I feel left out. No-one has asked me if I have Swine Flu.
Monthly Archives: May 2009
Poetry Lesson
Being at the same school for a second year is a great oppurtunity to improve upon lessons you used last year. One of my favorite lessons from last year was my poetry lesson. It was successful last year and it was even more so this year. Students don’t often get the chance to be creative so I try to give them a chance to use those brain muscles for something fun.
Students made a simple four line poem and a simple acrostic poem for this lesson. The first thing I had to do was explain what a rhyme was. Most students did not know so I posted a few examples on the board.
Zach…..Black
Lazy….Crazy
Book…Look
Once I did that, students understood rhyme. I then put a simple four line poem on the board.
My name is Zach A
I am very tall. B
I like to wear black. A
Opps I hit a wall! B
I explained to students that lines A must rhyme and lines B also must rhyme. I put an incomplete poem on the board and had the class make one.
The students are very _________. A
They want to _______________. B
They _____________________. A
Students _________________. B
They were able to make a good poem in a few minutes. I put another one up on the board to make sure they underood the concept of this poem.
Zach is ____________. A
He is very __________. B
He wants __________. A
He always __________. B
Once this poem was done, I moved onto acrostic poetry. I told students to write one word going down their paper. One student wrote the word girls.
G
I
R
L
S
I used girls as my class example and made a poem with it for the class to understand what was happening.
Girls are
Inside the school
Reading many books about
Love and
Super Junior
I would also use a student’s name as an acrostic poem example.
Ji Yun
Is eating a
Yellow banana
Under the
Night sky
Students then had 20-25 minutes to come up wiht one simple poem and one acrostic. Most had both done in 15 while some struggled to finish one type of poem. I chose the best 10 poems to be read aloud to the class and reward them with candy. Students generally enjoyed this lesson and it made me smile to see them having fun with English and having an oppurtunity to be creative. Here are some poems below from my classes.
You go to school! You’re late!
Ummmm. Oh my God! Teacher is there!
Go go go. Hurry!
You are chased by teacher.
Excellent!
Oh. Hummm. Oh
N0! Oh my
God. Sorry teacher. ㅠ.ㅠ
Jane Goodall is
Ugly?
No! She is
Great beautiful and
Her skin is
Yellow? She works for
U.N.?
No! You wrong!
Candy is delicious but I’m very
Angry because Jach
Not take candy.
Don’t forget candy Jack! When
You come to classroom.
Big Bang is my honey. A
Flowers are very pretty. B
Big Bang has alot of money. A
They are sweaty. B
I’m so cool. A
I have a friend. B
I want to go to swimming pool. A
What is trend? B
Someone is fool. A
I like piano that is grand. B
I hope you enjoyed these poems as much as I do.
President Roh’s Funeral Day
Today is the funeral for former Korean President Roh. He killed himself this past weekend near his home at Bongha. The funeral is taking place in Seoul and is being broadcasted via tv, radio, and internet. School has more or less stopped for the day so both teachers and students can watch the service.
Emotions are pretty high at school with both teachers and students crying while watching the service. Several teachers said they felt Roh was like a father to them and find his death hard to deal with.
School Festival
This Tuesday marked the 66th year Mokpo Girls High School has been in existance and is also the day the school festivsl falls on. I was also here for the festival last year and had a really fun time. The festival ran from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. I was also in the fashion show this year. My role this year was much smaller. The festival began with the opening ceremonies. A speech from the school principal and students. There was also cake involved.
The morning half of the festival included class choirs, short comedy skits, and a well done play about the events of May 18, 1980, in the city of Gwangju. Then the teachers went out for a vegeterian buffet while a pile of pizza was bought to feed several hundred teenagers. Good times. The afternoon consisted of a fashion show, live rock music from the school band, and some tv commercials and music videos made by the class. The teachers even got involed in the festival, taking part in singing and acting as models for the fashion show. I also forgot to mention that the students also did live dances of thier favorite songs, Sorry Sorry by Super Junior and Gee Gee by Girls Generation.
