Gratitude and unexpected moments

Today was one of those days.  You know those days.  The kind of day where you just want to scream.
So I have a co-teacher at my school.  If you teach English in Korea, you have a co-teacher.  Some co-teachers are wonderful.  And some are not.  My co-teacher is a wonderful person.  But as a teacher?  Not so much.  She's 24 and has only been teaching since March.  Yes, she was trained for teaching special education, but teacher training in Korea is um...uh...not very good to say the least, at least not compared to the training I've had in the states (and continue to have).

However, it's her classroom, and I am her "paraprofessional" and basically do what she tells me.  It is not my classroom, and therefore I cannot teach the way I want to teach.  This is definitely teaching me patience.  I've been teaching 15 years.  I know how to teach.  Nevertheless, she talks to me like I'm a child and has me teaching using methods that I do not agree with.  Today I wanted to scream.  She went over her plans for me for 10 minutes...reading and pointing and asking me, "Do you understand?"  It makes me want to scream.  It's been hard going from being a classroom teacher where I made all the decisions as to how I would teach my students to being a teacher where I have to do what she tells me.  "Angela, can you read this sentence?  Can you read it slower?  Like word by word?"  "Angela, can you ask them what is the day today?"  I've learned to just smile.  You know...nod and smile.  Nod and smile.

Teaching at my school is hard.  Challenging.  Very difficult.  My students are not only visually impaired or blind, but they also have moderate to severe learning disabilities AND they barely know any English.  I have brought picture books, music, songs, games, etc to the classroom, but there are some days that I feel like I'm so ineffective.  Some days I want to scream.  Some days I want to cry.  And then some days there are unexpected moments of happiness, laughter, and joy.

As hard as it is, I know God placed me at my school for a reason.  He knew exactly what He was doing.  And my job is to trust him.  So I trust him.  I trust him on those days where I want to scream.  I trust him on those days where I want to cry.  And I am grateful for this experience.  How many people can say that they have taught English to blind children in Korea?

I called a friend last night to ask her a question (she's a fellow English teacher in Korea), and we ended up talking almost 2 hours and 30 minutes.  We were sharing our experiences and talking about the way that God has worked in our lives.  It was a blessing.  Such a blessing.  Don't you love conversations like that?

One day, I will look back on this experience and be so incredibly grateful.  I will remember my students with fondness.  I will remember singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".  I will remember hearing "nice to meet you" from my students in the hallway even though I have taught them for 4 months.  I will remember these moments, and I will smile.  I will be grateful for this amazing experience.  And I will know that I was absolutely where God wanted me.

Anybody else out there ever felt this way?  Where you've been in a difficult situation but you knew that God placed you there?  Sometimes we don't know why.  We don't see the big picture.  But he does.

Last week, I had those unexpected moments of happiness, laughter, and joy with my elementary classes in winter camp.  The co-teachers I was working with (different co-teachers) let me do whatever I wanted.  And we had a fabulous time!

We started off doing simple exercises to fun upbeat music from my iPod.  I brought my little speakers, and we had a blast.  They LOVED it!  And they learned simple words for movement.

This is my first class of 5th and 6th graders.

 Then we played Hot Potato.  When the music (again using my iPod and speaker) stopped, whoever had the ball had to say a sentence in English.  Some of the ones we've done are:
- I like to eat _____.
- I _____ at school.
- My name is _____.
- My favorite animal is _____.

This is my 2nd class of 3rd and 4th graders.  They barely know any English at all.  But they sure did love the exercises.  And by the way....I wondered why I was sore the next day.  Haha!

Both classes loved, loved, loved Hot Potato.  I have never seen them smile or laugh so much in the classroom.  It sure did make my heart smile.  I want more of this.

Christmas Time!

This past week I have been introducing Christmas to my students.  We read, It Is Christmas, my Christmas emergent reader, and sang the book as we read it.  My students tend to read better when it's put to music or rhythm.  I wonder if that's true for all ESL students.

