Official Extension

South Korea is an amazing place. We have recently officially decided to extend our stay and renew our contract with BIS. Being here has taught us so much and showed us so many things, but we still have so much to do, learn, teach, and see.

We moved out here with a one year contract starting March 1st, 2009, and so we will renew our one year contract on the same day for another full year. We prayed heavily on the decision and God graciously spoke to us the same day and told us what we needed to do.

It was a challenging decision because of how much we miss everyone back home in the States. It is hard (especially during the holidays) to be away from so many people we love so much.

The GOOD news is that for those of you didn't get a chance to experience South Korea first hand, you will have personal tour guides available to you for another full year!! So we fully expect to see many of you in the Eastern Hemisphere in 2010 :)

Language Fail

Ugh, we all know that problems in the workplace are no fun. Well, add a language barrier to the mix and these problems can be a million times worse. BIS is an amazing school and we’ve been very fortunate to get the opportunity to work with some incredible people. There are, however, frustrations just like any other professional environment.

One of the more prominent frustrations is the communication problem. Christopher and I are often frustrated with the communication between the only English speaking staff, the English/Korean speaking staff, the semi-English/Korean speaking staff, and the only Korean speaking staff (does that make sense?). We have co-workers from every degree of the spectrum and it gets frustrating and exhausting communicating policy, ideas, and concerns in this manner. We feel that important words are often lost in translation, resulting in an entirely different scenario than we had anticipated. There have been times when a Korean staff member tells each of us foreign teachers something individually and then when we convene to discuss, we all have gotten something different from the conversation, leaving us very confused.

We wish there wasn't such a barrier between the foreign staff and the Korean staff. All of the staff here are so kind and gracious yet we don't really know them or their true personalities. We often hear them laughing and are disappointed because we want to be in on the joke; we want to know what funny thing happened on the way to work or what child they are making fun of. Unfortunately, our Korean skills are sub par and we probably won't be at the level to understand them more clearly any time soon. We don't even know their real Korean names - they only tell us their English names and all of the children use their English names. If you know me, you know that I like to talk and I hate that I can't always converse with the other staff members on a productive level. When riding in an elevator with them, I simply have no words and it's frustrating.

Chris and I have decided that we need to make more of a conscious effort to become better citizens of the Republic of Korea which includes learning more of the language. Reading Hangul is clearly not enough to effectively communicate with the many interesting people whom we encounter and wish to know. We are going to be having a very basic Korean class, facilitated by our Korean friends, in exchange for writing help and "accent improvement" (that's what they want). We will keep you posted on our progress, although it may be slow.

In the meantime, these daily Korean words and phrases on the Korea Times website have been helpful...

Reflections of an ESL Teacher

I'm not sure how to share this without sounding completely ignorant so for those of you with education backgrounds, bear with me.

A good friend emailed me a few weeks ago asking about the "real" experiences Chris and I have had as elementary teachers so far. She also asked about how I have seen myself progress as a teacher over the months and how I feel about that process. This sparked a lot of much overdue and necessary reflection on my part.

As I thought about myself as a teacher I started to get frustrated with my proclivity to organization. Over the last few months I have really gotten into a groove of how I like my classes to "work" and I've become meticulous about the material covered. Although I don't always have tangible lesson plans, I do have a somewhat unpolished plan in my head and seem to always have time against me. It's hard because in some classes we've been given very strict guidelines and time restrictions, however in other classes everything is very relaxed and open-ended.

My reading classes are on a stringent schedule which, in my opinion, is too intense for the students but I will do as I'm told, even if the poor students have no idea what is going on. My language classes are completely unrestricted - as long as I complete the book by February 2010. It's been very hard for me to find a balance between these two standards and I've naturally leaned toward the more restrictive schedule. I have found myself being in constant battle with the clock which in turn, makes me feel like a horrible teacher who can't accomplish anything. Don't get me wrong, I know that some of my students are fine with the fast-pace style and are actually excelling, but some of them are left in the dust and will be behind their peers.

