin went to the big International Kindy. Nicole was only here for the summer. And now David, Steve and SeungWoo. How sad.
I'll go back to bed soon... I have a couple more things to do - 2 more notebooks to the parents to write in! I've slept a little more than 6 hours already. That is usually all I get in a night!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
busy
I've been quite busy with work and hanging out with one of my new co-workers. SO much changed over the 2 weeks that I was away in Canada for summer vacation. The other foreign teacher (Canadian) did a midnight run (basically just skipped the country without giving the school notice or anything, right after pay day). So, the teacher that they had hired to replace on of the other teachers that left before, replaced her, and they quickly filled the other spots with Kyopos (Korean foreigners. They had said that they would hire foreigners, not Kyopos, as the Kyopos aren't really treated as foreigners, and they don't look foreign.
Things that they said would change didn't change, things that weren't supposed to change changed. When I left I had a computer in my classroom. When I got back, it was gone. They moved it to another desk in the teachers' office. BUT in there, it isn't connected to the Internet. The other computer in there is. They are just too lazy to connect it to the Net or to the printer. Useless. In my room, it was hooked up to the Net.
The new teachers are all very nice. Sam is a Korean Canadian from Toronto. Then there are Erin and Sarah, both Korean American. Sergeja is the new foreign foreign teacher and is from London. We all get along very well. I'm happy about that, of course, BUT...
other things at work are driving me nuts!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
June's birthday party at Starters
Yes, once again it's a little late. I show my kids their pics on my blog sometimes (I use the net for teaching) and they absolutely love it. Since I had pics of the others so far, to be fair, I sort of have to keep it up. ;)
This month's birthday was HyunSang. His mother sent in fried chicken, pizza, juice, 
and a HUGE cake. Yummy!!!
This month's birthday was HyunSang. His mother sent in fried chicken, pizza, juice, and a HUGE cake. Yummy!!!Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Parents' Participation Day
Today was Parents' Participation Day for the Milky Way classes. We had it set up as a cooking class. We made little heart shaped pizzas. The kids and their parent(s) made 2 little pizzas each. Stephanie and I each made a bigger one to show how it's done.
[my second pizza]It was basically a performance by Stephanie and I, including a couple of songs sung by the kids - Baby Bumblebee and Today Is Monday. The kids and Stephanie and I all had aprons and hats to wear.
[Lisa and Sarah]
We had to to the whole thing twice. Milky Way B class and then Milky Way A class. Other than a few pauses trying to remember lines, it went quite well. The boss was happy, and so sent us (Stephanie and I, our 2 Korean teachers - Jinah and Jessie, and Miss Han, who is sort of the boss' assistant). We didn't eat our pizzas that we made, or the spaghetti that the cook made for lunch. Instead, we went out to a nice little Italian restaurant around the corner from work. It was soooo good.
[my second pizza]It was basically a performance by Stephanie and I, including a couple of songs sung by the kids - Baby Bumblebee and Today Is Monday. The kids and Stephanie and I all had aprons and hats to wear.[Lisa and Sarah]We had to to the whole thing twice. Milky Way B class and then Milky Way A class. Other than a few pauses trying to remember lines, it went quite well. The boss was happy, and so sent us (Stephanie and I, our 2 Korean teachers - Jinah and Jessie, and Miss Han, who is sort of the boss' assistant). We didn't eat our pizzas that we made, or the spaghetti that the cook made for lunch. Instead, we went out to a nice little Italian restaurant around the corner from work. It was soooo good.Tuesday, June 12, 2007
my class
Jinah and our kids during play time. They really do get a lot of play time.
Sarah, ChaeYeon and Lisa pretending to eat (they are pretending the sticks are chopsticks, of course).
Sleepy-head. Jin usually arrives at the start of lunch time, after attending a larger, international kindy for the morning. He is often sleeping when he arrives, or very tired.
Steve eating his lunch. Unlike kids back home, many of the kids here PREFER their food all mixed together. There is always soup and rice and then meat/fish or tofu, and some side dishes of vegetables and, of course, kimchi.
HyunSang finishing up his lunch. We have them completely clean their dishes. They usually don't need any prompting and scrap up every last bit of rice and drink the last drops of soup. This one, though, is usually the last to finish, as he prefers to talk while everyone else is eating, and then gets upset and angry at me because he doesn't get playtime when he finishes, like the others do.
Some of the kids' artwork. Jinah is an art teacher for the after school classes and always comes up with such cute little projects for our kids to do.Wednesday, June 06, 2007
blowing bubbles
A few weeks ago, we had some very nice weather so Jinah took our kids outside to play with bubbles. After I finished teaching the 5 year old classes, I went out to join them and take some pictures.
Jinah and most of our kids
Annie
Sarah
Lisa
I think the animals out there were a bit confuzzled by the bubbles. :P
Mr. Tiger
Mr. Zebra
Mr. Monkey
Jinah and most of our kidsAnnieSarahLisaI think the animals out there were a bit confuzzled by the bubbles. :P
Mr. TigerMr. ZebraMr. MonkeyMonday, June 04, 2007
My kids doing a froggy dance
They are soooooooooooo cute. It is a song called Keemo Kymo that is on one of the Internet sites that I use. The kids love it and always try to imitate the frog in the song.