After we read the book, we also matched the Christmas words to the pictures using my Christmas ESL vocabulary cards.  My students can't read, so what I usually do is read the word while showing the card.  Then I put out maybe 6-8 pictures and have them find the picture that matches the word.  

Of course, we also sang some Christmas songs like Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

I am always thinking of how to best teach my students over here.  Not only are they blind or visually impaired, but they also have moderate to severe learning disabilities.  I have students at the middle school level who are learning their ABCs or early sight words.  Then on top of that they are learning a second language.  I have tried using TPR activities in the classroom, but I am struggling to come up with activities that truly work.  Some of the TPR activities I have found require them to stand up when they hear a word that starts with the "P" sound; however, my students have trouble deciphering words that start with certain sounds.

I would LOVE any ideas that you have.  The way that my co-teacher teaches is to say each word extremely slowly and with bad enunciation.  Then she has the students repeat each word after her.  Are they learning English?  No.  Have any great ideas that you could share with me?  Please?

Final exams in Korea

Last week was final exams at my school.  Final exams are a BIG deal.  One of my high school students was even crying earlier in the week because she was so nervous.

I didn't have any classes Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday except for reading the final exam to two of my students.

You might be wondering what my school lunch looks like.  Every day there is kimchi and a soup.  On this particular day, it was a really good lunch.  We had sweet and sour shrimp and odeng guk (fish cake soup).  Now you know it's a good day if I go back for seconds.  Seriously!  I went back for seconds on the shrimp because it was so good.  The noodles in the soup were pretty good too, but I don't really like fish cake.  It's basically processed fish pieces mixed with flour and other things.  Sounds yummy, doesn't it?

During my class with my girls, we were singing Christmas songs, and one of my girls reaches over and holds my hand.  How sweet.  In Korea, it is not uncommon to see girls holding hands with each other AND boys as well.  Boys will lean their heads on each other's shoulders, hold hands, and display other forms of affection.  It took me a while to get used to it.  You even see grown men holding hands walking down the street.

This last picture is a funny for you.  I saw this at my local Home Plus, which is like the Korean Walmart.  Now I'm single, and I wondered if this is the way to get a man in Korea.  I don't know if I want to try it.  What do you think?

Currently

I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for her December Currently.  This is my very first link, and I am super stoked!

Most of these are pretty self-explanatory except maybe Winter Camp plans.  In Korea, you have Winter Camp during the long winter break.  In Korea, the school year is from March to December, and there is vacation from January - March...usually.  Every school is different.  My winter camp is from December 30th to January 11th.  I will be teaching 4 classes, 2 elementary and 2 middle.  The teachers have asked me to read a book, sing songs, and do a game or activity every day.  So I will be reading the book that my sweet friend, Mandy, sent me and then singing fun camp songs like Baby Shark and Singing in the Rain.  I think it will be a lot of fun.

As for Christmas Vacation, it's my favorite Christmas movie...along with White Christmas, Elf, and A Christmas Story.  I usually watch Christmas Vacation several times throughout the Christmas season, and I've even been known to watch it in July.  This year, since I have been in Korea, I have already seen it 6 times.  Maybe it makes me less homesick.  I'm not sure.  But I do love the Griswolds.  Don't you?

Fall in Korea

Well, it is officially fall in Korea!  The leaves are changing and the weather is getting cooler.  Bring out the winter gear, which by the way I never really need in Texas.  I bought my first wool coat from a girl who had to move back home unexpectedly.  I will also be purchasing my very first pair of winter boots here shortly.  Is it sad that I'm kind of looking forward to the cold weather?  Well...then again, I'm also a little terrified of the cold weather.  It gets to negative 5 degrees.  I've never experienced weather that cold before.  Bring. It. On.

