I’m a Teacher!

Dear friends and family. I miss you all. We both do! I slowed down in writing for a bit because, well, 18 months in, there were fewer NEW! and EXCITING! things to write about. But then I STOPPED writing because I suddenly found out just how much work it is to be a first year teacher.

Yes, on January 21 I was asked to become a full-time teacher (“long-term sub”) for a 4th grade class. The previous teacher had to leave for personal reasons – he hadn’t actually been to work at all in the two weeks since Christmas break ended. So the kids already knew me from subbing, and rather than have me sub for a month or two while they searched, then have another change, they thought the consistency would be good for the kids.

So I have a room of 20 kids who expect me to help them discover the mysteries of Math and English every day. That’s the easy part. They also have demanded lessons like being nice, playing fair, cleaning up after ourselves, walking in straight lines, unsticking stuck zippers, sneezing into our elbows instead of our neighbor’s face, etc.

After the first month of adjusting time, they decided I could handle one more responsibility. I now teach a cooking activity class to a small group of 3rd and 4th graders twice a week. We’ve made chicken-cream cheese pinwheels, fruit dip, and started knives and heat last week with a pasta-sauce like dip!

My “typical” day (there’s not much “typical”, really, but this is a good idea) starts by catching the staff bus at 7:50 if I’m totally ready for school, or 7:10 if I need to make copies/prep materials before 8:30 math class. I’m at school at 8:00 to open the classroom, write the schedule on the board, and meet the kids outside at 8:15. We have short all-school announcements, then walk to our classrooms to start first period at 8:30.

• 8:30-9:30 Math, then spend 5 minutes walking kids to a “special” (art, PE, library, music, or technology)
• 10:25-10:35 meet the kids and walk them to their next special
• 11:25 meet kids and walk to lunch.
• 11:35-11:55 lunch in the cafeteria with the kids
• 12:00-12:25 recess duty on the playground or soccer field (alternating days)
• 12:30-2:00 Literacy (english) class
• 2:00-3:00 help with Social Studies classes, or prep the kitchen for cooking
• 3:00-3:10 walk kids to snack in the cafeteria
• 3:10-4:05 cooking activity
• 4:05 remind kids of their homework, pack up, walk them to the bus lines
• 4:15-5:00 try to unwind, prep the classroom for the next day, post homework on the class website
• 5:10 catch the staff bus back home

In addition, I have 3-6 meetings each week with other grade 3-5 teachers to plan classes, special testing, or activities (like the talent show, student council fundraisers, field trips, guest speakers, etc.), curriculum planning meetings (WAY over my head!), and trying to learn more about being a teacher. I run extra academic support after school once per week. And have to somehow plan lessons and grade homework!

I have HUGE respect for all my relatives who do this every single day for years and years. I hear it gets easier, but still.

All of my homeroom students “look” Korean. Many have lived other places and maybe don’t think of themselves as Korean. They have widely varying levels of English understanding – I have kids who have tested between a 2nd grade and 9th grade reading level. Some are tiny and some are starting to hit puberty – hormones and growth spurts included. 🙂 They are all sweet and lots of fun.

Here are a few more photos of the good times. I don’t photograph the tough times, but am definitely counting down the days. 10 weeks from today we will fly away from Korea to our summer adventures, and on July 15, we’ll come back to the US for probably a good long while. Patrick and I have agreed on no more cross-Pacific flights for a LONG time. 🙂