So what was my part in this year’s festival? I was in the Sorry Sorry video for about 10 seconds, doing p[art of a dance routine. It was fun. I took some pictures and videos of the festival and will post them on here and the videos to my youtube account.
Teachers Day
Today is Teachers Day in Korea, a holiday to celebrate teachers. It has been a zoo at school all morning as a result. Students are running around, taking pictures of teachers and singing cute songs. The students are also handing out flowers and presents to favorite teachers. I recieved a small boquet of flowers too. I have no classes today either and all teachers are going out for lunch at 12:30. Today should be a nice relaxing day. 
Class
Some of you who have taught or are teaching at the high school level in Korea should be able to relate to what I will be talking about in this posts. I find that after being here one year, I find that my classes are canceled for a plethora of reasons. This week and past, my classes have been canceled or changed to let my students practice for upcoming choir tests and sining for school festivals.
Yeah. True story. Your class can also be canceled to students can prep for an upcoming test or so they can finish sewing a project for their next class. From now until July, classes will randomly be canceled or jsut not happen for these reasons or school trips. It’s pretty decent and makes for a nice relaxing schedule. It just feels weird not having much to do.
I’m planning on making a second Canada trip this year.I’m planning on doing a third year in Korea (maybe at the same school) and I can always travel somewhere warm and tropical during my winter vacation. I’d like to visit my family and enjoy the warm Bruce County weather that I sometimes miss. My parents managed to find a return flight for roughly $1000 and I intend to book ASAP!
Other than that, things are pretty calm here in Mokpo. Not much else to report.
Talk With Zach
Each classroom in high school makes class posters in the back of the class. Class 2-4 (Second grade class in homeroom 4) made an AMAZING one that featured yours truly. Enjoy!!
Rain!!!!
Last night I went for a walk with Stacey in Old Mokpo. I noticed clouds off in the horizon. This motning I woke up to an intense rain storm. A flurry of umbrellas and shrieks outside my window. The walk to school was rather unpleasant even with an umbrella. My legs and right arm got soaked. I was also a tool because I left my apartment window open…..
The rain is very welcome though. It has been weeks since there was a good rain. Things have been looking very dry and the tempature has cooled off quite nicely. Let it rain, let it rain…..
Dongbu Market
Dongbu Market is a pretty cool place to visit or shop in Mokpo. You can find almost anything there that you would want. I took my friend Stacey there to show her a Korean market. There’s not much else to really say about it. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. You can buy dishes, socks, clothes, seafood, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, meat (including dog), and other goodies. I sometimes come here to buy plants and strawberries. I plan on doing more shopping here this year as the prices of fruits are usually cheaper than the big box stores.
The market is not too far from Home Plus. You can take several different buses there. I don’t know all the bus numbers that go there but I do know that #20 and #30 bus do go by as does #60/61 I believe. If you have a map of Mokpo, the market is located near Square No. 2.
What I Does Here…..
What do I do in Korea? The same as most other ex-pats in South Korea do, attempting to teach English to Koreans. I have been an NET (Native English Teacher) at Mokpo Girls High School for just over one year. I’m on my second contract with the school. I generally enjoy it here. My job is to try and get my students to converse in English as well as immersion around a foreigner. I teacher sixteen classes a week and each class has around thirty to thirty-five students. In theory I am supposed to co-teach with a Korean. The reality is different.
High school in South Korea is divided up into three grades. I teach the first and second grades as the thirds are far too busy preparing for university entrance exams.
The technology in the schools compared to what I had in Canada amazes me. Each class has a fifty inch LCD tv and newish computer with good internet access. The majority of my lessons are on powerpoint but also include work sheets and speaking activites as well. It is difficult to get full student participation but I get between 60-75% student participation in most classes.
Most students by this education level can read and write with English and do a decent job but there has been little emphasis on speaking (there is where I come in). “I’m fine, thank you, and you?”, “Hello.”, “See you again.”, and “Do you have a girlfriend?” form the core of my students vocabulary.
Students are at school from eight in the morning until ten at night. They have night study in their homerooms and also have school in the morning every other Saturday. School life is hell.
Students are generally upbeat people who when they aren’t shy, can be really outgoing and talkative people. This is what I do in South Korea.