Last week, we had a Harvest Event at school.  The students harvested rice, and then used the rice to make rice cakes and popped rice.  They had a lot of fun.  Here are a couple of pictures:

With the fall weather, it's time for Halloween!  I am completely trying something new in my classroom.  I have been doing mostly ABC activities and early phonics, but it's been difficult.  My students are visually impaired, so I can't do some of the regular fun phonics activities that I have found on Pinterest.  I found one where they put phonics words around the room, and the students try to be the first student to find it.  I think that sounds really fun, but my students can't see that well.  I have tried doing something like with my small groups, but they just don't participate sometimes.

So...I decided to completely revamp things.  My co-teacher wants me to do phonics, so I will spend the first 15 minutes doing phonics and then the next 30 minutes doing thematic unit activities.  Each week will be a new thematic unit.  Some classes I see once a week, and some classes I see 2-3 times a week, so some classes will get more activities than others.

So far, the list of ideas I have are:

• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• New Years
• Olympics
• Musical instruments
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Football
• Butterflies
• Oceans
• Rainforests
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
• Solar system
• The sun
• Earth
• Bones
• Going to the doctor
• Going to the dentist
• Senses
• Washing hands
• Homes
• Transportation

My plan is to show a quick video on the topic, do a couple worksheets with new vocabulary, and do an activity where we act out gestures or sing a song.  I am starting to find some great videos on YouTube and have started playlists on each topic.  If you have any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them!

I have found some great Halloween videos that I wanted to share.  Maybe you can use some of these in your classroom.  I am always on the lookout for fun, catchy videos...especially if there is a fun song.

I have found some great visual ABC cards with actual photographs.  I don't have access to a color printer here in Korea, but I do really like the cards.  You can find them HERE.

This is a sample of the D flashcards.  Aren't they great?

Fruit loops

Who knew that middle school boys would do anything for Fruit Loops?

I had tried to think of something to motivate my students.  Stickers weren't working for most of them because they can't see the sticker well.  I had brought some Fruit Loops for a snack to keep at my desk...just for me.  I hadn't planned on giving any to my students.  However, on a whim, I went and got them and gave them a Fruit Loop for getting an answer right.  They loved it!  I was shocked.  Surprised.  Flabbergasted.  Excited.  I found something that they liked!

So on this activity, I found some phonics flashcards online, printed them, and cut them out.

Have you ever used this website?  They have some great stuff on it, from flash cards to reading comprehension worksheets.
http://havefunteaching.com/

I gave them a card with a word and its picture on it.  Each student had their own set of magnetic letters.  The first student who spelled the word correctly got 2 Fruit Loops, and the other student got 1 Fruit Loop when he spelled it correctly.

Here are some of the words that we used.

I am constantly looking for new activities to use with my middle school students.  Although they are on a Kindergarten/1st grade level, they like to feel like they are in middle school.  Do you have any ideas?  I'd LOVE to hear them!

Do you know your ABC's?

God definitely me in a spot to get me out of my comfort zone here in Korea by teaching at a blind school.  I have 8 different classes.  For the elementary level, I have 4 classes, and I only see them once a week.  For the middle and high school level, I have 4 classes, and I see them 2-3 times a week.  The majority of the students I work with at the Pre-K and Kindergarten level, and I only work with 1 or 2 students at a time.  They are learning their ABC's, reviewing their ABC's and learning the sounds, or learning phonics and basic sight words.  I have never taught Kindergarten.  I taught at a KinderCare when I was in graduate school, but that was years ago.  Most of my teaching has been centered around 4th, 5th, and 6th grade.  I love teaching at the intermediate level.

So when I found that I was teaching at a blind school and most of my students are at a lower level, I knew I would be out of my comfort zone.  I was fine with that as long as I could find a way to bring something new to the students and do the best job that I could.  When I first got here, my co-teacher handed me a piece of paper with the alphabet on it and told me to use that.  After 2 minutes of that, I was bored.  If I was bored, I could imagine that the students were bored as well.  So I started researching on Google different ways to teach the ABC's.  By the way...what did we ever do without Google?  LOVE Google!