This is one of the sites that I use. It has songs and little videos. The little picture of the cat with the 'C A B' is games. The castle is little videos. The gramophone is songs. The picture of the flash cards (apple, etc) is other things including other songs, videos and games. My kids love the "Are you okay" video/song in that link. I haven't used the other little links much but they are all kinda cool with other such things.
The site that has the frog song (Little Fox) requires a password, which I don't remember (it is saved in all of the computers at work), so I can't link you to the actual song. If you want an idea as to what the site is like... the links at the top are - bubbles left to right: videos, songs, games, stuff I don't use.
Another site I sometimes use is the Yahoo Korea kids English site. It has a bunch of songs, videos and games as well.
The site that has the frog song (Little Fox) requires a password, which I don't remember (it is saved in all of the computers at work), so I can't link you to the actual song. If you want an idea as to what the site is like... the links at the top are - bubbles left to right: videos, songs, games, stuff I don't use.
Another site I sometimes use is the Yahoo Korea kids English site. It has a bunch of songs, videos and games as well.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Teacher's Day
It's a little late for this post, but I'll do it anyway.
May 15th was Teacher's Day in Korea. Some schools closed. Most were open. The government has been trying to reduce the effects of Teachers' Day as many parents (and teachers) have used it as a way to bribe teachers (I have heard) into giving special treatment to their children - the bigger the gifts, the better the kids are treated. It is also a bit of a show. The kids, however, just love to give things to their teacher, and the parents want to show their appreciation. My first year in Korea (at a hagwon kindergarten), I got so many things that I couldn't take it all home in one trip. Since then, the number of gifts has decreased for several reasons. The main reason, I think, though, is the types of schools I have been at. The second school was an after school hagwon (academy) with mostly elementary kids. So, it wasn't their main school, I wasn't their main teacher. Then I was at a Korean kindy were I basically just made an appearance in every class each day. Again, not the main teacher. This year, I have my own class of 10 regular students (and 1 half day). I got at least something from 10 of them. Most of them were brand name, big department store buys (translate to expensive).
May 15th was Teacher's Day in Korea. Some schools closed. Most were open. The government has been trying to reduce the effects of Teachers' Day as many parents (and teachers) have used it as a way to bribe teachers (I have heard) into giving special treatment to their children - the bigger the gifts, the better the kids are treated. It is also a bit of a show. The kids, however, just love to give things to their teacher, and the parents want to show their appreciation. My first year in Korea (at a hagwon kindergarten), I got so many things that I couldn't take it all home in one trip. Since then, the number of gifts has decreased for several reasons. The main reason, I think, though, is the types of schools I have been at. The second school was an after school hagwon (academy) with mostly elementary kids. So, it wasn't their main school, I wasn't their main teacher. Then I was at a Korean kindy were I basically just made an appearance in every class each day. Again, not the main teacher. This year, I have my own class of 10 regular students (and 1 half day). I got at least something from 10 of them. Most of them were brand name, big department store buys (translate to expensive).
I got a very cute card from Lisa, that she wrote in herself.
From YongKyu I got a little make-up pouch.
David's gift for me was a very fancy ETRO hair elastic, a bunch of giant muffins and a cheese cake (muffins (I only took 4) and cheesecake to be shared with his other teachers).
From SukMin I got a set of Aveda body cleanser and moisturizer (both 250 mL size).
Sarah gave me an umbrella.
Annie gave me a set of ORIGINS bath oil and body cleanser. If you can't read the note, it says, "Dear Laura teacher, Thank you for being nice and helpful to me! I love you and thank you for helping me when i'm sad or not feeling well. Your the best teacher! Ever!! I hope you have a great teachers day!"
ChaeYeon got me DIOR Placticity Anti-cellulite corrective gel.
Steve gave me a fancy handkerchief.
HyunSang's gift for me was fancy little rice cakes. The little note says, "Dear Laura, Thank you for your good teaching and take care of my sun. I know your very great teacher. Someday my sun said Laura teacher is very interested in good relationship with Starters children. Today is teachers day. I will keep your love for my child in my heart. Thank you Laura. From parents of H.S."
I got an umbrella from SeungWoo. It has a soft bag and a hard case. I didn't take a picture of the actual umbrella, as I ended up using it the day I took the pictures, and so it was hanging up to dry. It has the same pattern as the case.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
field trip
Our field trip this month (on the 14th) was to the Outback Steakhouse.
In the morning, once all of the kids were there, we piled all of the Milky Way class (A-mine and B-Stephanie's) into the school bus and headed off.
In the morning, once all of the kids were there, we piled all of the Milky Way class (A-mine and B-Stephanie's) into the school bus and headed off.
[SeungWoo on the bus]We got to the restaurant and the kids all put on little Outback Steakhouse aprons and chef's hats.
[a group shot]Once they were all ready, we split into the two groups and went on a tour.
[Steve]
[going through the kitchen]
Once the tour was done, we all sat down for a 'snack'. 
The kids all got chicken fingers, french fries and soda. We (the teachers) shared a few dishes - salad with grilled chicken, spaghetti, and some sort of steak. Everyone got to take home some of their bread. Yum.
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