16 / Hard Day

Title covers it.

Like anyone, my students have good days and bad days. My students also bring out really good things in me, and really bad ones.

The issues for this week:

1. Boy got a new skateboard. Loses all comprehension of English when I ask him to stop riding it in the back of the room while I'm talking. Ended up pointing at him for thirty straight seconds while speaking in my Angry Voice to put it away. He listened. Then another of the boys went straight to the board and started riding it. :c I was so frustrated I literally had to leave the room. I looked at all the kids -- most of the others were running around screaming at this point -- and just said... "Sunsangnim. Korean Sunsangnim." threatening to get a Korean teacher. Then I left the room. When I came back they were sitting nice and quiet. (: Ehehehe.

2. 3/4th graders had a mini-war today. Half the class is pretty advanced in English and studies pretty hard on their own/with private teachers. Half the class is less invested in what we're learning, though they try. They don't study as much away from the school. This has created a natural divide between them: some of the kids in this class pick things up extremely quickly, can learn new games and sentences and vocabulary in ten or fifteen minutes, no problem. The rest need extra help that I personally feel like I need to give them. Cue the advanced kids whining to me that it's not fair we are learning more slowly because of the others. What am I supposed to do about that? I was told my job was to give an opportunity to children who wouldn't have as many. :c I can't just leave people behind. I may not feel like a real teacher half the time, but really. Anyway, the class got very very wound up about this issue and some of the kids started really tearing up a girl who took longer than a couple of minutes to come up with an answer on her turn during a game. It is true that someone cries in my classes pretty much daily, but I was just... appalled? ... at the way my students acted today.

3. No personal space. This will sound bad, but anyone who is in Korea now will understand. If you have a ten minute break between classes, you NEED the ten minute break. Or at least, I do. I have to have a couple of minutes to regroup, think about what I'm going to do for the next class, organise myself, etc. It is ridiculous how frustrating it is to me when kids decide that the time between classes is time to come and touch EVERYTHING I HAVE ON MY DESK, my hair and clothing, my supplies, write all over the board, throw papers on the ground, randomly cut up paper and just leave it lying wherever, stick crayons in the heater that makes our freezing room bearable, etc. :C I mean it makes me happy that they want to see me or talk to me, or that they're curious enough that they can't stop themselves from rifling through absolutely everything of mine that they can see. But Jesus Christ. I know at least that when I was in highschool I was not known for my patience with children. Babies, yes. But children less. I've gotten much better as I get older and find I relate with kids sometimes more than adults :p BUT OMG, PLEASE GIVE ME MY TEN MINUTES. Even just five! FIVE.

4. Kids deciding that they have "drawing" class instead of mine. I have several kids who leave class early to go to learn piano or meet with private teachers, etc. Some of my kids have to miss class a few days a week just because they're so busy. I get it. But the thing is, I've been here for a few weeks now, and I know who those kids are. :p I may not know Korean, but I know you don't have "drawing" class. It's  nice to have snitches in the classroom though. Kids try to get on my good side, and they tell me when the others have just decided to go home. Then, me and whoever actually showed up to class do fun things like tongue twisters. So there, missing students. :c Thankfully this is only maybe once a week... But it makes me feel bad, because frankly I am startlingly overpaid for what I do & it feels like taking advantage of the system when my children aren't there and I still get money for it. Besides that, it kind of makes me feel bad? Like am I really that bad a teacher that you can't handle sitting and listening to me or playing games with me for forty minutes? :c Lol. I love my 5/6th graders because they are at a level where they can kind of understand sarcasm; that brightens my day. And they love imitating my voice in English, exaggerating all the tones... Cracks me up.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have nicer things to write about. I'm going to try and bring a camera in to school. :s I hope no one tries to swallow it.