I found some cool ABC songs on YouTube...several I have already shared with you.  I found this new one yesterday, and my students really like.  It's basically the same ABC song that you and I grew up singing, but it has a beat and bold colors, which my visually impaired students really like.

Then we watched our favorite ABC song, which I have shared before.  I really like it for my students because it has rhythm, shows the letter, says the sound, and says a word for that letter.

We have played this one so many times that they are starting to sing along, which makes me happy.  That means they are starting to know and understand not only the letters, but also the sounds and the words for each letter.

Then we watched a new ABC video that I found on the Sesame Street channel on YouTube.  Have you checked out that channel?  It's great for little kids!

Here's the video:

After watching the videos, we played this game.  I found this game, Fiddle Sticks, on Pinterest last year when I taught 5th grade math.  I used it for practicing those dreaded multiplication facts, and my students always begged me to play it.  Here is the original link:
http://blog.maketaketeach.com/hello-world-2/

I thought I would use the same concept to practice the letters of the alphabet with my students here in Korea.  I went looking at our local dollar store, Daiso, but I couldn't find any popsicle sticks.  The closest thing I could find were clear plastic spoons.  So I bought several packages at about 1,000 won (or $1) each.  I used my Sharpie that I had brought from home to write a letter of the alphabet on each spoon.  Then I drew a star on two spoons.  In the original game, Fiddle Sticks, you draw a red dot on two sticks.  I didn't have a red marker, so I just drew a star.  I put all the spoons into a little waste bucket I also found at Daiso.  I introduced the game to two of my middle school boys yesterday.  One of these boys is always tired in my class and puts his head down or just closes his eyes while sitting in his chair.  It's been a challenge to motivate him.  Well, this game did it!  I was ecstatic.  I will mention that I also "bribed" them with Fruit Loops, which I'm sure helped. Let me tell you how we played it...

You put all the spoons in the bucket, with the handles up and the letters down.  Student #1 picks a spoon.  If he says the correct letter, he gets one Fruit Loop (yes, just one).  If he also says the word for that letter, he gets another Fruit Loop. For example: B, and B is for ball.  They loved getting the Fruit Loops.  I was amazed that it worked better than candy or stickers.  Then Student #2 picks a spoon and does the same thing.  If the student picks a spoon and does not know the letter, then he puts the spoon back.  If the students picks a spoon with the star, then he has to put back all of his spoons.  You should have heard the groans and the "oh no"'s when they picked the star.  It was cracking me up.  And the boy who always just wants to sleep?  Well he was wide awake during this game!  And he knew all of his letters and most of the words that went with each letter.  I was shocked and amazed and giddy!  I am definitely going to have to buy more Fruit Loops at Home Plus, but I'm totally OK with that.  And if you're wondering, yes, the Fruit Loops taste different here in Korea, and they are actually called Fruit Rings.  They are just not the same as in America.  :(

Here is my little bucket...

And my spoons...

The ABC spoons

I am still a little surprised that my game worked so well.  I actually used the game again today with 2 middle school boys from another class, and they liked it just as much as the first 2 boys.  Woo-hoo!  Now, I'm on the lookout for more simple games like this to use in the classroom.

I haven't yet figured out a name for my game.  I would love to call it Fiddle Sticks, but there aren't any sticks involved.  Maybe Fiddle Spoons.  What do you think?

My next goal is to use the same game but with basic sight words instead of letters of the alphabet.  I'm going on a search this weekend to a big stationery store here in Daejeon, hoping to find some popsicle/craft sticks.  Wish me luck!

Great interactive website

Check out what my friend just shared with me!  It's a great website that has activities from Kinder through 5th grade.  I can't wait to try some of these in my classroom next week after Chuseok!  Chuseok is the Korean Thanksgiving, and it is THE biggest holiday in Korea.  Bigger than Christmas.  I actually have the whole week off this week.  And yes, I am enjoying every minute of it!

http://www.abcya.com

Teaching in Korea is very different than teaching in America.  For one thing, I've gotten not one bouquet of flowers, but two bouquets....the second one being three times as big as this one.  The only time I received flowers from my school in America was when I had surgery.  It sure is nice to feel appreciated!