I've found it extremely difficult to reach all students with varying English abilities in one short class. Haha, welcome to teaching, huh? I just can't imagine having more than ten students at one time; the vast difference in ability would be too hard to handle. I've been trying to reorganize my classes to include more time to discuss/chat/ask questions without losing focus on the reason the kids are here. It has been made clear to us that BIS is not a conversational school; it's very academically structured. I attended academically focused schools and I constantly compare myself to teachers who at the time I didn't necessarily like, but now am thankful for. I think that is the kind of teacher I want to be (as long as the kindergartners like me), yet still I learn something new everyday and am in constant transformation as an educator.

Although many aspects of this job are out of my hands, I have wishes for myself and the students, some are within reason and some are distant dreams that are impractical.

- I wish the classes were longer.
- I wish all students learned English at the same time - giving them a more even ability.
- I wish I had more time to focus on vocabulary and accurate comprehension.
- I wish the students didn't pick up bad habits from other academies and adults.
- I wish I knew a successful way to break those habits.

Despite my negative feelings and frustrations, I love my job. Around our sixth month mark, I had a couple of rough weeks (i.e. I was a grumpy, probably very ineffective, teacher). But since then I've really started to feel the pure happiness/excitement of our first few weeks in Korea (more on that later). I feel incredibly blessed to have a job that makes me want to be better, that tests my strengths and weaknesses, that consistently teaches me about myself and the unique cognition of children.

Six Months!

It has been six months into our contract and we can hardly believe it. The time has gone incredibly quick and we’ve learned so much already. Korea has brought many experiences and challenges so far – some bad but mostly good. We feel so blessed to have been lead here and have nothing but positive reflections and outlooks for our time in Korea. One year of marriage is also just around the corner and it has been amazing to have spent the majority of it in such a unique setting. With the second half of our contract beginning, we are faced with many options. We have no plans as of yet and are in no rush to make any, although we are continually seeking His guidance. A few paths seem to have been presented and we are praying for clarity. Please remember us in your prayers during this time.

Education Gaps

Let me preface this by saying I am not currently in a position with enough knowledge or experience to comment accurately on such matters. Regardless, I can’t help but point out my own experience with and witnessing to the education differences between the private academy of Seoul and North American public schools.

Recently at BIS (our school) we had a new student from Canada join us. He is in the 2nd grade and has spent his entire childhood from birth in Canada. He has Korean ancestral lines and has come to BIS to study and experience the culture for three months while living with his grandmother.

When he got to the school he was very timid and shy (I think because of the language barrier with the other students). I assured him we only speak English at school and he wouldn’t have to worry about that. After about a week and a half he loosened up and his vibrant personality began to shine through.

The principal placed him in the advanced grade 2 class (there are three 2nd grade classes, 2 at about the same level, and 1 for the advanced students) naturally as he was a native English speaker. Lauren and I both figured he would cruise through the lessons and could be a distraction as he would get bored quickly finishing before everybody else. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

As the classes went on it become more and more apparent the student was at a far lower level in reading, math, and writing. Fortunately his speaking skills were basically on par with the other students. This did disappoint Lauren and I greatly though.

Being such novice teachers we are not sure what to think. Is this individual student just at a lower level than his peers? Or, is it the case that education of his Korean counterparts has been more advanced in comparison to his Canadian education (up to this point)?

When we first arrived we were shocked to hear about the kids’ schedules. Going to 2 or more schools everyday on top of daily extracurricular activities such as music lessons, sports, and art academies was commonplace to them. Having a 10-12 hour day of instruction in some way or another was the norm. Furthermore, there seemed to be little to no break between the various mediums of instruction. At times when students didn’t do their homework we would ask them why not and their response more often than not came back as “my mom made me go to bed, it was 12 o clock”.

We couldn’t fathom such a terrible childhood. No time to for play after school, lack of recesses, double or triple hours of instruction, and mounds upon mounds of homework sounds dismal.

On the other hand…

We now have a North American, native English speaking, student in our school who is far behind his peers on this side of the Pacific in terms of academia. Was the education system he learned in too lax? Could he be pushed harder to learn more? Or, is it the individual student who is struggling, as opposed to the system? These Korean students are at a much higher level in nearly all subjects…not to mention bilingual and surely better at speaking Korean than they are English.