I saw this on another blog and wanted to try it, so here goes...

I am: on vacation, in my apartment, relaxing
I feel: blessed
I hear: Andrew Peterson on my iPod
I love: new experiences

Where have I been?

The big question is...."Where have I been?"  Why haven't I posted in several months?

Well, I have a good reason.  A really good reason.  I resigned from my teaching job in Texas to follow a dream I've had for the past 10 years.  I am teaching English in Daejeon, Korea.  I have wanted to teach overseas for a long time, and I just decided to do it.  I am absolutely loving it, and I don't regret it at all.

I actually started another blog that details my whole experience, and I share my pictures, stories, and experiences on it. I'd love for you to check it out! elephanthat.blogspot.com 

I am teaching at Daejeon Public School for the Blind.  I have taught for 15 years, but I have never taught blind students.  This is a new experience for me.  My students are either completely blind or have low vision.  Most of my students have intellectual disabilities as well, so I am learning to embrace Pre-K and Kinder activities, songs, books, and chants.

I hope to create some fun activities for them in the classroom.  We've been singing a lot of songs, which they love.  I bought some musical instruments from the store here in Daejeon, and it is so much fun to watch them.  I also bought some magnetic letters and a magnetic board to practice learning the alphabet and beginning phonics.  I have never taught kindergarten, so this is totally new to me.  I have worked in day care for years and Backyard Bible Clubs and Vacation Bible School, so at least I have worked with younger kiddos.  I have been searching and searching the internet for songs, videos, picture books, poems, chants, rhymes....basically anything that can help me.

Here are some great videos that I found to practice the alphabet and the alphabet sounds.  I have the students move their chairs right up to the screen so they can see the letters and hear the sounds.

On this first video, we play it through once so we can listen and sing.  Then I play it again, stopping at each letter and have the students find the magnetic letter that it goes to and repeat the chant for that letter.  They are getting really good at the letters and the sounds.  Sometimes, students in Korea have difficulty sounding out certain letters, and this video is helping.

Since I'm in Korea, I do not have "home court advantage".  I can't run right out to Wal-Mart and pick up supplies.  I can't go to Half Price Books to build up my classroom library and buy books.  So you know what I did?  I went on YouTube and found picture books being read aloud.  I never knew they did this!  Did you?  Well, when I found it, it just made my day.  I now have playlists on my YouTube channel: picture books, Dr Seuss, phonics, nursery rhymes, ABCs, music videos, etc.  I am a happy girl in Korea!

Here are a couple of my favorites so far.  I just discovered this a couple of days ago, so I haven't had a chance to show all the books:

Here are a couple of awesome phonics videos that I found for sight words.  I will be adding these in to my plans this next week.  What's awesome is that this particular YouTube channel has tons of videos for sight words.  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jhiDqp-jIYR07Ini8Jamw  Score!

Last but not least are my nursery rhymes.  I have two girls in my high school class that I just adore.  They both have low vision and intellectual disabilities, but they are always happy to come to class and see me.  They often walk in and immediately ask if we can sing and dance.  My co-teacher had originally planned for me to work with them only one day a week, but the girls loved my singing so much that I now get the privilege of working with them three days a week.  I quickly discovered that they already knew several songs, so I used that and then expanded on it.  They LOVE to do the motions to any song and use the musical instruments.  I found this channel on YouTube where the colors are vivid, and the characters are super cute.  The channel is called Little Baby Bum.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKAqou7V9FAWXpZd9xtOg3Q
Here are our favorite nursery rhymes:

And their absolute favorite....which gets the "Saturday Night Fever" moves from one of the girls...

I am learning so much teaching and living in Korea.  If you have ever thought about it, do it!  If you have any questions about teaching in Korea, I'd be more than happy to answer them!