I’m still very unsure of what to think. On the one side it is truly amazing to see what these children are capable of. Their brains are so incredible and they can retain so much information it is inconceivable for me. Let’s throw as much as we can at them, see what sticks. I’m mean surely they’ll be thankful for it in the future. Trying to explain to them right now how incredible it is that they know two languages is like telling a fish you’re so happy it can swim.

Yet, are they happy? They constantly complain about having too much school and too much work. At first I thought, “yeah, yeah, every kid says this”, but then I realized they are saying this while not knowing any better. Children in North America say this because they can compare it to times during the summer when there is NO school, or the long afternoons they have after school. These Korean children are saying this not even aware of another lifestyle. Maybe it is WAY too much? Maybe we are slowly killing the kids (Korea leads the OECD countries in suicide rates).

It is clear right now to me there is not a solution. All I know is that children have extraordinary learning capacities and are capable of commandeering complex communication lines with half the effort of someone twice their age. When and if God blesses us with children we hope we’ll have the wisdom to find the balance between excessive free time and harnessing their learning abilities.

Dictation Fail

FAIL: to fall short, to be or become absent or inadequate, to be unsuccessful

Chris and I follow failblog.org daily. If you haven't been there...please check it out. It's a hilarious site that posts funny pictures and videos of things that fail. Whether it be poorly thought out advertisements, unsuccessful inventions, or a simple picture that captures a moment in time when somebody decided to shut their brain down, this website never ceases to make us laugh. It may be at the expense of other people's mistakes but I like to think that if they saw themselves on failblog, they too would crack a smile.

This is why when I went to the library the other day to make some copies, I had to immediately turn around and run to my husband's classroom informing him about the following sign I saw posted at the entrance of our school.



Our principal, whom we love dearly, had posted a sign calling out all of the children who failed their dictation tests. She came up to talk with Chris and I as we were gawking at the fact that this sign could even be posted. She started laughing and said that when the students see the sign they will hopefully feel shame and study for their next exam. We just thought it was so funny and opposite of how we do things in the US. Our way of encouraging students is less about bringing the kids down but more about lifting them up. It seems like today in the US, we walk on eggshells as to not harm a child's emotional confidence. We don't want anyone to be embarrassed or shamed. I remember times in college when I couldn't even figure out my own score because there were so many secret codes and passwords to remember. Everyone is so careful not to invade anyone's privacy. In Korea, it is the opposite. The principal is constantly publicly announcing student's scores no matter what end of the scale they are on. Often times I see children grab their tests and run back to stuff them in their backpacks before anyone can see the embarrassing answers they had thought were correct. Christopher even had one kindergartner who burst into tears after other students laughed at his spelling score. I have children who beg me not to announce the scores in class and then other children who seem like they will have a heart attack if they don't know who scored the highest.

Chris and I have been trying to find a happy medium between these two ways of thought. We want to encourage the students to do their best, not by harshly harming their confidence and shaming them in front of their peers, but also not without instilling some friendly competitive nature. This is one of the struggles we face teaching in general, and in teaching in a completely different environment than what we are used to.

Career Possibilities?

My husband is a wonderful teacher. It has been so amazing to watch Christopher develop his teaching style over the past three weeks. He was so nervous going into this job but I truly have seen him do a 180 to be completely comfortable in the classroom and with the students. The kids just light up whenever they see Mr. Haws – they gravitate towards his easy-going personality. Chris is able to grab their attention with humor and they couldn’t love it more. We’ve noticed that our students are very physical and are constantly offering hugs and wanting to hang on you and that’s exactly what they do to Chris. They love that Mr. Haws is a jungle gym that also makes them laugh. I have had to interrupt Chris’s classes on several occasions and every time it seems like he has the students’ full attention and they are really enjoying the lesson. Quite a few students have even told me that math with Mr. Haws is their favorite class and I could not be more proud. I know his teaching style is a little different than mine, well at least it is according to one third grader who said to me “you so contrast from Mr. Haws, you have very many, many laws.” Even though we’ve only been here just short of a month, I can tell that Christopher is great at teaching and I’m so excited to see how the rest of the year goes.

Cheers to Chris – you’re doing a great job!